Replicating Help (Part II)

Posted on Fri Aug 20th, 2021 @ 5:32pm by Lieutenant JG Ronnie Wolfe & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo & Lieutenant Avery Paxton III & Lieutenant Dwight McCabe & Lieutenant Bela Swain & Ensign Satt

1,165 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Eye of the Storm
Location: Planet
Timeline: During "Building Bridges"

[PREVIOUSLY]

'It's a two-person job - the industrial replicators aren't exactly difficult,' Satt paused a moment, uncharacteristically careful of his next question. 'How confident are you in hooking up the power cables to the machines while I hold them in the casing? I don't have enough hands to do both at the same time, and ... your hands might be better suited for tight spaces.'

[CONTINUED]

Bela giggled lightly at Satt's discomfort and careful wording. "I'm sure that I could plug a hole," she responded with purposeful innuendo. She continued meaningfully, "Though, if there's anything exotic, I am a willing student."

He had the decency to blush a darker blue across his cranial ridge, before looking away carefully and picking up one of the cables in their casing. 'Over here,' he grunted, concentrating fiercely on the socket. 'If I hold it so,' he slipped the cable into the socket with a thunk, 'can you attach the bolts for me?'

Bela came over to Satt and her fingers lightly touched his arm. "Hm. Attach the bolts for you? Do you have the right tool for me to do that?" she wondered aloud, this time not intending the innuendo that naturally flowed from her statement.

The Bolian looked at her for a moment, a wry smile twisting his feature as he blushed blue once more, then glanced about for where he had had out down the toolkit. 'The number three pneumowrench. Should be in the case.'

"Here, let me get that out for you," she responded, again without innuendo. She turned to the Bolian and saw that he was a deeper blue. She touched his hand gently and concerned, "Is something wrong, Ensign Satt? You seem to be quite flushed."

'You can call me Satt, Counsellor,' he shrugged, 'nothing's wrong, I just ... let my imagination get the better of me,' he said in his gravelly voice. 'Are you OK to place the restraints while I hold the component?' He moved to fit the cable into its socket, aligning the holes for the restraints. The Bolian concentrated fiercely on not letting another innuendo slip.

"Imagination is an admirable quality," Bela told Satt with a smile. "And I'm quite competent with handling restraints." This time, there was no doubting that Bela purposely utilized a double meaning. "Are you ready for it?" she added, with a mischievous grin.

'As ... as ready as I can be,' replied Satt blushing further. 'Just work quickly, I won't be able to hold out for long.'


[Outside]

With news that the lunar facility had been communicating with the planet, Sam sent the new Chief Engineer with some Marines to have a closer look at what might be going on.

The shuttle landed beside the other one and three Marines disembarked with more supplies and the Chief.

Ronnie saw them coming and went over to see what was going on. "Hi," she said as they unloaded more boxes. "Need some help?"

"No, thanks," Kara said. "But you can direct us to the right building."

Ronnie pointed. "That one. Everyone's on the main floor."

"Good."

As soon as the supplies were loaded, they set off.

They walked into the building and looked around for someone to tell them where to put the supplies.

The doctor happened to see some of the crew had entered the area that was staged for the people of the planet. He noted the marines and a person that he doesn't recognize. He doesn't have the time to ask but raised his voice professionally. "Put the yellow containers on that table," he pointed. "I need the red ones at the far back wall."

Kara nodded and headed for the wall.

Paxton helped the Marines unload the supplies and looked around for the main interface for the power system. She noted two officers, a Bolian male and a Risian female, by what she assumed was the right piece of equipment and walked up to introduce herself. "Hey, I'm Lieutenant Paxton, the new Chief Engineer. I was told you guys could use some help upgrading the power system?"

Bela, was torn. She wanted to properly greet Paxton with a hug but she was holding onto things for Satt. "I don't know," she answered worriedly. "I can't tell if we're done yet." She gave a light giggle, wondering how Satt would take that.

Resisting the urge to flash a glance in the direction of the Counsellor, Satt instead glanced up at the Engineer, 'we're just repairing the replicator here, sir. The power supply is just down there,' he nodded in the direction of the colonists and McCabe.

He looked at Bela finally. 'Haven't heard that since my second girlfriend,' Satt said with a twisted smile.

"I see, thanks! Good luck with your repairs," Paxton replied, eager to leave the two officers to their own flirtatious devices. Based on the staff profiles she had read before joining the Calypso, she drew the conclusion that the officer holding the cables must've been the counselor and counted herself lucky to have avoided a hug based on York's warning. Without further delay, Avery walked back towards the colonists and looked around for the power device. She finally noticed the apparatus nestled into a corner and moved to inspect it.

Bela grinned back at Satt, "And just how many girlfriends do you have or have you had?"

Satt shrugged, 'my fair share, I suppose,' he said quietly. 'Not anyone in a long time. Shipboard life doesn't always lend well to it.' He nodded in the direction of the replicator, 'those tightened up now?' the Bolian said, wanting to avoid any innuendo for a moment.

Bela was skeptical but she told Satt, "Perhaps we should talk about that more later." She called back to Paxton, "Weren't you going to help us?" Having her hands full was rather disconcerting.

Avery stood over the power supply that Satt had pointed her towards. She furrowed a confused brow as she heard the counselor call back towards her. It had seemed as though the two were able to handle the replicator repair on their own, but perhaps she had misread the situation. Picking up her repair kit, she walked back towards the pair. "Sorry about that, I thought you two had it covered. I was sent to upgrade the power system, but I can help you out with the replicator first. Looks like you got the cables attached. What else needs to be repaired on it? Or do you need a new diagnostic run?"

'A diagnostic would be good,' said Satt after a moment's thought, 'I can rig field repairs, but I can't decipher the insides of these machines one bit.'


(To be continued...)

Ensign Satt
Security Officer

Lieutenant Bela Swain
Chief Counselor

Lieutenant JG Ronnie Lancaster
Assistant Chief Science Officer

2nd Lieutenant Kara Melo
Platoon Leader

Lieutenant Dwight McCabe
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant Avery Paxton III
Chief Engineer

 

RSS Feed