by Zander Blakeslee and Lair Kellyn
80110.1130
The day after Poetry in Motion
80110.1130
The day after Poetry in Motion
--=USS Serendipity=--
--=Personal Quarters of Lt. Zander Blakeslee=--
--=Personal Quarters of Lt. Zander Blakeslee=--
Zander stared at the image of his wife on the viewscreen.
"What do you mean, delayed?" He asked, the frustration evident in his voice.
[I am sorry, my One, but there is nothing that we can do.] Her voice denoted her own disappointment over the news that she was relaying to her husband. [It was an unexpected event.]
Zander rubbed his eyes. This was not what he wanted to hear. He was on pins and needles as it was waiting for his family to arrive on the Sera. Now he was going to have to wait even longer.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke again. "OK, so what happened?"
[The captain reports that there was an unexpected solar flare from a binary star in the sector. The radiation from the flare caused the warp coils to become misaligned.] She explained.
Zander shook his head. "So it was a navigation mishap?"
[It was unexpected. I do not believe that anyone could be to blame.]
Zander nodded. "Of course, I am just upset that I have to wait to see you and the kids." He smiled. "So, exactly how much longer will I have to wait?"
[The chief engineer believes that it will take a day or two to get the coils aligned. Until then we are proceeding on impulse.] She smiled. [It really is not so bad. Absence makes the hart grow fonder.]
He laughed. "He who said that was trying to get away from his wife, I bet. Not already missing her. A day or two, I did not think it would take that long."
[We have just gotten used to the expertise of our Starfleet engineers. I am comfortable and the children are enjoying themselves.]
"I bet they are. When they shipped me here from Phoenix 7 I had to ride in cargo transports and freighters. You get a first class ticket on a five star cruise ship. Talk about the life." He teased.
She smiled broadly. [Well, only the best for the best.]
"Touché."
"What do you mean, delayed?" He asked, the frustration evident in his voice.
[I am sorry, my One, but there is nothing that we can do.] Her voice denoted her own disappointment over the news that she was relaying to her husband. [It was an unexpected event.]
Zander rubbed his eyes. This was not what he wanted to hear. He was on pins and needles as it was waiting for his family to arrive on the Sera. Now he was going to have to wait even longer.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before he spoke again. "OK, so what happened?"
[The captain reports that there was an unexpected solar flare from a binary star in the sector. The radiation from the flare caused the warp coils to become misaligned.] She explained.
Zander shook his head. "So it was a navigation mishap?"
[It was unexpected. I do not believe that anyone could be to blame.]
Zander nodded. "Of course, I am just upset that I have to wait to see you and the kids." He smiled. "So, exactly how much longer will I have to wait?"
[The chief engineer believes that it will take a day or two to get the coils aligned. Until then we are proceeding on impulse.] She smiled. [It really is not so bad. Absence makes the hart grow fonder.]
He laughed. "He who said that was trying to get away from his wife, I bet. Not already missing her. A day or two, I did not think it would take that long."
[We have just gotten used to the expertise of our Starfleet engineers. I am comfortable and the children are enjoying themselves.]
"I bet they are. When they shipped me here from Phoenix 7 I had to ride in cargo transports and freighters. You get a first class ticket on a five star cruise ship. Talk about the life." He teased.
She smiled broadly. [Well, only the best for the best.]
"Touché."
=^= Later on the Bridge=^=
"OK. I am now getting the data from the dorsal sensor on the Alchemy but I can't see any other sensors remotely." Zander reported to the chief of engineering, Lt. Commander Lair.
He was working with engineering to establish a new link between the Sera and the Alchemy that would allow the two ships to share each others sensor data in real-time, thereby extending the ships operational sensor ranges practically doubling them.
The Alchemy would be able to fly out to the far extent of the Sera's sensors then establish the link allowing the Sera to use the Alchemy's sensors and vice-versa.
Zander made a few adjustments on the tactical station, then shook his head. The link dropped completely.
"I lost it." He reported.
"I think that we are going to have to reconfigure bandwidth allocation to the ventral sensor array," Kellyn replied, dabbing drops of perspiration away from her brow with the back of her hand. She'd been in and out of Jeffries' tubes all morning- and it showed.
"We'll have to make some adjustments to allow for the effects of the multi-phasic shielding on the Alchemy, too. Just like the primary sensors of Romulan ships can't detect life signs when it's cloaked, I'll bet that the rapid cycling of the MP shielding will figure into the equation. We're going to have to dig in and just keep working. We'll find a work-around. The payoff will be worth it."
Zander nodded as he kept trying. Lair found him to be much quieter and more reserved this morning than he'd been the day before, during their tour.
"So." She began, as they waited for the latest stream of sensor data to update and display before them, "Has your family arrived? I can imagine you're really anxious to see your sons."
Zander watched the status lights on the panel change. "Yes I am, but it seems I will have to wait a little longer. The ship they are on is having issues with its warp coils." He glanced at the changed in status of the sensors. "Hey, that got it!"
He tapped the panel. "It is only at 87% efficiency but the link is up. I'll try adjusting the bandwidth from here." He began to alter the settings as he continued his conversation.
"I guess commercial engineers are not as skilled as you, are Commander."
He was working with engineering to establish a new link between the Sera and the Alchemy that would allow the two ships to share each others sensor data in real-time, thereby extending the ships operational sensor ranges practically doubling them.
The Alchemy would be able to fly out to the far extent of the Sera's sensors then establish the link allowing the Sera to use the Alchemy's sensors and vice-versa.
Zander made a few adjustments on the tactical station, then shook his head. The link dropped completely.
"I lost it." He reported.
"I think that we are going to have to reconfigure bandwidth allocation to the ventral sensor array," Kellyn replied, dabbing drops of perspiration away from her brow with the back of her hand. She'd been in and out of Jeffries' tubes all morning- and it showed.
"We'll have to make some adjustments to allow for the effects of the multi-phasic shielding on the Alchemy, too. Just like the primary sensors of Romulan ships can't detect life signs when it's cloaked, I'll bet that the rapid cycling of the MP shielding will figure into the equation. We're going to have to dig in and just keep working. We'll find a work-around. The payoff will be worth it."
Zander nodded as he kept trying. Lair found him to be much quieter and more reserved this morning than he'd been the day before, during their tour.
"So." She began, as they waited for the latest stream of sensor data to update and display before them, "Has your family arrived? I can imagine you're really anxious to see your sons."
Zander watched the status lights on the panel change. "Yes I am, but it seems I will have to wait a little longer. The ship they are on is having issues with its warp coils." He glanced at the changed in status of the sensors. "Hey, that got it!"
He tapped the panel. "It is only at 87% efficiency but the link is up. I'll try adjusting the bandwidth from here." He began to alter the settings as he continued his conversation.
"I guess commercial engineers are not as skilled as you, are Commander."
Lair laughed.
"I may not be as skilled as I am incredibly, insufferably stubborn." She replied. "I just refuse to give up."
Zander laughed too.. "It takes skill to be stubborn."
She looked at him thoughtfully, remembering what it was like to be on the station with Arie when Salvek was stationed elsewhere.
"Zander, Salvek and I are supposed to be meeting up with a few friends for dinner tonight. The woman who is going to be overseeing the galley here, she was also there at our last assignment and she really knows how to feed a crowd,"
She nodded with satisfaction as she watched the panel before her and saw that the sensor link was holding.
"I'd like to introduce you to everybody, so when Samthia gets here, you'll feel comfortable introducing her around as well." She smiled at him invitingly. "What do you say? Grace and Reece get back from their honeymoon tonight, and I'm sure they will have some sightseeing stories to tell. Reece, especially, is very entertaining."
Zander thought for a moment. "Sure. Better then sitting in my room and felling sorry for myself." He put on a long sad face. "Alone, lonely, and heartbroken." He switched to a grin.
"So how long have you and the Commander been married, if you do not mind me asking?"
"Going on eleven years." Kellyn replied proudly. "Married on Stardate 970811. A lot of 'fleet marriages don't make it, especially ones first forged during the war," she thought of relationships of friends she'd seen rise and crumble before her own eyes. "We never take each other for granted."
Zander smiled. "That's great." He adjusted a few settings on the forward sensor array. "How did you two meet? I am curious because outside of Samthia and myself, I would have to say it is an odd match." He thought for a moment. "No offense intended of course."
Lair laughed once again. "None taken, believe me. Rarely will you see an odder pairing than myself and Salvek. But somehow, it just works."
She moved over to the engineering station and adjusted the sensitivity of the forward array's isolinear sub-processors, refining their scope.
"We met on the job, my very first day of my very first assignment. There was a Founder wrapped around the warp core of the ship, and we sort of just jumped into our working relationship head first. It didn't take long before we jumped into everything else head first, too."
"A changeling wrapped around the core, now there's an icebreaker if ever I heard one."
"No kidding. Still, the first thing that Salvek did when he saw me was," Kellyn stopped speaking, distracted by her work, leaving Zander hanging.
"What? What did he do?"
"He looked, up, saw me, and promptly hit his head." Kellyn grinned at the memory of the expression on his face. "He says he made up his mind that first day that he was going to pursue me, with hopes of winning my hand when the time came."
"Impulsive, for a Vulcan."
"Well, my timing was quite good." Kellyn added, with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "Every seven years, and my arrival time was just about perfect."
She looked Zander over, and knowing he was quite a bit younger than she was, she knew he had to be a responsible man not only to be where he was in his career at such a young age, but also to be married and have a family.
"What about you and the Mrs.? How did you meet?"
"On the job, so to speak. When she arrived on the Posy, I mean the Poseidon, I was asked to escort her to her quarters. I was in security and with her being a Deltan and all, the captain felt it might take time for the crew to become acclimated to her presence." He stopped and kind of stared into space as he mentally recalled that day.
"She was everything that the stories say Deltans are. Of course I simply chalked it up as the pheromones at first." He turned back to the sensor panel. "I was a much different person back then."
He frowned and popped open a panel and pulled out an isolinier chip. "You got a replacement? This one is cooked."
"Sure." She reached into her tool kit and withdrew a replacement chip, handing it to Zander. "So, what happened?"
Zander shrugged. "I am not sure, some kind of feedback I think."
Kellyn put her hands on her hips and glared at him "Not with the chip."
Zander smiled. "Oh, well over time I began to realize that my attraction for Sam was more then just the pheromones talking. She realized that I was the one she was looking for. You know that kind of that moment when you just know." He glanced over at the chief and noticed her nod her understanding.
"Well, one thing lead to another, she broke her vow of celibacy and I finally found my way to the person I am now. We got married, twice, once on Delta IV and once on Earth." He popped the new chip into place. "She saved my life, as sure as if she'd stopped a phaser blast." He looked at Lair out of the corner of his eye. "But that is another story."
Lair could relate to his words more than she could possibly have explained, just having met the man a day ago.
"That's a story I'd really like to hear someday, Mr. Blakeslee. Which brings me to another terribly nosy personal question I have for you," Lair's earring jingled softly as she bent over and handed him the polarizing calibrator he'd need to initialize action in the new, dormant chip. "Do you drink beer?"
"Sure. Why do you ask?"
"So do I, and that sounds like a tale best told over a couple. I'm buyin'."
Zander laughed. "I'll take you up on that."
Lair's eyes became vacant, her mind clearly transversing a great deal of time and space in her memory.
She was thinking of times and places where other stories had been shared over the beverage, with friends long since gone.
"Yeah," She added, returning to work and looking at him directly once more. "I look forward to meeting your wife, Lieutenant. First chance we all get to go out as a foursome, we can swap stories. I'm sure you'll find Salvek's take on our initial meeting to be fascinating."
She mocked Salvek's tone when speaking the last word, gently. Affectionately.
Zander observed her with curiosity, understanding that when it came to transformations aided by love and devotion, she seemed to have a tale of her own to tell.
"I may not be as skilled as I am incredibly, insufferably stubborn." She replied. "I just refuse to give up."
Zander laughed too.. "It takes skill to be stubborn."
She looked at him thoughtfully, remembering what it was like to be on the station with Arie when Salvek was stationed elsewhere.
"Zander, Salvek and I are supposed to be meeting up with a few friends for dinner tonight. The woman who is going to be overseeing the galley here, she was also there at our last assignment and she really knows how to feed a crowd,"
She nodded with satisfaction as she watched the panel before her and saw that the sensor link was holding.
"I'd like to introduce you to everybody, so when Samthia gets here, you'll feel comfortable introducing her around as well." She smiled at him invitingly. "What do you say? Grace and Reece get back from their honeymoon tonight, and I'm sure they will have some sightseeing stories to tell. Reece, especially, is very entertaining."
Zander thought for a moment. "Sure. Better then sitting in my room and felling sorry for myself." He put on a long sad face. "Alone, lonely, and heartbroken." He switched to a grin.
"So how long have you and the Commander been married, if you do not mind me asking?"
"Going on eleven years." Kellyn replied proudly. "Married on Stardate 970811. A lot of 'fleet marriages don't make it, especially ones first forged during the war," she thought of relationships of friends she'd seen rise and crumble before her own eyes. "We never take each other for granted."
Zander smiled. "That's great." He adjusted a few settings on the forward sensor array. "How did you two meet? I am curious because outside of Samthia and myself, I would have to say it is an odd match." He thought for a moment. "No offense intended of course."
Lair laughed once again. "None taken, believe me. Rarely will you see an odder pairing than myself and Salvek. But somehow, it just works."
She moved over to the engineering station and adjusted the sensitivity of the forward array's isolinear sub-processors, refining their scope.
"We met on the job, my very first day of my very first assignment. There was a Founder wrapped around the warp core of the ship, and we sort of just jumped into our working relationship head first. It didn't take long before we jumped into everything else head first, too."
"A changeling wrapped around the core, now there's an icebreaker if ever I heard one."
"No kidding. Still, the first thing that Salvek did when he saw me was," Kellyn stopped speaking, distracted by her work, leaving Zander hanging.
"What? What did he do?"
"He looked, up, saw me, and promptly hit his head." Kellyn grinned at the memory of the expression on his face. "He says he made up his mind that first day that he was going to pursue me, with hopes of winning my hand when the time came."
"Impulsive, for a Vulcan."
"Well, my timing was quite good." Kellyn added, with a wiggle of her eyebrows. "Every seven years, and my arrival time was just about perfect."
She looked Zander over, and knowing he was quite a bit younger than she was, she knew he had to be a responsible man not only to be where he was in his career at such a young age, but also to be married and have a family.
"What about you and the Mrs.? How did you meet?"
"On the job, so to speak. When she arrived on the Posy, I mean the Poseidon, I was asked to escort her to her quarters. I was in security and with her being a Deltan and all, the captain felt it might take time for the crew to become acclimated to her presence." He stopped and kind of stared into space as he mentally recalled that day.
"She was everything that the stories say Deltans are. Of course I simply chalked it up as the pheromones at first." He turned back to the sensor panel. "I was a much different person back then."
He frowned and popped open a panel and pulled out an isolinier chip. "You got a replacement? This one is cooked."
"Sure." She reached into her tool kit and withdrew a replacement chip, handing it to Zander. "So, what happened?"
Zander shrugged. "I am not sure, some kind of feedback I think."
Kellyn put her hands on her hips and glared at him "Not with the chip."
Zander smiled. "Oh, well over time I began to realize that my attraction for Sam was more then just the pheromones talking. She realized that I was the one she was looking for. You know that kind of that moment when you just know." He glanced over at the chief and noticed her nod her understanding.
"Well, one thing lead to another, she broke her vow of celibacy and I finally found my way to the person I am now. We got married, twice, once on Delta IV and once on Earth." He popped the new chip into place. "She saved my life, as sure as if she'd stopped a phaser blast." He looked at Lair out of the corner of his eye. "But that is another story."
Lair could relate to his words more than she could possibly have explained, just having met the man a day ago.
"That's a story I'd really like to hear someday, Mr. Blakeslee. Which brings me to another terribly nosy personal question I have for you," Lair's earring jingled softly as she bent over and handed him the polarizing calibrator he'd need to initialize action in the new, dormant chip. "Do you drink beer?"
"Sure. Why do you ask?"
"So do I, and that sounds like a tale best told over a couple. I'm buyin'."
Zander laughed. "I'll take you up on that."
Lair's eyes became vacant, her mind clearly transversing a great deal of time and space in her memory.
She was thinking of times and places where other stories had been shared over the beverage, with friends long since gone.
"Yeah," She added, returning to work and looking at him directly once more. "I look forward to meeting your wife, Lieutenant. First chance we all get to go out as a foursome, we can swap stories. I'm sure you'll find Salvek's take on our initial meeting to be fascinating."
She mocked Salvek's tone when speaking the last word, gently. Affectionately.
Zander observed her with curiosity, understanding that when it came to transformations aided by love and devotion, she seemed to have a tale of her own to tell.
------------------------
Lt. Zander Blakeslee
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Lt. Commander Lair
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
Lt. Zander Blakeslee
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012
and
Lt. Commander Lair
Chief Engineer
USS Serendipity NCC-2012