The Missouri's Orion Ops Chief

Posted on Tue Apr 9th, 2024 @ 8:05pm by Lieutenant Raazym & Commander Patricia Cooke

1,130 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: I-402
Location: Ready Room, Deck 1
Timeline: Between the Ermiana's arrival and the staff meeting.

Patricia was in her office going over the crew rotations with the additional crew that the Ermiana had brought. Her attention had been particularly caught by the new members of the Operations department, noticing a familiar name on the manifest and confirming that it was indeed her old friend, with whom she had headed a revival of the Soul Sisters; though this incarnation of the group focused more on country and western tunes as opposed to blues music.

But no doubt, Patricia would have to visit with her. The last time they had spoken, the friend had revealed that she was pregnant with her third child, and was hoping for a girl this time. Patricia had told her that if that was the case, the child should be named Patricia.

Patricia was eager to catch up with the friend now being assigned to the Missouri, but first she needed to hear from the newly-assigned Operations Chief: Since the Missouri had hastily left Manhattan, Operations had been covered by the few junior officers present, but now that the Missouri was being brought up to her full compliment, they would need someone to run Operations as a department. The candidate selected was... Interesting, to say the least, but the captain of the Copernicus had vouched for him, praising his talents.

Out on the bridge, Raazym emerged from the turbolift near Security. Nodding to the officer on deck, he took a moment to make a visual sweep of the room, which precisely matched the deck plans he had studied on the trip here. His eyes came to rest on Ops and he felt his posture relax; unlike his station aboard the Copernicus, which had been located forward and directly in front of that bridge's sole turbolift, the station here was nestled in an aft corner opposite Security. He wouldn't find himself catching his breath every time heard those doors swish.

Informed in the transporter room that he would be expected at his first breifing shortly after checking in, he swiftly moved toward's the ready room and pressed the chime.

"Enter:" Came Patricia's voice from the other side.

Entering the room, the Orion came to attention. "Lieutenant Raazym, Chief Operations Officer, reporting for duty."

"At ease, Lieutenant." Patricia responded. "And welcome aboard the Missouri. How are you finding her so far?"

"In line with Bellerophon class specifications so far. What I've seen of her, at least." In his brief time aboard he'd only seen the transporter room, some corridors, his cabin on Deck 2 to deposit his duffel bag, before reaching the bridge and the ready room. "I intend to walk the ship deck by deck at the earliest opportunity."

"An admirable goal, for sure." Patricia said. "Even I haven't seen everything the Missouri has to offer yet: I see from your record that you served aboard an Intrepid before: The Viking, if I'm getting it correct?"

"Yes, ma'am." Raazym's cheeks flushed a deep green as he recalled the ship. "She was my second assignment. Captain Annabelle Burton. I learned so much there." He thought about Viking's crew - he'd made more friends on that ship than at the Academy and his first assignment combined. Which isn't to say he'd made many. Just more.

His brow furrowed as he returned to the topic. "But yes ma'am. I am quite familiar with this type of ship and it's systems. I'll make sure they are always performing at their best."

"Well, that's good." Patricia said. "The Bellerophon's decks are laid out similarly to that of the Intrepid, so you'll have that advantage in regards to orienting yourself. The differences lie in the ship's systems. You can probably imagine that there have been quite a lot of technical advancements since the Intrepid first debuted. I want you to make sure you understand the differences between the two systems. Because rerouting power the way you would on an Intrepid might overload something else because the ship is wired differently, and I'm sure our engineer would thank me for preventing excessive damage to our systems whenever possible."

"Of course," Raazym nodded. He would review the differences independantly and then set up a meeting with the Chief Engineer to go over what he'd learned. "Are there, um... are there any other departmental concerns you have?"

"Departmental concerns? No." Patricia said. "However, there is one more thing I must ask: How much are you aware of our ship's current mission?"

It was an honest question, as Patricia wasn't aware on how widespread the news of the Khitomer attack had circulated, or if Starfleet and the Daystrom Institute were trying to run damage control and keep the existence of I-400; a dangerous AI on the loose, under wraps for as long as possible to prevent mass panic.

"Not much," Raazym admitted. "I know it's something urgent, and classified. I tried to ask the Ermiana's XO if there was anything they could share, just so I'd be prepared when we arrived. She said that would be my new captain's job, ma'am."

"Sure sounds like Commander S'Mira alright: That grumpy Caitian is perfect for that old hag Misaka." Patricia commented. "But, I'm getting ahead of myself:"

Patricia proceeded to hand Raazym a PADD.

"Start familiarizing yourself with I-400." She instructed him. "It's an artificial intelligence clandestinely developed by two Daystrom Institute scientists, intended to be a peacekeeping program; a step up from our existing Iona interface. However, I-400 has decided that instead of protecting the Federation as it was designed to do, it intends to end the Federation as we know it. How? We're still figuring out the details on. But safe to say, I-400 remains a major threat to Federation security. That PADD contains all the information that is known about I-400, and while there has yet to be any reports of I-400 breaching the computer systems of a Starship, it is a scenario we must be prepared for, and I want you to work alongside engineering to develop an effective counter to prevent I-400 from locking us out of our own ship."

Raazym eagerly accepted the PADD, ready to work the problem. "Aye, Captain. I've already got a couple of ideas on how to safeguard our systems." He resisted the urge to start reading right away; he was concerned with the damage this AI could do, yet he was fascinated at it's evolution as well. "The crewman in the transporter room also informed me there was a staff meeting here shortly, I'd imagine to discuss this. I'll make this my priority just after."

"Understood." Patricia said. "That will be all, Lieutenant. Dismissed."

"Aye, Captain." Raazym stood to attention, gave a nod, and then turned to get to work.

OFF

Posting by

Commander Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Raazym
Chief Operations Officer

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