A Day in the Life

Posted on Tue Feb 5th, 2019 @ 8:41pm by Lieutenant Dived Dumet

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: USS Mercutio
Timeline: 9 days into Shore Leave

“The time is now 0500 hours.” stated the emotionless computer stated in order to wake the Cardassian from his slumber. Dived had been onboard the Mercutio for over a week now and had developed a comfortable routine. He put on the worn sweats that he had received during his time at the Starfleet Technical Services Academy and began his 30 minute jog of the corridors outside his quarters on Deck 4 . At this time of day the halls were nearly empty and it gave him plenty of room to work up a good sweat, but that could have been due to the majority of the crew being on shore leave. He would probably have to find a new “track” once the ship returned to regular duties. Once his exercise was done, he would return home for a sonic shower before changing into a jumpsuit and grab his tool belt.

He would eat his first meal of the day at 0545, this morning’s being fried regova eggs with a rare zabo steak and a cup of oceanleaf tea. He would finish this just in time for what had become the highlight of his day. His 0600 coffee with Doctor Melanick and the unlikely friendship that it nurtured, had given him a reason to focus on more than just his duties for the first time in his career. He would walk into his office on Deck 15 an hour later and began the paperwork that came with his new job. While he had paperwork during his time as leader of Repair Team Theta, it was nothing compared to the sheer mountain of it that resulted from being responsible for all of the ship’s systems and the director of its repair teams. His administrative duties didn’t end with that, as he then had to have his morning briefing with his staff.

It would unfortunately be almost 0830 before he was finally able to actually get his hands dirty repairing something. Today was a complete overhaul of the waste reclamation system. Most Engineering Chiefs would assign a job like that to the lowest ranking officer, but he refused to force a someone to do a menial task that he could perform himself. He was no better than any other man or woman in his department, just more experienced. It was only a short trip in the turbolift to descend the three decks and a short walk to arrive at waste reclamation. A few seconds of work with a EJ-7 Interlock and he was in the pipes that were the vital components of the system.

Over the ensuing hours, he would crawl through the muck and scanned every inch with his tricorder. It was only a few minutes into his appraisal that he discovered a four inch crack that he needed to weld before it burst. He discovered several such cracks over the next few hours and would meticulously repair them all. It would be 2000 hours when he ultimately finished his task by flushing the entire system. A very dirty and smelly Dived returned to his quarters after a long turbolift ride and stripped off his soiled jumpsuit as soon as the door shut. It would be a long and low toned sonic shower before he entered, clad in only a robe, the main room of his quarters.

Dived ate a simple meal of zabu stew and drank a cold glass of rokassa juice before taking a seat behind his desk to begin the night’s project. On its surface were a seemingly random pile of multi colored stones beside a block of granite that had all been acquired from Earth. Over the next four hours, he shaped the granite with a pen laser before strategically attaching quartz, turquoise, and red jasper. A coat of polish would finish off the scale model of the Mercutio. With his latest artwork done, Dived removed his robe and climbed in bed. In just five short hours, his routine would begin again.