Reporting; As Ordered

Posted on Mon Jul 4th, 2011 @ 1:26pm by Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Bastin PhD & Captain Alexander Gunning

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Various
Timeline: SL D01; 1500hrs

[ON]

Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Bastin had spent a sum total of an hour after beaming aboard the station putting his meager affairs in order. In all, he'd managed to simply put what few clothes he'd brought with him from Earth and set a few pictures around the room of people and things that were important to him. He was, otherwise, one of the lightest travellers in Starfleet. Whether this was a point of pride or a bane to his existence, Jon wasn't entirely sure. Boon or bane, it was what it was and Jon didn't really see the point in lamenting over something that probably didn't matter to anyone but him. That thought invoked another one... did he even care?

That thought put an amused smirk on his face as he traversed the corridors between his new quarters... and what lavish quarters they were... and the turbolift that would take him, inevitably, to his new reporting official. That thought was a rather odd one. He'd spent the last four or so years reporting to the same people, and he'd gotten the feeling that he'd be in that job for the rest of his life... being a member of the JAG Corps wasn't a bad lot in life. His even more so because he was on the prosecution end of the bench, and later served as a tribunal magistrate. He idly wondered what it would have been like had he been on the losing end of most of those cases. Granted, without him, the prosecution wouldn't have always won, and the defense team would have had a much better chance of success... And then he weighed that with the knowledge that he would be, at times, defending an utterly guilty person. Jon wasn't sure he could live with that either...

As the turbolift he'd entered came to a stop on the designated deck, Cmdr. Bastin stepped off and made his way along yet another corridor, nodding to people and giving brief replies to passersby as he did so. The door that finally impeded his path of travel, that of Commodore Gunning, was his final destination, and with a tap of the chime, Jon waited for his first encounter with his new boss.

Gunning was somewhat delighted that he had requisitioned this office before leaving in pursuit of the Thaden. His decision to take another office closer to one of the observation decks and further from his main office in Main Operations meant that he could do a bit of paperwork here and there without having to light up his presence like a Christmas tree by walking across the Ops floor.

He reclined behind the curved desk and took stock for a moment. He had only missed a day, despite having been in the past for what seemed like weeks but the reports and requirements on his time were beginning to mount up. The USS Metis had arrived and he had Gilbert Bones going through it with a fine tooth-comb. Not that it was necessary- the Nova class was brand new. He just wanted to make sure she was ready to go. As soon as he told Nilani about her new assignment, he'd probably have to strap her down to keep her off the bridge.

The chime sounded in the office and Gunning leant forward to check his chronometer. Fifteen hundred hours. He thought, I really need an aide. "Come in!"

Lieutenant Commander Bastin walked in as the doors parted for him, taking note that he'd most likely interrupted the man, given the somewhat hasty position he was taking up behind the desk having worked so closely with Flag officers, the 'subordinate' filter in his head was rather slow to kick on, which prompted him to blurt out, "You don't have to take your feet off the desk on my account. I'm just here to say hi anyway... shouldn't take me long."

Alex chuckled. The brown-collared Lieutenant Commander had quite a way to deal with a superior but, if anything, the Commodore welcomed it. Ever since Admiral Sanchez had stuck a box round his pip people were constantly minding their Ps & Qs. It didn't help that Flag Officers were a rare occurrence around the Starbase whereas Captains were a common site, what with the number of ships that passed through every day. It made it very difficult to go anywhere unnoticed...

"Lieutenant Commander..." Gunning flicked a PADD into his hand, realizing that his name was at the top of the report that he'd just been reading, "Bastin, I presume?"

"That's me," the man grinned, "One each Jonathon Alexander Bastin, PhD. And every now and then, people just call me Jon. Pleasure to be back in the Diplomatic Corps, let me tell you... being a Court Magistrate just wasn't where I envision myself now that I've had the chance to do it."

The Commodore opened his palm so as to offer the man a chair. "This report just here says that you're just the man I need. Admiral Sanchez himself seems to think that you're the perfect person to shake our Diplomatic Corps into life," Gunning continued to flick through the report, "I think he might be onto something."

"I'd like to think so. I've been passionate about diplomacy for a rather long time... spent a good deal of my formative years working my ass off getting my education so I could do the job the proper justice. Other than a few mishaps..." Jon said, hinting to some of the information that would be found in his service records, "I think I've done pretty well for myself. It's not every day a young Lieutenant gets to play Ambassador to the Federation. Granted, it's not every day a Federation Ambassador gets killed by their own aides... but let's not cheapen the accomplishment with details..."

Gunning nodded slowly in agreement. "The devil, as they say, is in the details." Alex had seen enough to know that too much focus on the minutiae of things and one could lose the effect in most things. He rose and strolled across to the replicator, "Can I get you a refreshment?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Jon shook his head, "I appreciate the offer though. So if I might be so bold, Commodore, why is it you have such an urgent need for diplomats out here? Not that I'm complaining, it got me off Earth again... I'm just not too familiar with this part of the galaxy and I haven't had a chance to brush up. Might be nice to know what I'm getting into."

"Our need is based on our geographic location, to be honest." Gunning replied. "We're too far from Cestus III to utilize their Diplomatic Corps and plus, they have their hands full with keeping the Gorn & the Klingons happy. However, we are in a position between a power that is about three unkind words away from declaring war on us and surrounded by peoples that are yet to either be contacted or have, at the very least, not come to any kind of trade agreement yet. Ambassadors are all well and good but down here, they're seen as pompous, out of touch if you will. The Diplomatic Corps has a slightly more officious connotation attached to it."

"Can't argue with you there," Jon nodded, "So just how far am I going to be authorized to go? Given that I do still hold my Ambassadorial title, even if I haven't used it in years, and the fact that as a Starfleet Officer there are channels and such that I may or may not have to go through to get things done on the spot..."

The diplomat paused after a moment, realizing he was spouting nothing but jargon at the man, "Basically, where does my personal power end, and yours begin? Am I just a go between or can I make things happen independently of authorization if the need arises and it will be honored when the time to collect on my word comes around."

Gunning considered the question for a moment. He should have come to expect the man to have been that forward. "Largely, your word will be good enough. Starfleet wants you to keep to First Contact protocols and any interaction with the Ritorians will likely have to go through me. However, your department will have license to make things happen. This is a frontier land, Jonathon. If things need to happen then they need to happen."

"Good... makes life easier..." the diplomat nodded, "And with that little business out of the way, you have anything for me? Questions, orders, recommendations for places to eat that don't taste like replicator garbage?"

"I would recommend that you speak to Doctor Daniels. You know how Doctors are, if you don't get down for your physical then there'll be hell to pay." He picked up a PADD and passed it across the desk. "As for orders, I want you to look at the make-up of the Diplomatic Corps department on the station. Get rid of who you need to get rid of and bring in the people you want. Be ruthless."

"Sounds like a smashing idea," Jon said, his British background leaking through the otherwise neutral speech patterns he possessed, "I'll get right on that. Thanks for your time, Commodore. I'm sure we'll be seeing way too much of one another way too soon."

With that, Lt. Commander Bastin excused himself from the office, heading off to take his advice and get himself probed...

[OFF]

Commodore Alexander Gunning
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Bastin, PhD
Head of Diplomacy - Archanis Sector
Starfleet Diplomatic Corps