The informal brief!

Posted on 23 Oct 2018 @ 4:52pm by Commander Luke Wyatt & Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin & Lieutenant Aria Rice & Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Stark

1,706 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A, Deck 2, Callisto Bar
Timeline: MD -175, 1400hrs

[ON]

Luke stood looking out into the stars as they whizzed past them at warp and in transit. He had delayed the security briefing for a week after the party so that they had plenty of time to recover. He had planned on doing it a couple of days after the party but then Nesh popped up causing a lot of paperwork. Behind him the bar staff had prepared a circular table, a crystal port glass at each seat and a wooden box half open with Lukes very own Taylor Fladgate Vintage 1920 port bottle that he had acquired over leave. The doors turned opened causing luke to smile and greet the first person to arrive.

Aria hummed to herself as she walked into the bar, her eyes shining. She looked over at Luke and then at the glasses. "Ooh...classy, bossman," she said lightly, since no one else was there yet. She moved to Luke and nudged him playfully. "And thanks for having it later, I heard horrid rumours other Chiefs had the meeting the morning after the party."

"You know, no one else will ever get away will calling me bossman" He said smiling as he showed her to the table. "Well those chiefs obviously didn't drink as much as this chief and needed a few days to recover, or they just younger and can deal with the alcohol poisoning better." Luke joked.

Amaranai entered the bar. She had not made it to the Launch Party, despite every effort. There was too much on her mind and though she considered letting Charlotte go, the fact that the girl would be a minor with that much alcohol around, Amaranai chose against it.

She heard the banter between Luke and Aria and slipped into the conversation.

"Maybe it's better I didn't make it to the party," she said. "At least I'm not hungover."

She chuckled and looked to the others.

"Hey, are we going to make this 'party mark 2'?" Gabriel Stark grinned as he made his way in, hands resting easily on his hips as he looked around the others. "We'll show the other departments how you *really* party, huh?"

"I really have got the party animals of the ship all under one roof haven't I? Jesus we wont have to fight anyone just invite them over for a drink" Luke joked welcoming Mr Stark with a handshake before pointing at an empty chair for him to sit down.

"Thank you all for coming, I appreciate that for some this is in the middle of your downtime and I hope to keep this short and sweet. Before we start are there any questions or comments from the floor?" He said his eyes scanning the people around the table.

"Now for those who are new here my name is Luke Wyatt. No Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt or Commander or sir, especially when it's around the people you sit beside now. We are all a team and no one person is better than another. That is why I opted for a circular table so no one sits at the top, much like the knights of the roundtable. Second, you'll notice the glasses and bottle of port but that's for later.

So to get into it some of you may already be aware of the stowaway we found aboard the ship, this is to be kept between us and not spread around the ship though I doubt it will be long due to the nature of our voyage and the size of our ship." Luke paused for the moment before continuing.

"That to me has two meanings one, we need to do better. We should have found Miss Saleem sooner and not because an engineer happened to stumble upon her the second is we need more training." Luke helped up his hands "I know, I know I sound like a stuck record but we can't allow ourselves to become complacent during this 6 months period and with that said I still expect us to have some fun along the way. There are several groups forming covering a variety of interesting hobbies so for the sake of your sanity and mine find something you like and do it." Luke turned to Aria with a knowing grin, "And no that doesn't mean a 6-month bender, even though it does sound fun."

Aria's eyes widened and she covered her cheeks in a shocked face. "No! My master plan! Ruined!" she chuckled and sat back, smiling gently before she shrugged. "So my question about Nesh Saalm becomes this...do we reconfigure some of our scanners to pick up the radiation that smuggler's devices on occasion have? When I was serving on the Toga, we did our searches using modified handheld scanners to be able to look for different energy signatures. The tricorders just couldn't pick it up and you'd be shocked at how clever smugglers are."

He nodded "I was thinking along the same idea and since you seem to have some experience I'd like you to coordinate that with Operations and engineering if you need mechanical expertise. I know there are many devices out there but at least we can negate this one type of device from possible infiltration devices in the future." Luke looked around the table. "Anything else on the matter of Nesh, again I am open to any and all suggestions regarding ship security not just in this matter but in any aspect of it."

"I already regret suggesting this, but here goes..." Gabriel half sighed before clearing his throat. "We could run more regular physical searches of the ship. Obviously not upheaving everything and sending out the search bots...just more, getting out there with a physical presence, eyes on, 'walking the beat', keeping a look out for the unusual."

Amaranai listened to Gabriel's comment. It was a good idea to consider letting the crew know that they were there. This was not a warship, so much of the training that their department had was not necessarily going to waste, but it wouldn't be in use as often.

"I regret you saying that, also, Gabriel," she said. "But it's a good suggestion." She paused. "It's something to consider, at least," Amaranai continued. "Even if we only do it after leaving spacedock."

"Oh, one final question..." Gabriel said lightly as he leant against the table, his dark eyes worryingly serious. "Can I be Sir Galahad?" he asked with a deadpan tone even if the humour in his dark eyes shone. "I really want to be Galahad..."

Luke crossed his arms one hand holding his chin in a thoughtful motion "Hmm" He said before unfolding them and adding "Personally I was going to name you Sir Dagonet. I think you're a spitting image of him Stark" Of course the chief was joking, his chuckle on reinforced the fact.

Gabriel's mouth dropped open with the mock offended shock of being compared to the king's jester. He stared at Luke, and then at Aria, all the time with his mouth wide open. "But that's clearly Aria!"

Looking around the table "Ok, Ok settle down I think" Luke laughed, "well since it seems everyone is eager to get away let's finish this with what everyone really came here for since its the only way to convince you lot to do anything." Luke poured himself a glass of port before passing it to his left to Gabriel. The bottle swiftly moved around the table some taking more than other until it returned to Luke almost empty. Standing slowly Luke helped out his glass and waited for everyone to join him before going on to say "Heres to a successful and rewarding tour of duty, lasting comradeship. Luke raised his glass and took a sip before opening to toasts to the floor.

Aria raised her glass, grinning as she shook her head. "And here's to hopefully avoiding blowing up the ship. Or getting infected with tribbles. Or murdering each other after six months because we are simply bored!"

Gabriel chuckled softly at that, nodding sagely to her words as he reminisced briefly on those days. "Here's to..." he paused, clearing his throat after a moment. "...trying to make someone else's life a little bit better, even for a day."

Amaranai sighed. There were plenty of things to toast but there was no need to bring the mood down.

"A toast to all of you," she gestured with her cup. "May you stay out of the brig as long as possible."

"And finally to those who we have had the pleasure of serving with and are absent today. For their sacrifice gives us the strength to persevere and their heroism forever casts a shining light to guide us, To the fallen." Luke raised his glass downing the last of his drink. Waiting for the others to finish "Thankyou all for coming, you're free to leave. Or Drink just remember you have duties to attend to."

Aria frowned as she knocked back the last of her drink, swallowing it slowly. It always reminded her of her father when something like that was said, a fresh welt added to her heart to reminder her. She should be over it. She never thought she was though, or ever likely to. She glanced at Gabriel before she got up and walked out before the swelling in her throat became actual tears.

Gabriel saw the upset in her eyes, watching her leave with a slight frown. He pushed himself up quickly, following after her to wrap his arm gently around her waist as he walked at her side. "Chin up, sweetheart," he said softly, squeezing her shoulder. "Chin up."

Amaranai considered some of her crewmates that had fallen during her career. There were so many and yet only a few that she really missed. She downed her drink and wished that she could have more - but that was for another time.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Commander Luke Wyatt
Chief of Security
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant JG Aria Rice
Security
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

PO1 Gabriel Stark
Security
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Blake]

Lieutenant Amaranai Franklin
Assistant Chief of Security
USS Galileo-A

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