Getting Up To Speed (Part 1)

Posted on Fri Mar 21st, 2025 @ 11:52pm by Captain Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Charlotte E. "Charlie" Yeager & Boso Gane & Oko Gane & Commander Katrina Chance & Lieutenant Commander Joseph Nixon & Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Akira Kogami & Lieutenant Pharos Ventari & Lieutenant Gabrielle 'Gabi' Shimoda

1,089 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Impending Midnight
Location: Officers' Briefing Room - Deck 1
Timeline: 1700 hours

The scope of what Patricia had lost hadn't truly hit until she looked over her manifest to find it nigh unrecognizable from when the Missouri set off. The amount of officers she had gone through was staggering, and most of the present crew were only recent arrivals.

Perhaps the Missouri curse had some truth to it after all, Patricia thought as she arrived to the senior staff briefing that had been organized under one XO, and would be overseen by another.

The doors swooshed open, the small footsteps on the grey carpet came from Lt Cmdr Star, the newest Chief Science Officer. Dawning the standard uniform with a PADD under his arm for note taking and predecessor note reviewing, he noticed the Captain and himself were the first here. "Captain," He said, withdrawing a chair from under the table, Andrew put the PADD down on the table before making his way round to Patrica and extended his hand, "Lt Cmdr Andrew Star" He introduced himself as.

"Patricia Cooke." Patricia accepted the extended hand. "Welcome aboard, Commander."

Returning her smile as the Officer sat down, he spoke in a dim Scottish accent. "Thank you. I'd like to sit down with your First Officer or even yourself and discuss my policies for the Science Division... I can assure you. Scientific incompetency is over. We will be ready."

Gabi sailed through the doors of the briefing room, hands behind her back, nose pointed to galactic zenith, her eye scanning the room to see the Captain and another officer in the room. She felt her jaw clench… it was involuntary. She’d been buried deep in another banal intelligence report, one eye on the page and the other on the clock. Determined to be the first through the door, it seemed now she’d not only shot herself in the foot, she’d scored an own-goal with it; the report was half absorbed and she second through the door. Dammit.

She approached the two officers. A curt hand was extended briskly to MO’s CO, “Captain,” and a nod to the science officer beside her, a firm handshake no doubt coming his way in a moment like a quantum torpedo, “Commander. A pleasure.”

Joe Nixon strode into the briefing room with his usual quiet confidence, his uniform crisp but his expression carrying the weariness of experience. He wasn’t the first to arrive, but he wasn’t the last either—just on time, as always. His gaze swept the room, instinctively taking stock of who was present, who was new, and who looked like they had already had enough of the day.

With a nod to the Captain and those present, he made his way to his seat, pulling the chair back with an easy motion before settling in. He leaned back slightly, arms resting on the table, one hand absently tapping a finger against the surface as he waited for the meeting to begin.

"Alright," he said, more to himself than anyone else, his tone dry but not unfriendly. "Let’s see what fresh hell we’ve got lined up today."

With a soft hiss, the doors to the briefing room parted, allowing Katrina to enter. The short officer took a moment to take stock of the number of faces present, officers who were, for the most part, new just like her. She was sure they would all have questions. Some she could answer, some she couldn't, and some she would have to answer later, assuming they all survived. But in the now, she greeted everyone with a respectful nod, moving to stand somewhat out of the way. Seeing that not all the officers who were to attend this briefing had arrived yet, she didn't begin the briefing. Instead, she was content to watch, observe how these strangers thrust into an unfamiliar situation coped with the challenges ahead.

Lieutenant Ventari entered the briefing shortly behind the XO, and as he followed her in, he found himself weirdly fascinated by the fact that the first officer was almost shorter than he was; it wasn't often that he met an adult he could look in the eye without flying or standing on a chair. It was also a poor way to introduce ones self, so the Ventari kept the fascination to himself, and instead nodded in greeting to the other officers before finding himself an available seat at the briefing room table, and climbing up to a kneeling position in the seat, antennae twitching curiously as he tried to read the pheromones of those present.

Following just behind Pharos was Lieutenant Kogami, her attention preoccupied with the contents of her PADD.

"Alright, Captain as per your request, I've conducted a review of our tactical systems, and..."

Her voice trailed off as she glanced up and observed no less than three unfamiliar faces seated at the table- Of course, she probably should've been surprised, but what with it feeling like there was a new face at the table every damn time Patty tried to call a meeting together, this was starting to get more annoying than it was surprising.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Dare I ask who's joining us at the table tonight, Captain?" she inquired with an air of biting sarcasm.

Gabi blinked slowly as she observed the woman across from her. The intelligence officer’s pulse quickened, her hand gripping her chair’s armrest, her jaw clenched. What a warm welcome. What a legitimate question.

"Pleasure to meet you too," Andrew said with a twinkle in his eye, but her voice? He swore he heard it before, maybe he was getting old and confusing it with someone else. "I'm Andrew Star, I didn't catch your name Ms?" He asked

"Kogami, Commander," Akira replied, returning the handshake. "Lieutenant Akira Kogami, Chief of Security."

Andrew smiled back at her, like it was a natural reward for replying to him without any comments. "I look forward to working with you, Commander." He commented

Next through the door was one of the few longer-serving faces on the Missouri, Lieutenant Yeager, followed by two civilians who appeared to be Cardassian in physiology. As Charlie proceeded to take one of the remaining seats, the civilians approached Patricia:

"Will I-402 be joining us?" Patricia asked.

"Unfortunately not." The male responded. "She has requested not to be disturbed."

"Unfortunate indeed." Patricia nodded, motioning to the filling table. "Best to grab a seat before they're all taken."

To be continued...

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