Reporting In
Posted on Fri Aug 28, 2015 @ 3:11pm by Lieutenant Commander Steven Wyman & Lieutenant JG Rhe'la Daughter of the Forty-ninth House
890 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Fallout
Location: Base commander's office
Timeline: MD04: Shortly after "Tough Love"
ON
'I look like something an azwaca dragged in...' Rhe'la thought as she walked across Ops. She drew a few odd looks from the on duty staff, but chalked it up to her species and not the state of her uniform.
Cautiously, she walked up the short staircase to where Isha's office overlooked Ops. A little something Starfleet had borrowed from the Cardassian Nor-class stations, though in the case of the Cardassians it was more for the benefit of the megalomania of the station commander. She tried to put that little bit of trivia out of her mind as she pressed the door chime and waited.
Tahhk was here not to take over the Captain's role whilst she recovered, that duty fell on Aldrex. He did however see a convenient way to 'help' both the Captain's and his own cause.
"Enter," he said hearing the door chime. Strictly speaking, as an observer he should not be in the room without the Captain, but there were certain pieces of information that could not be left unprotected.
Stepping into the room, Rhe'la took a deep breath and moved toward the desk. Coming to as close to attention as her anatomy allowed, she reached out and set a PADD on the desk. "Ensign Rhe'la, reporting for duty... Commander?" OK, now she was lost. She KNEW the base commander was a female captain. So who was this fellow in her chair? "I'm sorry for my tardiness, but when Commander Wyman informed me of the scope of the damage to the station, I went straight to work and didn't think of anything else." She left out the part where she had to be ordered to report in. That probably wouldn't sound very good.
The Vulcan swept a hard, beady eye over the woman. Had the Captain been expecting her. He showed no surprise though.
"Your dedication is noted. The Captain is presently indisposed," he said. "I am Commander Tahhk. Until her return Commander Aldrex will have command of the station."
'Would have been nice of Steven to tell me that BEFORE ordering me up here...' Rhe'la thought, happy for a moment that she wasn't physically capable of scowling. Instead she pulled out the PADD she had stuffed into her tool kit and held it out to the stoic Vulcan. "For the time being I'll leave this with you, sir. Repairs are still ongoing, but some of the primary systems should be coming back online in the next few hours. I'll prepare a second copy for Commander Aldrex."
Tahhk nodded and accepted the Padd. "Where have you transferred from, Ensign?" It was impossible to tell how old she was, or how experienced without reading her record, something that Tahhk had not done. Indeed this whole meeting was unexpected to him. There was a lot of work out there for an Ensign to take care of.
"The Cavalry, sir. Before that I was on starbase 182, so I'm very familiar with the layout of a Celestial-class base." She left out her assignment on Drakt's security team. That was one of those things that wasn't a secret, but which she didn't tend to bring up unless asked. Though usually she was asked because the other party wants to know how she's been out of the Academy this long, yet she's still an ensign.
"Experience of a starbase will serve you well, Ensign. I trust Commander Wyman has explained your duties, and not simply commandeered your assistance?"
The lizard shrugged slightly. It was a very Human gesture which she'd picked up over the years without even realizing it. "A little bit of both, sir. I arrived on board and he gave me a big welcome, told me how happy he was to see me, the started listing off all of systems that had been damaged when the star system emerged. He and the Senior Chief have stayed fairly hands off - letting me take charge. I suspect though that things will be a bit different once they're not here watching over my shoulder, though. The crew will have to take some time to adjust to my mannerisms, style, and specialties; just as I'll have to adjust to them."
Tahhk nodded, though his demeanour did not relax, "I'm sure you have work to do, Ensign," he said.
Rhe'la blinked. It suddenly became clear that the Vulcan was politely telling her to get out. "Eh hem... If you'll excuse me, sir. I should go report in to Commander Aldrex and get back to work."
"Very well, Ensign." Tahhk said by way of dismissal. He was terse even for a Vulcan, but it was crucial that the documents he was attempting to locate remained secret.
He had to find Isha's set of papers on the re-unification project before Aldrex got access to her files. The sensitive, tentative scheme was in too delicate a position for general knowledge, and only he, Tahhk had the necessary clearance to extract those files.
As Tahhk seemed a bit... preoccupied, Rhe'la bowed politely and backed a toward the door. The Vulcan seemed a tad shady for her taste, but she wasn't about to question a senior officer. Especially so soon after coming aboard.
Ens. Rhe'la, Daughter of the Forty-ninth House
Incoming Chief Engineering Officer
Deep Space 5
Commander Tahhk
Starfleet Observer
NPC by Louise
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