Antican Antics Reach the Immediate Boss

Posted on Tue Mar 31st, 2026 @ 1:49pm by Lieutenant Margarar & Lieutenant Marie Breguet

1,825 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Crisis at Zeta-294
Location: Engineering
Timeline: MD02 - 1300

Margarar's bloodshot eyes were getting worse. Her eyelids were even heavier. She had been "on duty," far too long. However, she needed to meet the Chief Engineer, her direct boss. Until that was done, she was not going to get any decent rest. She just hoped that the Chief Engineer knew what she was doing. So few actually did.

But, on the off chance that the Chief Engineer did know what she was doing, perhaps Margarar would get some rest yet. If not, she was going to go to her quarters, determine any annoying sounds or smells, and then fix them. She would not abide by anything less.

Heading into Engineering, she looked around. "Lieutenant Breguet? Are you here?"

That caught the attention of several people. One of them, with blonde hair stepped forward. "And you are?" Marie asked simply.

I'm "on duty." I'm "on duty." I'm "on duty." Maga reminded herself irritably. Her gaunt eyes bored into the yeoman. "I am the new Assistant Chief Engineer. I am seeking Lieutenant Marie Breguet to report in, as I am newly transferred. As protocol required, I have already met with the Captain and XO. Now, I am meeting with you. Hopefully...." She stopped herself quickly, as she remembered that she was "on duty," and was not given permission to speak freely.

"First things first. In Engineering, you refer to me as 'chief'." Marie said. "Secondly, we're all one big team in here. So, I expect you to be honest, speak up and be open with me." Marie said. "Now, lieutenant. Do you have any sort of speciality?"

Margarar blinked, her bloodshot eyes going wide. Was she just given permission to speak freely? She looked hungrily at the young whelp before her. "Chief, I take it that you are Marie Brequet, then? And to be clear, do you give me permission to speak freely just now? Or was that something that you said for how I should behave when 'on duty.' I do need to know before I answer your next question."

"Heh..." Marie said in a slightly confused tone. "You're always welcome to speak freely. This is a Federation Starship, not a penal colony." she explained simply. "And yes, I am Chief Breguet. So, specialties. I need to know so I can assign you to the right place."

Margarar closed her eyes and then smiled, her canines showing sharply. She had been given permission. She may still be 'on duty,' but all trained restraint was gone. "I specialize in materials and fabrication engineering, as well as systems engineering, you young whelp! And from what I can see in this room, it could use a throrough dusting, plus I can hear that there is a slight whine in the intermix chamber that you probably cannot hear because your human ears are much too deaf to hear anything of use. In addition, you probably should grow up. Pigtails are for children not officers to be respected."

She heaved a heavy sigh, "That felt so good! Now, let me go see about that whine." Without waiting for a response, she headed to the intermix chamber.

The entire room fell silent. Marie stood there her eyes open in pure shock at what had just been said to her.

"Lieutenant!" Marie called out simply. She pointed to a door off of Engineering. "My office. Now!"

Margarar ignored Marie and continued to bring out a console to run a scan on the intermix chamber.

"Seriously..." Marie huffed as she walked over to the other Engineer. "Lieutenant Margarar was it...?" She said in a low yet stern voice. "If you're going to work in this engine room and on this ship, you need to follow orders. I am ordering you into my office. Now."

Margarar continued to work on her project and said, "Just a moment, I almost have it fixed. There's a .000001 variance in the mixing chamber that I am not going to allow to get bigger, or else whatever orders you have, Chief Pigtails, is not going to matter too much."

A hand appeared on the Lieutenant's shoulder. "My. Office. Now. Leave. The. Damn. Core. And. Move."

Margarar finished her work and said, "There. Now, Chief Pigtails, let's go to your office, if you insist."

Once they were both in the office, Marie ensured that the door was closed before turning around and facing the young engineer. "What the hell are you playing at? Did they not teach you respect at your last post?!" Marie asked her voice a little higher in volume than usual. "I said you could speak freely as a Starfleet Officer, that DOES NOT mean you can be an absolute dick!"

"You also follow MY ORDERS when I tell you them! Not later, or when you're finished. You do what I say there and then! I am the CHIEF ENGINEER here and you ARE NOT!" Marie added her face flushing. "Do you Understand what I am saying Lieutenant?!"

Margarar looked at Marie like she had three heads. "I spoke freely as a Starfleet Officer. I am one, after all. Also, I do not understand what you mean about being an 'absolute dick.' This must be some young whelp phrase that I am not familiar with. Like you, I am female. Perhaps you are not familiar with Antician appearances? As I am the only one in Starfleet, that is quite understandable. As to the remainder, I have a duty to my greater clan, which is the Federation. If there's a danger to it, I must fix it for the safety of the crew."

The Antican started looking around the room and said, "Ooooh. Mechanical clocks!"

Marie facepalmed. "Sweet Jesus help me..." she sighed to herself.

"There is a difference between 'speaking freely' and being 'disrespectful'." Marie told her simply. "You can't just go around insulting your superior officer, which is me by the way. And you can't just ignore orders. If everyone did that the structure of this ship would fall apart. Surely you understand that right?"

Margarar stood up and took one of the clocks down and started to inspect it. "This one runs on ancient batteries, doesn't it, Chief Pigtails?" Margarar asked.

"Yes it does... Wait, are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Marie asked "And its Chief, not Chief Pigtails!"

"You look like Chief Pigtails to me," Margarar answered simply with a wide canine grin. "Have you been manufacturing your own ancient batteries or creating an alternate energy supply? Personally, I think that it would be more fun to replicate an ancient battery to give it authenticity, but you seem a bit more frivolous and modern, is that right, youngin'?"

“Oh mon Dieu… elle est sérieuse là ?” Marie said outloud accidently slipping into her native tongue. "Can you please... put the clock down and listen to me? I can tell you all about them later. But, we need to go over a few things. The first of which, is you are to stop calling me Chief Pigtails and showing more... restraint on your observations of people."

For an answer, Margarar sniffed the air and asked, "When was the last time that you took a shower?" She sniffed again.

"This morning! But that's what I'm saying! You can't say stuff like that! Its considered rude! Surely you've learnt that during your time in Starfleet." Marie snapped back.

"I don't think so unless you have a severe persperation problem, or perhaps, are you wearing some sort of perfume? No, I doubt you would do that, Chief Pigtails."

"I'm an engineer! We do a lot of physical work!" Marie retaliated. "Have you not learnt anything about Humans before now? How have you not been knocked out yet?! Some people wouldn't stand for some of the stuff you've said to me and quite frankly, you're this close to Insubordination!" She told her holding her fingers slightly apart about an inch or so.

"You gave me permission to speak freely and I am. There's nothing insubordinate," she countered sweetly. "Besides, Chief Pigtails, I was trained by humans. It is all in my file. You're one of those engineers that thinks they can do things without reading instructions, aren't you?" she offered.

"Then consider that permission revoked!" Marie responded quickly. "You can speak normally like all the other engineers and crew on this ship!" She added. "I only meant that you don't need permission to talk! Communication is key to how we work here!"

Margarar immediately straightened up. "I am afraid, Chief, that I do not know what normally to others are. I only know normally to me. I am an engineer, not a mind reader."

"Seigneur… donne-moi la force de ne pas l’étrangler…" Marie muttered. "You're a Lieutenant right? Surely you've worked with others before to obtain such a rank. For now, you are to observe the other engineers in Main Engineering. Shadow a few of them on repair tasks, learn how we work here. Find a way to work here without pissing people off, especially me."

“If you wish me to observe the….” She was about to say, ‘young pups,’ but remembered that she was still ‘on duty’ and could not speak freely anymore. So she concluded, “the other engineers, I will. As your ACEO, however, I can be of more use doing the work, as I have so often. You will find that my skills are exceptional. As to not pissing you off, as you say, my trainers would simply instruct you to be more clear about your intentions.”

Marie stared at her with complete disbelief in her gaze. 'Is she actually telling me I need to be the serious one here?!' she thought. Finally she let out a sigh. "Observe how things work for the remainder of the shift. Get to know where things are, who does what etc. Then you can start properly tomorrow. And I would also strongly suggest you look up protocol as to avoid an incident like this again. Got that?"

“I apologize, Chief but I cannot obey your first order. The XO ordered me to rest after our meeting. I have not slept well for 10 days due to a shuttle that should not have been in service in my opinion. So, if our meeting is concluded, I must find my quarters and sleep.”

"Fine. Whatever." Marie said waving a hand. "You're on alpha shift, so make sure you're rested and good to go by then." She told her. "Go on, go do what you need to do."

“Thank you, Chief.” Mentally, Margarar added, “Pigtails.” With that, Margarar headed out of the Chief’s office, barely remembering to put down the clock, as she left.

"Elle va me donner du fil à retordre…" Marie sighed as she collapsed into her chair, exhausted from that interaction.

Posting by:

Lieutenant Marie Breguet
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wolff

Lieutenant Margarar
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Wolff

 

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