Meetings and Greetings
Posted on Sat Sep 13th, 2025 @ 12:34am by Lieutenant Rynna Csira & Lieutenant Commander Johnathan "Jack" MacGyver
1,254 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
A Day In The Life
Location: Engineering
As Rynna would likely be working with engineering from time to time, she decided she should stop by and say hello. Now that the chaos of joining the ship, only to head to earth and get a new one was over, she was finally settling down to business.
When she entered main engineering, she paused to glance around, appreciating the layout. She spent a longer moment looking over the MSD, then she turned her attention to finding the chief.
After asking around, Rynna was directed to a room just off of engineering. When she opened the door, she was immediately greeted by the loud music and the smell of coolant and heated metal. The room had been converted into a custom manufacturing shop with several old earth machines such as a mill, a lathe and even a grinding wheel. Off to one side of the room, Jack was working on modifying a piece of equipment on his work bench, completely oblivious to the new person in the room.
She moved closer, careful not to disturb him just yet, watching him work. "Computer, turn music down." She hoped it would be enough to get his attention without startling him. But if not, she'd give him another minute or two and then say something. Watching the way he worked said a lot about the man. She respected someone who didn't mind doing his own modifications.
Looking up from his work as the music lowered, Jack looked around and spotted a visitor, “ah, sorry mate, I didn’t hear ya come in.” He said, taking off his goggles and hanging them on a hook attached to the workbench. “So, What can I do for ya?”
"Nothing. I'm the new chief of operations." She grinned. "In fact, I was originally going to be your assistant before you were switched to engineering. I came by to say hello."
Jack’s eyes shot up in surprise, “oh, that’s make you Lieutenant Csira. Sorry about the mix up, things have been moving a little quickly lately. I think I left the office clean enough for ya”
"I barely got into it before we came to earth and changed ships." She nodded to the room as a whole. "I like this place."
Jack nodded as he looked around, practically beaming with pride, “yeah this is my little workshop. For those intricate fixes that the replicator can’t quite get right you know” he said, looking back to Rynna, “so if there's anything you need custom built, just ask me.”
"Thanks. I'm sure I will at some point. Sometimes replicating a part isn't the same as having one custom-built." She looked around again, identifying several of the machines. "As the former head of ops, do you have any recommendations?"
Jack thought for a moment before responding, “paperwork is a necessary evil, so don't put it off. Listen to the senior enlisted, they know more then they let on, and find a good place to hide the whisky” he answered with a grin.
"I firmly believe that Starfleet, like the military of old, runs on its non-coms. They've got more time in the trenches. I don't generally keep whisky around, but if I find it, I'll hide it." She grinned at the last part. "Thanks for the advice."
“No problem. If you ever need some extra hands, my staff are available” Jack said with a grin, “is this your first Department head position?”
"I will." Rynna smiled. "And the same goes for ops. We're always happy to help out when we're needed." Then her smile grew impish. "And even when we aren't."
Jack nodded, "I like that attitude. 'Even when we're not'. sounds dedicated" he said, as he pulled out a bottle of brown liquid and two glasses, "care for a drink?"
"Sure. A drink would be nice." She grinned. "You may change your mind about my dedication when I keep popping up with a hypospanner."
Pouring both of them a drink of his whisky, Jack slid one of the glasses across, “so long as the work gets done right, I don’t think I’d mind at all. Besides, our fields tend to overlap anyway, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find you crawling around somewhere.”
"True, but I'll stay away from the warp core. That's all yours." She raised her glass in a salute before taking a sip. "I like crawling through access tunnels and noodling with transporters and communications." She could definitely help out in an emergency, but she generally preferred to leave the warp core to engineering.
“Then I suppose I’ll leave those systems in your capable hands,” Jack said, taking a sip from his own glass, “but I have dibs on structural integrity fields and the environmental systems.”
Rynna couldn't help laughing. "Gladly. I've always preferred operations to engineering. I like the variety. You are welcome to the rest. Although I may come here to get you to fabricate parts from time to time. This place is really nice."
Jack raised his glass, “doors always open. If you’ve got an idea, I’m sure I can make it work”
Rynna raised her glass in response. "Thanks." She took a sip and asked, "So, any advice for the newbie as far as working with the crew?"
After a moment of thought, Jack gave a grin, “listen. I know it sounds a bit strange for a senior officer, but no one can see every angle. As for anything outside your wheelhouse, leave that to the other department heads to fix. Something brakes on this ship, we’ll fix it. Spatial anomaly, that’s for those egg heads in blue to figure out”
"That doesn't sound strange at all. As we both know, ops generally does the odd jobs around the ship, but science and medical are right out of our wheelhouse. I have no problem leaving those duties to those with the training." She grinned. "But the advice is still appreciated."
“You’re more than welcome” Jack said, taking another sip, “you ever worked on a ship like this before?”
"No. This is my first Akira. It's definitely got personality." She grinned at Jack. "What about you?"
“Technically this is my first active Akira. I worked on plants while helping to rebuilt utopia Planitia and at Starbase 39-Sierra. Other than that, I was on the Merlin and the Majestic before this. Both as ops chiefs”
"This is my first position as chief, but I've been mostly in ops and communications. I like to be hands on, so I think we'll work well together."
Jack nodded, “it’s the best way to be. Being stuck behind a desk just sounds boring”
"Yes. I think I'd start making up reasons to poke holes in the bulkhead if I had to stay at my desk." She grinned. "I should probably let you get back to your work and see if I have any work orders. It's kind of slow right now with a new ship."
“Maybe you can perform a few stress tests on some of the ships systems, give them a proper run before we head out” Jack suggested, sliding the bottle of whisky towards her, “for the road”
She picked it up and smiled. "Already started, but I'll make sure everything gets checked. "She raised the bottle. "This will make it go better. Thanks!"
A post by
Lt Commander Johnathan ‘Jack’ MacGyver
Chief of Engineering
USS Orcrist
Lieutenant Rynna Csira
Chief Operations Officer
USS Orcrist
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