A Change of Pace

Posted on 22 Aug 2020 @ 12:40pm by Lieutenant JG Angelica Fairchild & Commodore Harvey Geisler

979 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: History
Location: Captain's Ready Room

She'd done this before. It was just another ship. So why, then, did Angel feel so much trepidation about meeting her new commanding officer? Oh, right. The last one had been a right bastard. He'd definitely left a bad taste in her mouth, so to speak.

So, naturally, Angel had hemmed and hawed and put off reporting in as long as she possibly could. After the computer "politely" reminded her for the third time that she needed to check in still, she signed and painstakingly made her way up to the bridge. She didn't see the man matching Captain Geisler's description there, so without saying anything to anyone, she headed over to the ready room door and rang the doorbell.

Inside the Ready Room, Harvey leaned against the frame around the window. One hand held a steaming mug of coffee, while a pile of reports lay on the desk behind him, haphazardly strewn about in his "working" file system. But he'd had enough of reports. Harvey yearned to get back out into the unknown, exploring and uncovering new possibilities, not bogged down with paperwork and tests.

This is just a season, he reminded himself. It will all be over with soon.

The door chime reminded him that his Captain-ly duties were far from over, but what awaited him on the other side of the door, he did not know. "Come," he called out, looking at the opening doorway via the reflection on the windowpane.

Well, it was a neutral tone. Either it was a good sign or this captain didn't know who she was yet. Steeling herself against a possible negative reaction to her arrival, Angel swallowed and then went inside. From the looks of it, Captain Geisler had been eyebrows-deep in some sort of paperwork. "I'm sorry to interrupt, sir. I know you must be busy, but... well. Lieutenant JG Fairchild, sir. Reporting for duty."

The doors closed behind the new arrival, and Harvey turned to face her. "Fairchild..." Harvey muttered, trying to place the somewhat familiar name. "Oh, yes. Assistant Chief of Security. Welcome aboard, Lieutenant. Can I offer you something to drink?"

"No, thank you, sir. I just wanted to be sure to--" Something clicked in Angel's brain, and she stopped mid-sentence to re-process what the captain had just said. "I'm sorry, but did you say Assistant Chief?"

"I did," Harvey replied. He gestured for the woman to take a seat nearby while he moved for the chair behind his desk. Her surprise raised a red flag of his own, making him wanting to look closer at her service record. "That detail should have been in your transfer orders. You seem surprised."

"To be perfectly honest, I didn't pay close attention to it. I was just happy to leave the Bachman." Harvey seemed friendly enough, so Angel relaxed somewhat as she sat down in the indicated chair. "I guess I should have read it more closely."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. He sipped his coffee as he took his seat, a feat that he'd perfected with years of practice. "Trouble on the Bachman? Or just tired of the mundane?"

"I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate me telling anyone this, but most of the crew had little respect for the security staff. Command didn't back us up, so most the staff just gave in and stopped trying to do their jobs. I didn't, and things quickly went... south." Angel didn't think it would be appropriate to expand much further on that, especially given all the 'notes' she was sure had been placed in her file from her old captain's perspective. "I got tired of it, so I requested transfer. Starfleet got tired of my requests is my best guess as to how I ended up here."

"I see." Harvey sipped his coffee. The drink had grown lukewarm, and was cooling quickly since his mug was filling more and more with air. He placed the mug on the table in front of him, resting it on the display on one of the screens. "I'm sure Commander Di Pasquale will tell you a slightly different story, but that's not how we operate on the Black Hawk. We have a habit of getting into trouble, so I'm sure you'll find like certainly more exciting aboard."

He leaned back in his chair and kept his attention on her. "So much so that we've been investing on developing new technology, ranging from manned drones to various non-lethal weapons."

Angel smiled a little. The Black Hawk was already better than the Bachman, by far. "New technologies can be fun, especially new weapons. I'd be interested to see the non-lethals that have been developed so far."

"Then I would definitely recommend checking in with Commander Di Pasquale. Most everything has been her design." Harvey returned her smile, grateful to see that his concerns were already disappearing. "I'm sure she'll have quite the briefing for you too."

"I'm sure she will, sir. I'll see her next." It was a strange feeling, being immediately accepted by one's commander, but it was a feeling Angel very much enjoyed. "If there's nothing else, sir, I'll find out where Commander Di Pasquale is."

Harvey nodded, smiled, and rose from his chair. He extended a hand, offering a friendly face, and simply stated, “Then I leave you to it. Welcome aboard, Miss Fairchild.”

With a smile, Angel also got up from her chair and shook Harvey's hand. "Thank you, sir."

"Dismissed, Lieutenant. Good luck." With that, Harvey picked up his mug in one hand, a padd in the other and returned to his seat. The paddwork sadly would not finish itself.

With a nod and another smile, Angel made her way out through the door. It had been a surprisingly pleasant meeting, and she hoped it meant she would be at home on the Black Hawk.

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