Reporting In

Posted on 30 Mar 2016 @ 10:14am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Lieutenant JG Randolf Eklund

1,015 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Deck One - Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD44 - 0845 Hours

[ON]


Learning a new ship. It was something Randy enjoyed. He'd wandered the halls of the Galileo for hours in the holodeck before arriving, but there were always differences between the official, saved version of a ship and the reality. He enjoyed finding those differences. They were the perfect places to set up defensive points, and perfect places for others to try and ambush him and his security teams. He'd noticed at least two of these differences on his way to the bridge.

He'd dropped the few personal possessions he'd carried with him in his quarters, checked that the things he'd sent ahead had arrived, then changed into a fresh uniform and headed to the bridge. He wanted to make sure he introduced himself to the captain as soon as possible. He'd been given a healthy respect for the chain of command, but a new officer reporting to a ship? The captain was the captain, after all. He deserved to be kept informed directly in such matters.

He exited the turbolift and paused a moment to just take in being on this bridge for the first time. This was another thing a holodeck just couldn't replicate. The sounds, the people might all be the same, but this...this was different. He made his way to the Captain's Ready Room and requested entry.

Holliday had already been relatively close to the door anyway, having taken that moment to sneak his way to the replicator in search of his next dose of caffeine. As the doors parted in response to the Captain's command, the faint whirr of the replicator completing its cycle could be heard as Jonathan withdrew a warm cup of raktajino with his right hand.

Entering, Randy held himself as formally as possible. "Sir, Lieutenant Randolf Eklund reporting for duty."

"Ahh, Lieutenant, welcome aboard. You're our new assistant tactical Chief if my memory serves?"

"Yes, sir," Randy held himself at the Starfleet equivalent of attention. "I recently transfered from the Lakota. I understand the crew is on shoreleave at the moment, but I'm ready to begin any time, sir."

Jonathan held up an open hand to indicate that there was no need to jump in straight away. It was true that the majority of the crew were still off the ship, and the small skeleton staff on rotation was all that currently needed to be onboard.

"That won't be necessary Lieutenant. There isn't a great amount to do right now. Familiarising yourself with the ship and her systems is probably the greatest advantage you could gain for the next few days."

"Of course, sir." Randy nodded. "I will continue that process while coming up to speed with the security procedures for Galileo. I'm also planning on checking in with Lt. Benice this morning to settle my schedule and get any specific instructions I need." He didn't want that to sound like a criticism of his new captain, though. "Naturally I'm at your disposal as well, sir."

"Good to know Lieutenant. I'm sure Miss Benice will be glad to have an extra pair of hands in the team - we seem to be coming up against rather more aggressive situations than perhaps a ship of scientists might be best geared to handle."

Holliday wasn't kidding - in her tours of duty so far the Galileo had come up against the Borg, rampaging alien ghosts, and even their own mirror counterparts. Not exactly the gaseous anomalies and strange new lifeforms that their original brief was to worry about.

"Then I'm exactly where I need to be, sir," Randy assured him. "It's my responsibility to protect the scientists and other civilians while they get their vital work done. I won't forget that." He'd seen lax security come back to cost both other security teams and those they were meant to protect in the past. He had vowed to never let that happen to him or his charges.

Holliday raised an eyebrow at the almost textbook response of the officer to his statement. It took a moment for the Captain to remind himself that he was probably just as enthusiastic when he first stepped aboard the Hera in his first tactical posting. Taking a sip from his coffee, John turned and idled back to his desk, settling into his chair before continuing.

"It's a small team aboard this ship. Sometimes that's a blessing, other times its a curse, but I'm sure Lieutenant Benice will be more than happy to walk you through that. We find it takes officers some getting used to the amount of close-quarters work involved on a vessel this small."

"Yes, sir," Randy nodded. "I grew up in a pretty tight-knit community. We may not have been all contained on a single ship, but in some ways we were just as self-contained. I understand how the dynamics, both good and bad, can take a while to get used to. And throwing in a new person, such as myself, can make all sorts of ripples in a ship's calm. I know that make take some time to settle as well. And I apologize in advance for the disruption."

Holliday took a note that the man at least had some experience of the close-quarters living that would be required to get a long on the Galileo. He himself had a similar upbringing living on Mars within the variety of planetary habitats on the mostly terraformed world. Nothing quite had prepared him for live on a Nova, but it had been a start.

"Good to know. Other than that I suggest you take some time to get the lay of the land so to speak, and check in with your Department Head at the earliest possible opportunity. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed Lieutenant?"

"Thank you sir," Randy stood to leave. "I was actually just on my way to check in with Lt. Benice. I'll leave you to your work."

[OFF]

Lt.jg Randolf Eklund
Asst Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

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