Post 453: Living Up

Stardate:7024.0613
Title: Living Up
Author: Ensign Xhian
Scene: From Private Quarters to USS Alchemy
Time: After "Hey There Miss Ella" and Before "First Flight."

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Even though he felt better after confessing his feelings to Ella Briggs, Xhain still felt kind of nervous about the fact that Salvek had hand picked him to be on the engineering crew for the Alchemy's maiden voyage.

As he finally looked over the plans of the transwarp core, he noticed a few minor modifications that would be helpful in increasing the abilities of the core- possibly by as much as twenty percent. But he figures that it's not the best time at this moment to pick over such details; not this close to the ship's initial launch. It would be better, perhaps, to wait until after the ship has had its first run. He would be certain though, to choose the opportune moment to present the modifications to Lt. Commander Lair, so she could consider them and also convey them to the Commander.

As he was looking over the plans of the other systems on the ship, Xhian took out his sketch pad and started to draw each system's internal circuitry. He altered the designs to reflect some improvements that he figured would be most helpful to the ship's full capabilities.

He was especially concerned about the weakness of the sensor systems; a worry that he would soon find out he shared with Science officer for the trip, Lt. Reece.

Xhain worked on these plans for hours until he was summoned by Salvek himself to come to the ship; it was time to go.

---Starion Bay---

As Xhain got to the Starion Bay, he looked around to see who else had been selected for this momentous trip. He was not surprised to find those he pretty much had figured would be here: Maak Tactical Specialist, Salvek himself, who Xhian hadn't really had a chance to speak to since the computer virus ordeal. Lair, Reece, and Lt. Grace at the helm. Simon Biggs had been added to the roster at the last minute, to help Maak with the extensive tactical data that would need to be collected and analyzed as the ship was tested out.

As Xhian looked on at the crew, he started to get a strange feeling in his stomach. Feeling kinda out of place among the senior and experienced crew, he thought to himself *I've got a lot to live up to. I hope I don't let them down.*

Ensign Xhian
Engineering Officer
USS Independence & USS Alchemy