Was it her imagination or did ensigns talk way more these days?

Even though the shuttle journey had been (thankfully) short, Enna still felt like her ears were bleeding from the incessant chatter of the younger crewmembers also transferring to the Hathaway. As expected, they flocked to the door as soon as the shuttle touched down, small packs with them that indicated they’d sent their belongings on ahead.

Entering the primary shuttlebay at a stride, arms swinging freely by her side, Hathaway’s engineering chief was deep in conversation with one of her subordinates whilst they watched the new Type-14 make contact with the deck plating. The clash of metal on metal hushed the bay momentarily and signalled the right time for the Lieutenant to dispatch her subordinate.

Enna stood from her seat in the corner of the shuttle as the others started to file out, uncurling herself and reaching for her pack. It was large, and not starfleet issue, with the faded and worn patches from her old unit still stitched to the side under her name tape.

Ducking out of the shuttle, she stepped out of the shuttle and onto the bay floor.

‘There she is,’ Prida smiled as she finally caught sight of the woman she was waiting for. Standing on her tiptoes so she could be seen past the crowd of people, the Bajassian waved her hand frantically. “Chief Mason! Over here,” she called to the newcomer.

Enna paused mid-stride at the call, turning toward the voice and spotting a hand waving over the head of the gaggle of ensigns. She waited until they’d swarmed by and found herself face to face with a lieutenant in a gold-shouldered uniform.

“Ma’am,” she said, offering a small smile. 

Her reassignment had been last minute so she hadn’t had time to read up on her fellow crew members or superiors yet. She should have done it on the transfer really but with the short time frame she knew she’d have to hit the ground running… which meant that she’d spent the transfer time asleep, only waking to make changes between ships and shuttles. She’d spent years sleeping in the back rack of a tank, so she could sleep anywhere. But it also meant that she had no idea who the woman in front of her was.

Offering her hand in greeting to the new arrival, the grey-skinned woman gave a wide grin. “Lieutenant Prida Rala, chief engineer,” she introduced herself.

That solved the gap in her knowledge. Enna took her hand with a smile and shook firmly. 

“Chief Petty Officer Enna Mason, deck chief,” she replied. “Seems we’ll be working together.”

“And a lot of work we have. May I?” the Bajassian began, smiling as she reached for the newcomer’s pack so she could have a little relief after her journey. “The ship’s undergone some changes in recent weeks and, as you can see, we’re completely rebuilding the shuttlebays to make the launch and retrieval of our new squadron the main focus. After the chaos of the Dominion conflict, and then Frontier Day, there’s no way they’ll send this ship out there without added protection,” Prida told, leading her new colleague towards the massive shuttlebay doors.

“Err… sure, if you’re sure? It’s heavy,” Enna managed in the split second before her pack was gone.

She looked around as they walked, noting the construction. She’d still been waking up when they’d arrived, and her seat hadn’t had a good angle on the viewport anyway. “So I can see. Is this the only construction that’s underway at the moment?”

If it wasn’t, then she might have to make some adjustments to ensure the bays ran smoothly.

“This is the bulk of it. Rest of the stuff is updates and improvements following recent events,” Prida told her new colleague as they walked the Hathaway‘s hallowed halls. “Our biggest issue is power consumption and distribution to the shuttlebays, and the adjustment of several sensor pallets around the primary hull,” was her next revelation. 

Enna nodded, absorbing the information as they walked. “How far along are those improvements?“ she asked. “Will they be complete before we leave? Or are we hitting the ground running with them?”

“We’ll be working on the go. We have until we reach the Kanaan system to have the deck working efficiently and the squadron ready for launch manoeuvres,” the Chief Engineer told the senior enlisted officer. “Given issues elsewhere on the ship, I’d like you to oversee the final stages of the redevelopment, if that’s acceptable to you, Chief?” the Bajassian asked.

“Of course,” Enna said with a nod. “I’ll need access to the redevelopment files and the current timeline, but I can hit the ground running. Just need to drop my pack off and I’m good to go.”

“They’ve already been sent to your personal workstation and your teams are already hard at work. If you need anything from me, let me know. The Captain has made the completion of the shuttlebay refurb a top priority,” Prida stopped when they were outside the door. “Your quarters are on deck three with the majority of the senior staff. Spartan, but clean,” she smiled, looking back at the chaos of the shuttlebay.

“I will do, and clean is always good.” Enna chuckled as she saw the direction of the other woman’s gaze. Deck three had been way more than she’d expected but she didn’t allow that to show on her face. “And I’m more than used to spartan.”

Smiling, she held her hand out for her pack. “I’ll get my stuff racked and get started then, ma’am. Thank you for the welcome party.”

“Anytime,” Prida grinned, handing back the woman’s pack before heading for the turbo lift at the opposite end of the hall.

Enna smiled as she slung the heavy pack over her shoulder and watched the chief engineer walk away for a second. She hadn’t had a welcome like that onto many ships she’d served on. It was… nice. 

Then she turned and headed off, padd already in hand to familiarise herself with what needed to be done.