Troublesome Assignments

Posted on Mon Mar 31st, 2014 @ 10:02pm by Captain Vorn Krace & Lieutenant Commander Amol Kotay & Lieutenant Marc Kenmore & Lieutenant Commander Tallis Kiedra

Mission: Morex
Location: USS Iapetus - Captain's Ready Room

Though Vorn had handed off all of the paperwork required for getting the new members of crew on board the Iapetus to his new first officer, there still remained a large amount of it for him to deal with for the other ship's business. Unfortunately, most of it tended to remind him of the officers that he had lost to other postings of late.

First, there was the last engineering report submitted by Commander Drex. As suitably detailed as his reports had always been, it was also filled with imaginative suggestions for improvement to the ship's systems, including some refinements to the ship's holographic systems that he was working on before he left.

Then, there were the crew evaluation reports from Commander - now Captain - Walex and Counselor Lynn. Both had also moved on to other postings, leaving him with positions to re-staff. It was a sad moment when he said goodbye to all of them, but as their captain, how could he stand in their way if they had the opportunity to progress their career elsewhere? And Acle - who Vorn had tried to convince to accept a command when it had been offered to him before - was such a close friend and superb officer, how could he refuse his request to take Drex and some of the other crew with him to his new command? He deserved to have his choice of officers to make the ship his own.

Just as he was reminiscing, the chime to his door sounded, and upon receiving his invite, his new first officer, Commander Kotay walked in, with a slight grin on his face as he was followed by another officer, dressed in sciences teal. "Captain," he said, as they both stepped up to Vorn's desk. "Allow me to present our new counsellor; Lieutenant Michael Kenmore." With an odd grin on his face that Vorn didn't quite understand, the commander then bowed out and left the two alone in the ready room.

"Captain," Kenmore said by way of introduction, putting the memory chip - presumably holding his transfer orders - casually on the desk and standing at some vague approximation of attention.

"Counselor," Krace responded uncertainly, taking the chip to plug it into his terminal, though he didn't actually need to read it. Kenmore had come highly recommended by one of the Admirals back at Command, and had spent quite a bit of time working at Starfleet Medical, and yet the man's countenance automatically seemed to sit at odds with Vorn for some reason that he couldn't quite articulate. "Welcome aboard the Iapetus."

"Thank you," the counselor replied. Vorn wasn't one for sticking dogmatically to protocol, but he was certain that there should be a 'sir' in there. Deciding that it was time he took some control over their meeting, he stood and gestured towards the couch that sat against the long wall of his ready room. "Please, have a seat." As Kenmore took the one offered - dropping into it and relaxing so much that he looked as if he owned the room and Krace was the visitor - Vorn moved around to perch on the other side of his desk, attempting to relax just as much as the counselor had.

"You come to us highly recommended, Lieutenant," he began, trying to remember what he had been told about him. It was true - Vorn had spoken with each of the man's previous commanders, due to the unusual situation in that Personnel gave him carte blanche permission to deny the transfer request without providing a reason. Vorn had wondered at that then, and he wondered again now. The man was older than Vorn, and usually someone of such an age would have reached a higher rank by now in his career, unless he had either joined Starfleet late in life or had a history of insubordination. Considering their interactions so far, Vorn was beginning to suspect the latter. He tried to size the man up, and noticed at how little attention he appeared to have taken in making sure he was presentable. His shoes - though they looked comfortable - were scuffed and dirty, and his collar was slightly undone; the rank pips set on it at an odd angle. "But you should be aware that I expect high standards from my crew, as well as discipline from them."

"Understood," Kenmore replied, though his tone suggested that he didn't really take the captain's warning seriously.

It was just then that the chime sounded to signify that another visitor was outside the ready room door. "Come," Krace said simply, his attention still on the lieutenant.

The newcomer took no time entering the room. Standing proud, the Bajoran woman was also clad in sciences teal, though her rank pips designated that she was a Lieutenant Commander. Like Kenmore, she didn't waste much time with the introductions. "Captain, Lt. Commander Tallis Kiedra, reporting for duty."

Krace turned to face the newcomer as she announced herself, and stood straight from where he was leaning on his desk. "Ah, Commander. Welcome aboard the Iapetus," he said, holding out his hand in greeting, whilst his frame still felt stiff and formal in reaction to Kenmore, who now seemed to be sitting and watching the exchange with a mixture of interest and amusement.

Kiedra extended her hand to meet the one offered by her captain. "Thank you, sir." She gestured towards Kenmore with a nod of her head. "I see that you're with someone else. This won't take long." She lifted the med kit that was slung over her shoulder. "If you don't mind, Captain, please have a seat. On the desk is fine."

The captain raised his eyebrow in surprise as the instruction. "Excuse me?" he asked, genuinely not sure if he had heard what he thought he had.

"Please have a seat," Kiedra repeated, as if that explained everything. She pulls her medical tricorder out of her med kit. "I've noticed that everyone on this ship has been good about keeping up with their yearly physicals. Well, everyone but one. This will go quicker if you have a seat."

"Doctor, can't this wait?" Krace said, failing to keep some of the annoyance out of his voice. "I'll come and see you in the medical bay when I am done here."

"Oh, it certainly can, but I've seen too many officers try to squirm their way out of it," the Bajoran replied. "This way I'm guaranteed to get your vitals on file."

Vorn took in a breath and let it out sharply through his nose, his annoyance now clearly showing. Without taking his eyes off of Doctor Kiedra, he said, "Counsellor, you're dismissed."

Kenmore didn't even try to keep himself from grinning as he casually got up and walked slowly to the ready room door. "Captain. Doctor," he said, nodding his head to each as he made his way out.

"Doctor, I realise you are only performing your duties," Krace said, as soon as the doors hissed shut on the counsellor's exit. "But I will not allow you to undermine my authority on this ship, especially in front of one of my officers."

"I had no intention of undermining your authority, Captain. That's why I'm not doing this on the bridge." She started scanning Krace while continuing. "I put the health of the people under my care above all else, with the exception of taking care of my daughter. And I can't do my job properly without having the proper information." She gave a puzzled look at her tricorder display. "This is odd, your heart rate seems to be a little high."

Vorn grabbed the external scanner out of the doctor's hand whilst she was distracted by the readings it was feeding through to her tricorder, forcing her to divert her attention away from her tools and focus on him until he had said what he had to say. "Where you do it, or in front of how many people is irrelevant, Doctor," he said, once he was certain she was listening properly. He allowed some of his frustration to filter through to his voice, showing the doctor exactly why his heart rate was a little high. "Whether you ignore me in front of the entire bridge crew, or in front of one person, it has the same effect. I can't do my job properly without having the proper respect and authority over the crew."

The Bajoran nodded towards her captain. "Fair enough. I see your point."

"If you have to come to me for anything like this again, do it when I am alone, or I will have someone escort you to sickbay until I am ready to come to you. Clear?" the captain handed her the scanner back, but kept a grip on it until she had said what he wanted to hear. If it were any other officer being so insistent on his time, he wouldn't have even gone far enough to say that, but considering he knew himself how much he wished he could avoid his physicals, and that the doctor could relieve him if he refused to attend, he allowed her the small privilege of being able to come to him, so long as it was under his own terms.

Kiedra couldn't resist letting her lips curl up into a smile. "I think you and I are going to get along just fine, Captain. You've got backbone. I've seen lesser men cave under pressure, my ex-husband included. You've earned my respect." She paused a moment, waiting to see if he was going to relinquish her tricorder. "I think I have enough to update your file. Is there anything else that you need from me, Captain?" There was no sound of condescension in her voice.

"No Doctor," Krace said, releasing the device, and clearly not pleased with being tested in this way. "Dismissed."