A New Friend

Posted on 26 Apr 2017 @ 2:02am by Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler & Captain Harvey Geisler

2,114 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: USS Lakota
Timeline: MD 1 || 1200 Hours

The last seven days had been the slowest Harvey had ever experienced in his life. His only comparison was his imprisonment on Betazed. Even to this day, he did not know, nor did he care to know how long he'd been stuck there under the hands of the Dominion.

Still, he used every day to his advantage, pouring over every word in the note from Zachary and every inch of the details he'd received about the Century-Class. All that had been kept from him were the particulars of the mission, which only served to excite and agitate the Captain. He loved a good mystery, as indicated by the collection of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle hardback novels he obtained on his shore leave. But, if he was to command nearly eight hundred people, Harvey was inclined to believe that he needed to know something, even if he had a nugget or two before this staff meeting.

As soon as he got word that the Lakota was minutes away from dropping out of warp, Captain Harvey Geisler did the most logical thing. It wasn't making sure everything was packed and ready (that had been done since the morning) or report to the transporter room for immediate transport to the station (that would have to wait until the Lakota had docked).

Harvey left the Guest Quarters he and Joey had been assigned to and made his way to the forward observation lounge. He had only one goal, one thought on his mind.

To see the USS Black Hawk.

Joey made her way down the corridor toward the temporary quarters she shared with Harvey and their dogs, now dressed in the red that came with her new position. She still couldn't believe she was the Chief Intel officer on board their new home, and while it was a position that made her a bit nervous, she understood the need. No one knew as much about the area as she did.

Just as she was about to make a turn, she stopped when she saw Harvey coming her way. Like always, a smile formed on her lips and her pulse quickened. "I was just coming to see you, but you look like you're a man on a mission currently. Where are you off to?"

"Forward observation," Harvey simply replied, a smile on his face. "Ship's approaching Deep Space Nine."

"Really?" She asked, her smile growing wider with excitement. "In that case... I'm going with you. There aren't many times one gets to experience something like this."

"Come on," he said proudly, gesturing for her and the dogs to walk along side him. "She's got aft phaser banks," he said with a smile. The new girl had many features that her predecessor didn't, including additional decks, crew, length and width. Harvey had been talking about the new ship for days as he continued to pour himself into the schematics and manifest, as well as the designer's simulations. The phaser banks were among his favorite features as the Akira possessed a rather sizable blind spot in the aft quarter, and that was what ultimately did in his last command.

His excitement about the new ship was definitely contagious. She couldn't wait to get on board and check things out, but they still had some time before that happened... which, if she was honest... was complete torture. They were so close, yet so far away. Not to mention she had a completely new department to familiarize herself with. "When will we be able to officially board her? Has anyone told you yet?"

"We're arriving basically just in time for the meeting," Harvey confessed. "We'll have to board her after that. So, for now we'll just have to admire her from afar." Truthfully, he wasn't thrilled with it either. But, he was going to have a lifetime of getting to explore and know the new ship. It could wait an extra hour or two.

"Okay, that doesn't seem so bad," Joey conceded, though there wasn't much to concede presently. "We've waited months so far, a couple more hours won't be so bad." She turned to look at him. "You know, I'm no longer your Assistant Chief of Security." She'd purposely worn her hair in such a way that the red collar couldn't be seen.

"I had a feeling when you showed up with the red uniform," Harvey said with a smile. "It looks good on you."

"You once told me I'd look good in red," she pointed out. "Since you're the Captain, and likely were informed about where we're heading, I've been appointed to Intel because I'm one of few to have made it out alive. Honestly... I never thought I'd be going back."

Harvey had only an idea of where they were going. "Maybe I should have you take a look at what Admiral O'Connell gave me. He was a pain when we were roommates at the Academy, but what he gave me was... unlike anything he's done before."

"I can take a look if you feel it wouldn't compromise anything," Joey said, wondering exactly what the Admiral had given him. Maybe she'd be able to shed some light on it for him. After all, that was exactly what her new job entailed. "Do you have it with you now?"

Harvey shook his head. "It's packed away now. I have a feeling a lot more is going to make sense pretty soon anyway."

"I think you're right about that. I've got a pretty brief idea of what our next mission is, but Commodore Satiè didn't go into too much detail, and she left in true Intelligence fashion," Joey said, glancing down at their dogs. Rico and Pequeno were officially retired, and would live the rest of their days being spoiled rotten. Not that they weren't already, but now they would be pets and not have to face the dangers of field work. That made her happy, though she planned to keep them trained, just in a less dangerous way. "I'll do my part as far as keeping you and the Command staff up to speed as far as information goes."

"Whatever it is," Harvey said as they arrived a the forward lounge, "it has to be huge. Why else would Starfleet go to such extremes to reactivate us and subject us to so much secrecy? Somehow, I think we're all going to have to know more than what you even think you know." He was certain they'd figure it all out together, once they had a little more idea of what to expect after the briefing.

Joey felt butterflies in her stomach as they got to the forward lounge. They were just seconds away from gazing upon their new home for the first time. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. So many emotions were moving through her, emotions she chalked up to being inactive for so long. "As far as briefings go, they always lead to more questions, and that can be frustrating," she said just before taking a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

A soft chime sounded from the speakers, a muted warning that the ship was about to drop out of warp. The forward observation lounge was not crowded by any means, just a handful of passengers and crew besides Harvey and Joey. All chatter ceased as every eye turned to the forward viewports.

The warp trails disappeared, and Deep Space Nine punched into view. The Lakota's timing was perfect as an Intrepid-class starship had chosen that very moment to exit the wormhole, displaying its brilliant blues and purples behind the magnificent Cardassian design.

Harvey had seen it before. It had been nearly a year since he took command of the ill-fated Akira-class ship, but the memory felt like a lifetime ago. Of course, even then, he arrived via shuttlecraft, not the majestic Excelsior cruiser. Therefore, his eyes were elsewhere, visually scanning the three lower docking pylons for his new command.

And there she was. Clocking in at over seven hundred meters long and twenty-four decks, the Cenutry-class USS Black Hawk had beat him to Deep Space Nine, awaiting the rest of her crew to begin her first journey into the Gamma Quadrant. Many described the class as a combined design of the Intrepid and Sovereign frames, and she looked more magnificent than Harvey could have ever imagined.

"There she is," Harvey muttered, pointing at the ship off in the distance.

She turned her eyes toward where he indicated. There she was in all her glory, a beautiful sight to behold. Joey had never been lucky enough to see anything like this before, and she found herself wanting to get aboard her even quicker. But, there was a briefing they needed to get through first.

Seeing their new home triggered something inside of her and tears began to well in her eyes. Joey tried to hold them back, but she couldn't. They flowed freely down her cheeks, falling onto her uniform jacket. "I... I've never seen anything so... majestic before," she sniffled as she tried to compose herself.

At the sniffle, Harvey glanced to his side to see Joey's cheeks glisten under the low light. He might have been happy to see the ship, but he was certainly not expecting to she her so emotional about their new home. "You okay?" he asked her.

Joey nodded her head and wiped the moisture from beneath her eyes. "Yeah, I'm okay," she said, still trying to regain control of herself. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Hopefully you didn't pick something up from Bora Bora," he remarked. Despite all of their medical advancements, they still hadn't eradicated viral diseases from Earth. It was curious though that she was a bit emotional so long after they left, but perhaps it could be the environmental system. He had noticed higher levels of helium and nitrogen in the air supply, likely because of the abundance of Tellarites and Deltans aboard. Between coming right off the ocean air and translated back into an artificially controlled system... that was enough to throw anyone off balance. "I'm sure it'll all be fine."

"Anything is possible. I'll go to sickbay after the briefing to get checked out just in case," she said. And Joey hated sickbay with a passion, which meant she wasn't feeling exactly up to par either. "They'll give me something, then I'll be good to go."

Harvey only nodded. He was going to have to make it a point to visit sickbay as well, not just for his first tour or the fact that the ship's specifications indicated a wonderful medical complex aboard the Black Hawk, but because of regulations regarding officers returning from shore leave. Often times, crewmembers would bring back a virus or cold that would quickly spread throughout the ship. These had the best chance of getting caught if the crewmember submitted themselves to a routine physical when boarding.

But, for now, he had other worries. "I could stand here all day and admire the new ship," he said. "But I have a feeling we need to make sure our gear makes it to the cargo transporter and then get aboard DS-Nine. That briefing is supposed to start soon."

"I'll see about our gear. You take a few more minutes to admire her before the briefing," Joey offered. "I'll see you later after I find out where our quarters are."

"Don't stray too far," Harvey cautioned her. There wouldn't be any time for them to beam over to the Black Hawk, even for a minute. And, he hoped to enter the briefing with her by his side. But he'd be fine either way, and he'd enjoy the next couple of minutes studying his new home for afar. He had a feeling he had a lot of time to get to know her.

Joey smiled. "I'll meet you back here twenty minutes before the briefing is set to start. I have to put these two," she said, gesturing to Rico and Pequeno. "Back into our temporary quarters, too."

Harvey nodded before turning back to the forward viewport. He leaned against the support beam and crossed his arms as his gaze lingered on the Black Hawk's glistening hull, glowing warp grills, brilliant deflector and graceful curves as the Lakota slowly approached the station, waiting for permission to dock at the upper pylons.

With the dogs at her side, Joey made her way toward the exit of the forward lounge, stopping briefly to look back at Harvey for a moment. She smiled and turned to make her way out to take care of a couple things before the briefing took place.

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