Footnotes on the book of the Enterprise-class

Posted on Fri Apr 4th, 2025 @ 5:02pm by Captain T’Kal & Lieutenant Karane Inda

1,128 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: ARYL 1X01: Bound for Cold Frontier
Location: Various Engineering Decks
Timeline: Several hours after “Keep Her Safe”

ON

T’Kal’s tour of her new command with her superior officer had been extensive but skipped over the busiest places where an Admiral would have just gotten in the way. The engine room was one of those places. People were busy doing their jobs, and for a moment T’Kal hesitated to interrupt them even by herself. But it was part of her job to understand her ship, so it was a necessary evil to step into the fray and find the woman in charge of the refit.

“Pardon me, Ensign,” she said to a passing engineer, a human presently carrying a large ionizer of some kind with an antigrav unit. “Please direct me to Lieutenant Karane Inda.”

"She's up there," the Ensign said pointing to the upper levels where the warp core stretched high throughout the ship. "I think she was doing something with the injectors..."

The deuterium injectors, the Captain knew (at least from her overview manual), were six decks up. Good exercise, she mused. “Thank you, Ensign. Carry on.” She started climbing a nearby ladder up toward Deck Nine.

The smallest perspiration was building at her temples when she saw the small engineer at work. Or, rather, she heard her at work.

"Dammit!" The engineer cursed as something went 'klunk'. "Come on now! You didn't do this before! One little trip to dry dock and you start demanding new parts!" She said her voice full of frustration and unaware someone was behind her. It didn't help that she was laid on her back with only her stomach sticking out of the injectors assembly.

“Does it help to chastise the engine when it does not cooperate with you?” T’Kal asked, a soupçon of sarcasm in her tone.

There was a noticeable 'bang' as the engineer shot up, striking her head against something. "Owwww..." she complained before sliding out of the port, her hands pressed to her reddened forehead. "What the actual hell?! Sneaking up on people like that! Are you stupid or something?!"

“Not to my knowledge,” T’Kal replied, curious about the engineer’s reaction. “Then again, would someone truly stupid know it? A question more for philosophers than for ship Captains.” She had debated stringing Karane along a moment further, but decided to drop the word captain early on instead.

It was just then that the engineer noticed the rank on T'Kal's shoulder strap. "Captain huh..." she said. "What brings you down here?" she asked simply as she rubbed her forehead where she had introduced it to the inside of the injector assembly.

“Simply put, I want an update on the refits being done to my ship,” T’Kal answered. “And you are by far the person best qualified to give that report. Or am I incorrect in that assessment as well?”

Karana continued to rub her head. She let out a long sigh. "Well for one the new injectors are playing up." She said as she began to walk. She leaned over the railing and looked down several decks towards where main engineering. "WILKINS!" She shouted loudly.

A few seconds later a young face popped up looking up the tall core. He was several decks down. "Yes Chief?" He called back.

"Get up here and get these injectors finished!" Karana shouted down at him. Wilkins nodded. "Aye chief!" He then popped back in and disappeared.

Karane turned back to T'Kal. "Let's get back down to Engineering. I can show you the refit progress from there."

“Yes, thank you.” The Captain followed behind as she was led toward the main engineering deck.

A minute later they were in front of the dilithium crystal chamber and the master systems display. “I have studied the specifications of these Enterprise-subclass vessels, but details on these refits have not been made available to me yet.”

"Seriously?" Karane responded. She crossed her arms and leant against the railing around the core. "All of these ships are basically the same, the 'Enterprise' subclass just has some tweaks and improvements to some of the ships systems. Basically it's the 'premier' of the Connie's." She explained. "Think of it like this. You can have a normal Connie, or you pay a little more and get the Connie with all the added extra stuff! Go faster stripes, the leather seats, the cruise control, the whole shebang! That's what the 'Enterprise' subclass is supposed to be." Karane crossed one foot over the other balancing against the railing as she explained. "It's mainly stuff you'll never see, but you'll notice eventually. Higher top speed, better shuttlebay compliment, a swimming pool, phaser and torpedo upgrades and a diplomatic kitchen. Stuff like that."

“How does the top speed compare?” T’Kal asked. “And I understand there have been upgrades to the sensors and subspace transceiver?”

"We can push her up to warp eight at a push. But not for long. However, give me a bit of time to play with this engine and I'm sure she's capable of more." Karane boasted. "And yes you're correct, the sensors and subspace transceiver has also been upgraded. We have Excelsior Class sensors."

"Interesting," she replied, both eyebrows raised. "We need an appropriate balance of strength, speed, and sensor and communications capabilities for our mission, and it sounds like that's what we have. I trust you are capable of keeping this engine room in good order as Chief Engineer?"

Karane scowled as she put both hands on her hips. "Seriously? I've been aboard this ship for the last five years! If anyone can keep her going it's me!"

“Excellent.” T’Kal gave the new chief a polite nod, ignoring the scowl and that her question had off-put the engineer. “The paperwork will be completed by day’s end. Launch is in seven days, I expect everything that requires Spacedock support to be finished by then.”

"You expect?" Karane questioned. "Is the refit systems an expectation now? You've been spending too much time around Humans Captain. If an expectation can only lead to an emotional response..." she paused. "But no need to worry, this girl will have her fixed up in a jiffy!" She said thumbing to herself. "Captain Scott may have re-wrote the book on this class, but I've made my own footnotes along the way too! She's in good hands!"

The Captain's expectation had only been that the work would be done on time, but that was beside the point. They got there in the end. "Then I shall leave her in your good hands, Lieutenant."

Karane nodded. "Just promise me one thing. Don't scratch the paint just yet, give it a few weeks."


END

Captain T’Kal
Commanding Officer, USS Ark Royal

Lieutenant Karane Inda
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Ark Royal

 

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