Inspection: Security

Posted on 06 May 2017 @ 4:22pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Lieutenant David Moreau Jr & Lieutenant Richard Metsker & Lieutenant JG Dean Winchester & Lieutenant JG Catherine Cooper & Lieutenant JG Shay Mitchell & Petty Officer 1st Class Allen Miller

2,936 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Security Complex
Timeline: MD 2 || 0945 Hours

With Engineering, Intelligence, and Science down, it was time to head for Security. After just a few stops, Harvey had decided to stop comparing his two commands. This ship was far above everything the older Akira could have been and he had no desire to mar her memory and heritage. He was confident that this crew would not just live up to her name, but would make a mark for itself in history.

A short turbolift ride took him to the security deck, and Harvey soon found him in the entry to the area. He had no idea what to expect on the other side, especially since the person in command of the detachment was a person unfamiliar with this crew and with the Captain himself. He wouldn't let his hesitation or uncertainly hold him back; therefore, Harvey stepped forward and entered the Security Complex.

David had been reviewing personnel files and making recommendations for training and rescheduling when he heard the door opened and the Captain came in. He came to his feet immediately behind his desk and gave a respectful nod. "Captain," he said, his voice surprisingly mellow for his size. "What can I do for you, Sir?"

Shay sat at one of the consoles trying to familiarize herself with personnel files... in particular... those who could possibly cause trouble aboard the ship in the future. She was caught up in her own little world while she studied up, but quickly snapped out of it when she heard their new Security Chief speak. The young woman was on her feet in an instant and snapped to attention, giving their CO her full attention. "Captain," she greeted.

"At ease, ensign," Harvey ordered, waving the formality away. "Mister Moreau," he greeted. "I'm coming by on a routine inspection, just one of the many things I try to do when possible."

"Security is at your service, Captain," David said. "I was just in the process of making new schedules and seeing who needed more training, Sir."

Shay relaxed a bit, clasping her hands behind her back as a sign of respect for the senior most officer on board the ship. She was quite low in the totem pole, and despite she and Harvey having gone through hell just before the ship crashed, that didn't mean she could be disrespectful. The Ensign listened to their new Chief's words. After being on shore leave for two months, they could all use a little brush up in their training. But, for now, she planned to remain silent until she was addressed.

Across the room, Winchester saw the Captain walk in. Standing up from his workbench, he walked over, extended his hand, and said, "Good to see you Captain".

Harvey looked up at the taller man, amazed that humans were still capable of producing giants. "It's good to see you as well, Mister Winchester," he said, accepting the handshake. "The Consortium didn't scare you away from the fleet or the Black Hawk, it seems."

Laughing, Winchester said, "There are not very many things in this universe that scare me sir".

Allen saw some commotion out of the corner of his eye and turned to see what was happening. Ah, the Captain has made his presence known, he thought. He nodded towards the gathering group, just in case, and went back to working on his assignment. He was familiarizing himself with the layout of the new Century class vessel for patrol purposes. She was a big ship and the last thing he wanted to do was get lost.

Ensign Sarah Thatcher walked in from a side room, glancing at a PADD, toward where Petty Officer First Class Miller sat, "Mr. Miller have you seen the training facilities yet? They are amazing this is by far the most efficient..." Then she glanced up from the PADD to continue speaking and stopped seeing the CO and their new Chief in conversation with Winchester nearby. Ensign Mitchell was off to one side at parade rest and Miller was just working. She paused for a moment unsure, coming to a kind of attention out of reflex choosing to err on the side of caution.

Lt. Jg Catherine Cooper's shift had ended awhile ago but this was the best time for the senior tactical officers to get together to review the new goodies so it was she was in a side room going over phaser strength, torpedo load outs and the like, wanting to make sure they would be ready to do and deliver on whatever their new chief would ask for. It still felt a bit unusual to not be working with Lt. Di Pasquale or Lt. Corwin but that was the way of Starfleet, transfers happened all the time but at least Lt. Corwin was in Intel now. Cooper hoped now that they had a proper intel department lead by someone who knew their job, they'd be better off in future.

The meeting ended and Cooper headed out into the main room and paused seeing the tableau of the CO, new Chief etc. mentally shrugged and went to hold up a wall in case anyone had any questions for her before she headed off. She'd gotten better at waiting while she'd been gone, one of the things she'd worked on with her Sensei.

Harvey noticed that the room had gone silent, likely because of his sudden, and unannounced appearance. He looked around, noting that, aside from the new Chief of Security, all of the faces were familiar. For some of them, the last time he'd seen them was shortly before arriving at Deep Space 11. For others, the crashing of their former home. New Bajor had been too chaotic for any sort of reunion, especially since Starfleet had other plans at the time.

Still, he continued his scan of the room, taking in every face that he saw. At long last, he spoke. "It's good to see you all again." His eyes fell on Petty Officer Miller, thinking of his and Gutierrez's actions on Razmena, the flirting he'd attempted with Joey in the holodeck, and then his actions to save Lieutenant Corwin aboard Deep Space 11. If the kid could keep his head on straight, he might just make it in the Gamma Quadrant.

Looking to Lieutenant Moreau, he added, "You've inherited the best security team in the fleet, Mister Moreau. I hope you know that."

"That's what I'm seeing from the records, Captain," David said as he squeezed out from behind his desk. "I'm very impressed with most of the personnel in Security, but I do see that some of them have...unusual...reports on their records."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. Even though the room was filled with familiar faces, Harvey knew that well more than half of the security team was comprised of fresh faces. Security had suffered the most casualties than the other departments, and amazingly, those that had boarded Deep Space Eleven prior to the crash actually had a higher survival rate than those who were left to protect the ship. Before he commented on Lieutenant Moreau's observation, he turned back to the group at large.

"I do want to make this clear to you," Harvey stated plainly, knowing that he shouldn't even have to say this. "Lieutenant Moreau is the senior officer in charge of security. Whatever you had on the old 'Hawk... It was left on New Bajor. It's a new day, and I expect you all to cooperate and follow orders."

Cooper nodded, "Aye, Sir." As though she expected nothing less, she had this kind of speech before. A kind of fresh slate statement as it were, usually something one did when new officers transferred in to to an established department. She hadn't much chance to get to know the new Chief but he seemed to know his way and that was a promising sign.

Thatcher came to full attention briefly, "Aye Sir." with all the earnestness an Ensign could muster.

Winchester grunted and simply said "Aye, sir", as walked back over to his locker, intent on securing his own personal weaponry.

Allen heard the Captain's announcement and turned to face him and the rest of the group that gathered around him. A nod of his head a verbal confirmation seconds later affirmed that he understood the Captain's instructions. Or orders, depending. Rather than approach them, he held back. There was his assignment that he was working on, but this was the Captain.

With that addressed, he turned to the Chief of Security. "We can have a word about those reports, Lieutenant, should you desire. First, I would like to know how you feel about the facilities." Truth be told, Harvey hadn't had a chance to inspect them in full himself. He would have to do that before moving along to his next stop on the inspection tour.

"I've done a walkthrough of them and I have to admit, I like what I see, Captain," David said. "I'm rather impressed with the manufacturing bay and the ammo replication suites and the rest of it. I do have a question about the fact that there's only two weapons lockers on decks one, two, twenty-three and twenty-four and four on the other decks. Do you know the reason for that?"

"I'm afraid I'm not the ship's designer," Harvey confessed. "But with nearly eight hundred souls aboard, and those four decks being the ones least occupied at all hours, it stands to reason that they'd need less firearms available."

"With your permission, Sir, I'd like to install one in main conference lounge and suggest that you keep a spare phaser and energy cell in there at all times. If you like, I can have one fitted for under your desk."

Harvey instantly shook his head. He'd never been one for diplomacy, and his record clearly indicated several brash actions that had some rather... questionable results. The situation that the ship would be warping into soon would require some tact, and quite possibly the need to have dignitaries aboard the ship for negotiations. "I'm afraid not," Harvey told the Lieutenant. "The Conference Lounge is already a secure location, and I can only imagine how damaging it could be if a guest took note of a nearly weapons locker. Any lock can be overridden, given the right suggestion."

"What about one for your ready room, then?" David pressed. "Not a locker, but a single one biometrically keyed to you. I was reviewing your last training with Lieutenant Di Pasquale and she seemed to think highly of your abilities with a phaser."

"Wrote that down, did she?" Harvey asked. For a former doctor, he was certainly handy with a phaser, something he'd been forced to pick up during the Dominion War. "I assume I've forfeited my advantage if ever we square off in training."

"She kept a lot of notes on her personnel and those she was training," David said. "The mark of a good Chief. I know that I'll have a lot of work ahead of me to fill her shoes, Sir. So how about one for your desk? I also read the report about Commander Del Rosario."

The Captain arched his left eyebrow. His new Chief certainly hadn't wasted any time getting up to speed on things. Harvey had not only read the report on Commander del Rosario, he'd written most of it himself. Since then, Harvey had begun to keep a phaser in the ready room, hidden under the desk. He just hadn't yet returned it. Given the events from yesterday, he needed to make it a point to get it back in there. He'd also need to get one for his quarters.

But he didn't want to make it a point to advertise that he was capable of defending himself in his own sanctuary. That knowledge would need to be privileged, and right now Harvey didn't know the man he was speaking to. It didn't matter that he was charged with the safety of the Black Hawk and her Captain. If everything Harvey had heard so far was true, he needed to be careful every step of the way.

"That's quite all right, Mister Moreau," Harvey insisted. "The Consortium are no longer a threat, and I think I'll be all right."

"There's always threats, Captain," David said. "If Security can't get there in time, you'd have your own backup. It can't hurt to have even if you never use it."

"If Security can't get there in time," Harvey said, still unwilling to admit that he had private plans for his ready room, "then I would find that to be a disappointment in you and your department's already proven capabilities."

"An old Earth leader known as George Washington once said to be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace," David quoted. "I'd rather you be disappointed and alive than dead."

"I'm not one to argue with Presidents," Harvey remarked. "However, I have made my decision. Should you wish to protest further, I would suggest you do so when we don't have an audience."

"I'll keep my mouth shut, Sir," David said quietly in protest, knowing it was worthless to argue with a man who had made his mind up on something, especially if that man had two extra pips than he did.

Harvey nodded, leaving that alone for now. "Well, I am pleased that you are otherwise happy with the facilities. I won't keep you from working with the department, unless you have something else on your mind that needs to be addressed?"

"No further concerns to be addressed, Sir," David said.

"And the reports you mentioned?" Harvey asked, making it clear that he wasn't the type to forget things. "The unusual ones in the crew files?"

"I had noted that two members of Security, one who is no longer with the Black Hawk, stood Captain's Mast," David said. "Was their behavior after that satisfactory to you to have that expunged from their personnel files, Sir?"

Thatcher after a few of the back and forths quietly stood there unsure if she was dismissed or not. Other than to give an order the rest of the security room seemed to alternate between doing their work like Mr. Allen or remaining at a kind of attention like herself and Mitchell. She split the difference and relaxed but thought about the way she'd come wondering if she should go back.

Cooper continued to stand against the back wall mentally going through her list of priorities for the next shift, listening to the useful back and forth between the two. It gave great insight into the current security priorities and would clue her in on if they wanted anything from her as she had decided it was simpler to wait to leave until the Captain did just to be safe.

Shay listened to the back and forth between the Captain and their new Security Chief, unsure how she should take David's persistence. On one hand... it was admirable considering he was looking out for their CO, but on the other hand... he would have had better luck trying to convince a dead horse to get up and live another day. The young woman had seen their Captain in action first hand, and knew he was quite capable of handling himself in most situations. Not only that, but if things did go south, one of them would be with him at all times... so he'd have the protection Lieutenant Moreau seemed so adamant about. For now, she chose to stay quiet and observe.

Noting that one of those members who'd received a Captain's Mast was in the room, Harvey simply suggested, "Perhaps it's time we have that private moment, Mister Moreau."

"Yes, Sir," David said before he looked at the others. "You know your assignments," he said. "Get busy."

Thatcher immediately spun around and headed back toward the phaser range. Cooper nodded and went to a console to finish a report before knocking off for the day.

"Aye sir", Winchester said as went off to find a display to look up if anything extra would be required of him besides his normal duties for the day,.

Allen nodded and moved back to the console he'd been studying earlier. This was a huge ship compared to the Akira class. If he was going to have to patrol it, he wanted to at least look like he halfway knew where he was going.

Shay nodded her head to Harvey. "It's good to see you again, Captain," she said with a smile before she moved back to the station she was currently assigned to so she could pick up where she left off.

"After you, Lieutenant," Harvey invited with a soft nod. On a different day, he would have led the Chief of Security to the man's office. Harvey just didn't know where that was just yet.

With a nod at the Captain, David led the way into his office.

Rich quickly made his way there and stepped in just as the Chief and Captain stepped into the Office. The room was still quiet and Rich looked around with a little smile on his face, “What did I miss?” he asked to no one in particular. He didn’t like being late, but there wasn’t much he could have done to prevent it since his transport into the Gamma Quadrant had been delayed at DS9 due to an unruly passenger, that just happened to be infected with Rop'ngor, A Klingon illness comparable to Human measles. Yeah, that had been fun.

RSS Feed