Welcome

Posted on Sun Dec 28th, 2014 @ 4:23am by Ensign Tavanna Edwards & Commander Rylie Cattmor

1,096 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come
Location: XO's Office
Timeline: Before the mission

ON:

One down... nine hundred and ninety-nine left to go, Cattmor thought as she placed the PADD from the left hand pile to the right. She didn't know why, but it always went from left to right for her, it was just one of those habits she seemed to grow up with--neatness, order, organised. The USS Ranger was due to head out again within the next few hours and she still had a mountain of PADDs to go through before they could finalise their departure to Maridius Prime. She was hoping to get going sooner rather than later, but since she'd had less than an hours rest before getting back into it, she already needed a break. Just as she stood and walked around her desk to get to the exit, she knew she wouldn't get one as the door chimed--she should've seen it coming. "Come in, please."

Checking to make sure her uniform wasn't wrinkled and her sash was properly settled, Tavanna entered the XO's office after hearing the go ahead. Allowing the door to slide shut, she said, "Ensign Tavanna Edwards, reporting for duty, Sir." She gazed at the woman before her, her cool blue eyes regarding the other intently for a moment. Smiling a second later, she surmised it was the way the woman presented herself. Something about the XO's posture had Tavanna feeling a sense of kinship towards the woman.

Cattmor paused a few seconds before returning the friendly smile, "At ease, please Ensign."

"Thank you, Sir," Tavanna said, relaxing her posture a bit.

"You're our new science officer?" Rylie said more than asked, as she already knew and not from any of the PADDs she'd seen thus far. "I trust that your transfer orders have come through, present and correct?"she asked as she looked into the unusually pale eyes of the predominantly Klingon woman.

"Yes, everything was settled and in order this morning."

"Please, take a seat." Cattmor said motioning to one of the visitor seats on Tavanna's side of the desk. "Can I get you anything?" she asked turning to the replicator, thinking now this was going to have to be a working break. "I take it that you've already seen the quartermaster and been assigned quarters. Have you managed to track down Lieutenant T'kaarch yet to check in with him?"

"I'll take Spice tea, thank you."

Cattmor turned to the replicator, "One coffee, double strong, half sweet, and one spice tea, please." And handed the drink over when the cups materialised, sitting at her desk once more.

"And yes, quarters were assigned and I've already settled in." Tavanna took the tea as soon as Cattmor handed it to her, briefly inhaling the aroma and remembering the last she'd had the beverage. Her sister, Simora, always prepared the drink when they would get together to catch up. A smile playing on her lips, she sipped the drink lightly, savoring the taste before she answered the XO's last question. "I've yet to do so, sir. Though, I do plan on visiting him as soon as I can." While she wanted to meet with her superior before the day was done, she did intend to get a feel for the vessel first, just to get her bearings. While the Ranger wasn't as big of a vessel as she was used to, it still wouldn't do her any good to get lost, especially when all the corridors were the same and she didn't know the personnel on board. While she may not act Klingon most of the time, a small part of her would have been angered at such an occurrence.

A slight smile crept onto Cattmor's features as she couldn't help picking up Tavanna's thoughts about getting lost on the ship. "I wouldn't worry too much about getting lost on the Ranger, or about the people on board. The corridors might look the same, but every deck has a nuance that you can't quite escape." She then realised that it may not be the same for a non-telepath, and was a trap she fell into more often than her liking; one of those 'mouth engaging before the brain' moments.

"Not to get off subject, ma'am, but how did you...?" Tavanna inquired, a gleam of curiosity flashing in her eyes. Something about the XO's response had Tavanna thinking of two of her Academy friends, both being telepaths, more specifically Betazoids, who had both had a penchant for doing just what the XO had done. Tavanna smiled, still curious to know if her train of thought was correct.

"Sorry," Rylie started, with a knowing slight smile, "and yes... and no. I am a telepath, but I'm not Betazoid." She said without broaching the subject any further. "Have you had a chance to read the mission briefing?" Rylie asked getting back to business.

"Yes. We're going to be en-route to Maridius Prime to investigate and render any aid possible. As for specifics, I didn't feel it was necessary at the time. Only thing I do remember is a mentioning of a gas cloud as being the possible cause."

Transferring some data to a PADD and handing it across her desk to Tavanna, she expounded further on the brief, "Well, the gas cloud is our primary target. Two ships have already seemingly been lost in the cloud and we have been tasked to determine the cause, as well as an explanation as to their last reports regarding some bad dreams. This is also coupled with the fact that this apparently innocuous gas cloud is moving, by what means we don't know, but it's been determined as being on a heading straight for the planet."

After scanning the PADD for a few seconds, in conjunction with what the XO had said, Tavanna finally said, "Maybe I should have delved deeper when I first got the brief. But no matter, I will do anything to the best of my abilities and help wherever I can."

"I'm sure that you will. Still, we won't be leaving for another few hours at least, I'm still trying to get this paperwork up to date and transferred before our departure, so you should have plenty of time to familiarise yourself with the details. Did you have any further questions?"

Smiling warmly, the half-Klingon woman replied, "No, ma'am. Unless you have anything to add?"

"Not from me," Rylie said as she stood with a smile. "Carry on Ensign."

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer
USS Ranger

Ensign Tavanna Edwards
Science Officer
USS Ranger

 

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