Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in McHarrie’s arrival

Posted by Lieutenant Commander John McHarrie (Consultant Researcher (Abell-level)) in McHarrie’s arrival
McHarrie had only arrived at the Starbase 30 minutes before his new shop the Leviathan was due to depart and the docking master had seen fit to Dock the ship he arrived on the berth furthest away so now he found himself rushing to get aboard before the ship left without him - He had no idea if he was expected or not.

The Welsh an found himself navigated the crowded walkways with difficulty with his stuff bag balanced on top of a large silver crate that he towed on its wheels by an extended handle.

Just for a change he was wearing a standard Starfleet uniform with teal trim bearing his own rank and name tag.

He arrived at the airlock just in time.

“Have the quartermaster take the bag to my quarters,” he said, “The crate needs to go sickbay. The contents need to be dissected with the usual discretion of the ARU. We need to know everything about it and what made it tick. I’m going to report to the bridge.”

John then headed for the bridge to report in and to speak with the Captain.

Exiting the turbo lift he looked around the shiny new bridge that appeared to be fitted with the latest computer equipment…

-McHarrie

It was possible that McHarrie had explored a Mjolnir-class starship before, but for Zachariah Cobb this bridge design was completely new. And more than a little jarring. Firstly, instead of being located on the upper levels of the ship, it was buried all the way down on deck 23. Yes, yes, he’d heard all the arguments on how it made tactical sense to be nearer to the centre of the ship. Like moving to the centre point of one’s house when a tornado was about to hit. But still, Cobb was finding it difficult to shake the sense of claustrophobia that descended upon him when stepping through these doors. As if he were being ushered with agonising finality into his own tomb.

To add to the overall sense of unfamiliarity, the traditional spot for a captain’s chair had been overtaken here by a ring of sensor information stations, providing real-time holograms of tactical simulations. Which meant that Cobb and his First Officer were hoisted towards the ceiling on a raised platform, gazing down upon this hive of activity and yet, somehow, strangely removed from it.

So when McHarrie stepped onto the Leviathan bridge he would find his new captain not in his own seat, but instead hunched over one of the sensor information stations and seemingly engaged in a spirited game of ‘Battleships’ with the central computer.

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Captain Cobb?” John said in his distinctive Welsh accent, “I’m Commander McHarrie. Reporting aboard as one of your consultant researchers.”

It seemed strange for the Section 31 officer to even be using his own name when reporting for an assignment. The last time he had done so, was as an ensign reporting aboard the Viking. Now that was a dark ship with many dark secrets about her, but nothing compared to the dangerous and innovative things that would be discovered and perfected in an ARU controlled environment. The nature of ARU’s remit inevitably attracted the attention of Section 31 and if John played his cards right this would be his first step towards leaving the section.

Section 31 had given him a blank page on this assignment. So John had decided to take a gamble and to take a different approach to what his superiors would have approved of… Building a mutually beneficial relationship between S31 and ARU.

This first meeting with the Captain was going to be crucial in establishing that. Whilst much of John’s record was classified, he had ensured enough was leaked so that had Cobb, Raauhl or Stone performed even a quick search, they would know exactly who he was… The fact he was standing on the new functional bridge meant either knew and were going to watch him closely or they hadn’t. He would know in a few minutes which it was…

-McHarrie