Unconventional Introductions

Posted on Tue Feb 24th, 2009 @ 11:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Wesley Kemmer & Captain Elsie Halliwell

1,188 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Citadel Prime
Location: Captain's Personal Quarters
Timeline: Before the Staff Briefing

OLD:
The medical in any case was another of those meetings that Kemmer was going to be putting off as long as he was able.

He was in no rush, no rush at all.

NEW:
What he was in a rush for, at least now that he'd met up with and reported in to the first officer, as was normal protocol on any starship or other Starfleet posting, was to meet his new commanding officer, Commander Coltan Lane. He'd read a lot of Lane just prior to his coming aboard, as he done with everyone else on the Archimedes and any other assignment; he felt it was prudent. He also felt the need to do it sooner rather than later, and rather than disturb the captain over the coms, he thought to put in a call, personally. "Computer, locate Commander Coltan Lane."

"Commander Lane is in his quarters." The computer responded in its helpful but monotonous tone.

"Well no time like the present" Kemmer said under his breath as he stepped out his closet masquerading as his quarters and headed off to the captains personal quarters.

Lane was stacking the dirty plates scraped clean by the metal cutlery as Lorelai was still sat at the table, chattering away about her latest ‘outing’ with Dr Halsey. The Commander did not make a habit of dining in his quarters alone with his family and liked to amble down to the Mess to eat with his crew for appearances sake. He was a family man at heart, and his crew understood this, but it was important to the Trill not to become a faceless CO. However, with his own schedule ripping apart at the seams under the pressure of his work-load, it was a comfort to close the doors on his responsibilities, no matter how fleeting these opportunities were, and leave the running of his ship to his First Officer.

As he lifted the heavy china from the table and carried the chimney of plates over to the replicator, the chime at his door sounded through his quarters. Rory suddenly stopped her rambling and looked with a solemn face over to her father.

“Daddy…� she said with an emphatic grimace.

The Trill sighed at the interruption and then looked over to his daughter. “I promise this won’t take long, kid,� he said as he nodded to Mrs. Gray. “If you could, Nana.�

Mrs. Gray smiled and returned the nod. “Certainly, my child,� she said as she walked over to help Lorelai down from her chair. “You can help me with my knitting, Rory,� she said in a soft and comforting voice. “You know the rules.�

Lorelai looked over to Lane and half smiled. “Okay, Daddy,� she said while being led into the next room by the hand.

Lane then straightened his uniform; something that he never seemed to take off, even when in his quarters, and looked over to the door. “Come in,� he announced with a smile.

The doors parted and the smiling face of Commander Lane greeted Lieutenant Commander Kemmer - it was almost creepy; he'd never had anyone so pleased that he had so surreptitiously rocked up before. He passed over the entrance border and the doors closed behind him before anyone said the next word. "Evening Commander, I've just checked in with the first officer as per protocol and so am checking in with you; I hope I haven't caught you at a bad time, like having dinner." Wes added as he noticed the plates piled in the replicator. "For someone with such a large apetite, I would have expected you to be..." he paused slightly, knowing that his next choice of words should be more carefully chosen, "larger." He inwardly cringed, knowing the sentence shouldn't really have been said at all.

The Trill inwardly chuckled to himself and extended out his hand to greet Wes. “Let’s just say that I have an exceedingly high metabolism, Mr. Kemmer,� he said with a grin. “I assume you are Mr. Kemmer, Commander,� he continued with, spying the two solid gold pips accompanied by a single onyx on his collar. “That grey uniform gives you away, you know. Please, would you come in?�

Kemmer stepped forward more grasping his new commanding officers hand in an equally vice-like grip. "Thank you, sir. It's a pleasure to be here, although I would have preferred to dress a little less conspicuously. On all my previous postings with Starfleet personnel, people tend to be quite wary if they know there is someone from Intel in the room with them." Even as he said that however, he wondered if it was actually true.

“It’s a pleasure to have such a seasoned officer onboard, Commander. I trust that you have settled in well.�

"As well as to be expected," the look in the Trill's eyes suggested a mix of puzzlement and concern over the reply, almost seeking further explanation, "I only arrived a little over two hours ago, sir, and just got back from checking in with Commander Arkham, as per the regs."

“Ah, naturally,� Lane replied. “Well, despite her growl, she is a remarkable officer.�

"Yes, she does seem like a formidable woman." Wes said off-handedly, almost reminiscing about his first meeting with the first officer. "A fine officer, sir."

“Indeed,� he said. “So, back to the order of the day, Commander. Have you discovered your quarters and Intelligence offices? I believe that they are down on Deck 3.

"Yes, and Deck 2 sir, thank you." Kemmer replied, "although I haven't visited the office yet, I'm fully up to speed on the layout and specs of the Nova class." 'Including how positively tiny it is' he thought on top. "How long until we reach the Citadel sectors?" Wes asked after a short moment of silence.

“Well, we should be crossing the borders today, and then it is another 2 days at Warp 6 to Citadel Prime.,� he replied. “But there will be a Senior Staff Briefing in the morning to apprise you of the details.�

"I look forward to it." Wes lied, smiling. Among other things, he was good at lying, he had to do it often enough - working undercover in horrific circumstances, you had to be damned good at lying otherwise you would wake up one day and find yourself dead, and working for Starfleet Intelligence, probably in a worse hell than when you left. "Well," Kemmer started, "if there was nothing else Commander, I really should get back to sorting through things and at least attempt to get an early night."

“That’s okay, Mr Kemmer. You’re dismissed. Have a good night now and I’ll see you on-duty tomorrow morning.

"I will." Kemmer said as the two men firmly shook hands once more. Nodding to the still filled replicator, he added "and I apologize for interrupting your feast, sir." Lane looked back to the replicator and smiled a small smile before Kemmer exited his abode in view for his own.




Commander Coltan Lane
Commanding Officer
USS Archimedes

AND

Lieutenant Commander Wesley Kemmer
Chief Intelligence Officer
USS Archimedes

 

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