Lt. Commander K'Lara kneeled next to an assembled warp nacelle. It was 20 feet long at this point. This would put the rest of the fighter at about being 40 to 60 feet long as far as K'Lara could figure. "Are you positive that the warp pylons will be able to hold this type of weight?" K'Lara looked over at the unfinished hull of the fighter.
Lieutenant Loran was on a crawler underneath the hull, doing some microwelding.
The two had worked side by side for the past few months putting the Lambda Flier together. K'Lara worked diligently to assemble this fighter. Garek was even coming to the point where he thought that the Flier was more K'Lara's then his. Rightfully it would be.
Garek was called away to fix Virgo's fusion reactor. That occupied most of his time. That and working on Captain Maruu's special program for Lt. Valdago. To him, it wasn't work, it was pastime. That, and baseball.
Garek removed his face shield and slid out from underneath the hull of the fighter. "Yes, K'Lara?" Garek asked. "I didn't quite hear you."
"I wanted to know if the Lambda Flier's hull will be able to support these unorthodox warp nacelles."
"I'm not worried about the warp nacelles, I'm worried about the color scheme for the flier." Garek took the helmet off and slung it under his arm. He rose, and walked over to talk to K'Lara.
"I'm glad you know where your priorities are." K'Lara grinned slightly.
Garek didn't make a habit of using his Betazoid power to read other people's thoughts or emotions, but what K'Lara was thinking was definitely clear. ~He should get his priorities straight. I'm worried about a structural collapse, and he is contemplating on the thing's paint job.~
His emotion changed quickly. However, he kept his mouth shut. He didn't like starting fights, and didn't want to start one with a senior officer.
"Anyways, I have to go meet Commander Lataro for lunch. I'll leave you to work for awhile." K'Lara looked at Garek for a response. He was staring off into space, thinking. "Lieutenant? LIEUTENANT?"
"Oh, yes. I'll continue working. I have nothing else to do."
"Alright then. I'll be back later this afternoon."
"Yes, Ma'am." Garek nodded, then put the face shield back on and went to work.
Ensign Thomas Galen sat in the Chief Engineer's Office. He and Ensign Ek'Ra had been assigned as Chief Engineers until Loran returned from his project. Both Thomas and Torias worked out a work schedule with each other. Galen worked the morning/day shift, and Ek'Ra worked the evening/night shift. Garek Loran had told them that they could contact him at any time, but only when it was
Galen grabbed a PADD, and stepped out of the office. "ALPHA TEAM OVER HERE!" he yelled out. Slowly but surely, a small crowd had assembled in the main workstation area. When all of his team was assembled, he began to address them.
"Alpha Team. As you know Lt. Loran has been assigned to making the Virgo a new shuttle. So, Ensign Ek'Ra and myself have been put in charge. I'm not sure about Ek'Ra, but I know they made the right choice with me."
Galen was in charge of the Alpha team. Usually made up of the best engineers on the ship. Ek'Ra was in charge of Beta team. The second best team and Alpha's back up and support when there was a major problem onboard. Both these teams were also in competition with each other. Not just at work, but they were also known to play team sports on the holodeck with each other. This ranged from tournaments of Bajoran springball, to baseball, to flag football.
"Since Lt. Loran is in the shuttle bay working on this shuttle, I want to make sure that we do our best to make up for him not being here. That means I want everyone to give 110%. If you don't, that strange sensation you'll feel in the seat of your pants will be my boot in your backside!"
The group roared in laughter from the Ensign's statement. "Seriously, though, I do want to make sure that this ship stays in tip-top condition. So, let's get to work. Here's the duty assignments..."
Lt. Valdago entered the bridge from the turbolift. Lt. M'Terrn was sitting at the science station. He was having a conversation with Lt. Tara. The two became silent as Valdago stepped onto the bridge.
"What?" Valdago asked, looking at the two.
"Nothing, nothing at all," Tara replied.
"You weren't talking about me, were you?" Valdago looked over at M'Terrn.
"Of course not. It was this really good joke about the Commander, but we didn't want to carry it on if he walks in." M'Terrn returned his attention to his panel.
"So I see." Valdago walked forward. "Is the captain in his Ready Room?"
"Yes, he is. He sounded rather busy though. He said that he didn't want to be disturbed unless it was absolutely important."
"Well, it's from Lt. Loran, so I assume it's rather important." Valdago walked over to the Captain's Ready Room door, and pressed the door chime.
Captain Maruu sat on the couch on the upper level of the Captain's Ready Room. The door chimed, and Maruu stood up. He stretched out a little, and replicated himself of cup of coffee.
"Enter," Maruu commanded. He walked down the set of stairs towards the Ready Room door to greet his arrival.
Valdago entered, carrying a PADD. "Lt. Loran wanted me to give this to you. He said that it is very important."
"Thank you, Lieutenant," Maruu replied, taking the PADD. He held it up and began to read from it. Maruu held the cup of coffee up to his lips to take a sip when he stopped. He slowly put the cup of coffee down his desk and reached up to touch his communications badge. "Captain Maruu to Commander Lataro. Come in."
Lataro was in the Mess Hall having lunch with K'Lara. K'Lara and Lataro were laughing at a joke that Lataro had told when he received the captain's message. He tapped his badge. "Lataro here, Captain."
[Commander Lataro. Lieutenant Loran has requested that we report to Cargo Bay Two immediately. I'll meet you there. Maruu out.]
"Aye, Sir." Lataro looked at K'Lara. She replied with a bewildered look. "I'm sorry to cut our lunch short. I'll be back shortly."
"I'll be waiting," K'Lara replied. They both smiled at each other as Lataro left the Mess Hall.
Lt. Loran paced the cargo bay. He was slightly nervous, but he remembered how he was sure this would work, and he felt calmer. He took a deep breath.
The captain and commander entered the cargo bay. They did not have a clue about what was going to transpire between them.
"Computer, seal door to Cargo Bay Two. Authorization Golf Lambda 3."
<Authorization acknowledged. Cargo Bay Two is now sealed.>
"Now, I am sure that we won't be disturbed." Garek took another deep breath calming himself, trying not to show his excitedness.
"I'm sure that the captain and I am both wondering why you have called us here," Lataro said. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, not knowing what the Chief Engineer had in store for him.
"Of course, Sir." Garek walked behind a stack of crates, out of the view of the captain. He activated a hoversled, and then "wheeled" it in front of the two. "Gentlemen, you are the first to see this." He pulled a cloak off of a "garbage can" shaped object, roughly two feet high and one foot in diameter. "May I present to you the first
Federation cloaking device. Garek couldn't help but notice how the two men's jaws nearly went slack-jawed. "I have also prepared a demonstration." He picked up a PADD that was laying on top of the device. He plugged a long cord that came out of a panel on the device into the hoversled, and stepped back. Garek the tapped the panel and a sound similar to that of a Klingon cloaking device was heard. Then, the two pieces of machinery, were invisible.
The startling thing that both Captain Maruu and Commander Lataro were impressed about was the fact that the cloaking device was virtually silent. All they could hear was the faint hum of the hoversled. Garek then spoke up. "I have also made some slight modifications that is unique to the Federation-type cloaking device. Shield power functions at maximum while the cloaking device is running. However, if you want to go to warp, you must deactivate the shields in order to get enough power to enter warp. At this point, though, you're cloaked and it doesn't matter. Or, your shields are up and the cloaking device is disabled. Another feature about this device that it is easily repairable. Each part of the device is modular, and can be replaced easily. You just simply remove the section that is not functioning and put in a new module. This is better the most Klingon and Romulan cloaking devices where the whole machine must be taken apart to address a function. The last thing that I am still tampering with is firing while cloaked. I am nearly there, but as of now, you must still decloak to fire."
The two senior officers stood silent for a moment. Then Lataro started to slowly applaud. "Bravo, Lieutenant."
"Indeed," Maruu added. "Superb job." Maruu walked over to where he could hear the hum of the hoversled. "The cloaking device itself is nearly completely silent. I can bearly hear it."
"It is double insulated to block out sound. I wanted this because after spending a year onboard a Klingon vessel as an engineer and having to listen to their damned device operate all the time annoyed the hell out of me." Loran gave a grin. "I personally like its quietness."
"As do I," Lataro added. Once again, bravo, Lieutenant. If you two will excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Maruu and Loran nodded, and Lataro left the cargo bay.
Maruu stepped back. "Decloak the machine," he ordered.
"Yes, Captain." Garek tapped in another command on the PADD and the cloaking device and the hoversled reappeared.
"Remarkable." Maruu drifted off. "Good work, Lieutenant. I'll remember this when you're up for your next promotion." Maruu gave Garek a pat on the shoulder and headed out of Cargo Bay Two.
Garek stood back, and gave himself a confident smile. He had done it. Now, on to the shuttle.