Eager as a Beaver, or Not

Posted on 06 Jun 2013 @ 3:56pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Jacrux

1,241 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Main Shuttle Bay
Timeline: MD 08 - 0900 hrs

[ON]

Jac perched on the edge of the shuttle seat, his eyes trained out the window and on the nearing spacecraft. The Galileo was much smaller than the Venture, larger than the Naiad. The outside was too blocky for his tastes, but he could appreciate the design. There was no mistaking that the inside of the ship was much more important than the external design. The Galileo was made for gathering knowledge, nothing more, nothing less. Jac hoped the ship would live up to its reputation and give him the opportunities he hoped.

The shuttle came in for docking and Jac moved to linger near the door. The pilot gave the Ensign a look. "Eager to get started?" the pilot asked curiously as she shut off the shuttle's systems.

Jac barely spared the pilot a minor glance. "Something like that," he answered with a small shrug. He was off the shuttle almost before the door was fully open, taking quick strides away before stopping and looking around the shuttle bay. A knot of tension loosened in the pit of Jac's stomach. He wasn't about to admit to a random pilot that he was more eager to escape the confines of the cramped shuttle than to actually meet his commanding officer.

From the shuttlebay control terminal at the back of the large landing platform, Lamar Darius watched yet another shuttlecraft come on approach and make a perfect landing, albeit with the help of Galileo's automated tractor beam system. In his mind, every successful shuttle launch and arrival was a weight off his shoulders, and he quickly came around from behind the console and approached the shuttlecraft.

The support craft pilot clasped his hands behind his back and waited for the occupants to depart, then took notice of a young-looking Vulcan who seemed overly eager to get off the shuttle. Lamar suddenly blinked and did a quick double take...No, not a Vulcan..., he thought to himself. Something seemed a bit different, and though the pointed ears had originally deceived him, closer inspection of the man revealed his true nature. A Romulan, he finally deduced to the best of his knowledge.

Stepping forward and approaching the shorter man, the red-collared warrant officer extended his large hand towards the ensign. "Welcome to Galileo, sir. I'm Lamar Darius, support craft pilot." he said to formally introduce himself.

The polite greeting barely garnered Lamar a glance, the look just long enough to take in the pilot's appearance and rank before immediately discarding the man as unimportant. There was a smile on Jac's face, but that was for the ship, not the greeting, and the extended hand was either missed in the cursory glance Jac gave Lamar or purposefully ignored.

"Ensign Jacrux," Jac returned the greeting and promptly let the pilot's name slip from his memory, "Which way to the Bridge?"

Lamar chuckled inside his head at the curt and somewhat dismissive nature of the man's greeting. He had of course seen it before - young officers who respected the rank and position more so than the person - and it didn't bother him too much. However, as Galileo's former COB and also a former Marine, the warrant officer sincerely hoped that the young ensign would be a bit more cordial to his superiors. He had worked with the CO and XO enough to know their particular command styles.

Pointing behind him and towards the large shuttlebay double doors, Lamar indicated the exit route. "Through those doors, hang a left, then follow the corridor around towards the turbolift. Bridge is on Deck One, you can't miss it." he answered.

Jac had his uses for enlisted personnel, occasionally, like now the man had proven his undeniable worth as a directions-giver. The young Ensign gave a brief nod and grunt in acknowledgement, his thanks proportional to the difficulty of the question posed and not at all sarcastic, and headed straight through the doors and into the turbolift.

He stepped through onto the bridge and swept his gaze over the assembled personnel, focusing on the command colors. "Ensign Jacrux requesting permission to come aboard," Jac intoned formally, standing at strict attention, though his gaze wandered hungrily over the different stations and kept returning to the impressive view out the front of the vessel.

Double shifts had slowly been wearing down the XO's energy reserves, and although it was only 0900, he felt as if it was getting on for the end of his shift and ready for his bed. Sadly, it was only just beginning.
Amongst the general clamour of the Bridge, a new voice piped up, belonging to a man that the Commander hadn't seen before. His name vaguely rang a bell as one of the steady stream of crew being transferred from the Venture, but beyond that, the acting Captain was too tired to care.

"Permission granted Ensign. Welcome to the Bridge. I trust you have your transfer orders?"

John turned to face the newcomer, watching as his eyes darted around the Bridge, like a child in a toy store, wanting to examine every single console, panel and button right down to the smallest detail. His uniform bore the colours of the Science department, but still the XO's memory was elsewhere. Nevertheless, the transfer orders would hopefully give him an inkling.

"Yes sir, Commander," Jac nodded and stepped briskly forward to hand the PADD to the XO. He took in the man's general appearance of strength, both physical and mental, pulling that conclusion from the Commander's serious, if tired, demeanor. He felt himself relax slightly from the familiarity of being around a militaristic demeanor, something not always found among Starfleet command on a science ship.

Taking the PADD in his hand, the XO flipped through the various pages of the transfer orders, remembering what he could about this exact transfer. Everything seemed to be in order, and after a moment's delay, he signed his thumbprint into the authorisation panel, before handing the PADD back to the Ensign.

"Transfer approved Ensign. I trust you'll be checking in with Lieutenant Panne before too long? Our Chief Science Officer will be eager to meet her latest recruit."

The XO was thorough, Jac admitted to himself. He could have blindly signed off on Jac's orders, but he took the time to look through them, an extra sign of caution Jac appreciated. The Ensign inclined his head as he spoke in return, "Yes sir, I look forward to getting started."

"Very well, there are plenty of science facilities on this ship for you to get acquainted with. If there's nothing else you need then consider yourself dismissed Ensign."

John had become accustomed to welcoming new crew members on board, it seemed every time he turned around there was a new face moving over from the Venture. Not that he was upset by this, in fact the opposite, with Galileo never having reached her full crew quota before leaving for this system, it felt good to know that she was slowly filling up.

With one last look to the space outside and the proper acknowledgement to the Commander, "Yes sir," Jac exited the Bridge, ready to explore his new abode.

[OFF]

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

ENS Jacrux
Anthropologist
USS Galileo

WO Lamar Darius
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Lirha Saalm

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