Encounters of the unexpected kind - [Tufezr/Archangel]

[Jefferies Tubes - USS Phoenix]

It was a quiet day on the ship. They were warping their way towards a nebula that they were supposed to be charting, so Engineering was taking the opportunity to get a few upgrades online before they got to their destination. Since there wasn't a lot to to in her office apart from paperwork, (something that she generally avoided until the last possible moment in any case), Archangel had decided to lend a hand in Engineering.

She lay on her back in the jefferies tube, her head inside one of the conduits as she repaired a fused eps relay. She quite enjoyed this work. It may be tedious, but it was what she loved. Being an engineer had been her life for so long that she couldn't just give it up the moment they handed her a red uniform.

Hearing someone else crawling along the cramped passage, she tried to sit up quickly, only to bang her head on the inside of the console, leading to muffled swearing in Romulan floating through the air as she extracted herself from the conduit, rubbing her head, and looked around for the source of the shuffling sounds.

Jeffries Tubes had always confused Tufezr, they were unnecessarily small and always tended to cause accidents as well as misdirection. During his time in the Academy, they had granted him the chance to survey a ship that had stopped on Earth briefly, the discovery if memory served, and the Trill found it a most intriguing yet cranially painful experience. He had hit his head no less than ten times, and worried that his spots might scrape away in the tight spaces. Nevertheless, he had completed his survey and was now aboard a starship.

Unfortunately, in his attempt to move along the present tubes of the Phoenix he seemed to have disturbed someone else, a Romulan no less. He had heard that many served aboard this ship. Making his way forward, he soon saw a red uniform and was puzzled. What was someone from the flight crew doing down here? Unless...

"Um, Captain T'Koris?" He nervously called out, shuffling along down the Jeffries as best as he could.

Seeing the Trill making his way towards her took Archangel a little by surprise, although afterward she guessed that it shouldn't have. His yellow uniform marked him out as an engineering, operations or security officer, but the more telling factor were the spotted markings on his skin. There were very few Trill on board. This would be the new officer that they had picked up when they had stopped for supplies at Athena. She had to pause for a moment to remember his name.

"Ah, Ensign Nefen! What can I do for you?"

He winced as he came into view of the Captain, knowing now that he was responsible for startling her and feeling awful about it. Her red uniform usually denoted the Flight Personnel department, but he knew better. Having the foresight brought on by the zhian'tata, Tufezr had investigated the command crew of the Phoenix before being admitted aboard, and knew that Captain T'Koris had once been a chief engineer.

"I was about to ask you the same, ma'am." He replied with a sheepish smile. "I know I startled you earlier, moving around in these infernal tubes, and I came by to apologize for causing you to hit your head. Not exactly the best of impressions to cause an accident, eh?"

Archangel gave a slight smile at the ensign's apparent nervousness. Not that she could really blame him. She would be tripping over her own words if she was in his place.

"Infernal tubes, hm? Well, I can't disagree with you there," she said. "Don't worry about me hitting my head. Happens all the time." She tapped a finger on the two ridges on her forehead that formed the V shape so characteristic of the Romulan species. "Luckily for me, I have a reinforced skull." She slipped the recoupling tool she had been using back into the thick toolbelt wrapped twice around her waist. "You're a new transfer, aren't you? How're you finding the ship so far?"

He hoped the smile was of a positive amusement, rather than the reputed mischief of Romulans. Tufezr knew better than to suppose that all members of any species were the same, but one never knew when that species had members within Starfleet of all organizations.

Tufezr smiled back at her. "Well, it's good that I didn't cause any real harm, ma'am." He settled back against a wall of the Jeffries tube, his scanner kept on his hip in a holster. "Yes ma'am," he responded to her first question, before answering the next, "It's a different experience from the Academy to be certain, but the tight spaces remind me of the Discovery-the ship I went aboard briefly during a learning survey. So small, I admit to some mild claustrophobia on my part."

There was another smile of amusement on Archangel's part. "An engineer with claustrophobic tendencies, hm? That's going to make the maintenance shifts interesting," she replied, running a last tricorder scan on the relay she had been repairing before replacing the conduit cover back over it and settling her back against it. A faint expression of nostalgia crossed her face. "Ah yes, the Discovery. I spent most of my career as an engineer aboard her. I knew her well."

Tufezr grinned sheepishly, hoping he hadn't made a bad impression with the Captain by admitting his distaste for enclosed spaces. He hadn't discovered it right away while surveying the Discovery, it took about an hour, when he realized he was feeling dizzy and had gotten completely lost despite having a map in his hand. He ignored these thoughts and memories, focusing on responding to the Romulan hybrid. "The Engineering crew spoke highly of you, said you were Chief Engineer for a long time before being given command of the Phoenix. I must say, of all my preserved lives, none have ever achieved the esteem you have and I admire that greatly. Makes me believe any old Engineer can actually excel."

Archangel shifted slightly, trying to relieve the discomfort in her tailbone at sitting on the hard plates in the cramped confines of the jefferies tube.

"Ah, yes. I'm surprised that they spoke highly of me. I would have thought that 'terror' would have been a more accurate term to use. I used to be quite harsh with my crews." An amused smile crossed her face. "I was exiled from the ship every time we had to go into dry dock. The chiefs apparently don't take kindly to territorial Romulans trying to keep them out of the systems." She shrugged one shoulder. "Anyone can excel. They just need to find the niche in which to do so."

Tufezr's back felt some strain as he leaned against the Jeffries tube, but it wasn't anything unbearably painful, so he allowed it to continue for the time being without adjusting his sitting position.

"they didn't make it seem like you were so harsh, Captain. They told me how you kept Engineering in better shape than it had ever been, and that you knew all those engines better than you would have known your own children, if you had any." He paused in thought for a moment, going over some of the memories his Symbiont presented to him which related to this matter. "Excelling is all good and well, but being recognized for it? Captain, I have the cumulative memories of sixteen different lifetimes, and only two of them ever had their achievements acknowledged by anyone. I'm not saying I don't believe you, I just know that it won't be easy to get anywhere in my experience."

"Recognition for excellence doesn't just come from your peers. It comes from everywhere," Archangel replied. "From those working under your command to your superior officers. From your friends both in the department and out of it. From your family and, in your case, your previous hosts." She offered the Trill a slight smile. "On this ship, both my first officer and myself came up through the Engineering ranks. We know when you're doing well. If ever there was an opportunity to 'get anywhere' as you said, it's probably going to be on this ship." She shifted slightly in discomfort again, her body no longer used to the cramped confines of the jefferies tubes.

"Tell you what, how about we continue this conversation somewhere a little more comfortable?"

The Trill listened intently, and then took the time to think about what she had to say on his comments. Perhaps he had been somewhat short-sighted, after all with his superior officers having experience in the Engineering Department, he would be under both positive and negative scrutiny, unlike other ships where the Bridge officers had to just trust that the Engineers knew what they were doing. Tufezr would keep this in mind, and decided that perhaps being under the Romulan Captain wouldn't be so bad after all.

Her shift in position gave away that she felt the same way he did about this tube even before she spoke. He grinned, there was no way he could avoid telling a joke with the way she worded that. "Alright, but no funny stuff without buying me dinner first. How's Main Engineering sound?"

The Romulan raised one upswept eyebrow at Tufezr's comment, having to think about its meaning for a moment before understanding the sequence of phrases. She snorted lightly in mirth, shaking her head.

"Oh, you're lucky Gabriel's not here to hear you say that," she replied, securing her tricorder in her belt and starting to crawl along the tube, heading for Engineering and out of the cramped confines, trying not to hit her head on anything else as she went.

Tufezr chuckled good-naturedly and followed her, making sure to respectfully keep his eyes down, easy to do as none of his symbiont's previous memories had any inclination as to what it was like to experience real attraction to a member of the opposite sex, as they had never had time for it.

"Don't worry Captain, I have no intention of making disrespectful and/or undue advances." However, he did intend to advance out of this tube as soon as was possible.

Since she didn't have anything to say in response to that, Archangel continued along the jefferies tube in silence until she reached the main engineering department.

Unfolding herself out of the tube, she stretched out her spine, listening to it crack and pop. Ah, it had been a long time since she had worked through the tubes. Her muscles were definitely protesting. She reached down to rub her knee, trying to relieve some of the ache that had been building up in it as she crawled.

As she straightened back up, she looked to Nefen with a slight smile. "Always nice to get out of the tubes and back into larger spaces."

Tufezr nodded approvingly, stretching out his own back and legs, along with his arms.

"Those Jeffries tubes need to really be redesigned if at all possible, I realize we're on a small ship but come on! It can't possibly be considered safe for maintenance."

He stretched and twisted his neck, causing audible pops as he moved his neck in circles. "Well, is there anything else you need help with Captain? I'm not assigned to anything specific for the time being, so if you need help down here I'm your man."

She couldn't stop the amused smile that crossed her face. Archangel knew that every engineer complained about the jefferies tubes and yet the design teams at every shipyard continued to make them exactly the same as ever.

"I can assure you, Ensign, the jefferies on a Sovereign class are exactly the same. No matter how much we beg the designers, nothing ever changes!"

Her attention was diverted by a cry of 'Mummy!' before being barreled into by a dark-haired five-year-old. Archangel raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her daughter.

"Seika, what are you doing down here?" she asked, then paused as another thought seemed to occur to her. "Did you take the 'sitter's holoemitter apart again?"

"Yep!"

Every ship was designed to have those confounded tubes with the same damned proportions?! No wonder no Starfleet Engineer actually looked forward to getting a posting on a starship. Tufezr sighed and dusted off his tunic, which wasn't actually dirty but had wrinkled enough to call his attention.

"Well, at least I'm with the most congenial and efficient Engineering department in Starfleet."

A smile crossed his features, then an expression of shock as the Captain was barreled into by a small child. He was suddenly swept through all of his symbiont's past hosts, finding to his utter astonishment that most of his symbiont's previous hosts had minimal interaction with children if any at all, and none had ever had their own. How intriguing.

"I take it this excited little Engineer is yours, Captain?" The Trill smiled and took a knee down to the child's level to get a good look at her. "My, you are a pretty one aren't you? How do you do, Seika?" He extended a hand to her in as friendly a manner as he could, hoping to not put the child off in any way.

Seika looked at the Trill with an expression of honest curiosity on her face, her eyes attracted to the pattern of spots that decorated his skin. As a child raised on starship and bases, she was no stranger to different species and seemed to be honestly eager to learn about other races.

"Yes, this is my eldest, Seika," Archangel replied, ruffling the little girl's hair. Seika shook his hand, smiling openly at him.

"I'm fine, thank you!" she replied brightly. "Are you a Trill?"

The Trill smiled brightly at the child's positive reaction to him, happy to know that he didn't seem to intimidate the girl. Often he had the problem of putting people off, appearing human from the back only to be clearly not human once his face had been seen. At least this child still had enough innocent curiosity not to judge.

"Why, yes I am. You must have gotten all your intelligence from your mother." Glances up at the Captain with a smile. "How did you know I was a Trill? Did my good-looking hair give it away? Or the fact that I work in Engineering?"

Seika giggled at the Trill, her natural good-nature coming through.  Archangel couldn't have been prouder of her daughter.  Despite having a lot of hardships in the beginning of her life, it didn't seem to have dampened that spirit.

"I know because you have spots!" the little girl replied, pointing to the markings that were characteristic of the Trill species. She then took on a proud, determined expression. "I'm going to be an engineery person when I grow up too!"

The sounds of the small girl's laughter and good-natured spirit was uplifting for Tufezr, extremely so. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been like her, just able to enjoy the things around himself with innocent curiosity. Now he had to look at it from an Engineer's perspective.

He smiled at her. "My spots gave it away, huh? Well then you can call me Spot from now on, and when you're a big smart strong beautiful Engineer, I expect you to be at least a Chief Engineer like your mother." He glanced up at the Captain briefly, hoping he had been overstepping his bounds with the child.

Archangel was watching her daughter interact with her newest officer with a faint smile. This was good for her education, meeting new people and species, learning how to behave with them. It was a good start for her to build on in later life, especially if she followed her parents into the service.

Seika stuck her tongue out briefly at Tufezr; "Of course I'm going to be a Chief Engineer! Both my Mummy and my Daddy were." She then paused to pull a face. "I don't want to be a captain though. Captains have to work too hard and they don't have much time to play."

The Trill nodded to the child's sage words, as if her revelation were going to change the face of the United Federation of Planets forever. But it wasn't going to, it was simply a truth everyone knew about Starfleet officers: all work and no play. In a child's eyes this sacrifice was no doubt abhorrent, if not blasphemous, and the Ensign could understand why she didn't see it appealing despite the fact his own childhood had been all work and no play.

"Very good, I certainly hope that if I become a Captain someday, you'll be the first Chief Engineer candidate on the list." He smiled again, still doing his best to be friendly and encouraging to the child, as thats often all it took to help a child get somewhere in life. "So, Miss Seika, did you come down here to give your mother a stern talking to or did you come down just to help us Engineers cheer up from hard work with your lovely spirit?"

Seika beamed at the engineering officer, apparently pleased at the thought that this new friend of hers approved of her plans to follow in her parents' footsteps and become a Chief Engineer.  Archangel was checking something on a nearby console, ensuring that the repairs she had been doing were holding, but she still kept half an eye on the little girl.  She knew just how dangerous it could be for a child to wander around the ship on their own.

The five-year-old suddenly looked a little guilty as Tufezr asked her why she was down in Engineering.  Reaching into a pocket, she pulled out something that looked as if it might have, at some point, been a portable holoemitter.

"The light lady that looks after Aria and me sometimes stopped working," she explained.