A Simple Survey Mission (Mission One)

USS Deimos
Briefing Room
Deck 1

Ana sat down at the conference table a mug of coffee in one hand and a PADD in the other.

They were about to get underway and Ana wanted her crew to know what they were getting into before they left.

She'd asked her yeoman to call a senior staff meeting for 10 minutes from now.

As she waited for the others to arrive, she re-read the available data.

Ensign Duet arrived early to the conference room, her ever-present security blanket (PADD) clutched tight in her hands and eyes widened with nervous energy. One step through the swishing doors she spots the ship's commanding officer seated at the head of the table. "Ensign Duet reporting as ordered," she snaps to a rigid attention. "I am your new assistant Chief Engineer, sir."

"A pleasure to meet you, Ensign." Ana said having never encountered a Borg before. "I'm sure you've heard what happened to the man assigned as your department head, I'll have the Operations Chief pull double duty until we can find a replacement. Please help yourself to refreshment, then take a seat."

"I have received very limited information regarding the previous Chief of Engineering," Duet began as she moved towards the seat farthest from Commander Chernova. "Do you have an ETA on a replacement?"

"Not as yet, it appears we're at the bottom of the list when it comes to replacement crew." Ana replied candidly.

Casually James and Henry strolled into the briefing room and seated themselves. James looked at the Captain and spoke. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Henry with me. As he's my head nurse and there's reasonable odds that I could end up on any away missions involved, I felt it only proper that he also be informed so that he could act in my stead as needed," he said very eloquently.

Ana smiled. "Not at all, Doctor. Mr. Mayhew-Stewart, you're most welcome."

"Thank you, Ma'am," replied Henry with a smile on his face as a look of semi-relief crossed James' face.

The door opened, and in swaggered Tanner, wearing his characteristic roguish grin as he walked in, glancing at the commander for permission before seating himself, and giving faint nods to the others seated at the table. "Hello, everyone." He said engagingly. Most mission briefings required very little of Tanner, since the most he really needed to do was fly the ship and occasionally fly a shuttle. Really, they could stick a bobblehead in his place at the table and he could have been doing something constructive like mounting a coffee cup holder on the side of his console or something.

"Grab a drink and take a seat, Mr Dale."

"Aye." Tanner acknowledged, heading over to the replicator and ordering up a large mug of chicory-infused coffee brewed Turkish style in Bolian tonic water with a double-shot of espresso, sweetened with honey. Tanner was a snob when it came to coffee, and was forever looking for newer and better ways to keep himself awake all damn night when he should be sleeping. Bringing it back with him, he sauntered back to the chair he had chosen, and hunkered down for the briefing, casually taking in the other senior members of the crew with his ever-alert eyes.

"Buongiorno," Mars said as she walked in the room, clutching a padd under her arm, two small coffee mugs with a double ristretto in it, in her hand and a rubber hair band around her wrist. "I'm so sorry I'm late." she started. The call for the Staff meeting had woken her up. Rubbing her eyes she noticed the Doctor and his husband both being there. Together with the assistant Engineer. I guess the rules for a Senior Staff meeting have changed in the last years. she thought. "Ah, the twins," she said to the doctor. "You're both here. How nice!" As she said it she could knock herself to the head. When was she going to learn to just shut up. She walked to a empty chair. Put the coffee mugs and the padd down and quickly put her hair up, she hadn't had time for it while rushing for this meeting. It was her hair up or no coffee. Which really was not an option.

"Nice of you to join us, Lieutenant Solari." Ana said. "I'd offer you refreshments, but you appear to have brought your own."

"The pleasure is all mine" Mars said. "As for the coffee, well, let's just call this breakfast."

"Well, ma'am, while we're waiting for this briefing to start, I'd like to point out that a relatively large portion of our staff is missing their physicals for this year," James said as he looked directly at her and Lieutenant Tanner. "Additionally, I owe Commander Aekalu an apology. It happens that we received the medical file for the wrong Aekalu. As such, I need to schedule a private meeting with her," he added as he said all that he could.

A physical? Mars thought. Isn't that the thing that you need to avoid at all cost.

"Doctor, I'll stop by as soon as we're underway." Ana said.

"Captain, I would point out that your most recent physical expires in about three days time. It is preferable that you report to sickbay as soon as possible," replied James with a slight frown on his face. "I don't think we want to get underway and then risk losing a Captain to a potential declaration of being unfit for duty if some nasty bugger has found a way to cause that medical rendering," he added with a grimace. "However, as long as you come see me before those three days are up, that's well within your purview," he said.

Tanner cleared his throat, producing a small PaDD and making a note on it. "I don't mean to tell anyone their business, which is a total bald-faced lie because I do it all the time, but is a staff meeting really the proper setting for airing medical issues?" It could almost be a gallant defense of the Captain, but it was more out of pique for having been one of the recipients of the doctor's not-so-subtle reminder.

"Well, Mr. Dale, when it involves senior staff who fail to meet the requirements, I think it is," replied James. He then lowered his voice to what he hoped was only loud enough for Tanner to hear. "You're coming up on two days late for your physical, Lieutenant. I need you to see me as soon as possible so that I don't have to take the actions prescribed under regulations, which I've been trying to avoid doing."

"I'll report for my physical in due course, Doctor. I'm waiting for my own medical records to be transmitted." Tanner replied pointedly.

"I understand, Lieutenant," replied James as he winked at Henry. "I'd like for you to know that we've already received your official medical records, so unless the copy you're waiting on pertains to medical attention received in non-Starfleet facilities under the care of non-Starfleet physicians, we should be fine to conduct your physical whenever you're ready," he said as a poignantly mischievous grin crossed his face. He figured he knew what this particular fly-boy was trying to play, but he wanted to see if the bluff was exactly what it appeared to be.

TAG

Duet sat with her palms flat atop the conference table, silently watching the exchanges around her and trying to ignore the scrolling numbers on her chrono. There was no greater Hell than meetings. Especially ones where you were forced to sit and make 'small talk'. Every second spent here in purgatory was one not spent being productive. Even worse, it was one more second where something could go unnoticed and snowball into crisis. In short, it was inefficient... and nothing disturbed the young ensign as much as inefficiency.

The door opened again and in walked an unlikely trio. A tall brown-haired, bespectacled man in Sciences teal, a ruggedly handsome blond in Command red, and a professional looking red headed woman in Operations gold. These were Chief Science Officer Lieutenant jg Jeromy Grossnick; Chief of Boat, Master Chief Richard Dalziel; and Security Advisor, Lt. Commander Neomi Verrill. Each acknowledged Ana with a nod and took seats.

"Nice of you to join us, ladies and gentlemen. Okay we're just waiting on a few stragglers, while we wait, has anyone got any problems or concerns they like to share?"

Duet held her tongue. Concerns? Yes, she had a few -- everything ranging from the potential of prolonged warp travel accelerating the inevitable heat death of the universe to whether or not this ship's replicators were programmed with Fischer's Dessert Supplement #14 (which she consumed with dinner every Friday as a symbolic gesture to celebrate the end of the 'work week'... a custom she did not appreciate but adopted as a favor to her former Academy roommate). Mostly she was concerned about her inability to properly serve as this ship's engineer and the length of this awfully inefficient meeting. But, fortunately, the ship's Chief of Operations would be overseeing Engineering until a proper CoE is procured.

Chastity entered the observation lounge later then she wanted, but she had to finish the computer update she and her department were running. "Sorry I am late." she said as she looked around the room. She noticed the XO wasn't present jet, making her feeling a little less guilty of her late arrival.

Jeromy felt his heart skip a beat as the Orion woman sauntered into the room. He'd been told that Chief Operations Officer was an Orion, but this was the first time he'd seen her. She was gorgeous.

Chastity looked behind her to see what the science officer was staring at, then looked at her clothes to see if she had stained it. "What?" she asked him.

When Chastity spoke to him Jeromy was lost for words. He could not think of a single word of nearly two dozen languages he knew. Instead his mouth would open and close without a single sound.

She shook her head and walked to one of the few chairs still available. Men...., whatever species they were, they were strange.

Duet watched the exchange between the green-skinned woman and the science officer and detected an opportunity to be of assistance. "He finds you aesthetically pleasing," the Borg interjected with a smile to the science officer to show how helpful she was being, then continued. "My roommate at the Academy was an Orion and I have observed this reaction in many humanoid males, principally human. His silence and relaxed jaw are meant to signal his appreciation, and prolonged exposure may result in an involuntary, but harmless, loss of saliva from the corner of his mouth."

Duet smiled. She enjoyed being of service to others and helpful whenever possible.

"I do believe our young Ensign may be correct," replied Henry as he pulled out a medical tricorder. "His blood pressure has increased, his pulse is racing, his temperature has increased by about a full two degrees, he seems to be sweating, and his hormones would seem to be in quite a state with adrenaline, endorphine, and serotonin being far higher than normal," he said very playfully as he read the readings. "I do believe he has a crush on you, which may lead him to believe he's in love," he said. "Please do let him down gently, however, as these kinds of readings can often lead to depression when reduced too suddenly," he added with a wink.

Chastity looked at both Henry and Duet with a look that could have killed them both, if she had those powers.

"Hey Braniacs," Mars interrupted the duo. "I think they are both perfectly aware of that." Trying to hold her laughter. "Leave them alone!"

Irina entered the briefing room in a calm, casual, though calculated manner. She preferred being early most of the time, but appearing as a latecomer often gives the impression of someone more easygoing, an attitude Irina wanted to impress on the rest of the senior staff she hadn’t quite met yet. “Captain,” Irina nodded in Ana’s direction, flashing the briefest of grins to her before relaying that smile to the rest of the room.

Jeromy sat in his, his face as red as a Alderaran tomato, wishing that the deck beneath him would rip open and swallow him up.


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