Posted by Captain Orvos Legen (Commanding Officer) in Velocity of Change - Alt. Timeline

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Serena Stone (Executive Officer) in Velocity of Change - Alt. Timeline

Posted by Captain Orvos Legen (Commanding Officer) in Velocity of Change - Alt. Timeline
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
The Athena was only a couple of hours out from Starbase. Behind them, another ship, the U.S.S. Velocity was paralleling them. It was a Sunlight-class fast frigate, and anyone watching long-range sensors would see it closing on them at breathtaking speeds. Built to be the fastest things in Starfleet’s main fleets, it was clear she was doing just that. Not long after, a message came through that the Velocity was carrying new orders and personnel for the Athena and would catch up shortly.

There was no need to change course and speed.

Less than an hour later the Velocity was drawing alongside the Athena, matching warp bubbles and then dropping back to impulse power.

A minute later the transporter pad shimmered, and as the light faded a redhead wearing Command red with lieutenant commander’s pips stepped off the pad. “I’m Lieutenant Commander Stone. I have orders to hand-deliver to Commander Legan and Captain Wallace.”

NE Higgs nodded and secured his station. “You’re expected. Right this way, ma’am.” Pushing back from the console he quickly escorted the new arrival to the nearest turbolift.

Serena ignored the fact that neither had been there to greet her. This was all very unusual and sudden, but she supposed that was the nature of emergency priority missions. Reaching up she tugged at her collar. It was too freaking tight, and the top didn’t want to sit quite right. She was going to have to have a word with the replicator later.

The doors peeled open and she stepped into the hum of the bridge. “Captain, permission to come aboard?”

“Granted.”

Serena made her way toward the front of the bridge. “Captain. Commander. I have orders from Starfleet, eyes only. If we could go to the Ready Room?”

A moment later, all three were inside. “Apologies for the sudden nature of all this.” She fished a black PADD from her pocket and passed it to Captain Wallace. “Ma’am. My transfer orders and orders for you from Starfleet.” She fished out another Padd, and this one she gave to Orvos.

“My transfer paperwork for you, and… a few updates for you, sir.”

The information was the same for both. The padd for Wallace had her transfer orders off the ship to a crucial emergency mission she was assigned to, with the principal briefs she needed to get started. They were coded to her biometrics and wouldn’t open for anyone else, to ensure even Miss Stone didn’t read them.

For Orvos, they had a few details of Wallace’s transfer, the need-to-know stuff. It also detailed that he was hereby promoted not to acting captain but a full captain. He was ordered to relieve Wallace of command of the U.S.S. Athena by the powers that be for the time being. Lieutenant Commander Stone was to be his executive officer for at least the cruise, or until he found someone better. Or she was dead. That latter one always hung unsaid but was still there.

As she let the two officers read over the paperwork she stood to the side, hands behind her back. Out of sight, her grip around her right wrist was tight, white-knuckled. Sometimes people wanted to shoot the messenger. Others might feel that this was her fault, even though she was just as bent over the table as they were. And not quite happy about it either. She did her best to keep her hazel blue/gray eyes neutral, but there was still tension in her jawline and shoulders that anyone could see.

Wallace sighed and stuffed the Padd in her pocket. As Orvos relieved her of command, she nodded. “I am relieved.” She said her goodbyes quickly, then began making her exit, transferring her things to the Velocity.

Quietly, she stood there, knot in her gut, waiting for whatever blow might fall.

Lt Cmdr Stone

Orvos was, for a brief moment, stuck within the transition still. He hadn’t been overly fond of the move from Chief Engineer to First Officer, but he agreed with Wallace that the move made sense, so he reluctantly agreed. Now, Starfleet, for all they were worth, was thrusting him instead to the center seat. Full command of the Athena was now his.

He exhaled the breathe he had been holding and briskly moved to the seat in behind the desk of the captain’s ready room. After the computer confirmed the transition quickly, Orvos then turned his eyes to his new executive officer. He smile appeared on his face as he sensed the woman’s feelings. “Please, at ease, take a seat Commander. And don’t worry, please.”

He waved his hands about the room. “I’ve seen crazy things on this ship before. This is mildly tame.”

Orvos stood and moved to the replicator, hoping that the replicator wasn’t broken this time. “Sweet iced tea.” Looking to Stone, he asked. “Drink?” he asked with a light grin.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

“Make it two,” she said, letting out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding. Slowly she made her way over to the chair opposite of his and sat. Despite his smile, she still looked as if she were perched on a ledge. When he brought the drinks back she accepted hers with a quiet ‘thank you’.

“And worrying is what I do best, I suppose,” she said. “Keeps me prepared.” She paused long enough tot take a short drink then set the tea aside,. It was cold, refreshing, and the sweetener, whatever the replicator used, was enough to give a small dopamine hit and take the edge off, just a little. Idly she stuffed her hands into her lap, crossing one leg over the other, sandwiching her long fingers to keep them warm. And to keep down any nervous fidgeting. “I wish things were happening under better circumstances. I know you just got here a short time ago. And now being blindsided with this and saddled with somebody you do not know. It’s not great.”

Lt Cmdr Stone, XO

“Well,” he nodded thoughtfully. “I’ve been on the Athena for some time, but you’re right about moving into different positions quite quickly. But what’s life without a curveball every now and then eh?” he said with a hint of joviality.

He took a sip of his iced tea as moved to the seat and sat down. “But no need to worry! We’re all adaptable and all will is still well. I imagine these were surprising orders for yourself. Is there anything you wish to know about myself or the ship? We’re a team now, you and I… A supposed dynamic duo aboard a great big ship in the stars. Best we start to get know each other a bit, eh? Please, speak freely.” He leaned back in the chair, almost as if he had been there before, but getting reacclimated to the feel of it.

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

She nodded. “It was rather sudden. I feel like there’s been some shuffling around higher up in the Chain of Command. Up until recently I was on the U.S.S. Valkyrie. Good ship. Not as new as a Mythology-class.” She smiled faintly at that. “Soon as I had my transfer orders, I started skimming personnel files. Yours seems a bit thin. But if I read right you’re an El-Aurian? Pretty rare, but I know of a few in the Fleets.” She took a drink of her tea and cleared her throat. “I’m sure I’ll be leaning on all that time and experience. I’m sure there’s a lot to learn there. Lifetimes of it.” She flashed him a small smile, though it was easy to sense a small bit of sadness and regret behind it. There was never enough time, especially to learn so much.

Orvos raised a curious eyebrow. “And your thoughts of El Aurians?”

“I’ve never met one until today. El-Aurians are exceedingly rare. There are no words for the atrocities that have happened to your people.” She shook her head slowly. There was a little sadness there, a hint of mourning for a people she’d never met or known. Compassion and empathy over own. “I also generally hear good things, save for a bad apple or two.” The history of the Enterprise was one she’d followed along with besides what was required at the Academy. Details of Doctor Soren’s work, the encounter with the Enterprise, the destruction of the Amargosa star and observatory, and the near-destruction of another solar system, all to return to The Nexus anomaly. It flashed through her mind in a moment. They were still studying those events, especially the Amargosa explosion.

“Well you’re in luck then, cause I’m not the only El Aurian aboard,” he said with a slight smile, letting the topic fizzle out.

“I do think somebody upstairs knew what they were doing. I did see you have a strong engineering background. Seems my life is full of engineers. My dad was an engineer, sir. Mother was a scientist and musician. When he was home we were always tinkering in his shop, until it was my shop too. And my mom, well… She taught em a lot about keeping my eyes open. In the Academy, I wound up with another mentor who was also an engineer. I’m certified at this point. But after the Dominion War I… well.. I kind of changed tracks. Eventually went into Starfleet, and security/tactical. Did pretty decent. That’s mostly been my career track. Tactics, planning, execution. But my background made me top of my class at tactical engineering.” She chewed her lower lip for a moment.

“Tactical engineering? Solid skillset I would say! Though, the next problem we will need to solve is who is going to keep us from tinkering around, hmm?” He laughed lightly. “I jest…mostly.”

She broke into a small smile at that. It seemed Commander … Captain Orvos liked to lean on humor and charm to be disarming. She couldnt’s ay it was a bad thing, but it did help break the ice. “Honestly, I would probably like that… After I get settled in for a bit, and get more comfortable here.”

“So at least we can probably relate and speak the same language. For all matters of ship’s business anyway.”

Lt Commander Stone, XO

Orvos leaned forward. “Certainly. Us engineers gotta keep things running and people safe. I’m glad you’re with us Miss Stone. Do you have any questions for me before we go into current mission details?”

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

She paused for a moment, considering. “Major details? Not particularly. Do we have a standing mission, or a specific dispatch at the moment? I wasn’t privy to that in the materials provided. Also uh… Do you want to move your stuff to your new quarters personally, or should I have someone assigned to it?”

Orvos squinted his eyes as he considered his answer. “I think I will have someone see to it. I’m needed in a few different places so given time we can get it all sorted.”

He then decided to share about their new situation. “We don’t have any standing orders yet. Just got out of dock for repairs. Basically testing systems, making sure everything is in good order. Tests show good. I’ll be reporting that to Starfleet. However we have now encountered a certain shuttlecraft Psion from the USS Montezuma. Apparently the ship came under attack and the 5 personnel aboard managed to escape in the hopes of finding help. We stumbled upon Psion after she passed through an ion storm. We are within tractor beam range and pulling her in now for repairs.” Orvos paused, curios to what she might say to all of that information.

“The Velocity made note of the shuttle on the way in. And that rather unneighborly ion storm nearby. Do we have the Montezuma’s last-known position,” she asked.

Stone seemed to think of something then which made her sit up straighter and brighten a little. “Okay, so .. I don’t know if you’ve had command before, but you’ve obviously had enough leadership over time. I tend to train my people to anticipate and self-delegate tasks in their spheres. They’re adults and experts in their field. Short of taking external actions… firing weapons, launching probes… I tend to expect people to carry out their business, be looking for answers and information. Instead of having to bounce back and forth. It’s more efficient. They have the initiative. And if they’re self-directed, until they need direction, they’re more engaged. - So my question is do you have a problem with that, or want to do things differently?”

Lt Commander Stone, XO

Orvos grinned. “That’s how it really ought to be. We can be ready to assist where needed, but ultimately we trust our crew to do their part.”

-Captain Orvos Legen, CO

She gave a sharp nod. “Good. I know some people try to micro-manage. And sure in the right moments it might be needed. But mostly, no.” She let a small smile tug at the corners of her lips, just for a moment.

For a moment her gaze went distant, retreating inward. Orvos could see the gears rapidly turning. In her head she was putting together an action plan, objectives to accomplish that could be passed along if need be, though held in reserve for the moment. She was brand new to the ship. And while the Montezuma might be in trouble, the Athena wasn’t particularly in crisis or trouble yet. Better to see how this crew did things, let them lead. It was their show, and she wasn’t about to be the middle manager trying to make a splash and make ‘improvements’ that actually made things worse. Above all, it was the Captain’s show. She was assisting.

“I think that’s it for the moment for me. If there’s nothing further here–” she gestured to the office, leaving the question unsaid.

Lt Cmdr Stone, XO