Posted by Master Chief Petty Officer Karl Johansson (Chief Engineer) in Time for a career change?

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Randal Farquharson (Jack of all Trades) in Time for a career change?

Posted by Master Chief Petty Officer Karl Johansson (Chief Engineer) in Time for a career change?
Posted by… suppressed (11) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Randy paced his quarters back and forth for what seemed like an hour as he tapped his fingers together in front of him. Over and over again he had thought of how to progress his career, how to move along his position on the ship. He’d been a counselor sure, a yeoman in training, but he wanted more. He stopped and pushed his palms into his eyes, rubbing them hard as he exhaled before he stood up straight and said, “Alright Randal… Enough is enough. What’s the worst that could happen? He says no and laughs you out of engineering?” Randy says to himself out loud as he cocks his head to once side “Well actually yes that would be pretty humiliating wouldn’t it?” He exhaled and crossed his arms in front of the mirror, “It’s now or never, get out there and go ask!” He said sternly to himself as he straightened a wrinkle on his kilt and brushed his uniform flat before turning heel and walking out the door.

Making his way to Engineering Randy held a PaDD tucked under his arm and pressed the buzzer outside of the CE’s office. He knew that it would be a stretch for someone like him to be accepted into the field, a counselor cleaning plasma injectors? A shrink calibrating the intermix chamber? All he could do was ask.

–Randy–

“Huh what? uhh, come in” The distracted but still cheerful voice of the Sentinel’s chief engineer called out.

Inside Karl stood over his desk sleeves rolled up and had his hands inside a large cylindrical object, he pulled with all his might and ripped out wires then laughed in triumph “Got you little andskoti” He unceremoniously tossed the wires behind him and grabbed a tool and put his hands back into the cylinder before looking up “Ah, Lieutenant, how can I help you?” He said with a wide grin before yelping in surprise at a spark then focusing back on the cylinder “Djöfulinn” He swore and removed one hand and reached for a mallet and used it to hit the cylinder on one side “Sorry”

Master Chief Karl - CE

Watching the Chief elicited a stifled laugh from the young man as he watched him tinker and, well, fight with the device he was holding. He wanted to introduce himself and get a feel for the Chief’s personality and this little display told him plenty! “Chief, I came tae introduce masel’ and ask for a spot on yer crew, but right now, I want tae ken what ye’re workin’ on?”

–Randy, JoAT–

Karl laughed as he continued his work “Every other year there’s a friendly football game between the Nordics and the Nordic adjacent states, you know part of the old Baltics, Scotland, Ireland. And every time my hometown gets flooded with mad kilt-wearing lads who drink us dry” He hit the device with the mallet again “So I’m fairly well versed in the language, if you can call it that” He added with a wide grin showcasing that he was joking “of your people, but do try to either speak slower or more Glaswegian, now those stabby bas..” He stopped himself “Fellows… well I know how they speak” He pulled his hands out of the device then smiled at Randy and put a hand out “Karl, but you know that.”

“This stubborn piece of equipment is a sensor unit connected to a gravity regulator, they monitor and adjust the gravitational pull of the deck plates keeping us on our legs.” He wrapped a knuckle on the sensor “Well it’s supposed to , this one keeps adding .33 g’s everytime we go to quarter impulse. It isn’t a software issue so I’m trying to figure out where the hardware issue is”

Master Chief Karl - CE

A smile grew across Randy’s face as the Chief spoke and joked with him and his ‘kilt-wearing’ kind. He looked down at his own kilt, still within regulation of course, and back up at the Chief. “Glesga, ye say? Ah think Ah can dae that fer ye. Altho it might soond a wee bit put on. Now, aboot that regulator. Is it possible that the sensors are bein’ affected by the hull resonance at a quarter impulse? Ah saw somethin’ similiar on one o’ the trainin’ ships when Ah wis takin’ ma coorses where the driver coil harmonics were jist a wee bit oot o’ alignment wi’ each ither an’ the resonance affected systems doon the line. Talk aboot a wild goose chase there, Chief.”

He reached out and shook the Chief’s hand and continued, “Ah can go check oot the coils if ye like, ye seem tae be relishin’ the opportunity tae tear that wee sensor tae pieces. An’ besides, Chief, Scots or no, Ah ken better than tae challenge a Chief tae a drinkin’ contest, especially on ma first day o’ work wi’ ye.”

–Randy, JoAT–

Karl chuckled “Good instincts, although in this case the coils weren’t out of alignment, or at least not more than usual. No this little doozy” He said hitting the sensor “Has an issue with a very specific type of speed. It’s a mixture of hull resonance as you guessed and the placement of the unit itself, swap it with another unit and nothing happens. What I need is to” He stopped speaking for a moment “Get that doohicky” He said pointing to the coil scanner “Set it to check to check for quantum resonance between .29 and .34” He said “Your tale of driver coil harmonics might have sparked something”

Master Chief Karl - CE

Randy reached over and grabbed the coil scanner, manually setting the scanning frequency to between .29 and .34 before handing it over “Here ye go, Chief.”

–Randy, JoAT–

Karl shook his head and smiled “Nah, show me what you’ve got, consider this your interview” Despite his lax attitude and relaxed demeanour there was a sharpness in his haze as he watched the younger man.

Master Chief Karl - CE

“Aye, sir, le’me give it a whirl.” Randy replies as he pulls the scanner back and reaches out to grab the part to give it a scan. He was a little rough in his movements, for the first time in a while he was nervous and unsure of himself, “Weel, sir, Ah’m readin’ a resonance fluctuatin’ between .33 and .34, cyclin’ every 1.1 seconds. At that rate the regulator is probably physically resettin’ afore the graviton sequencers have a chance tae reach the proper harmonic balance across the deck platin’ is my guess.”

–Randy, JoAT–

Karl laughed “Hah! well done.” He sat in his chair “I’ll have someone take a look at that later, go on have a seat, tell me why Engineering?” He asked

Master Chief Karl - CE

Randy breathed a sigh of relief as he took a seat and relaxed into the chair before saying, “That’s a relief. Now why Engineerin’? Ah’ve done nursin’, tried tae be a yeoman, tried tae be a counsellor, but it never seemed tae work oot fer me, sir. Ma uncle would always say Ah’m a shite worker an’ an even worse mechanic, but he always caught me wi’ things half taken apart an’ shooed me away tae fix it himself. Ah’ve always liked tae tinker an’ tae figure oot how things work. So why not?”

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~

Karl still had a smile on his face as he leaned back in his chair and reached out to tap on his console as Randal spoke. He brought up the young mans file and quickly skimmed it “Son, most of the crew here had to go through either the Academy where at least two years were spent on learning the trade, on job training adds another six to nine months of learning before they receive a dedicated position. I went to the Technical services academy on Mars” He tapped his Master Chief rank insignia “It’s why I’m not an officer like the majority of Senior Engineers. I studied Starship engineering for two years there before I was assigned to the Celeborn where I did scuttle work for months. So what makes you qualified for my team beyond a hankering for tinkering.

Master Chief Karl - CE

Randy let out a sigh and decided not to keep up any appearances, his file would be surely what the man just looked up. He gave his answer some thought and said, “Sir, Ah took leave from ma duties tae go back tae study the finer points o’ engineering an’ foond it most over ma heid, truth be told. Ah wanted tae drop oot an’ settle fer wark on ma Uncle’s farm but Ah knew that Ah wasn’t a quitter. So Ah doubled ma studies an’ tried different techniques tae learn, an’ eventually Ah got it. If Ah can be frank, sir, Ah’m no qualified tae be on yer crew, no throu ma merits as Ah’m a C student at best. Ah am the best man available tae continue tae study an’ learn, an’ besides, Ah dinnae mind doin’ clean-up duty in the intermix chambers. Most say it’s shite work but I find it kinda realxin’ if I can say so.”

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~

Karl smiled a bit wider and chuckled “You, my good lad, need to be less humble, no less honest but still less humble” He said with a tinge of amusement “With that one little test earlier you showed you had a decent head on your shoulders and you know how to work tools. I’ll have you onboard on a six month trial basis. Now tell me, why the career shift?” it was mostly out of curiosity, he’d take any extra pair of hands, nothing stayed fixed long on any ship.

Master Chief Karl - CE

Randy thought for a minute or two before he started to reply, slow at first as he was feeling rather open and vulnerable, but it felt right. “Aye, sir, Ah appreciate that. Ah told masel growin’ up that Ah wouldn’t be like ma Uncle, Ah wouldn’t twist a wrench, not that there’s onythin’ wrong wi’ that, but Ah wanted tae dae somethin’ different. Ah wanted tae be a counsellor an’ that’s what Ah went tae school fer. But Ah found that Ah took too much o’ that home wi’ me after meetin’ clients, an’ Ah found the peace in engineering an’ in fixin’ things, Ah found a sense o’ satisfaction there that ma counsilin’ position didnae provide. Ah swapped tae Engineering, sir, because Ah find it rewardin’, an’ Ah ken Ah can dae somethin’ that makes a difference fer the ship.”

~Randal Farquharson, Jack of all Trades~