The Ceremony (Part 1 of 4)

Posted on 31 Dec 2013 @ 11:15am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Lieutenant Theron Rhodes & Lieutenant Ammar Fahad & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Commander Luke Wyatt & Alexander Iella & Tarishiana Barel & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Alexion Wylde & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Verity Thorne & Senior Chief Petty Officer Keval zh'Erinov & Vincent Kramer Ph.D. & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas

2,300 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet HQ - 1st Floor, Tertiary Meeting Hall
Timeline: MD 03 - 0730 hrs

[ON]

Dressed in her white Starfleet dress uniform adorned with gold lining across the form-fitting vest and pants, Lirha walked into the meeting hall at an early 0730 hours and did her best to suppress a yawn as she moved close to the podium situated at the front of the room. A quick glance across the mid-sized chamber revealed a neatly organized assembly of seats, all lined up perfectly by rows and columns to accommodate close to a hundred personnel. Of course, she wouldn't need that many as Galileo's crew was only half that number, but she sincerely hoped no additional admirals decided to find their way into the room and plant themselves in a vacant seat simply to watch the affairs.

Speaking of affairs, it had been a difficult night for Lirha after her meeting with Admiral Hurin the previous afternoon. She had struggled to sleep and most of it had been restless, and her new orders had come not only as a shock but also as a stark reminder of the transient nature of Starfleet. She had no idea how her crew would take the news, but she hoped they would remain professional and not let it affect their judgement or performance. The message she had sent from her PADD last night informing them all of the assembly had been hasty and void of many details, but she hoped to rectify that once everyone arrived.

Asahi wasn't entirely sure what was going on or why he was being called in. Not that he minded. The past conversations he had had with Lihra caused the engineering officer to be quite amiable and relatively agreeable to most of her commands, so when he was called to the meeting hall, he was quick to respond. Hopefully things were going well, and he wouldn't have to worry too much about whatever it was that needed to be stated.

Hopefully it would be quick; Asahi didn't much care for his dress uniform.

Siren was having her own struggle with her dress uniform. She half twisted as she walked in, frowning as she tried to straighten the long line jacket out, but it just seemed to feel even more wrong for it. "What's wrong with a little black dress..." she murmured to herself as she moved to take a seat absently, not looking up as she fiddled with the collar.

Scarlet, on the other hand, seemed as crisp and practical as always as she strode in without bother of the uniform. Her hands behind her back, she walked with brisk, purposeful steps and military posture to her seat. She smiled to Lirha and nodded, knowing that the Orion had mixed feelings over recent events. Taking her seat, Scarlet shifted to be comfortable, crossing her legs; it was nice to hold an event in a chamber made for holding a crew instead of having to cram into a claustrophobic bay of the ship.

Alexion walked in quickly. It was illogical, to think that an event would go quickly if he got there quickly. But it was a natural instinct he didn't even realise he was doing. Laeon had kicked up a major fuss over his going. To be fair to his son, he had promised he'd be relaxing and spending time with him over the shoreleave, but one morning to attend to duty wasn't too much for the boy to stand. He'd left his son in something of a bad mood, but it was nothing good food and a trip out to sea couldn't fix.

"So are you coming to the club tonight?" Gabriel Stark asked the chaplain as they walked in together, smiling innocently to him.

"Club? Gabriel Stark, you will kill me one of these days," Verity laughed, shaking his head as he walked to find a chair in an appropriate place for his rank and position.

"Come on," Gabriel nudged him, the innocent smile turning wicked. "Drink, music, dark dancefloor. I know a place right around the corner from where you used to work."

"As a priest," Verity pointed out with a laugh, shaking his head. "No, all the more reason to let you be debauched all by yourself."

"But I could get in trouble all by myself," Gabriel tried a playful pout, leaning back on one foot as he tilted his head to watch him through dark lashes.

"Another splendid reason not to go," Verity replied with an arched eyebrow and soft laugh. "Here, come and sit down and behave..."

"Behaving is overrated. After that last mission, everyone deserves to have some fun and get in some trouble." Alex commented as he passed the two talking. Unlike everyone else that was there so far, Alex was not in a dress uniform, but in a smart fitting, comfortable suit. There were definitely perks to being a civilian, he remembered just how much Ezra hated the Dress uniform. He looked around at the size of the room, memories from his past life flooding through his head, "Last time I was in a room like this, I was the one behind the podium.." he muttered to himself, "How things change.."

Vincent Kramer, very dressed up for a change, walked into the Hall. His gray suit clashed a little with the white uniforms filling the room, but that didn't bother Vincent in the least. He recognized the many officers and crew that he had served with on the Galileo for their last mission. His time of service was up and he had made plans to hop a shuttle later today. But for now, he was here and would be part of this group for just a little longer.

Dea arrived at the Tertiary Meeting Hall at Starfleet HQ in her dress uniform. At the moment she really didn't have a clue as to what this was all about. Since there arrival back at Earth Mialin had been busy with various debriefings and responding to messages for meetings.

A quick glance across the room told Min she was arriving about middle of the pack. She'd had to scramble to source a Starfleet Uniform maternity pattern and while it was close to the standard uniform, it was pretty obvious she was six months along. Feeling a little self-conscious, Min found a seat near the back of the room.

Quinn entered the room, looking awake and a bit on the grouchy side, while tugging at his collar and muttering under his breath. He detested the dress whites. In fact, he'd be much happier if he could wear overalls and boots while on duty. "Skipper." he said as he walked past....he suddenly stopped and realized that her pips were missing, well her Captain ones were. His eyes, now as big as a Gorn's fist, took in the sight and shook his head. "Shit." he said as he moved into formation at the front of the room.

Markum had seen a lot of good Captain's get the promotion of death and then disappear behind a desk. Hopefully though Lirha wouldn't meet that fate. He grown to love the Orion CO. Not like a lover, but like a father loves his own daughter. The two had grown tight over the past year.

Tarishiana wasn't Starfleet any more. This was the first time that fact really seemed to sink into the Betazoid since she had resigned her commission. She watched Markum and his reaction as she moved past him squeezing his hand before moving towards the back of the gathering. She was slowing getting her abilities back, starting will communication with her imzadi. She grinned as she took an empty spot and watched the Orion that she considered a friend.

Lt. Rhodes entered the Tertiary Meeting Hall in full dress uniform as requested. He always liked dressing up, just to fill a seat if nothing else. It was always helpful for later to attract one of the opposite sex for an enjoyable evening after a ceremony. However, this was taking place in the morning. He really did not think that the same situation would be taking place today.

Walking toward a seat, Theron chuckled and laughed at himself. Here he was trying to relax and participate, and he had caught himself checking all entrances, exits, access, and balcony strike points. He thought, Some routines never stops.

Olsam Mott entered the hall with a spring in his step, noticing that some of his other crewmates were looking a little worse for wear. 0730 hrs for them was 1630 hrs for him, and he'd just had a wonderful afternoon cup of tea and pastry in the Gare du Nord before finding the nearest transporter pad to beam into San Francisco. The sea of white uniforms in front of him was an unusual change of pace, and he liked it. Some of the crew were obviously uncomfortable in the formal attire, shifting this way and that, but Olsam liked the pomp and circumstance that came along with it. The uniform said, "Here is an important man doing important things in an important uniform."

Virtually all of the officers seemed to know one another - and well, at that - so Dr. Olsam inconspicuosly slipped into an empty seat amidst a sea of other empty seats, not wishing to disturb anyone's conversation. In truth, he'd only just received his transfer orders the day before and didn't know a soul in the room. The orders had come as a surprise for he'd thought it would be weeks until Personnel reassigned him.

The early morning summons from the commanding officer had been a further surprise, although neither surprise was an unpleasant one. As Olsam sat watching others file in and take their seats, he idly wondered if they weren't throwing him a welcome party. No, no. If this was a welcome party there would be cake. And this was definitely going to be one of those cake-less meetings. He had a sixth sense for those sorts of things.

Noticing Mott on his own, Stace sidled into the back of the room and delicately shimmied her way through the empty seats to accompany him. Norvi had been the new face in the crowd several lifetimes over, and as her red, ponytailed hair whipped about her alabaster, speckled neck, she smiled widely to the Bolian to indicate his impending company, crab-like making her way through the row of seats. She lowered herself into the one next to him and held out her hand to him; it not occurring to her that he may have wanted to be seated alone. "Lieutenant Stace," she broke with amongst the general murmurings of the assembled crowd. "Mind if I join you?" But without waiting for a reply, she plopped herself in the seat next to him and trained her eye on the front of the room.

"Dr. Olsam Mott, the new ACMO. Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant Stace, and please do join me," he said, politely shaking her hand and thankful for the company. He shifted in his seat for a few moments and finally spoke up to fill the unnerving silence with rapid-fire questions. "Um, do you have a first name? Or...do you prefer Stace? Is Stace your first name? It's just...I like to use first names. You don't have to call me Dr. Mott. You can just call me Olsam. Except in Sickbay. You should probably call me Dr. Olsam there. What do you do on the ship? Say, do you think there's going to be any sort of refreshments?"

"I hope so," Stace replied happily, her hand now lying flat on her belly. "I'm starving. I purposefully didn't eat today so that I could gorge myself on the fodder here. The brass usually put on a good spread if we're wearing dress. I see it as an advantageous trade-off." She tugged at her collar and made an almost mock choking sound as she stuck out her tongue from the side of her mouth. "But my first name is Norvi. You may call me either. Unless I'm eating. And then I advise that you just stand clear and don't engage me in conversation... or eye contact." She raised an intriguing eyebrow but then broke into a wide, beaming smile. "I'm Chief Science Officer here. Nice to meet you, Mott."

Olsam cut his eyes at her and grinned. He liked her. She was his kind of people. "Nice to meet you, too, Norvi."

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

Lt. Theron Rhodes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LT Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

LT CMDR Dea Mialin
Second Officer/Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Tarishiana Barel
Civilian Scientist
USS Galileo

Ltjg Min Zhao
Asst Chief of Operations
USS Galileo

LT Ammar Fahad
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Alexander Iella
Bartender/Chef
USS Galileo

LTJG Olsam Mott
Asst. Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Delainey Carlisle
Counselor
USS Galileo

LT Asahi Kita
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

CPO Luke Wyatt
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LT Jared Nicholas
Linguist
USS Galileo

CA Abbey-Mae Wyatt
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Wyatt]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

SWO Alexion Wylde
Medical Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

PO2 Siren Hex
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

PO1 Verity Thorne
Chaplain
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Blake]

CPO Keval Grayzan
Operations Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Nicholas]

Vincent Kramer
Science Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Rhodes]

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