“Put that hyperspanner down!” Edie charged across the main engineering
deck with more speed than one would hypothesize possible from of a woman
of her age and stature. She had caught sight of a young Ensign
beginning to work on a EPS conduit on the starboard side of the room.
The young man jumped back, startled and dropped the tool on the deck
plating. He looked dumbfounded at the old woman which had approached him
to briskly. “Ma’am?”
“That EPS conduit is sensitive. If it isn’t calibrated specifically
it’ll act up and power to the ventral-aft thrusters will lag. Lonie
hates those mark-eight hyperspanners, but even more so when you try and
use them on this particular conduit.” Edie grabbed the tool from the
floor and inspected it, shaking her head and tucking it away in her
baggy and dirty engineering-style overcoat.
“Ma’am?” The young Ensign somehow looked even more dumbfounded now, if
it were possible. “Who is Lonie?.... Sensitive?.... They all work the
same….”
“Listen my young friend.” Edie gave the young officer a gentle pat on
the back. “You’re new here. I wouldn’t expect you to know these things,
so there is no harm done.” She then leaned in awkwardly and whispered.
“Just don’t let Lonie hear that you don’t know his name. That’ll really
hurt his feelings.” She then casually gestured to the entire area around
them. “Lonie.”
“Lonie…..” The Ensign looked around, following her gesture. It took a
few moments before it clicked but when it did, he was both surprised and
slightly disturbed. “The ship…? Lonie..?” He looked at the Chief
Engineer for confirmation on this.
Edie nodded with enthusiasm. “You got it my boy!” She gave the man
another gentle pat on the back before she dug in one of the large
pockets of her overcoat. She retrieved a small PADD and handed it to the
young man. “This is a complete database on what Lonie likes and doesn’t
like, classified right down to sub-systems. I did ask the staff at
Utopia to disseminate this to anyone coming onboard to do work, but it
seems that they have not done so. Here you go.. Ensign?” She realised
she hadn’t really even introduced herself.
“Ensign Frederick Lee.” The man accepted the PADD from Edie and quickly
glanced over it. He was rather overwhelmed at the detail - every single
system was broken down into what device should be used and how it should
be calibrated for repairs.
“Commander Edith Freelove. Just call me Edie.” She gave the young man a big and warm smile.
“I suggest you follow the list my young friend. Lonie is a fussy soul.
Just keep in mind, he is the one that replicates your food! Use the
wrong piece of equipment at your own risk.” With that, Edie trotted back
to where she was working before she caught Ensign Lee about to perform
the blasphemous act. She made a mental note to get in touch with the
operations manager of Utopia and give them a verbal-licking.
The Ensign continued to look at the PADD for a moment. He scrolled down
and found this particular EPS conduit . “Use a mark-six hyperspanner and
set this particular calibration….” He raised his eyebrow and looked at
the conduit and the PADD a few times before walking a short distance to a
small replicator. Before he could enter the request to replicate the
less advance and older style tool, it suddenly materialized in front of
him.
“Alright…. Lonie… I get the message….” He gingerly picked up the tool,
slightly creeped out and clasped the PADD tightly. He made a mental note
to not deviate from Edie’s instructions. No one little bit.
Commander Edith “Edie” Freelove
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Lone Star
&
Ensign Frederick Lee
Engineering Officer
Utopia Planitia