New Arrivals - Part 2

Posted on 06 Aug 2014 @ 1:23am by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal

1,173 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M12: For Duty or Honor
Location: USS Achilles
Timeline: MD 4

Tobias waited until Lieutenant Lindert was finished as she had, as expected, answered promptly and without hesitation. She seemed very straightforward so far. Very military in a way, which he could appreciate. However, before he could answer the door slid open and another woman entered the room. Her uniform marked her as an commander which made her being late even more irritating.

Tobias answered with without further interruptions and while taking a seat next to Lieutenant Lindert and without any particular tone "We are a Starfleet family, we take time when duty and obligation permits it, not when convenient." Which was true enough even though not the whole truth. The relationship with his parents, especially his mother, had become chilly since he let Dr Russel operate on him in what was most definitely not a Starfleet approved procedure. The only regular contact he had was with his Sister and she made her own way into Starfleet at the moment.

While part of him was giving and contemplating his answer, another more calculating part of him had sent a request to the ships computer. It was a subroutine he had designed to keep him up to date on important data when he was on station. However, in this case it had requested the publicly accessible file on Lieutenant Lindert and Commander Myles. He decided it was only slightly rude since anyone would have done so after the meeting. Probably.

Da`nal took in their responses each in turn. Looking to Giada, "As the is no war at present I can assume you meant your extended past, but past or present plans change as you all know." Turning his gaze to Tobias, "I am also pleased to hear your emphasis on duty...a most Honorable response."

As the Commander had remained silent he decided to conclude his business with the junior officers as he had private matters to discuss with the doctor. "Well Lieutenants, I shall not dishonor you by hiding things from you. We face a darkness that has been looming for some time. Rumors have persisted that my people are taking advantage of the Romulan situation and raiding worlds along the border. If evidence of this is found we will act accordingly. If these raid continue to go unchallenged it will embolden those within the Empire and could lead to war. Lt. Lindert, you are appointed to assistant security chief. There is currently an integration of the Marines aboard into ship security. Report to Lt. Rahde, assist him and Lt. Sharpe with this and ensure that the entire crew is ready for what is to come. This is a battle hardened crew so your task should be easy enough."

Lt. Todd, as the senior science officer aboard you are appointed to Chief Science Officer. At present your staff is small but no less needed. Collect sensor data from the patrol ships and see if there is any evidence of cloaked ships slipping past their positions. Also see that your people are ready to assist the Medical department as needed."

"Do either of you have anything for me?"

"You are correct sir, but you can rest assured my extended past will not interfere with present duties. I will offer my assistance in integrating the Marines with Starfleet and other tasks as needed."

As she considered it, Giada realized the Admiral was in a more difficult position. She was helping to prevent one former enemy from beating up on another. He was preventing his own people from beating up on a former enemy.

Tobias hadn't anticipated to be appointed Chief Science Officer or an immediate assignment of such implications but challenges were there to be overcome.

"Thank you Sir, I will not disappoint you. I have business in the med bay and will liaison with Doctor Myles." He nodded towards the Doctor to confirm a meeting at a later point. Returning his gaze back to the Captain "Regarding the penetration of cloaked vessels, I will scan the available data for subspace distortions and tetryon and tachyon particles and widen the search parameters accordingly." He hesitated briefly before continuing "Unless you have additional suggestions Sir." The Captains unique position might give him insights into the technological capabilities and weaknesses of his people. However, it might also be taken as an insult on his integrity as a Starfleet Officer even if it was not intended as such. Truly, a loaded question if one wanted to dissect it. But Tobias was only after information that would help the mission and seldom shy about asking questions wiser man might avoid.

Karen returned the nod Todd had given but continued to stay silent, she could see the difficult situation the Admiral was in of course being placed between your duty and personal life wasn't anything new soldiers had been faced with such challenges for centuries, granted his was on a larger scale but the principle was the same. And she wasn't about to patronize him by offering platitudes or sympathies the uniform came with a price everybody who put it on knew that.

Da`nal looked at him closely. Had it been another time and another place, as he remembered his time aboard the Tempest, he would consider such a statement a ploy to betray his people. Even now it felt as such but he was different than he was then and had a greater view of things. "The technical specifications of Klingon cloaking devices and the starships they are deployed on are readily available. It is also common knowledge that my people care more for battle than the maintenance of these systems. The ships that may be raiding the boarder would not be new or top of the line..."

He had paused, deciding to leave it at that. "You have your assignments. You are dismissed and welcome to the Achilles", as he nodded sharply to the two junior officers. Turning his chair sharply he moved to face woman sitting on his couch and he waited to begin until the others had left.

She looked at the Admiral for a slip moment, his body language indicating he wished to continue speaking with her. She stood up and smiled warmly at the two Lieutenants. "It was nice to meet you both, I look forward to working with you."

Tobias stood, having been clearly dismissed, nodded to Commander Myles in response and made his way to his assignment without further conversation. Algorithms and subroutines were already pulling together data about the sector and the sensor data from any ships in the sector and by the time he would reach the holodeck the program would be ready to run and he could begin his analysis.


Hopefully she had made a good first impression on her coworkers and CO. Either way the meeting was over so Giada stood up to leave.
"Same here Doctor."

Exiting the room, the security officer queried the computer for the location of Lt Rhade. Having met the CO, it seemed logical to report in to her supervisor next.


TBC

 

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