Port Of Call

Posted on Wed Dec 31st, 2014 @ 3:12am by Ensign Valentine Allemand & Commander Rylie Cattmor

1,690 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come
Timeline: Before the mission

ON:

There had been an influx of new transfers and new crew coming aboard at Deep Space Nine before they left once more for Maridius Prime, and Cattmor had yet to meet them all, even though she didn't expect many of the other's to being quite so eventful as when their new security and tactical staff came aboard, switching from their usual Marine background. She'd just finished a quick meeting with T'mpest in her ready room - it still seemed odd calling it T'mpest's ready room, the unexpected parting of Halliwell still a little sore - when she almost bumped into an Ensign in a teal sciences uniform exiting the turbolift. "Sorry, ensign. Excuse me." she said, her mind obviously elsewhere.

"Oh, no need to apologize, ma'am," Valentine answered. Stopping short, he took a moment to tug on the gloves covering his hands before smiling and saying, "Lieutenant Commander Cattmor, I presume? I'm Ensign Valentine Allemand."

"Oh yes, one of the medical staff additions requested by Lieutenant Foster; Ensign, welcome aboard," she said offering her hand.

Shaking her hand with a firm, yet gentle grip, his smile widened. "A pleasure to be here, ma'am. I was just on my way to see Captain Michaels," he said, glancing off towards the captain's ready room.

Cattmor glanced back the way she'd come towards the ready room and then back at Allemand. "Best leave it for now, ensign; the captain is not in the best of moods. She may be half-Vulcan, but she can't hide everything." She said almost to herself - T'mpest was always hard for her to read for some unknown reason, even though Rylie had an extra talent that some others did not, she could tell that something was not right, or not going well. She took a sharp breath before going on, "Walk with me, ensign." as she stepped around him and called upon the turbolift. "Deck two," she ordered waiting for Valentine to enter.

He followed her inside the turbolift, unsure of what to say. Finally he said, "Well, I'm sure I'll have time to meet the captain later." He felt just a touch awkward, there was something about the woman standing next to him that put him on edge just a little. What he couldn't figure it out. He marked it up to just first time jitters, what with her being the first officer and all.

"I wouldn't worry too much Ensign, I don't bite," she said with a smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "I wasn't aware you were already on the station, when did you get aboard?" Rylie asked.

Turning his gaze to her's, Valentine answered, "About two weeks ago, ma'am. Got my orders and papers all squared away and took the Oath of Celibacy before commencing duty." He smirked before adding, "I know I don't look it, but I am half-Deltan."

"Well, I won't be holding that against you. I'm presuming you're all checked in and have arranged quarters and things with the quartermaster?"

"Yes, ma'am, I have. He was the first person I spoke to when I came aboard. I've already got myself situated in my quarters, I did that before coming to meet with Commander Michaels and yourself."

"Good." Cattmor said facing the front again. "I'd make that top priority if I were you," she added getting a clear image of the check list of items Allemand was running through his head. "Mister Foster put in a special requisition for your assignment to the Ranger; you'd best check in with him as soon as possible."

"Lieutenant Foster was next on my list, figured it'd be a good thing to meet him and find out my duty shift assignments."

There was a few seconds pause at that point, before Cattmor took the conversation in a slightly different direction just after the doors opened and she exited the lift. "There's going to be an informal gathering of people in the holodeck later this evening, sort of a meet and greet for some of the new arrivals, and a wind down for the rest - after the last mission we need it for the morale boost - you should invite yourself to it; it would be a good ice-breaking venue for you to meet some of the staff and others you'll no doubt see around while you're with us. These Intrepid's aren't as big as they might seem."

"Not to point out the obvious, ma'am, but she is a smaller vessel than I'm used to, but I'm sure I'll acclimate just fine. As for this meet and greet, I may just swing by for a bit, I don't see what it would hurt," Valentine responded with a smile, following Cattmor down the corridor. "What time should I head down?"

"I believe that it's all starting to kick off at around eighteen hundred hours," Rylie said as they continued down the corridor towards her office. "It's not going to be a formal thing, no uniforms etc., just a casual meet and greet affair. I suspect you may have a good chance of catching Commander Michaels there to at least introduce yourself, since there's not likely going to be any business discussion, if not before then."

"Sounds like it could be fun," Valentine said. He followed Cattmor into her office, noticing how bare it looked. He would have at least figured there would be a photo, or two, or some personal touches added to the office. He watched as she took her seat, motioning for him to sit down. He sat down and the couldn't help asking, "Sorry if this seems intrusive, ma'am, and you don't have to answer; but your office seems rather bare, are you a new crew member as well?" He tugged on his gloves again, slightly nervous as he waited for the first officer to respond.

Rylie glanced around her office momentarily and saw that Valentine was essentially correct. It was just dressed in standard Starfleet garb, steel grey's, yellow and blue computer panels, dark desk with a wholly standard and unremarkable chair. She picked up on his thoughts of photos of friends, family, and it made her pensive, a shadow slowly passing through her gaze. "I'm a minimalist at heart." she replied with half a smile. "Truth is, I don't really have any personal effects or mementos. I was found by a Starfleet ship abandoned with amnesia by technological means. There's no way for me to have or obtain any photos of family." she finished, almost lost in other thoughts, before squashing it down and actually answering Allemand's question, "I've only been aboard about a month, starting in the Engineering department before events on our last mission to the Gamma Quadrant necessitated my promotion and transfer. And you, your family?"

"Ah, well, this is my first posting on a starship in quite some time, ma'am," he tugged a little harder at his gloves, hoping he wouldn't have to elaborate, but if the woman before him pressed, he would answer truthfully. "As for my family, well, my father is a politician and my mother... she passed away during my first year at the Academy. I have one aunt. Lieutenant Commander Rose Allemand. She's currently the Executive and Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Aryton. Last time I'd talked with my Aunt Rose, she was enjoying her post aboard the vessel helping outer colonies with medical needs. I'm rather proud of my aunt, she's really the reason I joined Starfleet and took an interest in the medical field." He finished with a smile. He really was rather proud of his aunt and couldn't wait till he settled in on the Ranger and could tell her all about the ship and crew.

Cattmor once again ignored Allemand's incessant playing with his gloves as well as the thoughts associated with them. If he wanted to discuss them, he would; for now, she just decided to respect his privacy. Instead, her brow rose a split second in surprise, "Even space isn't as big as we think," she quipped lightly, "I was almost stationed on the Aryton straight from the Academy. If it hadn't been for the delays in construction, I may have wound up serving with your aunt instead. I'm sure she'd be very proud of you."

"Were you really? And as for my aunt, yes she is proud of me." He smiled, it was kind of humbling to know that the universe may seem vast yet so enclosed at the same time. He surmised that it must be because there was still so much unknown about the universe, even with today's advances. "I do have one question, how are the medical facilities and staff aboard the Ranger? Since I am still going to be continuing my residency for another year or so, I'm just curious."

"Mmm," Rylie hummed in the affirmative sense answering Valentine's query regarding the Aryton, "small galaxy isn't it? As for down on deck five, it's a standard Intrepid plus improvements and resupplies of knowledge over the last twenty years. I personally haven't had the chance to meet the majority of the staff down there since we had an almost complete rotation just after we docked, but from the personnel files I've seen, you won't have any problems down there I don't think, they all look good officers--at least on paper." She smiled knowingly, as she was fully aware that papers rarely shared the full story. "Was there anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Valentine said with a small smile. He knew where his next stop would be and was actually looking forward to it.

"Then, if you'll excuse me Ensign," Cattmor said standing and extending a hand, "I have a lot to be getting on with."

He took the Lieutenant Commander's hand and shook it. "I'll let you get to it, ma'am." And with that, Valentine turned and exited, fully intent on getting down to sickbay and seeing what it was like.

OFF:


Lieutenant Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer
USS Ranger

Ensign Valentine Allemand
Medical Officer
USS Ranger

 

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