First Impressions

Posted on 22 Feb 2012 @ 8:41pm by Lieutenant Commander Chauncey Remington III (KIA) & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,276 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Office
Timeline: MD 04 - 1130 hrs

[ON]

After finishing her interview with her new Chief Intelligence Officer, the Orion captain was a bit unsettled. Though standard crew manifests aboard Nova Class starships did not normally include any such personnel, her covert assignment had required the need for such an officer. It was always good to see a member of her former department, she thought, but she wished it had been under different circumstances. Lirha picked up a PADD from the large stack on her desk and began to read through the remaining senior officers she had been assigned. She arched her eyebrow after seeing her newest crew addition, a lieutenant commander named Chauncey Remington III. Quickly tapping a message into her PADD, she sent off a request to summon him for an interview, then leaned back in her chair as she patiently waited.

After receiving his summons, Will had gone promptly to the commander's office. He paused outside for a moment, looking around, then gave a sigh and tapped the door console to chime in.

A chirp echoed throughout her office, signaling the presence of someone outside her door. Lirha rose to her feet and place the PADD that was in her lap on the desk in front of her. "Enter." she said loudly, and watched the doors part as a gold-collared man stepped inside.

Once he was inside, the operations officer stood off to one side and came to attention. "Lieutenant Commander Remington reporting for duty, captain." His eyes studied Lirha intently, doing his best to hide his surprise.

Lirha gave him a polite nod accompanied by a friendly smile. "At ease, Commander," she replied, "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Please, take a seat." she said, and motioned with her hand to a nearby empty chair. "I hope it didn't take too long to find my office?"

"Ah, no, not particularly, captain, thank you." The human walked towards the chair slowly, his steely eyes fixed on the captain as he moved. Rather than sit, however, he remained beside the chair he'd been offered. He waited for her to speak, unwilling to progress the conversation himself.

The captain looked at the dark haired man with intrigue. He had a quite striking appearance, with jet black hair and grey eyes, and she studied his face for several moments for a glimpse of his thoughts. Unable to decipher any, she slowly sat down and picked up a PADD which contained his personnel file. "I've just been informed that you've been transferred to the Galileo, under my command." she said with a bit of a sparkle to her green eyes. "I wanted to congratulate you and officially welcome you aboard."

His face remained unchanging and calm so that it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. When she spoke, his gaze faltered and he took a seat after a moment's hesitation. "Thank you, captain," he said, conjuring up a smile that might have been considered charming if it reached his eyes. Not that his eyes were dull, rather there was a certain liveliness to them, but it was a liveliness that made his expression all the more acute for being disconnected, as if the person behind them had his thoughts elsewhere.

"So," she began with a tilt of her head to the side, "What brings you to the Galileo? Did you request this assignment? Or did Starfleet go over your head and reassign you, as what usually happens to me..?" she asked with a small smirk. The green skinned woman folded her hands in her lap and curiously waited for his answer.

Will focused his attention back on the captain and gave a slight shake of his head. He seemed to have recovered from whatever bought of contemplation had assailed him. "Oh, not at all. I requested a transfer as soon as possible after my last assignment... ended."

Lirha nodded at the mention of his previous deployment. "Yes, I noticed the report in your record regarding the Phoenix. She was a fine ship, I'm sure, and I'm sorry to hear about her." she said respectfully. "Were you ever able to identify the hostile ship responsible?"

Will peered thoughtfully at the replicator in the captain's office. When he spoke, his voice was sad in a way that was more sweet than melancholy. "If Starfleet Intelligence has been able to determine anything from the ship's logs, they certainly aren't about to tell me, even if I am the highest-ranking officer to survive. It was a good ship though, with a good crew." He glanced at Lirha and his lips twitched with an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, ma'am, I don't mean to garner sympathy. I'm eager to serve aboard the Galileo."

"I'm glad to have you with us, Commander." she replied with a genuine smile, then pulled a couple glasses from the shelf behind her and set them on the table. She grabbed her pitcher of iced tea and poured them both a glass, then handed one to the dark haired man. Taking a sip of her own, she placed her PADD delicately on the table and leaned back in her chair. "Will this be your first time aboard a Nova Class vessel?" she asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but I have kept myself up to date on starship design, I had to as chief operations officer on Starbase 235. So I am familiar with the Nova class. And with pre-launch; I was involved in preparing many ships at the starbase. Having the Galileo ready in time will be a snap."

Lirha nodded at his answer. With their launch date rapidly approaching, it was good to know that members of her crew were willing to put in the work required to assist the dockworkers and engineers with their tasks. "For all of our sakes, I hope it's as easy a task as you make it sound." she commented. "We have a systems check tomorrow morning at 0930 hours at the Fleet Yards. I could use your help." she said. It was more so an order than a request, but she had phrased the sentence in a polite manner.

The human gave her a smile. "Why, I never said it was easy, captain. I just do it with ease." The quick twinkle in his eye hinted at his mood lightening up now that he was more comfortable. "I'll be at Fleet Yards."

"Excellent," she replied with a smile of approval. "Do you have any questions for me, Commander?" she asked. So far, the operations officer hadn't inquired much about the ship or the crew, and Lirha wanted to give him the opportunity to express any comments or concerns he might have.

he looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "None, captain," he said at length. "Unless there is something you think I should know?"

The captain shrugged, "Nothing in particular that might stand out. But we are a small ship and I don't know if you've ever spent significant time aboard a vessel of this size before. Do you feel you will be comfortable being in such close quarters with the rest of the crew?" she asked.

"Oh, I'll be quite fine, I'm sure," he assured her.

Lirha stood up and offered her green hand for him to shake. "Well then, welcome aboard, Commander. I'll send instructions to your PADD regarding our systems check tomorrow morning, and I expect to see you bright and early." she said with a smile.

"Yes, ma'am," he said with a nod, taking her hand.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Commander Chauncey Remington
Chief Operations Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed