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Guest 11456
Guest
Inside RNS Taelros, the chief engineer tried to concentrate on one thing at a time. It was difficult. She was responsible for keeping the ship running now that it had formally left the yards. There were still yard workers on board; they wanted to keep close tabs on the first few of the new Sacheen-B frigates. They weren't all that different than the originals, but ten years of combat experience and new developments had produced some incremental changes, and the first of the new frigates were going out to 3rd Fleet and 12th Fleet. And all those little changes had caused some problems. Problems Lt. (senior grade) Saricia Targon and her subordinates had to fix.
Going from a department head on a cruiser to chief engineer on a frigate should not have been as much more work -- and less interesting work, at that -- as it seemed to be so far. She was beginning to wonder if she could have left her tools back on the Chandrila; she was spending far more time filling out forms than doing anything she considered actual engineering.
Sarcia was pouring over the tech specs when one of her subordinates came up to her and saluted. "Lieutenant Targon! I need your assistance, please sir... er ma'am... er..." Sarcia sighed. This was the part of the military she disliked the most. All the saluting and fanfare. She knew she would have to address this and now seemed the best time.
She stepped out into the middle of things and cleared her throat. "Could I have everyone's attention for a moment? I realize we are all in the military here, but as long as it is just us down here please address me as Sarcia. I want everyone to treat each other as equals. We have a job to do and we don't need PROPER PROTOCOL getting in the way. Don't be worrying about saluting either. You have much more important things to be doing with your hands. However, if we get a visitor from the command staff down here, I expect you to show proper protocol to them. Now! Let's get this bucket o' bolts working in top condition. OK!" There was a resounding, "Yes, Lieutenant Targon!", at which she held up her hand. "What did you say?" Then there was a resounding, "Yes!", and then a stumbled through, "Sarcia!", with a few still saying "Lieutenant Targon!". "That is better. Now get back to work."
She turns to the one that had come to ask her help before. "Now! What did you need help with?" The wide-eyed young man nodded. "Yes ma'a... I mean Sarcia. I am having trouble getting a power coupling to lock down." Sarcia nods to the young man. "Then show me where it is and we'll have a look." As she followed him to the spot she simply smiled.