Getting Reacquainted

Posted on Tue Oct 16th, 2018 @ 10:55pm by Lieutenant Cor Cordale & Lieutenant Renee Salchin

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4
Location: Main Engineering

After the chat with the Captain, Bowman grew a bit more bored. It was ironic, she thought to herself... She wanted nothing more than to get out of Starfleet and now she was almost dying to be back in it. She got off the couch and headed down the deck. She knew she probably didn't have access. If the security staff was smart, they wiped her access codes the minute Kasella was found out. Not that she was in a hurry to do a diagnostic or anything... She just wanted to get down to at least some part of the ship where it wouldn't feel awkward.

She nodded to some of the crew who passed her. Some smiled sympathetically. Others were very tense around her. Whatever the fake Commander Bowman did, she certainly made them all a bit more scared to death of her presence than they used to be. She arrived at the turbolift, and waited for it to close.

"Engineering." she said, and within a minute or two was on the engineering deck. She was still in civilian garb, but undoubtedly almost everyone there would recognize her. Especially any of the oldtimers. She walked in, and saw Cordale giving some kind of instruction.

Renee noticed the lady in civilian clothes walk through the doors and drift to a stop by the main console and smiled in her direction while taking a glance around. Noticing Cor busy and none of the other officers in a position to do any greetings, she locked the screen on her console and took a handful of steps from the woman’s side towards her, carefully placing her steps so the inch and a half heels didn’t click on the ground, “I know you! You must be Marilyn Monroe!” She said cheerfully in greeting, a smile on her face and she winked at Olivia as the face turned towards her.

Bowman chuckled a bit. "I mean... I guess I look pretty good for having been dead for 430 some years." she said

Renee chuckled, straightening her skirt and brushing down the form-fitting uniform jacket, "I do actually know who you are, thoooooough we've never met." She shrugged and stuck out a hand, "Renee, mistress of damage control and queen of special doodads that need thinking of."

Bowman returned the handshake. "It's nice to meet you. And no... we probably haven't met. At least... you probably never met the real me."

"The fake you never paid any attention to me anyways." Renee smiled, "Despite that, it's good to have you back. Here to see the Boss?"

Out of habit, she nodded. "If she'.... Sorry.. I keep forgetting... If he's around." she added.

"He's toying around with that chickie over there, some sort of problem she's having." Renee waved towards Cor, "Looks like he'll be done in a couple minutes if I don't miss my guess. BEsides him, is there anything I can entertain you with? New toys and gadgets I've got going on?"

"New toys and gadgets, eh?" Bowman asked. "You'd be surprised how little I have to do today being still considered officially KIA by Starfleet... Let's see these gadgets." she added with a smirk.

"Where to start, where to start..." Renee muttered as she poked her screen back to life and her eyes brightened. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small device, pressing a button on one side and handing it to the former(current?) Commander. She looked over to the entrance of Engineering and smiled, "Take a deep breath and tap the top button." She smiled brightly, placing a hand on her arm and taking a breath of her own. She knew what was coming.

Bowman obliged, a bit confused but still excited. She grimaced a bit and awaited... Whatever was happening. It couldn't be worse than a Cardassian brig. Matter of perspective really....

There was a bright flash that originated over the course of a second and suddenly Bowman was standing with Renee by the front of Engineering instead of by the console. A wisp of smoke wafted above them and Renee swallowed hard, cringing at the bile that still wanted to come up. She swallowed again and looked to the older woman.

"Holy shit." Bowman said, feeling a bit nauseous... "What just happened?"

"Renee..." there was a voice, and it belonged to a Thux. "What did I tell you about expressing quantum retrograde near a class four magnetic housing?" he had actually never brought up the subject, and there was nothing actually wrong with it. Just Cor being a goofball, as per usual. He went to the wall replicator to get the pair of them a little hand towel each. "You've got a few extra quarks..." he motioned to the wisp of smoke.

Renee glanced nervously over at Bowman and having her head slightly with shame, mostly mock shame, “Sorry Boss, power overload, I’ll explain later..” Her voice grew softer after that, reaching over and plucking the remote from the other woman with a wink at Cor.

With that, he offered his living hand over to Bowman, "My eyesight's a little worse than a human's, but my hearing is pretty good. I caught most of that, but the important part is there's a Commander on my Engineering deck. Welcome aboard." he said with a nod, "I'm Cor Cordale. I'm the sheriff of these here parts." having heard enough to know that Bowman wasn't exactly a strict by-the-book commander, he opted for a more casual approach to welcome her."

"Mr. Cordale... I almost sort of remember you." she added. "I see they finally made got off their butt and made you the chief. Though, I do wish it had been under better circumstances."

"I agree." he said with conviction, "Nothing upsets me more than climbing up the ladder in someone else's shoes." He was silent for a moment as he turned to regard Engineering, as a whole, "All I can do to cope is to do the best I can. Honor those who made this possible."

"Anyhow, there's a commander on my Engineering deck. Here for the tour, or just want to see where people actually work for a living?" he said, with a smirk.

"Suggesting I went soft?" Bowman said. "I bet I could still run a level 10 diagnostic in... Yeah okay, that's a damn lie. I'm not running a level 10 anything these days." she added. "What all have you been working on?"

"The standard policies. Make sure the reactor is at an acceptable limit for day to day use, with enough wiggle room for emergencies. We got to work with actual representatives from the Delta quadrant, and I hear Renee got to work with an actual Ts'usugi fighter, with actual Ts'usugi blink tech." he said, and gave her a smirk, "He take you up for a ride yet?" he teased.

"Not yet." Renee said seriously, "But then again, I'm still working on figuring out just how the blink drive works! Along with all of the other duties I've got down here and my own special projects." She grinned widely, "Did I mention I'm the one good with new shinies and sparklies?"

"An actual Ts'usugi fighter craft? I may have to trouble him for one if we have some time." Bowman replied before turning to Renee. "I noticed. So did my stomach." She added with a smirk.

"An actual Ts'usugi Blink Fighter. With an actual Ts'usugi Blink Fighter pilot. Apparently Miss Sparkle here is working on a joint project to make our tech work with their tech. Apparently... their fighters aren't warp capable." Cordale said that last part with a tone of curiosity. "I mean, that's either dedication, faith, or a touch of crazy. Hell, maybe all three."

"Or... or...." Cordale started to think... "What if they never got their warp technology small enough to fit?" he pondered. "Renee. I need answers." he chuckled.

Renee gave a mock salute to Cor, "On it, boss! I'll go bat my eyelashes and get some answers... Tomorrow maybe." She winked at Bowman, "I think I have a list of questions I want to ask Koh anyways, so it'll be a good time for it."

"You sure he'll even let you see it? I mean if this is Ts'usugi tech, they may not quite be at the point of being ready to let us see their secrets." Bowman asked.

Renee leaned in, a wide grin on her face, “If it’s shiny and I can see how it works or if he explains it well enough? I can probably give it a good go at reverse engineering or duplicating it. But, I can probably scratch that one spot behind his ears to get him to loosen up a. It.” It wasn’t literal, just her way of saying she had a good working relationship with Koh.

"Just like a Ferengi." Bowman said with a bit of a laugh. "I know, I know.. you're probably not used to seeing me joke around because my doppleganger was kind of a cold one."

Cordale gave a chuckle, "Weaponized Adorableness, I like it." he smirked, "He seems an alright sort. Now, as for your doppleganger, no. She was colder than an Andorian hemorrhoid and about as pleasant." Cordale cut it straight. "So you get a free pass for first impressions and so far, gotta say, I like you a lot better." he smirked.

Bowman laughed. "You know? That sounds about right." she added. "She wasn't much warmer as a Cardassian, either."

"But wherever she is, that tracker I placed on her has an explosive to it." Renee held up a remote control, "And she's going to have a hot time!" She pressed the button, waited a moment for a response from it and it beeped, turning orange. She looked at it, "Oh, that's my coffee machine..." Her eyebrows waggled at the joke, "Still a hot time, but only in my um... Crap... Quarters."

"You have a remote control device for your coffee maker?" Bowman asked. "Goddamn. I took the wrong engineering courses at the Academy."

"You know, some of us set timers." Cordale mentioned with a Thuxian Smirk. He put his living hand on Renee's hand with the remote and slowly lowered it down, "And besides, we don't remote detonate people in this department. That's Intel's job." he said, half joking. "In any event, welcome to Engineering, Commander."

Bowman laughed. "Thank you, Mr. Cordale."
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Lieutenant Cor Cordale
Chief Engineer
USS Wellington

Commander Olivia Bowman
Unassigned

Lieutenant Renee Salchin
Research and Development Engineer
USS Wellington