The Work Begins....

Posted on Sat Nov 29th, 2025 @ 8:36am by Samanthia Akiashiro & Lieutenant Commander Victoria Aries

2,157 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Hand That Rocks The Babe
Location: Dreadnought : The Dive

Samanthia stood on the main room looking at the holoprojector's emitters sitting in the spots chosen for maximum usage. She wrinkled her nose a bit waiting for the response from the ship's engineering. ~~If this was back on the Starbase 332, family engineers would be there in force and working. ~~ She thought as she sent an inquiry to see if there was anyone coming.

“I really need to slim this down.” Victoria muttered to herself as she hauled the duffel bag that was loaded with her everyday work equipment inside. It weighed a ton, okay, seventeen kilos wasn’t a ton, but it sure felt like it at times. While it didn’t have a plasma welder inside, it did have almost everything else she could need for any number of other jobs, but since she went around putting out the fires of everyone on the ship, invariably she’d not have the right tools if she didn’t just pack everything.

And so when she’d requested the next task close to her, she was just given the location of one of the bar locations that had been out of use that would be right about… There. She ambled on over and out the duffel down before wiggling her fingers to get some feeling back into them and then reaching out to the chime while brushing down her skirt and putting a smile on her face, “Avon calling!” She chuckled as she pressed the button, “I mean, Engineering here.”

Samanthia looked puzzled at hearing the chimes coming from the doorway to her establishment. Then realized she had set the security codes on the entrance to her new bar. "Open!" Giving the command to open the door.

"Come on in!" Samanthia yelled as the door opened, coming from the storage area into the main part of her new establishment on the Dreadnought.

The door slid open and Victoria reached back down and lifted the duffel bag again with a grunt as she reminded herself for the umpteenth time that this was why did didn’t wear heels when on duty. If she had, she’d be constantly overbalanced and would eventually break an ankle. She glanced around as she made it through the doors, whistling in a low tone at the unfinished nature of the main room, then saw the other woman approaching, “Heya!” She waved with her free hand, “Sorry on the delay, it’s been a bit busy around the ship for the last few days.”

"Hi," Samanthia nodded with a knowing smile. "In Port, resupplied, restock, take on new crew and whot not." Moving over to a set of blueprints and placing her hand on it. "I need these holoprojector emitters placed in these spots." Tilting her head towards the blueprints and then looking at the engineer, letting her expression go neutral. "Always a busy time. Even for a bar owner or proprietor."

"And repair a fair bit of damage still outstanding on the girl." Victoria agreed as she set down the duffel bag next to the blueprints, "We're still finishing putting the girl back together since we took some damage a few months ago. With such a big ship, it takes a while to get all the t's crossed and i's dotted, and then by the time you're done with that, something else is broken." The engineer looked over the blueprints and eyeballed where the physical emitters were, "How much of a coverage were you wanting for the emitters? You look like it's pretty good right now, but if we place another right here," She tapped a spot in between the two farthest apart on the wall, "You can full cover the center even if traffic is heavy."

Samanthia looked at the blueprints where it was pointed out, then looked to the area in the room. She nodded. I agree..." here comes the infamous 'but'... "But what you see is what I have. Could we move these two emitters a bit closer together?"

Samanthia pointed out two emitters in question. "Even starbase has that same problems as a ship... Even though this ship almost as big as a starbase. Must be tough on the chief engineer to have such a large ship manage." Looking up at Victoria with a warm twinkle in her eyes and friendly smile.

“You have no idea.” Victoria gave a wry grin and a laugh, “Don’t get me wrong, I have more engineers aboard this ship than my last ship had crew in total, yet I still find myself out in the field making repairs, handling maintenance requests and the like. Lieutenant commander Victoria Aries, Chief Engineer at your service.” She extended a hand to Samanthia, “I can say that whenever something really bad crops up, I’m always in the wrong place, because… Just size. I’m not saying the ship is fat, just big-boned.”

Grasping Victoria's hand firmly, yet gently, gave it a shake. "Samanthia Akiashiro, mate to S'er'in'e. The Dive proprietor. A place to relax and release tension." Samanthia spoke, releasing Victoria's hand to wave about the establishment. "Fat and ungainly. What is said in here stays here. Nice to make acquaintance, Vicky..." brief pause, "...you prefer Victoria?" looking with polite curiosity.

“Vicky, Victoria, ‘Tori, Hey you, You Bitch, you name it, I respond to it!” Victoria grinned widely, “The only think I don’t like being called is ‘Vic’, but it’s great to meet you, too. I don’t think I’ve met your mate yet, but S’er’in’e sounds Caitian, unless I miss my guess, much like our last CO.” There was a moment of silence as she remembered the Admiral, her own mixed emotions about the whole ordeal still causing her a bit of guilt.

"He is." Samanthia's smile warmed a bit more, then faded remembering the loss of the Admiral. "And white also. When Admiral was stationed on SB-332. A lot of people mixed up the two of them a lot. Except S'er'in'e is Marine and wearing green." Gave a wry smile at the rhyme.

“Well, it sucks that we can’t mix them up here on board Dreadnought.” Victoria gave a sad smile, “But, back to the important matter at hand.. I can easily requisition another holoprojector for you, put it at the top of the replicator queue, too: One of the benefits of being the Boss, you know. Getting it tied into your current network and calibrated is routine and if I can’t figure it out, I have a Senior Chief who is rather quite good at integrations that escape my purview.”

"Once the emitters are installed, I can take it from there. I used to run a lounge on a starbase and used holoprojectors for decor, furniture and decorative plants. When I got tired of the decor. I could change it to look different. I'll show you the programming. It would be pretty nice of you for the extra emitter. But no hurry." Samanthia smiled warmly at Victoria. "Like a beer while working?" Shifting to move out of the way.

“One thing I’ll never do when on duty is drink alcohol of any kind, but when I’m off?” Victoria gave a wry smile, “Especially if you have a hockey game on the screen, I can most certainly be tempted. I used to play after all, and my brother does play.” She grinned widely as she pulled a couple of items out of her duffel, “Skating is too much fun overall, if I’m being honest, but you can put me on them at any time and I’ll be happy.”

"Give me the ocean and a surfboard." Samanthia smiled dreamily, "I'll see what I can get concerning hockey. What team does he play for?" Reaching into crate to pull out two bottles of beer. "Just incase... And I'll won't tell anyone." Giving a wide grin that invites trouble.

"San Jose Sharks, Nate's one of the defensemen on the team." Victoria keyed the requisition for the holoprojector into her PADD and sent it off with a high priority marker on it, "Maybe I should take a break after getting these installed? No... Before." She grinned back, accepting one of the beers from Samanthia, "Maybe we'll get that extra holoprojector delivered before I finish with the rest, so I can get that one installed right away."

Samanthia smiled widely as the beer was taken from her. "Much 'ppreciated." Taking a swig of her beer. "I'll help hold stuff if you need me to." While shoving an empty crate, that projectors came in, for a seat and taking one herself. "Is that what got you into skating, your brother?"

"On the other hand, I think I was what got my brother into skating, since I'm the oldest in the family." Victoria laughed as she sat on the offered crate, "I've been on skates since shortly after I could walk, spent as much time on the ice as I possibly could. I was born in old Minnesota on Earth, so winter sports came with my mother’s milk, so she got me started in competitive ice skating early, though I enjoyed playing hockey more. Still, it was part of the deal that she made with me. I even won my regional competitions, but wasn’t good enough for the Olympic team when I was 16, I made a few major mistakes in the last round.”

"Dreams crash when faced with reality." Samanthia spoke softly. "I was more recreational than competitive surfing. My parents were more into the medical field than sports, so education was more important. Once past my toddler years, off to space as they were both Fleet Officers. They wanted me to follow their path." She smirked a bit. "And now I am managing a bar. A Different form counseling as I find out this is more effective. Get'em drunk and listen as the truth spills out. Or let them beat the crap out of each other inna drunken state. Next morning after recovering from being drunk and a good ole physical workout by pummeling each other, They are more relaxed and focused on their jobs. Whatever ails them seams moot after that." Hinting what this place was for, since it was off the more heavily travelled routes on the ship.

“Good to know there’ll be someplace to take my frustrations out after a really rough shift!” Victoria took a long pull from the bottle after saluting Samanthia with it, “I’m the first one in my immediate family to be in Starfleet, although Great-Grandpa Aries was in Tactical way back in the old days. I actually came up through the enlisted ranks initially, failed the Academy exams, but hard work and dedication alongside competence do win out occasionally. I hadn’t even planned on the Fleet as a career, but after turning professional in hockey and not wanting to play against the other girls? My choices were a bit more limited. I may or may not have burned a few bridges there.”

Samanthia shrugs a bit. "We've burned bridges in our past to get where we are today. But we will always wonder what the other path would be like. Like in sports. Chosen that path, today you could be a cripple, none would touch you." Smiled looking around. "Remember one thing when entering here, you will become a civilian, Fleet stops outside the door. And what happen here, stays here."

“Yeah, you’re going to need to talk to the XO about that last one.” Victoria made a face at the thought of that particular conversation and how it could go, “I’ve got no problem with it, but she seems to expect Starfleet officers to act like Starfleet officers anywhere we go on the ship, civilian or otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I get her position on things, mostly agree that we need to be held to a high standard, but we need a place to relax that isn’t our own quarters or a Holodeck. When or if you meet her, you’ll see just how high the stick in her ass is stuck. Not me, though, and I won’t blow the whistle on anything that I see here. Besides, I’ll probably drag my boyfriend here on opening night, see what trouble a fighter pilot can get into with me around.”

"What can I say," Samanthia gave a shrug, "People will act accordingly to their nature. I just provide the place to be themselves..." letting her voice trail off. "Well, this is the place to get the stick unstuck. Who knows." Finishing off her beer.

Victoria chuckled again as she upended her own beer, right before a junior NCO walked through the doors with a brand new holoprojector in his hands. Victoria grinned at him, “Ah, they sent you Xavier, good! Now we can really get to work!”

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