Post Number 9 Science Meets Engineering

Posted on Tue Nov 3rd, 2026 @ 11:20pm by Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil & Lieutenant Damien Saunders

Mission: The Forbidden Waters-5
Location: USS Amandora - Main Engineering
Timeline: Current

[ON:]

Lieutenant Damien Saunders came down the corridor toward main engineering with the same PADD he had been carrying since he came aboard... a short list of notes about the science laboratory this time. Power routing... isolation fields... whether the environmental controls on deck eight could be split without bothering the rest of the ship. Ordinary questions. The kind a new chief asked when he did not want to break something on day two... He told himself that was the only reason he was down here. It was also a decent excuse to meet the Chief of Engineering in person... instead of sending some dry message through the computer.

Engineering hit him with heat and noise the second the doors parted... warmer than the bridge... ozone and hot metal. The good kind. Damien paused just inside and let his eyes do that automatic sweep again... warp core... consoles... a couple techs moving with that hurry engineers always seemed to have. He felt a little out of place standing there in science blue... and the corner of his mouth almost gave him away again.
He spotted the man who had to be the Chief. Shorter than him... athletic... dark hair buzzed close... Trill spots... silver studs in both ears. Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil, according to the roster Damien had already read twice like he was cramming for an exam... He crossed the deck at an unhurried pace so he would not look like he was charging the place.

“Lieutenant Saunders...” he said when he was close enough not to shout over the core... voice even... kind... a bit careful.

“Chief Science. Sorry to drop in unannounced. I had a few questions about the laboratory spaces on eight... power draws and the isolation fields mostly. Figured it was better to ask you than guess and trip a breaker my first week...”

He held the PADD a little awkwardly against his side... then offered it forward just enough that it looked like an invitation rather than a demand. He waited there in the heat of engineering... tall... a touch self-conscious... hoping he had not interrupted something important.

Tuhjer finished tapping into the console and spun around in his chair. He looked up at the man now standing in front of him—short brown hair, nicely shaven. Clearly takes good care of his appearance.

"Welcome to main engineering, Lieutenant Saunders. Pull up a chair and let's talk Isolation Field power draws and get to know each other as a bonus," he said, motioning to a nearby seat.

Damien took the offered chair with a small, grateful smile and set the PADD down between them so Tuhjer could see it if he wanted...

"Thank you. That is kind of you..." Saunder's voice stayed even and warm over the noise of the core. "I know I dropped in on your day. Isolation fields on eight, if you have a minute... I just do not want to guess and make extra work for your people."

He glanced at the warp core, then back to Tuhjer... "Fascinating. I wanted to say hello properly. Better than a message."

" It's not a problem. A visit is much better than a message. It lets us get to know each other and lets you have a leg stretch. " He picks up the PADD.

"So, what questions do you have? Isolation fields are multi-adaptive for a wide spectrum of uses. There are safeguards in place regarding power draw. "

Damien tapped the edge of the PADD once... then left it between them. "Understood." He agreed, relaxing in the seat...

"I need the fields on eight. Just a structural containment plus a medical harmonic... I need to know if the resonance stays complete, or if there are holes."

A small, wry look... "I can run the model. But I would rather ensure it actually behaves from an experienced engineer." Saunders was being cautious with the bio labs since it would be his first science work.

"The resonance stays complete by default but can be made to have a hole or holes if you need to pass things through. The standard program would not be sufficient for your needs; you would therefore need to run a Level 3a isolation field, which has strong structural containment with medical harmonics, which are adjustable."

Tuhjer replied.

"Ok. That is good to know." Damien nodded, a grin. "Would you mind setting it up for me... If I specified some metrics? Last ship I was on, the Engineer had done the workup for me." Saunders then chuckled... "I promise. I will help out. And I can get the beers after the shift!"

The work Saunders was used to was with the bio-sciences and exo-planetary space sciences. Thus, if he were setting up fields, he understood the science behind them, just not the program that set their parameters; that is where Engineering was involved.

" Of course. I will happily help you set it up. However, I don't drink beer. These days I am more into whiskey or wine." Tuhjer commented.

"Understood." Damien gave a respectful nod. "I can certainly live with that." He placed his hands on his hips and looked around. "Would now be a good time? What type of equipment do you need?" Damien always found engineering devices and theory interesting.

"Now would be fine. As for equipment, I have most of the items on my belt, but I will bring a phase adjuster to be on the safe side. Let's head to the lab and set this up."

"Of course." Damien snapped to it along with Tuhjer.

They then arrived at the Science Laboratory on Deck 07. It was a rather large laboratory, and the main one that Sciences used.

"Don't mind the mess in here..." Damien gestured to a few open crates on some of the laboratory science tables. "I am still working through my supplies. Was trying to find the Retro Stasis Unit with a Type II Filament. "Those things always get misplaced." Damien had chuckled.

"So. What do you like to do for fun on the Amandora, Tuhjer. Can I call you Tuhjer? You do have a higher rank than me."

"Of course you can. I assume I am ok to call you Damien?" He asked.

" As for fun, I use the holodeck for various adventures. "

"Various..." Damien thought. "That sounds like a lot. What types of adventures do you play? I could always use a friend on the holodeck." He offered to Tujher.

"Damien is great. I thought about how to shorten that. But people would just call me, what... Dam? That doesn't sound too good." Saunders chuckled.

Tuhjer thought about it for a moment. "I can't actually think of any nickname you could use instead of calling you by you actual name. Obviously most people call me either Tuhjer or Mil. But back in my youth, I did get called Tuhj occasionally. I tend to play adventures that are less about combat and more about puzzles and problem solving. "

Damien nodded to Tujher. "As a scientist. I don't like a lot of combat programs myself. I like to play the holodeck games. I recently uncovered one game from ancient earth. It was called... What was it called..." Damien thought. "Wheel of fortune. Have you heard of that one?"

He grinned. "Actually, nobody has ever given me a nickname. I don't have too many friends." The thought of having a nickname by the crew was nice. Endearing.

" I haven't heard of it. How do you play that? " Tuhjer asked.

"It is a large wheel..." Damien recalled the setup on the holodeck. "And there is a puzzle board. We have chances to add to the mystery phrase, or term, or words on the puzzle board in each spin of the wheel. We get credits for adding to the puzzle. There is chances on the wheel were certain outcomes in the game are afforded." Damien shrugged. "It's quite fun."

"Well. We should probably get to the force field set up." Damien stated friendly.

" I wouldn't mind having a go at the game. Yes, let's get that force field set up. "

"Alright." Damien turned to the program and the set up. "Show me how engineering would go about this. I need to learn." He chuckled.


Tuhjer went through the full set up at a slow pace to allow Damien to make mental and actual notes on his PADD. The whole set up took 15 minutes from start to finish.

" That's basically it. However, you can adjust all the settings of the forcefield manually but it will warn you if you are in any danger of unfavourably affecting the integrity of the field. "

"Ok." Damien had taken in the instructions as well as recording the tasks it had taken to reset the field and authorization within the science lab systems.

"You make it look easy, Tujher." Saunders furrowed his brow. "This probably won't be the last thing I am consulting you on." Tujher was a smart officer; Damien appreciated the help.

Tuhjer smiled. "I am more than happy to be any assistance to you going forward. It's only easy to me because I've done this more than once. Let's just run through it once again so it's clear.' he added as he went through the set up process at a slightly slower pace.

----
Lieutenant JG Tuhjer Mil
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Amandora

&

Lt. Damien Saunders
Chief of Science
USS Amandora