Meanwhile on the Pelican: Part One
Posted on Thu May 24th, 2012 @ 1:11pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell & Lieutenant Cedric Shepherd & Lieutenant JG T'Parn
2,396 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Bleeding it Dry
Location: USS Pelican
Timeline: Current
ON:
Elsie materialised in the small and somewhat older transporter room of the Pelican. The blue wash dissipated and as her vision cleared, the imposing image of the ship's captain came into view. The stark and antiquated surrounds were not, Elsie would be the first to admit, the luxury that she was now used to on the well-lit and relatively modern Intrepid, but the Steamrunner seemed to have a charm of its own. A nostalgic, eerie sensation came over her as she was fondly reminded of the Merryweather.
"Captain," she initiated, stepping down from the pad and brandishing an out-stretched hand with a cheery smile, "forgive the cloak and daggers but what with this now being a sensitive situation, there are eyes and ears on the Ranger I would rather not perform in front of."
Lieutenant Barim observed the female human who just beamed aboard the Pelican. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, and yet seemed to also be trying to keep stuff hidden. However, Jensar was also sure that in addition to this, the Captain of the Ranger was likely to not want for any interruption with her talking with the Captain of the Pelican. He was just here at the moment to be around when they needed him.
Elsie's disclosure might've ruffled a less-seasoned individual. Her colorful references were among countless used to refer to Romulans, easily among Tomas' key concerns given the circumstances. Though the lack of portentousness in her mannerisms suggested a far less daunting matter he believed he had figured out, he knew better than to allude to it. This wasn't the proper time or place for such a discussion, though he certainly hoped for an opportunity.
Tomas accepted his colleague's descending hand into a cordial double clasp. "Welcome aboard the Pelican, Captain. Most of my crew had reservations about immediate association with a decidedly unmeaning namesake," he ribbed, releasing one hand in order to indicate Jensar, "so your first introduction is to Lieutenant Jensar Barim, your new TDO.â€
"Lieutenant Barim," Elsie then replied, loosening her grip with Zaragoza and then switching it to the Betazoid. "Nice to meet you. Captain Halliwell." Her curt introduction was by no means rude, but the woman was keen to get to business before Kendrick was suspicious of her absence.
Barim took Captain Halliwell's hand in a gripping handshake. It was firm, and yet decidedly feminine - such a thing was not uncommon for a female ship commander. The shake could tell Jensar a lot, even without him using his skills to invade her privacy. Smiling, he replied with a slight smile, nod and bow toward her, "Captain, I appreciate the brevity."
"Mister Barim has been very eager to get up to speed, Elsie," asserted Tomas. "I trust you don't object to his inclusion?"
"Not at all," Elsie replied with a brief smile, looking the officer up and down with a satisfied and slighted emphasised manner. She settled on the Betazoid's gaze and nodded her agreement. "It'll save on a further briefing when we return to Ranger. Now, if we could quickly get to business, Captain. We're all on a tight schedule." There was no malice or undermining edge to her insistence of moving procedures along, merely a desperate eagerness to iron out the details of the next move.
In kind, Tomas responded with a fluidity that suggested familiarity and understanding. "Mister Barim," the host captain beckoned with an acknowledging nod just after invoking Elsie to partake in his lead with a gentle hand to her back. Just as in their academy days, her ethic and then-surprisingly willowy build made brief work out of keeping astride, though not quite quickly enough for him to retract before they fled the pragmatic little transporter room.
Mikaela Stensrud hated being left out of the loop.
Considering she harbored little love for the kinds of activities frequently associated with staying within, one could argue that such a preference was ironic, even contradictory. Bothersome as Pelican's assistant engineering chief found ignorance, she wasn't exactly keen of attempting to alleviate it through her co-inhabitant. The serenity the other Lieutenant seemingly tapped into might've indicated knowledge if she weren't a Vulcan, which was beneficial in that her species wasn't renowned for expecting chit-chat.
That isn’t to say Mikaela had chosen to ignoring her. Her only outstanding reservation was a dislike of relying on resources beyond her own observational powers, which actually conjured a decent rationale for talking otherwise; the Vulcan wasn't familiar in the slightest. Pelican wasn't so small that everyone knew one another on account of bunking together, but her complement was sufficiently modest that only the most cloistered didn't develop familiarity with most of its faces after two years. Mikaela may've liked her space; she did after all sit a few chairs down from the Vulcan and put her nose into a PADD shortly afterward. Yet her hands-on ethic ensured she got around and knew more than her social inconspicuousness suggested.
T'Parn silently and stealthily observed the female human engineer sitting down the table from her. She half expected some form of idle conversation, but was somewhat relieved when the Lieutenant immersed herself in a PADD. T'Parn had no PADD of her own to look at, she had already memorized all of the details about the Ranger that she had been privy to, but still the distraction might be welcome. It wasn't that she was anxious, far from it, she was just aware of the fact that when a human was alone with another person they often wished to converse. T'Parn ran through several conversational scenarios, but unfortunately she did not know the engineer all that well, aside from the information that was in the database, which wasn't much. T'Parn relaxed her posture and observed the engineer silently, but ready at a moment's notice to redirect her attention should the Lieutenant look up from her PADD.
The situation was a perfect example of Mikaela’s sense of awareness despite appearances. Well-versed in using her peripheral vision, the distance between them was perfect for allowing her to catch the other woman's subtle attentions without discernible movement.
"I'm actually a pretty lousy barometer for humans," the engineer deadpanned moments later, the irony of anyone paying her persistent attention lending the leading edge of her quip a faint half-laugh.
A Vulcan might have recognized the split second where T'Parn's face flushed green briefly in a show of embarrassment; she had forgotten the human proclivity for awareness when it came to being watched. She raised her right eyebrow and in monotone fashion, said "Indeed...?" remembering only at the last moment to raise the tone of her voice near the end to denote a question. She had learned a great deal while living among humans and a multitude of other species while at the Academy, but that had been 4 years, 11 months, 21 days, and 13 hours ago. She had grown accustomed to being among Vulcans again. Although her semantic and syntactical knowledge of English had not faded in that time, her intonation had suffered slightly. She decided to attempt to glean as much information from this human as possible, while attempting to retrain herself to deal with the species in general. Not to mention that an engineer would be an ideal friend to make, her own department worked closely with the other quite often.
"Ah, yes, a barometer. A device for measuring atmospheric pressure. I assume you are speaking proverbially? Regardless, allow me to introduce myself, I am T'Parn. Assigned to the USS Ranger as Assistant Chief Science Officer. How... Do You... Do...?" She spoke the last part a bit oddly, as she was attempting to recall and speak the phrase at the same time.
Mikaela couldn't recall last witnessing anyone struggle so profusely with phonetics, and certainly didn't expect an instance from T’Parn. Interest piqued, the engineer lifted her gaze, brow bunched in contemplation as she regarded the attractively angular-faced Vulcan. Her formal phrasing couldn’t mask the presence of one of her least favorite questions. Yet whereas many offered it as a gallingly blasé acknowledgement, hers’ struck as anything but. She obviously endured a lot of internal resistance to pose it, and as Mikaela noted earlier, small talk generally wasn’t a Vulcan forte. Some might’ve taken offense with the possibility that T’Parn’s interest was purely academic; Mikaela was worldly enough to know that interaction was the only way to deal with the kind of ineptitude evident in her language. But she had her own questions rooted in those difficulties.
“Mikaela Stensrud. Assistant Chief Engineer of the Pelican. Do you mind if I ask you something?â€
T'Parn was somewhat intrigued. She looked at the Engineer intently, "No, Lieutenant, ask away."
Unfortunately, the question was turned aside by the others' arrival. Elsie walked into the conference room, Tomas at the door with an out-stretched arm leading her in. Naturally, both turned to the door, and upon recognizing the pair of captain, they stood.
Halliwell's head cocked to one side as she turned to Zaragoza with a questioning, knitted brow.
"Spectators?" she quipped, a wry smile beginning to tug at the corners of her mouth.
T'Parn's right eyebrow rose slightly at being called a spectator. She inclined her head down slightly in a brief nod of greeting and respect. She assumed the human woman wearing red with four pips on her collar was the captain of the Ranger. She had been called to this room to meet her new CO, so it was logical to assume that the female Captain in front of her was Captain Halliwell. T'Parn was ready to offer a formal greeting when the Captain spoke.
Tomas chuckled as he crossed the pair. "Lieutenant T'Parn joins us for her first tour as your deputy sciences lead after an extended sabbatical.†He then stopped beside the taller incumbent and encircled her shoulders. “Alternatively, Lieutenant Mikaela Stensrud is one of mine. I'd no sooner endorsed her advancement request when a provisional offer came through. Your current engineering chief had a pending posting he’s now being offered, and Starfleet has authorized me to provide her as his successor. Contingent upon his acceptance and your approval, of course.â€
Though he smiled at his counterpart during his explanation, the resolve of the Spaniard's gaze implied that Mikaela was his main interest. She in turn regarded him with nuanced incredulity. Having discussed how recent events and developments had brought the fleet's rebuilding efforts to a near standstill in order to review their current shipbuilding and developments programs, she'd dug in her heels in anticipation of stifled personnel needs. That her commanding officer was seeking a department head posting on her behalf in spite of that was total news to her.
"Well, it seems the Ranger is now to become a wash with new faces." Elsie turned first to Mikaela and smiled. Taking her hand and firmly shaking it, and then moving to the Vulcan's, Elsie nodded curtly and said, "Welcome to the team, Lieutenants. Formal introductions can wait, if you don't mind. We have business to agree on."
Taking the lead with a familiar nod to Tomas, she held out her hand and allowed all four officers to sit as she remained standing. "I'm sure that you've read the brief notes that I sent to you, Tomas," she began with, locking her eyes with his, "now we need to decide on how to proceed. It'd be nice gain another commander's thoughts on what's transpiring."
T'Parn took the seat closest to her. She sat rigidly with her hands folded neatly in her lap. Her placid face turned to look at the two captains, and she swiveled her chair to face them. She was aware only in broad strokes what the Ranger was up to. Detailed information was restricted, so T'Parn was naturally curious as to the current situation aboard the ship she was transferring to.
Jarim moved around the table to take a seat within direct eyesight of where Captain Halliwell would be located for the briefing. It was just his way of keeping a persistent eye contact. While his input would not likely be valuable since he was really only a Communications Officer at heart, he felt it would at least be beneficial to have a fresh set of ears and eyes look at the subject. Placing his hands on the table, he sat upright waiting.
In contrast, Tomas leaned into his seatback, sanding his hands before settling on clasping them together. He offered no immediate threat to the pervading silence because while Elsie had indeed sent a mission write-up prior to beaming over, the Pelican CO didn't have the time as he would've liked to reflect upon it. Admittedly, the issue wasn't scarcity as much as it was the situation's failure to mesh with customary expectations of Romulan activity, forcing him to consider avenues he hadn't previously. Even so, Tomas wanted to sharpen the picture some before proceeding.
"My thoughts are predominantly in question form, Elsie," he began with a small smile. "Would you object to me posing some in the interest of forging a perspective?"
"Not at all," she replied warmly to him, pulling out the chair and lowering herself into it, now playing on the same level playing field as the other officers. "In fact, I welcome it. I think a brainstorming discussion is what's needed. What better to get things started than a Q and A?"
OFF:
Captain Elsie Halliwell
Commanding Officer
USS Ranger
Captain Tomas Zaragoza
Commanding Officer
USS Pelican
Lieutenant Jensar Barim
Training Divisional Officer
USS Ranger
Junior Grade Lieutenant Mikaela Stensrund
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Pelican
AND
Junior Grade Lieutenant T'Parn
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Ranger
RSS Feed