Setting the Standard

Posted on Tue Oct 9th, 2018 @ 11:59am by Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz & Captain Taliserra Tigran

1,050 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: 13th feb 2395- morning

Having departed from the XO's company after her boarding and tour, Jo crossed the Bridge and pressed the chime outside the CO's Ready Room. She was eager to get to work, but wanted to start by getting the measure of her Commanding Officer. What kind of officer was she? Was she respectable and competent? How does she deal with conflict? All of these questions were yet to be answered.

After being told by Radak that she was on her way Taliserra was ready for Mariana and was busy reading through her file when she heard the chime. "Enter." She called out.

Without further delay, the doors opened and a very fit-looking woman with long brown hair entered the office. She looked on stoically, raising her hand to her brow. "Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz reporting for duty." she said, her Brazilian accent dotting all her syllables with color and nuance."

"Welcome aboard Commander." Taliserra said smiling up at the woman. "Please, sit."

Jo relaxed from attention and complied immediately, lowering herself into a chair on the other side of Tigran's desk. After she was seated, she looked at the woman expectantly but said nothing. She was still a marine in her heart and always would be; the CO would have to speak first.

"You very nearly missed us, engine trouble was it?" Taliserra asked.

"My transport had to reroute because of a plasma storm." Jo responded, crossing her right leg over her left and resting her hands on her knee. "It added three days to the journey. Considering the circumstances, sir, it is amazing I made it before it really was too late."

"Very lucky, we are on our way outside federation space and with any luck would not be back near starbase 54 for a long time." Taliserra fiffled with the Padd in her hand rotating it around and over. "Tell me, why did you request the Wolff?"

What should she say to her new Captain to explain her presence here? Should she tell her that, after years, she was still trying to get as far away from Earth as humanly possible?

"I have an eye for people and I understand the criminal mind; a unique degree of skill in anticipating danger. On the fringes of space, that expertise will be most useful. I've decided, so far as I'm assigned, to take a break from putting intergalactic criminals behind bars and spend some time working on the frontier."

"Now I have not much time to go over your file, in truth I did not even know your transfer had been approved until the starbase contacted us as we were leaving. What made you leave the marines and transfer to starfleet?"

"It was a requirement of the transfer, sir." Jo responded from her seat. "With all due respect, I never would have dreamed of transferring to the fleet if I didn't need to. I was proud and happy to be a marine."

"I understand." Taliserra said. "The bonds of comradeship go deep. Now I know you have plenty of ground combat experience from the marines but I see no mention of anything that covers ship to ship combat apart from your retraining course in the specifics of sec/tac duties."

"That's correct." Jo said, steepling her fingers on her lap. "I've been running an hour of tactical simulations daily on top of my normal bridge duties. Because of the wonders of modern technology, it's pretty much point and click, but I"m becoming more and more familiar with the more intricate parts of ship-to-ship combat, in particular, tactics and maneuvers."

"I suggest your double your efforts in these 6 days we have. I do not expect any trouble but we are going into unexplored space so anything could happen." Taliserra told her.

"Yes, sir." she said with a nod. "I understand completely. I consider it of upmost importance that I, my department, and the entire ship be ready for anything the universe might throw at us."

She cleared her throat and licked her lips, her eyes still focused on her superior officer. "Do you mind me asking, sir...what exactly should we be expecting after the next six days?"

Taliserra sipped her tea before starting. "We have been asked to host negotiations between two warring species we have very limited information on, one of them we don't even know exactly what they look like. Technologically we're told that they are both inferior to starfleet but their weapons technology has improved over the course of their war, they maybe deliberately holding their best back."

"It sounds like a situation that requires security to be completely ready." Jo responded expressionlessly. "Any specific points of concern? Some places where you think my people should pay especially close attention?"

"Myself and Commander Radak will be discussing things later today but you must be prepared for any eventuality." Taliserra replied. "The ceasefire between the two species has twelve days remaining but anything could happen in those twelve days, everything could go to hell and open warfare may begin again with us potentially right in the middle."

"I will ensure that Security is ready, sir." Jo responded simply. This was a task for which she was uniquely qualified and she was confident she would see it done.

"Good." Taliserra smiled. "Just remember, they're not marines. They may respond differently to what you expect if you use your marine mindset with them."

Jo fought the urge to lift an eyebrow. We shall see she thought to herself, out loud she merely said, "Of course, sir. I try to remain aware of my surroundings."

A moment passed where no one spoke, and then Jo parted her lips again. "Is there anything else, Commander?"

Taliserra shook her head. "Nothing for now. Make sure you see one of the doctors for your clear for duty check up, then report for duty in the morning after you've settled in."

"Aye, sir." Jo responded, lifting her fit frame out of the seat and standing again at attention. She was waiting, of course, to be dismissed so that she could get back to her preparations.

Waiting for a few moments while she looked Jo up and down Taliserra eventually said. "Dismissed."

OFF

Commander Taliserra Tigran
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz
Chief of Security

 

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