Formal discussion

Posted on Fri Jan 15th, 2021 @ 7:16am by Captain Elijah Michaels & Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova & Lieutenant Scott Kayne & Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara & Lieutenant Amanda Rose & Captain Jason Ventres & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii

1,936 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: The Lonesome Road
Location: Deck One, Conference room

Elijah sat at the head of the table in the Conference room, a series of Data Pads at every available seat in the room and a holographic map emanating from the centre of table.

"All Senior Officers report for immediate briefing." He said pressing the intercom.

Amanda headed over to the Conference Room immediately. She only hoped that she would be first or near one of the first. The more people that got into the conference room, the more that she knew that she would become uncomfortable. What comforted her was that it was rare that a counselor's opinion was required in a briefing.

The moment that Amanda walked into the room, she was relieved to see that she was the first, other than the Captain. She smiled at him warmly and cheerfully smile, "Hello again, Captain. Do you have a preferred seating chart?"

“Take a seat wherever you like.” Elijah said motioning.

Grace was next to arrive. She walked in and nodded to the two. "Hello, Captain, Counselor."

“Number One.” Elijah responded.

She smiled and slid gracefully into a seat. The First Officer had yet to meet most of the crew, so she was looking forward to this briefing for that reason as well as to hear what the captain had to say.

Anahera walked in cup of coffee in hand. "Morning, Captain, Commander, Counselor." She said with a smile. "This ship has such comfortable beds, but I might be biased, after all I spent the last month in less than desirable accommodation."

"That always helps you appreciate a new environment," Grace replied.

Walking in Yiv have everyone a smile and a wave. 'Morning all,' as he took his customary seat at the table he noticed two new faces. 'Ah, welcome, Commander, Lieutenant. Lieutenant Yivliph, Chief of Intelligence.'

"A pleasure to meet you," Grace said.

He set his PADD down in front of him, 'you can call me Yiv if you prefer.'

"Nice to meet you Commander and Yiv," Amanda replied with a warm smile. "You may call me Amanda."

"And I am Grace, unless the captain prefers otherwise."

'A pleasure to meet you both - I trust the journey over was pleasant?' Yiv flashed them his most winningest smile as he chatted. He wished he'd had the foresight to bring along some caffeinated drink. He had, however, worked late on some of the old reports the Captain had handed to him, and had overslept a tad.

"Mine was adventurous," Amanda replied. "Originally I was going to be assigned to the Missouri but almost immediately after getting there, I was assigned here. And the trip on the Missouri was less than typical. How about you, Yiv?"

"I'm sorry to hear that," Grace said to Amanda. "I'm not familiar with the Missouri." Then she turned and answered Yiv's question. "I have been most fortunate to date. And you?"

Amanda shrugged. "That's alright, Grace. A change of scenery was all I needed, so whether Missouri or here, I will serve well."

'I'm glad both of you have found your ways here to be pleasing. As for myself, I can't really complain, I've been aboard nine months already, and it's quite refreshing to see some new faces, if I was to be honest.' Yiv was dangerously close to being fully candid, and opted to stop himself there with a smile. 'I hope we'll all find our time aboard agreeable.'

"Me too," Amanda piped up. "It certainly would make my job a lot easier," she told Yiv with a smile.

TAG Yiv/GRACE if you'd like

Jason stepped in a moment later carrying a cup of a sour smelling bubbly liquid. He'd developed a taste for this caffeinated beverage several years ago and any time he needed to rush somewhere, he always made sure to have a cup along with him. Nodding to the captain, he took a seat on the left side, somewhere near the middle of the table and took another sip. He said nothing as he set the cup down and glanced at the padd he'd sat in front of.

From the roof of the conference room came the sound of shuffling like something was moving around up there. Then there was a few bangs before one of the roofing hatches came crashing down, landing behind the far row of chairs on the other side of the table. To the keen eye a small Human woman also fell down with the hatch.

"Ouch..." she said rubbing her head as she sat on the floor. The ships new Chief Engineer Lieutenant Haruna Mizuhara had entered the room. However she was filthy, grease and dirt on her face and her uniform scuffed and unzipped. No doubt she had been deep inside the ships systems looking for something. Using the nearest chair to stand up she perched against its back. "Sorry about that people. I'll put that on the fix list... oh wait, is this the senior officers briefing?"

Amanda jumped back startled when the woman fell onto the floor. "Are you alright? Do we need to call medical? Maybe we should," she continued hesitantly, looking at the Captain for his decision.

"I think you need to take a seat Lieutenant." Elijah responded.

Haruna slid down into the seat infront of her. "I'll be alright. I can fall from higher than that and bounce" she smiled.

Grace didn't comment, but she already knew the new Chief Engineer would be a handful. She would have to ensure there would be no surprise entrances into her office.

Scott walked into the conference room, PADD in one hand, Coffee in the other, and took one of the empty seats around the table.

'Lieutenant,' Yiv inclined his head and gave the man a wave. 'Welcome aboard.'

Scott set his Coffee down on the table and gave a small wave in return, "Thanks, lieutenant Yivliph, pleasure to meet you."

'The pleasure is all mine, I assure you,' Yiv smiled in return.

--------

"Good morning everyone, and welcome to the first official briefing of the Ontario's new Senior Staff. Now that you are all settled in and have your departments organised its time we get down to business." Elijah said to them all as he keyed in a few commands and the map zoomed in. "Dreadex or more specifically the Dreadexian Sector."

He zoomed into the map. “Our journey to the sector takes us through a zone called the Journeyman's corridor it’s a singular route surrounded by spatial anomalies and asteroid fields.” He then switched to something else. “The Quadrant is talking about this.....Cordanium....”

Yiv leaned in as the slide switched to the Cordanium. So that's its' name. Nobody mentioned the name in any reports. He decided to venture a question - what better time to show he'd turned over a new leaf? 'Do we know it's properties, sir?'

"Cordanium has uses in manufacturing, specifically ship building and also as a cleaner and more efficient energy source." Elijah responded to the question. "It works in both a solid and liquid state as well. Scientific research determines that you can build a substantial fleet and fuel it with enough of the stuff."

"Sounds a little too good to be true, if you ask me." Anahera said.

"Indeed," Grace said. Then, tongue-in-cheek she asked, "Forgive me for asking, but does it also cure the common cold?"

“I’d say if it did then medical science is now obsolete.” Elijah chuckled at her response.

Grace flashed him a smile in response.

Chuckling, Yiv was eager to bring the discussion back to the briefing, 'and the Jounreyman's Corridor? Sounds like a natural chokepoint to me, a good place to waylay this miracle mineral as it's being transported out of the sector.'

The Counselor was relieved that this mission did not sound like it was going to involve her greatly, because if it did, she might have to speak up and now that there were numerous people in this room, she was much less comfortable. She tried to focus her mind on the conversation, just in case there was something that might become important to her or the crew.

"Regardless of the scientific validity of cordanium, we still have a vast region of uncharted space unexplored by Starfleet which means we will no doubt be heading into the unknown." Elijah responded. "The Gorn, the Orions, remnants of the Romulan Empire all have a vested interest in this region and so our goal is to make sure that we do what we do best and seek out the mysteries of the universe."

Grace liked the idea of getting back to exploration. Even if this new discovery didn't pan out, there was much to learn here.

"The Orions and Romulans aren't exactly my biggest fans, but the Gorn are fans, because I retrieved their Royal Archive from a Consortium of Ferengi, Dopterians and Kobheerians, it was a real family affair." Anahera explained.

'You'll need to tell us that story sometime, Commander,' smiled Yiv. He turned to the Captain, 'anyone friendly to us out there in the sector?' Yiv noted the factions vying for control as the Captain carried on with his briefing.

"Perhaps, later, Lieutenant." Anahera said.

"Civilian reports indicate its practically a melting pot of alien races, we don't know who or what is living there but I know that it has attracted all magnitude of alien life." Elijah said to them all.

"Well, in the interests of keeping everyone safe, I believe I should be exempt from any diplomatic work." Anahera said.

"I'm a diplomat," Grace said. "I'd be happy to act in that capacity."

Yiv flashed a smile, 'I'm sure my department will be happy to assist in any preparations when we come across any new data about who we encounter.' The Intelligence Officer felt much better about this group of senior officers. On the last tour a lot of them, including himself, seemed to be looking for a way off the Ontario as fast as possible.

Amanda just started to melt into her chair. What use was she? The XO was not only the first officer but a counselor and diplomat. She was duplicative. So, best to just be prepared, just in case. However, she would be able to concentrate more on the needs of the crew.

Grace glanced at both Yiv and Amanda. She could definitely ask for help from the Chief Intelligence Officer. He likely had better resources for information. The counselor, however, concerned her. She noticed the slump and would make a point of asking for her help as well. While she was an experienced diplomat, she knew it would be a far more productive meeting if there were others who knew how to talk to people.

"Alright well then i want full reports from every department by end of day today, full inventory of all supplies as well." Elijah responded. "The Ontario will be going into uncharted and unkown space so I want us ready for every eventuality."

That was a tall order. Grace would try to be busy helping the others. She didn't want to be one who sat and waited.

Tensing up, Yiv anticipated the dismissal that was coming. He was eager to get to work. I wonder if there's enough time to slip back to the station to see if there's anyone there who's passed through the sector lately?. Maybe he'd send one of his junior officers to find out.

"So you have your orders." Elijah responded to them all. "Dismissed."

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