Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in PreSim - Event Horizon Station - Time Off For Good Behaviour

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in PreSim - Event Horizon Station - Time Off For Good Behaviour

Posted by Commander Shedda Mal’athar (Executive Officer) in PreSim - Event Horizon Station - Time Off For Good Behaviour
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
OOC: Feel free to take your characters on the station and do what you like before we get out new GMT.

The station Event Horizon was still new in the quadrant. As such, it was constantly being added to, remodeled, upgraded, and all the other words that conveyed continuous change. Fortunately those changes were almost always a positive. The station was also the main rendezvous point for ships and crews from the other side of the worm hole to stage and prepare for their explorations in the Delta. The station was technically a Federation facility; but due to its proximity to the worm hole and it’s location in the Delta Quadrant so far form the nearest Federation border, it had quickly become a more multi-representative place than anything else. True, Star Fleet was in charge of the station operations and security. And the majority of the populace was from the Federation. But it was not at all unusual to see beings form all over known-space inside the gigantic station’s Promenade or other places beings could mingle.

As the largest Star Fleet vessel in the quadrant with the highest -ranking Star Fleet officer in the quadrant as it’s CO, the USS Manhattan had become the unofficial flagship of the Federation presence in the sector and beyond. As a science vessel, it had conducted research and exploratory missions that had already advanced knowledge of the Quadrant exponentially. As a Diplomatic presence, the ship and crew had made many new acquaintances, a few new friends, and a handful of… well… not ‘enemies’ per se; but definitely some had taken exception to the presence of the Federation in the Delta.

Both station and vessel- docked for resupply and repairs after a several month long exploratory mission- sat in a slow rotation half a million kilometers from the point where the worm hole would open every four hours. The ship had been docked for four days, with another fourteen on the schedule. Time enough for the crew to get some much deserved rest and relaxation…

And time for the Captain to catch up on some much needed but very unwelcome administrative needs.

Cochrane, CO

Alex wasn’t the only one with administrative tasks to catch up on. There were endless supply requests, upgrades, new equipment to be installed, updated databases, shore leave to coordinate, and guests to over see. It had been a very busy four days at Event Horizon, and Shedda had only spoken to Alex in passing as the captain went about the business of running a star ship, and Shedda went about hers supporting him in those tasks.

One of those things was to make sure that the Captain was also getting his share of leave and down time. Alex was a workaholic. Shedda knew the type, so was she. So it was with quite a bit of irony that she stepped up to his ready room door and pressed the chime. They had a standing agreement to check in on each other.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

The door slid open silently to reveal Cochrane’s office. Seated at the desk was the Fleet Captain, eyes scrolling over a PaDD with only a cursory glance up as the XO walked in. He tipped the PaDD towards one of the two chairs in front of the desk and went back to reading for about half a minute.

Shedda entered and took a seat and waited for him to finish what he was doing.

Cochrane finally set the device aside and looked at Shedda. “So is this a ‘Dammit Alex you forgot to eat.’ visit? Or is it a ‘Oh, and here is still some more bureaucratic garbage for you to deal with.’ visit?” and he chuckled.

Cochrane, CO

The XO laughed, “Both. You forgot to eat and you haven’t scheduled any down time for yourself yet. And more,” she listed the PaDD in her hand, “garbage. Requiring your sign off on it specifically. Lt Byzi’s sister and niece are on the other side of the worm hole. Byzi didn’t think they could make it, but his sister was able to arrange it last minute. Security won’t let them through to their transport without approval from you.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane shook his head and scowled. “So much for the freedom of sentient life to move as they wish.” He picked up his PaDD and read the message form Security at the station. He grumbled something in Klingon and then signed off the request… taking great pains to ensure the ‘Fleet Captain’ field was filled in correctly. Under the ‘Comments’ section he typed ‘Any further delay in the reunification of the officer and his family will be most unacceptable.’ He sat the PaDD aside and looked at Shedda. “Ok, so what other fires do I need to extinguish before I grab a sandwich and take over the bridge?” Cochrane was notorious among the crew for taking watches when someone- especially junior officers- were slated for the spot but had an opportunity for a break or maybe a call home. The current shift was supposed to be filled by Ensign D’esfrain; but Cochrane ordered her off the ship when he found out her girlfriend was going to try to become her fiancé.

Cochrane, CO

Shedda grinned she knew why Alex was taking a bridge shift. D’esfrain’s surprise was a well kept secret among the crew. “No, I’ve been able to field most things coming through. I’m taking a shift down in the geology lab. They have an experiment that needs watching, and I’m not doing anything else. Well not anything else that I can’t do from there. Oh, and I have been informed by one of the staff,” she rolled her eyes, “that Chef Harv has threatened us with bodily harm if we skip dinner in the mess again.” Shedda shrugged, “Could be the staff trying to head off a bad temper, or could be true. Never know.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane rolled his eyes as well and sighed heavily. “I swear that for as good of a chef as he is, I sometimes wonder if it’s worth the headache.” and he shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Fine.” he said after a long pause. “Dinner. I need a break today anyway. Meet you there at 1900. That work for your experiment schedule?”

Cochrane, CO

“It does,” Shedda confirmed. She got a wicked look in her eye, “You know, between the two of us, we might convince Harv to take a small break and go explore the station. The crew can certainly fend for themselves for a few hours. Though, we might end up being the main ingredients in tomorrow’s breakfast.”

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

Cochrane chuckled and said “Too true.: He looked at his desk as his comms chirped and he scowled. “I have to take this. Keep me apprised of any personnel changes. And I will see you in the Mess at 1900.”

Cochrane, CO

Shedda stood, “I’ll see you then.” She slipped out of his office so he could answer his comm. Stepping back onto the bridge brought a small line of officers with PaDDs needing sign offs, answered questions, and approvals.

Cmdr. Mal’athar, XO

The rest of the day was mundane… thankfully. Cochrane made actual headway and lessened his administration workload from ‘overwhelming’ to ‘moderately oppressive’. So it was that at 1857 he walked into the Officer’s Mess. He was actually not in uniform, having managed to get to his quarters and take a shower and change. He was dressed in black, short sleeved collared shirt with three buttons at the neck; the top one of which was open. Dark gray slacks and black shoes and belt completed the ensemble, and he made his way to his usual table at the far back and off to the side. There was, technically, a ‘Captain’s Table’ directly in front of one of the large windows; but Alex had never used it. He preferred to leave the view for the crew.

Cochrane, CO