New Dog in Town

Posted on 09 Jun 2016 @ 2:20am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

1,842 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Security Office
Timeline: MD 01

Lieutenant Joelle Corwin and K-9 Officer Rico made their way into the Security department and looked around. It felt good to have a steady assignment instead of being bounced from place to place offering her services as a Close Protection Officer to various Starfleet Ambassadors and other dignitaries. For six years... six very long years... she'd seen more planets, starbases and starships than most people would see in their entire careers. It wasn't an easy job, and she loved the rush it provided her, but after many close calls against her own life, it was definitely time for a change of pace. And while serving on a starship like Black Hawk wouldn't guarantee the lack of close calls, it offered her something different.

With a PADD in hand, Joey looked at the screen and pulled up the layout of the Akira class ship. She would never admit to anyone, but help was needed when it came to locating the Chief of Security's office. It was time to make introductions and get herself checked in before she finally settled down to start the next chapter of her Starfleet career. Once the location of the office was in her mind, she put her PADD on standby and made her way to meet the new Chief.

Giving Rico his command to follow, Lieutenant Corwin made her way in the direction of the Chief's office and stopped outside of the door. She wasn't sure what was waiting for her on the other side, and that brought a question to mind. What was it going to be like to answer to others? She'd never had to do that before now. When she was a CPO, her orders came straight down from Brass, then she saw to them that they were carried out. It would take some getting used to, but she was nothing if not adaptable. With a deep, calming breath, she touched the panel to set off the chime on the other side of the door.

The sound of the heavy metal Imperial March brought a smile to Camila’s face as she set her mug of Raktajino aside and put a PADD she had been working on aside. It seemed that since the virus, people were finding more reasons to come to her and Cooper and she didn’t know if that was due to wanting to be reassured that everything was okay, or they just felt closer to her and her assistant chief. “Enter!” she called out and released the door lock.

Joey and Rico stepped through the door once granted access, then moved to the desk where Camila was settled. She was dressed in uniform, and had her hair pulled back in a low bun. There was no need to question who she was seeing since the PADD she had with her was able to tell her just about everything she needed to know as far as matching faces to names went. “Lieutenant Joelle Corwin, Black Hawk’s new Chief K-9 Officer and Security Investigations Officer,” She said, extending a hand in Camila’s direction.

The petite blonde came to her feet and shook hands with the busty Amazon that entered her office; she tried to look away from the woman’s breast, but with proximity to them and their size, it was almost impossible, but she looked up with an effort while her mind wondered how the other woman ran without knocking herself out. “Lieutenant Camila Di Pasquale,” she said before she looked at the beautiful white German Shepherd that accompanied her. “I assume this is your K-9 Officer with you?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant Di Pasquale. Yes,” She replied, shaking Camila’s hand before looking down to the canine that was standing at her side. “This is Rico. He’s a two year old German Shepherd, and he’s pretty amazing at what he does. How many other K-9 officers are on board?”

“One at the moment,” Camila said as she pulled up the personnel list to verify. “Ensign Hernandez. Fresh from the Academy and has a K-9 officer in training by the name of Pequeño.” She looked at Rico. “He’s a beautiful K-9,” she smiled without opening her mouth, knowing animals took that as a sign of aggression. She looked back at Lieutenant Corwin before she pulled her file up on her terminal.

“It’s it a bit unusual for an officer to be a Security Investigation Officer?” she asked.

“I suppose it could be, but I spent the last six years of my career as a Close Protection Officer, so I’ve got pretty extensive training when it comes to investigations and knowing what to look for in certain individuals,” The tall woman answered. “That isn’t going to be an issue, is it?”

Camila looked up at her as she took her mug of Raktajino and took a drink before she set it down. “Right now, any help in the storm we’re facing is appreciated,” she said, knowing the woman would have been vetted before she was allowed aboard the ship. “We’ve been swamped lately with everyone catching that damned Consortium Virus on Yolvanda II and losing six personnel to it as well as other crew transferring due to Consortium agents being found on the Black Hawk.”

She shook her head. “It’s disgusting. I had to arrest the former Chief of Security not long before that. Before we get down to business, would you like something to drink for yourself or Officer Rico?” she asked.

“No, thank you,” Joey replied. “It sounds as though you and the crew have been incredibly busy.”

“We have, and we’re going to get a lot busier,” Camila said as she glanced at the woman’s file, then an unexpected smile lit up her face. “I see that you went through the SAR Pipeline. That makes three us here in Security that have gone through it. Lieutenant Cooper, my Assistant Chief, also has full training and I went through it as well. In fact, I spoke to the Captain about it and have had a meeting with other department heads and tried to get enough people to volunteer for SAR training, but unfortunately, the only one to express an interest so far is Commander Walsh, the Squadron Leader of the Black Knights, our fighter wing.”

“Sadly… it isn’t for everyone,” The tall woman said. “You know as well as I do that the training is brutal, and not for the weak at heart.”

“I know, but I figured with seasoned officers, it would be easier to convince them the need of cross-training,” Camila said. “Anyway, what made you decide to leave the field of Close Protection? I’ve heard it can be very rewarding if you have favors you can pull in from high ranking officers you’ve served with.”

“And I do… have favors, I mean,” Joey said. “It was time for a change of pace after far too many close calls on my own life.”

“We get close calls on our lives out here, too,” Camila pointed out. “The Chief of Operations had been drugged and telepathically coerced into being Consortium. We were checking a convoy for weapons and discovered him and some others beaming crates into space. When we attempted to stop him, he set a phaser on overload and threw it at us. I was able to stop the overload, but he was still shooting at us and I had to stun him.”

“Is he all right now?” She found herself asking.

“He is,” Camila said. “The Chief of Medical was able to repair the link between him and the symbiont that had allowed the Consortium to telepathically brainwash him.”

“I’m glad he’s well now,” Joey said, nodding her head. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Where do you see yourself fitting in best here?” Camila asked. “While we do have a K-9 handler on board and one K-9 Officer in training, there won’t be much call for that. Do you believe that your Close Protection training and experience gave you the skills which you’ll need to be an Investigation Officer?” Granted, the Chief of Security didn’t know much about CP duty, but this was her chance to learn what the woman was capable of and would be able to make a better determination for the best duty for her.

“As I said before,” She began, wondering if Camila had even been listening to her. “I’m highly trained when it comes to handling investigations and what to look for in certain individuals. I’ve managed to thwart many assassination attempts, kidnappings, general assault, loss of confidential information over the last six years, and other forms of threats of criminal offenses. I’ve been a marked target myself on countless occasions. The bad guys do not, and will not, discriminate when it comes to getting their hands on whatever it is they’re after.”

“What steps would you take to protect the Captain’s life if he were going into a potentially harmful area?” Camila asked, trying to nail down the skills the woman used in order to thwart the attempts and such that she had mentioned.

Joey looked thoughtful as she mulled the question over in her head. “The very first step in any situation like that would be to go into said situation first and assess the situation. If there are enemy targets present, the obvious solution is to take them out. From there, I would look for any forms of explosives or other forms of potentially harmful materials, then dispose of them properly. Once I’ve determined the situation was suitable and safe, I’d allow the Captain to come into the area. My job as a Security officer is to protect the Captain and crew of this ship from any enemy threat, Lieutenant. By any means necessary short of sacrificing anyone short of myself.” She didn’t care if Camila thought that was a good answer or not. It was the kind of person she was, and it was the answer she’d give anyone who’d asked the same question.

“Good,” Camila said. “You’ll fit right in with the plans that I have to protect this ship and crew. It’s good to have an officer with a solid set of skills that will come in very useful in a wide area. For now, get settled in. You’re on Alpha Shift. After that, get with Ensign Hernandez and see how much more training he needs in the K-9 department and do holodeck scenarios as needed.”

“Will do,” she said, turning toward the door with Rico in tow. It was now time to get settled in a bit.

Once she was gone, Camila entered her officially into the personnel roster and sent a notification to Lieutenant Cooper, then began to go over the other assignments.

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