Posted by Cadet Caelian Weir (Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Sapeth (Chief Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty

Posted by Cadet Caelian Weir (Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (8) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

“While a reasonable assumption Cadet, in this case the simple answer is not what you are looking for,” Sapeth said as he stepped into the office. “Lt Zenzgii, they are requesting your presence in the lab.”

The test that Lt Zenzgii preferred for his new cadets was a reasonable test of their skills, even if Sapeth thought it was not necessary right as they joined the ship. There was plenty of time for the Cadets to learn while they were on the Challenger, there was no reason for, as the humans liked to say, a trial by fire.

“I do believe you have 5 minutes left Cadet. And while I do prefer the warmer temperature in here, I am more accustomed to what you would call a dry heat.”

Lt Sapeth - CE

He grunted as his startled fingers teased a power conduit a little too closely. Shaking the tingling sensation from his hand, he cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the new voice. Caelian sighed inwardly at the angular features, the pointed ears, and the dry tone before moving on to the regulators.

He’d known a family aboard the Venture and had several Vulcan classmates during his time in the Academy. His experiences with them had been wide and varied, but somewhat predictable. In a casual environment, he’d grown to appreciate their candor and direct nature: one always knew where they stood with a Vulcan. Professionally, however, most Vulcans he’d dealt with took an almost patronizing tone with him. It wasn’t necessarily demeaning—that would have required emotion—but they’d talked to him like he was always a step behind, almost pitying in a bland way.

Like Kendra would talk to me when I fell and scraped my knee, he thought. Without the warmth.

“Shaya tonat,” he growled between clenched teeth, glaring at a particularly-warm inverter. “I had to try. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a solution discarded out-of-hand for being simple. Any problem has a—aha, there you are!—a logical progression of answers.”

Caelian swiped his forehead with a sleeve, then picked up his phase decompiler. A quick pass with the device brought a smile of relief to his face and a softer hum from the inverter. By the time he returned the tool to the kit, he felt less as if he were being smothered by a wet blanket. One problem down…

“Himidity’s falling. Should be a bit more to your liking here shortly, sir.” Caelian cast a glance over his shoulder at the officer, offered a tentative thumbs-up. “Now that I have ‘dry.’ let’s see what I can do about ‘hot.’”
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

“Very good Cadet, and you still have 3 and a half minutes left.”

Moving around, Sapeth looked over the Cadets shoulder at the work he was doing.

“If I may. While I’m not sure the exact set-up of Lt Zenzgii’s test this time, I would recommend looking in a different location for the temperature controls. He has yet to hide the solution for both problems in the same sub-system.”

Lt Sapeth - CE

Caelian acknowledged the Vulcan’s advice with a nod. He lingered at the conduit long enough to complete a visual inspection, then gathered up his tools. Glancing around the office quickly, he frowned. There were only so many places that could cause this much heat without setting off the ship’s safety alarms… or causing a fire.

“That means—” he murmured to himself, tracing the system backward in his mind. “—that the next logical problem would be with the thermal regulator.”

Caelian crouched behind the chief’s desk and began unsealing another conduit panel. He nearly had to pry the thing open, but when he did he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Heat roiled from the revealed relays, buffeting his face and teasing more beads of sweat to dance on his brow. The inside of the panel was like an oven, and it took a bit of tool-juggling for him to get at what he needed to without burning himself.

Note to self, he growled as he tinkered with the regulator, requisition a pair of insulated gloves for my toolkit.
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

Opening a drawer on the workbench along one of the walls of the office, Sapeth reached in and pulled out a pair of insulated gloves. He moved forward towards the Cadet and extended them towards him.

“Having you injured during this test does not serve a purpose. It will only delay when you will be able to start your regular duties. In the future, I’d advise you make updates to your kit. Or you can ask for assistance.”

Sapeth looked over at the chronometer. “3 minutes left Cadet.”

Lt Sapeth - CE

Caelian paused long enough to accept the gloves, nodding his thanks. It certainly made dealing with the regulator easier, even if it ate crucial seconds. With a bit of good old fashioned elbow grease, he managed to reset the thermal regulator. He flopped back as the displays flickered from red to blue and the baleful heat subsided.

“Whew, and with a minute to spare!” He craned his head back and gave the Vulcan a sly grin. “Was my performance satisfactory, sir?”
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

Sapeth walked over and tapped a command into the console. After a minute of examining he readout he nodded. “Very good Cadet. Please,” he said as he indicated one of the stools in the workshop. He took a second to evaluate the cadet, he had not had a chance to review his file that extensively before coming in to finish this early assessment.

“How do you feel your performance was during this assessment?”

Lt Sapeth - CE