“Don’t get me started on Risa…..or Casperia for that matter. I think I drank enough for the whole planet for the week. But I digress. Look, I am alone, but not lonely. I’m aboard to make friends and prove to myself that I can make a difference. Matter. I’ve never served on a Starship, but maybe this is my way of doing a service. I’m not in it for the money, either. It’s the people. You, Sykes, Mei-Lin, T’Vara. To help each other make a life for ourselves. We can come out better on the other side. That’s why I’m here, Tiraa.”

This man also liked to talk, which was a boon for her as long as it was contained to the ship or herself. She listened and walked with him, unhurried and unbothered. She could feel his interest in her, but could also feel it was guarded; likely some lingering Starfleet compunctions about relationships between colleagues or some such drivel that was really quite useless. They notoriously sucked the enjoyment out of life, so she wasn't really all that surprised.

"Never served on a starship?" Tiraa asked with some surprise after deciding which morsel of information to follow up on. "What did your career look like, then?"

“You’re probably tired of hearing me talk. I get tired of my own voice sometimes. Most of my life I’ve been an academic. School, school , and more school. I was a professor of Engineering for several years at the Academy. Like I said before, I took some time off after the war. I lost friends and colleagues when Earth was attacked. Spent some time with my family. My parents are still alive and I have a younger sister. So I was able to be with them. Tossed around a couple of ideas, like maybe going to teach off world. Like Bajor, Deneva, even the Martian settlements. One thing led to another and I got in touch with Zedd. We were impressed with each other enough that he offered me a position on board Dutchman. Now I’m the caretaker of this sleek, not so new, but sophisticated starship.”

“Not at all. You have a lovely voice; it’s smooth and soothing.” Her response was easy and warm. “Are you looking forward to putting your skills to practical use after so many years?”

“That’s kind of you to say. Some of my former students would agree with you. They would promptly fall asleep thirty minutes into a lecture,” Avery said and smiled at Tiraa. Her empathic sense had a way of making him feel at ease. “Yes, that was the goal of making myself “available” if you will. I wanted to take the skill and knowledge I’ve accumulated over my career make it come to life in a new way. I believe I’ve found it.” Morgan took a beat and scratched his stubbly chin. “Would you like to help me with something? The resonator coils are giving me some strange readings. Do you mind scanning while I adjust the plasma flow? Here, let me get the panel off.”

Tiraa blinked once at his request. It had been a very long time since Tiraa had been asked to partake in such a menial task. She knew the basics of most fields one would need in service on a starship, but her focus had been elsewhere in life. Still, she supposed if she was going to make her life here for the moment, she would have to participate in some of these day to day tasks. "I imagine I could do that, unless you'd rather just wait for your engineer."

Avery snapped the panel cover back in place and responded in kind. “You know something, you have a point. The coils can wait. Let me run something else by you, then. The dilithium situation is more urgent. You’re aware of the efficiency problems, right? Zedd is working on getting new crystals. Mei-Lin and I are hoping warp drive can be up and running in the next day or two. Maybe faster, depending on the purity of the dilithium.”

"I was aware of your efficiency problems and saw them solved last night with your captain. I'm sure if she hasn't brought it to you yet that Mei-Lin is simply making sure the crystals are what you need. They will be, of course, but she wouldn't be a good at her job if she didn't double check." Tiraa smiled and placed a hand on her hip. "The ship will be ready in no time."

“I’m very much aware how good she is. Very thorough, from what I’ve seen already. She’ll make a fine partner. And believe me, you can count on us to get Dutchman ship shape in Bristol fashion.”

Tiraa grinned and chuckled softly. "Well, I can't say I know what that is, exactly, but I have to imagine it means something positive."

“It’s an old Earth Navy term. It means everything will be in order in a very short time,” Morgan said.

She felt her interest starting to wane and she was quite certain he had better things to do with his time than stand there and talk to her. She smiled warmly and took a couple of steps closer to him; her black eyes lingered on the intense blue of his.

"I'm glad to have met you, Avery. I know you're very busy though, so I won't take up any more of your time right now."

“Me, too, Tiraa. Glad we had the chance to do this. We’ll make sure to keep the bridge updated on our progress.”

"I'm sure you will." With that, Tiraa turned and left to continue her exploration of the ship.