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

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in McHarrie’s arrival
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
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

“Oh, ah…” the captain quickly powered down the game, his hands and upper body leaning in towards the holographic emitters as if by sheer weight they could suppress the images even more quickly. Then, once the evidence of his lack of focus had dissipated, Cobb rose to his feet, straightened his tunic, then held out a hand in greeting to the man. At last, here was a crewmember who was human. Zachariah had been beginning to feel like the only Terran native on the entire bloody ship. It was comforting to be in the company of one who hailed from the same planet as he.

But almost as quickly, the familiarity was driven aside by a second and more disconcerting thought. Commander McHarrie. He’d read the name only this morning, when pouring over his crew roster in an effort to prepare himself for further shocks. But what about him had lodged in the mind so forcefully? As it came flooding back to Zachariah, he turned and regarded the new arrival with wide-eyed amazement. This was the Abell-level Consultant. This was the crazy SOB he had been hearing about since landing on this nightmare of a starbase three days ago - the man who had dedicated his entire career to the study of only those anomalies that could wipe out humanity in the blink of an eye. Cobb wasn’t sure in that moment whether to be impressed, or absolutely bloody terrified.

As it was, he settled for measured restraint. “Ah, welcome to the Leviathan, Commander,” he replied in as steady a voice as he could muster. “I trust you’ve already inspected your lab and that it’s to your satisfaction? I…ah…wouldn’t mind seeing it myself at some point.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Not yet, protocol requires me to report aboard and get my evaluations out of the way first,” he replied, “I have no doubt that they will be above and beyond the standards that I am used to.”

“I hope you do not mind, but I brought a personal
project onboard. Don’t worry, they aren’t a danger to the ship or the crew in their current state. The vacuum of space fixed that we permanently.”

-John

Well, that certainly grabbed the captain’s attention.

“What kind of personal project?” he asked, hoping that McHarrie hadn’t yet figured out that he could pretty much do whatever he damned well pleased on this ship without Cobb getting any real say in the matter. “I…would appreciate a risk report on it before we leave the starbase with it onboard. And you might also want to run it by the Science Chief.”

“Oh it’s dead, and if that changes, you’ll be the first to know after I’ve beamed it out into space” John said confidently now referring to ‘they’ now in the singular, “And I’m looking forward to Commander GLaDOS’ insight. As an XB she has a some what unique perspective on life and death. This particular project of mine will also be of interest to her too. There are only two risks associated with the corpse. One is the Romulans finding out we have it, the other is Section 31. I trust you won’t tell them?”

So…no offer to see the Abell-section just yet. Well, he’d have to keep on the good side of Commander McHarrie and see what he could get out of the man.

“Well, when you do get to inspect your lab, let me know if there’s anything else you need, eh?” he offered amicably, a very rare mood for Cobb. “Also, we do have one…ah…anomaly currently onboard that you might want to take a look at. I…can take you down there when you’re ready, if you like.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

“Thank you, sir, I look forward to meeting it,” John said. He paused then spoke in a lower tone so as not to be heard by the other crew members present, “I appreciate your circumspection in this relatively public space, but I’m sure you’ve done your homework about me, seen the gaps in my record that are classified and undoubtedly have questions or heard rumors of what is in those gaps. If you wish, we can have a more open discussion about those in a more private place, for example my quarters, or my lab, or maybe somewhere of your choice if you prefer?”

-McHarrie