Bright Eyes, Strong Hearts

Posted on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 @ 2:07pm by Captain Alexander Gunning & Captain Liarra Von & Lieutenant JG Allison Price & Petty Officer 2nd Class Harlon Francis
Edited on on Wed Oct 20th, 2010 @ 2:11pm

Mission: Ten Little Diplomats
Location: Runabout, Commanding Officer's Office [Ops]
Timeline: MD01 1654

[ON]

The darkened cockpit of the runabout was all that was keeping the pilot focussed on the controls in front of his face. Doing milk runs from Federation dropships that couldn't be bothered to take their new charges the whole way to their destination hadn't been high on his list of priorities when he'd enlisted in Starfleet.

Therein lay the rub, of course. Enlisted. He wasn't an officer, he had no standing or say in where he ended up and instead had to cope with being a ferry for bright-eyed young officers on their way to start their exciting careers at the forefront of the Federation. Stupid kids, he thought as he flicked on the autopilot and made his way to the replicator.

As the blue hue of the replicator momentarily illuminated the small cockpit area he caught sight of a girl through the glass. Well, you won't need a phaser, he leered inwardly, you're stunning enough as it is. He peered at her through the glass and noticed the approach of another youngster towards her. A Trill. They gave him the creeps and there was no way he was going to compete against a young man who was built like a medieval fortress.

Through the window, the Trill male sat down and pulled out a PADD from his carry bag. He seemed entirely uninterested in the potential attractiveness of the girl, and more focused on whatever fascinating thing he happened to be scrutinizing as he scrolled forward with the tip of his left index finger. He sat straight-backed, leaning slightly against the seat and reaching up to pull down the safety harness over his shoulders once again. Along with the PADD, he also had produced a steaming blue mug of raktajino perched off to the side, which he sipped at periodically. He gave a brief nod toward the girl as he looked up, in such a way that it seemed he simply hadn't noticed her before. "Good morning," he said to her in his usual friendly tones, before he turned back to his materials and waited to be docked in the massive starbase up ahead.

The young girl had spent most of the trip staring out the window. The wide-eyed cadet was on her first real trip away from home. It was the chance to explore the unknown that made her want to join Starfleet; it was her knack with technology that provided the ticket. The streaking stars had her completely mesmerized through most of the trip. Only when the trill officer spoke up was she reminded that there were other people on the ship. "Oh, good...good morning, sir. I'm still a little nervous about my assignment."

The man gave her a deep nod. "You will probably be nervous until you gain enough experience to override that feeling, Cadet," he said. It was blunt, but he gave her a reassuring smile. "Focus on keeping calm and doing what you're tasked to do. It will give you something to focus on," he said with a small shrug. He remembered his days as a cadet, though he was more excited than nervous during those years.

The girl nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'll try my best to stay calm. I've just never been this far away from home." She looked down at her hands, which she was fiddling with nervously. "It's exciting, but a little frightening too."

"You'll be all right," Davik assured her. "Everybody goes through it. Nothing but time will cure it, unfortunately."

The runabout shuddered to a halt as the Starbase heaved into visual contact ahead of them. Francis checked his auto-pilot readout and found that they were running into a Federation blockade in the vicinity of the station. The communicator chirruped and the face of a Starfleet fighter pilot appeared on his screen.

"Runabout nine-four-two-theta-iota?" The masked face asked.

"Affirmative." Francis replied, transmitting his orders and advanced docking clearance to the fighter. Sure, the thing was tiny but it could likely blow their entire craft away with one well-placed hit.

"Okay, Runabout. Everything seems to check out here. Supplementary order for the pilot is attached though," his counterpart replied, "take it slow and steady. Trapper, out."

Supplementary orders? He asked as he began to read the bottom of his original orders. 'Reassignment of Petty Officer 3rd Class Harlon Francis.' Crap.

He flicked his communicator panel. "This is the pilot, our estimated docking time with Starbase three-three-two is fifteen minutes. Repeat: estimated docking time with Starbase three-three-two in fifteen minutes."

Davik turned back to the cadet sitting beside him. "You should probably get your things ready," he advised the girl as he stood up, slinging his carry bag over his shoulder and grabbing his raktajino as the large looming structure cascaded through the viewport windows, lit up like a beacon in the night. "It looks like we're almost there." A half-smile later, Davik had ducked out to his designated cubby-hole where most of his luggage was stored, the most prominent of which was a duffel bag stuffed as much as it could take. He placed it over his shoulder along with the carry bag and waited for the runabout to dock itself into the bay.

Allison nodded in agreement. She grabbed her lone duffel bag and stared in amazement at the massive structure. It's gleaming blue hull was lit up like a Christmas tree; hundreds of thousands of tiny lights twinkling on her surface. The young engineer was simply in awe, speechless from the sight as the station crew even larger as they approached. She hung the bag from her shoulder and rubbed her arms together to try to get rid of the goosebumps, hoping that the men didn't notice.

With a reassuring thud, the tiny vessel entered the docking bay of the Starbase. It was like child's play for Francis to dock into these things considering the sheer scale of the bays on the Stardock class. Compared to the tiny landing areas on the surrendered Nor Class stations, this was like hitting a skyscraper with a pea.

"Docking sequence complete." He reported to the dockmaster. "Repressurise shuttlebay."

A moment later and it was safe for them to disembark. Once again, he spoke into the communicator panel. "This is your pilot speaking; we have successfully docked with the starbase and you are now clear to disembark. You will find the Quartermaster's staff waiting outside to assign you quarters and duty stations." He chuckled inwardly. "Thank you for flying Air Harlon; we hope to see you again in the future."

Davik tilted his head wryly. "Air Harlon," he repeated to himself in a mumble, amusedly. It wasn't very original, he decided, but it was kind of funny. He stepped forward, looking back over his shoulder to ensure the girl had got her proper footing before he ducked out of the main area and through the airlock leading to the station.

Almost immediately he was greeted by a short blonde woman in a yellow uniform who handed him two separate PADDs. Davik nodded at her. "Thank you, miss," he said in good nature.

"No problem. Those contain the station's layout, internal schematics, turbolift numbers, your duty station and quarters assignments," she rattled off crisply. "And, oh, welcome to Starbase 332."

Allie took her own PADDs from the woman. "Thank you, sir."

Whirling on his feet, Davik tossed a, "Thanks!" to her with a wave.

He headed down the corridors, looking wide-eyed at the vastness of the pillars around him and managed to get lost in a sea of people on the promenade before he bent down to consult his PADD. The woman had stated that it contained schematics and map layouts. Which way to the captain's office... Davik circled the PADD with his index finger before pointing to a specific place on it. A ha! He sprung to his feet once again and joined the flurry of bodies floating on the river of crowded public. He hopped up a flight of stairs and entered a turbolift, his head in his PADD the entire time. His body was springing with excited, eager energy that he clearly struggled to maintain. Another woman in the turbolift rose an eyebrow at him.

"First day?"

"It's possible," Davik returned happily, spinning out of the lift into Ops before he skidded to a halt in front of a room marked 'COMMANDING OFFICER'. Davik counted his blessings that he had, fortunately, learned to read as a child and hit the panel to walk in. In his meandering about the station, looking caught-up in all of the fancy shops, billboards, and personnel, the cadet that had been on the shuttle with him seemed to already be there. Davik arched an eyebrow and came to a stop beside her.

Allie smiled at Davik's confusion. "I may be excited and nervous, but I'm still an engineer. I've been studying this station's layout for weeks."

Davik looked slightly crestfallen, but he rebounded quickly. "Well, so've I!" he countered hastily. "Honestly. It just looks so much different in real life. It's so...well, big," he finished lamely. Deciding to totally throw the conversation altogether after making a fool of himself, Davik turned to the commanding officer. "Good morning, Captain," Davik said brightly to the man across from him.

The girl straightened her back and stood at attention upon seeing the captain. "Cadet Junior-Grade Allison Price, reporting for duty, sir."

The Captain eyed the two over the PADD he was reading before speaking, "You could learn a thing or two from the Cadet's form of address, Lieutenant." He smiled. "It's good to have you both aboard."

"Cadet Price, I understand you've been displaying quite an aptitude for engineering?"

The third-year cadet blushed a little at the compliment disguised as a question. It was true, she had been displaying a strong 'knack' and had been receiving good marks from all of her instructors. That was a big part of why she was selected for this internship. "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. I've been trying to do what I can to keep ahead."

"Good stuff. You're being posted to engineering and will be going between three-three-two and our garrison vessel Jackal." The captain replied. "You'll report to Chief Bones. He's currently aboard the Jackal on patrol so go and get yourself settled in in the mean time."

He turned to the new Security Chief. "Lieutenant Tieran. I assume you're up to speed with our security investigation protocols?"

Without bothering to comment on his lapse, Davik merely nodded contemplatively. "Aye, I am, sir," he agreed, still generally relaxed, though he had folded his hands behind his back. "I also brought with me from Starfleet Command a revised copy of interrogation procedures and prisoner transport protocols as they've been updated. My supervisor instructed me to bring 'em, so there they are." He pulled a PADD out of his pocket, the very one he'd been reading on the shuttle. Since the Dominion War and the arrest of the Maquis, prisoner treatment had been modified extensively to account for personal feelings, torture, brutality, and medical health. "Starfleet's very own Geneva Convention," Davik quipped. "Though I have to say it limits a lot of what I could do before with a prisoner, so I'll have to get used to it. Not that I went around torturing anybody," he assured, "But for example if I wanted to talk to a prisoner for two hours, I wouldn't be able to. Time has to be modified, you can only interview a prisoner for an hour at a time, and you have to take three hour breaks between each hour to avoid stress. Or something. In the night, a five-hour break is given for sleep. Apparently that was a big issue, a lot of security guys were forcibly depriving prisoners of sleep to make 'em more co-operative." Davik placed the PADD on top of Gunning's desk. "Well, there you have it, sir."

"Excellent, excellent." The Captain replied. "You're going to have a bit of handful at the moment. As you doubtless know, a Cardassian delegation have just arrived on the station for a meeting with General Rohan and Ambassador T'Laarin."

"All right," Davik said as he listened. He leaned down and plucked a new PADD out of his carry bag, beginning to analyze the information on both the delegation and the representatives. He glanced upward as the captain continued speaking.

The Captain looked on. "Unfortunately we now have the CSS Starburst, a freighter which has requested assistance as well as a prison transport docked with the station. These are quite unexpected events and for both to happen on the same day; so close together is something which slightly worries me. I want you to brief your security squads and remain vigilant."

"Yes, Captain. I'll post a service with the Cardassian delegation just to be safe, and I'll install extra-protocol procedures throughout the occupied brig spaces. It's suspicious that all these things are happening in one go, but rest assured the security team will do all they can," Davik ensured.

"All right. Meet your team, make your preparations and get a report on my desk

[OFF]

Captain Alex Gunning
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant (JG) Davik Tieran
Chief Security Officer

Petty Officer 3rd Class Harlon Francis
Logistical Pilot

Cadet (JG) Allison Price
Engineering Intern
Starbase 332