Act One, Scene One

[Kiera]

“Chief Engineer's Log, Stardate 53829.04 ”

“Wow, still not used to saying that.” Giggles a bit

“I can't believe my luck. First it was good, and then the engine I helped put in this ship is giving me loads of trouble. It's like... like the way I was in my teens. I rebelled against my parents a lot then. My engine... Another thing I need to get used to saying... My engine is just like a teenager. It doesn't want to do as I tell it to, no matter how much screaming at it I've done in the Jeffries tubes when no one else was around.”

“Today has so far proved eventful, to say the least. Not two days into our leaving Utopia Planitia and already I'm getting pressed harder and harder by Commander Bonham, our acting Captain. I've never had to work under this kind of pressure, not even at the Academy. I have a feeling he's testing me, but I can't be sure if he's just naturally impatient and hot-headed.”

“I still have no clue how our power is getting drained. I feel like a surgeon who can't find the correct artery that's causing internal bleeding...” Pause “...Unless the patient is being stabbed in different spots, just out of sight of the surgeon. But who would do that so far inside Federation space? If this were a different era, like that of Captain Kirk's time, I'd suspect our Klingon exchange officer, Lieutenant Kinchlirah. But with all the help we've done for the Klingons, and vice versa during the Dominion War, I can't point the finger at her. Besides, she hasn't given me cause for suspicion. Except for a few outbursts and rumors, she hasn't shown any kind of malicious intent to harm the ship.”

“No, I have to rule out the possibility of sabotage. This is a problem that the work crews at Utopia Planitia have made, so I have to clean up our-I mean their mess. Nothing puts engineering work through it's paces like actual usage. Simulations can only do so much. If I can't fix this problem it will put a black mark on the reputation of the shipyards. The shipyards my parents are assigned to.”

“My mother and father couldn't have been more proud of me when I told them of my promotion to Lieutenant and posting as a chief engineer. To be honest I think my mom was rather jealous of me, seeing as it took her twice as long to reach Lieutenant, Junior Grade, when I made it to full Lieutenant in half the time. But that didn't stop her from hugging and kissing me over and over. To be honest it got kind of embarrassing, especially when her superior officer walked in on her giving me an especially big smooch on the cheek...”

“My dad wasn't as emotional as my mom, but he still hugged me in one of his trademark bear hugs. Unfortunately during my 2 years at the shipyards, I wasn't able to work with either of my parents directly. My dad was on another work detail the entire time I was there. He was working on one of the new Prometheus-class ships, so a lot of his work was classified. To be honest I was rather jealous of his assignment. I would have loved to have helped laid the foundations for such a magnificent ship. But I was able to help repair and refit the Thunderchild, a ship I'm quickly growing attached to.”

Sighs

“Unfortunately not so much of either had happened, to be honest. With all these malfunctions and the warp energy bleeding through the warp field. You know, its almost like we are dragging a weight behind us. But still, I am pleased with these new warp engines. Trouble and all. I was leading one of the best teams at Utopia Planitia by the time I transferred to the Thunderchild. All of my team's work was higher than Starfleet spec. But the other crews seemed to not put their all into the ship's systems. Once I became chief engineer I made sure to check on the team leaders, making sure that their teams completed the work well. Too many times I had to get on someone's ass for not fixing something the correct way. It seems like I had too many slip by me.”

“I haven't had a lot of sleep since we left the shipyards. And my engineering crew, what there is of it, are all pulling double shifts to try and fix the problems that slipped past my oversight. I just wish that we could have gotten the rest of my crew before leaving, instead of having to fly out to Starbase 74 to pick them up. With just a skeleton crew it's almost impossible to find and fix all the bugs in the systems.”

Sighs loudly

“I have to tell the Commander that I cannot fix the power drain issue. Not with a skeleton crew, at least. My parents always told me that if there was a problem I couldn't solve, I was to 'google it.' That's an old Earth term that meant researching what could be the answer. I'm kind of a history nerd... Well, I've searched through the Starfleet database, and couldn't find an answer that was plausible to our situation. I just have to keep searching through the bowels of the ship to find the problem. More sleepless nights. Maybe I can raid sickbay for some stimulants stronger than coffee.” Yawns “The doc and their medical team isn't supposed to board until Starbase 74.”

“I hope I'm not transferred off the ship when we get there. I don't think I can solve the power loss before then. But I have taken care of most of the small bugs when they pop up. Like the problem with the Ops station on the bridge not displaying the correct sensors. That was a pretty bad issue. Luckily I caught it right after we departed. To think that we were getting the wrong sensor readings for almost six hours. Lucky we didn't fly in to another ship or something. Another issue was with a short in the Captain's Ready Room. Commander Bonham was complaining about a light that kept burning out. That was actually one of my easiest fixes. It was just a problem with an EPS conduit housing being damaged. Everything else has been just one headache after another. This ship has more gremlins than I ever imaged it could.”

Another sigh

“I could really use some rest. Maybe a good night's sleep will help me with my problem tomorrow.”

“Lieutenant Kiera Medart, Chief Engineer, U.S.S. Thunderchild.”