A New Assignment (part 1)

Posted on Tue Jul 7th, 2015 @ 11:41am by Captain T'mpest Michaels & Commander Rylie Cattmor & Lieutenant Commander Morai Keen & Lieutenant Commander T'kaarch & Lieutenant Jensen Foster & Lieutenant JG Heather Quinn

1,084 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Civil Act
Location: Observation Lounge

ON

T'mpest had the new orders for the crew of the Ranger and was quite pleased. It had been a long while since she'd been able to explore an abandoned planet. It was something she was personally experienced with and had every intention of leading the away team.

But that was an argument for later. For now, she needed to brief her senior staff and other key personnel about their new assignment.

She'd sent out notification of the briefing the night before and now waited, the table laden with biscuits, muffins, pastries and an assortment of beverages.

With there only being a few minutes till the scheduled start time of the briefing, Cattmor thought she was running particularly late. She was therefore surprised to find that she was the first one to arrive. Her face practically lit up as she walked through the doors and saw the veritable buffet laid out on the conference table. "You really go all out for staff briefings, captain. I haven't seen a spread like this since the first morning of the refit of the Venture." she smiled.

"The way I see it, if I am to get everyone to an early meeting, I might as well make it worth their while," she said, returning Rylie's smile.

"Commander Gant used to lay them out as well for a little morale, well, until the refit started getting so far behind, we didn't have time for any briefings. They were popular though so when I went to the Fredrickson, I tried to implement the same." She raised a brow quickly, thinking back, "Little did I know that the chief was gluten intolerant. I didn't think anyone was intolerant in the Federation anymore, so I changed the muffins to gluten free, then he just complained about the smell--I mean who doesn't like the smell of a fresh muffin?" She said taking one, "Too bad they aren't dolaberry ones."

"It sounds more like he simply wanted something to complain about," the Captain replied. "I am actually looking forward to this next assignment. I hope the rest of you will be as well."

"Intriguing." Rylie said with a slight raise of her brow, while adding a chocolate chip cookie to her muffin and grabbing one of the coffees from the tray, and taking her assigned seat to the left of the captain's one just as the doors breezed open admitting another officer.

Keen came through the door trying to stifle the yawn as he was not in the best sleeping cycle. The Little One was so close to coming into the universe he was having trouble; every odd movement woke him as though he were on edge and each movement was the Little One getting ready to arrive.

"Good Morning Captain." Keen said as he went for the hot tea. "Sorry ma'am, Little One gave me a few false starts last night."

"Good morning. I appreciate your being here."

T'kaarch walked in with a paw under his head. Last he remembered, he was running on all fours through the Ranger... but that must've been a dream, right? In any case, he belatedly remembered his manners and nodded to the assembled crew and Captain, murmuring "Morrrning." before sitting down.

"Welcome, Lieutenant."

Jensen walked next to Heather, unsure as to whether he was actually fit for duty. After his last psychic episode, he was still having a bit of trouble keeping everyone's emotions to themselves. He glanced at Heather, catching the knowing glance on her face.

"Jensen, it'll be OK. Just remember to take deep breaths and to concentrate on your own thoughts and feelings."

"That's what I'm afraid of..." As soon as they neared the doorway to the briefing room, Jensen took a moment to inhale and exhale slowly. He was already feeling slightly agitated and it wouldn't do any good to have him affecting anyone else. Especially since this was really the first time he'd be seeing Cattmor since they're last interaction with one another.

"Jensen..." The tone of the dark skinned woman's voice seemed to act as a both a warning and a balm to soothe. He gave a half-smile and said, "I'll be alright. I'll try to keep myself in check as best as possible."

"Good, we don't need anyone else reacting to how you're feeling. We've already had enough of that down in Sickbay."

Taking just a few seconds more, Jensen felt ready to enter the room, only sensing just a few others in the room for the moment. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? They entered a millisecond later and Jensen quickly took a seat at the table while Heather got him a cup of coffee and a bagel. He stared down at the liquid in the cup, feeling his anxiety spiking and that was when Heather elbowed him. He looked up, slightly startled, blinking his eyes in confusion. At the look on her face, he realized he hadn't quite said anything to anyone yet. He swallowed the odd lump in his throat and intoned to the few people gathered, "Morning."

Arching an eyebrow at him for a second, Heather then turned her gaze to the others in the room. "Good morning Captain, Commander Cattmor, Lieutenant Commander Keen, and Lieutenant T'kaarch. I hope everyone slept well. I know that Lieutenant Foster and I cannot wait for this meeting to start." She smiled brightly, hoping to draw attention away from Jensen for the moment. At least until someone else were to enter the room.

"Good morning," T'mpest replied. She'd been quietly observing everyone as they entered and Heather's careful protection of Jensen almost made her smile. She hoped it meant he was getting help.

Rylie just kept to herself, virtually burying her head in her PADD, and almost blankly staring at information that wasn't really relevant to the job at hand. It was obvious to her, if not anyone else, that Jensen was still struggling with events past, and that his road to normalisation was a rocky one. Not that it was easy for many other people either. It was also acutely obvious to her given the thoughts emanating from both, that Lieutenant Quinn was covering for Foster, even over compensating her friendly greetings to the assembled staff, as she found herself barely acknowledging it.

(Continued...)

Captain T'mpest Michaels
Commanding Officer

Commander Rylie Cattmor
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Morai Keen
Chief Counselor

Lieutenant T'kaarch
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Jensen Foster
Chief Medical Officer

Lieutenant JG Heather Quinn
Assistant Chief Science Officer

 

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