Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Starbase 237 Promenade deck - Leviathan security/RTF summoned to meet Captain Cobb
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Posted by Lieutenant Commander Surda (Security Chief / RTF Commander) in Starbase 237 Promenade deck - Leviathan security/RTF summoned to meet Captain Cobb

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Starbase 237 Promenade deck - Leviathan security/RTF summoned to meet Captain Cobb

“I thought we’d gotten rid of that particular anomaly,” Sudra joked, then shook her head and responded seriously. “Black badged p’tolbile had… expectations I had been shirking. You know how it is when you let the paperwork build up.” She straightened up slightly, recognizing the haunted ring of his voice as a reflection to her own. “Luckily, they’ve appointed a new secretary, so I’d seem to be back for good.” If paperwork was covert missions and secretaries were protégés, she wasn’t even lying.
-Surda, CoS/RTF CO

Zachariah nodded, comprehension not secured in full but sufficient to empathise with Surda’s plight. He had accumulated his own spiralling tower of secrets during their brief time apart.
“Aye, I know how it is.”

Behind them, Roebuck shuffled, attention superficially on the diminishing strawberries yet simultaneously boring a hole in Cobb’s back.
“Well I shall sleep more soundly with you as security chief and no mistake,” the captain hurried on, no cause for either to linger on a nebulous past. “Although you’ll be starting afresh with junior officers, I’m afraid. Few are those who remained after the Alini mission. Not that I blame a single, solitary one.”

Surda grinned, laughing lightly. “Why Captain! A gift?” She’d always had fun breaking in new JOs, especially their surprise at an Orion CoS. “I’ll have to set up anomaly survival training.” AST was her favorite exercise, she gave them an away mission on the holodeck and picked them off one by one.

Eager sip at the enticing purple liquor, until ferocious heat around the tonsils caused him to wince.
“An attempt, you say?” the old man chortled around another gulp. “Well, I daresay it wouldn’t pare well with dinner. But give us a holodeck and a roaring campfire and I’d be all set.”

Surda pulled out a horribly long label from her pocket and handed it over. “Their third attempt, to be exact. We should go, you can give them a review.” All she’d really gotten off the label was that it was some sort of root vegetable.

Strawberries abandoned, the Admiral suddenly stepped forward, urgent stopper to the loose cannon of Zachariah Cobb.
“Lieutenant Commander Surda. I would be interested to know your plans on crew training. Preparation time will, as always, be far too short. So I encourage any methods that might expedite their training.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Sir yes sir.” She rolled her eyes, but sat up to start brainstorming. “The fastest way to get them used to the job is to have them shadow someone who knows it. Like a cadet rotation.” Surda frowned, pulling out a PADD. “If I take 4 JOs on each shift and give each pair a half shift, they can spend the other half going through protocols and containment sci-eng.” Admittedly it would still take security a while to catch up, but as long as one of each pair understood the science and one knew not to play around with it, they could probably manage. “I can take 12 a day like that, and combined with training days, it shouldn’t take longer that a month to get all of security up to speed.”

“The rest of the crew is welcome to join training days, and we can run shipwide loose anomaly drills.” RTF had additional training she wasn’t including, but hopefully any new RTF officers were at least competent enough to not accidentally release anomalies, and Starfleet enough to follow orders when they had a situation.
-Surda, CoS/RTF CO

“I can testify personally to the effectiveness of Lt Commander Surda’s training,” Cobb nodded to the Admiral, the memory of their last combat session on the holodeck bringing a smile to the old man’s weary face. “It is also my hope that, by merging security and the RTF into a single unit, mission and training priorities and objectives will achieve a clearer focus.”

Surda laughed at the mention of her training. “If nothing else, they’ll have to stop stepping on each other’s toes.”

The captain turned once again to Surda. “And on that subject, Lt Commander, do you have any questions for me?”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Just one Captain.” She met his eyes with a grin. “Your office, 1900 hours, every Wednesday?” She wiggled her eyebrows, aware that Cobb knew better than to take the implication seriously. With the minuscule amount of officers that had remained, she wanted to offer some sort of weekly support, especially considering they had a new XO. “We’ll have fun,” she added with a wink.
-Surda, CoS/RTF CO

“Of that I have no doubt,” her wink mirrored with Zachariah’s own. No requirement to glance over his shoulder, the Admiral’s unease at such easy conversation as tangible as a scold’s bridle around Cobb’s tongue.
Still, there lay a certain appeal in Surda’s proposition, despite being formed primarily in jest. The history of Cobb’s relationships with his RTF Commanders was…difficult. Manhattan had been a decent chap although far too wary of the Captain and Zachariah of him in return. As for Kodek Vonn, it remained a miracle how the two had not come to physical blows. Maybe this time he could work in harmony with his Recovery Task Force chief.
“I shall look forward to it,” his tone left no doubt that the meeting was now formally arranged. But away from the starbase and the prying eyes and ears of ARU central command.

Surda nodded, serious once again. She knew how fraught RTF relationships were, she herself had gotten in screaming matches when she was only the CoS. Cobb though… he’d been more or less all that kept her on the Leviathan, the second he was gone she’d been transferred away, and there’d been no one to argue against it.

“If that is all, Lieutenant Commander, then you are dismissed.” No opportunity for the Admiral to impede this burgeoning friendship, the captain struck with an irrational desire to keep Surda away from the ARU top brass and to himself, lest she hear the miserable tale of his incarceration from different, more prejudiced, lips.

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

She stood and saluted, offering the respect the admiral expected, then nodded deeply, to the point she could no longer see him. She could only hope he remembered her tired rant on how Orions showed respect, and understood how much she trusted him. “Off to a security meeting I go then.” She waved jauntily to the admiral. “So long sirs!”
-Surda, CoS