All Hands on Deck (Part 1 of 9)

Posted on 03 Mar 2015 @ 7:19pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Lieutenant Tuula Voutilainen M.D. & Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy & Lieutenant Olsam Mott & Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Commander Andreus Kohl & Commander Scarlet Blake & Jonah Chaparral M.D. & Petty Officer 3rd Class Ellsworth Hudson & Chief Petty Officer Pax Inyo & Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Ensign Ibrahim Dragovic & Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Kalos Jang Ph.D. & Lieutenant Prudence Devin Ph.D. & Petty Officer 1st Class Rebecca Williams & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Lieutenant JG Zane Neptune & Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant Min Zhao & Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Ethan Walker M.D., Ph.D & Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda & Lieutenant Oren Idris Ph.D. & Ensign Jaana Voutilainen

3,764 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Port Airlock Corridor
Timeline: MD 44 - 0900 hrs

[ON]

Dru found herself stood at attention in a sea of white uniforms. Her hands were tightly clasped behind her back as she tried to keep her breathing even and shallow. There was one person she needed to avoid and as long as she could manage that, she could continue to lie to herself and believe that everything was ok. Instead she could focus on meeting a woman she had previously run away from, a lifetime ago.

Before taking her place at the head of the gathered Flight Control personnel Dea took a moment to look at her department. Nodding to them she then headed for her place in line. Dressed in full dress uniform for the occasion.

"I can't believe they promoted her," muttered Tuula quietly to herself as she pulled up alongside Mott. Her mind flashed back to the confrontation in sickbay, as she wondered what Starfleet was thinking. The thought of someone that unstable being put in charge of not just one ship but several sent a chill down her spine.

Still, she would put on her formal dress and go through the motions. She didn't have to like it though.

"Hmmm?" Olsam asked, looking from his stomach to Tuula. He'd been so concerned about the straining threads, buttons, and clasps on his dress uniform that he almost didn't catch what she said. "The Admiral? Well. Sometimes on Bolarus we promoted people to get them out of the way. They get a shiny new desk with lots of paperwork to sign while the rest of us carry on with the real work. I just assumed that's why all people were promoted to the admiralty."

Allyndra had fussed with the stupid dress uniform. Though she was used to formality from her youth, at least the dress there had been designed for someone with meter and half wings. The jacket and top had been altered of course, and she had formal approval for the back cut from Fleet but that did not mean it went on with ease. Thus she found herself coming onto the deck behind the rest of the staff most of whom had already assembled. She took her place next to Mott and shook her head as she had caught the tail end of the quip from Tuula. "Understandable but let's all pretend smiley face here. This is something very unusual so let us just be on best behavior." She glanced at the two and especially Mott. The sojourn seemed to have packed on even a few more pounds on his frame and she wondered how the uniform had managed to get around. She hoped he just did not have to bend over.

The First Officer took her place with a sharp turn to take up position, her posture marine starched. Scarlet felt more refreshed after spending time with her young daughter over the shoreleave, as well as having some quiet time alone thanks to Jeroen Adler looking after Lily and taking her away for a break of her own. Now, she was ready to get back out and on with the show.

Jonah looked up from the PAaD he was reading grumbling to himself. "More Starfleet nonsense," he thought to himself, " a needless waste of time and energy. "inspections? what next are we going to have bed checks and what right does she have to inspect civilians. She has waaaay too much time on her hands."

He didn't have too much respect for the Admiral and bristled at the idea of having to submit to what he considered to be an invasion of his privacy.

Still confronting her would be a bad idea, she might even pull a phaser on him. So he rolled off the bed and into one of his better, though not his best suit. Then reluctantly made his way to where everyone was supposed to assemble. He'd be damned if he was gong to salute her or do anything other than the minimum required when it came to dealing with her.

Although Kohl wasn't quite ready to consider himself old hat at this sort of thing, the novelty of dress uniforms and inspections was starting to fade. The dress uniform was a bold choice -with the white and gold colour-scheme- but the cut and the fit of the garment felt much the same to Kohl as the standard duty uniform. Idly, Kohl hoped his blase feelings about dressing up were not yet another symptom of his disconnected centre of late. Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl languidly crossed the compartment as if there wasn't a single hurried bone in his body. He stopped in his stride only once. His head turned when he thought he saw a man in white - a man of a certain height and build - a man of noble bearing. But the science crew were waiting for their Chief Research Officer. Kohl's returned to his spiraling, indirect path of travel until he filed himself among the scientists.

Ellsworth fussed with the ends of his dress uniform, trying to get them to lay properly flat. Something about the cut of the jacket didn't fit him well, so it made him feel at all times like he needed to try to crawl out of it. Not to mention it was hideous on him. He looked like a doorman at some hotel who'd gotten hired because his uncle was the manager or something. Who chose the color sche-...he interrupted his own thoughts and jerked his head up, looking in both directions up and down the corridor. He'd felt him, finally, that familiar mind from the masquerade that occupied more than a little of his free thoughts. But he was somewhere far down the hallway now, passed beyond Ellsworth's location at the end of the corridor where people on his section of the totem pole were consigned.

Walking at a purposely slowed pace, Pax passed the rest of the crew assembled so far to take up her place at the airlock. She used the chance to glance out of the corner of her eye at all the assembled crew, cataloging faces and playing her memory games to match them up with the files she'd been going through. She didn't know everyone, had barely scratched the surface, but it was a small enough boat that it was possible, and the more of them she knew, the more neighborly she could be which actually helped with proper security and would keep her abreast of anything out of the ordinary. She nodded at the few persons she'd met in her few days aboard already, then found an appropriate spot. She licked her teeth with her tongue. Worried that she might have some lunch stuck in them. She would just have to resist smiling too wide.

Standing with the officers, Gyce looked carefully around. She knew the civilian scientists would be standing further down the corridors, but that still did not excuse the fact that she wanted a firm eye on Doctor Seleya Qellar. She did not trust her, and given the coincidences with the two security trespassing incidents on the ship? Gyce had a hard time remaining still and fighting the urge to note each face until she found Seleya's

Willis first eyed Dru as he and Quinn entered the area. "Hey, Markum. Is that the old counselor, Dru-something?"

Quinn smacked him in the back of his head. "Yes, that is Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy. Dummy." Quinn shook his head as the pair separated as Willis moved to be with his fellow engineers, and Quinn moved to stand at the entrance of where Lirha would enter from. He noticed Dru as he walked past in what he always referred to as his penguin suit and winked at his old friend and offered a sincere smile of happiness to see her. He then began to go down the muster list to confirm all hands were present.

As Dru caught Markum's eye, it was almost her undoing as she felt tears well up behind her eyes and a pounding beginning in her head. no no no no no....not here, not now! Standing up straighter, the counselor looked away as she maintained her focus on the empty bulkhead on the other side of the room. I'm not going to let this happen here.

Holliday arrived with only a couple of moments to spare - he had just come from a comm meeting with the Dockmaster in order to prepare the ship for launch in just a day's time. His dress uniform had almost been an afterthought, and had required a last minute dash back to his quarters to change. Moving along the crew-lined corridor, John came to rest nearest to the docking port along with his Chief of the Boat, and waited patiently for the Admiral's arrival.

Markos followed Holliday in, a frown on her face. She had tied her blond hair sharply back in a high ponytail. Her Dress uniform as pristine...perhaps because she did not use it very often. She moved to stand with the others, back to the wall and her eyes fixed forward in a bored fashion. Truth was, she found these things a waste of time. More because she hadn't had the chance to truly go over things since the ship had been...sorted. She suspected her office looked like any other office now. Perhaps just as well, too much personality on such a thing could raise eyebrows.

Ibrahim hopped out of the turbolift, straightening the seams of his formal dress uniform and he made his way to where the rest of the crew were gathered. never cared much for flag officers. His parents always said that they were all careerists, more concerned with amassing pips and authority the way people used to amass wealth. He didn't always know if he entirely agreed with them, but certainly the pomp and pageantry of spectacles like this inspection precluded the actual work of study, exploration, and... whatever it was the other departments did, probably. Plus he always felt the formal uniform was a pretty unflattering cut. Eager to get it over with, he assumed an at attention stance in the corridor with the rest of the crew, a good 90% of which he didn't recognize. In the back of his mind he hoped the Astrometrics lab was in good order, he visited it only briefly when he first came aboard a few weeks ago and was on shore leave ever since.

T'Vanna hurried up to take her place, Tyrion following close on her heels as both joined Markos to represent the intelligence team.

Paul Alasia followed suit. He flattened the front of his uniform as he strode, his gait kicking up bumps in his uniform's facade as quickly as he could smooth them out. He was, as ever, unclear on whether Diplomatic was intended to stand for inspection separate from intelligence or whether Markos was to take the lead. "Deference" had thought to himself 20 minutes earlier "as it often is, should be the better part of valor." As such, he stood with his unit. Paul raised his eyebrow futility to his department head as he came within her line of sight. "This where you want me?" He thought - attempting to will a telepathic connection to a woman with whom he struggled to converse even when he had the luxury of spoken words. "Screw it," he thought and turned on his heels in the same general direction as his colleagues.

Wintrow, feeling highly uncomfortable in his dress whites, stood by the pilots, while Naois -equally uncomfortable- joined the medical team.

Prudence Devin walked without any rush, taking in the crew that she could see. It was strange, remarkable even. Very, very strange for her. She had never been part of such an inspection before. She walked to her spot, going by uniforms and of course, noticing Dru. She took her place and looked around, briefly, before looking ahead with a small smile on her lips.

Now that Kal had gotten used to his shift, he didn't often get up at 0900, preferring to sleep in after a long night on Beta Shift. As a result, the alarm awakening him to meet here was unwelcome. But then he guessed this was part of serving on a ship. He could handle the occasional inspection for the chance to go out into space. Kal got into formation and stood at attention, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Besides, he looked pretty good in his dress uniform, if he said so himself.

Rebecca stood towards the front of the crew, ready should she be hailed by the Commanding Officer to take a place at his side. The yeoman's uniform was absolutely immaculate. The trousers felt confining around her legs compared to the skirts she'd been at liberty to wear back on the colony but she guessed that pickers couldn't be choosers.

Her eyes studied each of the members of command and admiralty. Her eyes couldn't help but linger on the boss himself. His height gave him an advantage over most of those around him; the stern look he threw at almost everybody just served to highlight the scar on his cheek.

Rebecca realised that this one would be a challenge but she'd never met a challenge yet that she'd backed down from. Until then...it seemed that the crew was ripe for pickings to keep her appetite at bay.

Asahi was as bright and early as anyone expected the Chief Engineer to be, which is to say, immediately on time and not a millisecond sooner. He was about as fond of the dress uniform as the rest of everyone else; it was itchy and he was rather not fond of it. Huffing, he gave the rest of his engineers a patented 'oh good they're all here' look, before returning to as close to attention as he possibly could have.

Zane Neptune wasn't sure he liked seeing all kinds of brass in one place. While his uniform presented a lot more "white space" than those standing around him, the uniform itself was well tailored so that he didn't look at all confined. He was at least grateful that the arrival was after his shift and just enough afterward for adequate preparation.

Stace covertly slipped in to the back of the throng, joining her peers from behind. Her hair was scraped back tightly, cascading from her crown in a tight clip as it whipped about her shoulders. She stood rigid and clasped her hands behind her back.

Min, with Jared beside her, found a place in the lineup between the department heads and the Junior officers. Having to use the EBH for the first time, Min was relieved the thing was working and had left Lian in the care of 'Raven' as she understood the girl's name to be. Seeing Tuula in the lineup, Min gave her discreet thumbs up.

Jared preferred his regular duty uniform to his dress one, but Min looked positively radiant, especially given the fact they had such a short notice of the inspection. He didn't really mind wearing the dress uniform. He looked decent in the white and brass and he filled out the uniform decently enough. Especially since he had been working out more recently. The fingers of his left hand entwined with Min's right hand and he smiled at her.

Never one to miss and occasion to get dressed up and put on his dress uniform, mandated or not, Grayson rolled up, looking and feeling much more like himself than the past few days had shown. He stood, uniform pristine, not a hair out of place, nor a blemish on his face. Finding a spot, he squeezed in, asking, "Haven't missed anything fun, have I?"

Luke feeling uncomfortable and itchy in his dress uniform which he was by no means happy or familiar with stood along with the rest of the crew lining the docking port of dock 2. "Nothing to important, I dont think" He said pocking his head forward and trying to see how much longer they would be standing there.

Mott had left the quarters before Arandon due to Arandon's incessant need to make sure that his dress uniform was all right in front of a mirror. He was a creature of silent formality. He wasn't rigid, but he liked things being done a certain way and this inspection was going to be very prim and proper. No, Arandon wasn't a creature of formality, so much as he was a creature of ceremony. Taking a place at the end of the line of assembled officers, Arandon naturally put his hands behind his back and went stiff with his head held high.

Still new, still figuring out his place and still not quite sure where to go in all of this Starfleet pomp and circumstance, Father Ethan Walker joined the assembled crew in his best Chaplain's dress uniform at as crisp of an attention as he could manage, trying to remember his Academy days as a reference.

Lyras was fortunate to still have arrived on time. After burying himself headfirst in the multitudes of rare texts, he had developed the habit of... missing appointments. Finding a spot with the rest of the support staff, he brushed out his dress uniform.

Among the multitude of pristine, pressed white dress uniforms, Oren felt like a complete slob in his. It was such a monstrosity of beige and simple lines that Oren suspected a plot behind it's entire design, crafted to make the officers look better by comparison. The uniform stuck out like a sore thumb among the other scientists and Oren felt even more awkward then usual, especially in his position right next to Pieter, who looked authoritarian and utterly professional in his dress whites.

By the way he was trying (and almost succeeding) to hide a small smirk on his face, Oren suspected the tall human was more than aware of Oren's current fashion crisis. He continued to fume silently, pulling at the beige material in an effort to make it look more presentable, but no matter how much he tried, ORen ended up feeling like a little boy in his pajamas.

Tulkas watched as the crew filtered in, most looking displeased at the idea of wearing dress uniform. He'd arrived early and picked a prime spot, his uniform already adjusted and fitted to what he considered perfection. He didn't mind inspections in the slightest. They were relatively rare and he enjoyed the opportunity to put on a bit of a professional show.

Jaana was running through the corridor, halting just before the last corner. It had taken her forever to get dressed, although she wasn't sure exactly why? The damn uniform seemed to have changed in size since the last time she wore it. She slipped her hands over her hand to smooth it one more time and then walked towards her place between the already present officers. After taking her place her eyes searched for her sister and smiled softly after finding her.

The port airlock door swished open and out stepped Lirha outfitted in her most pristine dress uniform yet, including pressed pants, polished boots, and white shirt and jacket. Her new gold-bracketed rank pips now adorned her collar, and her long dark hair had been trimmed to near-shoulder length and tied back in a high ponytail giving her a slightly different appearance than most of the crew were used to.

Of course, some things changed while others stayed the same. At least that was what the Orion had been telling herself ever since her promotion and appointment as task force commander. She was mightily young to be in charge of so many starships and personnel, but she also didn't view her job as too much different from her previous role as mission advisor. Being the admiral just meant more paperwork. And PADDs. And conference calls.

Taking a deep breath of confidence, her green eyes gazed forward and she took in the sight before her. The entire crew of Galileo had somehow managed to squeeze themselves into the tight confines of the corridor in front of her -- all 60+ of them -- and she was impressed. Especially on short notice. She'd originally had had second thoughts about performing a surprise inspection, but then again, wasn't that the job of any admiral? To ensure the operational readiness of all ships under their command? Hopefully Holliday had been keeping the crew in line and the inspection could go smoothly. And hopefully she didn't discover any renegade tribbles still on board the ship.

Quinn looked over his shoulder and gave a professional nod towards Lirha, and the pencil thin grin on his face was that of a proud father looking at his well deserving daughter. Quinn and Saalm had an instant friendship and he was honored to be her Command Master Chief. He snapped his head around, pulled up the whistle and let out the customary blow to signify that the Brass had arrived. After the burst from the whistle, in his best and most commanding voice, the raspy man gave his dutiable command. "Attention all hands, Admiral on deck!"

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Commanding Officer's Yeoman
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Ensign Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Kita]

Chief Petty Officer Pax-Inyo
Masyer-at-Arms
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

CN Ash Rowe
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Father Ethan Walker
Ship's Chaplain
USS Galileo

LCMDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Oren Idris, Ph.D.
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

PO1 Pieter Van Zyl
Botanist
USS Galileo
[PNPC by Idris]

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Gallileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Jonah Chaparral
Epidemiologist
PNPC Jared Nicholas
USS Galileo

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