Departmental Tour (Part II of II)

Posted on Tue Jul 30, 2019 @ 2:59pm by Captain Maritza Soran & Lieutenant JG Erich Hartmann

1,394 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Doors of Perception
Location: QM's office
Timeline: MD10 1430

Previosly in Departmental Tour...

"And our grand finale," Leonora said after three hours, "VPOD. Visual Projection Observation Deck. Do you get vertigo, or agoraphobia?"

“Let’s find out together.” Hartmann jokes, his tone as dry as a good martini.

"Well, you can't say you weren't warned." The Turbo lift came to a stop and opened out into a small circular chamber that had a small circular hole in the floor and a ladder going down. "After you."

And now the conclusion.


Erich gingerly and carefully got onto the ladder, much effort going into making his movements appear NOT gingerly or cautious.

At the bottom of the ladder it was full of stars. The room was made entirely or transparent aluminium. Below him the turquoise and blue marble of Pangaea turned in tranquil slowness, set in an abyss that sparkled with a million points of light. In the distance were brighter points of light that marked the shipyard, and other ships moving in and out of the system, smaller ones heading for the docking bays, the larger ones gliding up silently toward the massive docking ring that could be seen a kilometer over head.

Erich gawked at the spectacle; nowhere within the Reserves would such a room be possible. The Reserves operated no stations, and its vessels were short range, no to mention they had not the budget for such wonders.

“No way this is standard issue.” The German blurted.

Leonora slid down the ladder and landed lightly on the transparent floor. "Its for checking the effect of the Holographic Defense Platforms visually. You can see up eighty percent of the station from here. There's observation lounges on the Prom, but they don't really give you the existential willies like this place does."

“Amazing isn’t it?” Hartmann said, placing a palm upon the transparent surface, “This thin veneer is the only thing between us and the Great Ebony Prairie, upon which we depend so much, yet would kill us quickly and violently without passion or prejudice.”

Leonora chuckled. "Yeah, as a general rule, people in ops do tend to come down with bad cases of philosophy. I think you're going to fit in just fine round here." She looked down between her feet. "Nothing liking sitting on the edge of the Abyss and swinging your feet to bring on a sense of insignificance."

“I disagree Leftenant;” Erich retorted, “in all the universe, so far as we know, there is only one YOU. If that does not speak to our own individual magnificence, I’m not sure what does.”

She blushed a little. "I don't think I ever saw it that way. Maybe I need to spend more time down here, get my philosophy back in the game."

Her boss saw the flush, and only then realized his compliment might be taken as flirtatious. He colored a bit himself before shrugging it off. Clearing his throat, Hartmann brought things back to tacks.

“What’s next?”

"Well, thats the whistlstop tour." Leonora out her foot on the ladder that led back to the illusion of solid ground the rest of the station provided. "Now its up to you. Operations ges to do things like quarters allocation, and stores, so you might want a look round the QM's office. Or theres a look at the AHDs. Everyone likes a look at them. Or I can take you to meet Kivan and here about it from Engineering's perspective."

“Let’s finish looking at places within our own spheres of influence, then we’ll hobnob with the Grease Monkeys.” Erich replies.

"Okay." She shimmied up the ladder and went back to the turbolift. "QM's it is. Want an upgradade to your quarters?”

Hartmann overdramatized intense interest. “Oh, fit for an Empress would be grand.”

"Hah." Leonora scoffed. "I don't think even Commander Soran rates that. But we can probably gind you simething nice on deck 23."

More seriously, Erich stated, “I’d prefer not to live too grandiose; I don’t want the men resenting me as the DH. There is something to be said about suffering as your subordinates suffer.”

'"Leading by example. Well done sir. But I think we can find you something with a bit more room than the standard shoebox."

Hartmann simply harrumphed.

Leonora laughed. "Rank has its privileges. Not many out here, true, but having enough room to stretch out after all day in the jeffires tubes is definitely one of them."

Another harrumph. “If I am forced to I suppose. Where might I ask are your own quarters? In case I need you day or night?” Hartmann took a beat to know how that sounded. “For emergencies or operational issues.” He quickly added.

"Deck 31. South side. Nice view of the shipyards." The turbolift doors opened into the main operations decks, just under OPS itself. Here all the systems across the ship could be tracked and analysed, controlled and rerouted. "But you get to stay on 24, with all the important people."

“An administrative oversight I assure you.”

Leonora laughed. " Believe me, whatever Starfleet says about chain of command, the station wouldn't last about a week with out us. If we all stop breathing,thats on you."

Hartmann conceded the point.

"Still feel unimportant?"

“Always. How can I not when I’m surrounded by a team such as this to cover up my mistakes?”

"Well, you're in luck then." Leonora headed twoards DS5's OPM offices, where the QM had their office. "Most of us are horribly overdue leave, and will probably all take it at once, now you're here."

Erich made a show of seeming offended. “I see. Woo me, compliment me, then throw me to the wolves when my guard is down. All so you can take over when I’m executed. Fiendish.”

Leonora grinned. "You're on to us already. I can see we will have to murder you with work. I have all the codes to vanish life form size lumps of organic matter."

“And they said you were just a pretty face.” Hartmann joked.

"Those fools underestimate me." Leonora grinned back. She checked the QM's office. "Looks like T'Vol is out. We'll borrow her desk. Lets see what we've got." She slid in to the chair, and turned the terminal towards Erich. "We have all the assignments run through here, civilian and fleet. Here are all our rooms on Deck 24. Nothing below a level 3, as that's where we stash the important people. But if you like wild parties, we've got spare level twos. Or if you want to be where the fun people are, you can come down to Deck 25, where a level 3 is as big as it gets."

Hartmann grunted in thought. “Where would you go, if queen for a day?”

"Risa." Leonora snorted. "Which also happens to be where I'm planning to go once I'm not formally in charge of this lot. WHich starts in about two hours once this shift ends."

“I meant aboard station.” Erich replied.

"Hmm. I think I'd move into one of the hotels on the Sqare Mile. They're a lot swankier than the living quarters, even in the rarirfied air of deck 24." She swiped here fingers along the LCARS. "Deck 24 10 south. That's the side that's got a view of the shipyards. Now we're in orbit and maintaining position, its only in a view for a few hours, instead of permanently, But other times you're staring into space."

Space could sometimes allow one to empty the mind when it’s planning, worrying, and scheming became too much, plus the quarters would allow him to be comfortable enough while not distancing himself too far from either Ops or his subordinates; an Officer should not aspire unto Ivory Towers.

“24 it is then.”

Dell concentrated on the screen for a second, typing in her command codes to authorize the change of quarters. "All right, you're done. You're officially a resident of Mahogany Row. How do you feel?" She paused a moment and added in a teasing voice, "Sir."

He puffed his chest. “Like a million strips of latinum. And you shall refer to me as ‘Your Excellancy’.”

She laugghed, "Yes, Your Excellency."

Erich laughed with her, giving her a smile at last. “Carry on.”

::OFF::

Lt JG Leonora Dell
Operations Officers
DS5

&

LT JG Erich Hartmann
Chief Operations Officer
DS5

 

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