Meeting the Boss

Posted on Tue Jan 9th, 2024 @ 5:48pm by Teresa Forrest & Chief Engineer Michael Burnstein

Mission: Fractures
Location: Shooting Range
Timeline: Backpost
2232 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The computer told Teresa that her new boss could be found in the ship's shooting range. This piqued her interest. Was he there to fix a technical problem? Was he training, keeping his skills up? Or maybe just unwinding? Considering the early hour of the day, she doubted the latter. Still, in good spirits after her impromptu meeting with Delaney, the ship's newest engineer made her way over towards said shooting range, getting lost once or twice (that she would admit to) on the way, but eventually making it there.

Burnie ran his fingers of over the selection on the counter beside him, head bopping side to side ashe mhummed along with the music from the earbuds under his hearing protection. "Everybody come hang, let's go out with a bang - Bang! Bang! Bang!..." The range was generally deserted at this hour, making it the perfect time to test out 'specialty rounds'. The marines he'd once worked with had loved seeing what he came up with for those, especially an exchange officer who had gifted him a PPR-30 rifle so that he could keep 'playing' even after his forced discharge. A favorite weapon for Dosadi snipers, it had a dual-fire capability so that it could function as either a phaser rifle or a projectile weapon. He was using the morning hours and lack of people like to be freaked out by his hobby to exercise the latter function. Loading a cartridge, he took aim... and spotted the light indicating someone had entered the range.

With a sigh, he set the safety and rested the rifle in its sling, then removed the head set and popped out the earbuds. Gregnol had mentioned bringing new people on, so this person he didn't recognize was probably one of them, but he cast a reflexive glance at the security monitor, secure in the knowledge that Liha was watching to make sure none of his creations turned out to be 'too explosive' (as if). "Hey," he called. "Can I help you?"

She knew well enough to stay at the back, safely behind the shooters, and not to bother them until they noticed and acknowledged her presence. Gun safety was drilled in from early Federation days, and although she didn't consider herself a hobby shooter, she always had been in the top 20% of her classes when it came to markmanship. Something about the predictability of weapons spoke to her, just like all other machines. They did what you asked of them, and - as long nothing was wholly wrong - didn't surprise you or did anything unexpected. "Yeah. Burnstein, right? Chief engineer aboard this tub?" the woman asked, taking a step closer to the man. "Seems you're my new boss. Teresa Forrest, engineer. New hire."

"That's me. Welcome aboard," he said, motioning for her to come over and he unloaded and stowed the rifle. Fun time was probably done for today. Looking back at the engineer, he couldn't help thinking he'd seen her somewhere before. There was certainly something familiar in her bearing. "So, former Starfleet?"

"Yeah, that's right. Did ten years on a Miranda tactical refit. Systems very similar to these," She motioned around. "Yeah, they still keep Miranda's in active service. At least, they did ten years ago. Bit of a dead-end posting though," the woman leaned against a bulkhead, folding her arms over each other. She still wasn't sure what to make of her new boss. This Burnie, as Delaney called him.

Burnie shrugged. "Mirandas are good ships. Solid, versatile, hulls that could stand the tests of both combat and time." He glanced around at the bulkheads nearest him with a fond smile. "Not as good as Connie's, of course." The last had been said more to Rosie than Forrest, and seemingly realizing that his lack of social skills were showing again, he turned his attention back to his new engineer. "Anyway, Michael Burnstein, though most people here call me Burnie," he said offering hand. "I was Starfleet too. Nice to have another Academy-trained engineer aboard."

She pushed off the bulkhead with some energy, taking his hand in greeting. "Friends call me Tree. Because Teresa. And Forrest. Apparently, 'Tree Forrest' is the height of comedy among many people I've met," she explained in a way that one could just hear the eye-roll in her words. "Looking forward to working on Rosie. Anything I should be aware of? Notorious problem areas?"

"Hey, I got tagged with Burnie less for my last name than for setting an Academy lab on fire," he laughed. "But it stuck, maybe because I really am a bit of pyro," he admitted, flashing a brief grin. Then quickly lifted a hand in a gesture almost like swearing an oath. "Not that I'd ever torch Rosie. She's a great ship, and after the recent refit, running smooth and steady. The only problem area you should be aware of is 'the Grotto' - guy who had her before Gregnol was a bit of hoarder, so you never know what might turn up in there. Other than that..." he glanced up at the security monitor, debating, but decided better to ask and have attitudes out in the open than wait and potentially have trouble erupt when Liha was, say, holding a laser cutter. "...how do you feel about Romulans?"

"They leave me alone, I leave them alone," Teresa shrugged. She cast a glance at the weapon Burnie had been practising with before she came in, but she didn't recognize the specific model. "Never really had much of a problem with them. Worked with one, a few years ago - you see them around every now and then in the freelance space," she added, turning her full attention back to the man. "Seems your nickname has a story behind it. I like a good story," Teresa grinned.

"Good. A bunch of the Fenris Rangers are Romulan, as is our pilot, and the engineer who signed on here with me is too, so getting on with them okay is ...recommended," he replied with a small wink. The question of his story brought a grin. "As to my nickname, well, I was doubled up on courses and got behind in curing samples for a class. Figured I could make it up by with enough all-nighters, but other people apparently had the same idea. So there weren't enough autoclaves to finish the job, which meant I was screwed for finishing the project." He quickly held a hand up, thinking about the typical reactions to his story. "And no, I did not torch. the lab to get out if it. I might be a bit crazy, but I'm not a complete psycho. What I did was come up with an idea. See, when I was kid I stole the heating element out of my sister's easy-bake oven and used it to get the glue on my model planes to dry faster. An autoclave is just a big box to apply heat and pressure, so I figured I could...adapt available equipment." He chuckled to himself at the memory. "A couple infrared toasters from the student lounge - the samples only needed constant pressure, which I could get with clamps, so I just needed to tie the heating elements to a controller and up the thermal output a little. It really should've worked," he said and scratched the back of his head. "Maybe if I hadn't been running on nothing but caffeine and sugar, I would have remembered to rig a vent for outgassing..."

Catching himself from going off on a tangent, he smiled at Forrest. "Now I know what you're thinking. Toaster ovens don't seal well enough to build that kind of pressure, and you're right. BUT - and this is where sleep deprivation made me forget a crucial detail - we usually cleaned the clamps with acetone and that mixed with the volatiles released during cure, and then the heating coil sparked and...Boom!" "He threw his hands open to illustrate an explosion. "Instant hot toaster shrapnel - which hit the supplies on the worktables and set them off too. Boom-boom-boom! Mini-volcanoes erupting all over the lab." He grinned a little. "It was a really impressive show before the automatic fire systems came on."

"I don't think Prof. Garmon ever forgave me for trashing his lab, but it was a good learning experience," he said, and grinned wider. "Like, it showed me how innocent items can make great boobie traps. Prof. Conway gave me an 'A' for inventing a sequence to turn an ordinary replicator into a flamethrower," he recalled with a touch of pride. "So, any good stories from your time there?"

"If you ask the instructors, I was the mastermind of not one but two exploding toilet incidents, but I assure you that wasn't me," Teresa replied. "I mean, I might know who did it and might've - 'encouraged' them a bit and steered them towards the sodium and water-soluble plastic bags they used, but I was not involved in the events themselves," she added with a smile. "Shared a class with Gregnol, too. Imagine my surprise when I read the classifieds on this out of the way starbase and see him trying to recruit crew for an old Connie."

"Provided the intel and let someone else do the dirty work? You're going to get along with Romulans," Burnie laughed. "Somehow I never heard about the exploding toilets." It was just simple water bombs, not real explosions, but it was mildly disappointing that no one had told him about that. Granted, given a developing reputation as a pyro who enjoyed explosions, possibly no one wanted to give him ideas. Or a challenge. "I was just a few years behind you and Gregnol."

Waterbombs that still caused destroyed the bowls and caused damage to the stalls. "You didn't?" She seemed surprised. "Could've sworn the stories would've lasted at least a few years. That's hella disappointing, really," she folded her arms over each other again, in a mock huff. "Did Mister Temple still teach when you went through? Hardass. He sent me to the head office more than any other teacher."

He shrugged. "Engineering always had new stories. I mean, in '82 there was a debate over a paper that made an analogy between submarines and early starships that got ...kinda intense. Someone even slipped a quarter scale replica of the NX-01 into the Fluid Mechanics wave tank." Burnie shook his head, chuckling at the memory. 'And yeah, Temple was still there and turned about seven shades of red over that one. Seriously, we could almost have run a steam lab on what was coming out of his ears."

"Yeah that sounds like Temple," Teresa laughed. "I think we'll get along just fine, and you've made me curious to meet the Romulan crew, too. So I've got that to look forward to," she smiled. "Now, was there anything specific you need done, boss? Do you work on a ticket basis? What's open?"

"It's not quite as formal as ticketing, but not far off," he explained. "Basically, before the refit there were just certain systems that we knew needed monitoring, and pretty much constant maintenance, so we all kept an eye on those. Anything went seriously wrong, everyone was alerted, otherwise you fixed what was in front of you. Any problem reported elsewhere got a priority - emergencies dealt with right off; other issues, when we had hands to spare. Now that the primary systems are in good shape, we're catching up on some backlog items, but nothing you need to jump on. you can take some time and get familiar with the ship." He smiled, remembering his first look inside this grand old Connie. "Though if you want to jump right in, medbay has a replicator that needs some tweaking, and it's probably a good idea to meet the folks in there. And make sure the doc has your medical records," he added, thinking about a prior doctor's complaints on Liha's lack thereof.

"I can do that. And, you're right, knowing people in medbay can only be a good thing," Teresa smiled. She was going to like it here, she figured. She's met three of the crew so far and all seemed nice. Plus the atmosphere did her good. Less stuffy than on a Starfleet ship, while still working with (very old) Starfleet equipment. Another glance cast over Burnie's weapon and a mental note made that she coud probably brush up on her weapons training we well.

"Good." He nodded and threw her a smile, noting her glance at the PPR-30. "I've got some ammo I want to test out, but I should be back in engineering in a half hour or so. I can show you around then." And introduce you to Liha, since that usually goes better if you don't just bump into each other.

"Some other time, sure. I'd like that," she offered. To be fair, that thing intimidated her a bit. The most she'd practiced with was a type II hand phaser and a type III compression rifle, never a weapon that shot something physical. "Was very nice to meet you, Burnie. I'll go check on medbay. See you around," and with that she turned and headed out again.