Engineering - Day 46 (morning) - [open to engineers/unfinished]

[miss_gaila]

Gaila was always a bit skeptical of Federation diplomacy, and something about this mission bothered her. She wanted to believe that they would do the right thing - whatever the hell the right thing was - but she was immensely glad that Scotty was committed to finding out what was going on down there... by whatever means necessary

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[eatabean_bedone]

Although he kept such thoughts to himself, Keenser was of the opinion that 'diplomacy' was simply a fancy Federation word for 'wasting as much time as possible and spreading the misery of wasted time around to as many people as Humanly possible'. Apparently part of this 'diplomacy' nonsense involved checking out some kind of engineering facility on Maros An, which in Keenser's opinion - another one that he kept to himself - was a pure waste of time. Of course, knowing the Federation, there was some incredibly vital reason they were being sent to check things out - vital as far as those at Starfleet Command were concerned, at any rate.

He made his rounds through engineering, stopping by the piping network in section three specifically, since he'd been checking over it the day before. As he'd suspected, it was nothing to be worried about, but it was nice knowing for certain. Continuing on, he paused as he caught the sound of humming, identifying the source of the noise as the Orion engineer, judging by the pitch and timbre of her voice. Further investigation revealed that she was preparing gear, presumably for the upcoming mission. Silently, he approached, wondering if there was anything he could do to help.

[miss_gaila]

Half of Gaila's mind was focused on preparing the gear, although it was all fairly standard, so she continued to mull over the mission in her head. Suddenly a thought struck her: what if Nyota's untimely "leave of absence" was related to this mission? It wouldn't surprise her. She knew perfectly well that Nyota wasn't taking time off for personal reasons. Stressed as she was by her breakup with Spock and her involvement with Jim, that would normally make her more invested in her work. She shook off the thought. Now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

She didn't realize that she had started humming even louder until she noticed that Lieutenant Keenser was right beside her. She stopped and smiled at him. "Hello, Keenser," she said. "Want to give me a hand with the gear for the away mission?"

[eatabean_bedone]

Keenser gave Gaila a measuring look before turning his attention to the gear that she had put together so far. Maintenance scanners, tricorders... That reminded him, he'd want to put together a small toolbelt to take with him, just in case he ran into anything that needed immediate attention - whether they were supposed to be just looking or no. He wasn't going to let something that could easily be fixed go unfixed just because Starfleet didn't want them meddling.

"Need?" he asked, looking back up at the Orion. As pointless as going down to 'check out' the facilities seemed, he could at least pull his weight as a Starfleet officer and do his job, and if that meant playing pack mule and lugging things back and forth for a bit, at least it shouldn't take too long, and he'd be back on the ship before he even had time to miss it.

[miss_gaila]

Gaila was already planning on taking equipment to carry out minor repairs, if necessary. If they could help out by actually fixing things, then they certainly should. She considered Keenser's question for a moment, unsure if he was asking if she needed help of if he was asking what they needed. His use of Standard was certainly unusual, although he wasn't necessarily any more difficult to understand than most humans she knew. Terran expressions still tended to baffle her, and even when she understood all the words she often didn't know what humans were trying to say.

"Well, I'm not sure if I actually need help," she replied. "But I could use an extra set of hands, and someone to make sure I'm not forgetting anything. As for what exactly we need, routine supplies should be sufficient. We're just checking out the place, though I suppose we may be asked to carry out minor repairs."

[eatabean_bedone]

He gave her a short nod, running through a mental checklist of supplies, before realizing that he'd neglected to ask Scotty who, exactly, the away team would consist of. Silly of him to have forgotten. Making a face at himself - the changes in expression so minute that only someone who'd spent a great deal of time around him would notice - he decided that the fact that there were four tricorders must mean four people for the away team. Himself, Scotty, Gaila apparently, and.... Well, it wasn't important. Getting the gear together and organized was.

Speaking briskly, his words clipped and short - a far cry from what he sounded like when he spoke in his native tongue - he replied, "Tell what need. Get."

[miss_gaila]

She smiled at him. This time she definitely understood. No confusing Terran idioms to get in the way. "Well, I think we'll need equipment to carry out minor repairs as well as safety kits. We can double check with Scotty later to make sure we're not missing anything." She looked back over what she'd already packed, double-checking the list in her mind.

Then she glanced over at him. "Glad to be going on an away mission, even if its just a routine examination?" she asked, genuinely a little curious. It crossed her mind to ask him what he thought of the whole situation, but she wasn't really comfortable talking about that sort of thing with anyone besides Scotty, or perhaps David or Nyota.

[eatabean_bedone]

He was about to head off to fetch the safety kits when Gaila asked him if he was glad to be going on away mission. He hesitated then, wondering if he should tell the truth, that he'd much rather stay here on the ship, thank you very much. It was bad enough convincing the Human crew of the Enterprise that he was neither unintelligent nor a child. Probably the natives of this planet they were visiting would think him some kind of pet; it had happened to him in the past.

"Not glad leave ship," he replied, shrugging. "Do job. Am tell go." And orders were orders, as the saying went, and he had no choice but to follow them. A little wryly, he added, "Glad no cold." Not that the temperature on Delta Vega had really bothered him that much, but it meant less specialized gear to pack.

[miss_gaila]

"I can understand that," she replied, expression sympathetic. "Though I'll be glad to stretch my legs for a bit. I just wish we were doing something more interesting than just routine maintenance checks." In all likelihood, they would be doing something more interesting, but she probably shouldn't mention it. With a laugh, she added, "Thank goodness. Apparently the planet's a little warmer than the Enterprise, which is nice for me. I always find the ship a little cold." She stopped, realizing she was probably rambling. She was mostly used to the cooler temperatures that Terrans found normal, although she still preferred the heat. It must be even worse for David. "Anyway, thanks for helping me with the gear."

[eatabean_bedone]

Another small shrug, and Keenser jogged off to get those safety kits. Once he'd successfully located the kits, and managed to get them all stacked up so he wouldn't have carry them on at a time, he made his way back as quickly as possible, wasting no time in placing one kit which each pack of equipment.

"Need tough skin," he told Gaila, picking up where their conversation had left off. Tapping his fingers against the back of one hand, he added, "Not feel temp." That wasn't entirely accurate; he did feel different temperatures, but only in extremes, or when going from one extreme temperature to another.

[miss_gaila]

While Keenser went off to get the packs, Gaila threw in a few more supplies that might be unnecessary but that couldn't hurt... especially if they were going to be snooping around. She was pleasantly surprised when Keenser returned and immediately started up the conversation again. She laughed a bit at his first comment. "I'm afraid this is the only skin I have," she said, glancing down at her arm. "And unfortunately it's quite sensitive to cold temperatures." She looked at him curiously after that last comment. "You don't feel temperature? I'm actually a little envious of that."

[eatabean_bedone]

He took a moment to look over the supplies Gaila had added to the packs in his absence, noting with interest that a few of them seemed a little out-of-the-ordinary for a simple health and safety reg check. After a moment of consideration, he decided that adding a couple of flashlights to the packs couldn't hurt; maybe they'd be unnecessary, but they were small and didn't take up much space, and it never hurt to be prepared. Human eyes - and Orion eyes, he assumed - weren't well-adapted to seeing in the dark, and besides, there might be interesting bits of machinery to poke around in, and a light was always a good idea.

"Not feel unless hot," he said, jerking his thumb upward to indicate that he meant extremely hot. "Cold." A jerk of his thumb downward. "Not feel... wrong word. Apology. Aware of temp. Not bother." That seemed to have exhausted his current supply of words, and he darted off again to find those flashlights, bringing them back quickly, showing them to Gaila before adding them to the supplies.

[miss_gaila]

"You're only aware of extreme temperatures?" she clarified, nodding. "Sounds convenient. Is there an optimal temperature for you?" she asked curiously. Orions could function at various temperatures, but higher temperatures were more comfortable, as well as more conducive to healing. She knew that the temperatures on the Enterprise were set so as to be comfortable for as many crewmen as possible, but there were certainly beings who had different needs.

Keenser darted off again, and for a moment Gaila wasn't sure if he was going to come back, but then he did, carrying flashlights. She grinned. "I hadn't thought of that. Good idea... There's no way to know what me might run into down there."

[eatabean_bedone]

Keenser realized quickly that his explanation of how he felt the ambient temperature had been misunderstood, and not for the first time, he silently and privately cursed Standard for being such a monotonic language - and for having its syntax all wrong. "Aware all temp," he said, after he'd finished getting the flashlights sorted. "High temp, low temp affect." He stepped back to examine what he and Gaila had packed so far, trying to decide if he'd overlooked anything or forgotten something crucial. It would be just his luck that they'd get down to the planet and then he'd realize there was something he'd meant to grab.

"Need more?" he asked Gaila, glancing at her for a brief moment. After a moment, he shrugged, and added, "Forget, transport down."

[miss_gaila]

"Ah, I'm sorry for misunderstanding," she said. She was actually used to needing to make an effort to understand her colleagues. Despite being fluent in Standard, she often didn't understand Terran colloquialisms. Even when the words themselves made sense, the meaning sometimes eluded her. "You're aware of all temperatures, but only affected by extreme temperatures." She smiled. "Still seems convenient to me."

She was pretty sure they had all the equipment they would need. "Scotty won't be happy if we have to transport things down later, but I think we're all set." She grinned. "Thanks for helping out."

[eatabean_bedone]

Keenser waved off her apology; he was long used to being misunderstood and having to clarify - not that it was his fault that Standard was such a damnably strange language, or that its syntax was all wrong. He should, perhaps, have mentioned that by 'high temperatures', he meant those in excess of approximately 26 degrees Centigrade, which to Terrans and many other humanoids was a bit warm, but not uncomfortable. It was all relative, after all.

Tapping a hand against his chest to indicate that he was speaking of himself, he replied, "Recall what forget, add to packs." What he meant was that if he remembered anything they'd forgotten, he would add to the packs, but he'd always had difficulty with verb tenses in Standard, as verb tenses were indicated by pitch and tone in his native language, and not by a separate set of conjugations.

[miss_gaila]

She was fairly certain she'd understood that. It must be really difficult for a being who's not fluent in Standard to live among humans, she thought, feeling a little sympathetic. She suddenly wondered why he'd decided to join Starfleet, but it didn't quite feel right to ask. "If I think of anything we've forgotten, I'll add it as well. And I'll double-check with Scotty later."

She stretched her arms a bit, and then let her mind wander back to the mission itself. She glanced at Keenser. It wasn't really her business, but he was going to be on the away mission with them. There's a good chance he won't really answer, but... "What do you think of the mission?" she asked, tone casual.