Welcome Aboard

Posted on Sat Sep 1st, 2018 @ 6:15am by Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz & Lieutenant Commander Radak

2,177 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Transporter Room 2/Various
Timeline: Current

ON:

Radak made his way to Transporter room 2. He was curious about who they might have missed aboard the station. He really wasn't sure how they could leave someone behind, but they were here now so it didn't really much matter. He stepped inside the room when he arrived and the doors slid open. He nodded to the Transporter operator and started to look at his PADD. Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz, human. Marine? Once he was sure that he could remember her name on first meet, he put his PADD away and waited for her transport.

As the transporter initiated, the usual swirl of white and blue energy appeared and, slowly, a caramel-skinned and well toned woman in a Starfleet service uniform appeared. Once she had completely materialized, she lifted her right hand into a decisive marine salute and spoke with a Brazilian accent.

"Commander Mariana Vaz reporting for duty as Chief of Security."

"At ease, Commander," Radak replied. "And welcome aboard. I am Lieutenant Commander Radak and your Executive Officer. It is a pleasure to meet you." He bowed politely to her, his face was a casual Vulcan mask. "One moment and we can get started. Did they already transport your belongings?"

"They did, yes," she responded, taking three steps forward and shifting off of the transporter pad. "I apologize for the delay. My transport shuttle was delayed by a plasma storm."

"You caught us just in time. We are on our way to a diplomatic mission. We are to oversee, hopefully, some sort of agreement between two groups. I am to give you the standard tour, show you to your quarters and then take you to the captain. If that is satisfactory. Have you been on a Luna class ship before?"

Jo looked up at the Romulan man who stood significantly taller than she. She noticed his angular features and his human hairstyle. She furrowed her well-arched brows at him in a motion that she made no attempt to hide. What an enigma of a man this Lieutenant Commander Radak seemed to be.

"This is the first Starfleet ship I've ever stepped foot on, believe it or not," she said, her voice a bit raspy, but even and measured. Her deep brown eyes were serious and searching. "I've never served outside a ground installation."

That wasn't strictly so, but the ship she'd captained during her time with Starfleet Intelligence was strictly classified.

Radak looked sidelong at her, leading the way out of the door and down a hallway. "Really?" he questioned. "I suppose that makes sense with the Marines. Well, there are eighteen decks. The ship is capable of housing 76 officers and 250 crew members. Our cruising speed is 8.7 and our fastest is 9.8. We have a type XII phaser array and three quantum torpedo launchers and several different types of shielding. You are currently on deck seven. The Medical bay is also here, which is where we are headed now."

"I anticipate a very different working environment to what I've experienced on other postings." she remarked as she processed with him down the corridor. Three crewmen passed in a group and squeezed past them; Jo followed them with her eyes, watching their movements. "The Marines were certainly a different beast than...what it is we have here."

She'd had to take some significant crash-coursing on shipboard weapons. Security came naturally to her, but it was her role as Chief Tactical Officer, that might take the most adjusting. "There aren't many surprises on a Marine Base. That isn't the case aboard a starship. How many personnel does my department contain?"

Radak tipped his head to one side, considering. "To be honest, Commander... I am not certain about the Security department. I too am new to this ship. I believe that the standard compliment of security crew is 90, but this ship is much smaller than the examples I am thinking of. I will get that information for you. You, of course, will have shift leaders that will report to you. I believe we are keeping a standard, three shift rotation, but once again, I am a little lacking in my information. You do have a department assistant though."

It didn't take them long to reach medical. The two transporter rooms on this deck were really the only fixtures that weren't medical in some way. Radak paused in front of the double doors. "This is the Sickbay. We can go inside if you like..."

"If it's all the same to you, Commander, I'll see the inside when I report to the medical staff," she responded quickly without hesitation. She was rather disagreeable in disposition; she hadn't always been that way, but what she'd been through tended to change people and eliminate any tendency to be a pushover. "You say you're new here as well? How long have you been a member of Starfleet? You don't see many Romulans in the service.."

Radak choked on nothing in particular. When he was done he cleared his throat one last time before speaking. "Romulan? I am Vulcan. I understand that we share an ancestry, but I was born in ShiKhar and as far as I am aware there are no Romulans in Starfleet." He cleared his throat again. He didn't seem offended, just surprised. "I have been in Starfleet for nine years." He started to lead the way away from the medical bay and towards a turbo lift. "I do not like doctors either."

"Excuse me, Commander," Jo began, squinting her eyes as she looked at him. "There's something about your brow that's more Romulan than Vulcan. Has anyone ever told you that?" she asked, moving on without waiting for an answer. "Either way, my mistake."

She walked with him toward the turbolift. When the door opened, a young enlisted officer looked out at them. His eyes fixed on Jo and scanned her body; this was a ritual she'd become used to since high school. She pretend not to notice the probing eyes as she always had and maintained her severe expression, doing a decent job intimidating the man.

"Crewman..." she said coldly.

"Ma'am... sir," the man responded, acknowledging both of them tightly before stepping off the lift and making way for them.

"I don't dislike doctors, by the way," she responded, looking over at the XO. "They have a job to do just like all of us."

Radak watched the man look Vaz over. His angular eyebrows furrowed, and were still furrowed when the man briefly met his gaze. "As you were, crewman..." he said sternly. Sometimes he was disgusted by human behavior and the leering male was one of those behaviors. "Yes, it would not be the first time I have been accused of being Romulan, but for some reason it only seems to happen among humans." He looked at her. "And I agree... they do have a job to do and if I needed one I would be very glad for them." He stepped into the turbolift and waited for her to join him. "Deck eight." The turbolift chirped its acknowledgment.

"My job means being shot at," Jo said as the turbolift began to move. "That means we can't afford to ignore our health."

She'd known a few marines who rebuffed a doctor's care, but she'd heard the behavior was much more common in the fleet. She still wasn't sure what these Starfleet Officers had against doctors.

"What exactly does this ship's mission entail?"

"We are being sent to assist in a dispute," Radak replied. "Currently, we are on our way to retrieve the Ambassador of the Yatal. We will be needing a security detail for the mission, both when the Ambassadors are brought onboard and during their stay, but the captain will probably wish to go over that with you as well. Your offices and the armament are all on deck eight. Which is where we are headed now and then we will go to your quarters."

Jo nodded as her new XO spoke, but didn't say anything in response. She noticed for the first time that her bladder was rather full and she knew she would need to visit the head very soon. She was less than comfortable asking and found herself hoping that the visit to her quarters would be sooner rather than later.

"Have you seen much combat, Commander?" she found herself asking as she looked over at him.

Radak looked at her, as the turbolift came to a stop. "It depends on what you mean by combat, Commander. There are many things that do not involve the body, but the mind, that could be considered combat. As far as hand-to-hand combat, I have seen very little." He tipped his head as he stepped off the turbolift. "I attended art school if that tells you anything..."

Jo found the beginnings of a smile insisting upon itself at the corners of her mouth; her lips parted ever so slightly to revealed perfectly white teeth still in the shadow of a nearly closed mouth.

"It doesn't tell me everything, but it does tell me quite a lot," she said, taking a step off of the turbolift and stopping to let him take the lead. Her accent was particularly strong when she was amused or angry. "How does a Vulcan artist end up in a Command role in Starfleet?"

There was the tiniest hint of mischievousness in Radak's gaze when he looked at her. "Well... artist or no artist... this Vulcan is not without a certain amount of ambition." The center of his eyebrows lifted just slightly. "We do not become leaders of men sitting on our laurels."

"We also don't command starships or lead troops into battle by painting pretty pictures," she responded candidly, looking at the Vulcan as they walked. "Did you give up the artwork when you started down the military career path?"

"I would not exactly say "gave up"," he responded. "But it took a backseat and became a hobby. I spent most of my first assignments as a Liaison officer. I settled disputes and trades and whatever else Starfleet had an interest in on the planet. I spent a lot of time running between the station and the planet. My second assignment was aboard an actual ship with exploratory and first contact missions... I know how to handle people."

"It is good, I think, for an Executive Officer to be a people person," she remarked. "Very uncommon for a Vulcan, is it not?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not. Also unlike many of my people, I did not experience the Kolinahr. It was a point of great contention between my parents and myself. So much that I was sent to live with an uncle. I still have a great deal of discipline, sometimes more than even I think is necessary." He stopped in front of a door. "This will be your office..." Then he tapped a code into the keypad by the door to open it. "I will give you the current code. You may change it if you wish." The door slid open.

The office itself had two doors, one that lead in directly from the corridor and one that lead into the rest of the security department. Jo stepped through the threshold of the door and into the spacious office. It was undecorated and standard, much as she expected. After taking in the room a few brief moments, she turned around and looked at the Radak again.

"If you don't mind, could you point me in the direction of the nearest head?" she said, obviously a bit embarrassed. She gestured toward the door that lead into the security department. "I assume it's through here somewhere?"

Radak blinked a moment as if he didn't know what she was talking about and then it dawned on him. "Oh! Of course. I did not even ask you if you needed anything." He pointed through the door. "To the right, I believe. Take your time. Please."

With respectful, if not hesitant acknowledgement, Commander Vaz turned and hurried out of the door. She was gone for no more than a minute, but she returned much more at ease.

"Thank you, Commander Radak," she said easily. As she stepped back in with a clearer mind, she noticed that there were already PADDs on her desk. She knew that, in these types of roles, the paperwork piled high very quickly. She looked back to the taller man. "Is there anything else here that you would like me to see?"

Radak shook his head. "Not in particular. I will take you to your assigned quarters and then we can probably go to the captain's ready room. She wanted to make sure we were underway." He headed for the doorway of the office again.

Jo followed him, her hands swinging slightly at her sides. What was this new assignment to hold for her? A Starfleet Officer instead of a marine; it was bound to be quite a change.

:END

Lieutenant Commander Radak
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz
Chief of Security

 

RSS Feed