Meeting the Boss

Posted on Wed Dec 3rd, 2025 @ 3:11am by Lieutenant JG Jalen Young & Lieutenant Commander Jethro "Jet" Romanowski

1,713 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Prelude: The Gathering
Location: Main Engineering - USS Proxima
Timeline: Mission Day 10 at 1030

Jet sat at workstation that was in a small alcove next to the main status board for the ship. He was going over the night shift's operational reports and compiling a list for their next maintenance cycle. The post shakedown punchlist had been completed, and now was just the fine tuning for all the new systems. Plus there was a laundry list of requests from around the ship for maintenance items that needed to be taken care of. They ranged in scope from environmental controls not synching up to Science lab 3's computer system being stuck in compiling mode. One of his many jobs as Chief Engineer was to assess each complaint, determine it's priority, and pass it along to the appropriate maintenance crews. It was the one job he enjoyed the least since it mainly consisted of looking over reports, and he hated to be confined to a desk.

Engineering was the usual hub of activity, and he'd seen in the wardroom that there was more crew arriving today. He was sure his list of complaints would get longer as the new crew settled in, but he hoped there wouldn't be too many issues. Proxima was a new ship after all.

Lieutenant JG Jaylen Young stepped into Main Engineering carrying a PADD and what looked like a partially disassembled interface panel under his arm. His white engineering jumpsuit was still relatively clean despite having spent the better part of the morning crawling through Jefferies tubes, though there was a small smudge of lubricant on his left sleeve that he hadn't noticed yet.

After three weeks aboard the Proxima since joining the crew just as they departed Earth for Deep Space Lambda-II, Jaylen had developed a real appreciation for both the ship's systems and the methodical way the engineering department operated.

Spotting Jet at his workstation, Jaylen approached with the easy confidence that came from knowing he had solutions to offer rather than just more problems to report. "Morning, Commander," he said, setting the interface panel down carefully on a nearby work surface. "I know you're probably drowning in maintenance reports from the new arrivals, but I think I've got some good news about those ongoing issues."

He gestured to the PADD in his hand, his dark eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. "That sync issue with the environmental controls? I think it's actually a cascading interface problem rather than individual system failures. If I'm right, I can knock out about six of those complaints with one software patch." Jaylen's slight smile carried the confidence that had served him well during his time at the Academy and beyond. "Want to see what I found?"

Jet looked up as the young man had approached. Glad to be putting aside reports, he nodded before leaning over to look at the interface panel that had been placed in front of him. "Walk me through it," he said as he listened intently as Jaylen began his report. Jet could sense the excitement in the young man's voice, and he was pleased. He remembered having the same discussions back when Jet himself was a junior officer. The old adage was that if you loved what you did, you never worked a day in your life. Jet also encouraged his subordinates to bring their ideas to him. While his knowledge was vast, it always helped to have different minds attack a problem.

Jalen set the PADD beside the interface panel and brought up a schematic of the ship’s environmental network. The lines shimmered in pale blue light, tracing a web of control clusters across the ship. “The sync issue isn’t hardware,” he began, tapping one of the junctions. “It’s timing. The auxiliary control buffer’s processing calls from half a dozen lab controllers at once; they’re tripping over each other. The system thinks it’s getting a dozen commands when it should just be one clean signal.”

He reached over to the console and keyed in a short command, watching as the display scrolled through the revised compile. “I built a new timing array for the driver, and it queues the calls in sequence instead of letting them collide. No need to tear into hardware, no days of crawling through jefferies tubes. Just one patch.”

His fingers drummed once against the side of the PADD, a hint of pride surfacing through his usual calm. “If it holds, we can roll it out shipwide and close half the maintenance queue before lunch.” Jalen looked back toward the Chief Engineer, waiting to see if he’d caught where the logic led. A faint smile ghosted across his face, patient, confident, but ready for a challenge.

Jet nodded slightly as he listened to the young man's theory. The logic of the issue was sound. The processing power of the control buffer was still operating at a slower speed than the newer computer systems. But, Jalen had already done what the COE were still trying to work through back at Starfleet Headquarters. Jet always tended to play devil's advocate when dealing with his juniors. He felt that challenging their theories and having them defend it helped inspire confidence.

"Makes sense, however if you collate each signal wont those that have priority get lost in the shuffle? This patch sounds like it could increase the overall buffer time for the system," Jet asked as he looked up at the man with an arched eyebrow. He leaned back in his chair waiting for the man's response.

Jalen didn’t flinch at the question. In fact, the challenge seemed to sharpen his focus. He shifted the PADD so the updated display hovered between them, then tapped a highlighted column near the bottom. “Not with the priority table restored,” he said, his voice steady but warm. “Right now the system’s pulling every instruction at the same urgency level — that’s why it’s tripping. The patch doesn’t flatten the priorities; it actually reinforces them.”

He brought up a comparison view, the old data stream stuttering across the screen in overlapping bursts. Beside it, his revised version flowed in a clean staggered cascade. “Think of it like… uh—” His brows knit for a moment as he searched for the right metaphor. “—like a cattle gate that only lets one creature through at a time, but the one wearing the red tag still gets to the front first.” His mouth twitched, realizing how that must sound to someone raised on a ranch. “The patch recognizes priority calls and pushes them forward in the queue. Nothing gets buried.”

He angled the PADD toward Jet a little more, inviting scrutiny rather than avoiding it. “And yeah, it adds a tiny delay to the nonessential calls. We’re talking milliseconds, though — way under tolerance. All the critical pathways stay instantaneous.” Jalen’s curls bounced slightly as he lifted his chin, meeting Jet’s gaze with quiet confidence. “I’m not trying to outguess the Corps of Engineers, sir. Just… smoothing over the mismatch between old hardware and new software until they release their official fix.”

A small, husky laugh escaped him. “Besides, if it does start increasing buffer time, we’ll see it before it ever touches atmosphere control. Test environment’s already sandboxed.” He stepped back from the display and folded his arms lightly. “But I’m ready to defend it if you see something I missed.”

Jet studied the console intently as the man defended his work. He was impressed with Jalen’s work, though he had expected it given his commendations in his service record. He also liked the subtle cattle reference, Jet’s background was well known. “I appreciate the ranching metaphor, but you do know it’s been awhile since I’ve worked cattle,” he said with a light tone. He then nodded before he leaned back to look at the young man. “No need to defend it, you hit all the right points. Let’s go ahead and put it on the duty assignments to get it uploaded into the system. How much down time will you need for the computer systems,” he asked.

Jalen took the PADD back and brought up the projected integration window. “Minimal,” he said, eyes scanning the figures. “If we isolate the environmental cluster before upload, total system downtime will be about eight minutes. Users won’t notice anything except maybe a slight shift in ambient temperature for a second or two.” He tapped the screen once. “And once it’s running, the system will self-stabilize in under thirty seconds. Easy handoff for Delta shift.”

“Perfect, I’ll advise the bridge and let’s schedule it for,” he said before pausing to glance at his repair schedule, “1630 hrs. That will give Delta shift time to do a final test once it’s integrated.” He then handed the PADD back to Jalen. “I also want you to write the report for this so i can send it along with the post shakedown report back to the COE. This kind of field modification is something the new Chief Engineer of Starfleet is wanting to get back from us out in the field,” he said.

Jalen nodded once, sharply but pleased. “1630 works,” he said, tucking the interface panel back under his arm. “I’ll get the sandbox validation done before lunch so we’re ready.” At the mention of the report, his expression brightened, not because he loved writing them, but because he understood the trust behind the assignment. “I’ll draft it and send it to you before the end of Alpha shift, sir. COE will have everything they need.”

Jet nodded as the man turned to leave. “Oh and Lieutenant,” he called out and waited for the young man to face him, “Keep up the good work.” He smiled as he watched the young man leave. He remembered back when he was at that age and what it meant to hear those words from his own chief engineer. He had high expectations for Jalen.

Jalen stopped mid-stride when Jet called out. He turned back, curls shifting slightly as he faced him. The smile that formed was unguarded, warm, and carried just a hint of pride. “Yes sir,” he said, voice husky but sincere. “I will.”

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