"More repairs"
 by Ensign T'Kang


T'Kang had finished the adjustments to the Inertial 
Stabilizers on deck 13 and had managed to extract himself 
from the narrow crawl space that they called a Jeffrey's tube 
on this vessel.   The Klingon was covered in perspiration 
from the hot steam and extreme temperatures in the narrow 
space caused, and his uniform smelled like it.

Following Lieutenant' Gabrial's orders, T'Kang gathered his 
things and began moving through the corridors to the broken 
ODN line on deck 14.  The burly Klingon would have 
preferred to take a short break to get some liquid 
refreshment into him after the sauna of a repair job the 
Inertial Stabilizers turned out to be,  of which Klingon 
bloodwine was his preferred drink.  However the Bajoran 
Engineer had stipulated that the repairs were needed ASAP 
so T'Kang's refreshment would have to wait.

Clambering through the corridors of the Intrepid like a giant 
bear, T'Kang made his way across the deck to the turbolift.  
On the way he past several officers that all reacted pretty 
much the same way, stepping clear of the ogre like Klingon 
and watching him walk past, noting the musty smell of 
perspiration that lingered to his body.   T'Kang would just 
grunt in acknowledgment here and there, being too self 
absorbed in his work to bother about the stares.  He'd 
almost come to expect it on board a Starfleet vessel.

"Deck 14."  T'Kang ordered of the tubolift upon entering.  
The automated doors quickly swished shut, placing the lift in 
motion.    A few brief seconds later the doors opened and 
the Klingon stepped out, toolbox in tow.

Reaching across his uniform, T'Kang activated his 
communicator.

+taps+ "T'Kang to Lieutenant' Gabrial.  I am on deck 14 
now.  Where is this ODN line that needs repair?"

+taps+ "Good you're there." Gabrial replied a short time 
later, "The faulty line is in corridor G-37 near the Sensor 
Control Room."

+taps+ ::sighs impatiently::  "Very well, I will locate and 
repair the problem.  T'Kang out."

+taps+  "Report in when you've finished.  There is still a lot 
more that needs to be repaired before Captain Hawke 
returns."

+taps+ "Okay."  T'Kang growled back across the channel.

After a slight pause, Lieutenant' Gabrial responded, +taps+ 
"Okay what?."

T'Kang stopped in his tracks and tightened his grip in the 
toolbox enough to whiten his knuckles.  +taps+ "Sir.   Okay 
Sir."  the Klingon hissed.

After a moment of silence, it became apparent that the 
Lieutenant' wasn't going to pursue the conversation any 
further.  T'Kang grew angry knowing that the smug Bajoran 
was probably in main engineering right now smiling to 
himself at his ability to make T'Kang jump through hoops.  
Quickening his pace, the Klingon rounded the corner 
approaching corridor G-37.    In his haste, the assistant 
engineer was not paying close attention to where he was 
going and he rounded the corner into another officer, 
causing them both to collide and fall to the ground.

T'Kang looked up immediately.  He knew in his heart that he 
was at fault for the collision, but the heritage of a proud 
Klingon warrior dies hard.   Across from him on the corridor 
floor was a young science officer.  A female trill that 
appeared to have been reading over a data padd when 
T'Kang rounded the corner at his quickened pace.

"I'm sorry.  I didn't see you coming."  Ensign Cadan 
immediately apologized while rubbing her forehead where it 
had collided with the Klingon's.

T'Kang curled his lip in preparation to growl back at the 
female, but his wish to at least partially get along with the 
crew of the Intrepid held him back.  Still, his `annoyance' 
came seeping out between his words.  "It is all right.  I 
should have anticipated your presence and moved to avoid 
colliding with you."

Camelia smiled slightly at T'Kang.  "It's all right.  No harm 
done."

T'Kang simply closed his mouth and nodded.  Then seeing 
the data padd the young scientist had dropped, he picked it 
up, reading the first few lines aloud as he handed it back to 
her.  "Spatial anomalies of the Briar Patch?"

Camelia took the padd and nodded.  "Yes, I was heading to 
the Sensor Control Room to see if there were any similar 
anomalies in this sector of space."  the Trill explained,  "Are 
you familiar with the Briar Patch?"

T'Kang shook his head as he began to get up off the floor.  
"No.  I have never been there.  But if I recall it's simply a 
collection of volatile gasses considered unnavigable by 
Starfleet."

Camelia brushed herself off and regarded the rugged 
Klingon for a moment.  "That seems to be more than most 
engineers know about a remote stretch of space."

"I used to be a helmsman on my last assignment.  I tried to 
keep abreast of all the charted hot spots in the quadrant."  
T'Kang further explained in a gruff tone that expressed his 
impatience with the idle conversation,  "If you will excuse 
me, I have work to do."

Noting the sharpness of the Klingon's tone, Ensign Cadan 
nodded moving to one side to allow the toolbox carrying 
engineer to pass.  "Certainly.  Glad we bumped into each 
other?."

Stepping past the science officer, the Klingon paused long 
enough to call back, "T'Kang" in a bold and emotionless 
voice.

Camelia smiled and gave one last nod.  "Glad to meet you 
T'Kang.  I'm Ensign Cadan."

The Klingon just stared back at the Trill.

"Okay. well, I know you have things to do and so do I.  See 
you around T'Kang."  Camelia added, suddenly feeling as if 
she'd entered a very cold room with all the "friendly cheer" 
this Klingon was radiating.

T'Kang nodded and then turned to head for corridor G-37 
and the ODN line that waited for him there.