Meet and Greet

Posted on 06 Dec 2022 @ 10:34pm by Ensign Ronin Tetnel & Lieutenant Commander Joey Geisler

1,953 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Regrouping
Location: Intelligence Offices
Timeline: MD 1

At Oh Seven Hundred Hours exactly, Ensign Ronin Tetnel brushed his dirty blond hair back and stepped into the Intelligence offices of the newly christened USS Black Hawk-B. He had read the brief of the ship when he had been given the assignment after his Senior Cruise and shakedown, but he wondered how much of it was fluff and glamor to scare new cadets. Surely the ship couldn't be that cursed, could it? A barge of the damned and a demon ship, it had been called, he had heard.

He brushed all thoughts aside and focused on meeting his new department head and hoped to make a good first impression on her. He had read her bio and was very impressed, but wondered if her relationship with the Captain, as his wife no less, would affect her role on the ship and more importantly, her department. Once more, he pushed those thoughts from his mind and turned until he saw the door marked Chief of Intelligence and went to tap the chime.

Joey looked up from the PADD she'd been looking over that contained her personnel changes. Her department was... thankfully, a small one, and that meant remembering faces was definitely an easier task than most department heads had to deal with. Whoever was on the other side of the door was able to access the Intelligence Center, and thus, was one of her personnel. Was it a familiar face? Was it someone new? She'd find out in a matter of moments. "Come in," she called.

Ronin entered and came to attention before the desk and kept his eyes straight ahead. "Ensign Ronin Tetnel reporting for duty, Sir," he said formally.

Someone new, Joey thought as she rose to her feet, giving the man before her a nod. "At ease," she said, gesturing for him to take a seat on one of the two vacant chairs on the other side of her desk. "Welcome aboard the Black Hawk-B. Why don't we kick this off by you telling me a little bit about yourself, then, I'll do the same." If they were required to make themselves a bit more known to their department heads, then why shouldn't their department heads show them the same consideration?

"Thank you, Commander," Ronin said and took the offered seat. "I specialized in in Intelligence Analysis with a minor in Threat Assessment at the Academy. This is my first posting and I'm looking forward to learning in the field and applying what I learned. I design escape rooms in the holodeck and I also create three dee escape room puzzle boxes for people in my spare time."

"I was just going over your personnel file," the Intel Chief said as she studied the Trill man. She could honestly say that she'd never done anything escape room related, but it intrigued her. Perhaps, some time in the future, she could see what it was all about. "Usually, Intel doesn't get to see much field time, but this ship is definitely unique. Still, I can't make any promises. That being said, tell me more about these escape rooms you design before we move on."

"Traditionally, an escape room is a game where a group of people solve clues, crack codes and solve puzzles. They're team building exercises, but any group of people able to work together can solve them. You aren't actually locked in the room, so if you need to leave, you can. They're designed with a one hour time limit to solve it and escape," the junior Intel officer said. "Mine are in the holodeck and I incorporate different species into the themes. You may have a Romulan one, which is very complex or a Ferengi one where the person with the greatest wealth might win. It all depends on your taste. Personally, I use them to grow and expand my knowledge of other species and how they think as a culture."

"It definitely sounds interesting. I've never heard of them before now," she said, wondering if she would actually ever find the time to do something like that. It was unlikely it would happen in the near future, but perhaps at some point. "As this is your first posting, there aren't very many questions I can ask you short of what you've already told me. You've learned a lot at the academy, but there's nothing quite like hands on training, and you'll be getting plenty of that soon enough." She set the PADD she was still holding aside finally. "Now, do you have any questions for me?"

"I noticed there's a few redactions in the Black Hawk's mission history,' Ronin said. "Which of course, you were present for. Barring the things that are still classified, what was it like on those particular missions as an Intelligence Chief?"

Joey wondered how far back in the ship's history he'd dug into. "I was present for a bit of it, yes, but I wasn't always the Intelligence Chief. My current position still has a bit of newness to it. I'm former Security. As to missions, why don't you tell me which one you want to hear about the most, and I'll gladly give you some insight."

"The one where you ended up in different times," the Trill said immediately.. "I heard that's why the Black Hawk-A was decommissioned because of the damage done to it."

"You want to dive right in, don't you?" She asked, thinking back to what happened during that time. "We were in the middle of a briefing, nothing unusual about that, but th nebula we happened to be in had other intentions. There was some kind of disturbance... one that jolted the entire ship. Power was lost, and we all lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was in the company of the Chiefs of Security and Science. All other senior staff were gone. At the time, we assumed they were either on the bridge dealing with whatever had happened, or in sickbay having injuries treated."

Joey closed her eyes and frowned. She didn't like thinking about it, but he asked. "We lost three quarters of our crew when that happened, and we were the only three senior members on the ship at the time. Not to mention the warp drive was out, but that wasn't the worst of it. We were also dealing with theta radiation seeping into the ship. this was all before we found out what was actually going on." And now, she paused in her telling of the tale to give him time to take in what she was telling him.

Ronin nodded thoughtfully and looked sad at the loss of so much life. "How did you manage to pull all the different timelines together?"

"We bombarded the antimatter pods with nucleonic particles in all the timelines, thus reversing the quantum filaments and returning those that were in other timelines to the present one," Joey replied. "We left the nebula and treatment for theta radiation began."

"That had to be horrible," he said. "Were the crew lost in the other timelines ever found?"

"Yes. I was in present time, but Captain Geisler was in another one. He, and the crew that were with them, found the skeletal remains of my body, as well as my twin children, on the bridge in their timeline. Ensign Khan actually made the discovery when she tripped and her hand tangled in my hair," she answered, giving a visible shiver at that particular memory. No, Joey hadn't been present for that... at least, the living version... when that happened, but she'd been told about it, and that was bad enough.

The Trill could barely comprehend the magnitude of a discovery like that, knowing that you died in another timeline and someone else finding your body in such a manner. He gave a shudder. "Is that what led you out of Security?"

Joey shook her head. "No. I left Security well before that. I mentioned earlier I couldn't guarantee you would see any action... I take that back."

"Well, I'll be happy to do my part," Ronin said. "Especially with all the new Gamma Quadrant species to study and analyze for threat and what kind of intelligence they work with."

"I'm going to hold you to that," the Intelligence Chief stated. "Do you have anymore questions? Curiosities?"

"Being new to the Gamma Quadrant, what's the first thing I should really do that the Academy didn't prepare me for?" he asked.

How could she possibly answer that question? Always expect the unexpected seemed far too cliche, but that was the first thing that popped into her head. Joey looked thoughtful as she gave his question some consideration. "Well, based off of my experience, proceed with caution. We've had our share of good things happen out here, but we've also had more than our fair share of not so good things."

"Such as?" Ronin inquired.

"The Consortium, the Dolmoqour, a different universe, probes sent from the future... just to name a few," she replied. "Would you like me to continue? Because I could. Now, please, don't get me wrong. Not everything has been bad. There have been some pretty great things that have happened, too, and I can honestly say that I've never been kept more on my toes that I have since joining this crew, and I have absolutely no regrets."

"So, prepare for the unexpected," he said. "How are the language matrices for the Gamma Quadrant species you've encountered to date?"

"I'm not so sure you can be truly prepared for the unexpected. At least where the Gamma Quadrant is concerned. That's why I said earlier to proceed with caution," the Intel Chief stated. "As for language matrices, we're learning more the longer we're out here. to date, I would say there are roughly a dozen."

"That's pretty impressive," Ronin said. "Is there anything in particular you want me to pay attention to or learn?"

Joey shook her head. There was nothing like on the job training, and he was going to get that. "No, but I'm sure you'll learn all sorts of things during your duty hours, and even off duty ones. Definitely make time for yourself, and try not to let your career consume you. I've seen that a few times, and what it can do to a person mentally and physically. It is not pretty, and I don't want that for any of my people."

For a moment, Ronin considered if she was joking, However, he decided to take it as a challenge from the Intel Chief as it was clearly meant to be. She wanted to test him, and he was up for it. Make more time for himself while learning on and off duty wasn't compatible with his training, so he decided to endeavor to work harder than anyone who had ever joined Starfleet Intelligence. "Yes, Commander," he said.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Joey asked. "Of course, I have an open door policy for my personnel, so if you ever have questions or concerns in the future, feel free to seek me out."

"I will and it's been a pleasure, Commander," Ronin said. "And I'll see about making you an escape room box soon."

Joey smiled. "Thank you. It'll be interesting to see if I'm able to figure one out. In the meantime, I'll dismiss you so you can take some time to familiarize yourself with your new department and the ship."

"Thank you, Commander," he said. "I'll see you on shift." With a smart turn, the young Trill turned and headed out to do just that.

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