Meeting Sicily

Posted on Sat May 27th, 2017 @ 9:25pm by Lieutenant Beowulf "Wulf" Byrnes

Mission: Down on the Upside
Location: main engineering
Timeline: somewhere in-between

ON:

Standing at the main engineering table, schematics up all across its surface, Byrnes swiped a hand through his hair for the hundredth time. It was one of hisunconscious habits when stress and angst were felt, and due to that, he now had a streak of grime, dirt, and soot mixed in with his locks. HIs face was smudged, as were his hands, and the uniform--well, there was no hope. It was covered in grime from shoulders to boots. Since he was wearing an engineer's vest with all his tools in the multiple pockets, his gold long sleeves showed the wear and tear of the day's workload. Sighing heavily and walking away to a small table and chair he had set up, Wulf sipped coffee from the thermomug as he sat down, running a hand over his face and feeling the whiskers starting to grow in ever thicker.

An ensign approached, a slight grin on her face. "You look tired and frustrated, Sir. How long has it been since you slept?"

The angst now gone after sitting down, Byrnes looked to the woman. "I'm not really sure. Haven't slept since I arrived."

"That was three days ago, Sir." The Ensign's grin disappeared.

"Alright then, three days." Wulf sipped more coffee before asking. "What's your name, Ensign?"

"Cristina Sirico." She extended a hand, which was shook.

Wulf had been looking at her trying to decide if she was Greek, Italian, or another of the Mediterranean people. He had his answer. "Italian, huh?" He stood up with a grunt, stretching after setting his cup down on the small table.

"Pfft." Responded Sirico. "Sicilian, Sir. That other place north of us has Italians." She smiled.

"Oh, you mean the place called Italy," asked Wulf, his own grin forming, despite how tired he was. "Italy is full of Italians..who knew?" He chuckled, feeling rummy.

Sirico giggled in return. "Anyway, go get some sleep. Trust that we will do things by the numbers and not blow up anything until you get back."

Byrnes rubbed the back of his neck, nodding that he would. "Just keep an eye on those tachyons, will ya? The wobblehead who thought that was a good idea musta forgot that tachyons are deadly to carbon life. But, instead of taking that into consideration they filled our systems with it due to weapons and defense." He gave a flabbergasted shake of the head as he began to walk away. "What's your specialty, Sicily?"

Sirico watched his back as he left, seeing all the grime from this man climbing around through jeffries tubes. "I'm just a jug-head engineer, Sir. No specialty, yet."

Stopping and half turning to look back, Wulf gave her a nod. "That was my path too. Alright, fair enough. Ensign Sirico you're in charge down here until I return, please note that in the base log and with the duty officer. Carry on." Giving the woman a wink he turned and walked out.

"I..uhh..yes, Sir." Being worried about her boss had not prepared Sirico for running the whole damn department. Had not been what she expected. Spinning on her heel she went to the 'pool table' and began to emulate what she had seen Byrnes doing...reading the boards and fixing problems.

OFF: