Staying Positive

Posted on Sun Jul 4th, 2010 @ 5:54pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant JG Christopher Rogan

Mission: Shadows Fall
Location: Turbolift
Timeline: MM2 MD3 1509hrs

Vorn rounded the corner on deck 3 just as he caught sight of two officers - one just leaving the turbo lift, and one just entering it. Holding his hand up after getting the one entering the lift's attention to signal that he should hold the lift, he strode quickly inside.

"Deck Seven," Chris said. He kept his eyes on his PaDD.

"Bridge," Vorn said, as the lift started moving upwards, assigning that journey the higher priority due to both the destination and Vorn's rank. He gave the ensign an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"It's okay, sir. I am used to it." Looking up he noticed who was in the car with him. "Captain." Chris suddenly stood straight and waved out the wrinkles in his uniform. "How was your day?"

"I've just had a bombshell dropped on me on how much work the Corps of Engineers wants us to fit in within the next week for a refit before we leave orbit," Vorn said, his tone a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "Otherwise, there've been no major hiccups so far. Yours?" He asked, struggling to remember the Ensign's first name. He had read Acle's report after Bevrud about the diplomatic officer coming aboard, but hadn't had a chance to meet him properly yet, and as such he could only just remember the man's last name - his first completely eluded him.

"Busy, but nothing I can't handle. I had recently received reports from SFD that detailed updates on Federation/Romulan Relations. Interesting read. If you're into staring at statistics all day." Chris chuckled. "Then there's my new team. They are novices, but I guess that's why they're here. To learn."

"How are relations with Romulus these days?" Vorn asked. He hadn't read the latest reports, but he knew that their course would be taking them close to the area of the Neutral Zone which shares a border with the Klingon Empire.

"Well, from what I've read Praetor Tal'Aura of the Romulan Empire and Empress Donatra of the Imperial Romulan State are finally sitting down to trade talks with the Federation. It took them a year to decide on Trill as the site of negotiations. There's also rumours of the Tal'Shiar working covertly to sabotage the talks. But Intel is still under the assumption that their spy network had been dissolved after Shinzon's coup. From a Diplomatic standpoint we were assured that the Tal'Shiar no longer exists. Statistics show that these talk are the Federation's favour as neither the State nor the Empire want a war with the Federation. Militarily, they are still weak."

"Well, let us hope that the situation doesn't change in the near future," Vorn said. "I've heard that the 'Triangle' has become a very volatile region of space lately, and we'll have to pass right through it to get to the Union Gateway."

"I don't think it will, sir. They, the Romulans are seemingly more into keeping up with appearances." Chris turned off his PaDD. "I may be a bit over optimistic about this but I think that's what we need to be now. The war is more than ten years over, we haven't heard from the Borg since Voyager's return. The worst is over for now. I think it's time to enjoy this calm period and build up our friendships. You never know when we're going to need them when it all goes to pot again."

"A good attitude to take," Vorn responded. "Mixed with one of caution. We don't want to relax so much that those friends become enemies from within." He sighed as he reached up to rub his temples. Since the War, life in Starfleet had become so much more complicated. The turbolift doors opened as they reached the bridge, and Vorn looked up. "This is my stop," he said, somewhat needlessly.

"See ya," the doors closed before Chris could finish his sentence. "Deck Seven," he told the computer.

OFF:

Captain Vorn Krace
Commanding Officer
USS Iapetus

&

Ensign Christopher Rogan
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Iapetus