News From Poughkeepsie – Day 106

The last few weeks have been kind of heavy on the supernatural, so this week is pure space opera. One of my favorite STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION episodes (and don’t be like that; we all have a favorite ST:TNG episode) is “Lower Decks,” where instead of following a main cast, we instead follow a handful of junior officers who are around the periphery of what would be a fairly straightforward episode. This sort of thing also happened in the ANGEL episode “Harm’s Way,” the entirety of STARSHIP REGULARS, and…well, it’s not uncommon idea. There’s a whole TV Tropes entry devoted to it. They have the list.

But I feel that this concept has a great deal to say in space opera setting more than any other. It has to take a lot of people to run a starship. Surely there are stories there that don’t involve the senior staff, right? Something that only a low-level specialist can handle.

Lower Decks

As Technical Machinist Mate on the biggest spaceship in the fleet, Heather was considered herself a Jane of All Trades. He had memorized the schematics of the refrigeration systems, pressurized air and fuel systems, plumbing systems and sub systems, weapons delivery and hydraulic power hoists. She knew how to deal with power plants, cylinders of compressed materials, and anti-matter engines. She was responsible for the routine care and operation of weapons systems, both auxiliary and primary, as well as damage control and firefighting equipment. No matter how grimy, filthy or difficult to reach on this spaceship, Heather knew how it worked, and how to fix it.

She knew it all, and was not shy about letting the rest of the crew know it. Heather was confident in her knowledge and her ability.

So when the septic system was clogged with what appeared to be a lifeform of unknown origin, Heather attacked the problem with her usual grit and gusto….