"Dealing With What Is"
[ Previous post Sabrina's "Appreciation" ]
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{The path of least resistance will seldom lead you beyond your
doorstep.}
- Sinoril Ralat Sunsoul, Oltharian Oracle
--==(/\)==--
The damage done to the HATHOR by the structural stress caused by the
simulation created by Ensign Rostov and Ensign Uxtar had been minimal
to say the least, but the Chief Engineering Officer of the ANUBIS had wasted
no time in addressing each and every crack. Watching the engineer
working, the towering Oltharian could only guess as to the joy the man felt as he relentlessly worked at repairing anything and everything that he could
get his hands on.
A Counsellor such as Ensign Mei might have looked at the large Human
and labelled him as suffering from something along the range of an
obsessive compulsive disorder, but the ANUBIS' Counsellor knew Lieutenant Dawson better than that - and so had Elan.
"Initial scans of the matter/antimatter reaction assembly showed no
sign of micro-fractures," the imposing giant who had been placed in change of
the HATHOR's Engineering Department said from across the inactive core.
"Just want to make sure," David replied while keeping his eyes fixated
on the tricorder he had been using to perform a close-range scan of the
warp core and any attached conduit. "Since this is meant to be nothing more
than a shakedown cruise, it would not be fun for anyone if were to be forced
to eject the core or try to survive a breach," Dawson said all so
seriously. "After all, the last thing *I* want to do is swim home."
"Your diligence is admirable," the Oltharian said while crossing his
arms over his massive chest, "but I very much doubt that you would need to
*swim* anywhere given that the force of an explosion caused by an uncontrolled
cascading core breach would be more than sufficient to reduce all
onboard the HATHOR into subatomic particles."
David stopped his scanning for a moment and tilted his entire body far
enough to be able to see the Oltharian standing on the other side of
the lifeless tower. "It was an expression," the engineer said, "or a joke,
call it what you want, I was not meaning that I or anyone else would
actually have to *swim* home if something went wrong. Not that I am expecting
there to be anything that will go wrong," Dawson added as he resumed his
scanning of the warp core.
"May I ask you a question of a somewhat personal nature?" Elan asked
while moving ever so slightly to one side allowing the two engineers to be
able to continue speaking without any further obstruction standing between
them.
Since David had considered Elan as both a friend and a mentor in many
ways, the Assistant Chief Engineering Officer of the HATHOR saw no reason to
refuse answering whatever question the Oltharian might have in store
for him. "What's on your mind Commander?" Lieutenant Dawson asked, not
hesitating one moment in using the giant's former rank, one that he had
voluntarily given up when he had resigned his commission in order to
spend time on his home world of OLTHAR PRIME.
"Actually," the Oltharian smiled, "I wanted to ask you that exact same
question. What is on your mind?"
"Why do I have the feeling that you will not be satisfied if I reply
that the only thing on my mind is making sure that Uxtar and Nico didn't do
any permanent damage with their little stunt?" David asked returning the
tricorder to the sheath hanging on his belt.
"Because that would be an accurate evaluation of my question and of the
answer that I am expecting from you," the Oltharian said sounding like
a man countless times his age.
David inwardly debated for a moment as to what to answer, wondering if
Elan had been speaking to Susan or if the giant engineer had decided to take
up Counselling as a secondary profession. "Just thinking about what
Serenna and I talked about before coming onboard to see what was happening,"
the engineer eventually replied, not saying more than he had thought had
been required.
"It will take time for everyone to adjust to what happened," Elan said
sounding increasingly more like a Counsellor and less and less as a
fellow engineer. "The only advice I can give you my friend is to face these
people and speak to them. Do not confront them about how they may have
perceived you or about how they now look upon you, but instead try to understand why they are acting and reacting as they are. Through this understanding you may very well gain a better understanding of yourself as well as of those who are around you."
"Why do I have the feeling that you have been speaking, at length I
might add, with Susan." David said in a low growl, not at all liking where
this little discussion had been going.
"I have not," Elan reassured, "but I do recognise your dedication to
your work for what it is. Had we been on the ANUBIS I might not have said
this, but the HATHOR is with not *your* ship, and therefore your working as
hard as you have been can only be because of one of two reasons - you either
are trying to find ways to avoid the others or are trying to impress your
immediate superior and supervisor."
David had been ready to challenge the Oltharian on his logic and try to
convince Elan that all of the work had been for no other reason than to
make sure everything had been well done, but as Assistant Chief Engineer
gazed at the HATHOR's Chief Engineering Officer, Dawson realised that any such
attempt would be useless.
"Talking to them is not as simple as it may seem," David reluctantly
admitted, admitting through this that Elan had been correct in his
observation and analysis.
"Avoiding speaking to them will prove to be even more difficult as time
passes, especially after the mission begins and we are all sharing the
HATHOR's restrictive space," the Oltharian pointed out. "Sometimes the
path of least resistance is not the easiest to follow, and it is rarely the
most productive or rewarding."
"Fine," David sighed, "I'll make a point of talking to the others - as
soon as I have finished these scans of the warp core," he added reaching for
his tricorder and resuming his scrutiny of the inactive power core of the
USS HATHOR.
--==(/\)==--
Lieutenant Junior Grade Elan Talak Fairborn 2005 post #513
Stardate: 60329.1130
Setting: USS HATHOR, Engineering Department
Francois Charette {f_charette@hotmail.com}
Robotics Engineering Officer
NEW ALEXANDRIA
&
Chief Engineering Officer
USS HATHOR
