Working on the Gate

Posted on Tue Oct 7th, 2025 @ 3:19pm by Commodore Elias McEntyre & Commander Gil’an Tyris & Lieutenant JG Elen Rell

1,337 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Pilot - "The Gate"
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: A Couple Hours after the Briefing

The Warp Core of the Guinevere was a sight to behold. A powerful reactor of matter and anti-matter fueling the ship. The thrum could be felt through the deck plating and though the ship and some veteran officers could even feel the shifting power of it like a sixth sense.

The massive doors leading into the bay opened, Elias strode though, his son on his hip. He didn't blame Emery for being clingy, especially after the intense battle they went through. Not that Guinevere hadn't been in battle, but most of Guin's combat had been small skirmishes and could barely constitutions real ship to ship action. This had been one of the rare times that Guinevere had been engaged in true ship to ship combat and she was put through the ringer as a result. So it was only natural for the small Caitian to want to be with one or both of his parents.

Elias made his way to the big pool table in the middle of Engineering where he saw his two Chief engineers in vigorous debate.

"How goes it?" He asked, drawing their attention.

Elen stood at the pool table with her palms spread flat on the LCARS surface, eyes darting over the schematics. Half the lines were bright with recent modifications, the rest still stubbed out with notes on PADDs waiting for hands and time. She worried the edge of her scarf against her chin as she traced them, her mind trying to keep hold of ten different questions at once. The shuttles could work, yes, if they tuned the emitters just so, but only if the nacelle conduits kept their rhythm without collapsing into heat spikes. And what if the Gate’s systems took their plasma like water through a cracked pipe, spraying back instead of flowing forward?

The words pulled her from her mind and she turned her head, catching sight of Commodore McEntyre with Emery balanced on his hip. For a moment all the “what ifs” scattered like startled birds, replaced by the bright simplicity of a child’s hand curled into a father’s uniform. The hum of the core steadied itself in her chest. She smiled, brief but genuine, before her gaze dropped back to the pool table. “We’re getting there,” she said, voice low but certain, as if the words could pin the schematics down long enough to make them real..

Following the Gate briefing, Gil Tyris has taken a little personal time to go back to his family’s quarters; he needed a little personal pampering, and a face this beautiful doesn’t maintain itself. After a Vulcan sea salt scrub and a treatment with raw shea nut butter, the Chief Science Officer’s skin was once again aglow with his typical youthful exuberance. He entered Main Engineering just a minute or so after Elias and Emery. He smiled at both husband and offspring, then spoke. “I hope I haven’t missed too much,” he said as he ruffled his son’s hair and planted a small peck on Elias’s cheek.

Elias smiles, nuzzling his husband's cheek despite being surrounded by crew and engineers. "We just got here."

Elias turns to Elen.

"We about ready for the transfer? I assume Chief is getting things ready?" he asked the chaos gremlin of an engineer.

Emery made grabby hands, squirming, wanting his other father.

“Em,” said Gil, quietly. He extended his left hand, and the boy grasped it firmly. “Patience, little one.” Although calmed somewhat, the boy was still obviously antsy.

Elen brushed a loose curl back from her cheek with the edge of her wrist, eyes flicking over the schematics again before looking up. “Yes, Sir. Chief’s been leading the modifications, we’ve got the shuttles standing by for the transfer. I’ve mostly been elbows-deep in repairs, making sure our conduits and relays can take the stress once we push the plasma through. It should hold steady, though I’ll be babysitting the system while it runs...and the Core.” She gave a small, quick smile, half for the Commodore and half at Emery’s impatient wriggling. She wanted to just run over and distract the boy, to try and cheer him up. But she pushed it aside. The parents had this under control, she was just latching onto the moment of want and comfort that was leaking from the child. “So… ready as we can be.”

“We can pilot the shuttles remotely,” said Gil. “The shield projector realignment has already been programmed.”

"When can we begin?" Elias questioned, still holding his son with a reaffirming hand on his back. Emery still was squirmming for his other dad, a pitiful mewl coming from him. Elias gave his husband a look that said "Take him" and gave him the Caitian eyes.

“Come hither, offspring,” said Gil dryly. He lifted the boy onto his shoulders. “Please try not to mess up…” he said as Emery grabbed onto his severely short blonde mop. “My hair.”

Elen bit back a laugh, her eyes shining with it as she looked at them. Her mind gripped the question from the Commodore and her eyes snapped to him. "As soon as the Chief's finished, we can go ahead. I'd say an engineering...two hours. If you don't mind it getting a bit shaky, an hour...but she'll confirm when she does her check in. Asked not to be disturbed. Takes focus work."

Elias smiles as Emery grabbed at his other father's hair.

"Let's make it quick then, Ms. Elen." Elias spoke to Elen.

She nodded with a meaning smile at being addressed as such. "Yes Sir," she said and then hesitated. The smile dropped. "Look, Sir...going to be honest, even with this approach...we'll need the damage control teams deployed. We've done repairs after the attack but they're quick and dirty. Something will in all likelihood break while we do this. If we're lucky, it's small. Having the teams already close to where we did the repairs means it can be fixed, quickly." She didn't say more, not with Emery there. But she was confident that even if the repairs failed, the ship wouldn't be destroyed. Unfortunately the fleshy sentient beings inside said ship were more fragile.

"Make it happen, Ms, Rell." Elias nodded before he turned to his husband.

"If this is goin take an hour, you want to go grab lunch while we let our engineers work? I'm sure Emery could also use a N-A-P"

Gil nodded at the prospect of putting their antsy child down for a siesta. “Fantastic idea, Husband of mine. Besides, I need to stop somewhere and correct this.” Gil rolled his eyes upward toward his hair, the hair that had been perfectly coiffed just an hour ago.

Elias just glared at his husband.

"Really?" was all he could say as he guided his husband and child out of Engineering. "After all that, you're worried about your hair?"

Elias turns his head to Elen like he was saying "Save me.”

Gil placed his hands on his son’s legs, steadying the child so he could walk. “It’s the small things that keep us grounded, Elias,” he said as he took a step away from the work station toward the exit. “And…have you seen my hair? Seriously.”

"Yes, I've seen your hair. It's very nice hair. Have you seen my fur, it looks worse than your two strands of hairs out of place. We've been up for almost 24 hours, I think lunch and a quick N-A-P is all I'm worried about right now." Elias quips as they left Main Engineering.

“He only thinks my hair is ‘very nice’,” muttered Gil. “And yet I married him anyway…” His voice trailed off as the trio left the Engineering deck.

-------

Commodore Elias McEntyre
Commanding Officer
USS Guinevere

Commander Dr. Gil Tyris
Chief Science Officer
USS Guinevere

Lt. JG Elen Rell
Acting Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Guinevere

RSS Feed