Second Opinions
Posted on Mon Oct 6th, 2025 @ 12:11am by Lieutenant JG Alicia Santos & Lieutenant Kev Walker
1,003 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission: Respite
Main engineering was alive with its usual pulse of the steady thrum of warp coils, the buzz of consoles, and the voices of crew scattered across workstations. Kev had always thought of engineering as the heart of the ship, and if he could be honest he found himself longing for the simple duties of engineering compared to the hectic and exhausting tides of operations. Today, however, he needed both its practical expertise from someone who was perhaps a bit more familiar with the Eclipse than he was. He spotted Alicia Santos bent over a plasma conduit schematic with her brow furrowed in concentration. Just like every other time he’d seen her in the last week, she looked like she hadn’t left the room in days. Kev made his way across the catwalk and stopped just short of her console. “Lieutenant Santos,” he said, voice pitched light but firm. “Mind if I borrow you for a few minutes?”
Alicia startled a little, her shoulders stiffening before she glanced up. Her eyes carried the tired shadow that had haunted her since Adelphous, but her tone was steady. “Walker. Sure. As long as it’s not going to make that plasma relay any happier about being temperamental,” she said, tapping the console in annoyance. She finally straightened, crossing her arms as she turned to face him. “What’s on your mind?”
He raised the PADD he’d been carrying, turning it so she could see the deck schematics. “Captain Sato’s green lit some internal changes. Two officer quarters on deck four are to be converted into civilian space, and a couple of those unused compartments on deck six become new officer quarters. The end result will be two more billets for us, and space for a couple of incoming civilians.” He studied her for a moment before adding, “I’d like your eyes on it. Ops can draft it, but engineering has to make it real. And I wanted your read on it before I send the final plan to Starbase 24.”
Alicia's arms uncrossed as she leaned in to study the schematic. The shift in focus was almost automatic, since her brain couldn’t help running through power routing, environmental controls, bulkhead tolerances. “Hm,” she murmured. “The deck six compartments in those areas are often used for quarters, but with the internal changes to Eclipse's design we'll have to be a bit more creative. The compartments will need to have reinforcement and environmental re calibration for the quarters modules, but you could easily make those sections into livable quarters.” She traced a line along the deck four changes. “I really don't see the point in making any changes to the quarters on deck four, since all of our onboard quarters are the same they should be decent for the civilians as well."
Kev nodded. He had more or less came to the same conclusion, it was just good to hear a second opinion. He let that hang a beat before softening his tone. “Santos I know you’ve been working double shifts since Adelphous. Nobody’s questioning your commitment. But you don’t have to burn yourself out just to keep the ship together. I wanted your input, sure, but I also wanted to check in.”
Her jaw tightened. She hated how easily he saw through her. “I’m fine, Walker. Busy helps.” But the words tasted hollow and she knew it. By the look in his eyes, she figured that Walker knew it too. She exhaled slowly. “The truth is that I keep seeing it all over again and I can’t seem to shut it off, so I just keep moving.” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “I know it’s not sustainable. But stopping feels worse.”
Kev nodded, no judgment in his expression. “I get it. I've been there. But let me say this. Keeping the ship running is important, yes. But so is keeping yourself running. Burnout won’t honor Rogers and Oku. Taking care of yourself will.” He tapped the PADD lightly, shifting back toward business but keeping his voice gentle. “So here’s the deal. You give me a second set of eyes on these schematics, and then you take at least one real break before alpha shift tomorrow. That’s not me asking, that’s me holding you accountable.”
For a moment Alicia stared at him, torn between irritation and gratitude. Finally, a weary smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “You’re impossible, you know that?” she muttered. But her voice softened. “All right. I’ll take the break. But I make no promises that I’ll enjoy it.” She tapped the PADD again as she slid it back to him. “As for these changes, I'm confident they’ll work. I’ll have my team start preliminary layouts, but we’ll need Starbase 24’s crews for the heavy lift. Tell the Captain engineering will be ready.”
He accepted the PADD with a nod. “Good. I’ll pass it along. And I’ll hold you to that break, Santos. If I have to drag you out of engineering myself, I will. Or I'll go have a talk with T'Mara.”
“Fine,” Alicia said. “But if you drag me out, you’re the one explaining to the Captain why the plasma relays don’t get fixed.”
Kev shrugged. "I'm not too worried about it, besides I'm not above getting medical involved and you know T'Mara would love to put you guys on medical rest," he said.
"Alright, alright, I'll behave," Alicia said. "Let me finish this shift though. I still need to figure out this relay problem."
"You have until end of shift, and then it's someone else's problem until the morning," Kev said. "And Lieutenant, I will be checking in."
"Understood," Alicia said, her voice flat. She knew that he would, too, so she sighed and turned back to the console, hoping that she could figure out the relay before the end of the shift.
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