The New Kids On The Flight Deck (Part 1)

Posted on Wed Apr 7th, 2021 @ 5:56am by Lieutenant Amu Hinamori M.D. & Chief Warrant Officer Karuta Roromiya & Jennifer Daxer & Lieutenant Jasad Yuvek & Lieutenant JG Nozomi Kusuda 'Gemini'
Edited on on Wed Apr 7th, 2021 @ 5:58am

1,822 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Allegations
Location: Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco
Timeline: Immediately after "Not much to go on"

“I still think this is a mistake, Captain.”

A pair of officers were making their way through the halls of Starfleet HQ, sifting through the hustle and bustle of bereaved Romulans and court reporters whose presence here was most certainly tied to the trial being held on the other side of the building. Heading the duo was a tall, muscular blonde, her hair tied back in a high-hanging ponytail, and a recently-minted four-dot pip adorning her carefully-pressed command uniform. At her side was a (considerably) shorter blonde, sporting a shoulder-length bob and a three-dot pip, denoting that she ranked slightly lower than her adjacent contemporary.

“Transferring a handful of gullible Ensigns to a ship whose captain is on trial for mass murder?” the shorter blonde remarked skeptically. “We might as well be giving them a phaser and the keys to Admiral Nyanta’s office!”

“If Rear Admiral Kree didn’t have any faith in them, then he wouldn’t have requested this transfer in the first place,” the Captain replied, her piercing, sky-blue eyes glued directly in front of her. “And it’s not like we aren’t taking the necessary precautions, Commander.”

“But you presume those safety precautions will be enough, Captain.”

“We can’t exactly punish them for something they had no part in, Commander,” the Captain refuted. “We’re doing what we can to keep tabs on our transfers, but it’s unfair of us to hold them accountable for the actions of a Captain that they haven’t even met. We’ll just have to trust that the measures that we’re implementing are sufficient.”
____________________________________________________________

Lieutenant Commander Daxer came walking out of the security officer, after having been updated concerning the attempt on her life. Without much to go on, the investigation would be difficult. It was also obvious that she was likely still in danger. The operative's thoughts were interrupted, and she stopped short, as she found herself face to face with a pair of blonde officers, sporting command level rank pips.

"Captain, Commander." She said as she casually looked them over. "Something I can do for you?"

"Apologies if we've caught you at a bad time, Commander," the the taller of the two expressed, bowing her head courteously. "Captain Eliza Nanjō, Commanding Officer of the USS Moscow; and this is my Executive Officer, Honorable Madame Katyusha Romanov."

"Lieutenant Commander Jennifer Daxer, acting Captain of the USS Tokyo." Jen said, introducing herself, her manerisms seeming more Human than Vulcan in that moment. "I was just headed to find food. Walk with me, and tell me what I can do for you ladies."

The two officers nodded and proceeded to fall in behind Daxer.

"There's a lot going on at the moment." Daxer said, as they walked. "For the moment, you have my attention."

"Well, considering you have time to spare, Commander," Captain Nanjō began, unclipping a PaDD from her belt and handing it over to Daxer. "Rear Admiral Kree had sent us to speak with you on the temporary reassignment of personnel to your ship. All of these individuals have already received a full medical evaluation and have signed off on Starfleet Form SF-2240, a digital copy of which is provided with their records."

Daxer stopped, taking the PaDD. She skimmed it's contents quietly for a moment. She'd never had the job of approving crew transfers, but she figured Taiga would approve of her choices.

Daxer stopped skimming at one point, looking confused. "Umm... Why is there a pilot in this list with a six year career of... desk work?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, as she looked up at Captain Nanjo. "You do realize that this ship sees combat more often than we'd like?"

"I was about to get to that, Commander," Captain Nanjō explained. "She's actually the one personal request that I'd been wanting to put in. Her name is Nozomi Kusuda, and she's an old friend of mine from back in the day. She did have an incident back at the Academy where she and a few of her fellow cadets broke rank to do what they thought was the right thing; they were never court-martialed for it, but she's been paying the price for that incident ever since."

"Violating direct orders, theft of Starfleet property, and potentially a violation of the prime directive..." Jennifer said, as she scrutinized Kusuda's personnel file, noting to herself that this particular officer reminded her of herself. "She's lucky she wasn't court martialed."

"Fortunately for her, it was a clandestine diplomatic exercise and not a first contact assignment," Captain Nanjō sighed. "If it had been... God knows where the poor girl would have wound up..."

"With all due respect, Captain... Violations aside, Ensign Kusuda is a qualified pilot, without any real experience in the field, in her entire six year career." Daxer stated simply. If there was any chance the request upset, or discouraged her in any way, Daxer didn't show any hint of it. "She's got guts, and it seems like someone wants her out of their sight. Answer this... Why the Tokyo? Why me?"

"Perhaps the answer is closer than you think, Commander?" Commander Romanov piped in before Captain Nanjō had the chance to speak. "Perhaps in some ways you see in Ensign Kusuda someone that is not unlike yourself; a truly gifted individual who's misunderstood, and just needs one small break to prove herself?"

Though Jen's expression never changed, she was suddenly feeling put-off by the Commander. The woman had done her homework, obviously scrutinizing the cover record that Starfleet had provided, including her declassified Cadet records. Though she didn't say a word, she did give a long look over at Commander Romanov, seemingly studying her for several seconds.

After a quiet moment, the Acting Captain pressed her thumb to the PaDD, signing off on the transfer orders, then handed it back.

"They'll do, but they should be made aware that the ship is undergoing repairs." She said simply, as they approached one of HQ's many replicator stations. "Computer, mint tea, and a peanut butter sandwich."

"I take it that this is a traditional Vulcan snack, Commander?" Captain Nanjō remarked with a wry smirk.

"As if you're one to talk, Miss "Stuffs-her-face-with-parfaits-while-on-the-bridge"?" Commander Romanov sneered.

"To be fair, it is my ship, Commander," Captain Nanjō replied with a faint blush creeping up her cheeks.

"I was raised on Earth." Jen replied, as if this would explain it all. "Now if you ladies will excuse me, I have lunch to eat, and other duties to attend to." She said, before turning, and just walking away.

The two of them watched as Daxer disappeared around the corner before Commander Romanov spoke up.

"Well, if that's all we'll need her for, Captain," she began, smiling somewhat proudly at the fact that she'd been able to read Daxer like a book, "I'd best be heading over to the Shuttle Bay to see the transfers off..."

"Actually, Commander, I might have one small request before I let you off the hook," Captain Nanjō imposed, reaching into a satchel on the other side of her belt and pulling out a large manila envelope.

"Be sure to give this to Ensign Kusuda when you next see her," she instructed, pressing the envelope into Commander Romanov's hands. "Tell her to open it once she's settled in to her quarters; it's a gift from all of us."

Commander Romanov raised an eyebrow. "All of... whom, exactly?"

"She'll know who I'm talking about," Captain Nanjō winked.

Commander Romanov stared at the envelope for a few more seconds before saluting her Captain and scurrying off to tend to the shuttle.

____________________________________________________________

Chief Warrant Officer Karuta Roromiya walked at an average pace towards the shuttlebay based just outside the large building known as Starfleet Headquarters. The short Half Human/Vulcan woman walked in silence as a rather rowdy young girl followed.

"So is our new ship really big?" the girl asked. "Will it have lots of decks to play on? Will there be other kids?"

Karuta stopped and turned to face the young girl. "Mikoto" she looked down at her daughter. "The Starship Tokyo is an Armitage Class Starship. She is not as big as a Galaxy Class, but not as small as an Intrepid. She has twenty decks and I do not know if there are other children currently on board" her voice was emotionless and straight to the point.

Mikoto pouted. "That doesn't sound like any fun" she sulked. "How am I supposed to know how big a Galaxy Class is. I'm only ten years old!" she exclaimed. "I'm not like big brother or big sister. They're all like 'its illogical for you to say that Mikoto' and 'I don't see how that question is relevant to this current affair'" she mocked, doing a rather good impression of a Vulcan.

"Your older siblings are three quarters Vulcan to one quarter Human" Karuta replied coldly. "Where as you are three quarters Human to Vulcan" she stated. "I understand that you may not have your emotions in control at such a young age. However there will be a time that you may decide to embrace the Vulcan way as well Mikoto."

"And be boring like them, and sometimes you?" Mikoto pouted cheekily. "I want to have fun, not be boring and all robot like. We have computers for that!" she stopped and looked up at her mother nervously. "I... I mean that with love of course. I love you mummy"

Karuta raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. I also love you too Mikoto. However I believe it best for you to refrain from describing Vulcans in that manner" she told her. "You forget that I am unlike your father."

"Where is daddy then? Why is he not here either?" Mikoto asked and began to look around placing her hand flat against her forehead like she was playing.

"Your father is currently elsewhere" Karuta replied simply without any sort of emotion. She would not divulge to her daughter the nature of the relationship with her current husband, or why he was not with them at that time. "I shall explain to you when it is more relevant to do so".

"Now" she said as they reached the shuttlebay area and she held out a hand. "Take my hand. This area is dangerous for children. I do not wish you to come to any harm". She felt relieved that Mikoto gently took her hand and held it tightly. "We are to board a shuttle with several other officers, we shall then board the Starship Tokyo after a couple of hours flight time."

Mikoto knew all too well that was her mothers way of telling her to behave during the flight. "Understood Mummy" she replied with a smile.

"Good"

To be continued...

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