Finally, I get my own room!

Posted on 10 May 2017 @ 1:59am by Lieutenant JG Jace Crystan & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,564 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1 || 1700 hours

Jace couldn't believe it. Finally, after a six year career, he got his own room. As was the case with many of his younger colleagues, promotion wasn't necessarily in the forefront of his mind. At least, he didn't do his job for the promotion. He did his job because its what he loved to do and given his goals in life, the best way to study stellar phenomena was to be at the forefront of exploration. He'd need to be as far from Earth as possible. Thankfully, he got his wish when the orders came in for his reassignment.

Jace had submitted himself for an assistant chief spot on whatever deep space vessel he could get onto. His previous Captain had helped him on that note and Jace was assigned to the USS Black Hawk A. Having arrived only an hour ago, Jace was still caught up in the initial excitement of being on the forefront of Starfleet and the Federation. He'd need to be sure to keep himself together as reported in to his new Commanding officer.

At the appointed time, Jace made his way to the Captain's ready room and signaled his presence.

Harvey, having returned to his desk after his moment of freight, looked up at the sound of the chime. "Trust no one. were the three words that echoed in his mind. Any hope of having some time to process what he'd just learned had been dashed the moment someone came to his door. The person or persons on the other side really could be anyone, from the ship's First Officer, to another member of the crew coming to officially report for duty.

And, while Harvey didn't often meet every member of the crew this way, Harvey had a standing order across the ship that any department head or supervisor under that head was to report in, just so he would be familiar with key members of the ship. Given that out of a crew of seven hundred and eighty, and only two hundred were carried over from the previous ship, there were bound to be several new faces among them. Who among them would be trustworthy? Or was Harvey reading too much into it?

"Come," he finally bellowed, remaining in his chair so that he might look towards the entrance and learn the identity of the first person to use the chime under his command.

At being granted access, Jace, for the first time, felt great. Normally, he'd have some feeling of anxiety upon meeting a new commanding officer, but this time, it was just different. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something felt off about being on this ship, or maybe, the truly correct way to say it was "something felt ON."

As the doors slid apart, revealing the Captain sitting at his desk, Jace stepped through and approached. "Lieutenant Jace Crystan, reporting for duty, sir."

The Captain took a moment to size up the young man who just entered the room. Harvey could tell that the new arrival was younger, but not that much younger, than he. Something about the man felt unusual. Most officers seemed to treat this formal practice as procedural, something to get over with. Lieutenant Crystan somehow set himself apart from those. If anything, perhaps he seemed giddy.

"Welcome aboard the Black Hawk, Mister Crystan," Harvey said, indicating a chair in front of the desk should the younger man wish to sit.

"Thank you, sir," Jace said in response to both the welcome and the invitation to sit. He graciously took the chair and took a slight opportunity to try to get some sort of read from the Captain. He certainly appeared as though he had a lot on his mind, but Jace was all too familiar with that concept.

"Tell me a little about yourself, Lieutenant," Harvey prodded. No sooner did he ask the question did Harvey slip a hand over to the desktop terminal to call up Crystan's personnel profile.

"Well, I suppose the first thing you should know is I'm caught halfway between being and astrophysicist and an archaeologist. I've studied both and I love them both, so you get both sets of skills from me." Jace spoke passionately. "Simply put, sir, I'm a nerd and proud of it."

"Medicinal research," Harvey said, indicating that that was his background prior to becoming a Captain. "And you're the first person I've heard use the word nerd in over fifteen years. I didn't think anyone used that anymore."

Jace let out a light sigh that could be confused as a chuckle. "Well, growing up, the other kids thought they could get a rise out of me by calling me a nerd. Little did they know I took it as a compliment." He raised his eyebrows quickly as he said the last bit.

Harvey raised an eyebrow of his own at the Lieutenant's enthusiasm. In many ways, Harvey knew that energy was something this ship needed, especially among its crew. Whether or not Harvey was ready for it in the ready room was a different story indeed. "Astrophysics and Archaeology. That's an interesting combination."

Jace nodded. "That's usually the response I get. I studied astrophysics in graduate school before I joined Starfleet and archaeology was always a hobby. When I went to the academy, they said I could do both. I couldn't argue with that."

"And to which specialty to you lean towards now?" Harvey asked. "The role of Assistant Chief allows you to be flexible, but surely you had to rely on either one of the two to get this far."

"For the most part, I've served as an astrophysicist," Jace responded. "I have had special assignments where I assisted the Archaeology team, but I've pretty much been involved with Stellar sciences."

Harvey took a moment to absorb the response before continuing. "The last Black Hawk was an Akira, and we were certainly combat and fast response oriented. This ship, this Century... it's definitely more science-minded. While I can't say you'll get to dabble with archaeology, our ultimate destination could be a scientist's playground."

Jace smiled. "Sounds like fun, sir." It was exactly what he really wanted, anything new. It seemed his new CO was building the Black Hawk up to be exactly what Jace needed. "Do you have any idea what we're doing, sir?"

Truthfully, Harvey still didn't have an answer to that. The words from his letter echoed in Harvey's mind, and the Captain tried everything to push them away. "Our first stop is Deep Space 15 to help the Finneans with a diplomatic matter, and then it's off to the Convergence Zone."

Jace nodded. "I understand, sir. At least I'll be able to say I've been to Deep Space 15." He could certainly check that one off his list, if, of course, he had even known about Deep Space 15 before this moment.

He almost said, And hopefully you'll be able to say you lived through it. The Captain was able to block the discouraging remark, and decided to steer the conversation elsewhere. "You'll be one of the few. DS15 is in a remote part of the Gamma Quadrant. Highly contested."

Contested? Wow... Jace knew he shouldn't be surprised, since it was likely that the farther you got from the Federation, the more likely it was that you'd be in areas claimed by multiple species. "I see," was all he could muster up. He wasn't really sure how to respond, mainly due to his limited knowledge of the situation.

Harvey could tell the immediate change in the younger man's tone. "The Black Hawk's more than capable of defending herself. The ship has a proud heritage, and the teeth to match."

Jace nodded. "I believe you, sir. From what I've seen of the ship specs thus far, that's more than enough for what we'll be facing. I'm looking forward to it." He was still a little shaky, but trying to project confidence.

If only Harvey could say that he was. The Captain preferred, even enjoyed, a good mystery. He just didn't appreciate being at the center of it. "Then, all the more reason to get you settled," he said. Harvey stood to his feet, hoping it would serve as a fair indicator that this meeting had concluded. "If there's anything you need, please get in touch with Commander Djinx, your supervising officer, or Chief Rasputin, my yeoman. Welcome aboard, Mister Crystan."

As the Captain stood, Jace knew that the meeting was over. It was abrupt, certainly, but not entirely unwelcome. He could tell that the Captain had a lot on his mind. "I appreciate that, sir. Its good to be here." He also stood, again at attention.

"Word of advice, Lieutenant," Harvey cautioned, trying not to sigh at the formality. "Aside from acknowledgement of rank, I care very little for protocol. I can't guarantee Commander Djinx will be the same, but around me, remain at ease unless told otherwise."

Jace was unsure of how to react. He said, "Yes sir," and decided to wait to test that claim at a later date.

"Dismissed, Lieutenant," Harvey said. "And again, welcome aboard."

Jace gave a respectful nod and turned tail. The meeting more or less went well, if at all briefly. As he went out the door, he began to wonder what the next days would bring.

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