Muster

Posted on 13 Sep 2016 @ 9:56am by Commander Thiago Teixeira & Master Warrant Officer Karyna Fordyce & Lieutenant Hannibal Owens & Lieutenant JG Ian Starkweather

2,321 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Click Three Times
Location: USS Cochrane
Timeline: MD7 || 1100

Thiago walked the corridors of the Cochrane, making his way from the shuttlebay to the Bridge. He had just arrived on the Intrepid-class starship, the ship he was now in command of. The corridors were identical to those on the Blackthorne, the first ship he served on as Executive Officer. Now, he was in command, even if only in an acting capacity. Though he'd never aspired to Command, he now found himself in that exact position.

He passed various crew members in the hallways, all of them busily working to get the ship back into proper condition. His natural instinct was to pitch in to help, but he needed to meet with the, with his, senior staff.

Arriving to the doors to the bridge, he paused just outside the range of the door sensor. He took a quick second to pull his thoughts away from nostalgia and into the present. He hadn't informed anyone he was coming, so he wasn't sure who or what to expect once he crossed the threshold. Exhaling, he stepped forward and, once the doors parted, entered the Bridge.

Lieutenant JG Jane Marley, a young human female had found herself in the role of acting Chief of Flight after her former Chief had been revealed to be Consortium. She still wasn't sure who or what she believed, but the Akira class ship that had shown up and taken out both the Cochrane and Chimera had meant business and they clearly weren't out to take them out entirely.

She looked up and saw the tall green eyed man enter the bridge with the pips of a Commander on his collar and suspected that since he wasn't regular crew that she knew that he was there to take command of the ship or give them orders. Jane gave him a respectful nod and then glanced nervously back down at the Helm and wondered what good a damaged ship could do.

Lt. Hannibal Owens found himself at his familiar tactical station onboard the Cochrane. It felt good to be out of the brig cell, even if it was under the watchful eye of the Black Hawk crew; he was just thankful that they had given him a chance. He heard the doors of the turbolift whoosh open and saw the tall, dark-haired commander step onto the bridge. Hannibal gave a subdued nod and continued working. There was no reason for him to have any resentment toward the new face on the bridge. He had no love lost for his former commanding officer, especially when his investigations were proven correct in the fight between the Consortium and Starfleet.

Lieutenant JG Ian Starkweather was posted on the bridge at Ops when the tall, dark-haired Commander from the Black Hawk arrived. The young blond man frowned. He couldn't help but resent that someone from the ship that had defeated them in combat was now in charge. Raking his slender fingers through his thick platinum blond hair, Ian sighed. He couldn't help but let his feelings show. He wasn't Consortium and had given the best year of his life to serving aboard the Cochrane. They should have promoted a crew member of the Cochrane to XO at least.

Nick Taggart was were he liked to be, in the background. His eyes darted from crewman to crewman judging their reaction and trying to weigh who would need his help most in dealing with the new situation they found themselves in. Vaguely wishing he had a counselor of his own, Taggart buried himself in his PADD when Teixeira's gaze crossed his path. The counselor wasn't entirely sure that the Black Hawk was Consortium free and the acting captain was not beyond suspicion. Still, Teixeira's psych profile seemed sound.

Feeling the eyes of the Cochrane's crew on him, Teixeira cleared his throat. "I'm Commander Thiago Teixeira from the Black Hawk. Captain Geisler has placed me in temporary command of this ship." He looked down at the PADD he was carrying, his eyes running through the list of names on the screen. "Lieutenant Owens," he said, finding the name of the officer manning Tactical, "a moment please." He motioned towards the door to the ready room.

"Aye, sir," Owens said as he stopped working. He took the commander's suggestion and went towards the ready room, unsure of what to expect.

"And Mister Starkweather," Thiago said before exiting the Bridge, "alert the ranking officer in each department to report to the briefing room."

Ian couldn't help himself as he said in his London accent, "Aye aye, Sir." He then notified the various department heads to meet in the briefing room in five minutes. Leaving his own post, he allowed an Ensign to man Ops.

Lieutenant Marley got up from the Helm and turned it over to an Ensign before she nodded to Starkweather and headed to the briefing room a moment later.

--=[Ready Room]=--

As soon as the doors closed behind Owens, Teixeira spun around to face the dark-skinned man. "Commander Bast, also from the Black Hawk, will be joining us later and will serve as my XO. I need you, Lieutenant, to serve as Second Officer. You know the Cochrane crew and they know you. I need that. You up for it?"

Hannibal stood with his hands behind his back, keeping his eyes on the acting CO. He nodded upon hearing his words, contemplating them greatly. He had never been in a leadership position quite like this. He greatly appreciated the request. "Aye, sir," he said. "Thank you. I'm honored to serve and I won't let you down."

"Thank you Lieutenant," Thiago said, extending his hand to Owens. "Let's join the others."

Hannibal grasped the commander's hand in a firm handshake and gave a gracious smile. He nodded at Commander Teixiera's suggestion and followed him to the briefing room.

--=[Briefing Room]=--

Lieutenant Marley entered the briefing room and and moved for a seat.

Lieutenant Helen Bennett, the Cochrane's Chief Engineer, arrived to the briefing room shortly after Marley did. She still didn't quite understand what was going on presently, or who she could really trust all things considered, but there was a job to do. Her blue eyes looked around the room, wondering what all of this was going to be about, but had a feeling that would be revealed sooner rather than later. The Engineer took a seat next to Marley to wait for what was to come next.

Lieutenant Starkweather entered the Briefing Room just after the first two women had, a frown creasing his face. Seating himself next to them, he asked them both, "What do you think of this new Captain from the Black Hawk?" He sipped some hot coffee from a mug in his hand as he sat down a PADD with the other.

Lt. Owens arrived at the entrance to the briefing room before Cmdr. Teixiera. The doors whooshed open in front of him and he stepped inside without breaking a stride. He found a seat across the table from the others. He gave a nod to the others in the room, barely catching the tail end of Lt. Starkweather's comment. He decided to let the women answer the question since it was directed at them.

Helen looked toward Starkweather. "The Captain of the Black Hawk in here?" she found herself asking him. "I didn't think he'd want to leave his own ship all things considered." And even now, she didn't know who she could or couldn't trust.

Ian sighed with exasperation. "Captain Geisler of the Black Hawk is not aboard the Cochrane," said he. "I meant Commander Teixeira, our acting Captain. He could be Consortium considering all our Chiefs were as well. I don't trust him."

"Don't trust who?" Thiago asked from the doorway.

Starkweather blushed, but held his ground. "You, Sir," he replied. "With everything that has gone on aboard this vessel, how do we know whether or not you're Starfleet or Consortium?"

"I appreciate your candor, Mister Starkweather," Teixeira started. He moved towards the front of the room. "The Black Hawk has been free of Consortium for some time now, but I don't know if there's anything I can do to convince you of my allegiance." He let the words hang in the air.

Master Warrant Officer Karyna Fordyce entered the briefing room after a momentary pause outside the doors. She had never attended a senior staff meeting, which made sense as she wasn't a senior officer. Or at least she hadn't been, until now. As a result of recent events, Fordyce now found herself as the senior member of the Science department. It was a big jump from working in Astrometrics to running the department. As she walked into the room, she looked around, offering a polite nod to the assembled officers. She moved around the table and took a seat. "Sirs," she said.

Running late, as usually, Lieutenant Taggart slipped into the briefing room and habitually took up his position in the corner behind the chair that Captain Suresh would have normally occupied when addressing the room. His job, as always, was to assess the Captain of the mental health and stability of the crew, of who was fit, who needed extra attention and who was unruly. With Suresh, it had been a touch of the shoulder when the Captain had pushed too hard, or a brief whisper to redirect the discussion. Of course, how well Nick had preformed this job was open to debate now that it had been revealed that a significant portion of those attending these meetings had been Consortium and the Counselor had been none the wiser. Taking a stylus in hand and lifting his PADD, Taggart took some brief preliminary notes in his own personal short hand.

"Looks like everyone's here," Teixeira started after a tired-looking young Andorian woman in a blue uniform and medical coat hurried in and dropped into an empty seat. He decided not to continue his previous exchange with Starkweather. "I'm Commander Thiago Teixeira. I've been assigned by Captain Geisler to serve as acting Commanding Officer of this ship. Commander Bast, also of the Black Hawk, will be joining us shortly and serve as my Exec. I know that this crew has been through a lot recently. We all have. I'm not here to upset the balance you all have established here." He paused. "To that end, I've appointed Lieutenant Owens as the Second Officer. I will be relying on him to keep me and Commander Bast informed of the intricacies of how things work here." He dipped his chin slightly in Owens' direction as an gesture of gratitude.

"Any questions so far?"

Lieutenant Marley listened and nodded. "Yes, Commander," she said. "The former Chief of Flight was taken and I was his Assistant Chief. Does this mean that I'm now the Acting Chief of Flight for the Cochrane or did you have someone else in mind?"

"You're in charge, Lieutenant," Thiago told the pilot. "That goes for all of you. If you are in this room," he said, looking around the room, but leaving his eyes to rest on the pink haired Warrant Officer, "you are the head of your department."

Karyna took a deep breath. She wasn't sure she was ready for command. But that was the position she found herself in. "Science, like the other departments, is understaffed. Are we getting any assistance with that?"

"The Chimera is beyond repair. Her crew is being reassigned. Some of them will be coming here." He tapped some controls on his PADD. "I've just sent all of you the list of reassigned personnel for your department. Doctor," he said to the Andorian woman, "one of the nurses from the Black Hawk will be joining your department temporarily as the Chimera's Medical department didn't fair too well."

"Lieutenant Bennett, we need to be as ready to get underway by the end of the day as possible. You can use whatever personnel you need to make things happen. I'm sure Mister Starkweather will be willing to have his people pitch in."

Bennett turned her gaze to the Commander after he'd addressed her. She'd trust the man... for now. "I can give you eighty percent power from the engines right now, and full impulse, but it's going to be another eight hours at minimum before we have warp."

"I'll take it. What about other systems? Things other than propulsion."

Ian looked up from his PADDs. "Shields are at 85 percent. Both forward and lateral sensors are working at optimum. We have forward phaser arrays, but the lateral ones are off line. I'm also willing to assist in Engineering if you'll have me and my team to assist." This latter was directed at the Acting Chief Engineer.

"We'll make sure there are no leaks in the coolant tank, reset the constrictors and injectors, clear obstructions in the power transfer conduits, reset the dilithium matrix, and flush out residual antimatter and matter." Bennett replied.

Thiago fought the smile creeping onto his face. Seeing that the Cochrane's crew was so on top of things made him feel even more confident about his current assignment. "Thank you, Lieutenant. Starkweather, for now I need you in Engineering. " He turned his attention to the blue-skinned woman across the table from him. "Doctor sh'Eshaatraq, a nurse from the Black Hawk, Ensign Sutherland, will be joining us to help round out your staff."

"Much needed, Commander. Thank you," the Andorian physician replied.

"Thank you all," Teixeira said, standing up, "for your efforts so far. Marley, Fordyce, Doctor, thank you for stepping up. You too, Mister Owens. Dismissed."

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