Engineerlings

Posted on Mon Jun 22nd, 2020 @ 12:29am by Cailus Griffin & Lieutenant Commander Mindo & Petty Officer 1st Class Greep & Emilie Temple & Eva Griffin
Edited on on Tue Jul 7th, 2020 @ 2:01pm

Mission: Into the Wild
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: After “Field Trip”

A Mission Post by Lieutenant Mindo & Petty Officer 1st Class Greep & Lieutenant JG Cailus Griffin & Emilie Temple & Aoife Brennan
Mission: Into The Wild
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: After “Field Trip”
Tue Feb 27th, 2018 @ 3:38pm

It was quite rapidly turning into one of those days where a simple, small excursion for the children was blooming into a full blown tour of the ship. After the visit to Astrometrics had been cut short, Katrine and Aoife were still quite plainly eager to see something during the impromptu field trip, and without much time to think, Cailus had settled on Engineering as their next destination.

Seeing Katrine jump into the turbolift however, the little girl plainly still full of beans, he couldn’t help but reconsider. Astrometrics was one thing but Engineering was a very different kettle of fish, with endless possibilities for an over-eager five year old to push the wrong button or open the wrong panel. While Starfleet regulations for such matters had relaxed over the last century, Cailus had difficulty believing they’d been relaxed that much.

“I’m just going to call Lieutenant Mindo,” Cailus said pointedly to Emilie as the turbolift doors closed. “To make sure that this is permissable. They may be busy down there.”

“Good idea,” Emilie nodded with a smile.

“What about seeing daddy?” Katrine asked, as she tried to follow the light on the Turbolift panel as they passed each floor. One by one she nodded her head up and down as the light flickered past.

Emilie placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “We can’t go to the Bridge, honey, kids are definitely not allowed there. Neither am I for that matter.”

Katrine turned and looked incredulously at her mother for a moment. She moved her gaze to Griffin, little eyes taking in his important-looking uniform before making a clear conclusion. “Can you go to the Bridge, Mister Griffin?”

“Yes,” Cailus said warily, sensing a trap. “I work there all the time.”

“Then you could take me there?” Katrine shrugged simply.

That quite effectively threw Cailus for a loop. He glanced at Emilie, procrastinating. “Well, Miss Katrine...ah...your father is the captain, and he might not be happy with me if I do that. It’s against the rules.”

Katrine nodded, she knew all about daddy’s rules, “Do you have to go to bed at seven o’clock?”

Emilie gave an embarrassed laugh, “I’m sure Lieutenant Griffin goes to bed a bit later in the evening, darling.”

"Yes, I do," Cailus said with bemusement. "Actually, Katrine, Aoife has the same bedtime as you do."

Starting to get bored with standing in the turbolift (and well aware of the dangers of having two bored toddlers in a turbolift), Cailus ordered the turbolift to move to Deck 12 as he tapped his combadge. "Griffin to Mindo."

There was a brief pause, and Cailus was almost sure he could literally hear Mindo roll his eyes.

=/\= Mindo here, =/\= he said finally.

"Lieutenant," Cailus said awkwardly, "I have an...unusual...request to make."

Another pause. Then: =/\= Go ahead. =/\=

Cailus hesitated, wondering how best to explain; for all his years in Starfleet, this was a new one. “Lieutenant, I’m with Emilie right now, the ship’s education administrator, and we’re taking the children on an unplanned field trip. I am aware that it may be against regulations, but would you be amenable to our taking Katrine and Aoife to Engineering? Katrine has promised to remain well-behaved, and as you know, Aoife isn’t quite up to walking yet, so she’ll be fine. I will ensure that they’re both quite safe.”

"I'm on my best behaviour!" Katrine yelled loudly into Cailus' chest.

Cailus could hear Mindo's grin as he replied, =/\= Sounds great! We'd love some guests. =/\=

Resigned to their fate, Cailus sighed as the turbolift doors opened, and he adjusted Aoife’s position slightly. “We’ll be there in a moment. Griffin out.”

====== Engineering ======

"We're having visitors?" said Crewman Zo, excited at the notion.

"Indeed, Zo," replied Mindo, handing a PADD back to an Ensign. "Aoife and the Captain's daughter. So be on your best behavior."

"Aren't I always?" said Zo with a grin.

"If you are, I encourage you to try harder," said Mindo with a small smile creeping onto his face. "Personally, I'm just glad to have someone here I can look in the eye."

Greep had been silent up to this point, and Mindo noticed he was just standing there looking at the ground. "Something wrong with the floor, Greep?" he asked.

Greep straightened up. "No," he said. "It's just... I'm not good with kids."

"What are you talking about?" said Mindo, turning to face his longtime friend.

"I don't really like kids," Greep squawked. "I'm too awkward around them."

"Well you were a kid once, right?" said Zo.

"I was awkward back then too," replied Greep.

"You're fine with me," said Mindo.

"You're not a child," said Greep, looking down at the Chief Engineer.

"You're the first person to point that out," replied Mindo. He activated his LEGs and hovered up to Greep's height. Putting a hand on Greep's shoulder, Mindo said, "They're just kids. Just use small words and act impressed whenever they complete a sentence. You'll do fine."

"What if they say something stupid?" replied Greep, but the doors to Engineering had already swished open, and Mindo's concentration had now turned to their guests just arriving.

"Hi everyone," said Mindo. "Welcome to Engineering!" Mindo adjusted his LEGs again and gently hovered down to the floor.

"Thank you for having us," Emilie spoke up, holding onto Katrine tightly, though she couldn't help but marvel at Engineering herself. Emilie had never been into this part of a ship before and to her it looked like the beating mechanical heart of a powerful vessel. "It's so impressive."

Katrine was watching the swirling colours in the warp core up ahead, "What's that?"

"That," said Mindo, turning slightly toward the core, "is the warp core. It powers the Pandora's engines and makes us able to move really, really fast! Do you want to get a closer look?" Mindo gestured to the pulsating warp core, the gigantic structure that stood several stories high and thrummed quietly. The colors of the light undulating through the core made it a beautiful sight indeed.

Katrine looked up to her mother hopefully, little eyes secretly pleading to get close enough to see the warp core. Emilie gave a small nod to her daughter and patted her hair gently.

"Alright," Emilie said softly, "Let's go."

Slowly and carefully, the tour group went closer to the core and Katrine's eyes became more like saucers as she stared up at the magic device. The sounds of the swirling plasma getting louder and louder as they approached. However, Katrine's wonderment turned to fear the closer they came, and she ended up hiding behind her mother's legs.

"It's quite all right," said Mindo, extending a hand. "That thrumming sound you hear is the core purring, like a cat! When it purrs, that means it's happy. And it's my job to keep it happy."

Zo cut in. "I think the core is happy we have visitors!" He knelt down to Katrine's height. "Would you like to touch it?"

Katrine looked to the young faced Mindo and his friend, then hid behind Emilie's legs again.

"It's not dangerous, darling," Emilie said softly, twisting herself to look around at her child. "See, min mor will do it." She looked to Mindo, "If that's alright?"

"Sure!" said Mindo. He grinned. "Want to see me fly?" Just then, he activated his hovering device and moved gracefully up to the core and hugged it. "I love my core," he said. He turned around and hovered back down.

Katrine let out the delighted, boisterous giggle of an enthralled four year old and she clapped happily as Mindo hugged the warp core. "I want to fly! I want to fly!"

Following behind at a more sedate pace was Cailus and Aoife, the toddler snug and secure in his arms. Standing before the thrumming warp core, with the rolling and swirling of every imaginable shade of blue, Cailus watched it right along with Aoife.

"Look at all the blue," Cailus murmured into the little one's ear, heedless of everyone else. "It's like the sea, isn't it?"

The big blue thing was so BIG, and the rhythmic thrum it produced was loud, it was all quite intimidating! But hearing Cailus' soothing voice in her ear kept Aoife calm, and seeing her new friend Katrine being so fearless seemed to fill her with courage; if everyone else thought this big loud glowy thing was safe, then it must be safe! And the many shades of blue was kind of pretty...

"If it were to break, we'd all go BOOM!" squawked Greep.

At Greep's words, Cailus' mushy smile transformed into a terrible, cold scowl as he glared back up at the Ontarion, making his displeasure with Ontarion engineer plain.

The smile faded off Katrine's lips as the big bird man squawked his awful words. She whispered, tears welling in her eyes, "Mummy?"

Emilie leaned down and patted Katrine gently, as she shook her head, "It's alright, honey, that's not going to happen."

Mindo grimaced and looked back at the Ontarion. Just then, Zo stepped in.

"Ah," said Zo, "that's a little joke. The warp core is so strong it can't break!"

Greep grunted and Mindo silenced him with a pointed finger.

Turning back to his guests, Mindo held out his hand to Katrine. "I can take you up to say hi!" he said with a friendly smile.

"Yes please!" Katrine cried, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. She reached up with her little arms, as she often did when she expected to be picked up, and waited for Mindo.

Emilie stood back and tried not to show the concern on her face. "You'll have to hold on tight." She said warningly to Katrine, though really meant it for Mindo.

Mindo put his arm around Katrine and used his free hand to activate his LEGs. The two began to hover, and Mindo brought them up close to the core and held his hand out to it. "Go ahead," he said, inching her closer to the pulsating core.

Katrine had buried her head into Mindo's torso as she went up, the small rush of air passing through her hair as they ascended. She looked around now, higher off the ground than she had ever been before - definitely higher than the climbing gym at Daycare. Behind her stood the massive core and she eyed it off with quiet determination. It was bigger and louder now, and she worried that her touch might cause it to break and then, as the blue bird had suggested, BOOM!

The girl started to reach her hand out to touch the core but then pulled it back suddenly. She looked to Mindo with frightful eyes, "What if I break it?"

"You won't. I promise," said Mindo with a warm smile.

Hesitantly and slowly, Katrine reached out and her small fingers eventually made contact with the hull. She flinched at first, as if testing to see whether it actually would explode, before trying again and placing her hold hand on hull. She gave out a joyous giggle once more. "It's humming!"

"It is!" said Mindo. "I think it likes you." He looked over to Emilie and gave her a small, reassuring wink.

Oh, that looked like fun! Of course, Aoife only thought so because Katrine looked like she was having fun, so she held up her arms hoping that she could fly with the short man and touch the big glowy blue thing.

As Katrine returned to earth, or the fabricated metal ground, she jumped off of Mindo's boots and excitedly danced around. "Did you see me Min Mor? I was so high up there! And I touched it!"

Emilie laughed at her daughter's enthusiasm, "I saw, it was amazing."

"I wanna do it again!" Katrine cried.

Her mother was less enthusiastic about that idea, and she gently turned Katrine over to Griffin and Aoife, "I think we need to give someone else a turn."

The girl thought about this for a moment before silently nodding.

Shifting Aoife slightly so that she could see him, Cailus smiled at the little one, all traces of his normal stern self forgotten. “How about it, Aoife? Do you want the nice man to take you up there too?”

Aoife hesitated before responding with a nod; of course she would be a little hesitant about trying something like this, but Katrine seemed to enjoy it, so Aoife wanted to try it too, and she held out her arms for the flying man to take her up!

“Well, okay then.” Glancing up at the warp core (damn, that thing was tall), Cailus nevertheless handed Aoife over to Mindo with great care.

Mindo took Aoife and floated up next to the core. "Go on," he said with a friendly smile.

Aoife squealed with delight as they went up, but then they were next to the core and Aoife just stared for a moment; so much blue, it reminded her of the place that Shae's mother and Cailus took her to swim! With eyes full of wonder, Aoife reached out to touch the core, drawing her hand back with a surprised squeak when she felt it thrumming. With a big smile, she clapped to show her excitement, then reached out to feel that warm thrum again.

Mindo reached out and put his hand on it too and smiled. Aoife moved then, and Mindo had to remove his hand and steady her in his arms. While they were only up a few feet, the fall would no doubt hurt Aoife. After a small moment he hovered back down to Cailus. "There we go!" he said as their feet touched the floor.

Cailus couldn't help but smile at Aoife's innocent joy, and he knelt to Mindo and Aoife's level. He met Mindo's eyes warmly for the first time he could remember, and then looked to Aoife, allowing the little one to stay in Mindo's arms just a few moments longer. "So how was it, Aoife? Was that fun?"

Aoife chirped in affirmation with a happy clap, then held her arms out for Cailus to take her once more; she wasn't sure what that big blue thing was, but touching it had been a real adventure for her, and now she was ready to return to the familiar and safe arms of her 'father'.

"Why doesn't she talk like real people?" squawked Greep.

Zo leaned toward his fellow engineer. "You don't talk like real people."

"I imitate the sounds! It's hard to speak your language!" Greep insisted.

Mindo chuckled. "Every baby agrees with you, Greep."

With Aoife back in his arms, Cailus regarded the bantering engineers with bemusement. "Aoife is still learning how to talk, but she's doing really well." Then he glanced at the Temples, momentarily meeting Emilie's eyes in a look of mutual understanding before looking down at Katrine. "Miss Katrine, can you show Aoife what to say to Lieutenant Mindo for letting us come here?"

Katrine nodded and stepped forward, though she had nervously put her fingers over her mouth. Everyone was staring at her, including the large blue bird-man, and she became shy. "Thank you." She murmured.

"Say it louder, honey." Emilie encouraged her from behind.

"THANK YOU!" Katrine shouted, jumping up excitedly, suddenly a ball of energy again. Emilie just laughed, knowing she should have expected that.

Everyone else laughed too. The whole affair had been a welcome break from work, though Mindo knew they should probably be getting back to work.

"You're welcome!" he said to Katrine and Aoife. "Come back to visit us again some time!"

Aoife didn't speak, but she understood most of the words being used around her, and with a bright smile she raised her hand to wave good-bye to the flying-man.

Mindo smiled and waved. Behind him, Zo did the same. Greep stayed quiet.

Katrine marched on into the corridor, almost dragging her mother with her. Emilie was just pleased this visit had occurred without any breakages, meltdowns, or core explosions. Who knows where they were heading next, but she was grateful that the Pandora's crew were being so accomodating.

Once they had left, Greep said, "I thought they were supposed to be cute."

"Back to work, Greep," said Mindo.