Communication Upgrade

Posted on Tue Mar 8th, 2011 @ 8:14am by Lieutenant JG Allison Price & Lieutenant JG Kili Dell

Mission: Shore Leave - Archa IV
Location: Chief Security Officer's Office - Deck 13
Timeline: SL D02 - 1430

The third year cadet fumbled her way across Deck 13, a PADD and tool kit in one hand, and a new communications module in the other. Chief Bones needed her to replace the module in the security chief's office with an upgraded model, something that should allow for better encryption of sensitive messages. The actual operation was pretty straightforward. A first year recruit could probably do the job, but the Chief figured it would be a good task for his intern to do. Checking her PADD to make sure she was in the right place, Allie reached up and pressed the door chime, her attention still on the PADD.

"Enter," came the voice of the quite young security officer. She seemed to be browsing through a PADD of her own, not even bothering to lift her head to glance at the person she had just asked inside her office. The trill simply figured that if her attention was needed it would be requested. Her desk was practically flooded with items that one could only describe as useless, making it look like she had been trying to tidy the place up after the previous owner had vacated it and had stopped somewhere in the middle to read through the PADD she was currently perusing.

Cadet Price strolled through the open sliding doors. "Ensign Virrak, I have a few minor..." Her voice trailed off as she lowered the PADD, revealing the Trill sitting in front of her. "I'm sorry, I may be in the wrong place. I was looking for the security chief's office. I still can't find my way around the station." The cadet started to turn away when she was interrupted by Dell.

"No, this is the right place," the security officer let her voice trail off as she raised her head to examine the woman, putting a finger on the PADD to indicate the place she had reached in her reading. The young trill smiled sweetly at the cadet, tilting her head slightly to the side in a manner that would betray her interest, at least to people who knew her. "Kili Dell, chief of security. And you are..." the trill continued, standing up from her chair and extending her right hand out in the way humans usually greeted each-other.

Allie let out a sigh of relief. She hated when she got lost. Adjusting the load she was carrying to free up a hand, she reached out to shake Kili's. "Cadet Allison Price, ma'am. I'm an intern with the engineering department. I'm sorry for the confusion. I didn't realize the new chief of security had arrived."

Kili shuddered at the 'title'. She had certainly never enjoyed the thought of being called ma'am, so she made it a point to inform everyone that might find the need to do so to just use her formal title instead, "Ensign would do just fine... ma'am... well, let's just say we can reserve that for when I get older." She winked at the cadet and gave her usual sunny smile. "But where are my manners, it just won't do for you to stand there, carrying all that stuff. Set it down ummm..." she thought as she waved one of her hands in the air in an attempt to point at a spot that wasn't presently cluttered before clearing her throat and continuing, "Well, I assume you know where to set it down better than I do. I'm afraid engineering has never been my forte."

"Of course...," Allie paused, stopping herself from saying ma'am. "...Ensign. Security and tactical have never really been my forte either. I always dread the physical activities at the Academy. I just prefer to tinker." The cadet knelt down to an access panel close to the floor and laid her gear next to it.

The trill felt the need to probe a bit further. After all, she wouldn't be a security officer if she didn't get to know the people she was working with a bit better, "So... how's life on three-three-two treating you?" A soft groan came from her lips as she realized exactly how the question sounded. Perhaps it would be a better idea to just shut up and go back to reading logs instead.

Allie was a little surprised by the attempt at small talk. Most of her limited interaction with members of the senior staff were rather short. There hadn't really been much conversation. In fact, there really hadn't been much interaction between her and any of the officers. She mostly spent her time with the noncoms, and she'd out rank them in a little over a year. "I suppose life's been pretty good here. This is my first time on a trip to deep space. I haven't ventured too far from Earth before I started this internship, so it's been interesting trying to get used to things. I'm sure you're pretty used to space travel by now. Other than that, I'm just nervous about making good impressions on the senior officers, especially the command staff. They'll be responsible for writing up my performance reviews and recommendations. How about you, Ensign?"

Kili shook her head slightly, letting out a sigh before answering the question, "Haven't really had much of a time to get into things as of yet. I'm sure you had already gathered that by the state of the office though. Still, things could have certainly been better. The worst thing about being assigned a high-ranking position at my age is the... let's say agitation that it causes with older, more experienced people who end up working under you. Believe me, you never want to be in a position like that." The trill shook her head and moved around her desk to lean back against it, more interested in the conversation than in the logs at the moment. Plus, having a friend certainly wouldn't hurt her situation either. "Even the nicest person would end up resenting you if they feel like they got passed over for a promotion because of you," she added, her eyes locked on the human.

"I can certainly understand that," Allison replied, nodding. "I've noticed some resentment coming from some of the non-commissioned officers I've been working with. Most of them seem know far more about the equipment they're working on than the officers supervising them. I know some of them get resentful when they are told how to do something that thing have been doing for years." The cadet shook her head. "That's not really the same thing, though."

"You're right. Not exactly the same, but still... I guess you could say it's a similar issue. The problem most likely coming from the fact that everyone has ideas on how things should be done and not bothering to even check if their ideas are more efficient in any way," the trill said, letting a small grin form on her lips as she watched the cadet working while the two conversed. "I personally try to keep an open mind, but there's only so much I can do when someone has already set their mind on hating me for the spot I was given," she added, pursing her lips to consider her next words before saying something that could be considered inappropriate. "But either way, what can you tell me about the star base itself? Any interesting places to go and unwind after work?" That certainly sounded better, the trill thought, not a direct question, but still one that could give insight into the cadet's habits.

Allie paused a moment from her work to think. "Let's see, I don't have access to the officer's lounges or recreation areas, but I sometimes I head to one of the natatoriums and get in a few laps. There are some public gardens and arboretums if you're interested in that sort of thing." She closes her eyes and nods her head slightly as she thinks. "Of course, there is a large number of shops and clubs on the promenade levels. I haven't found them all yet. Probably the best club on the station is Warp 12, though it can get pretty busy sometimes. I heard that the new owner just renovated the whole place shortly before I came aboard. I guess it just depends on what you like to do. Chances are, on a station this large, there's a place to do it."

Kili gave a slow nod of her head as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. Nothing unexpected, though it had provided her with less information than she would have liked. "Warp 12, huh? I'm not much of a drinker to be honest... I actually have found the Earth teas quite nice in that regard. Especially that one a certain Enterprise captain ended up being famous for - Earl Grey," the trill said, closing her eyes and lifting her hands up to rub her temples gently while she thought, "How about holo suites? That is... holo programs meant for entertainment purposes specifically?"

The cadet grinned. "There are plenty of those too. Usually you need to reserve a time, but there are quite a few. The nice thing about this being a Starfleet station is that most of the holosuites are free to use for Starfleet personnel. There are a lot of private holosuites on the promenade levels that are owned by various proprietors. I've noticed that the privately owned holosuites have larger selections of programs, which is what they like to advertise. That's the rub, you have to pay to use those. Still, I've made some deals with one of the owners. I do repairs and upgrades on my off time for free, and in exchange I get some holosuite time. It's not a bad deal. Do you like to spend your off duty time there?"

The trill quirked one of her eyebrows up. It seemed the two had something in common, which could work to her advantage, but she wasn't going to push the matter or press her luck. "I do enjoy holo suites... though it also depends on the kind of program that's being run. I do recall this place near Starfleet Headquarters that had just my kind of stuff running," the security officer said with a slight grin on her lips. She wasn't really going to elaborate on the kind of stuff she enjoyed, nor mention the place she tended to frequent when she had the time off training to relax in her own way as the establishment, if one could call it that, tended to be rather famous with its specific selection. "Perhaps we could pay one of those a visit sometime. Provided we can figure out a program that would be entertaining to both of us," the trill added with a sweet smile playing on her lips.

Allie missed Kili's smile since she had stuck her head back into compartment. She had work to do, but she still couldn't help but be excited by the thought of a new friend. A huge grin appeared on her face. "I'm sure we can find something that we'd both enjoy. I have some time saved up if your interested."

The trill paused for a moment, taking her time to admire the form of the human in front of her. She quickly realized what she was doing and snapped out of her trance though, saying rather hastily, "I certainly wouldn't mind, though I'll make sure to pay you back."

Allison pulled her head out of the compartment and switched tools. "Don't worry about paying me back. It will be nice to have some company for a change."

Kili gave a slow nod of her head, beaming a smile to the cadet as she came out of the compartment. "If you insist. We can certainly pay one of those holo suites a visit after our shifts are over. Might take a bit of time to figure out something we'd both enjoy, but I'm sure it'd be worth it," she said, shifting her posture a bit to lean back against the desk a bit more.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." The young engineer finished calibrating the new device, and replaced the panel. She stuck her tools back in her kit, and joined her new friend leaning on the desk. "When is your shift over?"

The trill gave a crooked grin at that question, making sure to not let her eyes wander a bit too much along the woman next to her before answering, "About eighteen hundred. Hopefully there won't be any emergencies to take care of after that. I assume yours would probably be over by then?"

"I have a couple more stops to make today still, but I should be done by then." Allie offers a little smile of her own. "I'll just meet you there. It's Deck 603, Section 194. You can just contact me if you can't find it, Ensign."

"Should have no trouble finding it. I'll see you then," the security officer said, shooting a playful wink to the human before making her way back behind her desk and adding, "Well, I better get back to it then... never thought being my own boss would be such hard work."

Allie smiled and nodded. "I need to finish my rounds anyway. I'll see you tonight." The young engineer gathered her tools and the old communications module and made her way out the door, a slight spring in her step.

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Ensign Kili Dell
Chief of Station Security

Cadet Junior Grade Allison Price
Engineering Intern