Making arrangements
Posted on Sun Feb 16th, 2025 @ 11:59am by Lieutenant Commander Zosia & Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria
Edited on on Sun Feb 16th, 2025 @ 7:46pm
1,825 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Like Sands Through The Hourglass
Location: Main Engineering - Deck 3 - USS Herodotus
Timeline: MD002 0800 hrs
Tarian was working down in his office when he realized that his lights were starting to flicker a little bit. Since he was still new to the ship, he decided to take a walk down to Engineering to talk to the new Engineer onboard.
A quick turbolift ride to Deck Three and a walk down a few hallways, Tarian found himself in the compact Engineering complex. Walking over to a computer console nearby, there was a woman with long braids talking to one of other Engineers. Tarian waited for them to get done with their conversation before asking the young lady, "Hey, I'm looking for the new Chief Engineer. I think their name was Lieutenant Zosia? Know where I might be able to find them?"
Zosia completed her turn towards the guest in engineering. Despite their difference in height, she postured herself to make it feel like she was looking down at him rather than up. "Present and accounted for. You have found me," she answered with a playful lilt.
Tarian had lived among Humans for long enough that he just stuck his hand out to shake the Chief Engineer's hand before saying, "I'm Tarian Aloria, the Chief Temporal Operations Officer onboard. It's nice to finally meet you!"
She accepted the shake, checking out his features as she did and mentally linking his job title with his face. She wasn't always the best with faces, but this one might stick. "That's an interesting name. Does it have a story with it?"
As he let out of the shake, Tarian couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. He looked at the Engineer and thought about his response for a brief moment as he replied, "Well, when you've lived for over 300 years, there's always some stories."
"That is called skirting the question. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But now I'm even more curious." She waited in silence with a smirk.
"Well, with me being over 300 years old, there's a lot of story to be told. Depends on which part of the story you wanna know about," Tarian replied with a smirk of his own.
She leaned back, folding her arms. "Well, I was asking about your name," she prompted. "But if there's something else I should know about, do tell that as well."
Tarian stood a bit shocked before replying, "Wait, you were actually curious about the name Tarian? Nobody...has actually asked me about my name before. Most people were curious about my History over my actual name." It took a few moments to think about before Tarian replied, "Tarian is my grandfather's name. It was passed down through the generations before ending up with him. My grandfather died before I was born and I think my father wanted to honor him in some way. So, he named one of his sons after his father. I do apologize about the confusion, as it was my bad."
Zosia smiled softly, "How did your grandfather die?"
"He died doing what he loved. He was an early space explorer for the Trill homeworld. He was testing out some faster than light technology when the warp core went critical. Unfortunately, he died on the ship when the warp core went critical. But, he couldn't have gone out in any better of a way. How about you? What's your story like?" Tarian asked, curious about her background, especially with those bright eyes.
"Oh, I wouldn't want to put you to sleep with my story," Zosia answered. "One thing I've noticed is that there are two places on a ship that people generally avoid: Sickbay and Engineering... unless something critical comes up. What drew you here?"
"Well, I'm part El-Aurian and we live for listening. I bet that you would have some pretty amazing stories. But, if you must know, the lights were flickering in my office and I was wondering if you might be able to help fix them up?" Tarian offered up, knowing that Zosia was probably a busy woman.
"El-Aurian?" Zosia reached into a shelving nook, pulling out a toolkit and slinging it over her shoulder. She gestured for Tarian to lead the way. "I thought that might be the case."
She had long ago learned never to assume an alien's race based on looks or intuition alone. It was always best to let them confirm it themselves rather than risk getting it wrong. "So, your father was Trill, and the El-Aurian side comes from your mother?" She checked as they stepped onto the turbolift.
Tarian let Zosia step onto the turbolift first as he followed behind her. As he heard the question, Tarian replied, "Yes, my father was Trill who was one of their historians at the time that Trill was making first contact with the Vulcans. My mom was an El-Aurian diplomat that the Vulcans brought in to help mediate the talks because the Vulcans are so stoic with their logic that it kind of clashed with the Trills at the time. They met during the talks and before long, got married and had a few kids."
As the turbolift hummed toward the Temporal Ops division, Zosia glanced at him. "Is your mother still around?"
"Yeah, she works for the Federation now. She's a diplomat back on Earth that travels between there and the Trill homeworld. How about yourself? Is your family still around?" Tarian asked as turbolift stopped on Deck Four and the doors opened up to the main part of Temporal Ops.
"I tend to choose family rather than have it assigned by blood," Zosia replied, following Tarian toward the faulty light fixture. "I have no idea where any of my blood relatives are these days."
Zosia set her toolkit down and pulled out a scanner, sweeping it over the flickering panel. "Looks like you’ve got an intermittent power fluctuation. Probably a faulty relay." She popped open a nearby maintenance hatch, her fingers deftly sorting through the neatly arranged components.
She reached in deeper, blindly grabbing the part she aimed to switch out. "Now, tell me—what exactly does a Chief Temporal Operations Officer do on a daily basis? Because that sounds like a title that could mean a dozen different things."
"Well, that's kinda how my family is a bit. I know where my brothers and my mom are. But, as for extended family, they're scattered throughout the known universe," Tarian replied once he heard about Zosia's family, knowing that the universe was a large place.
Once Zosia started working on the defective parts in the light, Tarian couldn't help but admire her work. While Tarian had been brushing himself up on the specifications of the ship, especially with the temporal systems, he couldn't help but admire how Zosia knew exactly which part to pull and when.
However, it took a few moments for Tarian to process that she had asked him a question, let alone form a sufficient answer. Tarian finally replied, "Well, you know, it's pretty much that. It's definitely a mix of History, temporal mechanics, a bit of engineering skill, and so much more. We have to know a little bit about everything to make sure that the universe as a whole stays intact."
Zosia let out a dry chuckle as she swapped out the faulty part. “That,” she said, “was a masterclass in saying everything and nothing at the same time.” She glanced down at him, smirking. “I asked what you do, not what skills you list on a resume.”
She twisted the part into place with a satisfying click before adding, “So, do you spend your days untangling paradoxes? Chasing down rogue time travelers? Or just filling out an endless stack of reports on why nobody should ever touch the big red button labeled ‘Do Not Press’?”
"Well, isn't the DTI all about paradoxes? But, I've done some stuff for the DTI that would blow people's minds if I ever got the chance to tell them. As of this moment though, very classified and would probably get me thrown in some black ops place in deep space," Tarian replied as he listened to the Chief Engineer talk about everything.
He looked at Zosia and said, "Well, one thing I can say that I do is to help guide the ship through time. One of the features is that we can go through time with this brand new ship. Any thoughts about the new temporal drive and transporters that we've got onboard?"
Zosia let out a short laugh, wiping her hands on a rag. “Thoughts? Plenty. Mastery? Still working on that part.” She leaned against the console, tapping a finger thoughtfully. “Temporal tech isn’t exactly in my standard engineering toolkit, but I’m a fast study. Give me some time, a few schematics, and maybe a crisis or two, and I’ll have it figured out.”
She shot Tarian a playful look. “Besides, understanding how things fit together is what I do. Whether it’s a warp core or a temporal drive, it’s just another puzzle waiting to be solved. What else do you need fixed around here?” she asked, glancing up as the flickering lights finally shone steady.
"Well, besides a bum knee that I should probably get checked out sometime, I think we're good up here! Unless there's anything else that you think might need to be fixed?" Tarian asked, wanting to see if there was anything else that might need to be fixed while the engineer was here in the office.
Zosia gave him a wry smirk, snapping her toolkit shut. “Well, unless you want me to recalibrate your knee, I think we’re done here.” She slung the strap over her shoulder and gave the now-steady lights an approving nod.
She turned back to Tarian, considering him for a moment before adding, “But if you ever want to trade classified stories—hypothetically, of course—you know where to find me.”
With that, she tapped the side of her toolkit and took a step toward the door, then paused. “Oh, and if those lights flicker again, try giving them a stern look first. If that doesn’t work, call me.”
And with a final smirk, she strode out of the office, leaving Tarian with steady lights and maybe just a little more to think about.
Tarian couldn't help but chuckle as the engineer left his office. As he sat back down at his desk, Tarian made a mental note to talk with Zosia while off duty to see what kinds of interesting stories she might've had. He was now....curious.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Commander Tarian Aloria
Chief Temporal Operations Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
Lieutenant Commander Zosia
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Herodotus DTI-30656
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