Ensign Voss read the message on his comm badge and grabbed his toolbelt. He stopped to speak with his assistant and then headed to the science department. Ensign Kroll had sent him a message he was having equipment issues. Just another day in the life of engineering.

Taren hoped it was not anything big. He had just gone over the ship before leaving the station but the truth was it didn’t matter how much you looked things over. Problems seems to crop up on their own.

Walking in to the science department he looked around and saw Ensign Kroll tapping his computer in frustration. Taren watched him for a moment, he always wondered why people thought banging on the equipment would make it work better.

“Hey now!” Taren said with a grin. “That isn’t going to get you anywhere. You need to smooth talk her or you are never getting anywhere.”

“Her?” Teral scoffed. “You act like it has feelings.” He tapped it again. “It was working just fine and then it went blank.”

“Let me take a look.” Taren said, moving in once Teral was out of the way. “Maybe you irritated her.” He smiled to himself as he heard Teral grumbling. Taren went to work. “What were you working on?” He asked with interest. They weren’t on a mission, just sent to babysit Captain Coleman and his crew back to OverWatch Station. He hoped he got a chance to go over and take a look at the USS Oakland. He would like to see what their engineering staff had done.

“A project.” Teral replied quietly. He didn’t think Voss was really interested, he was just making small talk. Most of the crews he had worked with really did not want to know.

“Well duh!” Taren said as he used his tricorder to run diagnosis on the computer. He looked over at the science chief. “I knew that already. I am interested in knowing what your doing.” He say the look of doubt in his eyes. “Let me just say, I mean what I say if I wasn’t interested I wouldn’t be asking you.”

“There are colonists on a newly developed planet who have been dealing with a rash that so far nothing is fighting.” Teral explained. “They sent out a call for help and I have an idea which involves using a particular plant. I was running a test when the computer went down.”

“That is amazing.” Taren said after a moment. “We all have our own jobs but what you are doing can change lives.”

“Thanks for that.” Teral said. He was surprised at Ensign Voss’ words.

He checked his tricorder. “This is a simple fix.” After a few moments he looked over to Teral. “And you are back in business.”

“Thank you.” Teral said quietly as he moved to look at the screen. “I did not want to lose my work.”

“Glad to help out.” Taren said as he headed to the door. He looked back and called out. “You busy tonight?”

“Just dinner and reading a book.” Teral said.

He didn’t want to mention it was a science manual.”

“I thought it would be fun for a bunch of us to get together and hang out.” Taren explained. “We’ll meet in the mess hall for dinner first.

Teral started to make up an excuse but something changed his mind. “I’ll be there.” He said and turned back to his computer with a smile. He did not make friends really easy, probably because he fixated on his work. It made him feel good that he had plans for once.

Taren smiled to himself as he headed down the corridor on his way back to engineering. He didn’t know who had been more surprised him or Teral that he said yes. The man looked shocked at his own words.

It wasn’t but a few seconds and his comm went off again. He was needed in medical. It didn’t say for what but he knew it must be an equipment issue. Taren had gotten his physical a couple days ago after Lieutenant Chen threatened him with the captain. Taren had gone and gotten it out of the way.

Taren walked into medical and looked around. He noticed it felt a little chilly in there. It was really weird because normally the sickbay was kept a little warmer because sick and injured patients tended to be a little colder. Maybe the good doctor preferred it that way, this was her domain.

“There you are!” Aria said as she came out from the back. “You got here pretty fast.”

“I was in the science department.” Taren explained. “I got a message but it just said to come here. What can I do for you?” A sudden thought hit him. “You didn’t find an issue with my physical did you?” That was not what he needed. He hated being poked and prodded while doctors tried to find out what was wrong.

“No.” Aria shook her head. “We are having a climate issue. About an hour ago I noticed it felt a little cool in here and it’s gotten progressively worse.”

“I’ll take a look and see what I can find out.” Taren nodded. “No one messed with the climate control here?”

“I turned it up all the way.” Aria replied. “About an hour ago. We are warming blankets for the patients for now until you figure it out.” She paused. “It almost feels like it’s blowing cold air.”

“I’ll find the culprit.” Taren replied. He called engineering and had them check out things from their end and then went to work on the unit in sickbay.

“Do you think it’s something serious?” Aria asked him as she watched.

“Could be she caught a cold.” Taren teased. “Or she’s afraid of her physical.” He stopped what he was doing. “Bingo!” He called out with a grin and looked over at her. “It is a simple fix, it won’t take me more than a few minutes and you will be feeling like a tropical island in here once more.”

“That is good news.” Aria said, a smile crossing her face. She didn’t really need it that hot but anything was an improvement on their current situation.

Taren worked for a few minutes, singing a song to himself as he fixed it. When he was done he turned to her with a grin. “The heat is on.”

“Thank you.” Aria replied. “I really appreciate it.”

“That is my job.” Taren said with a smile. “And I threw the song in for free.”

“Anybody tell you that you wasted your mothers singing lesson money?” Aria said with a laugh.

Taren shook his head. “Good thing she didn’t spend any, huh?” The two of them laughed as

He picked up his tools. “Hey.” He said as he moved towards the door. “Some of us are going to hang out in the mess hall tonight. Eat some dinner and hang out. Maybe play some games or something. You interested?”

“Yes.” Aria said with a nod. “Count me in, I will be there for sure.” She paused and then called after him. “I will bring some snacks.”

“Good!” Taren nodded. “See you then.” He left the department, whistling as he decided to stop and grab something to drink before he headed back to engineering. It was turning out to be a busy day. His comm went off just as he reached the turbolift and he saw a message he was needed at the security chief’s office.

“Mama said there would be days like this.” Taren said with a sigh. He took a detour and headed to security. As he walked into the department, Jaxon Thorne stood waiting impatiently. He didn’t look none too happy.

“Broken computer?” Taren guessed. “Faulty Climate Control?”

Jaxon looked at him and shook his head. “I can’t get into the armory.” He growled. “No one can. My code works but it doesn’t disengage. “

Taren sighed. “Why am I not surprised?” He shook his head. “Let me check it out.” He pulled out his tricorder and ran diagnostics on the program.

“Well!” Jaxon said quickly. “What is the problem!”

“Take a deep breath, we will get it fixed.” Taren said with a grin. Thorne was obviously out of patience. “And let me assess the situation and then I can give you an update.” He went back to work, called down to engineering and a few minutes later, Taren turned to Jaxon. “Try it now.”

Jaxon put his code in and the door silently opened. He looked over to Taren. “Thank you!”

Taren nodded. “It should be just fine now.” He started picking up his tools and got ready to leave.

“I didn’t mean to be so impatient.” Jaxon said apologetically. “It just doesn’t look good that the chief of security cannot access the weapons locker.” Thorne prided himself in running his department so that people respected him and knew they could count on him.

Taren thought for a moment and smiled widely. “That would be like me not being able to get to the engines or access them.” He said. “I get what you are saying. The important thing is we figured out how to fix it.” He wasn’t about to tell Jaxon that he had the program shut down and brought back up and whatever it was had fixed itself. It was an old engineering trick. If all else fails, reboot and see what happens.

“You are right.” Jaxon nodded. “That is what is important.” He grinned. “Now my crew can count the weapons and make certain our count is accurate.”

“Oh fun!” Taren said with a raised eyebrow. “I bet they love me about now.”

“It is a part of the job.” Jaxon explained. “We all have things we like and then things we aren’t so happy to do.”

“This is true.” Taren nodded. He paused for a moment. “Hey, some of us are going to hang out tonight. I am not entirely sure what we are going to do but we are grabbing dinner first. You interested in joining us? Just about everyone has said yes so far.”

Jaxon paused for a moment. “Yes.” He said with a nod. ”It will be a good way for us to all get to know one another. Count me in!” Jaxon watched him head to the door. “I will try and think of a game to play or something.”

“Good to hear it.” Taren nodded and he headed out the door. He was getting some really good responses. Most everyone was up for hanging out. Taren thought it would be a good way for them to all get to know each other. He decided to just head to engineering and replicate himself something to drink. He still hadn’t gotten to the task at hand.

Just as he got on the turbolift, he was paged to the mess hall kitchen. Taren shook his head, wondering what was going on now.

It seemed to be the day for issues. Not that Taren minded all that much. At least he was not bored and so far it had not been anything too bad. This was a good way for them to get the hiccups out of the way.

Walking in to the kitchen he could hear Chef Ross speaking rapidly in Spanish. Taren headed over to where she was standing. She looked at him and continued on. Taren waited until she was finished and smiled.

“Can you repeat all of that, Chef Rosa.” The engineer asked. “Only this time in English. I am afraid I don’t speak Spanish and I don’t have a translator handy.” He smiled at her making certain he was respectful. He had already heard not to mess with the  Chef.

Rosa sighed. “I’m sorry.” She said with the wave of her hand. “I do that when I am panicked.”

“What is the problem.” Taren asked. “I will try to help you out.” He saw her kitchen staff looked concerned as well

“The oven quit.” Rosa explained. “I am in the middle of dinner preparations and I need to get these cobblers in the oven soon or they won’t be ready for dinner.”

Taren sensed the concern in her voice and he headed over. “Let me take a look and I will see if I can fix the problem.” He was surprised when no one followed him. It did not take Taren all that long to find the problem and he went to work.”

“Can it be fixed.” Rosa’s voice was filled with worry.” She had meant to leave him alone but she was worried about what would happen if they could not be fixed.

“Whoever installed the ovens did not properly tighten things.” Taren explained. “It was probably just enough that things ran fine but over time it loosened up.” He took the cover off.  “I will have them up and running in about five minutes.”

“Gracias.” Rosa said with a relieved smile. “You are a very good man, Ensign Voss.”

“Thank you, Chef.” Taren replied. “But I am just doing my job.” He double checked to make certain everything was tightened and good to go before he headed to where the kitchen staff was waiting with Chef Ross. “They are good to go. I turned the ovens on and they are already warming up.”

“I made you this!” Rosa said, holding out a bag. “It is a chicken burrito and there are some churros in there as well.”

“You didn’t have to do this.” Taren protested. “This is my job.” He felt kind of funny that she made him food when keeping everything running was what he was trained for.

“Kindness is always repaid.” Rosa declared. “With kindness.” She pressed the bag into his hands. “Enjoy!” Rosa then turned and started giving out orders to her staff. Taren had a feeling they were running behind schedule so he did not argue. Besides who could argue with her logic.  He just took the bag and headed to a table, sitting down to eat his lunch. One bite of the burrito and Taren realized how hungry he was.

Once Taren was done he stopped by each of the other department heads to invite them to come this evening. Zara, T’Shan, Malik and Lira. He knew that Zara would be iffy she had been in sickbay and Teran wasn’t quite certain if she had been released yet or not. Taren felt like  it was the invite that sas important , he did not want anyone to feel like they could not come. He had wavered on the first and second officer but decided to invite them. If they were not comfortable they would decline.  When he bumped into Lieutenant Commander Solwick earlier he had extended the invitation to her as well as the captain if she thought he would come. Some command staff were funny about hanging out with their crew. It just depended on Captain Gutierrez preference.

Taren still needed to track down Lieutenant O’Connell. The Operations Officer and second officer had been hard to find. Everytime he showed up somewhere he was supposed to be, he had just left. If Taren did not know better he would think Reeve was avoiding him for some reason. But that would not be the case. The two of them had hit it off right away and had become friends.

Taren headed on his way and finally found Reeve sitting in his office. He looked up when Taren came in. “I have been looking all over for you.” Reeve called out. “You are hard to find. I feel like I was on a scavenger hunt.

“Really!” Taren said with a laugh when he sat down on the chair across from him. “I was looking for you as well but then I got side tracked with some minor issues.”

“Anything you need a hand with?” Reeve offered. He was glad to help out if he could. That is what made them a good team.

“Everything is good now.” Taren assured him. “I came to tell you that a bunch of us are going to eat dinner together and then hang out. Some are bringing snacks. Jaxon said he was going to bring a game we could team up and play. It will be a great way to break the ice and help to develop friendships.” His eyes met Reeve’s. “You are invited. I already invited the Lieutenant Commander and told her to feel free to invite the Captain if she thought he would come.”

Reeve smiled widely. “I will be there. This is just what we all need.” He looked to Teran. “That was a great idea you came up with.”

“It was something someone said in the mess hall yesterday that got me to thinking.” Taren confessed. “We spend a lot of time on this ship we might as well get to know each other.”

“I was looking for you to see if you wanted to grab dinner and play a game of handball.” Reeve explained. “But this is much better.” He paused. “Do you know what Chef Rosa has planned for dinner tonight?”

“No.” Taren replied. “But so know she is having Peach Cobbler for dessert. They were working on it when I was there earlier.”

“The captain’s wife is a really good cook.” Reeve nodded. “I am already hungry just thinking about it.”

Taren stood up. “I need to be heading on my way. I have paperwork to get done so I will be there since I am the one who planned this thing.”

“I will see you tonight.” Reeve nodded. He was looking forward to the evening ahead.

Taren headed to engineering and finished up his day. He managed to get all his reports done and there were no more ship emergencies. He made a note to schedule his engineers to systematically go through the ship and double check the corp of engineers work. He wasn’t blaming them for shoddy work but sometimes things got missed. No one was perfect.