Lt. Commander Laith Issith
USS Dauntless, Executive Officer
ISS0104

Lt. Daniel Bastin
USS Dauntless, Chief Engineer
BAS0703

"First Encounters"

<ON>

Daniel sighed, leaving the briefing room and
hurrying to the turbolift. On his way, he
snatched a PADD from the Engineering Console,
quickly entering his authorization code and
accessing the Dauntless' engine specs. He didn't
even glance at the Engineering station, since he
figured he wouldn't be on the bridge much – at
least, not these first couple of days. Besides,
if the holodeck recreations of the bridge were
correct, the Engineering station was actually
somewhat similar to that of the Majestic.

He nodded to an Ensign at a systems diagnostic
table; didn't know the person, but thought it
would be good to start off on the right foot. He
could only hope everyone else returned the
courtesy...he and Captain Han had never done well
together, no matter how polite they'd been to
each other. Stepping into a turbolift, and saying
quickly, "Main Engineering," he turned his
concentration to the PADD.

With his first meeting, a session with the
Dauntless' Intelligence Chief, under his
proverbial belt – Commander Laith was eager for
two things: introducing himself to his new CO and
actually figuring out where his quarters were
located. The priorities definitely indicated that
it would be a while before Laith stood in
quarters and he resigned himself to being cold
and homeless until everything was resolved. He
headed for the turbo-lift and stepped onboard
with an officer clad in a gold uniform with
lieutenant's pips on the collar.

"Good morning Lieutenant." Laith smiled
congenially.

"Morning, sir," Daniel said, looking up from his
PADD. He was always a bit dazed when someone
broke his concentration. Seeing the man's
uniform, he realized it was probably the First
Officer - they hadn't had one assigned when he'd
transferred. "Are you going to engineering?" he
asked, wondering weather he should hope for a yes
or no answer. After all, XOs were usually quite
different from their captains.

"I'm heading in that general direction." He
looked the man beside him over, his mind going
through the faces from the personnel files he'd
reviewed before coming aboard. "You're Chief
Bastin."

Daniel nodded, saying, "Yes, I am. At your
service." it was polite to say that, right? He
hoped he wasn't sounding patronizing. ~You're
overanalyzing things...~ he reminded himself, and
turned back to the PADD. "Are you the new First
Officer, sir?" he asked, hoping that the answer
was no - having an XO breathing down his back -
even one who was better then his Captain -
wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Guilty." Laith nodded, "I'm Lt. Commander Issith
– just off the transporter pad and attempting to
find the Captain so I can introduce myself."

"Oh, alright. He was on the bridge last I saw,
just finished a briefing." Daniel replied, hoping
the man would decide to head there and not bother
with Engineering. Command officers - even those
with an engineering background, especially those
with an engineering background - just didn't
understand that to do his best work, an engineer
needs to be with his own kind, thinking and
making decisions, then telling his superiors. Not
being harassed and told that he had two hours
when it would actually take three - and yes, if
Daniel told someone it would take three, he was
only... slightly exaggerating.

"Actually I've been meaning to contact you," the
other man said, "I would have before I boarded by
things were a little rushed. I'd like to set up a
meeting to discuss some adjustments to the
environmental settings in my quarters."

Daniel frowned. He was already asking for favors?
Great. Now not only did he have to break the laws
of warp physics, he had to reconfigure a deck for
some...he sighed, reminding himself yet again not
to think about others that way. It hadn't gotten
him very far before. He settled on saying, "Right
now things are a bit tied up - the Captain wants
this ship at top speed as soon as we leave the
dock. I'll see what I can do though."

"Understood, Lieutenant, it's certainly not among
the top tier of priorities."

Daniel nodded, glad it wasn't. On some ships, the
First Officer's personal cup of tea was more
important then the fate of the engineering staff.
Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case.
Yet. That, and the fact that the actual
environment adjustments wouldn't take too long -
he could delegate them to that hyperactive
assistant of his - was already making his day
better. He pressed a few more buttons on the
PADD, and said nothing.

Laith spoke again. "You'll have to forgive me,
but from what you've said it sounds as if
there've been some problems in Engineering?"

Daniel frowned. He hadn't actually *been* in
engineering yet, so no, no problems. But he was
sure some would present themselves. Still, he
couldn't help but wonder what he had said that
gave that impression. "No, sir. None yet." he
said, making an effort at a smile. "Hopefully
none at all."

The turbolift doors slid open smoothly, and
Daniel made an 'after you' motion with his arm.
Again, polite. Without even thinking that time,
too. His weak smile broadened to a grin. Things
were going well...weren't they? For the first
time, he took a good look at the man. His skin -
even with the tattoos - was mildly surprising,
but what interested Daniel the most was the man's
nose, and his eyes. Like a Betazoid, his eyes
seemed completely black, but his nose had odd,
almost grotesque-looking holes, which Daniel
found both intriguing and mildly repulsive. Not
that he'd ever say anything to that effect. After
dealing with Vulcans, Bajorans, and several other
less hospitable alien races, nose holes were the
least of his concerns.

Laith stepped into the hall ahead of the
Engineering Chief and walked along side the man
as they prepared to part company, "I understand
that the Dauntless has left starbase well ahead
of schedule – that's bound to cause some
confusion, but I'm also sure the Captain will
expect things to be in tight order quickly. It's
not an ideal situation but we'll all make the
best of it."

Daniel chuckled. "That's one way of putting it. I
for one prefer to get used to a ship before I
start really messing with its insides... every
engine is different, you know?" That was a gross
understatement - every engine did the same thing,
but getting them to do it well took a long time.
Working on the Majestic had been a completely
different experience from the Katana - and you
really got a feeling that the engine belongs to
you. It was kind of hard to give it up when you
transferred, really.

"I will need a status report within the hour – a
good baseline as to how ship's systems are
functioning and what the engineering personnel
situation looks like. Let me know if you need
extra hands to meet the Captain's request for
warp power – we can shunt some personnel in from
other departments as needed."

"Aye. The engineering compliment seems OK,"
actually, it was much larger then he was used
too, "but I don't think we have a plasma dynamics
expert. If you know anyone with that experience,
please send them my way?" It was more a question
then a request; he didn't care one way or another
if he did get a dynamics expert - though it would
be a bit useful.

"I believe there is an ensign in the Science
Department with a plasma dynamics specialization
– I'll arrange to have her spend some time with
you." They'd reached Engineering and Laith
stopped, "I guess I'll leave you to it – no sense
in a senior officer gumming things up." He
smiled, it would have been how he felt when he
was running the Security Department aboard the
Tecumseh and some things never changed. "I'll be
in touch – good day Mr. Bastin."

Daniel nodded, taking a deep breath and turning
towards the set of double doors. "Thank you,
sir." he replied, giving another half smile. "I
suppose we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
this wasn't meant to be an insult, just an
observation.

Laith raised an eyebrow in a fashion that would
have pleased his old CO. "I'll set out an extra
place setting…" He smiled.

The doors slid open, and Daniel stepped in,
turning to face Laith once more. "Oh, and sir..?
Good luck." he meant it. If his job was hard,
handling the people who did his job must be
worse.

<END>