Let's Get Ready To Grumble

Posted on 29 Sep 2016 @ 11:28pm by Captain Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

2,435 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: Briefing Room Two
Timeline: MD 7 || 2100 hours

As the last of the senior officers filed out of the briefing room, Camila stepped to the door and when it closed, she put a Security lock out on it and turned to the Captain. "Are you aware, Sir, that it's not proper procedure for the Captain of a starship to go on away missions?" She wished she could tell him the exact regulation, but she had been Security orientated since the Academy and would have to rely on that.

Harvey stood behind his chair, his hands holding onto the top of it. He'd expected the blonde security chief turned acting Executive Officer to voice herself immediately after the meeting. "I was an Executive Officer for many years before taking this command," he replied to her simply. "I am well aware of the regulation."

"I don't have many years behind me as you did, Captain," she said as she stepped up to him. "But I have enough experience in Security to know that it's my job to protect you. Letting you off this ship in an area that we don't know to go to a station which may be completely different from what you remember it."

"And staying on this ship is just as dangerous," Harvey countered. "That's not to say I don't have any faith in your security team, Lieutenant. It is because of that faith I'm willing to go to that station at all."

"Have you been on this station before in our universe, reality or whatever you want to call it?" Camila asked him.

Harvey shook his head. "The Away Team that went to Razmena has all been transferred away from the Black Hawk," he confirmed.

"Is there a copy of the layout or information or anything that can be analyzed?" she asked, liking the whole thing less and less. "If you had gone before, I would feel more comfortable, Captain, but right now, you're making it incredibly hard. I realize that we don't have many options available to us that we need information, but the crew needs you alive and in one piece. This Confederation that we have no information on led by someone that you knew on our side of things could have this entire sector under their control and the station you want to go to could be completely controlled by them."

"Or it couldn't even exist in the first place," he pointed out. Harvey sighed and considered his response. "What would you suggest, Camila?"

"We need information, Sir," Camila said before she brought up her request again. "Do you have anything about the station which might come in useful? Away team reports, tricorder scans, possible names of people there even if they're not the same people. Anything that was said which may help us."

"It'll all be in the ship's logs," Harvey replied. "We were there about five months ago. There should be some detailed scans, as well as Commander Kos' full report. Quite eventful, if I remember correctly."

"I'll need time to go over it, Captain," she said, wishing that she didn't have to dig it out all out of the logs, but that was the price she was willing to pay. "Have you decided on the rest of your away team other than Lieutenant Corwin since no one else volunteered members of their department?"

The Captain shook his head. "If I had a Strategic Ops or Intel officer, I'd take them along. I need someone who can help collect information, and determine it's value. I'm open to suggestions. And, as for the logs, I'd like to go through them with you. I need to refresh myself with what we're potentially getting into."

"I'd suggest taking additional Security from the Investigation department, someone from Medical, Operations and an Engineer," Camila offered. "AS for the logs, I'll need your access to them, anyway. I wasn't on the ship at the time and haven't had a chance to review much in the way of past missions concerning how often we seem to be encountering trouble."

"You're acting XO now, remember?" Harvey reminded, a sly grin on his face. "You've got temporary Alpha Two clearance, and I'll bump that up to Level 9 as well. As for your suggestion, I'll take that under consideration." He'd have to meet with Rykov and Kij about that to determine the best candidates.

'Right, Sir," Camila said with a slight chuckle. "I've never had a clearance that high before, but I'll get on it and collaborate all the information on it and go over with you. Also," she paused and looked up at him. "It wasn't a suggestion, Captain. You want an away team, you'll get a good one."

"Good," Harvey replied with a smile backed by nothing other than willpower. Otherwise, his mind was completely exhausted. "I expect nothing less. There is something else I need to ask, though."

"You can ask anything, Captain," she replied, her mind turning things over.

"Two months ago, you were a deputy department head," he stated matter-of-factly. "Now you're helping me command this ship. It's a massive jump, I know. How do you feel about it all?"

Camila thought about that question for a moment before she answered him. "Honestly, if the inertial dampeners failed at a moment while we were standing still, I would still slam into the nearest bulkhead because of all the momentum that I have built up inside. I shouldn't even be on duty right now after what happened with the Valdore, but I am. I'm still learning to be a department head and now I have to extend that to an entire ship of departments instead of just one. All I can say is that I hope I don't screw this up, Captain."

Harvey grunted with a smirk. "You'll do fine, Lieutenant," he reassured her. "And don't worry, I won't be dumping everything on you. This crew's been abused pretty hard over the last few months. I'll be more visible than ever. Don't be afraid to make a judgment call, and if you need to run it by me, don't hesitate. Any questions for me?"

"Yes, Sir," she said quickly. "What do I do when a higher ranking officer with more experience than I have questions a decision that I may make?"

"Listen to reason," Harvey said. "Meaning, hear them out, but if you're still confident with your decision, stick to it. If you're wavering, either overturn it, or better yet, confer with me. Don't try to come off as a hard ass because when this is all over, Commander Teixeira will be back, and you'll be Chief of Security again. Besides, another way to look at this is a chance for you to get some stronger relationships with your fellow senior officers. Who knows the dividends that will yield?"

"I won't be able to confer with you if you're not on the ship, Harvey," Camila said. "But I'll take your advice to heart. Is there anything that I absolutely need to know while I'm the acting Executive Officer?"

"Paperwork is evil," he bluntly stated. "No matter the amount." Sighing, he added, "Trust the Senior Staff. Our job is not to micromanage, just to keep everything, including communication, moving. And, no matter what, don't let them see you get angry. If you need to vent, do it privately with me."

"That's why you have a Yeoman," she said. "But you still have to go through it. Got it. Keep it moving and don't get angry at them." She hesitated for a moment and looked into his eyes. "Have I ever made you angry?"

"I don't think anyone has made me angry," Harvey replied. "I take that back. There was your predecessor who shot me, and the yeoman who betrayed the ship. Those two were the only ones I've ever been angry with."

Camila nodded. "I never liked him from the moment I met him and I never met the Yeoman. I hear you have a very good Yeoman now who likes to squash rumors quickly from what my Investigations people tell me. Interesting accent, too."

"I'm sure you'll get to know Miss Rasputin very well over the next few days." Harvey paused. "Wait. What rumors?"

"That's just it," she said. "Usually the enlisted pool is a good place to get rumors from. Granted, there's a fair number circulating at any given time...but the silence is complete where you're concerned."

Harvey nodded, albeit nervously. "Hopefully it wasn't anything too terrible," he remarked. Though he didn't care all that much. He had nothing to hide from the crew. "And hopefully the rest of the rumors are harmless. Can't have doubts floating about right now in regards to leadership."

"Whatever Miss Rasputin is doing, it seems to have struck terror into the hearts of the enlisted on the ship," Camila said. "They won't even consider talking about you. As for the rest of the rumors, it's mainly speculation about the current events on the ship, who is dating who, what so-and-so lost at the last poker game and he-said-she-said run of the mill stuff."

"And one can only imagine what that speculation is going to be like for the next few days." Harvey sighed. "You should get some rest tonight. It's going to be a long next couple of days."

"You should, too, Harvey," she said. "I'll handle the troops while you take an extra hour in the morning. By the way, what shift am I going to be moving to?"

"You'll have the bridge on Beta shift. Of course, you'll be expected to be available on Alpha shift, but you're welcome to handle office work and do departmental inspections during that time."

"Got it," Camila said and then she frowned. "Harvey, I may feel a bit compromised in the position of acting Executive Officer, but I'm going to do my best to leave my emotions in my quarters before I report to duty. I saw Temerant this morning in Sickbay before he left and he...." she stopped. "I just hope he's okay."

He abandoned his chair and approached Camila. Placing a hand on her right shoulder, he said, "We're in what could be a parallel universe, and it's been a constant two months of hell. We're all at the point of exhaustion, both mentally and emotionally. All I ask is that you give us your best. And Temerant will be fine. We'll see to that."

"I know," she said. "I'm just worried about him. He...he told me that he loved me this morning and I didn't say it back. I have strong feelings for him, but I don't know if it's that." She stopped and wondered why she had told the Captain that as if he were her counselor. "Yeah...two months of hell and I just go and blurt out something like that. You have enough on your plate without worrying about what two of your people are doing off duty."

"Maybe you should see a Counselor," Harvey cautioned. "Sounds to me like you care for him. If that's the case, then it just means we can't afford to lose. At least you have time to think about your answer."

"I've already scheduled an appointment with Doctor Stuart," Camila said. "Back to the away mission, though. I think we should try to find someone in a small ship coming from the station and see what information we can get about it before we go in blind."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. "Go on," he said, both intrigued and worried about the idea.

"If everyone there works on barter and trade, we certainly have a lot to barter with and they will undoubtedly have a lot of information to trade. It works out for everyone concerned. and," she added. "We may get an ally."

The Captain nodded. "The theory seems sound. All right, keep an eye on sensors as we approach. We need to stay cautious, and first impressions will mean everything."

"Will do," Camila said. "I think that biobeds and medical supplies would be a very good item to trade. We can synthesize plenty of medicines, too."

"I'll have the galley prepare some of my coffee. That might get us something," he suggested. "Anything that we might not even consider on a regular basis might fetch us something, even if we can turn it into some kind of currency. I have a feeling there may be some things that only money can get us."

"In order to find out about that, we need information first," Camila pointed out. "We can easily replicate gold and silver. It may be worthless in the Federation, but it may be worth its weight here. I'd suggest sending out long range probes to scan any nearby planets for ores to see which ones are common and which ones aren't."

Harvey shook his head. "Again, that's leaving a footprint. Who knows who will find the probes while they're enroute or afterwards. They might just be probes, but they could be traced back to us, especially with the frequencies in use."

"Then we'll just have to find out what we can find and hopefully before we reach this starbase that might not even be there," Camila said. "The only other thing that I can think of at the moment is to send a shuttle or a runabout out as a scout."

Harvey took note of her instance to scout around them as they approached Razmena. As much as he appreciated the logic, he didn't want to risk losing any more people. "We'll make judgment calls as we go," he told her, not committing to anything. He felt fatigue starting to take over, and he knew he shouldn't make any decisions while he was tired.

Camila took note of his lack of agreement with almost any suggestion that she was coming up with and finally sighed. "It's been a long day, Captain," she said. "You should try to get some rest. I'll check the duty roster and keep you informed if anything happens."

Yawning, Harvey straightened his posture. "You should get rest too. The Chief of the Boat should have the graveyard shift. I say we let him."

"Is it that late already?" Camila asked as a sudden yawn caught her off guard and she flushed a bit. "Those things are contagious, Captain. Do you need more for anything else?"

Harvey shook his head. "I think we're at a stopping point for tonight." Nodding at her, he said, "Good night, Lieutenant."

"Good night, Captain," Camila said and went to the door to unlock it, then headed out.

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