Friends Like Ed

Posted on Sat Nov 23rd, 2024 @ 12:43pm by Lieutenant Kiran Arai & Ensign Edward Jones
Edited on on Sat Nov 23rd, 2024 @ 1:40pm

1,187 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Project EDEN
Location: Chief Engineers Quarters
Timeline: 05:45; July 23, 2401

Kiran had finished putting the clothing he had brought into the storage area of his bedroom the night before, but there were still sporadic piles of things he needed to organise, either put into storage or find somewhere to put them. It wasn’t as spacious as some of the quarters on various stations he had stayed on, but still more spacious than the Elara, a Luna class ship he was stationed on before taking up the position on the Valiant.

He eyed the remaining piles with a mix of mild annoyance and irritation. Various stacks of padds—his manuals, personal logs, and holo-novels, all of which he'd brought with him. Next to them lay a small hand-carved figurine from his last shore leave on Betazed, something he picked up last time he was there from his mother, Rissa. He had so many trinkets and souvenirs from his journeys. Because of everything that had happened, after the attack on Mars, he didn't get to do much travelling during his third year or fourth year of the academy, he was stuck at the San Fransico Fleet Yards.

Kiran put a few more things away, checked the clock and realised it was a little before 0600. He grabbed his cup of jestrel tea and headed for main engineering. He wasn't officially on duty until tomorrow but wanted to get up to speed on some things. He hadn't served on a Duderstadt class before, though he had read the specs on the power systems and warp core during his time at SFFY. He could hear the faint hum of the ship, and though it was more or less the same on every ship, he could tell he wasn't on the Elara or a station any more. It was a comforting sound,

The walk to the turbolift was short, and he was in main engineering shortly after that. He looked around, taking in the view warp core, the various consoles, and the various noises filling the air. And a hum, that seemed familiar... too familiar. He looked around the room, for the source of the humming. And then he saw him. He called out "Ed, is that you?"

The other man turned his head, and looked him dead in the eyes, a smile widening when he realised who it was. "Kiran! Why didn't I know you were going to be on board?" Ed placed the tool down on the tool kit he was working from, and walked over to Kiran, shaking his hand, then bringing them together for a hug.

"I'm the new Chief Engineer, I didn't think they had to run those positions past you" he replied. "I take over tomorrow, but thought I'd come to see how I like it so far."

"I'm not calling you Sir till tomorrow then" he let out a small laugh.

Kiran laughed in return. "That's acceptable. It's good to see a familiar face on board to be honest. Being at SFFY and then the Elara, it was basically seeing the same faces." The Elara had been made up of a handful of officers and crew in a few classes with Kiran and Ed, who had been stationed with Kiran for the last year of their academy days, and for the first 2 years on the Elara. Kiran noticed the mention of SFFY caused a flicker of emotion to pass over Ed's face. He didn't need to be Betazoid to sense the feelings he just felt. He'd lost a few friends more than most of the people Kiran knew during the attack on Mars. So it had hit him particularly hard. Not wanting to open any old wounds right now, Kiran changed the subject. "So how'd you end up on the Valiant?"

A small smile flashed across Ed's face. "Transferred over recently. I was stationed at Starbase two-thirty-four dry docks. I'd had enough of being in one place, and then what happened with Sol Station, the Borg, I didn't feel like being based in one place, figured a Starship would be a good way to stay on the move, and still do what I was doing. Want a quick tour of engineering?

Ed led Kiran through the engineering deck, pointing out the various upgrades and modifications to the Valiant. Ed was an accomplished engineer in his own right and had implemented some of the changes he had made on the Elara if they made a difference on the Valiant.

Main engineering seemed to stir up lots of memories, not just from his time on the Elara, but at the Fleet Yards. He remembered the late nights spent working on the Elara, the late meals when he got distracted working on something or other at the Fleet Yards. Meeting Ed for the first time, fixing various issues that cropped up when his work was more experimental. It was during those moments that he and Ed had forged a bond, a friendship that had seen them through their toughest challenges. Mars again flashed across his mind. "Remember the time we had to jury-rig the plasma injectors on the Elara because the replacement parts were delayed?" Kiran said, a smile lighting up his face at the memory.

Ed chuckled, "How could I forget? I thought we'd end up blowing up half the ship if it didn’t work. I was fully expecting a court marshal. But they worked, for the most part, till the new parts arrived."

Kiran nodded, feeling the weight of those experiences. They had shaped him into the engineer he was today. As they moved through engineering, the familiar hum of the ship felt like a comforting embrace. The Valiant was different from the Elara, yet the essence was the same. It was still a Starfleet Engineering section, after all, he thought to himself.

Seeing Ed here really filled Kiran with some joy. After everything Ed had lost, no one would have blamed him had he resigned from Starfleet. But he stuck with it and became one of the best engineers that Kiran had known. "How do you find the team here?" Kiran asked.

"They're a good bunch," Ed replied. "I’ve only known them all for a few months, but they seem to know what they’re doing. I feel like you’ll like it here.

Kiran appreciated Ed’s honesty. "Thanks, Ed. I hope so!." He paused, looking around at the various crew going about their business.

Ed put his hand on Kiran’s shoulder, "You will if there’s one thing I know about you, is you always seem to find a way to make the people around you work better. Now shall we have a look at some of the maintenance reports, and meet some of the team?"

As they delved into the reports, Kiran felt a sense of calm. It took him a few moments to realise that some of that calm was coming from Ed and some of the other crew around. The Valiant was a new chapter in the book of his life, but with friends like Ed by his side, he knew this was going to go well.

 

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