Steve Newton was frustrated. On the one hand, all this new technology was fascinating. On the other hand, he felt totally out of touch, like a blacksmith in the jet age, or a biplane mechanic in the rocket age, or whatever analogy fit for his situation. What was weird was that not only was it advanced, the technology itself seemed to have a slightly different basis it was built on than the Orville technology. Like somehow, they junked it all and started fresh or something. Of course, he couldn't be sure that was the case, or just that the advances themselves transformed everything to such a degree that he was left floundering. But he was slowly making progress in learning how to handle acquiring the engineering knowledge he needed to contribute in this new era. Fortunately, he didn't need to just to survive, but he was driven to, just like he was when he was in the Union fleet.
He was making progress, sure, but it was halting and slow, and he was sure he looked like an idiot at times. Of course, being underestimated was nothing new for him, even in the fleet his manner and way of speaking wasn't as smooth as most officers, and he was sure he was regarded as a somewhat rough around the edges utilitarian engineer type, in spite of key contributions he has made in the furtherance of fleet efficiency and operations. Even though he actually had achieved shipmaster certification, he had yet to be called upon to be acting captain, unlike the wet behind the ears Xelayan lieutenant that Mercer chose. He didn't really care, and he may or may not have decided what she decided as far as following the order to return the ship to Earth. He didn't begrudge her the decision she made, unlike most of the crew. She made a command decision, that's what leaders do. He heard what Gordon Malloy said to her, and felt he had every right to say it, but she had the final say as far as Steve was concerned. The galaxy is full of weirdness, he mused, and who knew that a seemingly benign trip to see the captain's parents would escalate into a scenario that damaged the ship, cost it four bridge officers, and caused a morale tailspin that barely had a chance to recover, what with the Moclan baby controversy and all, before this happened and everybody on the ship, save John Lamarr and Isaac, who happened to go off somewhere else, now found themselves in a strange new world, muddling their way through as they try to make new lives for themselves?
And life always throwing curveballs and all, he found himself in the engine room of the Orville itself, with much of his former engineering staff with him, enlisted to help figure out why the ship has stalled, its new owners apparently unhappy surprised with this state of affairs. They had discovered that technology recovered from the scrapped remains of other Union ships from that era don't quite fit technologically or even physically in the Orville, which lent credence to Steve's nascent nagging suspicion that something is amiss as far as this being their future is concerned.
He saw Ensign Jenny Turco, a new arrival who had the unfortunate timing of being assigned to the Orville just a day before Pria came on board, looking befuddled as she traced a replacement component, which he understood completely. 'What the hell is going on?' he thought to himself.
Barely two months into her latest command, her first on an exploratory class starship, and Joanna Barrett was now wandering around the halls of a museum, wondering what to do with herself. She saw John Felson, her second in command, who for two weeks she thought was Jim Felsen, the original replacement until the debacle resulting from Gordon Malloy's aborted attempt to steal a shuttle in order to track down his kidnapped command officers caused a delay in the Orville reaching Earth. So Felsen was sent to another ship and the next in line, Felson, took the XO slot. For two weeks she called him Commander Felsen, then used what she thought was his first name the third week, only to find out it was the wrong name. After a big laugh, they got along great. She remembered thinking what a crazy time that was. If she only knew what was in store for them then.
"Whatcha up to, Jim?" she joked. It was a standing joke between them.
John snorted, then gestured toward the display, saying, "wondering where we are!"
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Close, But No Cigar
Science FictionPria successfully acquired the Orville and took it to her era, then everything took an unexpected turn, and now Pria and the Orville crew must work together to return the crew and ship to their own era.
