New faces

Posted on Saturday June 8th, 2019 @ 19:59 hours by Andressa Dreik & Mercy

Mission: Pixie Dust
Timeline: MD04
2465 words - 4.9 OF Standard Post Measure

Heavy lumbering footfalls brought the ship's engineer to the First Mate's cabin, where she'd ring the door chime. She was carrying a PADD with various things on it, items to discuss, problems she'd found with the ship's systems, and what priority they had. Some of them were essential to ensure continued safe operation of the aging ship, though most of them she knew she could work around for a while if needed.

Andi had finally managed to get rid of Clint and get him sorted and was tossing up between taking a nap or seeing what she could find that passed for coffee when her door chimed, again. She groaned inwardly. "Another one?" she muttered to herself. "Enter."

She stepped inside, ducking through the doorway, ears brushing against the frame. She spoke with a deep and warm voice, thick and smooth. "Hey, Ares, I got a few things to discuss with yyoooooooooooooooooooou are not her." Mercy blinked as she looked up and saw a new face.

"Well you're quicker than the last one, I'll give you that," Andi replied dryly as she leaned back against the back of the couch, casting a gaze over the imposing form of Mercy standing in her cabin. "I'm Andi. Ares isn't here. I don't know who she is. I don't know where she is. I don't know what, when, why or how either. If you want Ares, I don't know, try the outpost? If you want the first mate, you're looking at her."

"Ares is the previous first mate." Mercy smirked, flicking an ear, then offering a large, furred and clawed paw out in greet. "No idea she'd left. Name's Mercy, ship's engineer. Also new." she mused, tail giving a lazy wag.

Rising up from the couch, Andi took Mercy's paw in her small hand. "Nice to meet you," she said. "So you're the one in charge of keeping this bucket of bolts from falling apart?"

"That's what I'm getting paid for." Mercy smirked, tail giving a lazy wag. "Speaking of, that's what I was here for. I have a list of items of note I found during my first preliminary inspection. I've arranged them by priority and cost to solve. That can wait, though." she mused. "So, how'd you get Ares' job, so quickly? It seems like I met her only yesterday and now you're here."

"I guess I got lucky, or something like that..." Andi took the list and sighed. It was nearly as expansive and as expensive as the one that Clint had just given her to be approved. "Look, I've lackeyed in engineering on a ship kind of like this, so I understand a bit of this, but I'm gonna need you to break it down for me. How much of this needs to be done before we can leave the outpost?"

"Strictly speaking the ship is space worthy as is." Mercy explained, moving next to Andi to help point out things on the PADD. "The previous engineer did a good job keeping her so. But equipment wears out over time and some of the safeties and redundancies are in need of an overhaul." she mused, pointing out a few items. "I've ordered them by priority, ranging from 'quickly as reasonably feasible' to 'would be nice if we get around to it'." the large engineer offered. "Plus, I've listed a few items that would improve efficiency, they would pay back for themselves in time and start earning the captain money. Just a few percent here and there, but those add up."

"Okay, get your list through to... what's his name..." Andi snapped her fingers, trying to remember. "Yay high, dark hair, kinda scruffy?" She sighed, shaking her head. "Damned if I can remember his name and he just left here. The guy who handles all the purchasing. Get your list through to him and have him cost out what needs to be done and get it back to me, the quicker the better. I'm not sure how much longer we're going to be here for, but at this rate we might need to start getting a little creative with repairs around here."

"Creative with repairs is what I do." Mercy flicked an ear. "Like I said, strictly speaking the ship is space worthy. These are all things to ensure we remain that way a while longer. I don't know about you, but I like my secondaries and redundancies ready and reliably available." she mused. "About yay short, dark hair, kinda scruffy? Sounds like Clint." the lupine woman chuckled. "When you see him, ask him how he and I met. Good for a chuckle."

Andi laughed. "Oh, I'll definitely have to remember to do that, who knows, maybe it'll help break the ice a bit. I get the feeling that the disappointment I'm not Ares is not going to be short lived."

"No disappointment here, Andi." Mercy smiled, tail giving a lazy wag. "Just unexpected, is all. " A nod. "Anyways, I won't take up any more of your time. Looks to me I interrupted you in the middle of getting settled, and for that I apologize. I know how annoying that can be."

"Oh, no, honestly, it's no interruption at all. Though I'd kill for coffee if you wanted to join me?" Andi asked with a semi hopeful smile. "I can't live without it. Definitely my biggest weakness."

"I don't drink coffee, upsets the stomach." She patted her belly. "But I'll be happy to join you for some tea if that's ok. I've got some time to kill, without components."

"Sure..." Andi turned, examining the replicator from across the room somewhat skeptically. "Do they work?" she asked Mercy.

"Should." Mercy shrugged, then lumbered over to the small, civlian model replicator and typed in a few commands on the control panel. A small block of a shimmering material appeared in the characteristic blue glow, then almost instantly was recycled again, after which the control panel gave a happy bleep and displayed some green returns. "Yeah, should be fine. It's happy with what it made and got back." the Lupine woman offered. "Standard type of diagnostic on these low end replicators."

"What kind of tea do you want?" Andi asked as she walked across to the replicator. "Coffee, extra strength, cream and four sugars," she ordered while she waited for Mercy to give her request.

"Just a black tea please. One sugar. Thank you." Mercy replied.

Ordering the mug of tea, Andi picked it up, carrying it carefully in one hand while blowing softly across the top of her coffee before handing the tea off to Mercy. "Take a seat, anywhere you're comfortable," she offered with a shrug as she took a sip of the coffee, her face screwing up in a wince as an involuntary shiver ran down her spine.

Mercy flicked an ear and tilted her head a bit from where she'd sat down right on the floor, cross-legged. "Something wrong with the coffee?" she asked, sniffing her almost comically small mug.

Andi laughed as she sank down onto the couch, crossing her legs in front of her, leaning forward slightly, holding the mug between her hands. "No, not at all, it's just about exactly as I expected it to taste," she said with a smile. "Honestly, I can't stand the taste but it gets me through the day. So how long have you been onboard for?"

"Only just came onboard a few days ago." Mercy replied, satisfied that her tea was safe. She took a small sip, just for taste rather than hydration. "Was lucky to find a job so quickly. Luckily the captain recognized the value and potential of twenty-four years of Starfleet service."

"Oh, you're ex Starfleet?" Andi asked, her interest suddenly piqued. "Engineering in Starfleet as well?"

A nod. "Yep. Like I said, twenty-four years. Made Lieutenant Commander, chief engineer and two-ex-oh on an Excalibur class." Mercy smiled softly, tail giving a lazy wag. "Oh she was a thing of beauty. Double warp cores. Massive power reserves. But that was almost twenty years ago. I still miss her."

Andi laughed. "I got kicked out of the Academy at the start of my second year. I'd just started specializing in Security." She took a sip of her coffee, another wince and another shudder. "But, no regrets, right?"

"Well, some regrets, maybe. The impetuousness of youth can lead to rash decisions that will continue to shape your life for as long as you live." Mercy sighed, contemplating her tea. "But then, the wisdom to avoid bad decisions often comes from making them in the first place." Then a soft smile. "Good to hear you don't have regrets, though."

"So what was your rash decision?" Andi asked, a small smile playing at her lips as she watched Mercy.

Mercy contemplated for a moment or two in silence before replying, her demeanor entirely serious. "Are you sure you want to know? I don't make it a secret and I don't mind telling you - it's in my files even - but I find people tend to change their attitude towards me for knowing what I did."

Andi paused for a moment, contemplating the best way to phrase her response. "Honestly, there is nothing you can say that would be all that bad. And that's coming from the poster child for bad decisions."

Mercy chuckled, though without humor. "I killed two people, with my bare hands. My husband and the bitch that was fucking him." She took another sip of her tea. "... who also happened to be the ex-oh of the ship we were serving on. I turned myself in, got twenty years of hard labor, was released after serving seventeen, and that was two weeks ago. That's where I got the name Mercy."

"You know what?" Andi said softly, the tone of her voice becoming genuine. "No judgement from me. I probably would have done the same thing. That's a large part of the reason I got kicked out of the Academy." She shrugged slightly. "Every decision we make changes who we are, it's just up to us to decide if that change is for the better or worse."

"Well, yes, but bad decisions should affect ourselves. Not ruin things for others." Mercy mused,taking another sip from her tea. "Their only crime was being flawed and having passion. They didn't deserve what I did.

"And you paid for it," Andi replied with a shrug. "No point dwelling in the past."

Mercy shrugged. "I s'pose." she offered, before changing the subject. "So that's the story of how I got kicked out of Starfleet. Now let's hear yours."

"About half way through my first year at the Academy I started running a casino in one of the empty residences, had it turning a real nice profit too, you know, that whole the house always wins thing." She shrugged slightly, taking another sip from her coffee, followed by another wince and another shudder. "Decided to reinvest when I started my second year and started running raves off campus, found a great supplier for bootlegged alcohol, bought it cheap, charged a tidy cover charge and let them have their fun. One of the cadets had too much of the moonshine, got mouthy with one of the hired bouncers, bouncer roughed him up a bit and he died as a result. The Academy found out I was responsible. There was an investigation and then the casino and one or two other... uh... endeavors, came to light. I was expelled pretty quick. I managed to avoid criminal charges only because it happened off campus and the civilian police didn't have enough evidence to do anything. Something 'happened' to the reports Starfleet filed."

Mercy threw her head back and let out a hearty laugh, displaying an impressive set of predatory carnivorous teeth. "Bwahaha! That's a wonderful story. You're a regular entrepeneur, you are. I can see how you made second in command on a ship at your age." she chuckled, eyes lit with amusement.

"After that I spent nearly two years as a Dabo girl. It was surprisingly lucrative, especially when you have a good constitution for alcohol, a quick mind and the ability to not get caught. When that ended I got on a Freighter, and now here I am." Andi shrugged slightly, though the corners of her mouth were turned up in a slight smile.

"Dabo girl, huh." Mercy smiled, finishing her tea before continuing. "I could always try my hand at that if this gig doesn't pan out." She mock contemplated by rubbing her chin, looking interested. "I wonder who'd hire a Sirran dabo girl though."

"Honestly, you'd be surprised! Seriously, the stories that I could tell you... once they start getting a bit liquored up they'd go for an African Elephant if it wore a cute dress." Andi shook her head slightly. "Some of the more unique species of girls were often the most popular."

The engineer chuckled, then shook her head. "Naw, that's not the career for me. Too many - ... people, and having to carry on being nice, pretending. I'll stick with machines, computers and engines, thank-you-very-much."

"It's not all that bad, the pay sucked but the job was surprisingly lucrative, and there were plenty of other 'perks' of the job that came with it," Andi replied with a grin. "Definitely not as backbreaking as being on a freighter, but, then again, not much is really. Though at least this is honest, kind of... well, maybe at least more so."

"I'll pass, thanks. I actually like what you call backbreaking work, but that's just the Sirran in me speaking." Mercy mused. "Anyways, I think I've taken up enough of your time. I should get back to my work. Though if you need anything engineering-ly done, well, I'm not that difficult to find, I suppose."

"Thanks for the company, it was nice," Andi said with a smile. "Though, you know, if you could teach the replicator to make a decent coffee I certainly would't complain," she finished with a laugh.

"Ah, well, you're going to have to find a better recipe yourself, luv." Mercy smiled, as she lumbered back up to her full height, ears brushing against the ceiling. "I don't drink the stuff myself, so I wouldn't know a good cup of coffee if it up and bit my tail." she smirked. "Was lovely meeting you." she added with a wave as she headed towards the door.

"You too Mercy," she said with a smile as she watched the Sirran heading out of her quarters. "Oh, and don't forget to get that list to what's his face!" she called after him.


[OFF]

Andressa Dreik
First Mate

&

Mercy
Engineer