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A Mirror Shattered #236&237 -"Technobabble and Girltalk"ON: [CSC, USS Pegasus] Hannah swore, angrily. She was getting nowhere with the phaser banks. She needed an engineering consult, and not just from some ensign. =/\=O'Driscoll to Black, come in please. =/\= =/\= Black here, go ahead... =/\= Kitty was sitting in her office in Engineering, feeling father disgruntled. As she'd anticipated, the reports had been on her desk on time and Engineering was fine. Williams could have been a Chief Engineer in his own right if he'd wanted to. =/\= I need an engineering consult on these phaser banks. Have you got amoment to spare?=/\= =/\=I have, but I haven't. =/\= Kitty frowned, pulling up schedules. =/\=I've been pretty much told to stay in Engineering barring a crisis. I could send somebody up to assist you, though. =/\= =/\=You got grounded?=/\= Hannah frowned in confusion. =/\=It's too long of a story for comms, but that's pretty much the idea.=/\= Kitty was frowning too, but in exasperation rather than confusion. =/\=If you need me personally, I'll have to ask the captain.=/\= =/\=Nah, I can come down to you.=/\= Hannah said. =/\=It's a systems problem, rather than a mechanical one. Give me ten minutes.=/\= =/\=Only ten? Okay! =/\= A little humor was returning to Kitty's voice. She remembered Hannah. Hannah was cool. Ten minutes later, Hannah arrived in Main Engineering. She looked around to see if she could see Lieutenant Black. Kitty had finished 'sulking' in her office and was standing out in the main area, watching the warp drive, listening to the engines. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling just slightly at the sound. "Lieutenant Black?" Hannah said, as she stepped over to the engineer. "Is this a good time?" Kitty opened her eyes, nodding, turning to Hannah. "It's fine," she said, only a slight tarnish on her usual cheerfulness. "Let's see what you've got. Do you need a free terminal?" "Is it going to blow up?" Hannah joked. She looked at Black calculatingly. "You ok?" "The engines have never sounded better," Kitty responded with a smile. Then she sighed a little and shrugged. "I can't complain, really. I mean, for alert status in a mirror universe, probably pretty good. How're you holding up?" "Well, I've gone at least twelve hours without dieing, so for me, pretty good." Hannah grinned, as they headed towards a nearby terminal. "I'd settle for twelve hours without getting into trouble," Kitty said wryly, stepping into her office and clearing a terminal, then standing back to give Hannah room to operate it. "You're in trouble?" Hannah said, logging in, and booting up her files. "Well, not in 'bad' trouble," Kitty admitted. "I got late to my station, and the captain wasn't... thrilled. That's how I got grounded." She leaned against the wall, watching. "Why were you late to your station?" Hannah asked, more to make conversation than anything else, as she located the files she needed. Kitty chuckled a bit. "It's a strange story. I'd fallen asleep in my nightclothes, in the cargobay. I was in the turbolift when he called me to his ready room, so I made a detour. He already sounded mad, and if I was going to get hollered at, I decided it wasn't going to be in my bedrobe." Hannah nodded. "You know, you're right - that is a strange story." She pulled up what she needed on the screen in front of her. "OK, so here's the problem - these phaser banks have been intermittently cutting out. I thought it was a flow problem, but switching to plasma injectors doesn't seem to help. I'm out of options." "Have you checked the regulators?" Kitty frowned, peering at the screen. "I know it sounds bizarre, but we had a couple of regulators blow in Engineering during our trip into this universe." "Yeah, I checked them. They seemed totally fine. Well," Hannah corrected herself, "except for the elevated temperatures. They were within safety parameters though, so I didn't think anything of it." "One thing I've learned..." Kitty said in mild amusement, "is what happens to components that are overheating within parameters. They may decide to begin overheating beyond parameters. Sometimes, way beyond parameters. Very highly. Very quickly. Get what I mean?" She leaned over and started tapping in commands, running a couple of diagnostics. "It's always a good idea to find out Why." "See now that's why you're the engineer." Hannah grinned. Kitty laughed at that, feeling quite cheered up now. "Looks like I'm good for something after all, eh? Hm, look at that, the diagnostics are clean.. that leaves only one solution... The temperature sensors themselves are malfunctioning. I bet if you replace them, the regulators will start.. well, regulating.. properly.. and it'll work okay." "I'll get right on it." Hannah paused. "Well, when I say I'll get right on it, I mean I'll get onto it as soon as you tell me why you were wandering around cargo bays in your underwear." "Hey!" Kitty blinked at that, then laughed. "By that logic, I'm running around in my underwear in Engineering, right now. I was wearing a perfectly sensible nightgown and robe.. and slippers." Then she smiled mischeviously. "It was the silk robe, though. No, I went down for some 'motor vehicle therapy', and found Evans asleep on the floor." "Evans the Chief of Ops?" Hannah said, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, and owner of the groundcar." Kitty blushed a little, her smile softening. "You guys are an item, then." Hannah said, nodding. "An item?" Kitty blinked at that, then smiled sheepishly. "Well... yeah, I guess we are. Anyways... I went to tuck him in, and he woke up, and we talked for a while.. and then I was leaning on him and I guess I fell asleep. The alarm woke us up... And the captain wasn't happy." "So that's why he got pissed when I turned up late." Hannah grinned. "See my excuse was far less interesting. I was realigning plasma relays. Much less fun than 'talking' with my boyfriend." You turned up late, too?" Kitty leaned against the wall again. "I bet if I'd been doing that too, I... well... maybe I would've got into trouble anyways. I attract it. It just.. happens to me. I'm just sorry Evans got dragged into it." "Yeah, I bet you really had to drag him." Hannah said sarcastically. "Was it worth getting yelled at?" "Well..." Kitty closed her eyes for a moment, running the whole series of events in her mind. The sailing, the two of them working as if they were one person... the chocolate milkshake... the look in his eyes when he woke up in the cargobay and she was there... the comfortable feeling of snuggling and then sleeping there. "Yeah," she said, smiling softly. "I wouldn't trade the experience." "Well then, you've got nothing to be upset about." Hannah shrugged. "You think so?" Kitty smiled a little. "I still feel bad. I don't Try to get in trouble. I have a lot of respect for authority. I just... end up going diagonally when everyone else is going back and forth." "Meh - going diagonally can be good sometimes." Hannah said, comfortingly. "Somebody going back would never have spotted that the temp sensors needing changing on the regulators. Heck, somebody going forth might not even have caught it." She giggled at her own joke. Kitty chuckled. "Well, congratulate me when it works, ok? There's no guarantee I figured it out just like that." "Will do." Hannah said, smiling. "So how are things with Evans, then? They going well?" "Well, I'd expect any relationship has its ups and downs," Kitty admitted. "But I still think he's wonderful. And cute." She blushed slightly again. Hannah grinned. "You got the second one right for sure." She stood. "Well, it's been fun." she said. "But unless I want to get grounded too, I should probably head back to my office. I'll let you know about the regulators." "There's no use getting More people in trouble!" Kitty nodded. "Yeah, I'd appreciate that, thanks." She smiled. "You know, I bet I'll be at the ice cream when my shift is over." Hannah grinned. "I'm going to have to work late - what with the siuation tomorrow, I'm going to have to read up on JH ships. You wouldn't feel like bringing some of that ice cream round to my office, would you?" "If my schedule allows, I will definitely be there. If I can't, I'll let you know," Kitty said, nodding and smiling brightly. "I look forward to it." Hannah said, and stood. "See you later, then." She grinned broadly, and headed back to her office. Off: Staying out of trouble: Lieutenant Hannah O'Driscoll Chief Tactical Officer/Acting Chief Security Officer USS Pegasus "The Funny One" Lt. Kathleen Black Chief Engineer USS Pegasus |
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