Meeting the Boss

Posted on Wed Jan 2nd, 2019 @ 4:33pm by Lieutenant Commander Mariana Vaz

1,507 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Security Office
Timeline: Current Timeline

ON:

Eli had started feeling a bit poor a week prior to be exact. He'd had a cold before the ship had gotten under way and then several days into their journey it had come back and gone again. Now he was sniffling up a storm and he didn't like it. This felt different. Maybe he was getting the flu. He had decided to head to see Galatea about it when his mind wandered over his to do list and his boss. She was pretty, and smart, and quick on her feet. He hoped that she would change things in the department for the better.

Sighing he looked down at the PADD in his hand; another report. He grinned as his mind wandered back to a his first meeting with this boss."

=/\=Memory: A few days prior=/\=

Eli had finally finished his reports and was up to date on everything. Their little raven had been caught and he was feeling proud of himself. Sighing he straightened his uniform and finished the last of his coffee, the fuel for his life. He couldn't give up coffee just like he couldn't give up breathing.

It was the end of his shift but he'd had an appointment with the boss. There was so much to catch her up on but he was glad as hell that he was done with that part of the job. Reports drove him insane and he couldn't be gladder that the new bass was on ship.

Walking quickly he stood outside her office and rang the chime.

Jo ha been busying herself unpacking her belongings and decorating her office. She leaned up toward the wall behind her desk to hang her 18th century cutlass on its mounting. She had taken off her uniform jacket and was now wearing just the gold shirt and the skirt variant bottoms. She relaxed from her position and, just as she was moving from behind the desk, she heard her door chime ring. She made sure the room was presentable and that her long brown hair was placed appropriately in its bun as she made her way to the door. As soon as it opened, she spoke

"Come in." was all she said in her thick accent as she made direct eye contact with the man on the other side of the door.

Elijah's eyes quickly scanned the changes to the new office as he entered it. The last time he'd been there was to grab a few PADDs. He also noted the new chief. She looked quite fit. He was never one not to admire a beautiful woman. He entered and stood at attention. "Ma'am" Lieutenant JG Elijah Alexander, reporting as ordered."

"Welcome, Lieutenant," Jo responded, though her choice of greeting was strange considering she was the one who had only just arrived. She walked up to him and stood opposite him, taking some time to look him up and down. "As you should know, I'm Commander Vaz. I require a department briefing from you considering you're the Assistant Chief."

He resisted the urge to get snippy with that comment. "Of course," he said instead. "There are some incidents that will require your review and we've just put an officer in the brig that will require a counselor visit or two..." Perhaps fifty if Eli had to guess. He waited for her to invite him to sit and stood in attention until she did so.

The woman was as severe as she was impressively attractive and her eye contact held with him as he spoke with an uncommon focus. She didn't offer a seat, but instead stood firm.

"Let us start with the officer in the brig." she responded. "Tell me more about that situation. What happened?"

"Ensign Rogers, he is a peculiar case." He sighed and sat back. "There were reports of objects going missing on the ship. Specifically anything shiny. We dubbed this robber the Raven. We couldn't trap him and he was taking things regularly. Just a while ago he assaulted a Civilian and she wound up in sickbay with memory loss." He pushed a PADD across the table. "The commander and I set a trap and caught our Raven. Doc thinks he's got a condition. She needs to assess him more."

"Are we certain he's working alone?" Mariana said as she turned and rounded to the other side of the desk. She lowered herself down into her seat and gestured him to the seat opposite the desk without taking her eyes off the PADD. "Do we have motive?""

She looked up at her Assistant Chief expectantly, her face curious and her posture graceful and straight.

"He apparently liked shiny things. He wanted to look at them. As for if he was working alone he was, all items were found and returned to their owners. He's an odd duck that one. The civilian is alright, recovering. The prisoner... he seems happy enough although he won't give back his food trays as they are indeed shiny." He smiled, "Sir, permission to speak freely?"

"I don't like sugar-coaters, Lieutenant." Mariana began, looking beyond the PADD to him. "I expect you always to speak freely."

He was relieved about that last one. He hated the fact that in Starfleet often times you needed to sugar coat things. He was as straight as an arrow. "To be frank, ma'am, Ensign Rogers should never have been assigned here. The doctor did ask for his removal but that was never considered important by your predecessor so this is partly security's fault. I recommend a full security rework."

Mariana's brow furrowed as she leaned forward, placing her gold-dressed elbows onto her desk. "Was Rogers a security officer? What were his normal duties?"

She thought for a moment about the idea of a departmental rework. She wasn't quite sure what the Lieutenant had in mind but her head was certainly filled with possibilities. One doesn't command a Marine Battalion as Chief of Police aboard a major installation without having a few tricks up their sleeves. Part of her was hoping this situation could reasonably be used to make sweeping changes to security structure.

"He was in engineering," He stopped and sighed, "We need to make a lot of changes."

Commander Vaz sighed and lifted herself out of her seat. She walked over to the replicator, turning around to face him when she got there.

"Can I get you anything to drink, Lieutenant?"

He smiled, "Yes please. A glass of water with a twist of lime."

"One water and one cinnamon spice tea, sweet." she said, turning her head to the side and stretching her neck as the tea cup and glass of water appeared in the bay. With cautious hands, she picked them up and carried them back to the desk.

"Alright," she said, after sitting back down in her seat. "In your opinion, what kind of changes do we need to make?"

"First off we need to make a huge change in how we vet people when they are on board. Starfleet cleared the Ensign but the Doctor did not so we have to listen to the Counseling staff a bit. I think we also need to utilize the transporter as a disarmer," it was a hard word to say, possibly made up too but he was hoping she got the idea.

Mariana furrowed her brow. She was from a branch where everyone was carrying a sidearm, so the idea of disarming everyone who came aboard seemed strange to her. "I will review our protocols for crew vetting as well as the receiving of guests." she said seeming to concede those points. "But why would we use the transporter as a disarmer here?"

"Not here but as guests come on the ship." He reached back in his pocket and pulled a folded booklet of five sheets of paper. "I wrote a few suggestions down." He handed her the paper and rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "I prefer pen and paper." He smiled.

Jo accepted the paper, a look of skepticism crossing her features. She looked down at the paper for a few seconds before she looked up again.

"I'll take your suggestions under advisement, Lieutenant. Is there anything else you think I should know about business as usual around here?"

He smiled, "Not really. Things are pretty simple here. You can count on me to help in any way that I can ma'am."

=/\=Current Timeline =/\=

Eli was brought out his memory with a start. He looked up at the door and sighed. He'd already reached sickbay. It was a short walk or was it that he'd had a lot on his mind. He sighed and prepared himself for Galatea's mother hen routine.

Smiling he had to admit he loved pushing that woman's buttons. With a final deep breath he entered.

OFF:

Lt. Cmdr Mariana Vaz
Chief Security Officer

&

Lt. JG Elijah Alexander
Assistant Chief Security Officer
PNPC -- Polaris

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