Down to Brass Tax

Posted on 15 Jan 2014 @ 4:40pm by Lieutenant Commander Jason DeVries & Commodore Harvey Geisler

986 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Echoes
Location: USS Black Hawk, Observation Lounge
Timeline: December 28, 2387 || 0930 hours

The Senior Officers had departed the Observation Lounge, leaving the CO alone in the room with the newly arrived Executive Officer. Up until thirty minutes ago, Harvey was the only one on board the Black Hawk with a rank higher than Lieutenant. Hopefully two officers with the same rank wouldn't mess the crew up too much.

For now, Harvey stood next to the closed door in silence, wondering what exactly to make of the last half hour. "I'd sure like to know," he said at last, "what Starfleet Command was thinking when they assembled this command crew." He folded his arms and leaned on the chair closest to him.

Jason leaned back in his chair, giving the man standing near the door his full attention. "At times the most unorthodox solutions can lead to a miraculously good outcome. Perhaps they were attempting something like that." he said, giving him a mischievous smile. "By the way, I meant what I said, I am sorry for my late arrival and I promise you it will not happen again." he said.

"Perhaps." Harvey sighed and looked towards his XO. "Harvey Geisler," he said, introducing himself and taking a mental note of the comment and promise concerning lateness. "If I recall, you were expected aboard around the start of Alpha Shift."

Jason stood from the chair and extended his hand for a hand shake, "Jason DeVries, and yes, I was supposed to be aboard DS9 yesterday morning, but due to some malfunctions on the long range shuttle bringing me there we were delayed. I tried to send word but the malfunctions made it a bit difficult. I beamed aboard DS9 about two minutes before the briefing was supposed to start." he said, hoping the other man was in a forgiving mood.

Harvey stood straight up and accepted the hand shake. "Regardless, welcome aboard." Returning his arms to their folded positions from earlier, he added, "If I understand correctly, you have a history in intelligence? Why give that up for the Gamma Quadrant?"

Letting go of the other man's hand Jason smiled, "A sense of adventure that I wasn't getting as an operative?" he asked, with a bit of a chuckle. "No, actually I loved being in Intelligence. I was brought up by an ex-intelligence man, he instilled in me a love for the work and an understanding of just why it is so important. But he also instilled in me a drive to better myself and advance as I could. There is one thing I've always wanted, and that's a command of my own. Not much opportunity for that in Intel. And I figured if I was going to give that up I might as well make it worth my while and do something new and exciting. What better place than an almost totally unexplored quadrant." he added.

Harvey nodded, understanding Jason's reasoning. The captain could have turned down this assignment to the Black Hawk preparing to journey to parts unknown, however, he was ready to put some distance between himself and his past. Experience gained over the last ten years confirmed that living so close to his darkest days made it extremely difficult to overcome. The Gamma Quadrant was Harvey's first real attempt to start a new life.

"Well," Harvey said, changing the subject, "Let's work on some of the details. I'm a morning person, so I'll be on the bridge during Alpha Shift. You're welcome to take second chair during that time if you like, but if you'd rather handle some of the personnel and administrative functions during that time, by all means. The bridge is yours during Beta shift. I'll be close by in the Ready Room or checking on things throughout the ship."

"Sounds good to me. I've never been much of a morning person." Jason said, relieved to hear that he'd not be stuck on the bridge right when he woke up. "But afternoons are usually my time to shine so me being on the bridge for Beta shift is a fantastic idea." he added with genuine enthusiasm.

"Good." He pushed himself off the chair and moved to the other side of the room, standing now not directly next to Jason, but angling himself to see both his XO and the underbelly of Deep Space Nine. "Unfortunately for you, I've had a couple extra days to get familiar with the ship and her crew. I have my evaluation, and I'd love to hear yours when possible. Aside from working with the selections from the Away Team, please do what you can to get familiar with the senior staff. Starfleet believes this is a crew worthy to be a command staff. We need to trust them and they us."

He turned to face Jason now. "Any questions for me?"

Jason shook his head in the negative, "None that I can think of for now, sir. I will spend the next few hours doing as you've suggested and get my report to you as quickly as I can." he replied, standing up in anticipation of being dismissed. "But I do still have to get my boarding physical out of the way as well. Would it be okay if I took a few minutes to do that before getting started?" he asked.

"By all means," Harvey replied, the question reminding him that he still had to log his physical. Perhaps after the Black Hawk entered the Gamma Quadrant...

"I look forward to that report," Harvey said. "Welcome aboard." With a nod, he left the Observation Lounge and returned to his Ready Room.

Jason nodded to the man, "Thank you, Sir." he said as the Captain turned to leave. He followed him out of the room a few seconds later and headed to the turbolift. It was time to get his physical out of the way.

Joint Post

Commander H. Geisler
Officer Commanding

&

Lt. Commander J. DeVries
Executive Officer

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