Summoning Belvedere

Posted on 12 Jun 2024 @ 10:44pm by Commodore (Brevet) Harvey Geisler & Master Chief Petty Officer Mila Rasputin

1,486 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Shattered Unity
Location: Administrative Complex
Timeline: June 19, 2390 || 0600 hours

Having left the Flight Deck behind where he'd just met with Commander Di Pasquale, Harvey took a turbolift ride to a different part of the ship, one that he just realized that he hadn't used much since the ship launched nineteen days ago.

Within a few minutes, he was entering the ship's Administrative Complex. It, like most of the ship, was abuzz with traffic. Survivors from multiple ships flooded the room, each person looking for purpose, or trying to find out what their next steps were. There were so many faces that he did not know, but he did spot the person he was looking for across the room. "Status report?" he asked Mila as he approached her.

Upon hearing the voice of the Captain, no Commodore, Mila corrected herself as she spun around and came to attention. "Things are to be heading south and around drain, but I am putting plugs in as many holes as possible," she said.

"That bad?" Harvey asked, even though the answer he'd received really was obvious. He hadn't seen a ship this full since either the Dominion War or the Consortium Crisis from a couple years ago.

"No, but it is feeling that way," the Yeoman said, then stared at him. "I was having expectations, but they are not being met. I am seeing that I will be having to roust Admiral O'Connell out of bed."

"He's already awake," Harvey informed Mila. "I already got the brunt of his frustration. And, if you are not careful, you'll share that brunt and carry an extra stripe of your own."

If there were rare moments in space, it was a rarer moment when the look of Harvey stealing her thunder crossed her face. Her mouth started to open and thought better of it, but her brain was still processing what had just happened. With her brain engaged, her mouth opened and closed again.

Harvey stood there for a moment, unsure of what he did to cause her to freeze. "Everything okay, Mila?"

"I...was about to use that against you," she managed, all trace of her accent gone.

"Then it's just as I feared," Harvey stated. He had been worried that rumors of his sudden promotion had already traversed throughout the ship. "Well," he said, tugging at the bottom of his uniform as if he were preparing for a dressing down from a senior officer. "Go right ahead. Use it against me. Let it out."

"Nyet," Mila said stubbornly. "If it was being needed, I would be doing it. You are having it and have come to me for help. It is what I am being here to do. Commodore."

Harvey winced hearing his new rank. "It's going to take a while to get used to that," he admitted. "Evidently, O'Connell thinks this boxed pip's going to give me enough authority to get Belvedere in order. But, I can't do it alone."

"Then let us being showing him that he was not being in error when he made this decision," she said. "While we are making him regret it, because I am telling you that if you are adding stripe to chevron, I will be using it to be striking fear into Belvedere."

He chuckled. "See, this is why I like you. We're often on the same page without knowing it." Throughout all of this, Harvey had had one hand closed, concealing the pips of a Master Chief. "Managing a task group and a ship is going to be a lot. Aside from getting Belvedere in line, we must make sure you have adequate staff. Thankfully, I know of a recent cache we can pull from."

"If you are thinking of crew from Unity and Gaittithe, it might work, but many of them are being traumatized still and many are wishing to resign," Mila said.

"You and I both know that we don't have a lot of options," he stated, his tone quite matter-of-fact. "Obviously, if people want to resign, that's their option. Others might want to find justice or reasoning behind these attacks. I say we let them." Harvey held his hand out with the small box and opened it. "Besides, as a Master Chief, you'll be shouldering a lot of responsibility with Belvedere. The first of which... family reunion at Gavara."

She looked at the small rank tab, the greatest rank she could achieve as an enlisted unless she stepped up to become a Warrant Officer. She had no desire for that, though. "I am thanking you, Harvey," she said as she took the small box and replaced the tab on her collar with the new one. "And you will continue to be having my full support. What family are we having there?" She asked, curious at the unusual twist.

Harvey's answer was simple. "Emergency directive, all current and standing orders are suspended. All Belvedere ships are to immediately report to Gavara, ideally by the time the Black Hawk can get there. The only exceptions are the two ships helping us here with recovery."

Mila blinked. "The full task force? I am being aware that things are being stretched thin as it is being. What purpose is this going to serve for us to all be at one place at the same time?" She knew there was a thousand other things that each ship in the Gamma Quadrant could be doing and meeting at Razmena wasn't on the top five hundred things.

"Whatever overtook the Gaittithe also took down Unity and its support ships," Harvey explained, lowering his voice for this in case anyone was eavesdropping. He didn't want unnecessary panic to ripple throughout the Black Hawk, especially with so many extra persons on board. "We need to regroup, debrief, and redeploy. I understand that this leaves several areas in our operational area unprotected, but we already know that we can't stand up alone or in small groups."

"It will be bringing a lot of attention to us," she said. "And word will be getting out fast that we are not patrolling our usual areas. It may give them ideas to head to those locations to take advantage of our lack of presence there."

"Well, we have to assume that if they can overpower us, they could listen to our communications," Harvey observed. "Even if we double up or condense into two or three groups to cover vital areas, there's no guarantee any of our ships will be safe. All we know is that the actions have been taken on the fringe of our operating area. We need an offline strategy session, one that can't be observed, and a quick redeployment strategy. I already have ideas, and I need time and advice to fully formulate them."

"I am hoping there is no agents already among crew," Mila said. "With all the chaos from Unity and Gaittithe, it would be possible to put one on ship."

Harvey conceded that that was a fair point. "Then I'm sure our Chief of Security is going to love vetting all of these survivors."

She looked around before she grabbed a PADD off of her desk and handed it to him. "This is the full list of both crews from their first days in Starfleet to current assignments and psychological profiles. I have already removed ones that are listed as missing or killed in action. Some have already put in formal resignation and some are still in dire need of medical care. The rest are wanting to get back to it as soon as possible. A few have stood out as hardliners who want retribution as soon as possible."

"Those who want retribution can sign on with us," Harvey said, accepting the device and taking a look at its contents. "The beauty of the situation is that we can finally get the ship back up to a full staff. And... there's a lot of people here."

"Perhaps they will be willing to be sharing some of their supplies as well," Mila said hopefully. "We are running thin, Harvey."

"One can hope," Harvey mused. "One can hope. Anyway, if you can start rallying the ships, that'd be helpful. And, attach the Admiral's order regarding my promotion to the message. That should keep Graham quiet, at least for now."

"Da," she said as she amended her mental to do list and prioritized that. "If Graham is causing problems, I will direct him to go to Helen Waite."

The Commodore couldn't help but laugh, especially given all of the bullshit they'd been through. "Good call. I think that's about everything I wanted to cover. Anything you need to cover?"

"I will not be burdening you with boring trivia," Mila told him with a chuckle of her own. "Go be in charge of ship. I will clear bullshit for you."

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