Meeting the new engineer (Part 2) (Backpost)

Posted on Sun Jan 10th, 2021 @ 5:40am by Lieutenant JG Mika Fujimoto 'Pickpocket' & Ensign Saeko Busujima 'Crazy Horse' & Lieutenant Hamlyn Ambrose

1,018 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Starfighter Bay
Timeline: After 'Meeting the new engineer (Part 1)'

Previously, on Star Trek Tokyo:

Mika tried to subtly warn her off, but Saeko wouldn't have any of it, so Mika shrugged and scooped up a small object that she had observed fall from Hobb's pocket before following him.

Saeko sighed to herself before following Mika and Hobb.

And now, the continuation

He led them to the starfighter lift controls which were set towards the rear of the starfighter hangar bay. Hobb glanced about as he walked past, noting that the fighter craft hadn't really changed in his years since joining Starfleet. He waved to some of the other Engineering techs he saw as he walked by.

Standing in front of the console he hooked his PADD up to it, and took a few diagnostic readings. He concentrated fully on the task for a few minutes before grunting and looking up, 'console is in full working order, so the problem has to be with the lift itself.' Hobb pointed in the direction of the lift, which seemed to be stuck halfway between the decks.

'If you two ensigns could just stand by the console, I'll shout out a few instructions while I go and inspect the lift.'

"Sure thing." Mika replied calmly.

Mika turned to Saeko.

"See, Crazy Horse? Nothing to worry about:" She said. "This area's fairly open: If this guy tries something, it'll be seen by somebody."

"Right..." Saeko muttered. She didn't sound too reassured.

Hobb suppressed a feeling of mild surprise that the two Ensigns had actually followed him. In his experience, pilots always tried to find an excuse to be somewhere else if work didn't involve their actual starfighters. 'Just stand over at the console,' he repeated, as he looked for hand-and-footholds down to the lift floor.

While Mika and Saeko stood by the console, Mika began strumming a Finnish folk song on her kantele. As Saeko familiarized herself with the console controls so she knew what to press when Hobb called, her stomach rumbled and her mind began to wander back to food:

"But seriously, though; if we were to sneak out of here afterwards and get some food, what would you get?" Saeko asked, engaging Mika in idle conversation. "I don't know about you, but I could totally go for a classic cheeseburger right now."

Mika looked up, her fingers continued dancing over the kantele's strings, then looked back down at the kantele:

"A cheeseburger sounds good." She responded. "Though I'd have mine with a toasted brioche bun, and I believe I'd get some cheddar cheese instead, because who wants boring American?"

"Stop it, pickpocket; you're making me even more hungry!" Saeko teased.

"Oh, and the patty would need to be at least a quarter pound of meat." Mika added.

Saeko chuckled.

"Grey Ghost would be proud of us for considering getting an American classic." She noted. "Too bad she's decided to wait for an appeal for her grounding rather than make herself useful."

"Grey Ghost could turn any boring job here on the flight deck into something fun." Mika agreed. "This grounding must have really rubbed her the wrong way."

"No doubt." Saeko responded. "It's pretty funny watching her tell the male pilots trying to flirt with her the actual mileage and watch them run off screaming in the opposite direction. Kinda miss having that spunk here on the flight deck, not gonna lie..."

Hobb took a reading off his diagnostic tool after he jacked it into a port on the side of the lift shaft. Working in conjunction with the tricroder in his right hand, he proceeded to scan the mechanical components of the lift thoroughly. The Engineer grunted when he saw the readouts return green. Impossible.

He hauled himself up to the lip so his head popped up. 'Press the 'down' switch please!' He called out to the two nattering pilots.

Saeko nodded and pressed the indicated control on the console.

Dropping down to the lift floor, Hobb took note of what was happening as the button was depressed - or rather, what wasn't happening. He frowned, putting the diagnostic tool back into the socket, and scanning round with his tricorder. He grunted ins dissatisfaction, before hauling himself up again.

'Now press up!' the engineer called out before dropping down.

Saeko pressed the button to run the lift in the opposite direction, just as Hobb described.

He grunted as nothing moved. Hobb opened the panely and inspected the circuity. Everything was fine there. Looking about he realised the closes access to the jeffries tube was actually beneath the lift platform.

Climbing back on to the deck, he reflected he should lift weights more often as it would make it easier to climb up and down the ladders. 'Either of you interested in crawling about some jeffries tubes? We have a faulty connection back there, and we need it fixed asap.'

"No thanks." Saeko swiftly declined. "Tight, enclosed spaces make me uncomfortable..."

"I'll do it." Mika accepted. "Can't be any worse than crawling around inside a tank."

Saeko shot Mika a disapproving glance, but decided to leave her objection at that. Because in the end, Mika was her own person.

'That's alright Busujima, if it's uncomfortable for you, I won't force you to crawl through those tubes - we should be able to manage with two of us. We'll need to pick up some circuitry, and possibly a gel pack or two to be safe.'

"Very well," Mika said. "Then let us go get what we need."

Before following Hobb, Mika turned to Saeko:

"But do stick around, Crazy Horse:" She added. "Because after we're done, I think we both use those cheeseburgers..."

As Saeko watched Hobb and Mika depart, she thought back to the trouble she was going to be in for passing her work off on the person she was supposed to be getting to help her.

Well, Sharp Shooter's going to tear me a new asshole anyway... She thought to herself. Might as well get it over with...

To be continued...

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