Searching for a Rescuer

Posted on 06 Jan 2016 @ 1:11am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Staff Warrant Officer William Griffin
Edited on on 19 Mar 2018 @ 1:09am

1,514 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Security Office
Timeline: MD 9 || 1300 hours
Tags: s b

Camila sat in her office going over personnel files when she came across a Chief Petty Officer who was listed as the Fighter Maintenance Chief. As she looked deeper into his record, she saw that he had an impressive background, but that he had had a troubled youth. She decided to call on him to see if he would be a problem aboard the ship and have a chat with him. Before she summoned him to the office, Camila got a mug of Raktajino from the replicator before she tapped her combadge. "Lieutenant Di Pasquale to Chief Griffin. Could you report to Security office, please?" she requested politely instead of ordering him to come there.

Griffin frowned, looking up from the power distribution relay he currently had in pieces on the workbench in front of him and shuffling the coil spanner he was holding to his left hand so he could tap his own commbadge. "Chief Griffin, acknowledged." He said gruffly, wondering what the hell he had done now to invoke a call to the security office. He couldn't think of anything specific. He took a moment to set his tools away back in their case, make a quick note of where he was at with the relay and then stepped back from the bench.

Walking towards the turbolift, he wracked his brains to try and come up with something that might have landed him in hot water, again, but as before, he couldn't think of anything. As the turbolift took him upwards into officer country, he mused that perhaps it was something to do with one of his crewmen, or even just a checkup. Whatever it was, he had better things to do than deal with uppity security officers. Still, it wouldn't do to misbehave. As the turbolift doors opened, he put on his most civil air and walked the short distance to the security office.

Stepping into the room, he drew himself up into order and looked down at the woman sitting at the desk. "Chief Griffin, reportin' as ordered, ma'am." He told her, his tone gruff but not hostile.

Camila looked up and nearly choked on her Raktajino. Sweet baby Vulcan! she mentally gasped. I didn't know they made them that tall!. She took a moment to compose herself and repressed the desire to climb up on her desk so she could see eye to eye with him. "Have a seat, Chief," she managed. "Would you care for something to drink?" Maybe if I bribe him, his shadow won't crush me.

"Thanks, ma'am. I'm good." Bill replied, noting the reaction and supressing the grin. He pulled out the chair in front of the desk and lowered himself into it. "Is there somethin' you wanted me for, ma'am?"

"Yes, Chief Griffin," she said as she took a drink of her Klingon coffee to brace herself. Even sitting, he towered over her. "I've been going over personnel records and yours stood out for several reasons. First is your impressive service record which I feel may be beneficial for several reasons. The second reason, though, is the fact that you seem to have had a bit of a rough background at times. That isn't going to be a problem here on the ship, is it?"

Every god damn time, someone has to throw this crap in my face! Griffin had to take a moment to wipe the scowl from his features that had appeared of it's own volition and swallow the irritation he felt. "Ma'am," he eventually said, aiming for an even tone and almost managing it. "I've never in my career caused a problem aboard a Starfleet ship! There isn't nuthin' in my service record 'at says otherwise, neither." He told her, biting back the damn freighter-folk dialect that was creeping into his voice again. "The trouble that yer talkin'..." Dammit! "That you're talking about, was a long time ago."

"Relax, Chief," Camila said as she held up a hand when she saw him building a head of steam. "I saw that. I just wanted to make sure that you are one of the people that I'm looking for. I'm putting together a very special team on this ship and I need people like you. I need team players who have a wide variety of skills and your record of weapons maintenance, systems maintenance and small vessel engineering really stood out to me. However, I do not need someone who will have a warp core breach at a simple question. Granted, it was meant to antagonize you and I apologize for that, but it had to be done."

As suddenly as his indignation at her insinuations had come, it passed, leaving Griffin feeling somewhat deflated and just a little bit foolish. "Ma'am, you do not wanna see me havin' a warp core breach, trust me." He told her, his tone gradually modulating back to it's regular gruff bass. "But I will defend myself if someone accuses me of bein' a trouble maker when their isn't no cause for it." He gave her a wry grin by way of showing her he had no hard feelings, "what kinda team is it that yer talkin' about, Lieutenant?"

"Search and Rescue, Chief," Camila said as she retrieved a PADD from a desk drawer and handed it to him. "It's typically an eighteen month course, but many of the personnel I'm looking for already have skills in the areas that SAR people train in, which will cut the training time. I feel that you would do best in the Technical Support Flight, but be invaluable in other areas of it as well. Take a look at it and let me know if you'd be interested."

At first mention of search and rescue, Griffin mentally dismissed the idea, but took the PADD anyway and started reading. It was a daunting prospect, but one, to his immediate surprise, that he found himself interested in. He hadn't ever considered being anything but an engineer, aside from some vague pipe dreams of being a pilot, there hadn't really been anything else, aside from wrestling, that he'd held much more than a passing interest in. "How..." he began hesitantly, "assumin' I was gonna accept this, would the training work? Would I need to return to Earth, or could I stay on active duty?"

"We would all stay on active duty," she told him after taking another drink of her Raktajino. "The majority of the training - specifically areas where one person or another needs to brush up on their current training or learn a new skill, would be done off duty in holodeck simulations. It certainly won't be eighteen months, but it would be a set of skills that you could take with you anywhere. I did the full eighteen month course after I left the Academy and it's grueling but well worth it. Can I count you in, Chief?"

What the hell? Griffin thought, after hours training?! Freakin' SAR!? Man, I do not need this crap! What the hell is a guy like me gonna do in SAR anyway!? There's no way in hell! "Well..." He began, "I think..." What the hell!? "Sure, count me in, ma'am." Oh hell, you idiot.

Camila watched the expressions cross his features like a thundercloud fighting a nice day, but kept her expression neutral while she made alternate speeches in case he declined. When he accepted, she smiled. "You won't regret it, Chief and neither will the people that you may one day help save. Take the PADD with you and if you know anyone that you think may be interested as well, show it to them and send them my way. There is one more thing before you can get back to your regular duties, though."

Griffin was making to stand and trying not too hard to think about what he had just agreed to do, but paused half way and settled back down to hear what else she had to say. "Ma'am?" he asked gruffly.

"Good work on handling your crew, Chief," Camila said with a broad smile. "The pipeline says that medical had a rather embarrassing visit. If you can handle a situation like that, SAR will be a breeze. I'll let you know when training begins. Enjoy your day."

Griffin continued upwards to his feet then, giving her a genuine grin this time. He hadn't realized the scuttlebutt on the Black Hawk moved so fast, he almost felt sorry for the two crewmen. "Well, thanks ma'am," he told her, "you too."

The smile on the Chief's face made her day and she came to her own feet out of respect for the man. "I fully plan to. Now to find out what the latest news is. You'd be surprised how much you hear crawling through Jeffries Tubes." She secured her terminal and indicated the giant of a man should exit the office and headed out after him.

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