A Necessary Transition

Posted on 10 Jan 2020 @ 7:16pm by Lieutenant JG Damian Akorem & Captain Harvey Geisler

1,303 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Epilogue
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: April 3, 2389

Captain Geisler exited the turbo lift to step out onto the bridge. The ship and its crew may have been calm for the last few days, but the bridge was abuzz with activity. He stood still, looking around the room to survey what remained of the damage. He hadn't been on the bridge since the Dolmoqour and their Scruna hosts had boarded the ship with the Away Team, leaving him to learn about the damage through reports he managed to read when he wasn't helping with the children. Even now, he himself was supposed to be on paternal leave and in his quarters with Joey. Both she and the twins were sleeping peacefully.

The bridge had seen better days. Half of the carpet, the sections stained by blood and vaporized remains, had been ripped up and was waiting the replacement covering. The rear MSD, destroyed by a phaser blast, had been gutted and the walls repainted. New equipment sat in front of it for when the repair teams could get around to rebuilding it. Harvey could see the fresh paint in sections around the bridge, indicative of the carbon scoring from explosive blasts. The helm had yet to be rebuilt, and the operations station beside it had been reconfigured to be the helm, or so Harvey assumed by the sight of the red-collared individual there.

A quiet whine sounded from beside him, and Harvey looked down to see both Rico and Pequeno sitting at attention, surveying the bridge themselves as if they were hunting for anyone suspicious. Harvey couldn't blame them. Unlike the rest of the crew, both of the K-9's had been trapped in the Geisler Quarters, unable to be infected or evacuated. Harvey had never brought the dogs to the bridge, but he did it only in this one case to keep everyone sleeping down below.

Harvey's study of the bridge revealed that the computer had been correct. Lieutenant Akorem was on duty, and busy. Business was business, and with the events at Penduli V just a mere four days behind them, it was time to start putting some things back in order.

"Mister Akorem," Harvey called out, starting to cross the bridge to his Ready Room. "Can I see you for a moment in the Ready Room?"

"Yes Sir." He stood up and followed the Captain to his Ready Room. It had been a strange time since he had first awoken in the Black Hawk's sickbay.

Harvey had led the way inside the Ready Room and went first to the replicator to order food for the dogs. "Can I get you anything?" Harvey asked the Bajoran. "Tea? Coffee?"

Damian nodded. "A jestral tea, if that's ok Captain?" He asked. He had spent a little time on Betazed and discovered a liking for it.

"A Betazoid drink?" Harvey asked in surprise. He set the dog bowl on the floor near the couch, which both Rico and Pequeno rushed toward. The Captain returned to the replicator and ordered the tea for the lieutenant and a glass of water for himself. "An interesting choice."

"I visited when I was younger and took a liking to it." He nodded in thanks as he received his drink, before taking a sip. It's sweet smell always made him feel warm inside.

Harvey planted himself behind the desk. "How are you holding up, Lieutenant?" he asked before taking a sip of his beverage.

"I think I'm ok. It was obviously not the best time I've ever had. But I have some appointments booked with the Counselor, to talk me through it. I'm feeling positive again, so that's a plus." He replied. Thinking back to when he had zero control over his body.

Harvey sipped his water again, finding it difficult to imagine the line of personnel waiting to see a Counselor. Over one hundred of the ship's crew was infected by Dolmoqour, and the rest of the crew had to interact with the infected. The Counseling staff would have their work cut out for them for more than a year. "I can understand," Harvey said quietly. "Have you given any thought to what will happen when we're back in normal space?"

I sent a message to my mother on Valo and was hoping to go spend some time with her. But I need to find a posting first. Losing the Vasco da Gama, I'm without a posting now. And I was only activated on the Black Hawk because we were behind the barrier, and there was nowhere else to go, once I came out of the coma." It had truly been a strange time, the last few weeks.

"If you're interested," Harvey said, leaning back in his chair and waving his hand slightly toward the bridge, "we can fix that. Now that the dust is settling from our escapes, I find myself in urgent need of a Chief Operations Officer."

He took a second to process what the Captain had just said. It would be good to be settled once more. With the basically nowhere else to go, it fixes his most immediate problems. "I'd be very interested, Sir. When would I take the position, officially?" He added the last question because he knew when he sent his parents a message, they would be so pleased for him.

Harvey smiled at the Lieutenant. "Right now. The ship's quite disorganized, which is understandable considering our personnel and material losses from the twenty-ninth. We need to start getting the house back in order."

Damian stood a little straighter. "Aye, Sir. I can start right away. Would it be out of place to choose an assistant Chief? I know there is one currently, and I don't want to step on toes, but I don't know the current assistant at all."

"It wouldn't be out of place," Harvey stated. "In fact, the reason why I'm speaking to you is that the current Assistant Chief is unable to report for duty. It's time to rebuild from within."

"Thank you, Captain. It's appreciated. It's Ensign Calissa Patton, she's one of the operations officers. I've worked with her the last couple of weeks, before" he paused as he remembered what happened. A flash of panic ran through his entire body and he felt almost instant nausea. He quickly tried to compose himself. "I think she is best for the job." He finally replied, a touch of unease still in his voice.

The Captain nodded, leaning back in his chair. "I'm fine with that recommendation. Treat her promotion as an acting position for now, and we'll sort things out once we're on the other side of the zone."

"Aye, Sir. I'll inform her at the start of my next shift. I have the Gamma shift tomorrow, but if I am taking over the department, I'll jump on the Beta shift, with your permission, Captain?"

"Granted," Harvey stated. "Get me a duty roster as soon as you can, along with a list of materials you may need. We are still far from home, but we are headed for Alpha Trios. If we can get some raw materials, hopefully, that'll enable you to replicate some needed parts."

"I'll get them done before Gamma shift, for your approval. And as soon as I get a handle on the state of everything, I'll be able to prioritise a list of what needs to replicated so we can get the more important systems online quicker." Damian replied.

Harvey smiled. "Perfect," he confirmed. "Unless you have anything else, I should leave you to get things moving."

"Not at the moment, Captain. Thank you." Damian stood, nodded and walked towards the door. This day has certainly not gone in a direction I thought it would he thought to himself. Time for bed I think. Long day tomorrow.

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