Coming Aboard

Posted on Tue Sep 22nd, 2009 @ 3:55pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson

Mission: Into a Devil's Heart
Location: USS Iapetus - Ready Room
Timeline: MD04 1450hrs

Vorn looked up from his desk as the chime sounded, announcing someone outside waiting to enter. "Come," he called, before looking back down to finish reading the sentence in the report he had in his hand, to set it down to finish it later.

Lucas strolled into the captain's ready room and took in the room. It was virtually identical to the ready room on the Enceladus, barring the personal posessions of the captain.

"Lieutenant Lucas Jameson, reporting for duty, sir." Lucas said, gently tossing the padd in his hand with his transfer orders onto the captain's desk, before adding "But call me Luc, sir. I hate Lucas, and gave my mother hell for it. Well, until I did a runner after a, uh, incident with my step-father."

Vorn took the padd that had been tossed onto his desk and read through it quickly. He hadn't received word of a new chief engineer yet, though he knew that Lamento was being reassigned, and these orders - while professional - looked a little hastily written. Could just be that the clerk who'd drafted them had been at the end of his shift and wanted to get home, though.

Pulling up the Lieutenant's service record for a quick skim over the man's service record. He'd make time to read it properly later. "You served on the Enceladus I see for a year and a half," he commented. Experience on another Luna class was a bonus, but the record had a number of reprimands on it, including one major one from just before his prior assignment. "What made you want to leave?" he asked.

"There was an incident. I assume you see the recent reprimand?" Lucas said, not waiting for an answer before continuing "What's not mentioned in the report is it was my half-brother that was killed. I've been on the waiting list for a transfer since then. I think you can understand why."

Vorn nodded. "Yes, I can see the reprimand. But that was over a year and a half ago - you were assigned to the Enceladus after that, and doing quite well there by the looks of it. I just wanted to know what made you want to join the Iapetus."

"Damn, I was hoping you wouldn't be attentative enough to notice my bullshitting there." Lucas said coolly "I went back on the transfer list little over a month ago. I'd been involved with one of the senior staff, but we had a messy break up. The fact that she was the Chief Engineer and therefore my direct boss didn't help matters, she began to assign me tasks that were a waste of my skills to try and spite me, so I requested a transfer. I actually requested the assistant Chief position, so this came as a shocker, but considering some of my skills, not a major one. Does it mention why I was relieved of my duties on the Intrepid? Or does it just say I was relieved for insubordination without giving details. The captain wasn't my biggest fan to begin with, I'd been put on the ship as a last minute replacement, so it wouldn't surprise me in the least if he didn't mention the reason was a good one but also a little over the top, the mods I made to that shuttle may have almost caused it to crash, but the additional emergency systems prevented it with the additional predictive override programming jump starting the engines about 33 seconds before it would've crashed."

Vorn took a moment to simply look at the man in silence. He knew he had been a troublemaker, and after a half-arsed attempt to cover some of it, didn't seem bothered by his poor record at all. What have I ever done to Admiral Livian to deserve this? he mused to himself. Eventually he spoke; "I do know the reasons for you being relieved of duty onboard the Intrepid. And for whatever explanations you have for your jaunt in that shuttle, the fact still remains that you ignored the orders of your commanding officer." He paused, hoping to see if that fact would sink in visibly through the excuse he had supplied for disobeying those orders. When he continued speaking, without giving the Lieutenant enough of a pause to speak himself, it was in a slightly quicker, and even more authoritative tone; "You have been assigned to this ship as Chief of Engineering, and with your skills record, I won't challenge that. But I do expect all of my orders to be obeyed, is that clear Lieutenant?"

"Yes sir." Lucas said, maintaining his cool despite the lecture he was getting.

"Good," Vorn said, rather more sternly than he had intended. He knew he needed to be firm with the man to begin with, to show him that he needed to follow Vorn's orders, but he didn't want to be too harsh so as to alienate his new officer. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes sir, but it's of a slightly less... professional nature." Lucas said "Permission to speak freely?"

"Granted," Vorn said, being careful to keep his face passive, while inwardly curious as to what topic the man wanted to turn to now.

"Well sir, there're two things." Lucas said, grinning "One, what's the bar like here. And two, what are the women like? By that I mean, how hot and how good, if you catch my drift."

Vorn simply sat there in silence, looking at the man with his eyebrow raised in a manner which clearly stated that he felt the man's questions had been wholly inappropriate for a starfleet officer to ask of his commanding officer.

"What?" Lucas said "Is there something on my face? Did I miss a bit of the marinara sauce that was left from my sandwich?"

Vorn took another moment of silence in which to just stare at the man, his face even stonier than when he first asked his question. The impertinence of the man was staggering - how could such a person ever rise to become a member of the senior staff? Eventually, he spoke; "If I were you, Lieutenant, I'd learn to think before I speak. Watch your attitude, or I'll have you reassigned to maintenance on some backwater mining asteroid faster than you can say Johnathan Archer. Dismissed!"

"Yes sir." Lucas said, going to leave before turning around "Although sir, could you at least tell me, do they serve Aldebaran Whiskey in the bar?"

"Only in synthale," Vorn retorted, his voice still carrying the sharpness that those who knew him only even a little would be able to tell someone meant that he was very close to throwing someone out the airlock. He didn't mention that, against regulations, he knew that the barkeeper of 'The Ridge' - as the ship's bar was called - kept a small stock of actual alcohol behind the counter for him and for special occasions.

"Thank you sire, that's all I needed to know. Nice to meet you." Lucas said, turning on his heel and tossing a two fingered salute to the captain as he walked out.

"What did I do to Admiral Livian to deserve this?" Vorn asked himself again, after the new young man on the block had left and the doors had sealed mercifully shut behind him.

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Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
USS Iapetus

&

Lieutenant JG Lucas Jameson
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Iapetus