An Excellent Day
Posted on February 14th, 2005 by Adam Drake

Adam Drake with Angelika Rose

Another day in the now-perfect Engineering and Adam Drake couldn’t have been more bored. He’d dispatched his teams to everything that could have called the mechanic’s attention. Faltering relays that weren’t in vital parts of the ship, an out-of-alignment conduit on deck twenty-four, and a sonic shower in an unused set of guest quarters. Yes, Adam thought, definitely worthy of his talented crew’s time. It was a nice reprieve from running everywhere and fixing everything, but that didn’t mean he didn’t mind having something to do.

Slightly nervous for her first day on duty, Morgan walked down the hall to engineering. She was early for her shift, she knew, but she always thought that was the best way to make a good impression. She entered Engineering and walked towards Adam, knowing that he was the one she was to report to. “Hello, sir. I’m here for my shift.”

“Excellent,” Adam smiled. “It’s good to see some of my engineers can show up on time.”

“Hey now,” Michael Jeddin said from a console a couple of feet away, “It was one time and it was three minutes. I told you I got stuck behind a cleaning crew on deck seven. Not my fault.”

Adam motioned to the man, “Ensign Morgan Andrews, this is Marine Captain Michael Jeddin. When I’m not around, he’s the one you report too. He’s the second in command. He’s also a hell of an engineer.”

Michael stood, nodding respectfully to the lady, and offered his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Morgan, and I look forward to working with you. If you can survive Engineering as long as the rest of us, you’ll have more than my respect, I assure you that.” Jeddin winked at his superior a bit as he shook her hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Morgan laughed a little at Michael, and took his hand. “I look forward to being here for a while. Thank you.” She turned back to Adam. “So, where would you like me?”

“Well, before I assign you it’s customary to conduct an interview. Simple stuff, background information and strengths. If you’ll follow me to my office we’ll get started,” Adam pivoted on his heel and retreated back into his office. He moved over to his desk, grabbed a PADD, and sat down. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” Adam said, motioning to the chair opposite his.

Morgan walked into Adam’s office, and was surprised to find that it wasn’t the “file by pile” system that many officers she knew used. She took a seat across from him, and waited patiently with a small smile.

Tapping a couple of questions into the device, Adam leveled his gaze at the lovely woman. “So, where’d you come from?”

“Well, I actually was born in New York City, but we moved to Denver, Colorado when I was about five.” Morgan replied, hoping that was the type of answer he was looking for.

Adam nodded, “When did you decide that you wanted to pursue Starfleet as means of a career. There are a plethora of professions that one can go into and still stay away from Federation military service. What made your take the academy exams?” It was a standard question that, over the years, he had received a million and one answers to. Each one, obviously, was different.

“My mom. She was a pilot and she loved being in the air, having that sense of being free. I obviously wasn’t really into that, but I really did enjoy working on the planes with her, which is how I got involved in engineering. I loved seeing how things worked.”

Million and two. “Excellent,” Adam smiled as he made some notes, “That’s sort of why I got into it to. Needed to know what made thing tick. You know, fighter certification training takes place on ship every couple of weeks and the squadron is always looking for more people. You should look into it. You told me this was your first post, how’d your academy years go?”

“Thanks, I might just look into that. My academy days were long, just like everyone else’s, but I enjoyed them. I graduated near the top of my class, and did my best. Again, just like everyone else.”

“So, tell me, what separates you from all the others in your class?”

Morgan shrugged, and gave Adam a small smile. “I had a passion for what I did. I loved it more than anything, or anyone else. Which is why I’m still alone, I guess.” She laughed a little and looked at the floor.

“The price we pay for doing something we truly love. Don’t worry, I’ve had the same problem. Plus the Dominion War, which as we all know, was not a glamorous time for flights of romantic fancy,” Adam laughed, dropping the PADD back into the drawer from which he had retrieved it, “What kind of hobbies do you have?”

“Um, well, I like to read. And I sing from time to time. And I like to run. I run a lot.” Morgan suddenly felt embarrassed, and she didn’t know why.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Adam smiled, “you have hobbies; that’s more than I can say for half of my staff here. They’re content with coming in and doing the job, going home, and reporting back the next morning with the same agenda. This goes on day in and day out. I enjoy rock climbing, swimming, and I read too. We have to have lives, you know.”

Morgan smiled. “I guess you’re right. Lives are a good thing to have.” She laughed. “Rock climbing? That’s very interesting. I’ve never been. I’m a little scared of heights. Is it fun?”

“Yeah, but the real thrill is atmospheric sky-diving. Falling that fast that far is just a rush. Nothing like it in the world. If you’d like to try rock climbing, though, I’d be glad to show you the good programs and spots to climb.” Adam clasped his hand on the desk in front of him and offered her a huge smile, looking deep into her eyes. She was beautiful. And, as the time went on, he kept finding more and more about her that intrigued and interested him.

Morgan was taken aback by the way Adam was now looking at her, but she found that she liked it. A lot. She lost herself in his eyes, and slowly nodded her head. ” I would love to try it sometime. But, like I said, I’m pretty scared of heights. You would have to be patient with me.” She could feel her cheeks turning pink. “But, that would be great.” She smiled.

Adam nodded, “Well, that just about does it. I’m assigning you to the warp manifold. It’s pretty routine stuff that you learned in the fourth year of the academy, but the warp core has a personality all its own. You’ll be working under Lieutenant JG Bryan Chambers. He’s competent and a good leader. Let him know if you need anything. Unless you have something else you’d like to talk about, you’re dismissed.”

Morgan was caught off guard when their moment came to an abrupt end. She was enjoying it. Sitting here, talking to Adam would be the best part of her day, she just knew. She sighed, and replied. “No. Thank you, sir. I’m excited to start working.” She gave him a quick smile, and stood up. “I hope you have an excellent day.”

He watched her stand, “And you.”