Rappelling

Posted on 20 Jan 2013 @ 1:13am by Lieutenant Lilou Zaren & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sergei Petrov

1,472 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo: Deck 4, Arboretum
Timeline: MD -01: 1900 hrs

[ON]

Lilou stretched out in the harness, reaching down and back to grab her ankles and pull. Her spine made a series of happy popping sounds as she did so. Building new support structures while hanging in a harness was not easy work on her back, especially not after she'd just dropped from the ceiling and landed hard on the ground. But. This was a research vessel and research couldn't very well be done in here unless this was fixed. Hunter was busy coordinating with Operations, a feat that - on its own - made her grateful he was around. And it had been her fault the thing had broken in the first place.

"Last one," she beckoned for the last of the struts. Below, Rothgra hooked the fastening strut to a cable and hoisted it to her using their jerry-rigged pully-system. "Got it," she said, hooking it to a safety cable beside her. "Go on and check in with Hunter and Willis. See if they've got anything for you. I can finish here."

"You need a safety..." he hedged.

She knew how frustrating it was to be an apprentice, always watching other engineers working and never getting her hands on anything herself. Maybe Hunter or Willis would have a task to teach his hands. He'd watched her lay up sixteen support struts now. He didn't need to watch any more. "Petrov's got me covered. Go on."

He didn't need more encouragement. Lilou returned to bolting the final safety in place beneath the newly replaced air duct as her crewman apprentice practically skipped out of the arboretum. "I hope that was all right," she called down to Petrov. "I figured... since you were here working anyway... Kid needs to stretch his legs sometimes." She paused in the act of fastening a bolt and looked down at the staff warrant officer, "You don't actually need to stay, sir; I've caused enough trouble to your department today."

Petrov humphed to himself, carefully watching the woman above. "I know I don't have to, sir, but I would like to," he called back. His shift had ended almost three hours ago. Lieutenant Panne had wanted those experiments done today, though, so he added an extra hour and a half, then spent another hour on his report to her. It was just starting to look like he was about have the night to himself when Ensign Peers in her piece of ventilation shaft almost crushed poor Panne. "It is, after all, my home most of the time. It's nothing personal, ma'am, but I would like to be here while there's work being done."

"Understandable," Lilou grunted, using her core muscles to bend back to the support strut and finish the work. When she finish, she lumped back against the harness again and pulled out her tricorder, scanning the whole newly installed support system for integrity. "All clear. Coming down!" She twisted in the harness and eased herself by lever back to the wall from the maglock support keeping her out more center in the room, dragging the maglock along with her until she disengaged it. She hooked the thing to the back of her belt and began the process of rappelling down the wall until she reached the ground. Disengaging herself from the harness, she glanced up at him. "Are you all right, sir?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Petrov. He looked up at the ceiling. If he had just walked into the arboretum, he wouldn't have known that anything had ever happened. Some grass was still torn up, but that was easily fixed and would give some the new people something to do in the morning. "Computer, reengage the holographic sky," he said. There were two chirps and the sky reappeared. "Thank you, ensign."

"Thank you, Staff Warrant Officer, sir," she said, flashing a quick smile. "I appreciate your patience with this whole mess." Lilou looked toward the entrance and then looked back at him, "She's not... I know she's new to you, too, but- you don't think she's irritated, do you?"

Petrov followed the Trill's eyes to the exit that Panne had used. A slight grin accompanied his words, "I do. But," he held up a finger, "You have nothing to worry about. The model shuttlecraft really impressed her, I could tell." He knelt down and picked it up, looking it over. "It doesn't seem too badly damaged."

Lilou quirked a brow and looked at the broken replica. "Not 'badly damaged', no," she agreed. "'Crushed' is more how I'd describe it." She sighed. Thanis had taken the sight of his mini-shuttle all right, though she'd seen the sadness in his eyes. He'd feel better when they started work on the next iteration. She, however, was now trapped on a research vessel with a Chief Science Officer who was annoyed with her.

Examining the crushed model in his hands, Petrov frowned. He'd only known Lieutenant Panne for a little more than two weeks, and he still hadn't figured her out. His first meeting with her was uneventful; he'd walked away feeling largely the same as he had before they'd met. Lots of people, however, didn't know what to make of her, and it seemed like Ensign Peers had experienced that first-hand.

"Sir," he said gently, "Doctor Panne is very eccentric. She wasn't irritated by you, she was just irritated on her own." He gave her a reassuring smile, "I get the impression she has a harder time with herself than she does with the rest of us. Between you and me, sir, when she made that joke with you it meant that she liked you; she never jokes with anyone. And that she paid so much attention to this in your presence," he held out the broken model, "was her way of saying that she was impressed." Petrov never spoke to people about his thoughts on Lieutenant Panne, but he liked Peers and felt that she ought to hear it. He knew Lieutenant Panne better than most, he thought, and he didn't want to let her awkward way of dealing with people ruin a good relationship with Peers before it could even start.

Lilou squinted at him, then at the shuttle. Well. Whatever the case, whether it was eccentricity or genuine disapproval for catapulting engineers, he was right on one point. She had noticed Lieutenant Panne studying the shuttle. She took the model from his hands and looked up at his face. "Thank you," she said, lifting the model slightly. Despite herself, there was a flutter somewhere at the idea of further impressing the science officer. Maenad had made her laugh; that was an uncommon occurrence. "Thanks," she said again, distractedly. "Is there anything I can help you with here before I go?"

"No, sir," he said with a nod. He was hoping that he hadn't made a fool of himself, explaining the lieutenant to her. More than anything else, he hated talking about what he thought of other people - even if it was good. He would have to go for a run, he thought. A sprint, in fact; he would have to go for a long sprint to get over what he'd done. "You've done an excellent job here. We all appreciate it. Before you go, promise me that you'll patch yourself up," he remembered the wounds beneath her uniform.

Lilou nodded once, "Thank you. I will." She rocked back on her heels, looking up again. The sky stretched, violet blue and endless above them. "I'll never understand how you can bear it," she said quietly. "So much sky..." She focused on him to keep from shuddering. "Good shore leave?"

Petrov had spent very little time off-ship during the leave. The arboretum had looked like a nuclear holocaust in the aftermath of the previous mission, and he'd spent most of his time tending to it. When he wasn't doing that, he was supervising Lieutenant Panne's seemingly endless list of supply shipments. But, he wasn't one to complain. "I had a fine leave, sir," he nodded. "I hope you gave yourself some quality time," he said, already skeptical that she had. Peers seemed like the type who spent her time in the bowels of the ship, keeping efficiencies above 99%.

"The Galileo's in the air," Lilou answered with a contented smile. "It doesn't get much more quality than that." She shifted to her left foot, suddenly self-conscious now that her work was done and she could think of no more adequate pleasantries. "Right. Have a good evening, Petrov." Then, hands tapping her tool belt somewhat nervously, she half skipped a step a way and hurried out the door, head down.

[OFF]

ENS Lilou Peers
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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