Fab Lab
Posted on 26 Nov 2020 @ 12:47pm by Commander Calliope Zahn
Edited on on 17 Apr 2021 @ 9:20pm
Mission:
M1 - Emergence
Location: Science Outpost, Mountains, Planet Obsidain
Timeline: MD 05 1545
1073 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure
After identifying herself at the security post, entering the gate of the Science facility was a little like walking through some sort of portal. Apart from some antenna and devices peeking out above it, the outside of the building looked just like every other low profile white stucco structure Calliope had encountered on Obsidian. But it proved to be just a facade, as the interior immediately cooled to a comfortable temperature and everyone inside walked around in mathematically precise corridors illuminated with lights and displays just as any other Starfleet facility. Calliope ripped off her hat, swinging it with some spite as she followed the signage to the Fabrication Lab. The cool air was on the one hand incredibly refreshing, but on the other highlighted how gross and clammy she was with sweat from the desert trek. She used a kerchief to try to daub her neck and hairline.
When she found the lab, It was an expansive room packed with computer monitors, mechanical arms, conveyor belts, tool chests, work stations, supply bins, vats, laser cutting machinery and— the chief object of interest— an industrial replicator.
Everyone and their brother back in civilization proper had a personal replicator. On member worlds, families had them built into the wall of nearly every room. A kitchen was a contrivance for hobby when you could call up anything you had a pattern for. The trouble was, they were small, and the patterning had limitations and the power or data buffering for some materials required specialized replicators.
She walked around the industrial replicator which took up much of the room with the platform and array of materializing focusers, coils, and buffer sequencers on all sides.
"Like what you see?"
Calliope startled as, having been enamored of the tech, she'd barely avoided walking into the engineer. She recovered with a self introduction. "Commander Calliope Zahn. I'm here from Obsidian Command to request some parts manufacture."
"Chief Vik Durbin. Pleasure to meet you ma'am."
"Are you the operator of this machine?"
"Indeed I am. I was just coming back from break to fire her up. The rest of the Fab Four team is on the way up from dinner. Want to see her in action? I've got a rush list to work on."
"I'm going to need to cut in line." She produced her own isolinear chip from her left pocket and held it out for him.
Chief Durbin took it slowly, looking like he was factoring something. Calliope didn't need to be a telepath to know the number of things he was weighing. He had deadlines from his own command chain, and he also had a noseful of her sweaty body. His finger tips brushed across her knuckles and her wedding ring as he grasped the chip.
She wasn't so much afraid of Durbin in that moment, as she was of herself. She saw the possibility of playing to fantasy. Just a little. The pout of a lip, the toss of the head, an casual leaning pose into a console. She disgusted herself. "The security of the system and even the sector relies on these parts being delivered ASAP. I'll talk to your outpost commander if I need to. Everything else needs put on hold."
At her cool officer tone, Durbin straightened up. "Let me see what the order is." He loaded the chip into the system and the monitor displayed the order with the fabrication estimates. He rubbed the dense stubble on his chin. "Quarter round paneling, duranium alloy shield plating.... solid core ionized inverter housing.... You're rebuilding the station's Fusion reactors."
"Shhhhhh. Not so loud. For heaven's sake. Keep it secure. Like I said, we need all of these parts post haste. By tonight."
"Oh, we can do it." Durbin promised, not wanting to let the Commander down. He just had to think how. "I'll... just have the team pull an all nighter on the rest of our task list and my department head won't be any the wiser when he gets his materials in the morning."
"Wonderful!" Calliope said brightly. Looking down she referenced her padd for a long moment. She was too focused to notice Durbin staring. "You wouldn't happen to have any triaxial lubricant in your supply crib? For fitting flow regulators?"
Durbin bit his lip to keep from saying something regrettable. When Calliope looked up he had drifted a little bit into what she considered personal space. "I'll check, ma'am."
Calliope leaned back. "Thank you, Chief."
"Anything else?"
Considering something, she put a hand into her right pocket, toying with her remaining hypo vials. "Do you have a medical team here?"
"We've got a couple of scientists and security guys who have medic training in a pinch."
"Any pharmaceutical dispensaries?" That was another thing the standard replicator wasn't programmed to manage. Drugs.
"Not really. Just whatever's in stock in the infirmary." When Durbin saw her shoulders slump he wracked his brain again. "Oh but hey, you should try the tent docs, the outreach people. They might have a dispensary. They're pretty close by. It's just a ten minute ride, if you don't mind the bumpy road."
Calliope wondered if it was the same civilian operation that Jiran had mentioned during their meeting earlier. "I can mange it. Where would I find a buggy you can spare?"
He fished a starter key out of his breast pocket. "Take my rover. I mean, I've got a build of my own in the garage. She needs to stretch her legs."
"Thanks," she reached for the key but he didn't let go immediately.
"Be careful." Durbin's eyes seemed to darken with an earnest warning. "There are some pretty serious predators in these mountains. Maybe I should go with you."
"You've got a job to do here, Chief. Besides, I'm not half bad with a phaser."
Durbin moved in close to her as they both held the key and he spoke with some intensity, fixing his eyes with hers. "There's a pulse rifle in the rack and charges under the seat. It's parked in bay 2. Don't stop, just drive through and nothing is likely to catch up with you. Watch the hair pins— there's no signs. Use the nav aid. And when you shift, you have to clutch completely or it'll grind the gearing. It's manual. You can drive stick, right?"
Calliope grinned. "Your gears are safe with me."
He let go of the key.
