From:		Jorith
Date:		06 November 1995 01:27
To:		U.S.S. Lafayette (BBS)
Subject:		Main Engineering

<OCC: I hope nobody minds if I create this thread. I imagine I'll probably be doing most of the posting here anyway :) >

<Lt. Cmdr. Kindle - Main engineering/computer core>

"Bridge, this is engineering. Captain, I've found something that might be of interest. It seems that the designers of this ship decided to load their design notes into the main computer core - a owner's manual of sorts. The computer log indicates that someone had access to that information recently. Worst case scenario: That Kligon ship might now have the complete design and capabilites of this ship. I'm having everyone down here working on a level two diagnostic check on various systems to assure that no damage has been done. All major systems are still on-line and ready for use, if needed. Kindle out."

Chandy leaned back against the wall of the small systems monitor room of the computer core. Her pleasant surprise of finding the desiger's notes was cooled by the knowledge that it had been accessed by an unauthorized person. Still, she now had the information she needed to do her job. She started suddenly when Ensign Zahn's head popped through the access hatch in the ceiling.

"Hey chief, there's something up here you should see."

"Go away Zahn. I'm busy." In the brief time Chandy had known Zahn, she had learned that it was best to keep him busy - and away from her. She had also learned that she had to be rather blunt with him in order for her intentions to be fully understood.

"But it's something for you. They put them on your desk because you hadn't checked into your quarters yet and figured this would be the best place to find you. I told them that you didn't want to be bothered-"

"And that's exactly what I meant." "I really need some sleep," Chandy thought. "I'm going to end up getting a reputation as a grump around here." "Zahn, aren't you suppose to be checking out the navigation sensors? I know one of the conn officers from the Academy and I don't think he would like it very much if the nav system was on the blink. He might even come down and sharpen his claws on a deliquent Ensign if he found out who was responsible for the system check."

"Working on it right now." Zahn's head disappeared from view.

Chandy smiled to herself. "Yep. A grump and one who threatens her crew. Oh well, at least I know he will get the job done now." She tried to go back to her studies of the ship's systems, but her mind kept floating back to Zahn's remark about 'putting them on your desk because she hadn't checked into her quarters yet.'  Knowing she wasn't going to get anymore work done until she found out what it was, Chandy closed up the files and accended the ladder out of the computer core.

Giving little thought to the looks and half-hidden smiles among the engineering crew, she headed towards the cramped room that was designated as the chief engineer's office. It stood near the reaction core in order for whoever occupied the office to be better able to visually monitor it. The room was rather plain - as she no longer had any belongings to display there - and Chandy didn't expect to be spending much time there. So when the door opened to reveal a bouquet of flowers sitting on the desk, she was a little more than surprised.

She stood for a moment in the doorway, then turned around to see who was watching - it had gotten too quiet behind her. Those who had stopped to look - which was nearly everyone - quickly got back to task, all with big smiles on their faces. Chandy turned back to the flowers with a shake of her head. "Storm," she thought as she inhaled the fragrance. "I don't think these are even replicated! How sweet of him-" she stopped in midthought as her eye caught a small notecard among the blooms:

			Officers Lounge. 1930. Table 2

Her smile slowly disappeared as her brow wrinkled in thought. "If nothing else, he is persistant. But he doesn't seem like the type to be overly aggressive in this kind of thing. Odd. Besides..." She put down the flowers and picked up her PADD to check on various ship memorandums sent out during the day. "Yes, that's what I thought - the officer's lounge is closed for redecoration..." She went on to the next message. "No wait, that's been cancelled. I guess all the other sections of the ship are in just as much chaos as we are down here. Well, I already told him 'no' once today. He's going to have to accept that I'm not having dinner with him tonight." Feeling something wasn't quite right about the whole situation, Chandy headed back down to the computer core - taking the flowers with her.

<OCC: Okay, someone tell me when Star Trek became a soap opera? <VBG> >