New Arrival

Posted on 27 Dec 2019 @ 3:14pm by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale

2,553 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Epilogue
Location: Security Office
Timeline: May 2, 2389

Ensign Sarah Proctor walked in careful but brisk steps on the ship she'd only previously seen in 3D schematics layouts. She tried to study before coming on board not wanting to be caught out in unfamiliar territory especially once they got out into space. Lack of understand could and did get one killed.

Her dark brown hair was pulled back carefully and her uniform squared away, green eyes skimmed the corridors she walked, pleased at the apparent soundness of the craft. She lacked the belt she'd seen other security officers wearing because she'd not yet reported, which was what she was on her way to do now. Not without some trepidation, rumors upon rumors flew fast and furious about the USS Black Hawk and her crew. Her father, a senior member of Starfleet Intel now, referred to it once 'Flying Dutchman' but refused to explain why.

Though he was worried about his eldest going he did not offer to get her transferred. Such was not the Proctor way, he just told her to be careful and keep her head. Always sound advice, she often thought. Finally arriving at the instructed location she tapped the door chime, holding the PADD with her orders and waited.

Right at the moment she arrived, a small drone came around the corner and paused, hovering about five feet off the deck. It bobbed up and down, then circled around her. "Authenticate," it said in an electronic voice.

Proctor turned and blinked. This was new, just what kind of ship was this? She bit down the first instinct and did not reply "You first." after all she'd been warned they do things differently here. "Please confirm authority to request authentication." She said politely, not unwilling just cautious. It was a federation made drone but no other identifying markers she could see and this was completely new to her experience.

"What?" The Security crewman Third Class Rapowski asked when the gold collared young humanoid woman at the door to the Security Complex told it to confirm its authority to request authentication. His finger hovered over the console between opening a comm with the Chief and the fire control to launch a transponder chip at the Ensign facing the drone and beaming her straight to the brig.

It wouldn't please the Chief, he reasoned, but neither would interrupting her to let her know what was going on. It's a test, he reasoned. No one would say that to a drone. Still, he froze with indecision. Should he give his authority to authenticate? Wait. It isn't my place to be questioned, he decided.

Rapowski's finger tapped the comm while he glanced at the screen to make sure the woman hadn't turned into a cloud of glitter or done something else unexpected.

"Chief, it's Rapowski and we have an unusual situation here," he informed Di Pasquale. This was beyond his rank and he couldn't eat that much What?! in one sitting.

"On my way," Camila said from her office, wondering what could be unusual. She put a stack of PADDs aside as she got up and headed for the 'Control Room' where the drone pilots were.

Meanwhile, Rapowski had the built in tricorder - well, a very limited one - scan her heart rate, respiration and eye movement of the unknown Ensign. He saw the Chief and pointed at the screen. "We have a gold collar Ensign who not only didn't authenticate, but told the drone to confirm its authority to authenticate."

"What?" Camila said with a blink. She looked at the screen at the woman, then sighed. "I'll handle it," she said. "Continue on with your patrol."

Rapowski nodded and had the drone continue down the hall, hoping he didn't encounter anyone else like that.

Camila went to the door shaking her head and hit the release. "By my authority, Ensign. I'm Lieutenant Di Pasquale, the Chief of Security, and you are....?"

The drone floated away but Proctor was no longer paying attention. She'd come to attention, refocusing immediately, "Ensign Sarah Proctor, new arrival. Reporting as ordered." She half held out the PADD with her orders should her new Chief want to see them.

Camila took the PADD and looked the woman over, then made a mental adjustment before she nodded. "Right this way," she said and turned to head back to her office.

"Yes Ma'am." Sarah replied and followed a careful pace behind.

"LIeutenant or Chief will do," the ombre haired woman replied without looking back as she entered her office, skirted a plant and squeezed between the wall and her desk to take a seat. "Have a seat and tell me about yourself, Ensign," she said as she set the PADD down in front of her, activated her console and pulled up Proctor's personnel file.

"Thank You Chief." She replied and sat down. She never knew how to answer this question personal information or professional? How much was too much? "I graduated from the Academy Security program with a minor in Federation History. I am a qualified small craft pilot for the most common civilian and Starfleet craft which ties into my passion for sailing. This will be my first assignment." She paused with a vaguely questioning glance, not wanting to go on and on if not needed, knowing she had to be saying items already in her file but unsure what the Chief wanted to know.

Camila made a note on her console and looked directly at the Ensign. "Scenario time, Ensign. I'm sure you had a lot of them at the Academy. You're on the ship and learn your Chief is possessed by something. What do you do first?"

There was a millisecond as she wondered at the question but replied readily enough, "Stun then and inform medical, perhaps the XO, Deputy Chief or Security Watch Officer as appropriate." She responded wondering if that was correct.

"Close. Stun them, then get them to the brig in restraints, Ensign. Then inform the Assistant Chief of Security and then wait for orders," the Security Chief told her. "Next scenario. You find a homemade alcohol making device in one of the nacelles and it's dangerously close to exploding. What do you do?"

She made a mental note of the procedural correction of the first question and gave consideration to the next one. "Does that seriously happen a lot?" she wondered to herself, then figured it was a ship of sailors so yeah not completely out of the realm, "I would inform engineering and if enough time my superior, offering to disengage if I can or perhaps..." She thought quickly, "have it beamed off the ship should there be no time for anything else." Afterward she might fight the urge to slap the idiot to did that but she didn't need to cover that bit.

"Very good, Ensign," Camila said with an approving nod. "Last scenario question. You're reporting aboard a new ship and encounter a drone telling you to authenticate. What do you do?"

She was pleased at getting the second one correct but got a little sheepish at the last one, "Should I have no knowledge of it's origin, I would request it provide evidence it is authorized to ask me such a question. However in hindsight I would tell it what it wanted to know."

"On this ship, questioning is the right thing to do but only in certain circumstances. When asked to authenticate by an inanimate object, give it your authentication code or the pilot of the drone may decide to tag you with a transponder chip fired from the drone and send you directly to the brig," the head of Security told her.

"I see." She said blinking. She didn't quite and really looked forward to reading the current departmental guidelines, just what had this ship dealt with? All she had were rumors, not something to base anything on so she ignored it but something pretty big had to have happened for this kind of response. She did see enough however, "I understand Chief." pushing aside pointless musings.

"Anything can and will happen on this ship, Ensign," Camila told her. "And most of the things you hoped wouldn't happen on an assignment probably already has happened on this ship. Including getting blown to an alternate universe."

The look on Sarah's face wasn't disbelief so much as 'Seriously? Yes of course you are. Well ok then.' as her eyebrows briefly raised then her face settled back into a polite expression though her eyes held curiosity. She kind of wanted to know about what happened and that alternate universe thing but one didn't grill ones Chief they just met. Instead she asked, "Will I have access to past mission reports to be better prepared then Ma'am?" If there was going to be crazy best she learn how to handle it sooner rather than later, before it became an issue.

"Of course," the Chief responded at once. "Anything that's happened on this ship is accessible by Security unless your clearance isn't high enough, but you'll have access to the basic files. I fully expect you to study them and come up with scenarios where you would have done something different, due by the end of the week. Do you have any other cross skills, such as your piloting?"

"Aye Ma'am. Thank You." She replied to the first part, making a note in her PADD about the assignment. She looked back up for the second part, She tried to think of other skills not primarily security related. "I am certified as a combat medic." She said, it had taken extra time and her weekends had been shot for awhile but it was important to her to be able to fix herself or those around her well enough to get to help if she wasn't needed to be in front of them with a phaser.

Then she shrugged, figuring 'why not' "I can also read, speak and write Vulcan and Latin though perhaps not as useful as other skills." she paused hoping that's what the Chief wanted.

'Any medical or survival skills other than what you picked up at the Academy?" Camila asked.

She nodded, "If you'd like to count low to no tech camping. I've spent a lot of time in various natural environments with a tent and a backpack alone and in groups of friends. Some First Aid was usually a good idea there and at least around my home area I had a good knowledge of what plants did what." She talked more here about herself than she had anytime recently. She felt a bit weird anout it but pressed on.

"I've done mountains, woods mostly but I have tried desert nice place to visit, would not prefer to live." She said dryly then continued. "I've done some mountain climbing and white water rafting as well." She had learned a healthy respect for having the right gear, checking it twice and the value of preparation. One tended to learn fast when it was just you, what you had and what you carried.

"How would you like to learn more and more in depth, Ensign?" Camila asked her with a serious look on her face.

"I should like, yes thank you." A more formal version of the New Englander 'I could do yeah'. At this point she risk another question of her own, "What were you thinking, Chief?" Her eyes were polite but curious. She always enjoyed a worthwhile challenge and hard work never bothered but it always helped to know what one was in for before a full commitment. Not that, it always stopped her as a kid but one tried.

"I'm sure you've heard Academy personnel talking about the Search and Rescue course while you were there," the Security Chief started. "Eighteen months long, cross-trained in a variety of things, and extremely grueling. About five to ten survive every course. You're looking at one of those people now, and I'm offering modified SAR training to anyone that wants it. It's voluntary and off the clock training, but it's worth it. Interested?"

Sarah sat up a bit straighter though she was already in full focus mode. She knew of the program as mentioned in others courses. She considered what she remembered for just a few moments. She recalled during her time at the Academy sharing the gym with commissioned officers. Some were connected to Starfleet HQ or the Academy but others were visiting officers who had gotten permission to use the Academy gym, being one of the most comprehensive such system on the planet. Some were just trying to keep to a routine but others really seemed to pushing themselves. She’d see a few of them with others trudging through the edges of campus looking like a warp core fell on them, not blown up just fell on them, as they headed for one training or another.

She’d found out these were SAR candidates. And all the training she’d seen were them getting ready, it wasn’t even the actual program. That got her attention and had looked into it. An elite program though they did not accept cadets. So even if she’d been willing to never sleep again, her work load was already cutting into her sleep time, she’d not been allowed. She had been curious however, pointless hard work was a waste of time but something like this that could help her protect others so much more effectively? That would be worth it. She wasn’t so arrogant as to think she’d sail through, though she figured she could reasonably expect to not trip over her own two feet.

She nodded, “I would be yes.” She said just as seriously as her new Chief.

"Then I'll put your name down for training," Camila said as she entered it and the woman's authorization code for Security into the computer. "And you're all set, Ensign, unless you have questions for me."

She knew she could learn most of what she wanted to know by reviewing departmental protocols and reports there was one item she was curious about that she wasn't sure she'd be able to find elsewhere. "If I may Chief, beyond what I may find in records is there any guidance or aspects I should keep in mind?"

"Just read everything," Camila told her. "You'll learn that everything is in the details."

Sarah nodded, attention to details was always good advice. She only hoped she got the right idea from the information presented. There was nothing for it but to press on she supposed, "Aye Ma'am, with your permission I'll get right on that." So far so good with the new Chief, at least on first meeting. She was determined to give a good accounting of herself and hoped she would do well here, though time would truly tell not just about her new Chief or even the assignment but about herself as well.

"Get going," the Chief told her. "It's going to be a bumpy ride."

Somehow she didn't get the sense her new Chief was kidding. She mentally underlined 'read everything' in her mind as she stood then replied, "Aye Chief." before heading off briskly, mind full of purpose.

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