Stardate 58806.27-58807.10
"Coming Aboard"
Lt. Cmdr. Shirik Lektar - Ops Manager
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith - First Officer
Location: Transporter Room 1, USS Vanguard
Stardate: 58806.28, 08h00
***
Shirik had just finished breakfast and was waiting at the turbolift to begin her shift when she got the notification from Utopia Planitia that the new XO was ready to beam aboard. As the doors opened she turned away to instead head down the hall to Transporter Room 1.
It had been a year since she had last seen Greggory, or anyone from the Constellation crew, but it seemed much longer. She'd been engrossed in helping the Engineering crew with the refit, and had seen places on the ship she'd never thought to see. She knew the ship inside and out, knew all the upgrades, where and how they'd been installed and how they were supposed to work. It had always been easier for her to work with machines and equipment than people.
As she moved to stand at the console and activate the controls, she thought about the new arrival. He was coming on board now not as her equal, but as her boss. She wasn't sure how to feel about seeing him again. She focused her attention on the controls in front of her as she signalled readiness to the planet, and the platform shimmered with the materialization, then suddenly there he was.
'I've spent too much time planet-side,' Greggory thought to himself as he walked through the halls of Utopia Planitia, readjusting to the smell of recycled air and the feel of artificial gravity. 'I'm going to have to spend time in the zero-g gym. And if the ship doesn't have one, well, I can always set aside some corner of the Jeffries' tubes.' His new position was something he'd have to get used to, as well. He may be used to leading teams, but being XO of a starship, even a small one, would take some adjustment. 'I know how every part of a ship functions, but communicating what I need to various department heads has a learning curve.'
He readjusted the satchel on his shoulder as he walked into the transporter room, letting the operator on duty know where he was headed. 'Hopefully, doing my job well will finally allow me to drop the Lieutenant from my rank. That's tedium I can do without.'
He had, of course, reviewed the crew manifest, such as it was, on his way over from Earth. One name stood out. He hadn't seen her in a year, though there had been some brief correspondence in the first few months. He looked back fondly on their burgeoning friendship and hoped they could pick up where they left off, new position dynamic notwithstanding. Not like he needed to keep a close eye on her to run her department. He knew how capable and professional she was.
As the transport completed, he blinked his eyes and looked around, quickly finding the target of his thoughts standing at the control station.
"Shirik. Lieutenant Commander Greggory Griffith, reporting for duty." He gave her a small smile. "It's good to see you."
She inclined her head in greeting, the barest hint of a smile finding her lips. "Welcome aboard, Commander," she said. "Would you like me to show you to your new quarters? They're not far."
He nodded, gesturing toward the door. "Certainly. I appreciate the courtesy."
As they walked down the corridor he asked, "How have you been these last months? Did you ever get the opportunity to meet with Voren and try some 'real food' again?"
"No, I've as yet heard no word from my sister. But knowing her, it may be decades before she chooses to respond. I've been quite busy for the last year, I worked with the Engineering team on the refit of this ship. I look forward to seeing how it performs."
"Likewise. Always fun to play around with a new engine. Can't wait to see what our Chief can get out of it.
"Sorry to hear that he hasn't been able to come by. Maybe our meandering course will take us close enough to Drokari space to justify the visit from Drokar."
"I'm not sure she will even allow it. She's no doubt calculating whether she can derive some advantage from it." They stopped at a turbolift and the doors opened. There was a moment's hesitation, barely noticeable, before she stepped inside and waited for Greggory to join her before saying, "Deck 1." As the lift began to move, she added, "I doubt it would matter to her where we were located, if she decides to send a ship it will come, no matter how far."
The lift smoothly rose one deck and the doors opened once more. She led the way out to the right and a short distance down the hall. "Your office is to the right," she gestured, "and your quarters are right next door to the left. Just across the hall from your quarters is one of the entrances to the bridge. All very conveniently located."
Greggory stood next to her in the turbolift, occasionally glancing her way. "Perhaps, between the two of us, we can come up with a way to phrase the request so it sounds like something she'd benefit from."
Once they got to Deck 1, Greggory stepped out reading the room descriptions as they passed. "Convenient, indeed. Where's the Captain located? On this end or the far side of the bridge?"
"Oh, I already made my request, which is why she's considering it at all. It would be best not to make any further contact until she's decided."
She pointed down the corridor. "The next door down next to your quarters is the briefing room. The captain's ready room and quarters are on the other side of the bridge. You can continue around down this hall or go back past the turbolift or through the bridge itself to get there. There's also a turbolift directly to the bridge, so if you ask for bridge that's where you'll be taken rather than the one we came from."
"A logical approach for such a tight ship. Going to be a lot of long walks through the corridors, if only for an excuse to put some distance between me and the bridge when I'm off-shift." Greggory headed toward the door to his quarters. "Thank you for the tour. You're welcome to come in if you don't have any other duties at the moment."
She considered for a moment. "I can join you for a short time, but won't you be simply unpacking? And about your walks, the ship is small but it does have a gymnasium and two holodecks. But unfortunately for me, no arboretum."
"I can unpack and talk at the same time," he said with a grin, walking into the (relatively) spacious quarters. "I'm sure we can find space in the Science lab, if you need a place to grow Tasmos."
She followed him inside and the doors closed behind her. She looked around the room curiously, having never been in this particular room before. "That's what I was thinking. There are two configurable science labs aboard, not yet assigned. I could perhaps at least set up a small enclosure in one of them to grow it. It doesn't need much, just a dark space similar to a cave. For that matter, I could probably just set aside a space in my own quarters." Her long braid swayed behind her as she moved, and her kemla was in plain view strapped to her thigh. She had her ever-present PADD in her hands.
"I'm sure we can come up with a reason for a low-light environment ecological study," Greggory said with a laugh. As he pulled out some of his own mementos, he placed them around the room. "I'll probably have to convince one of our biochemists to help me come up with a way for me to join you for a cup safely."
He reached into his bag and pulled out a felt exocomp with exaggerated ursine features, placing it at the head of the bed.
"If it's safe for you to drink, it's not klaas," she smirked. "But I can probably program the replicator to make a coffee or raktajino that smells like klaas...." Her attention was drawn to the stuffed creature. "What is that?"
Greggory rolled his eyes at the familiar argument. When she asked about the stuffed exocomp, he laughed. "A souvenir from the Constellation. I had utilized a number of exocomps, modified so they didn't have the adaptive programming that gave them sentience, to take care of janitorial duties and routine maintenance. It freed up my engineering teams to put more training into damage control exercises. One of our fellow officers suggested that I treated them like pets, hence the animal features on this one."
"What became of them? Are they still on the Constellation?" she asked. "Who owns them?" She considered the devices. She knew that some of them had been declared sentient, which raised a whole slew of questions.
"I left them aboard the Constellation. They had been part of the routine for so many of the crew, it seemed a shame to take that away, especially on such a large ship. The next Chief could decide to get rid of them, of course, but that's their prerogative."
She considered for some time in silence before speaking again. "If the exocomps were deemed sentient... how is it ethical to use them at all in that way? You said these had no adaptive programming, but if they are considered sentient like humans, isn't doing that sort of like... using lobotomized humans as servants?" she asked carefully.
"These were never sentient and didn't have the capacity to be. It isn't like I used the standard model and stripped them of that autonomy if they got too advanced. At worst, it'd be like using a lower primate as a beast of burden. I suppose it depends on just how fine a line you want to put on it, but I tried to navigate the ethical issues." He understood where she was coming from, given her own culture.
"So you used... prototypes? The earlier forms?" she nodded, that made sense. She felt relieved for some odd reason. "That's good."
"The Constellation is a much bigger ship, likely they wouldn't be needed here anyway."
"Smaller ship, smaller crew. If I feel like Engineering is underperforming, I'll bring it up with our Chief, but I'm going to try not to micromanage, since it's not MY department." Greggory sat on the edge of the bed as he finished unpacking. "What about Ops? Anything you need approved or requisitioned before we set off?"
"No, now they're ALL your department," she said with a small smile. "No, well one thing... but I really need to take it up with our Security Chief first, when we get one." She patted the kemla at her thigh. "It's the same discussion every time I board a new ship."
"Well, if you need it, I can put a good word in for you. I know you're responsible with that thing. As long as you don't go anywhere for shore leave," Greggory joked with a wink.
That actually elicited a smile from her. "Nowhere with other people, anyway," she agreed.
"I personally have no problem with senior staff being authorized to carry self-defense gear, rather than relying on Security for anything they can't handle unarmed. Even if it doesn't have a stun setting," he joked.
She nodded. "We'll see what our security chief says when he or she comes on board. While you can override them, I dislike going over people's heads to get something I want. It's unprofessional."
"Shakedown Cruise"
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea - Chief Engineer
Lt. Cmdr. Greggory Griffith - First Officer
Location: Shuttle Bay, Main Engineering
Stardate: 58806.29, 08h30
***
Raikon stepped out of the shuttle, the last shuttle that needed to be delivered so he decided to hand deliver it himself. The Vanguard was becoming a very familiar place. The last few months him and his engineering team have been busy refitting her and prepping for her shakedown. Pinching the bridge of his nose Raikon was trying to shake the tiredness. It had been long days as well. Picking up his bags he decided to go to engineering first...
Greggory was crawling along the inactive warp core, running a detailed scanner over the surfaces. Given his experience, he was pulling double duty, directing the engineering teams until the CEO arrived. Currently, he was in the middle of a level 2 diagnostic, making sure the core was intact and wasn't inadvertently damaged during installation. Wouldn't do to have the system break down mid-flight. His red collar certainly stood out among all the other engineers, but he moved with a familiar assurance.
Raikon dropped his duffel bags off in the engineering mess hall near his "desk". During the refit he used one of the tables as his unofficial desk. It was stacked with PADDs of various sizes and used coffee cups.
Grabbing a fresh cup from the replicator he walked over to the main engineering deck. The hallways were quiet at the moment but would soon be busy with various engineers from the Vanguard and Utopia Planitia getting the ship ready for her launch.
Walking in through the main doors of engineering he saw a lone figure and a flash of red shoulder of command near the warp core doing some scanning. Curious he walked over to the figure.
"Sir?"
Poking his head over the railing to answer another engineer that came up to him with an update, Greggory spotted a new figure walking into engineering. With a smile, he recognized his new CEO from the officer files he had been reviewing. "Commander Achaea, right? Welcome aboard." He shimmied his narrow frame out of the space and stepped onto the deck. "Just getting a head start on final checks."
Raikon nodded to the engineer as he walked past.
"That's right Sir, Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea." He extended a hand towards the XO. "I hope she's passing your inspection Sir, me and the team put in some hard work to get her ready."
"Oh, you were part of the refit crew? Sorry, I was too focused on remembering everyone we were taking with us." Greggory firmly clasped the other engineer's hand. "The diagnostic hasn't revealed any major issues with either the hardware or the installation. I already made sure a copy of our findings was sent to your official account."
He gave Raikon a grin that carried a slight apology. "No doubts about your team's work, I just always prefer to have a second set of eyes review any major work. That, and I get a little anxious when I have too much down time, such as waiting for launch. I promise, once we're out there, Engineering is all yours, as long as you continue to maintain performance. I wouldn't want an overbearing XO scrutinizing every detail of my department, either."
Raikon smiled, releasing the commander's hand. "That's alright Sir. It's been so hectic down here I barely had the time to get to know most of my own team myself. But they are a solid bunch."
"I'll go over your reports as soon as possible." Looking around main engineering before returning his gaze to the commander. "We've got a few more diagnostics to run but she'll be ready, don't you worry Sir."
"Of that, Commander, I have no doubt. I can already tell she's got a lot of gumption. Just let me know if there's anything you need before we launch." Greggory smiled warmly as he looked around the bustling engineering. "Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair now that you're here to run everything. Just don't be surprised if I prefer to come down here for our regular check-ins, rather than have you come up to my office."
While they were chatting engineers were pouring in going about their day and getting the ship ready. He saw the commander looking around — there was almost a hint of something.
"Do you miss it Sir?" Raikon asked.
Greggory couldn't help the laugh that briefly escaped him. "Of course," he said, turning to Raikon, "but I also want to move on to bigger things. I did good work as a Chief Engineer, but I discovered I really enjoyed working on projects from the ground up." Greggory gave Raikon an amused smirk. "Catch me in the lounge sometime and remind me to tell you about the Wayfarer." His eyes again drifted over engineering, both the equipment and the staff. "I want my own ship where I can explore my own projects, not just those given to me. I've learned a lot about integrating and maintaining the equipment, now I'm learning how to do that with a crew."
"I can understand where you are coming from, Sir. I've been tempted a few times but I always return back here." He gestured around main engineering with his coffee cup. He finally remembered he actually made himself a cup and took a sip of it. "Where are you off to next, Sir?"
"Oh, I'll probably grab a bite to eat before my next department head meeting. Now that you're here, don't forget to schedule one so we can go over any department issues before launch." He held out his hand to Raikon. "Once again, welcome aboard."
Grabbing the commander's hand, "Thank you Sir, I will." Raikon watched the commander leave and took a sip of his coffee. Counting a few seconds in his head he finally broke the silence.
"Computer, who was the commander that just left engineering?"
The computer chimed. "The person who just left main engineering was second in command Greggory Griffith."
Raikon felt a bit embarrassed. "Shhhhhiiiiiittttttt," he cursed under his breath. He'd totally forgotten.....
An engineer nearby was shaking their head and giving him a look. Raikon looked at them seriously. "Tell anyone and I'll make you scrub the Jefferies tubes for a month with nothing but a toothbrush." The engineer turned away, suddenly very interested in their PADD.
Raikon gave a slight nod before raising his voice. "Right people, let's get to work and get this ship ready to sail!!"