Who Says You Only Get One First Impression?

Posted on 13 Mar 2018 @ 3:55pm by Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks & Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

1,587 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Crossing Over
Location: Security Offices
Timeline: Dec 1, 2388

Camila sat in her office and looked at the personnel roster. According to what she was seeing, she was supposed to be getting a new Assistant Chief by the name of Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks, but as yet, the woman hadn't shown up. She did smile vaguely at the thought of having another female working with her in Security, but she reserved her judgement until she actually met the woman.

Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks straightened her uniform for perhaps the hundredth time as she made her way to the Chief of Security's office. After a pleasant reporting with the Captain, Jazmin was a little more at ease being on the new ship. While it was smaller than the Scorpio, the fact that it was new made it even more intimidating.

She got off the turbolift on Deck 12, and headed for her new boss's office. Absently, she ran an hand down her straight black hair, hoping that nothing was out of place, then straightened her uniform, again. She went over what she knew about the Chief, remembering meeting her briefly during her time at the Academy. Granted, they were little more than passing acquaintances, but the senior cadet's drive and intensity was something that Jazmin had never forgotten.

She caught several crewmembers, taking a second or third glance at her as she reached the office, but none said anything, for which she was grateful. She hit the chime and announced herself.

"Lieutenant JG Jazmin Parks reporting."

"Come," Camila called out as she looked up and saw that it was the diminutive woman that had been assigned to her department and mustered a tired smile. "Welcome, Lieutenant Parks," she said as she stood up and offered a hand. "I'm Lieutenant Camila Di Pasquale."

Jazmin could read the writing on the wall, so to speak. It was a skill she had to master if she had ever hoped to survive not only foster care, but Starfleet Security as well. Her instructors had done their best to dissuade her from taking her chosen path, but her mind had been made up and by the time she had reached her junior year, had won her instructors over.

She could see it on the other woman's face. She was too small, too dainty, too...Jazmin bit the thought off in midstream. It was make or break time, and she didn't have three years to win over her new boss.

"It's an honor serving here Lieutenant." She set her jaw, putting all the turmoil in her mind aside. "I'm ready to start whenever you want. I've memorized the deck plans of the Black Hawk and plan on running the corridors each morning to further familiarize myself."

She paused, hoping that her new boss might see beyond her stature and mentally berating herself for an inadequate self-introduction.

Camila lowered her hand since it wasn't taken and sat down as she listened to the woman chatter for a minute. Finally, she raised a hand. "First, the only honor is staying alive another day," she said. "And it's a dubious honor because you have to live with the knowledge of those you couldn't save. I see you're a go getter and I appreciate that, but take the time to appreciate what's around you, Parks. Life is short and if you don't, you'll find yourself dead before you know it."

She sighed and picked up the coffee mug on her desk but saw that it was empty and sat it back down. "I'm not going to dissuade you of your notions, but I'm not going to sprinkle sunshine and rainbows on them, either. We're in the Gamma Quadrant and we have limited resources, limited ships since the Consortium tried to wipe us out, and the last thing I need is some young eager beaver chomping at the bit to prove herself."

"With that being said, you'll start on Beta Shift which is thirteen hundred to nineteen hundred hours," the tired looking ombre haired Chief said. "Prove yourself capable and I'll rotate you to Alpha. Prove yourself incapable and I'll move you to Delta and you can stay there. Now that we got those formalities out of the way, where do you see yourself in five years?"

Jazmin shifted her position, relaxing slightly. She took a second to calm herself. It wasn't until the Chief lowered her hand that Jazmin had even noticed it, so intent was she on trying to appear professional and capable. But you only had one first impression and she had wasted hers. She took a deep steadying breath. Only forward from here.

"Thank you, Chief." She smiled and nodded. "I must apologize, I'm a bit nervous, this being my first assignment to something more than just a security officer. I'll go where you need me, any shift, any time, if it helps keep the ship and its people safe." She paused, hoping that she didn't sound like a kiss-up.

"As to where I see myself in five years? That's tough because the needs of Starfleet don't always want to cooperate with us. I'd like to serve here for at least four years." She laughed. "Of course I wanted to do the same on the Scorpio." She shrugged. "Five years though, no probably not in five years, but I want to be a Security Chief on a Sovereign-Class starship.

Ultimately though," she looked around like she was afraid to say it out loud, lest the Universe decide to take it from her, "I want to head the security detail for the Federation President." She stopped, a sheepish look on her face. "Silly, I know."

Camila looked at the young woman and glanced at her bio, surprised to see that Parks was only two years younger than she was. She looked back at the other woman and felt like she was a decade or two older with all that she had been through. "You don't want to be a Chief," she said, the words nearly choking in her throat. "It's nothing but heartache and second guessing yourself."

"I came here from Deep Space Eleven where I was just a Master-at-Arms and was put into the position you are now," she continued after a moment. "One of my first official duties was to arrest the former Chief of Security for treason and other charges. Then the real fun started. One bad thing after another." She paused as she remembered the incident with the Chimera and Cochrane. "You lose people. You wonder what you did wrong but there's nothing you can do after the fact." She felt her eyes growing moist as she remembered Xavier Hernandez and others that had died serving under her.

"You want to know about Close Protection, go talk to Lieutenant Geisler in Intelligence. She used to be a Close Protection Officer before she transferred here. She'll tell you how much fun it is."

Camila took a breath and looked at the young woman with an earnest expression. "It gets to you," she said quietly. "And there's really not a damn thing you can do about it. I'm not trying to discourage you. It's just the truth."

Jazmin decided she liked her new boss, but the woman she remembered from the Academy, she didn't seem to be there anymore. It had to have been loss, which will do that to a person. She could relate, first her parents, then Kelly at the Academy. She never thought she'd get past it, fortunately she had friends who helped her. She knew she couldn't "fix" her new boss, but she could be a friend.

"Look, Chief. I appreciate your honesty. I know I'll probably lose people, I already have and it sucks, but I won't let that stop me. Anyway, I came here straight from reporting in to the Captain and I'm starving. Would you care to join me for a meal and you can fill me in on what's going on around here. Or, we can get some tea and talk shop? Or just get to know each other."

She paushed, flashing her cutest smile. "I don't know anyone else here and I could use a friend, boss or not."

The offer nearly broke Camila's heart and an image of the young woman torn and bloody flashed through her tortured mind, but she shook it off with a violent shudder. "I think that can be arranged, but I'm not sure how much of a friend I can be right now," she said honestly. "But I can try."

She paused to enter Jazmin's authorization codes into her terminal and activated them. "Your Security authorization codes are now active and you are the official Assistant Chief of Security on the USS Black Hawk-A," she said. "Welcome aboard. Now let's go to Talon's and see about the rest."

"Sounds great," she put a hand over her stomach when it growled, hoping the other woman didn't hear it. "I hope the food is as good as I've heard. I'd take on a Nausicaan for a good plate of lasagna." She grinned, well at least if I did, it'd be a better reward than the last time."

Camila checked the time, then logged out of the system and turned the rest of the shift over to the duty officer as she came to her feet. "Then let's go," she said. "Talon's is the place to be."

Jazmin smiled her first really relaxed smile since she'd come aboard as she followed Camilla out of the room.

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