Another Face in the Crowd

Posted on Mon Apr 13th, 2009 @ 2:34pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell

850 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Location: Lane's Ready Room
Timeline: Current

ON:

Petty Officer Andrews stood by the shuttlebay doors, PADD in hand, waiting for the arrival of the new Strategic Operations Officer. The Danube class runabout entered the shuttlebay in a crackle of static and blue electricity as it smoothly passed through the forcefield. It hovered toward him, menacingly almost, and gently came to a stop, gently wafting down as it touched the pad that was to receive it.

Andrews smiled. Shifting his weight from his left foot to his right, he patiently waited as the doors to the runabout whirred open.

Walking confidently over, he stuck out his free hand ceremoniously and continued to grin.

"Mr. Dernah?" he said, nodding. "I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliot Andrews. I am Commander Lane's personal Yeoman. Welcome aboard on behalf of him and the command team."

"Thank you, Officer Andrews, it is good to finally be here," Brendam said with a warm smile grasping the offered hand.

"If you'll follow me, the Captain is waiting in his ready room." He nodded silently to a nameless crewman who understood. "Your bags will be taken to your quarters for you, and I'll take you there after the Captain is done with you."

Both of them snaked the short corridors to the turbolift, hailed it, and then boarded. Very little was spoken during the journey, but before they knew it, Andrews was pressing the chime to Lane's ready room.

"Come," the Trill said expectantly.

"Lieutenant Brendan Dernah, reporting for duty, Sir!" Brendan said at attention.

"Ah, Brendan… at ease, Lieutenant," he said, rising from his chair and extended out his hand to greet him. "I trust you had a safe trip? Please, take a seat." He motioned to the empty chair before him. "Welcome to the Archimedes, Lieutenant."

"Yes Sir, my trip was rather nice thank you," Dernah said with his eternal smile.

"Good, I am glad," Lane replied a nod. "Can I offer you a drink or some such? I am sure that you are anxious to get to your quarters and unpack."

"Yes Sir, I would like an iced raktajino, if you don't mind. That can wait. I am rather anxious to get to work if you understand..."

"Eager? I'm glad," Lane said, nodding. He stood from his chair, walked behind his new Strategic Operations Officer and up the two steps to the plain that housed the replicator. "Iced raktajino, please," he asked, turning to face the blue materialisation of the beverage. Lifting it out of the plate, he then made it back to the desk and placed it before the officer.

"So, I suppose the most important question is why does a small science vessel require a strategic operations officer, let alone now and entire department?" He looked out towards the window of his ready room and sighed. "The situation here at Citadel Prime, recently, took an extreme turn for the worse. My… sorry, our first officer had a swipe taken at her during diplomatic proceedings down on the surface. And, over all, the predicament we seem to be placing ourselves in seems to be heating up. We have no idea what can happen next. So, when it does, we'll need you."

"I was going to ask you the same question, Sir."

"Well, there you go," he smiled. "Do you have any more that you would like to ask, Brendan?"

"What exactly will be my role aboard the ship as far as the senior staff goes, Sir?"

"You will be one of the senior staff like the rest of them, Lieutenant," he said, interlocking his fingers together on the desk. "I would like you to work closely with Mr. Shran, however. He is the Chief Sec/Tac officer and a fine man. Naturally, with your departments closely linked, it should suit you both well. You're office is down on Deck 3. I know that we have not been afloat for long, but you may want to remove the dust sheets before you begin to get settled."

"Good enough, Sir and thank you once again. Am I dismissed?" Brendan asked as he rose to leave. Brendan was beginning to like this little ship.

"Of course," Lane said, as he smiled. "And remember, Brendan. My door is always open to you should you need anything. I am scheduling a brief staff meeting in the next couple of hours, and you can meet the rest of the senior staff then."

Lane tapped at the control panel embedded in his desk, and the doors to his ready room breathed open. Andrews stood there with a smile, and the PADD he was thumbing through earlier. "Sir?" he asked, raising his eyebrow. "Are we done here?"

Lane nodded and rose from his chair. "Welcome to the Archimedes, Lieutenant. Petty Officer Andrews will take you to your assigned quarters and then I'm sure you're anxious to discover this little ship of ours… and your office."

"Thank you once more Sir. I am rather anxious to learn more about this ship...and my office," Brendan chuckled.


OFF:


Commander Coltan Lane
Commanding Officer

AND

Lieutenant Brendan Dernah
Chief Strategic Operations Officer

 

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