New Engineering Chief
Posted on Thu Mar 26th, 2026 @ 4:59pm by Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Hunter & Ensign Millicent Ambrose
Edited on on Thu Mar 26th, 2026 @ 7:12pm
1,549 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 17 - Going Home
Location: Main Engineering - Deck 11 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 0830 hrs
The soft thrum of the warp engine, along with the whirs of some consoles and some quiet beeps greeted Millie as she stepped inside main engineering. She stood there, soaking in the ambiance of it.
The quietness always seemed to relax Millie, the heart of the ship which kept everyone alive and being able to move through the stars. Today though Millie had a goal in mind, to meet the newest chief engineer.
According to the manifest, there was one who had replaced Elen, had gone on the mission to Wren IX then left when they got back to Empok Nor. Never got to meet the person.
Millie's thoughts were that perhaps the trauma that they had gone through was so harrowing that the one chief, decided to leave.
Now where to find the newest Chief of Engineering? Was he in the office or was he already working on a project. First off, the Chief's Office, start from there, Millie decided. Or--
"Computer, what is the location of Lieutenant Hunter?"
Yes that would be much easier to do, mused Millie.
The computer responded immediately, its tone crisp and neutral:
“Lieutenant Jack Hunter is located in the Chief Engineer’s Office in Main Engineering.
The Chief Engineer’s office was located at the back of Main Engineering in the right corner as if it was an after thought. The room didn’t have a door. It was a small room with an open archway, a desk, a couple of computer stations and a large screen so the chief engineer can monitor all the things.
It was Jack’s first day and he was just wiping all the consoles down and cleaning up.
Millie made her way to where the office was, her eyes did a quick once over as to how the office was now. She noted the man who was cleaning the consoles as well. Making it his own, with his touch. If she hadn't gone through the metamorphosis she had gone through, at Never Winter Night with Tyr, Millie would have been rather hesitant in approaching the newest Chief Engineer. He was handsome, tall with dark hair, something that would have made Millie a fumbling bumbling shy shade.
Instead she had more confidence in who she was, Millicent, rather Millie Ambrose, engineer.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Hunter, welcome to the USS Pioneer." Millie having a warm smile of welcome. "I'm Ensign Ambrose." she wasn't in uniform, just civvies.
Jack had been so focused on polishing the console’s edge. More to give his hands something to do than out of necessity that he didn’t hear the footsteps.
He didn’t hear the Ensign until she spoke.
As soon as she did he jumped and fumbled the spray bottle. The microfiber cloth dropped on the ground.
“hells!” he hissed under his breath, then quickly tried to recover, straightening his uniform jacket with an embarrassed tug. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you come in.”
His heartbeat thudded in his ears for a moment before he forced a steadying breath. Great first impression, Jack, he scolded himself. Startled by a greeting. Perfect.
"Sorry didn't mean to almost give you a heart attack." Millie giving a wry smile. She moved inside the office. "I've been startled like that before." she stopped, rubbing the back of her head, Millie didn't want to embarrass the new chief any further.
"I think that Ensign Turner will be very happy that we've got a male chief of engineering." Millie felt slightly awkward in revealing that. Perhaps though Lieutenant Hunter needed to know this though.
Jack let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, giving a short, almost nervous laugh as Millie stepped fully into the office. He bent to retrieve the microfiber cloth, folding it once.
“No heart attack,” he said. “Just reflexes I guess. Starfleet Medical tells me better to have them than not.“
Her comment about being startled herself eased something in his chest. Good. She wasn’t judging him. That helped more than he cared to admit.
When she mentioned Turner, Jack blinked.
“Happy?”
He leaned back against the edge of the console he was cleaning.
“I take it that’s not about my sparkling personality or reflexes for that matter,” he said dryly with a smile.
Millie gave out a quiet chuckle.
"Ensign Turner, he has difficulty when it comes to women especially if they seem to be rather attractive. Makes him a bit tongue tied, and he has difficulty in meeting their eyes, he looks over their shoulders. Definitely yes, he'll be quite happy he'll be able to work with someone who's not female." Millie giving a nod of conformation.
"Ah... I see. Well, I'm glad to be here." he said with a slight bow. "So, are you in engineering?"
Hunter sat down in his chair. He motioned to the opposite chair in front of him to a conversation.
Millie took the offered seat, making herself comfortable. She chuckled.
"Yes I am, today is my personal day but, I wanted to meet you. I had momentarily forgotten I wasn't in uniform." she regarded him for a moment or two before she spoke once more. "I've been here for a little bit, maybe close to eight months. And I am surely hoping that you'll be here for quite sometime." her gaze was in earnest when she said that.
"I appreciate that but beware of what you wish for." he said with a mischievous smile.
Millie laughed, having an answering smile.
"And how have you liked it in those eight months?"
"I've met some incredible people, and I haven't regretted being on this ship." Millie answered. "Granted there were some personal challenges that I've faced but, I feel that I've grown a lot in being not so shy."
Jack listened carefully. Her honesty was disarming. Not polished or performative, just genuine. He found himself nodding without thinking.
“That counts for something,” he said when she finished. “Growth usually does.”
He leaned back slightly in the chair, the faint vibration of the ship’s systems working around him.
“I won’t pretend I know what it’s been like here before now,” Jack continued, choosing his words with care. “And I don’t intend to sweep in and change everything just to make my mark,” he said. “At least not right away. I want to understand how you all work. What’s held together.”
He looked at Millie, meeting her eyes directly.
“And if you’ve been here eight months, then you know this place better than I do right now. So I hope you won’t hesitate to tell me when I’m about to do something stupid.”
"I will let you know, just to warn you though we're still spinning from the quick changing of the chief engineers. Elen disappeared without warning. I didn't get to say goodbye. Then the one before you arrived I never met, she ended up leaving, as soon as we arrived back to Empok Nor."
Millie leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms across her chest then reached up to scratch an itch on the side of her nose.
"About all I could do was to keep myself busy, doing repair work or doing cleaning. I even worked with the Chief of Operations, to take care of a problem which was dangerous to the Pioneer." Millie not really bragging.
This was just a report as to what had been going on before Hunter arrived.
"You know, maybe we can call this a learning curve for both of us?" Millie giving a slight smile.
A memory came to her mind and Millie gasped out. "Oh my! I forgot something, before Elen left , Most of the department heads disappeared. Ensign Turner became the Acting Chief of Engineering and I was his acting Assistant Chief for a time. We had no idea as so what happened, only that they returned. And then Elen left without a word."
The weight of what she’d just described settled over Jack quietly. He didn’t rush to fill the silence. He’d learned long ago that the moments right after someone shared something difficult deserved a beat of stillness before any response.
When he did speak, his voice was measured.
“Well, I won’t be going anywhere. This is where I'm staying for the foreseeable future.” He paused hoping it was enough to give her some solaces
"I am truly glad to hear that you will be staying." A sense of relief evident in her voice, as Millie was truly hoping that this new Chief of Engineering, will be staying for a long while.
“Thank you,” Jack said and provided a slight humble bow. He continued, “I will be scheduling an all staff meeting soon to formally introduce myself and meet everyone but please visit my office anytime you want to chat.”
Jack extended his hand to shake hers.
Millie smiled, this was a good beginning and a hopeful looking future.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Millicent Ambrose
Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jack Hunter
Chief Engineering Officer, USS Pioneer
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