Three Loose Ends

Posted on Sat Dec 5th, 2020 @ 2:22pm by Commodore Keiben Haistro & Lieutenant JG Sher'ra Verona & Senior Chief Petty Officer Jonathan Stoun

1,692 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 2 - Echoes Of An Empire
Location: Deck 1 - Briefing Room
Timeline: Mission Day 1 @ 1234 Hours

ON

The day had certainly been one he had not anticipated, he had been sitting in the briefing room on deck one reflecting on the events thus far and being offered command of the Copernicus was not something he had thought would have been an outcome, but still it had happened and he found himself both exhilarated by the prospect and terrified of it in equal measure.

Now, having to make decisions that affected the entire ship and compliment he had three problem area's that needed to be corrected before he could even consider setting sail.

"Lieutenant Holt, Ensign Verona and Chief Stoun please report to the Briefing room" he called out to the ships now fully functional computer and intercom system. While he waited for them to arrive he went back to pondering the personnel files, already confident he had made the right choices and just hoped that they would agree.

Holt was looking around at the repairs on the Copernicus, comparing it to what it had looked like before. She wiped away a stray tear, happy that the ship was being repaired, but there was a slight sadness to that droplet of water from her eyes. She heard the call from Keiban, and quickly settled her emotions before she reported in. Brushing back her hair into a loose ponytail, before entering in, and making sure it looked neat and tidy, Tamaska stepped inside the briefing room.

"Holt reporting in as requested." she said, with a hint of a smile. He looked well recovered from the previous ordeal. "You look well, sir."

"As do you Lieutenant... Please take a seat" he motioned for her to sit next to him as he stood and went over to the replicator. "Would you care for anything?"

"Orange Juice, I would like orange juice please." Tamaska replied rather curious as to the reason for this meeting. She took a seat next to Keiben.

"One class of Apple and Raspberry Juice chilled and one glass of Orange Juice" he asked of the replicator. Both drinks materialized in an instant and he collected them both and went back to the head of the conference table. "I will wait for the other two to arrive before I get started. We have news about the ships Commanding Officer... Until then how are the repairs and refit coming along. I've been so busy in debriefings the last few weeks that I have not had time to keep abreast".

He was trying to play it cool but he had a feeling she may have already figured out what he had to say on the Commanding Officer front. She knew him far to well, but then again he knew he'd have her stumped with his reason for asking her here.

"You've got me all a twitter, as to why you wished to meet. As for the ship, she's looking a lot better." giving a relieved and satisfied smile.

Walking up to the Briefing room, Sher'ra quickly check her uniform before walking in. She hadn't expected to be called in by the Copernicus' new CO so soon after they'd been given command. Stepping into the room, she took a moment to note who was already present before moving in further, "Ensign Verona reporting as ordered"

"Ensign" he was about to greet her but stopped in his tracks noticing the formality in her voice and stance. "Would you please relax, you look like you've been called in front of a firing squad!"

Sher’ra was unsure how to respond. After a moment, she finally put something together, “well, it’s not everyday sir that you get called up to the principals office”

Stoun had been diagnosing a stray power fluctuation when the chime came over the comm. Probably another bug that needed squashing. He wiped away the sweat from his brow and headed towards the briefing room. Repair case in hand.

The doors slid open and he noticed he was last to the party as the other officers were already present. "Sorry I'm late Sir, was in a Jeffries tube." The chief walked towards the table, set the repair kit down, and fixed his uniform a bit.

"Would either of you two like something to drink?"

He motioned towards the replicator over to the side of the main briefing room display, something new to the ship. In its previous iteration the briefing room simply was just a room with no amenities to make the meetings held there any easier or more comfortable.

"No thank you sir" Sher'ra replied as she took a seat at the table

"Water if I could sir. Gets a bit stuffy in the conduits." The engineer was starting to guess this wasn't about maintenance or repairing one of the system.

Keiben moved once again from his chair to retrieve the water for the chief while pondering the green skinned Officer, something of a curiosity to the scientist in Keiben given the cultural and sociological aspects of the two genus's she originated from, to take her seat along with Stoun. It could not have been easy for her growing up from both a social and biological perspective... But he was allowing his mind to wonder. He placed the tall glass of chilled water down infront of the enlisted civilian and the man he would hope may join the crew after this meeting.

"We have a few loose ends to tidy up and the three of you are some of the larger loose ends... We are in need of a new First Officer, Chief Engineer and if Lieutenant Holt agrees to the first request we shall then be in need of a new Chief Of security... And yes, before you ask Tam, the Admiral has given me command of the Copernicus... So what do you say?"

He could help but smile knowing most of what he had just dropped on his friend would be something of a surprise. In the same turn he hoped she would agree to his request.

Tamaska was stunned, as her proverbial jaw hit the floor. "Wait.. what? Um.. are you sure? Of course I accept. And that is great he chose well for you to be in command." he could read her emotions colliding with one another; happy, nervous, small amount of worry and hint of self doubt.

"In that case Lieutenant, you are out of uniform" he chuckled, more than glad she had accepted but rather than overload her with more information he turned to the other two in the room.

"Ensign Verona, I've been hearing good things about you from the crew. Ensign Olowe, who i will point out does not warm to people that easily has had nothing but good things to say about you... Now I have spoken to Commander Jones about both of you and she has given me leave to place this request infront of both of you but let me start with you Ensign. We now have an opening for Chief of Security... I can't promise that it will be an exciting assignment for a Security Chief, after all we are a science vessel but the position is there if you want it!"

Sher'ra was stunned, she'd only been in the area when Starfleet put out a request for people to help with the recovery of the Copernicus, and now here she was being offered a spot on it's senior staff. After a moment, she found her tongue, "um...of course I will accept. It would be an honour to serve on your ship Commander"

He now turned his attention to the Chief. He was a little bit more of a mystery to Haistro, having not interacted with him but the reports from Commander Jones, Ensign Adams and more recently Doctor D'BrooNi have all lead to a single conclusion, he would be more than an asset, not to mention his years in Starfleet would make him possibly the most experienced person on the ship. Something Keiben would need.

"Chief... I need a Chief Engineer and so far you have been acting as the ships Chief Engineer. I want to make that a formal agreement if you want the position?"

Jon thought for a moment before answering. He probably needed something different. "Sir, I'm more than happy to stay on. Never served on a Nova class before so it will be something new. Besides, still a lot of work to be done." Stoun drank the water that had been given to him by the Captain.

"Then I call this a highly successful meeting and my first real duty as the ships Commanding Officer!"
He sat back in his chair, allowing himself a chance to relax as a feeling of things starting to come together had begun to take shape. All that remained in regards to crew would be selecting Chief's for Flight Control and Operations, meeting the new Chief of the Science division and seeing if he could find a ships Counsellor.
"Do any of you have questions for me?"

"Sir I have a long list of requisitions we are going to need to get this bird back to being flight worthy. I can get those sent over to you, and well... may I have another glass of water." The engineer let a small grin across his face.

"I do believe you are now taking liberties Chief" Keiben allowed himself a crooked smiled back at the Chief as she moved to the replicator but this time bringing back four glasses of Champagne. "Send your requisition requirements to Lieutenant Holt here and she can get to work gathering the items you need".

He handed a glass to each in turn and raised a simple toast "Here's to the start of something new".

Sher'ra looked at the Champagne in her hand, "well bottoms up" she said, holding up her glass.

Tamaska took the glass in her hand and lifted it up as well. "Indeed to something new."

"I'll take a rain check sir, still on duty and I need to crawl back into a conduit after this." Stoun cheered with the champagne though took another big swig of water it its place.

END

 

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