Duty Log | Lt Miles Karak | "Smart Lips and Split Ships"

Posted on Sat May 14th, 2016 @ 9:50pm by Lieutenant Miles Karak

968 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Resurgere
Location: Supply Ship USS Rockefeller
Timeline: 241605.14

A few things about an aged Excelsior-class that had been making the Deneb run for over three decades, barring the occasional stint as an auxiliary support vessel during some of the nastier wars, was the sheer deviation from standard specifications as well as some interesting cobbled-together replacement parts installed by past engineers. For CEO Lt. Tierney, it was a frustrating, senseless puzzle that broke every rule of engineering. For his junior Lt. Miles Karak, who had been raised on a clunker ship even more mishmashed on the inside, it was very reminiscent of "home."

"The port impulse drive coil is overheating again," the duty specialist explained during their morning staff meeting, a grand meeting of four engineering officers and the duty watch NCO from the previous night. The Rock carried a limited crew, and there were barely two dozen engineering staff members to keep her going. Not that she was a front-line ship, but she did need constant care.

Tierney heaved a heavy sigh, fists clenched in frustration. "Again? I thought you fixed that damn thing?" he shot at Karak.

"I patched it. Patches are temporary, by definition," Miles replied plainly. "And this patch was over 2 months ago."

"Clearly not well enough," the chief snapped. "I want you to fix it this time, and then do a level 2 diagnostic and verify your work."

Karak raised a ridged eyebrow at the senior lieutenant. "I can patch it again, and it will fail again eventually, but to 'fix' it we will need an all new coil assembly, which we don't have. We could replicate one, if we had an industrial level replicator, which we don't have either. I could draw a picture if that would help your understanding. Perhaps in crayon?"

A moment skipped, and Miles could hear the other officers holding their breath.

Tierney turned a dark eye to his half-Cardassian junior. "Excuse me?"

Miles had crossed a line, he knew, but this was becoming absurd. It was plain what the problem was, and that the only viable solution was to repatch as needed, but the chief engineer was opting to be blind to the reality and take out his frustrations on the juniors. And Miles, more than the rest, had endured months of the man's foolishness. Someone needed to trip him up a little, and being the next senior, it fell to Miles to fall on the sword.

"Well, you don't seem willing to listen to reason. I thought perhaps you might benefit from a visual explanation, instead."

Tierney stood, eyes wide at Karak's blatant insubordinate attitude. It took him a moment to recover, but his tone was one of barely contained rage. "You are relieved, Lieutenant Karak, and confined to quarters until further notice. I'll be informing the captain of this immediately!"

"No need, chief, I think I heard enough," said a short, petite Tellerite sipping on some Andorian tea by the door. Miles could not help but flash the briefest of grins at the timing. Captain Brant was notorious for roaming the ship and dropping in unannounced. Being a supply vessel did not demand a lot of bridge time, he was heard saying numerous times. "Lieutenant Karak, you'll report to my ready room at once. I think you've done quite enough." His tone was gruff, but it always was, and Karak's smile faded. Was the captain really going to side with the chief?

********

A short while later, Brant entered his ready room at a full brisk pace and rounded the desk to face the still-rising Karak. The CO waved him back down. "Three things," Brant said sharply. "First, I do not care that the chief engineer was being unfair, it's his department, he can run it as he sees fit. You perhaps were banking on my cultural heritage to appreciate your insubordination, but you confuse my penchant for rudeness with outright disrespect. You have a history of an arrogant attitude, Mr. Karak. Your one saving grace is that more often than not, you end up being right. But that's not enough. Not here, nor anywhere in Starfleet, is that merely enough for an officer. Which brings me to my second point."

Brant held up a PADD. "You're being transferred, effectively immediately. Now, this transfer was made before the incident this morning, but I was going to wait until we put into port to give it to you, allow you a chance to book a nice passenger liner. But right now, I want as much distance between you and Tierney as possible, so we'll be rendezvousing with a waste scow, the Garanz, in an hour. They will take you to where you're going. I suggest you take the long, uncomfortable trip to reflect upon your choices that ended up with you on such a journey."

Karak was caught speechless in the whirlwind. Transferred? In an hour?? To where, he wanted to ask, but he was so stunned he couldn't find the words. Finally, he managed a hoarse "where."

"That's the third thing. You're an intelligent engineer, even damned clever at times. Your problem is you know just how clever you are at your job, and so you lack some much-needed humility and restraint. You can go far, if you just learn to keep your mouth shut. But you do need, perhaps, a place where your talents could be appreciated, while giving you an experience that's beyond your comfort zone in order to keep you humble. The Garanz is heading out to Cold Station Theta, where you'll find your new assignment." Brant smirked behind his coarse whiskers. "There I think you'll find your talents will need to be adjusted to something far beyond what you're used to. Good luck, lieutenant. You will need it."

= End Log =

Lieutenant Miles Karak
Damage & Control Specialist, Engineering
Transferred USS VINDICATOR, NX 78213-F

 

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