Back in Gold

Posted on Thu Nov 28th, 2013 @ 9:01am by Lieutenant Augustus Deakin & Captain Liarra Von

Mission: Picking Up the Pieces
Location: Commander's Office, Deck 12

[ON]

Gus left Commander Gunning to his duties and crossed Ops to the Commander's Office. He was still adjusting to his new reality, a new place in the galaxy, new people around him, a new uniform (another redesign, Starfleet? Come on!) and a whole new outlook on life. His rescue was almost complete, but he had to make a good impression on his new CO. This was going to be an important meeting.

He took a deep breath and thumbed the door chime.

Captain Von didn't even look up before telling the visitor to come in. For the past several weeks, her life had become little more than reading reports, status updates, docking logs, transfer orders, et cetera, et cetera. She welcomed the distraction, though she was certain that the station couldn't handle another crisis at the time being.

This particular report came from Lieutenant Le, an estimate of what he needed for a number of the largest repairs and requests for more cargo space to hold supplies. Unfortunately the available amount of cargo bays were dwindling fast since so many had been destroyed in the explosion. As exciting as the requests were, she was glad to talk to someone. She just wasn't expecting someone so tall.

Liarra picked herself off the couch and extended a hand to the newcomer. "I'm betting that you're Lieutenant Deakin. Am I right?"

Gus stood at ease and nodded curtly, "Yes, sir. Lieutenant Augustus Deakin, reporting."

She gestured towards the desk on the other side of the room. "Please, Lieutenant, have a seat." Von circled around him and sat in the chair on her side of the desk. "I hope you don't mind all the dust. You might have noticed, but we've been remodeling."

He sat down and surveyed the office, noting some dust but it was still a great deal better than where had been just a couple of weeks earlier. "I've heard this remodeling was not exactly planned," he said. "Evidenced by that great big hole in the side of the station I saw coming in this morning."

"Oh that? You barely notice it after a while." It was pretty evident by the tone in her voice that what she said wasn't true. "As you can imagine, getting that fixed is one of our biggest priorities right now." Liarra handed Gus the PADD she was reading. "Here's Lieutenant Le's latest requests. I'm sure you'll be interested in seeing them. Of particular interest is his complaint over the lack of cargo bays. My first thought was that if he needs more cargo bays, then he should build some, but hopefully you can handle it with a little more tact. I've never been the best at working with engineers."

Gus quickly scanned the PADD and came to the same conclusion as the captain. "I'm not exactly known for tact," he said, scrolling through the report. "But I'll do what I can to assist the lieutenant and his team. I'm sure we can conjure up some space for storage somehow. Are there any other priorities I should be aware of, sir?"

Liarra thought for a moment and shook her head. "Not that I can think of. Right now, I'd say our priority is getting the station back up and running, and it's going to take a lot. Let's focus resources to the rebuilding efforts, and of course, defense. But that can wait. Tell me a little about you, Lieutenant. What brings you out here, of all places? Most officers aren't exactly lining up to get this assignment."

The big operations officer paused a moment to consider his response and how best to tip-toe around the last seven years. The captain had no doubt seen his service record and her eyes would probably have lingered over the line that read only “Service Suppressed, Order of Starfleet Intelligence”. A juicy teaser like that would arouse all manner of curiosity in just about any reader, but a Starfleet Captain would understand that there was a good reason for such a suppression. He didn’t know Captain Von, but she was probably not likely to press the issue if he was vague.

After a moment he shrugged, “I suppose a guy like me just kind of fits in on the fringes,” he said, the corner of his mouth curling up into a half-grin. “Yeah, it’s not the most glamorous of postings, but it’s a job that needs doing. My choices weren't exactly extensive after my last assignment and, well, this one sounded like a real challenge.” He paused a moment, feeling satisfied with that answer; appropriately vague, without being too unclear. He sat back in the chair and added, “I enjoy a challenge, Captain.”

Liarra smiled and nodded her head. "Good to hear, Lieutenant. I expect that we're going to have quite the challenge out here."

Gus returned the smile, pleased at how he had handled that. No doubt it would become easier over time to not talk about where he had been for seven years, but this was an important milestone on that journey. He stood up suddenly and clapped his hands together, "Well then, Captain, with your leave, I ought to go get to work. We've got a starbase to fix."

Liarra stood and shook his hand again. "Of course, Lieutenant. Don't let me keep you. I would start with Lieutenant Le right away. I'm sure you can work out a plan. Oh, and Lieutenant, welcome aboard."

The Operations Officer smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Captain."


[OFF]


Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332

Lieutenant Augustus Deakin
Chief Operations Officer
Starbase 332