Finding Elbow Room

Posted on 13 Jun 2024 @ 9:42pm by Lieutenant Commander Theodore Marsh III & Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler

1,055 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Bridge
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0350 hours

Just after he closed the desktop terminal, Harvey rose from behind his desk, tugged on his uniform, and straightened his combadge. In some ways, he missed the gray shoulders from the Dominion War era, but this throwback to the colored shoulders from before that war was a welcome sight. Starfleet was no longer reluctant to identify their command officers in the field, and seeing that red so boldly on the uniform... well, Harvey found himself wishing once more that he had never left medicine behind.

Speaking of medicine, Harvey adjusted his badge, the silver delta outline laid upon dark grey slats. He looked for a moment at the four pips on his breast. Today had been an unusual day in many respects, and the last thing that he expected was that this moment would have been the last time he'd view these four little circles. Unceremoniously, he tapped a code into the replicator, which quickly produced the new emblem for his uniform. The rank might be a temporary brevet, and he sure as hell wasn't going to put on a flag uniform until he had no official say in the matter.

Once he placed the new emblem above his right breast, Harvey left his ready room to step out onto the bustling bridge. "Mister Marsh," he called out at the Chief Operations Officer. Harvey gestured to the MSD positioned at the rear of the bridge, indicating that he wanted the Commander to meet him there.

"I know we took on more than 200 from the Gaittithe and we're already a little cramped. Bringing on these other survivors... how are we doing on space?"

Teddy jumped up from his seat and beelined for the the Master System Display. "After a little hurried rearranging of some cargo and supplies, we're making it work. Not going to be the most comfortable for everyone, but manageable. For a bit, at least."

Harvey nodded and looked at the display. "Starfleet's not going to send any additional resources our way. With Unity gone, there's nothing left to defend. Once we've finished recovery efforts, we're to fall back to Gavara. But for the foreseeable future, we're going to be tight."

"You mean Starfleet isn't all comfort and stylish uniforms?" Teddy joked. "Guess the recruiter lied to me. And pretty much everyone in my family." Getting serious again, Marsh tapped a control, highlighting several sections of the ship on the MSD. "We still have some space we can use, but we'll need a little more time to convert it. We focused on getting everyone onboard first. Now we try to make their experience less.....sardine-like."

Harvey looked closely at the areas he pointed out. Most were various lounges that had not been used since the ship was commissioned. There were a few unusual choices as well. "A couple of the science labs? We really are getting original out here, aren't we?"

"It took some juggling, sure, but it should work okay. The impacted labs don't have any major research going on in them. We have at least one lab reserved for each of the major science branches. And some of the specialized facilities were excluded from consideration, like astrometrics." Teddy touched another control and the image on the display changed again, this time showing one of the science lab clusters that were being repurposed for housing their visitors. "We ensured that our guests would have nearby access to waste extraction. I've got the quartermaster keeping an eye on our replicator raw material stores. Not anticipating any issues, but I think it's worth tracking."

Marsh turned to face Geisler. "One thing we should think about is how to keep all these folks busy while they're here. No one wants to be laid up in a bunk in a science lab for weeks with nothing to do all day."

Harvey turned his head to look at Marsh, and then turned his body a moment later. "I know I wouldn't want to sit around. I don't suppose it's a good idea to fold them into the crew, at least temporarily."

"We can find something for them to do without mingling them with our people too much. Maintenance details staffed by our guests, with a Black Hawk supervisor. For example."

The newly minted Commodore nodded. "Sounds good to me, Commander. Let's get it done. What else are we looking at? I know you've had a lot of bridge time these last few days. Anything we're mission that needs to be highlighted?"

"'Anything?' How 'bout you highlight that?," Teddy retorted with a smirk, his eyes darting down to the new decoration on the CO's uniform.

Harvey smirked and grunted. "Heh," he added. "Between this and the Gaittithe, Admiral O'Connell thinks I'm the best person to keep this edge of the quadrant organized and focused. As for me, I think he's a damn fool."

"That's not the reputation the Admiral has," Marsh replied. "I haven't been here long, but I'm inclined to think he knows exactly what he's doing."

Harvey opened his mouth to try and excuse the statement, but then stopped. Part of him wanted to summarize the history he'd had with the Admiral, and the other part knew that there would be a better time and place in the future for that. "Let's just say the Admiral and I were Academy roommates. Yes, he knows exactly what he's doing. Doesn't mean I have to wholly accept it."

"We'll have to swap stories someday," the operations officer smiled. "Several relatives have served with him, at one point or another, so I've heard some things."

"Tell you what," Harvey said with a smile, "You get these survivors squared away before we have to leave, I'll buy you a drink in Talons and swap some stories." He could never say no to hearing dirt on Zach.

Teddy laughed audibly. He didn't even care that there were people in earshot. "Deal, sir."

"Good, good." Harvey was not at all taken aback by the laugh. At last he had someone that he could finally share some gossip with. "For now, I think we've got enough to keep our hands full. Anything else?"

"Nothing on my end. At least that needs your attention," Marsh answered. "You know where to find me if you need me."

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