Something Something, Engineering

Posted on Sat Feb 28th, 2026 @ 1:58am by Lieutenant Tork & Lieutenant JG Sheldon Parsons

Mission: Port of Call
Location: Main Engineer
Timeline: Mission Day 6 at 0800

[Main Engineering]
[USS Sojourner]
[MD 5: 0800 Hours]

Lieutenant Tork, uniform freshly replicated and worn with about as much dignity as a Ferengi could wear it, strolled into the Main Engineering bay just as the majority of the engineers on the morning shift shuffled out after receiving their duty assignments for the shift. The Ferengi had strategically planned it that way, since he wanted to talk to the current head of the department without interfering, as much as he was capable of, with normal operations. It was, after all, not his ship and not his department.

Tork had seen the young Junior Grade Lieutenant several times as he skulked around in the background, snagging a tool here and there before absconding into a Jefferies Tube to ply his trade unseen, fixing things that weren't exactly broken just yet, but he knew from hard earned experience that they would fail rather swiftly given the state the ship was in and how overtaxed the engineering crew was. He didn't envy Parsons in the least for having to manage the department in post-crisis and with manning and supply shortfalls. That played a huge role in his policy of 'out of sight, out of mind' up to this moment. But, as his continued exposure to his long-time estranged acquaintance had shown, being a little more upfront about things wasn't as horrible as he'd thought it was years ago.

"Mister Parsons," the Ferengi said when the last technician cleared what Tork would deign to consider earshot, "I'm sure my less than stellar reputation around here precedes me, but I think I owe it to you to sit down and have a face to face chat with you. I've been trying to 'stay out of your hair', as an old Chief of mine used to beg me to do, but I started thinking maybe you could use help in a less... indirect fashion."

Tork held up a hand as if to pause any sort of momentum of thought before continuing, "I'm not saying or implying that I'm looking to take over. I really do just intend to help. If you'd rather I go back to skulking in the tubes like I've been doing, I wouldn't be the least bit offended by it... but knowing almost nothing about you beyond what I've caught sight of in the last couple of days, maybe you need someone to help you step back a second and get your bearings back. So... here I am."

Parsons had been reviewing the duty roster on his PADD when Tork approached, and he looked up with an expression that was carefully neutral - the kind of neutral that came from years of weathering his mother's criticisms and learning to hide his reactions. The Ferengi's words hung in the air between them, and Sheldon felt his hand start to rise toward his chest, seeking the familiar comfort of soft knit fabric. But his fingers met the stiff, regulation material of his uniform tunic instead, and the reminder that he wasn't wearing his cozy red cardigan - couldn't wear his comfy security blanket while on duty - made something tighten in his throat. His hand unclenched and fell back to his side.

"Lieutenant Tork," Parsons said, his tone mild and half-distracted but somehow still sounding like a shipment of parts he'd been waiting on had finally arrived. He made another notation on his PADD, then glanced up. "Yes, we've been aware of your...helping for some time now." As if to becalm to any questions or surprise as to how, he quickly followed up with, "The computer logs Jefferies Tube access. All of our tools are inventoried and tracked." He moved to a nearby console, pulling up what looked like a maintenance schedule. "My staff has been monitoring the systems you've been working on to ensure your... preventative maintenance... didn't create any unexpected complications."

Parsons tapped a few commands into the console, his attention only partially on Tork. "If there had been a problem, someone would have mentioned it to you before now. Since no one has, I think you can assume your work has been... adequate?" The descriptor was turned up at the end as a half-question as Sheldon picked up a hyperspanner someone had left on the console, turned it over in his hands briefly, then set it aside in its proper place. "I've actually been half tempted to report you to Security - we did just deal with sabotage, after all - but I figured I'd give you a day or two to check in with me." He looked up at Tork, his expression still placidly neutral. "Kind of amazed it took you five."

Parsons returned his attention to the PADD, scrolling through something. "My bearings have been gotten and then some but if you want to officially help," his eyes momentarily flicked back to the Ferengi, "I'd be happy to see if the Captain and Commander want me to add you to the duty roster and assign you a work detail while you're our... guest." The word hung in the air for just a moment as Sheldon continued working.

Then something shifted in his expression - just slightly, a tightness around his eyes as he looked back at Tork. "But what I can't have is you wasting our time tracking your uncleared activities to make sure you haven't accidentally broken something or, worse, deliberately sabotaged it. Honestly, we're just too overworked and too grief-stricken around here to accommodate hoping we won't notice you anymore."

Parsons' voice returned to that same matter-of-fact tone as he made another notation on his PADD. "So. What would you prefer, Lieutenant?"

Tork let out a long breath as he started to shake his head and wandered over to the railing that ringed the warp core, leaning up against it like one might lean up against a bar. He studied the younger engineer for a few tense moments before his face took on a look that was somewhere between pity and exasperation.

"You like things to go by the book I see. That's fine... I've worked with plenty of people like that in the past, I can deal with that. I'll explain some things to you from that mindset, since I think you'll understand it better if I do," the Ferengi said leaning his head back just a little as he considered his next words.

"If, during an emergency as declared by the Captain of the vessel or in the event of the loss of the Chief, any officer who is qualified to hold the position may assume temporary command of the engine room, even if that officer is not assigned to the vessel at the time of the declared emergency," Tork recited verbatim as one would drone on about something they had been forced to memorize.

He picked at his fingernails idly for a moment, "The fact that I did not walk down here the minute I got onto the ship and take over was out of respect for you and your people's situation. I, personally, wanted to be considerate and not give you the mistaken impression that either I or your command staff thought you were somehow inadequate for the task and that someone needed to step in and 'do it for you'. My thought process at the time was that you wouldn't appreciate someone coming down here, laser whip cracking like a bargain bin Marauder Mo, demanding that you change how you do business while you're trying to pick up the pieces after everything that's happened to this ship."

"Now as far as my... uncleared activities go..." the Ferengi paused again, shifting his weight from one foot to another as he continued to lounge rather casually against the railing, "They weren't. I've been keeping your Executive Officer updated on my activities, partly because I still tacitly respect the hierarchy but also because I know her and she's fully aware of how unorthodox but effective my methods are. And I might add, at no point did she demand that I come to you to explain myself, so I didn't. I was content to respect your autonomy because she respected mine. Now I will admit that you weren't armed with that knowledge just by the way you insinuated that you had my activities surveilled, which was a huge waste of your time and energy... but that's not really relevant."

"What is relevant, Lieutenant Junior Grade, is that all of my sojourns into the Jefferies Tube have been to tackle jobs that your people aren't able to spare time on because they have cavernous concerns to deal with as far as damage control goes. I did come up with a few ideas on how to help rectify the open floor plan that some of your decks have been converted to recently, but I haven't heard any follow-up on that so either you haven't been briefed yet, or there's some other issue that's keeping my idea, brilliant if I might be so bold... and I am, because I've already done it once before and know it will work..." Tork seemed to gloss over for a second before shaking his head, "Sorry, I got off track there for a second. Anyhow, I recognized fairly quickly how thin you've been stretched, and having a decade of experience on most of the folks you have in your department, I figured I would put that knowledge to a use much better than letting you all suffer while I laid around in my quarters cleaning my lobes."

The Ferengi folded his arms across his chest as he continued, "Now, however, I feel like working around you is going to be more trouble than it's worth for either of us, and wanted you and your people to be able to take advantage of my considerable skills to help with your big picture issues... since I'm fairly confident I've managed to squash the small stuff for the time being. And let's you and I be honest... no one but a Ferengi could really like being in those Jefferies Tubes anyway. Your ship's Counselor certainly was quick to rush out after spending less than twenty minutes in there with me. Speaking of which, have you talked to him since everything happened? It's alright if you don't want to tell me. Judging by your little speech there, you have more trust issues than most Ferengi... and for once, that's not a compliment."

"Anyway, Mister Parsons... If you'd prefer I go about this whole thing by the book, I will go up to the bridge right now and declare that I am assuming the watch under emergency provisions and get out my collector's edition laser whip to start lording over all of you hew-mons like some knock-off action hero... or..." Tork paused just briefly for effect, "You can accept my consideration for what it was, we can talk about putting me in with some of your engineers who might benefit from learning some unconventional but effective ways to keep the ship in one piece until we make it to Pathfinder and no one has to hear about how ugly this didn't need to be. And just so you know... I prefer option two."

Sheldon was slack-jawed and quiet for a long moment. The warp core hummed between them. When he finally spoke, his voice was level. Almost measured to the decimal.

“I once sealed blast doors on five engineers because I was ordered to. I followed procedure. I did not question the timeline or alternatives. They died. Me too.”

He gulped but didn’t look away, face going placidly cold again.

“This ship and this engineering crew are more important than my pride. I don’t know what Commander t’Nai advised you, and I will be clarifying that. But if you believed stepping in was necessary… then that was your responsibility. You should have. A lesson for me isn’t worth hell for them. Fuck my ego… Sir.”

"That's just it, Mister Parsons, I didn't believe that stepping in the moment I showed up on board was necessary. And while I'm not one to ignore an ego, since mine does benefit from a good caress now and again after a job well done, I wasn't concerned about your ego in the least. What I wanted to make sure of was that I didn't add to the number of worries you and your team had to deal with. Granted, you did that on your own because no one told you that I wasn't just skulking around for the sake of doing it, that I'd been asked to provide help where I could but that you seemed to have things handled well enough for the time being. So sure, there was an opportunity before now to clear up any misunderstandings, but I'm only half to blame for that. You own the other half for letting me skulk without asking me or someone above you for details. I was under the impression that word had been passed along to you, and you were under the impression I was just doing things without sanction. So now we both know better," the Ferengi said with a shrug.

A second later, his nonchalant attitude hardened, "I've had to make hard decisions like that many times. Had to hear the screams of people who might have been saved if I had been allowed even another second to think of a solution that would have seen them safely to their bunks at the end of their shift. The Kazon forced me to watch a good hew-mon be executed for trying to escape because he was doing what the regulations said he should have. He was probably no older than you are when they pulled their disruptors on him and fired. I made the choice to watch it happen and live to figure out how to make sure his death wasn't unanswered. And until just yesterday, I thought I'd escaped only to let them find other victims because I didn't blow that ship up and me with it like I had initially planned to..."

"I don't know if it was all of the intentional sabotage I was trying to pepper into their systems while I was aboard that brought them down during the escape, or something else, but I was more relieved than I can explain that at least once, a decision I made didn't negatively impact others. But that's not a feeling I've had very often as an engineer. And that's a feeling that you, as an engineer, will have to accept is part of the job. You let five people die... and how many more lived because of that? If the ship managed to survive because of it, you made the 'right' choice, even though it feels horribly and utterly wrong. And you're right to feel that way about it, you're right to wish that those five engineers didn't have to lose their lives to save the rest of the crew... but we walked into this job knowing that could happen. Every time I pick up a spanner or a plasma cutter or a piece of conduit... I know it might be the last time. I made peace with that a long time ago, and as long as when I stand before the Divine Treasury I can say that my death had value, and it didn't come cheaply... I'm fine with that," Tork explained before his hardened features melted back into his more typical breezy attitude.

"So you tell me what you want me to do. Do you want me to take over for you, or do you just want me to help out around here. Just this once, there's no wrong choice to be made. Either way, I'm here to help and I can promise you I won't let you down... at least not in the engineering sense. I'm sure my personality leaves much for a hew-mon to desire... but we both know I don't have to be liked as a person to be valued as an engineer," the Ferengi concluded, still lounging on the guard rail as if he already owned the place.

Parsons stood very still for a long moment, his expression unreadable. The emotional vulnerability he'd shown moments before had vanished, utterly bulldozed over and dismissed as a learning opportunity rather than sparking meaningful engagement.

The openness was, instead, replaced by something flat and carefully controlled - the same mask he wore with their previous, previous chief engineer: an Antican who took absolute pleasure in bullying Noah Balsam.

F'Rar had been such a positive breath of fresh air afterward. But now she was dead and Sheldon found himself trying to hold everyone and every thing together in her place. But instead of moving on to his own duty assignment for the day--inching the Sojo even further towards providing functional safety to the crew—he was being lectured and condescended to by a guest in his engine room.

"Fine. You want to help? Then please, help," Parsons shrugged noncommittally. "But throwing your weight around about how much more you know than everyone else doesn't exactly endear you to the people who are doing their best to hold things together in a crisis. Our engineers are exhausted and grieving. Whatever you think of me, they deserve better than that.”

Not waiting for the Ferengi to respond, Parsons pulled out his PADD and accessed the duty assignments again. “There’s a lot that could benefit from your expertise,” he murmured, eyes scanning the never-ending list of what needed done, “so l'll confirm with Commander t'Nai and then we’ll get you officially on the work schedule. Thanks for the help. We definitely need it.”

With a final nod to Tork, Sheldon moved away, grabbing his toolkit before passing through the double doors of the engine room. But as he did, his right hand moved again to instinctively clutch at the chest of his uniform. His knuckles went softly white as he wrinkled the fabric there, bunching it up in a soothing handful that bled some of his anxiety away. He couldn’t wait to get home later and trade the uniform for his comfy cardigan.

"Makes you almost think he wants someone to come in and play Marauder Mo just so he has someone to be mad at..." Tork sighed to himself, "Guess this is what I get for trying to be nice to hew-mons."

The Ferengi pulled himself off of the railing around the warp core and straightened his uniform, "I think I'll take the rest of the day off."

=/\= A joint post by... =/\=

Lieutenant Tork
Engineering Officer

Lieutenant JG Sheldon Parsons
Assistant Chief Engineer