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Naeve barely looked up from her duffel as she removed her belongings, haphazardly tossing them around her new quarters. She was so lived, she could scarcely remember reporting aboard. In fact, she had been living with barely repressed anger and indignation snce speaking with Admiral Devaine back on Omega.
"Operations." she muttered to herself. They had assigned her as Prometheus' chief Ops officer. She had been so sure. Captain Linsky had all but guaranteed she would recieve an XO billet somewhere. How could this happen? She slammed her fist into the opposite palm and flung the now empty duffel at the closest wall in frustration.
"I'd make a damn good first officer too."she scowled at the crumpled duffel.
To her surprise, the door chime sounded. "Yes?" she asked impatiently. She was in no mood to meet any of her fellow crew mates just yet.
A head appeared in the doorway and a familiar voice asked, "Are you OK? I heard a crash and--" he stopped abruptly as Naeve's head turned toward him in surprise mingled with dismay.
It was the man from Omega--the one from the bar--Mark....Mark whatshisname.
"Don't tell me you're stationed here too." she blurted.
"Afraid so." Mark said solemnly, though his eyes twinkled.
"Small world." she said wryly.
"Seems like it. Is everything OK? From the hallway, it sounded like you were wrestling a Nausican." he grinned.
"Not quite, though I'd gladly wrestle one if it would get me a new billet." she sighed in frustration.
Mark frowned in puzzlement. "What did you get?"
"Ops." she said distastefully.
"What's wrong with that?"
"Are you kidding me? A monkey could do that job. No challenge." she said heatedly, too wrapped up in herself to notice his expression harden.
"I'm sorry you feel that way." he said quietly.
"My former Captain assured me I'd have no problem getting an XO billet. When he got my reassignment notice, he all but promised I'd get first officer. You could say this took me a little by surprise. As soon as regs permit, I'm requesting a transfer."
"Good idea, Lieutenant Commander. Perhaps you could recommend a good monkey to take your place." Mark said coldy.
Belatedly, Naeve recalled that Mark had been Chief of Operations on his last assignment.
"I didn't mean--"she began to apologized, but he would not allow her to finish.
"I'd be happy to help you fill the paperwork out on your transfer request. By the way, if your behavior is any indication of the way you perform your duties, you're completely inappropriate for a command position like first officer."
Naeve colored at the insult. "And who the hell do you think you are to say that?"
Mark offered her a wintry smile. "This ship's XO, Lieutenant Commander."
Naeve's mouth dropped open in shock. Before she could even formulate a semblence of a coherent reply, he resumed speaking, "I want a full report of this ship's systems and operational readiness on my desk at 1900 today. Welcome aboard."
Mark turned on his heel and exited her quarters without giving her an opportunity to speak. She stared at the space he had just been standing in and wodered how things could have gone so wrong, so fast.
II
Seyla Ta'quith of the house of Mardas was having a bad day. This was most unfortunate for the man standing before her, she decided.
"You will look at me when I am speaking to you. Is that clear?" she growled.
"Yes, Lieutenant, sir!"
Seyla took a step forward, until she was towering over the other man, her face set in a forbidding scowl. She had yet to discover what terrible deed she might have done to deserve this punishment. Starfleet had seen fit to assign her to this vessel full of soft skinned humans as the assistant Chief Tactical/Security officer. An insult after her glorious performance in the Dominion War! She had been promoted to Lieutenant but titles were meaningless if they did not come with power. Assistant! Bah! And to make matters worse, it seemed three quarters of her staff were new Academy graduates with virtually no practical experience. Humans, Rigelians, Trills, and more humans. Not one other Klingon among them!
And here stood one of them now, trembling cowardly before her. On a Klingon ship, it would have been her right to cut him down where he stood. On days like this, she could not recall why she had joined Starfleet in the first place. Clenching her teeth, she forced herself to display a calmness she did not feel as, reluctantly, she stepped back from the frightened Ensign.
"Mr. Karov. Are you aware that you recieved the lowest score on today's marksmanship drills?" Seyla was pleasantly surprised at how calm she sounded.
"No, sir." he said weakly.
"I cannot hear you. Speak up." she snapped.
"No sir!" he repeated in a slightly louder tone.
Seyla clasped her hands behind her back and slowly circled the man, stopping directly behind him. She leaned forward and whispered near his ear, "How do you suggest we may remedy the situation."
"I don't know." he said in a low voice.
Seyla's nostrils flared in impatience, and she reminded herself that he could not help himself. He was only behaving as an inferior race such as a human would.
"Try. I am open to suggestions. "She was in front of him now, and attempted a smile, meant to be encouraging, but which only served to intimidate him further.
"I'll practice harder. More often." he said quickly.
"Excellent idea."Seyla nodded in approval.
"It is?" he asked, surprised.
"Yes. You will practice, as you say. And once a week, for the next month, I will meet with you for drills in holodeck 3. We will arrange a time convenient to both of us. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." he answered half heartedly.
"Good. You are dismissed." Seyla watched him beat a hasty retreat, and almost didn't notice the figure in the far corner of the room. She turned in surprise to find a man standing there. A man with very pointed ears.
"Lieutenant Commander." she began, after a stolen glance at his pips. " I did not hear you come in."
"It was not my intention for you to be aware of my presence. I preferred to observe your interaction with Mr. Karov before I spoke with you. It was---enlightening."
Seyla's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am attempting to improve the skills of this vessel's security staff prior to the arrival of the Chief Security and Tactical Officer."
"Indeed? In that case, allow me to introduce myself. I am Turek, of House Peleg of Vulcan, Prometheus' Tactical Officer and Chief of Security."
Seyla was too stunned to react. She blinked. It seemed her punishment was to continue. Not only had they denied her the coveted position, but they had seen fit to place her under the command of a Vulcan.
III
Daniel Ryan lovingly ran his hand across the desk in his office. It was real wood, cherry wood, not the scratched, dull metal standard issue he had been saddled with on DS 12. His entire departmental space was spectacular---Melania had been right. The Prometheus was exactly what he had been waiting for. The science lab was huge, with a seperate hydroponics bay and astrometrics area. The equipment was state of the art and he had the Federation's entire scientific database at his fingertips. What more could he possibly ask for?
The soft chime of his doorbell interrupted his thoughts. Noone had been in the labs when he arrived half an hour ago--he didn't even think his full complement of staff had come aboard yet.
"Come in." he called out.
To his surprise, several people streamed in and clustered around his desk. One man, a middle aged human, stepped forward. "Welcome, Dr. Ryan. I know you just arrived but I wanted to introduce you to some of your department heads." he smiled.
"I'm Dr. Nathan Reece. My specialty is biochemistry, but I'm here to serve. Apparently, they made me your aSciO. If there's anything you need, just ask."
Daniel nodded at the man. Nathan's expression was warm when he smiled, and Daniel instantly knew he was going to like him. He was no Melania Rodriguez, but he would most definately do.
Belatedly, Daniel realized the other man was already introducing the next person and forced his attention to the dark eyed Bajoran man to his right.
"Dr. Kalon Tel is the head of the physical sciences division."
Dr. Tel was a short, stocky man with grey streaked hair and a neatly trimmed beard. He nodded at Daniel absently, his attention evidently elsewhere.
"Ensign Robert Spinelli will run astrometrics and stellar cartography."
Daniel nodded at the young dark haired man who greeted him earnestly. He had obviously arrived on the first shuttle out of Starfleet Academy.
"And Dr. Ariada D'all will head up your life sciences division and hydroponics."
Daniel hadn't noticed her at first, for she had entered slightly behind the three men. Now, as she stepped forward, Daniel's heart skipped a beat. Her face was beautiful, with luminous grey eyes and high cheekbones. She smiled welcomingly at him and the only word he could use to describe her would be....radiant. The fact that she was completely hairless did not detract from her beauty at all. Her bald head and lack of eyebrows were not the least bit disconcerting. In fact, it seemed to make her even more attractive.
"Hello." he managed to say.
*Have mercy. Starfleet's put on a Deltan on my staff.*
IV
P.O. Thomas Vashowski stifled a yawn as he pulled out a malfunctioning circuit board and tossed it to the side. Next to him, P.O. Layla Ahmed frowned at her PADD.
"I think this is the last one."she said hopefully.
"I hope so. This is a brand new ship. It shouldn't have all these glitches."he grumbled.
"It's easily repairable."Layla reminded him.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll be spending our entire shift fixing these 'easily repairable' problems."
Layla could have pointed out that this was precisely what they were paid to do, but thought it might be wiser to remain silent.
"I don't know ow I got assigned to this ship anyway. Did you hear the dirt on our new Captain?"
Layla frowned. "No.....why?"
Thomas glanced up and down the corridor to ensure noone was nearby, then spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "He's crazy."
"What?" Layla asked, dismayed.
"Sh!! Keep your voice down." he said crossly. "He was relieved of duty and spent some time with the psych docs. Or so I've heard."
"You don't say." A new voice intruded on their conversation.
Thomas paled as he recognized the man who had noiselessly appeared from around the corner.
"Commander, I--" he broke into a sweat.
Mark O'Conner interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "We haven't left dock yet, Petty Officer Vashowski, is it? So I'm going to do you a favor. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last comment you made. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you, of course, will never repeat it. Is that clear?" Mark asked coldly. His ice blue eyes were unforgiving.
"Yes sir." Thomas repeated.
"If I ever hear that particular rumor again, I promise you will regret it. You are a crew member on this ship and you will not make statements undermining its Captain." he continued to speak quietly, walking towards Thomas until he was mere inches from the frightened younger man's face.
"Or I will have you thrown in the brig and busted to P.O. third class before you can blink. And that's a promise. Do we have an understanding?"
Thomas nodded meekly and Mark stepped back, his anger barely controlled. He did not even acknowledge Layla as he stalked away from the two crewmen. Once he was certain he was alone in the next corridor, his anger dissolved and was replaced by a frown of concern. He had heard the rumors too. How could he fault Thomas Vashowski when he himself had doubts about Colin Becker's fitness for Command?
V
Rhianna sat cross legged underneath the large oak tree, her chin resting on her hands and a frown on her face. Overhead, a bird cried out as it dipped and circled above her, then vanished into a cluster of trees. Directly behind, she heard a faint rustle in the bursh and a large grey squirrel appeared. It scampered to wthin inches of her feet, then it sat up on its haunches and regarded her solemnly for several moments.
"What are you looking at? Go away." she grumbled and waved her hand in an attempt to frighten the animal. The squirrel chittered angrily in response and vanished.
Rhianna scowled. This was a new low for her--taking out her frustrations on a squirrel. She should be down in Engineering right now, introducing herself to her staff, familiarizing herself with the ship, and beginning her administrative duties. That's what she would have expected from her new chief engineer if she were the Captain. Instead, she was hiding within a holodeck program, doing her best to avoid reality.
The shuttle had deposited her on Prometheus late last night, allowing her just enough time to be assigned to quarters and report to the XO. To her relief, the Captain had yet to arrive. All night, she had expected a summons from Mark O'Conner telling her there had been a mistake. A mixup. A practical joke. It was ludicrous that Starfleet would hand her a plum post like Chief of Engineering. A chief was a figure like Kella'h T'oth---not someone like her.
A part of her feared it was a set up. She couldn't even control her own temper. How was she to control an entire department? She would fail and that would be Starfleet's excuse to dismiss her. Where would she go? Back to her grandparent's farm on the backwater agricultural colony she had grown up on?
No! She would not go back there! Failure was not an option. She would sit here, calm herself, and try to imagine how Kella'h T'oth would address a new crew. Then she would stop hiding, get off her butt, march herself down to Main Engineering, and start acting like a chief engineer.
*******
Ensign Lira Toket sighed as she handed yet another isolinear rod to David Penrose, who was half hidden by the large panel he was repairing. The Bajoran engineer was annoyed at how much work was needed on a brand new ship like Prometheus. It was new--fresh out of Utopia Planetia---it should have been problem free. But the diagnostics Ari Denyri, the aCEO, had insisted they run, were pinpointing a significant number of 'bugs' in their secondary systems.
Here she was, spending half a duty shift on repairing Environmental Control, and CEO hadn't even deigned to make an appearance yet.
"Where is she anyway?" she demanded as she handed David another rod. "I heard she got in yesterday."
"I heard it was pretty late last night." David's voice was muffled, as he peered within the panel.
"So what's she doing now? Sleeping late?"
David shrugged. "She's the boss. We're just peons biding our time until we've got the rank to try for a position ike hers."
"Ensign Kro was manning the transporters when she beamed over. He says she's just a lieutenant." Lira said sullenly.
"So? That's two ranks above you and I." David pointed out.
"He also thinks she's a Vulcan. He caught a glimpse of the ears."
"Could be Rigelian." David reminded her.
Lira waved him off. "Either way, this place has plenty of Vulcans. The last person we need running this department is another Pointy Ear."
"Sorry to disappoint you." The voice came from directly behind Lira, and it did not sound remotely amused.
When Lira turned around to face the speaker, she straightened involuntarily at the sight of the Lieutenant pips on her shoulder. The woman's face was expressionless but her blue eyes were ice as they impaled her with their gaze.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Lieutenant Rhianna Jorrell. And you would be?" Her tone was calm but Lira flinched at the cold inflection as she quickly introduced herself and David. She refused to allow herself to dwell on how much of the conversation the other woman may have heard.
Rhianna nodded brusquely and turned her attention to the now quiet denizens of main engineering who were regarding her sudden appearance with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension. She could feel her temper start to surface and envisioned her hands wrapped around the Bajoran Ensign's throat. She had heard the entire conversation with the other Ensign and was even now battling the impulse to throw Lira Toket out the airlock. Instead, she took a deep breath. CEOs did not dismember their crews--she would find another way to deal with Lira.
Forcing her temper to the back of her mind, she stepped forward and introduced herself to the crowd; she would research the engineering personnel records tonight and know her crew by name before tomorrow.
"I will review Prometheus' systems status today and set up a repair schedule which will be posted this afternoon."
"Ari's already done that." Lira spoke up suddenly.
Rhianna flushed at the interruption. "And who's Ari?" she snapped at the Ensign.
"Lieutenant JG Ari Denyri. Your aCEO." was the stiff response.
"Sir." she added, as if in afterthought.
"I see." Rhianna said tersely, a little ashamed that her assistant was picking up her slack. "Then I will review his repair schedule with him and inform you if any changes are necessary."
She glanced in Lira's direction again. "Revised duty schedules for all shifts will be issued this afternoon as well. Are there any questions thus far?"
The room remained silent, and Rhianna noted several averted gazes.
"Very well. If I'm needed, I'll be in my office." As she stepped forward, the crowds parted to let her pass, and she stalked across the floor to her door. She did not allow herself to relax until she heard the hiss of the doors sliding shut behind her.
Relieved to have some privacy, she sat in the chair behind her desk. She glanced at the door, thankful for a barrier between herself and those outside, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach. Hesitantly , she touched the tip of her ear. Scowling, she brushed her dark hair over her ears, covering them completely.
"What the hell am I doing here?" she asked herself softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
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