All Hands on Deck (Part 8 of 9)

Posted on 06 Mar 2015 @ 6:13pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Commander Amynta Markos & Petty Officer 1st Class Siren Hex Saalm & Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda & Petty Officer 1st Class Rebecca Williams & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Asahi Kita & Petty Officer 3rd Class Vermeer Talbot & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Riley Cameron & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Arthur Willis

3,256 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo - Decks 5 & 7, Intelligence Office, Main Engineering
Timeline: MD 44 - 0952 hrs

Previously, on All Hands on Deck (Part 7)...

"Hmm..." Lirha walked down the line and inspected each of the crew members' uniforms, and thankfully did not find fault with any of them. All appeared to be well and there was even a new chaplain who had come aboard, the fellow named Walker. It certainly couldn't hurt to have more moral and spiritual guidance considering the crew's increasingly diverse nature, she mused to herself.

"What work have you all been recently engaged in?" she asked the group, wondering specifically what they were up to on a daily basis. Being a former CIO herself, Lirha knew there was undoubtedly a bit of monotony involved in analytical intelligence work, but hopefully there was something interesting worth reporting.

And Now, the Continuation...

[ON]

Markos remained silent for a moment, to allow the rest of the team to say what they were working on. If no one replied, she would butt in herself. But for now, she wanted to see and hear what the Support department had to say for their daily work.

When no-one spoke up first, Tyrion took a small step forward, though he remained reasonably straight and at attention. "The nightshift is reasonably quiet ma'am," he reported quietly, "but it allows me to gather most information and sift through it because at night the computer runs faster ma'am. And before the first day shift, I have everything ready for Commander Markos to prioritize and read."

"And exactly what information have you been gathering recently, chief?" Lirha asked in a rather direct manner. She knew the Intelligence type very well along with their hesitancy to expand upon statements unless necessary, but now was such a case and the newly-appointed rear admiral expected to be brought up to-speed with everything the department was currently undertaking.

Tyrion hesitated briefly, as intelligence was usually sensitive information. Though, as an admiral surely she was privy to this? He shifted his gaze briefly to Markos, before looking back at Saalm. "Klingons ma'am, fleet movements, communications, armament. Anything I can pick up ma'am."

"Hmm...spying on our ridged-forehead friends, are you?" replied Saalm. Of course, the KDF had their own intelligence network that was equally as competent, and such 'acquisition' of sensitive data was commonplace on both sides even during peace times.

"You could call it that, yes ma'am," Tyrion answered carefully, "the only thing I don't know is what their captain is having for dinner." He wrinkled his nose as he thought about it. "Though I can guess, or find out if I really have to."

"Well, chief, please be careful. I am sure I do not need to remind you that you would most likely become a wanted man in the Klingon Empire and executed if your espionage were to be discovered." In reality, though, the Empire was quite adept at their own brand of counter-intelligence, and recently fed huge data troves of false information to the Federation on a daily basis. Sorting through such type of data had been Lirha's specialty several years prior to her appointment as Galileo's commander, and she knew not all of what the petty officer had gathered was accurate.

"Heaven forbid," Siren chuckled softly, shaking her head as she watched her wife....the Admiral....with shining blue eyes. "We're picking up a lot of chatter, but it's pretty much just white noise at the moment. Nothing to worry about, Admiral. But rest assured, if we find anything that could be useful for our upcoming mission, you'll be the first to know."

Lirha gave Siren a playful smirk and nodded. "Perhaps the Klingons are merely gossiping about the latest bounties they have captured and claimed. Or maybe they discovered a new method of preparing live gagh," she said with a light chuckle before turning to look at the ship's head diplomat.

When Paul sensed the Admiral's eyes on him, he lifted his chin slightly and spoke. "Sir. I am preparing a formal report on social conduct in the presence of Klingons and expectations for rules of engagement during the wargames. In addition, sir, both I and Chief Ueda have recently been responding to an informal query currently in progress by Federation diplomatic regarding the Galileo's conduct during our last mission. It is my understanding that any further query has been delayed until after the end of our current mission."

Lyras stood by, calmly set in near-perfect attention, grateful that Paul's report had actually been more thorough than his own. Between any reports he had to send to the Diplomatic Corps, his own pet project, and the preparations he was assisting in, there hadn't been much time to collect his own thoughts.

"Oh? Our...conduct?" Saalm replied with a bit of confusion before she realized it might have had something to do with potential Cardassian protests over their Lyshan III mining colony.

Paul glanced hesitantly out of the side of his eye. "Uhh, yes sir. My impression is that the diplomatic corps are not pleased with our conduct during the dinner we hosted for the Aldara crew. And, actually, moreso than that, they are not pleased with me. Sir. Failure to report incidences that UFPDC considers material to the Federation's ongoing diplomatic interests."

"They have been sent thorough reports on everything sans the few incidents, ma'am. Lieutenant Alasia is nothing if not detailed. The UFPDC should find that the incidences that were left unreported are the only items that would be in question." Lyras nodded, tapping the PADD at his side. "I have looked over the reports myself."

Markos watched with dark eyes, her shoulders tense. This...was new to her. The extent of it, and that bothered her. She should have been informed, because this affected them all. But with the Admiral there, she kept silent, instead looking over at the Captain and XO, arching an eyebrow. She suspected her displeasure showed.

Rebecca paused mid PADD stroke as she kept her head bent down but alert buzzed through her senses. This was the first she had heard anything about this specific incident which surprised her given how much she tried to keep aprise of affairs which mattered to the Captain. This affair was big...very very big.

Quinn rolled his eyes slightly at the mention of the Diplomatic Corps. They were too lazy to work and too cowardly to steal, therefore in the CoBs opinion, they had too much authority and too little of everything else. That made them not only arrogant, but deadly.

Holliday had remained silent for the bulk of the inspection of the support department - he had little experience in intelligence, and was not exactly a diplomat, so his interests here were limited to a strictly professional setting.

"Our next mission is likely to cover a great deal of interaction with a variety of Klingon officials and crew members - I hope that our diplomatic team will be ready to play a forward role in such a meeting?"

Amynta watched her team, shoulders tensing by the second. They better say the correct answer...or she would verbally rip them to shreds the moment the Admiral, Captain, XO and the rest of their entourage was out of earshot.

Paul had been expecting something like this. Nonplussed, he maintained his posture and composure. "Captain, I brought up the ongoing investigation only to maintain transparency. It will have no bearing on my or Chief Ueda's ability to perform our functions. I look forward to any diplomatic contact and any service diplomatic may be to the Galileo's ongoing mission. Having had an opportunity to observe the crew's conduct first hand." Paul paused and let the acid in his words hang in the air. He glanced at Chief Quinn out of the corner of his eye and then back to the Captain. "I believe we are doubly prepared to be effective in the performance of our duties this go round."

Amynta watched Paul with shock, taking a deeper breath. "Lieutenant, be quiet if you cannot speak with respect," she said harshly, his tone mortifying her. The fact he was talking like that, with that tone, to the Admiral and Command staff angered her beyond belief. A private word would have done nicely, to air any tensions. This? After the Captain had tried to move the conversation on? It horrified her. It angered her. And it was her responsibility to somehow fix this. "Admiral, Captain...I apologise unreservedly for his tone. Naturally, the Diplomatic team will be ready to be their...cheery and diplomatic selves with the Klingons, with no one hanging up in details of the past," she said, her voice firm...because the last was directed to the diplomats. Focus. And once the inspection team had left, she would give her diplomat a few choice words.

Paul felt waves of hopelessness and rage welling inside of him. Considering the myriad complaints Paul had about the previous mission, he felt he had equated himself quite fairly to the Captain. Does this woman have any gears other than rudeness, disrespect or indifference? Paul thought to himself. However, he continued to look straight ahead.

As direct as the comments seemed to be, Lyras felt as if he were missing important portions of the conversation. 'Perhaps I'll have to bring it up at some point.' He nodded his head toward the whole of the Command Staff, as was expected of him. There was no sense in bringing it up here and now, especially with their own senior officer leering at them.

Lirha subtly dug one of her sharp fingernails into the palm of her hand with discrete displeasure. Things were not apparently functioning smoothly in the Support department from what she had just seen, and she would be sure to instruct Holliday to get to the bottom of it as soon as she departed from the room. In her opinion it was never a good sign of leadership to see a department head chastise a subordinate in front of their superiors, much less during an official inspection. And whatever was going on behind the scenes, the Orion didn't have the desire to deal with it at the current moment.

Instead, she gave Holliday a private glance with a severe look in her eyes, then took a breath before glancing back at the assembled staff. "I expect you all to be on your best behavior during our upcoming mission," she merely said before turning to leave the tension-filled room. "Dismissed," she added over her shoulder.

Blake folded her arms as she watched Alasia, shaking her head slightly. She had not appreciated the acidic jibe in his words, in public, during an inspection, which held insinuation about the Command Staff's and senior crew's conduct. She was more than just disappointed in his choices and judgement for the morning. She just met his eyes, holding them for a moment before shaking her head and walking out with the others.

Turning to look at Alasia, Markos' face had passed from rage into cold. "I want a full report on the issues that you sent through to the Diplomatic Corps," she said firmly, watching him. "If I ever hear you use such a tone again during an inspection or an official function, I will do my best to get you off this ship," she said before leaving the office, feeling extremely disappointed.

---

Deck 7 - Main Engineering

Asahi much preferred the types of proceedings without the dress uniforms. However, as he strode through the depths of Engineering, he resisted the urge to shout 'ITCHY' multiple times and follow it up with the desire to scratch his back against the warp core. After his final lap, he returned to his 'stalwart' clan of engineers, grinning from ear to ear. "We're gonna knock 'em dead they'll be impressed by us so much." Young and naive as the statement sounded, he was confident that the engineers kept everything up to snuff. "Just don't mouth off to anyone, and we'll be cool, yeah?"

Vermeer looked over at the Chief, shifting where he stood. "Cool as a cucumber, Sir," he agreed and looked around. It was...well. Inspections. Had to happen, you sort of rolled with the way the fleet worked and this was an excuse to have more cool uniforms lying around.

"Och we're no that bad Boss!" Cameron replied, his head appearing from inside an access panel leading to the primary phaser power couplings. He had spent the past hour inside calibrating the plasma relays in a vain attempt to ward off nerves. He didn't like the idea of an Admiral inspecting him, and would prefer to hide in there for the rest of the day.

"At least the phasers are gonna look good though eh?" He replied, tapping the access hatch with his hyperspanner to reinforce the point.

"I think with how hard we all work, everything will look good," Grayson added, still fussing with his uniform, making sure it hung correctly and was still in good condition.

Asahi glanced between trio that had responded. "... Fair point, Grayson-and Riley, just make sure you're out of there by the time the bosses come around, yeah?" Had he been in the other's position, he would have been more than happy to be sitting inside jeffries tubes as opposed to standing and pacing. "But a good last-minute doesn't hurt... Though now that Talbot's mentioned cucumbers, I'm real hungry..."

"Once this is all done, I suggest a departmental lunch, if we can all get away," Grayson suggested, in the hopes people would agree. "'Cause I am hungry too."

Willis was not thinking if the inspection, or the coming mission, or any of that. All he could think of was his now former wife. How could she do this to him.

"Sorry..." Vermeer grinned as he watched the others, innocently. "I am always hungry. I'll eat anything."

Asahi shook his head. "Don't be sorry Vermeer, I think you aided in giving a good idea. I'm with Lieutenant Jones-we get through this and head straight to the mess!" He quickly glanced out the door, waiting for the tell-tale sound of the lift's doors swinging open. "... Quick, I think they're coming!"

"...and this is Main Engineering." Holliday finished his sentence as he stepped through the doors. Looking across he was happy to see that the engineers, usually knee deep in something mechanical were doing an excellent job of presenting themselves for inspection.

"May I present Lieutenant Asahi Kita - our Chief Engineer."

Asahi beamed, offsetting his absolutely perfect posture and stance. "Ma'am, I'm sure you'll find Engineering has everything in order, and everything is accounted for and has its place, down to the last loose wire."

Lirha walked into the small two-story engineering room and immediately took sight of the large, pulsing warp core. She was admittedly a bit outside of her element when dealing with the tinkerings and inner workings of a starship, but as long as the core was properly humming and looked pretty, she was generally pleased.

"Thank you, Mister Kita," she greeted with a nod. "And how is the ship adjusting to the new deflector array?"

Asahi gave the nearby console a pat. "She's taking the array well. The smooth installation definitely eased her into the new equipment. We've had no abnormal energy spikes or errors. It's a perfect fit!"

Pleased to hear there weren't any current or lingering maintenance problems with the new array, Lirha nodded with approval. "Very good. And I trust your team has been assisting you with any deflector and non-deflector issues you might have encountered? Would you like to present them for inspection?"

"Indeed they have, and they've been hard at work making sure our next mission doesn't see any hardware hiccups." Asahi gave a nod, quickly stepping beside the nearest engineer. "Rear Admiral Saalm, my engineering team, each one of them present and accounted for, ma'am."

Quinn had been walking around through engineering, freely looking over the cleanliness and upkeep of his once long ago domain. He walked up to the group and nodded to the Chief Engineer. "Admiral, this is by far, the best upkeep of the Engineering Department since we first left San Fran on the maiden voyage. Awesome job, Lieutenant."

Asahi's cheeks flushed a slight pink at the compliment. "Thank you, Chief. That means a lot, coming from you."

"Mister Quinn is our former chief engineer. And quite a good one, at that," chimed in Saalm just in case that thiny detail had gotten lost in translation. "You seem to be following well in his boots, lieutenant," added Lirha with a compliment of her own before turning to address the department's assistant chief.

"Lieutenant Jones, is it? You would be wise to follow your chief's example...one day you might find yourself in charge down here and with high expectations," she said to Grayson with a small and friendly smile.

Returning the warm smile, Grayson responded, "Yes Ma'am. He is an excellent mentor to learn from. I only hope I can be just as good one day and meet those expectations." His eyes gave a warmth and a sparkle as he briefly considered his future.

"Excellent," Lirha replied before waving her green hand casually at the warp core. "It seems you all have everything in order down here...and I do not expect any containment breaches, yes?" she teased before giving them all a final glance and departing. "Carry on, then."

Brushing away the swell of pride that was threatening to well up, Asahi gave a curt nod. "Of course, ma'am."

Willis stood in the back, watching the inspection and trying to stay out of the way.

As she moved to follow in the steps of the command team, Rebecca caught the eye of an engineer whom she had noticed first time she entered the area. There was a sadness in the depth of his eyes that made her curious to know more. Throwing a discrete wink in his direction, she didn't loose step with the group as she filed the man away for future reference.

To Be Continued...

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Wakeham Paul Alasia
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo

Petty Officer 2nd Class Rebecca Williams
Commanding Officer's Yeoman
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Drusilla McCarthy
Assistant Chief Counsellor
USS Galileo

Ensign Jaana Voutilainen
Stellar Cartographer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (J.G.) Tuula Voutilainen M.D.
Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Asahi Kita
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

Chief Petty Officer Lyras Ueda
Diplomatic Officer
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Kita]

Chief Petty Officer Pax-Inyo
Masyer-at-Arms
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

CN Ash Rowe
Support Craft Pilot
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

Father Ethan Walker
Ship's Chaplain
USS Galileo

LCMDR Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo

Oren Idris, Ph.D.
Archaeologist/Anthropologist
USS Galileo

PO1 Pieter Van Zyl
Botanist
USS Galileo
[PNPC by Idris]

Lieutenant Commander Andreus Kohl
Chief Research Officer
USS Galileo

CMCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Gallileo

Lt. Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

Jonah Chaparral
Epidemiologist
PNPC Jared Nicholas
USS Galileo

 

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