Active Duty

Posted on Sat Jan 31st, 2015 @ 8:33pm by Ensign Corrine Steiner & Lieutenant Augustus Deakin & Master Warrant Officer Vestara Stronghold

Mission: Vagrants, Vagabonds, and Thieves
Location: Hospital Visitor's Lounge > Starbase Reconstruction Workshop
Timeline: Current

[ON]

Corrie stared apprehensively in the full length mirror. Wearing a Starfleet uniform gave her the willies. She wasn't up on regulations, so she didn't know how formal or restricted dress was on this base. Today, she felt a need to wear earrings. And how to style? Three different people had given her hair brushes, so she took the hint.

Forceful insistence to be released from Sickbay was probably what the doctors were looking for. If she had the energy and drive to do that, then it indicated that she was ready for duty. The first thing to do would be to report to the bos'n to receive duty assignments. With a quick check of starbase maps, she briskly walked the corridors. Upon arrival, she presented herself, "Bos'n? Ensign Steiner reporting for assignment."

[Starbase Reconstruction Workshop]

Reports and forms were not fun, not to mention a constant flow for Master Warrant Officer Vestara Stronghold. She was beginning to miss her days on a starship but now wasn't the time to get cold feet. The Trill had finally read the last report that the reconstruction was progressing slower then she would have liked.

Though with the added flow of refugees from their worlds and the increased commerce that that influx had generated thanks to the starbase populace telling their business suppliers about had not helped the Starfleet personnel attempting to keep order, not to mention repairs to all who needed it. The starbase itself being on that list near the top or at the top as Vestara was trying to get what the station needed for full re-construction.

Vestara was filling in the last of the requisition forms when she heard her position nickname announced along with a name. She looked up to see a woman approaching her. "Ensign Steiner, ah yes, the escapee the Captain granted sanctuary here. Welcome aboard and you're ready for work, excellent and frankly we need all the personnel we can get for this." She said with a smile as she offered her hand.

Corrie was a tactile woman, she drew close and warmly clasped the extended hand. "It's a pleasure!" She surveyed the busy hive of repair activity, "My crewman accesses have been enabled, so I'm ready to dive in. You point, and I'll go." She felt confident that she could now lift a significant chunk of logistical burdens.

"Great." Vestara smiled. "Well what are you.. Okay better question is what do you have more experience in doing in repair work?" She asked.

"I would say, resource allocations. I'm pretty good at figuring usage estimates, coordinating technical and support teams, and creative scrounging."

"Well that is all my job, and sadly I'm the only one who can authorise allocation proposals but if you could help by joining a repair team would be great." Vestara began. "This is only until those in the teams get a feel for how to interact with you and know you before I can grant you a supervisory role. This way they know you will do what you will order others to do." She stared at the other woman not blinking for a few long moments. "Plus this will put the team members at ease knowing I picked someone who has been active in the repair work. I do however expect you to actually pitch in even then for we have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in."

Corrie felt an inner smile which didn't escape through her fatigue to the surface. Boatswains, like chief engineers and medical officers, had their own peculiar ideas about who was in command. "I'm no engineer, but I'll be happy to pitch in wherever I'm needed."

"Though I will introduce you to the Chief." Vestara said as the thought occurred to her. "Come on," she gestured that Corrie to follow her.

She had to duck and dodge to avoid spurts of welding sparks and fast moving tool carts. A healthy fear was the mother of alertness.

[Time Jump - Chief's Office]

Vestara tapped at the chime before she turned to Corrie and smiled. "I am sorry I didn't mean to offend you earlier ma'am." She said since she was a Non-Commissioned Officer and Corrie is a Commissioned Officer. "I sometimes forget things when I am engrossed in work and chaotic work since there is a million and one events going on here."

Corrie smiled, "No need for apology, my friend. Rank protocols can inhibit as much as they enable. I always remember a naval incident of antiquity. Over voice radio, an admiral argued with an seaman over who should change course to avoid a collision. The admiral pointed out his rank and the fact that he was in a battleship. The seaman pointed out the fact that he was in a lighthouse."

Despite herself Vestara found herself laughing and hard. She found it hilarious. Once she had stopped and wiped a few tears away she took a deep breath. "What happened next?" She asked.

Corrie shrugged, "The good admiral had to comply with the seaman's instruction to change course lest he crash into the sea shore."

"Silly Admiral." Vestara said trying very hard not to start laughing again. She glanced at the Chief of Operations' Office wondering what was taking the Lieutenant so long. She turned back to Corrie. "I wonder what he is doing in there," she commented in a conspiratory tone, with a little evil half smile.

The human sighed sympathetically. "Indication of task overload. Not a healthy sign." She shook her head, "Not a good way to live."

Deakin was not in a good mood. He sat at his desk seemingly buried beneath a pile of PADDs that were recently delivered by his yeoman. They were resource requests from the civilian vessels currently clouding the space around the starbase. As if he didn't have enough on his plate, now he had to receive, assess and (in most cases) deny cap-in-hand merchant skippers and liner captains. The strain of the starbase's resources was beginning to show on his face.

At first he didn't hear the door chime, but when it buzzed a second time it sliced through his cluttered mind like a bow through choppy water. "What?" he called, dreading what added burden was about to walk through his door.

Corrie 'bravely' gestured to Vestara with hint of a smile, "After you?"

Vestara glared at her new friend, in a 'oh you' kinda way. She bounded into the office like she owned the place, the only way she saw to get attention, and not always good, was to be noisy. "Lieutenant sir, this is Ensign Corrine Steiner, the Captain had granted her sanctuary here on the starbase for reasons I do not know." She began noticing the bothered look on his face, she also learned that being quick will also get things done.

Given the lieutenant's obvious 'barbed wire aura', formality was Corrie's best protection. She gestured a military salute. It was a gentle, polite movement, not the sharp, British style. Her voice was quiet, "Sir."

"She is ready to contribute to the starbase's repairs effort. In order for her to do so she will need your authorization and instructions as for what you would like her to do, unless you wish for me to help her get involved with whatever, Sir." Vestara finished and stood straight.

Deakin looked at the Boatswain as though she had just told him that a herd of ravenous bugblatter beasts were staring blankly at names on the arrivals wall in the lower promenade. After a moment's pause, he looked from Stronghold to the pile of PADDs strewn across his desk and then back up to his senior NCO. "Bosun," he started, not caring about the sharp edge to his tone as he gestured to the ever increasing mass of work. "Does it look like I'm particularly concerned with personnel assignments at the moment?"

Before she could answer, the lieutenant waved a dismissive hand in the air, "Just take her. There's plenty of work to do around here; assign her to one of your teams and be done with it."

Corrie almost shook her head as she thought, ~This man needs help... lots... of help.~

It went better then she had expected it to go, Vestara gave a crisp salute. "You got it sir, remember Lieutenant I am always at your disposal for whatever help you need," with that she about-faced and gestured for Corrie to follow her out of the Lieutenant's office.

Wasting no time in beating a hasty retreat, Corrie offered a quick, polite smile and a nod to Deakin on her way out.

[In the Corridor]

Once the door closed Vestara found herself smiling. "See, quick and simple, though he is stressed and I gave him the option to assign you so he can't complain should he forget. I also informed him I am there for him, he only has to decide to accept my help." She said having covered all angles.

"I have the feeling that his is too overburdened. We might be of best help by taking our own initiative."

"You have no idea, and yes but it is wise to try not to counter anything that could complicate his job further." Vestara said as she gestured back the way they had come. "Well let's get to work."

Corrie picked up the pace to keep up. With a brush of her fingers over her wristwatch, the contact lenses over her eyes took on faint glimmers. Then, with the data and schematic feeds displaying on her retina, she raised her hands to begin typing flurries at virtual, multilevel symbols. She made special effort to stagger her walk to one side of the leading Vestara. It wouldn't be the first, tenth, or even twentieth time that a distracted Corrie had walked into people.

Vestara had noticed the light flickers in Corrie's eyes as she glanced back to make sure the Ensign was with her at her fast pace. She slowed a little. "What are those?" She asked gestured with an open palm towards the other woman's eyes.

Corrie spread her fingers apart, causing the retinal images to fade. "Oh, standard tech glassed miniaturized into contact lenses. I got them in Kyoto, Japan." She shrugged slightly, "As long as I have an off switch to keep me from going insane, I much prefer it to being chained to a console."

[OFF]

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MWO Vestara Stronghold
Lt. Augustus Deakin
Ens. Corrine Steiner

Starbase 332
Pegasus Fleet