The Powers that Be
Posted on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 9:41am by Lieutenant Wynning Pi & Lieutenant JG Daniella Fox
Edited on on Mon Jun 29th, 2026 @ 3:20pm
1,684 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Prologue: Taking On Crew
Location: Engineering, USS Resolute
Timeline: MD004 - 0930 hours
Dani walked into engineering to meet with the chief and see how he was doing. Both their departments were busy and anything the two of them could do to help each other, as far as Dani believed, would be good. And if nothing else, she could just say hi and see how things were going.
Wyn stood, just watching his new team go about their duties. He wasn't watching for anything in particular, just watching for now before he jumped in to start helping with projects and get to know them all. Later he'd read files after getting a chance to know them a little first and start keeping notes.
He'd shown up early, removed his uniform tunic and pulled on a workman's smock and was bathed in the light of HIS warp drive. Wyn was in his domain now. He had a positively proprietary mindset settling over him and part of his brain thought it might be too early to think that way.
Wyn caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to a brunette entering and he blinked slightly and said, "Hello. I'm Wyn, can I help you with anything?"
"No. I'm Dani. Dani Fox. I'm the chief of operations. I just stopped by to say hi."
"Well hello Lieutenant Fox. I'm Wynning Pi, but please," he said with a smile, "Just call me Wyn. Hello." Glancing back at the primary space to make sure everything was still where it should be, he pulled the proteus from his smock's pocket and said, "The gang seems to be doing what they're supposed to. Can I buy you a cup of caf'?"
"I'd like that. Thanks. Where are you from, if I might ask?"
Beckoning for her to follow him to a small side office, he led the way in and poured two mugs of caf from a percolator that appeared to have been rebuilt a couple of times and had its own heating unit. Setting one on his drafting table near her elbow, he stood near the other end so he could watch the bay and said, "New Montana, Alpha Centauri originally. Most recently off of Deep Space Four and a few months at Fleet HQ."
He took a moment to inhale the scent coming off of his mug and decided it was still too hot, so Wyn asked. "What about yourself?"
"Born and raised on a merchant ship, so...nowhere and everywhere." She took a sip of her drink and sighed.
Wondering if he had over-shared.
Again.
Wyn nodded and said, "Been stationed on the Resolute long then? I know I'm the new kid and behind the eight ball, so to speak."
"Almost a year. And, to be honest, I mostly know operations," she admitted. "It's a good ship and a good crew. You'll like working with the command team."
Grinning as he wrapped his hands around the mug, he said, "Will I or is that just good promotion on your part? The XO seems mostly very Klingon like."
She grinned as she took a sip from her mug. "Both. And yes, the first officer is very Klingon. But you get used to him."
People can get used to a lot. Like pie. Or hangnails," Wyn said with a sigh as he finally took a sip of his coffee. "Almost a year aboard. May I ask what the Captain is like?
"I like her. She's thoughtful, insightful. A good leader. She's El Aurian and her experience shows in the way she handles the ship and crew." She shook her head. "I know I'm effusive, but she has this quality about her that gives you confidence."
Blowing on his coffee some more, Wyn judged for a moment and decided to ask his questions. "I've met El Aurians before. Not a lot of course but the couple I ran into were kinda always... condescending I guess. Like them with all their age and so called experience made them much better and we children should know our places. Ran into a few Trill like that too. So wrapped up in their symbionts pushing their views they see us all as kids."
She shook her head. "The captain's nothing like that. She's thoughtful. Considerate." And there was often just a hint of humor in her eyes that told Dani the captain saw the humor in situations. "But you can judge for yourself when you see her." She took a sip off the top where it was cooler.
"Had the preliminary check in," Wyn informed. "But, people can always be on their best behaviors the first few meetings. We'll see how it goes in a month." Shrugging, he said "How goes the operations department? Any complaints for Engineering that didn't make it into the swindle sheets?"
"Fortunately, no. She's pretty happy right now, and it shows." Dani grinned. "Although I can't guarantee that will last long. I think that's one thing I like about operations. It's never quite the same every day."
"I dunno," Wyn said with a smile. "There's a lot that can be said for sameness. When things start going haywire I get really behind in my work. And people blame the engineers, of course."
"When things are too slow, some start thinking we have too many people in our department. When something goes wrong, we're blamed for not getting it done fast enough." She grinned. "I like having just enough to do that I'm not bored."
"Fast is fine until you start making mistakes," Wyn said, shrugging. "Can't let them bully you, unless lives are on the line. And even then, you don't want to make more work for your poor chief engineer." Smiling shyly, Wyn asked "I don't ever seem to get much chance to get bored...what do you occupy your time with when not working?"
"Yes. Too fast leads to problems as well as burnout," she said, then considered his other question. "What do I do to occupy my time? Hmm..." She paused for a moment and took a sip from her mug. "I like to read, knit, and play the guitar--but not at the same time."
She cocked her head to sone side and asked, "What about you?"
"Rugby," he said automatically. "Physical activity with a side of mild violence helps after a long day configuring dampening fields and wanting to take a hammer to a particle distribution node." Smiling slightly, Wyn said "I build models of all sorts of machines. Putting relatively simple mechanical devices together like this keeps the hands busy, probably a little like your knitting."
Dani nodded her head. "Yes. I'm not one for violence as an outlet, but I like to build old-fashioned radios. That's more for keeping my mind engaged in puzzling something out, but I understand." The two of them seemed to have similar outlets--if you discounted Rugby.
Shrugging slightly, he said "Violence is mostly a by-product. Being part of a team to achieve a goal is a metaphor for life, or so my coaches have mostly always insisted as a lesson. It's good exercise and much more interesting than working out. Or at least it makes the time go quicker."
"I always get asked this, so... what do you do with the radios after you build them?" Wyn asked curiously.
"It depends on where I am. If I can, I give them to a school or museum. Or to a colony if I think they'll be of use. Otherwise, I play with them for a bit then dismantle them. There really isn't a demand for old-fashioned communications." She flashed him a grin. "But I still want to keep in practice. You never know when you'll need one."
Nodding, Why lost himself in thought for a second before saying, "More useful than my models then. I mainly build them...just to build them, mainly," he said, covering the whole truth at the last minute. He didn't know Lieutenant Fox that well, after all. "When I was a kid we might blow them up...," he added lamely.
She chuckled in response. "Sometimes you have to blow things up to see how big the explosion is...just in case. I may or may not have launched a few rockets to see how high they go before blowing up."
Nodding, Wyn agreed with a grin , "There is that." Then he asked, "You're good with explosives then?"
"Small ones, yes. I haven't blown up anything big, and don't plan to. But in our line of work, explosions can happen, so we might as well know the how's and whys."
"It sounds like something worth studying. Controlled explosions at opportune times. We rigged a pie to explode my sophomore year at Academy," Wyn reminisced. "Not me," he said trying a joke. Not that kind of Pi."
"That's a good thing," she countered. "The academy frowns on blowing up students. But pies...that could be interesting. And messy."
"Food fights became sort of a thing," Wyn said with a smile. "Got more than a few demerits, but it wasn't like I was going to be first in my class anyway. Might as well have some fun. And yeah. Messy."
"Sadly, I've never been in a food fight. Well...not yet, anyway." But she knew better than to think she never would.
"Well, there's another item for your bucket list," Wyn remarked as he stretched and saw one of his engineers trying to get his attention. "Looks like duty is calling," he said, moving to stand. "Perhaps we should get lunch once a week or so to make sure both departments are playing nicely?"
"Definitely." She grinned. "It was nice meeting you." She liked Wyn. To her, that was a good beginning and would make working together go a lot smoother.
Dani nodded a greeting to the engineer waiting for Wyn as she headed back to operations. Maybe she'd stop by the lounge and grab a snack before jumping into the next project.
END
A joint post by:
Lieutenant Wynning Pi
Chief Engineer
USS Resolute
Lieutenant JG Daniella Fox
Chief Operations Officer
USS Resolute
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