"Captain Sato’s Enterprise" by Lady Rainbow Rating: PG-13 Spoilers: None Disclaimer: Don’t own ‘em, don’t make money off ‘em. Notes: This is in response to a “Switcheroo” challenge from a friend. Write a “Day in the Life” story on the ship, but switch the crew around so they’re doing another job. The challenge is to keep their personalities and/or relationships relatively intact during the Switcheroo. This fic will sound strange because of those changes, but please bear with me. Each chapter is told from the POV of a member of the “changed” crew. Reviews/comments are welcome, please:) Chief Engineer Phlox Phlox of Denobula sat in his office and pored over the various reports that flooded his desk. “Fascinating,” he murmured to himself. “If this theory is correct, it could increase our top speed to at least Warp Seven. I wonder if we can modify the plasma injectors to compensate for the higher coolant ratios—“ He sighed. All of the theories and simulations in the world wouldn’t convince the Armory Officer to divert any more power to Engineering. Phlox couldn’t blame him, for Phlox himself was reluctant to spare any extra power to the Armory for “some really important fiddlin’.” An undignified squawk from the corner of his office interrupted his musings. “Yes, yes, I know. Well, I suppose it’s time for your feeding, eh? Be patient. I’m sure the captain will be along shortly.” He heard a knock on his door and grinned widely. “Enter!” “I hope I’m not too late, Commander Phlox,” Hoshi Sato said. “I just got off-shift.” “No, you’re just in time. My Pyrithian bat was just reminding me to pull my head out of the world of warp theory and back into the real world.” Phlox laid the PADD aside with a small sigh. “The engines are running just fine; I finally located that flux that was driving Misters Kelby and Rostov ‘absolutely nutso’. It was a simple matter to correct once we identified the problem.” Hoshi chuckled at his turn of phrase as she carefully opened the bat’s cage. “‘Absolutely nutso’. Let me guess. Rostov?” “I’ve learned many turns of the vernacular from Mister Rostov, both polite and impolite. Being an engineer gives one plenty of opportunity to find names for parts that break down or don’t work as they should.” “I can understand that, though if you’re learning vernacular from Rostov, I suggest you double check with Lieutenant Archer before you use it in public.” “I shall certainly take Jonathan’s advice under consideration.” Phlox promised. “Far be it for me to cause some kind of intergalactic incident.” “Hmm...I suspect that’s more Lieutenant Commander Tucker’s specialty.” Phlox chuckled; her dry observation had a hint of truth. The Armory officer, more often than not, always got himself into trouble, and dragged Captain Sato, Commander Mayweather or Doctor Reed with him. Lately, though, Reed seemed to be the unfortunate one. At least the Lieutenant Commander has the sense to include the doctor in his escapades, since it seems inevitable he’d be in need of Doctor Reed’s services before long. “So, has the engineering crew gotten used to your bat yet?” “Well, ever since she helped locate Crewman Holloway in the conduitsnot too long ago, they’ve admitted she has her uses.” Phlox had sent the Pyrithian bat into the bowels of the ship to find Holloway during a ship-wide emergency. The internal sensors had been off-line as well as communications. Not only did the bat find Holloway, but it had sent back signals that Lieutenant Commander Tucker and Doctor Reed were able to track. Since then, the bat had been a mascot of sorts in the engineering department. “Yes, I suppose she does. She’s immune to warp core radiation, isn’t she?” “She is, or Doctor Reed would have banned her from Engineering. I suppose the alternative would be housing her in Sickbay, but I’m afraid the good doctor has an objection to that.” “I think Malcolm prefers his Sickbay rodent-free, Phlox.” Hoshi chuckled. “As long as she doesn’t escape and go swooping on people in the corridors, that’s fine.” She glanced over her shoulder at him and asked, “Have you talked to Commander Mayweather?” “The Commander’s informed me about the warning buoys. Lieutenant Hess and her team are programming those buoys as we speak. They should be ready to go when we reach the nebula.” “Good.” There was a hesitant knock on the door, then Lieutenant Michael Rostov stuck his head in. “Commander Phlox? The gremlin we saw before?” “‘Gremlin’?” He considered himself well-versed in engineering terminology, but this was the first he’d heard of this. “Ah, the flux problem?” “Yeah, it’s back. Kelby’s about to have a stroke out here.” “Shall I page Doctor Reed?” Phlox asked, a note of concern creeping into his voice. If one of his staff was in serious medical danger— “Uh...just a figure of speech, sir. Kelby’s getting so frustrated that he’s not sure what to make of it.” “I’ll be right there, Mister Rostov.” He gave Hoshi a look of apology. “Forgive me, Captain, but duty calls.” “Go take care of that problem. I’ll finish here, then grab a bite to eat. I’ve got phase pistol practice with Lieutenant Commander Tucker in an hour.” “Very well, then. I will see you later, Captain.” As followed Kelby to Main Engineering, he wondered briefly why the captain was holding back her laughter. Then he re-directed his thoughts to the “gremlin” at hand. Back to Part 2 Continue to Part 4

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