Renee/J'Loni

Posted on Tue Sep 12th, 2017 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Commander J'Loni Mo'Bri & Lieutenant Renee Salchin

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: June 15 2399 1100

-=/\=-

Renee bounced on the balls of her feet as the turbolift whisked her from where she'd dropped off her gear at her new quarters. The transport had dropped her off on New Earth only a handful of hours before the Wellington arrived and when she'd been reassigned from the Saladin as excess to needs, she'd had a combination of elation and concern. While she'd peripherally known the chief engineer on the Saladin, she knew next to nothing about the chief OR assistant chief on the Wellington. Not to mention, Saladin was a Nova-class ship where a CPO would be a key part of the engineering crew, here on a Sovereign, she could get lost in the sea of crewers. But with her record... She tapped the edges of the PADD she carried, the one that held her entire record and a letter from her most recent senior engineer explaining some things.

The turbolift doors slid open and she stepped out with a bounce in step, smiling at the warp core in the center of the engineering bay, the heartbeat of the ship as it pulsed with power. Her just beyond regulation shoes with only an inch of heel clicked along the deck, the flare of a somewhat regulation shirt over black stockings and her purely regulation gold tunic with the shiny new rank insignia of a Chief Petty Officer gleaming on the collar. She ran through her memory and caught sight of the woman who she had seen in her briefing documents as J'Loni Mo'Bri, the second in command of the engineering section.

Renee put a big smile on her face as she flounced up to the woman that she could look eye to eye at the same level, "Commander Mo'Bri?" She asked rhetorically, "Chief Petty Officer Renee Salchin, reporting for duty." She stuck out a hand.

Hearing the voice, J'Loni brought her head up, forgetting she was bending under the console and banged it yet again, "Qu'valth! (Klingon explicative) Damn console", she growled. Turning to the direction of the voice she saw a young officer standing there. Staring for a moment, rubbing her aching head, she looked at this young human kid, to coin a phrase. It seemed to her that Starfleet was sending their youngest to the far reaches of this quadrant to learn but why now? They assigned a young girl and she guessed she would have to add another new protege to her already huge list. She had become good at judging character and this kid seemed to be pretty eager to learn and be successful so she softened her face and tone of voice before she spoke again. “Well Chief Salchin welcome to the Engineering Musketeers Den!”, she said smiling as she took the young ladies hand and shook it. Down here we go by first names and you can call me boss or chief or what ever suits you just not hey you!”, she said. “What is a nice kid like you doing in my engine room? I hope you got your coveralls with you cause you are going to need them”, she added smiling at the now slightly bewildered engineer. “By the way I don’t bite!” she said roaring in laughter. J’Loni was known by her tremendous Klingon belly laughs and once the others in engineering heard her they knew she had a new student in the fold. It wasn't long before five heads popped out from around the corners looking to see just what had made their boss laugh. “Come on out fellas and meet our new addition to the fold. “This is Chief Petty Officer Renee Salchin and she is one of our other engineering officers here. I have to introduce you to Ensign Cordale when I find him but these are the main ones you have to look out for except for two. They are married already!”, she said looking at the faces peering at the young woman.

In a group they all came and surrounded Renee and just stood there and suddenly they were all congratulating her and speaking with her all at the same time. J’Loni couldn’t help but laugh at the poor girls emotions as she sensed them. “Renee don’t worry about them. They are harmless if not a great bunch who will look out for you in a heartbeat”, she said smiling.

Renee grinned, drinking in the attention, "Well, ma'am, I mean chief, I'm not worried about looking iut for them, they should be the ones looking out for me!" She winked at the senior officer, interrupting through the sentance, shaking hands and introducing herself by name every couple words. "And if I don't go back to my quarters sweaty, it hasn't been a good day!"

After a few minutes, the rest of the engineering crew drifted back to their duties and sudden trepidation tinged with a hint of fear entered Renee's emotions, "Ma'am," she said, very intent on the title, "Is it possible to have a word with you... In private?" Her hands tightened on the PADD that had been in just her left a few minutes before."

J'Loni had sensed a small amount of apprehension from the young officer. "Sure Renee. Come on into my office and we can talk. By the way...um...I assume that PADD is for me?", she said gently extracting it from the young girls hand. "I assume you want to tell me something. Hm...?", she added, motioning the girl to sit. "Can I get you something from the replicator?", J'Loni asked as she got a mug of bloodwine.

"Yes ma'am, yes ma'am, no ma'am." Renee tried answering the questions in order, hands clasping in front of her as the PADD left them. "T-the PADD has my official record on it and I know that it looks bad, it was a really bad several years." She took a deep breath and sat without asking for permission and tried to clear her mind of terror. "I guess I should just start from the beginning, ma'am. Quite frankly, I washed out of the Academy in my second year with a remarkable number of demerits and failing grades. I still wanted in the Fleet, so I just up and enlisted, skated through engineering training and the very basics of basic training and went to a ship." She closed her eyes, the next part still hurt in her memory, "I then proceeded to go through thirteen ships in a bit under five years, ma'am. I made Machinist First Class three times and had been busted down to Third before someone got me under control."

The human female took another deep breath and then plowed on, "Commander Vernet somehow talked Captain Blackwell out of cashiering me like he'd intended and brought me back from the edge. He took me from the Calypso a couple years later to the R&D base on Titan where I made PO1. I just got my pip to CPO right before I left the base to come to New Earth. Quite frankly, ma'am, the only reason I'd been with the Fleet that long was because I was really good when the shit hit the fan." Her face went red, "Pardon the language, ma'am, please... The Nuremburg was my original assignment here in the Delta Quadrant, but the Chief Engineer there took one look at that PADD and told me that if I weren't off his ship in ten minutes, I'd be fired out a torpedo tube. And..." She fought down a real surge of fear, "If you look at my record and decide you don't want me on board, ma'am, I'll understand."

Looking briefly at the PADD, one eyebrow raising in a few places, nodding in others, she sipped her blood wine and continued reading up to the point where the comment was before she looked at the poor kid. "Well would you care to tell me what he said? I want you to tell me, not to read the damn thing!" she said thoughtfully.

Renee closed her eyes for a moment, reading them from her memory as if it were the first time she'd read them, that hundredth time before, "Renee will always be there when you need her, just keep her on her toes with thinking problems in the meantime." She recited, then went silent for a few seconds, remembering a situation, "On Titan, we were testing a weapons system when it went into a terminal overload cycle. It was experimental as hell but the primary team thought they'd worked the bugs out of it enough to test-fire it and.. It did fire, but because of how the power flow was designed to keep the weapon in a fireable state, the recharge surge didn't cut off the flow and it just kept powering and the system power shunt failed. Normally, if the power bleed shunt failed to decharge it, you could fix it by shutting down the generator and firing until the power ran out, but that first shot corroded the barrel and to fire it would have caused an explosion that would have eaten the lab and a good part of the wing it was in. I was in the tubes a few seconds after they called for an evac to get as many people out as they could, but I went the other way. A piece of metal, a laser welder, two patch kits and the gum I was chewing was what it took to divert that power flow and the capacitor to the outer hull of the lab wing. Everyone had a bad case of static flux, but it kept the lab from going up." Renee smiled slightly at the memory, "I guess that's what he's talking about there. He also wanted me to pass on that if you needed to talk to him, just to get him on subspace, anytime."

Nodding, "Now don't you feel better?, J'Loni said. "Renee, in the first place, I have no intention of firing you off the ship in a torpedo casing. Second, I don't look at the bad points on anyones record. I look at the good ones as that is where the experience comes from.
Third, I am going to...well I am going to shape you like I did the others into what I know you can be...a fine young ensign. Fourth, hun...get a hold of your emotions. You project them so forcefully that they hurt. Emotions are great, but they can become a hinderance. I know...been there too many times. I have been through four wars and I can tell you this much, stick close your crew mates and they will show you the ropes. You did good and I like a good engineer who can think on their feet and be inventive in a snap. Kinda reminds me of when I was your age and caliber, but that ws a long time ago. You will do fine here Renee, and please, just call me boss or chief or just Mo'bri! All this ma'am and sir has me crazy", she said finishing up. Taking the girls hand, she gave her a big, tender hug and released her. She wondered if the woman knew she was part Betazoid or not. Only time would tell if and when she would find out.

Relief flooded through Renee and she tentatively returned the hug, only because of the vast difference in rank. "Th-thank you, m-" She caught herself visibly, "Chief, but I washed out of the Academy spectacularly... I doubt that means I will ever get a commission."

"You let me worry about that ok. I believe with hard work and good recommendations from your departmental heads and from me, I think you have a good chance. It is a goal that will become a reality Renee. Just apply yourself and stay focused and you will be fine. Oh...if you ever need to talk off the record, my door is always open. Now scoot before I think otherwise" she said laughing. Helping the woman up, she gave her another hug.

Renee laughed and hugged J'Loni back with more confidence this time, "You got it boss.. I won't disappoint you! Even if you want to murder me sometimes!" She stood back and gave her a 'V for victory' sign, "Toodles!"

Watching her disappear, 'there goes a happy and more confident youngster than she was when she came in here' she though she walked back into engineering.

Lt. Cmdr. J'Loni Mo'Bri
Acting Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wellington

Chief Petty Officer Renee Salchin
Engineering Officer
USS Wellington