The Grand Opening: Revovating the Space


 * Tom O'FlaghertyThe Grand Opening: Renovating the Space''Stardate 65089.1

The Atlas is en route back to Caloris Station. Unfortunately, it’s not under the best of circumstances. The Sze are very upset that their medicine and medical supplies have gone missing from the derelict ship in the Epsilon Indi System. These allies may become enemies because pirates beat us to the prize. I’ve made sure to give a full report to Admiral Maddigan containing all of the details the crew has been able to gather from the looted cargo hold. A full investigation will be launched and diplomatic channels will most likely be used to keep the alliance with the Sze, but only time will tell if that makes any real difference.

Now, the Atlas will be put to dock for its final fitting-out, and once that is completed, the tradition is to transfer most of the crew. I’m sure after many of these events, my transfer will be to a desk at some logistics facility. Regardless, we will be finishing the testing before any of that can happen. There are a lot of corners to be smoothed out after the crew went to all the work of making the ship serviceable…''

The beep of Tom’s commbadge interrupted him. =/\=O’Flagherty, here. Go ahead.=/\=

=/\=Captain, we have received a transmission from Caloris, Level 10 security, text only.=/\= The voice of Johanna Mari was direct and to the point; very typical for the ambitious officer. It pained Tom to think of how he might have hurt her career.

=/\=Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll take it here in the Ready Room.=/\=

=/\=Aye, sir.=/\=

“Computer stop log entry and save for later.” The confirmation beep let him know the order had been followed. He put away the padd he had been looking at while reporting his log to address the personal monitor on the desk. Once he activated it, the screen filled with text from the office of Admiral Maddigan. Most likely, it had been put together by one of the Admiral’s assistants, and then sent with his security level.

''Commander O’Flagherty,

The USS Atlas has yet to undergo war games testing. This should have happened before she was taken into deep space, but nevertheless, it needs to happen. The ship will be in spacedock to receive scheduled repairs and refitting, but her final commissioning will not take place until all her weapons systems have been checked out.

In two days the Sabre-class vessels, USS Scimitar, Longbow, and Wildcat will arrive. They will be the similuated adversaries for the Atlas. Standard simulation procedures apply.

Good luck.

Rear Admiral Andy Maddigan Commanding Officer Megiddo Fleet''

Tom slouched back in his chair. The ship was almost ready to be sent into real deep-space duty. This would probably be his last shot at coming out of this shakedown assignment with any kind of dignity. There would be the customary greeting with the commanders of those vessels in two days. It looked like there was to be a great bit of work done before then.
 * 02-06-2012, 13:08Tom O'FlaghertyP’Rim slid the ship into the dry-dock of Caloris Station with his usual amount of grace and efficiency. Though he wouldn’t take compliments for his piloting skill, Tom heaped praise upon him as an actual master at his craft. “It is illogical to do less, sir,” was the typical response.

Now, Tom found himself at the port-side airlock as the last of the connections were made to make a seal joining the ship to the station. The umbilical was established and all ship’s power was shut down as the airlock doors opened and a collection of gold uniforms entered, lead by a Lt. Commander. The human walked directly up to Tom and offered his hand. “Lieutenant Commander David Helmsley. I’m from McKinley Station and am here to conduct the fitting out of the Vesta mark two. My team will take over all operations whiel your crew awaits assignment.”

Tom was taken aback. The Engineer’s matter-of-fact statement made something that had been on his mind a stark reality, though his timetable may have been a bit off. “Commander, welcome aboard. My crew though still has some schedule tests to undertake. There will be wargames involving the ship in two days. During that time, I think it would behoove you to involve Mr. Rahner, the Chief Engineer, in your work. He has some ideas about how to improve the performance of some systems on the ship.”

It was a delicate way of saying, “He has totally destroyed the ship and rebuilt it in a matter of months. Good luck.” Tom hoped that the two professionals would be able to get along, but it looked like Helmsley would take some time to warm up to the idea.

“Sir, that was not the orders I was given when I left Earth. My team has already planned-out how they are going to go about repairing the ship and we have a timetable.” His demeanor changed quickly to one of extreme perturbation.

“Well, Commander, those were the orders given to me when the ship arrived in the system. If you have an issue with the schedule, please direct your concerns to Rear Admiral Maddigan who made them. In the meantime, I can take you to Engineering and introduce you to Lieutenant Commander Rahner.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the Human was looking rather flustered with the course of the discussion. “I believe I can find Main Engineering. We will get to work soon.”

Without another word, Helmsley gathered his case and set off down the corridor. Tom watched him go, and was glad for his departure, if for no other reason than the man was beginning to annoy him. The next item on the agenda was his meeting with the CO’s of the Sabre-class ships who would be participating in the exercises. ''Hopefully, speaking with three other ship’s captains will be easier than spending time with an engineer. Hopefully, Mr. Rahner will straighten him out.''
 * 02-07-2012, 07:01AelanAelan had spent most of his time on the shakedown mission either in his quarters or in sickbay at work. Thankfully, his roommates, Kynnovan and Phoss, seemed to be out most of the time. He had yet to meet Cadet MacAlister, his final roommate, as they worked opposite shifts. He revelled in the solitude, knowing it was likely to come crashing down around him soon and often. Things always seemed to have a way of working out the worst for him.

There had, however, been bright spots. The first was discovering that the mess hall replicators had already been programmed for the worm-like vanyan from the Skorr homeworld- his favourite food. The second had been that the other Lab Tech, a human named Erim, was not crazy. He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was only about work-related subjects. Aelan found the brief conversations very soothing.

The two were cleaning up their stations in sickbay, the last task before leaving. With the Atlas in drydock, there would be little for them to do. Any medical situations were likely to be taken care of on Caloris instead of on the ship.

“Have you thought about where you hope to get transferred to?” Erim asked in his typical soft spoken way. The question surprised Aelan. He turned to look at his colleague, blinking a few times. “It’s common for most of the crew to be transferred after a shakedown mission,” Erim explained, understanding Aelan’s facial expression.

“No... no I didn’t,” the Skorr replied, his mind suddenly racing with thousands of horrible places to be transferred to. Perhaps a mining ship, or a colony, or... Rura Penthe. It is a Klingon penal colony, but you never know these days.. he thought.

A small smile pulled at the corner of Erim’s face. “Don’t worry, Aelan. It’ll just be to another ship. Maybe we can ask to get transferred together.” Aelan nodded, but couldn’t help thinking about the ice of Rura Penthe as the two finished taking inventory and replacing all their instruments. Crew Quarters'''
 * 02-07-2012, 09:50Adina Wolfe'''USS Atlas

Adina sighed heavily as she fell backwards onto her bed, the aches and pains of the last double shift rolling through her body...

“Fun day?” Rube prompted with a smile as the hologram fizzled into view.

“Oh, yeah, great.” Adina replied slowly, kicking off her shoes and absently rubbing her feet. “Forty six separate power relay repairs, two EPS conduits replaced, oh, and a trip to Sickbay.”

“Que?” The hologram tilted her head inquisitively, a sombrero appearing atop her flame red hair.

“Perkins didn’t decontaminate his hands before having lunch.-” Adina explained, “-after spending all morning working on the Plasma coolant lines...”

“Ouch!” Rube flinched, “How is he?”

“Nurse on duty said the feeling in his tongue should be back by tomorrow morning.” Adina sighed as she casually flung her skirt across the room with a flick of her foot. “Anything happen here whilst I was gone?”

“Oh yes!” Rube smiled, “I taught the Captain how to knit, the XO to quit smoking and learnt another twenty two languages on the side.”

“Rube...” Adina looked at the hologram knowingly.

“Okay fine, I’ve done squat all day.” Rube admitted, dismissing the holographic hat with a sigh. “Mail’s been coming in pretty solid since we wandered into comm range with Caloris though.”

“Fair few weeks of backlog.” Adina stated simply, her uniform jacket sailing across the room, followed shortly afterwards by the undershirt. “Anything interesting?”

Rube pondered for a moment, the hologram linking herself into the Cadet’s computer. “Let’s see, the usual two a day from your mother,-”

“Pass.”

“-three from your father, short and ‘sweet’ as always,-”

“File under ‘Later’ “

“-One from Starfleet records,-”

“That’ll be the copies of my graduation papers I asked for.” Adina nodded.

“-and one from someone called...Rial.” Rube finished, her smile widening.

At this Adina shot upright. “Really?”

Rube nodded, “Yup, looks like there’s a package from them waiting for you in Caloris for pickup too.”

In the blink of an eye, the young engineer had jumped out of bed and bolted towards the door, barely catching herself at the doors sensor threshold as a flash of pink in the mirror to her right reminded her sharply that she had just nearly sprinted out into the corridor wearing naught but her underwear...

“Before you go streaking through the ship,-” Rube chuckled, “I’ve already asked the holding office to deliver it here, should probably turn up about...”

The door chimed, making Adina jump before she lunged for her uniform jacket, coming to an awkward stop in the corner of the room.

“Come in.” Rube laughed, her clothes shifting into those of a medial officer as the doors slid open.

“Good afternoon.” The crewman at the door offered with a thick, British accent. “I have a package for a Cadet Wolfe?”

“Oh that’s her in the corner.” Rube smiled, barely suppressing another laugh.

Adina pulled herself upright with as much dignity has could be achieved whilst wearing nothing but a jacket over underwear as the Crewman blushed deeply and passed the package to the Cadet, clearly trying to keep his eyes averted from things he obviously wasn’t meant to see.

Thumbprint i-if you please Cadet.” he managed, holding a padd forwards with his other hand.

With an embarrassed smile Adina pressed a thumb against the padd, confirming delivery. His job done the Crewman nodded neatly and left as quickly as politeness allowed, passing Rube as he left, the hologram still chuckling by the door.

“You do love making things difficult for me, don’t you?” Adina managed as the doors clicked shut.

“I like to think of it more as making life interesting.” Rube chuckled, her clothing fizzing back to her standard black top and shorts. “So, what did he send you?” she nodded towards the small unassuming black box. “Anything good?”

Adina opened the box and pulled out it’s contents, in her hand was a Bajoran style earring, a small bronze disk and clip connected by a metallic green chain. “But...this is Rial’s earring.” Adina managed, her features creased in confusion. “Why would she send me this unless-” The Cadet’s eyes widened, “Rube, you said a got a message from Rial?”

“Um...yeah.” Rube nodded, the hologram clearly as confused as Adina.

“Play it, and pray it’s not going to say what I think it is...”

“Rube nodded, turning to a nearby console, with a blink the screen activated and the image of a young looking Bajoran woman appeared.

“Hello again Adina.” the woman began, her face wide with a smile.'' “I hope you are well and the Prophets are still watching you. I realised I hadn’t chatted with you for a while so I can assume you’re in as much trouble as always, gallivanting across the G-quad whilst I sit on DS9 running docking schedules past the Captain every day...” ''

The woman’s smile dimmed slightly. “I- I actually called to tell you something, something I figured you of all people should know.” At this the smile dimmed altogether, small tears forming in the woman’s eyes.'' “I...I’ve been diagnosed with Darnay’s disease. Doc Bashir says it’s already reached the final stages, he gave me six months but I know he’s just being kind, I read up on it and at this point I’ve probably got two weeks at best.”''

Tears ran down Adina’s cheeks as she watched on, the bright young woman before her slowly breaking down into tears herself.

“I-I know you’ve never placed much into my beliefs,“ Rial managed between sobs, “and I know I drove you up the wall with my constant prayers at the Academy, but I can’t think of anyone else that I care about more.” As she spoke, Rial detached her earring and raised it for the camera to see. “So I’m sending this to you now whilst I still can, keep it safe for me Adina, and...remember me when I’m gone.” And with that the transmission ended.

Her tears now dripping against her uniform jacket Adina reached across to the console and opened the waiting mail from Starfleet records, it was a simple message and contained exactly what Adina had hoped it didn’t...

“We regret to inform you of the death of Ensign Rial Lucin-” Adina didn’t get any further into the message as her eyes flooded with tears, with a mourning wail she fell to the deck and began to cry uncontrollably, Rube unable to do anything but kneel by her makers side and watch... Engineer's Workshop'''
 * 02-07-2012, 13:15Gerhardt Rahner'''Main Engineering

Two well-ordered stacks of components had formed slowly around Lt. Commander Rahner, who stood in the midst of it with a padd in hand. It had occurred to him that he'd failed to finish cataloging his Reassessment, and since the refit team hadn't shown up yet, he decided to give the engineering crew some downtime, which for him would begin by tying off a few loose ends from their shakedown. When he heard the sound of the doors slid open from across the room, he knew immediately the one other person on his staff who would stay and work.

"Ayla, it would seem that we have switched roles today," he said loudly, without looking up from his work. "I believe the order was that all engineers had downtime until the refit crew arrived."

A loud throat-clearing grabbed his attention. He looked up to see Ayla Cressida, his assistant chief, flanked by three human officers. "It would seem they've arrived, sir," she answered.

It took Gerhardt a moment to pull his mind away from the task at hand and set the padd down on a nearby workbench. "I am sorry, gentlemen, I was not aware of your arrival. Please, come --"

"Is that an EHU?" the man with insignia matching Gerhardt's asked, stepping closer to the pile on Gerhardt's right and pointing. "Don't bother answering, I know it is. I've already read the report, both on this ship's shakedown outfitting and on... you, Lieutenant Commander Rahner."

Gerhardt's eyes flicked to Ayla shortly before catching the glare head-on from the man standing in front of him. "I apologize, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage. Who are you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Commander David Helmsley, McKinley Station. I'll be heading up the refit of the Vesta Mark II. I trust you're team will be more than accommodating," he answered commandingly, as though the accommodation he expected would never be optional. Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heels and marched out of the workshop, followed by his two henchmen. Only Ayla stayed in the room with Gerhardt.

When the door was shut, Gerhardt demanded inelegantly, "What the hell just happened?"

"I don't know how to tell you this, sir," Ayla answered just as inelegantly and in a near monotone, "but we may be up Shit Creek. I looked into this guy before he came aboard. He's not going to be quite as accepting of your eccentricities as I have been."

"Accepting?!" Gerhardt was genuinely shocked at his assistant chief. "You once threatened to tranq me. You threatened to have me court-martialed the first time we met."

Ayla grunted a laugh and answered as she walked out the door, "Yeah, I know."

"Oh, hell, this will be fun," Gerhardt muttered as he followed. Conference Room 27'''
 * 02-09-2012, 18:20Tom O'Flagherty'''Caloris Station

"What is taking this guy so long? I thought the Atlas docked at 1400, and now it's 1500, but he's still not here." Lieutenant Commander Tredana, an Arkenite, was pacing along the side of the room. He had been sent to the Gamma Quadrant almost a week ago, and was the first of his fellow ship's captains to arrive. While his ship was here, the 3rd Fleet, the USS Scimitar's home station, was out on a reconnaissance mission to the Beta Quadrant. His ship would have been at the forefront of the activity, but at the last minute, they had been re-tasked to the Gamma to participate in the games. Needless to say, he was not happy. "I thought this guy was supposed to be real Starfleet.

"As did I," said Sonnek. Of the three officers whose crews would participate, Sonnek was the only CO who had served with Captain O'Flagherty. It had been a long time ago, when Tom was a cadet and the Vulcan a Petty Officer. "His record would give one the impression that he is an officer above reproach."

"He's an Academy brat," Clayton Bishop was a hard-charging officer who had graduated from the University of New Mexico and applied for OCS right after graduation. The brunette officer was not one for being soft. “They think the world just waits on them.”

“That’s enough of that, Commander,” was the reply from Captain Eugene Robinson. Robinson was an “Academy brat” who had been an professor until the Xul conflict when he was brought in to evaluate Fleet tactics. It had been his call to assemble this specific crew for the testing of Starfleet’s newest ship. He also rather looked forward to seeing its CO in action.

Tom broke through the doors at a swift walk. He had only been alerted 5 minutes ago that the meeting was moved up and that the other ships were already at Caloris. The though had occurred to him that bringing ships in from the Alpha Quadrant to run a war games when there were more than enough ships already stationed at Caloris, but he ignored it. At least until he saw who was sitting at the head of the table.

“Commander Thomas David O’Flagherty reporting as ordered, sir,” Tom snapped off the greeting as if he were a first semester cadet. In truth, he was shocked.

“Be seated Commander. We have considerably less time now, so we need to get this party started.” Captain Robinson wore a wolfish grin that chilled Tom to his bones.

“Aye, sir,” Tom replied without any protest. This was the first time he had seen Eugene Robinson since he had been at the Academy. The feared flight instructor had almost ended Tom’s Academy stay, and now he was going to end his run in Command.

“Commander O’Flagherty, these are Lieutenant Commanders Sonnek of Vulcan, Tredana, and Bishop. They will be your adversaries during the war games that will commence tomorrow.” Robinson immediately lifted a padd from the table and began to organize his next point.

But Tom responded quickly. “Sir, I do not wish to interrupt, but the orders I was given by Rear Admiral Maddigan stated that the exercise was not to begin for two days. The Atlas had just returned to spacedock after her shakedown cruise, and there is a crew aboard from McKinley Station that is in charge of the final fitting out. I am not certain the ship will be ready by tomorrow morning.”

“Well, Commander,” Bishop spit the word out of her mouth with a venom only matched by a hunting viper. “The rest of us don’t have time to wait around for you. I know Tredana has been at Caloris Station for three days waiting on you to return from the Epsilon Indi system.”

Tom was beyond dumbstruck. He had no clue how to respond to such a direct attack from a fellow command officer. Bishop’s glare was like a laser drill, trying to cut deep into him. Instead, Tom turned his gaze towards Captain Robinson, but the Captain was of no help. He hadn’t even lifted his gaze from the padd in his hand. “Then, sir, I will have the Atlas ready for combat by 0800. I’m guessing that the procedure will be an ambush by all three ships. Most likely representing the Xul. Am I correct?”

“Yes, Commander, you are, but there will be a twist.” Robinson popped up from his chair as if there were a spring underneath him. Behind him the display surged to life, displaying a lay-out of the area between the wormhole and Caloris Station. There was a smaller box highlighted that then opened up to reveal an area of desolate starscape, out of the normal shipping traffic to Caloris Station. “Tonight, the three Sabre-class vessels, USS Scimitar, Longbow, and Wildcat will depart Caloris Station, heading to this area. Tomorrow, USS Atlas will leave on a normal patrol cruise. However, there will be no standing Red-Alert. It will by a Green-Alert patrol, as if you were on a normal exploration mission. Scimitar, Longbow, and Wildcat will be given authority to begin the engagement at any moment they chose between Caloris and this sector. They will be representing Xul Destroyers, and all computer readouts will be calibrated to represent those parameters. Any questions?”

“Will the ships have the ability to re-initialize standard operation on the chance there is an actual threat?” Commander Tredana was taking notes as he asked his question.

“Of course, Commander.” The words oozed out of Robinson’s mouth like oil. He smiled again, making sure to direct his smile towards Tom as he gave his wolfish grin. “Now, we are just testing the systems of the USS Atlas. She is supposed to be the most advanced ship in the fleet, but I want you to do your best to defeat her. You are more than just targets. Dismissed.”

'''Introducing Lt. Commanders Tredana, Sonnek of Vulcan, and Clayton Bishop. And also, the lovely Capt. Eugene Robinson''' ''' Chris’s nearly 10,000 credit tuxedo hung off of him like a drunk prom date. The collar was popped, the French cuffs undone and rolled up over the jacket sleeves, the bow tie untied and the shirt mostly unbuttoned.
 * 02-09-2012, 22:55Christopher Vaughn''':::USS Atlas, Transporter Room 1:::

He reeked of sex and booze.

The cold deck platting permeated his socks. This equally expensive Botega boots were casually clamped in his left hand as he staggered off the transporter pad. He adjusted his sunglasses to insure as little light as possible got through. ''Christ – how goddamn bright are the lights on this ship? Did the crazy German bastard install a sun in here?''

“As you were.” He mumbled to the petty officer at the controls of the transporter.

“Congratulations on your promotion to full commander, sir.”

He had almost forgotten the message Tom had sent him indicating he had been awarded a promotion. See Tom – even getting lost on a missing deck of our own ship Starfleet can recognized my superior worth. “Thank you petty officer."

He slipped through the ships corridors to his quarters allowing himself a shower and a nap. His weekend in the company of Colonel Zara Cooper had not only been blissful but probably qualified for his annual aerobic PT required by Starfleet for the rest of the year. The shower may have been refreshing but he lamented washing away the last of her scent. After these stupid wargames are over I’m paying her another visit on Caloris.



In a fresh uniform and with a few hours sleep under his belt Chris felt better, in no mood for bullshit, but better at any rate. Heading to the bridge he reviewed a PADD along the way. It was from Tom and it detailed the recently sped up schedule for the wargames. Evidently being orchestrated by an old thorn of Tom's from the academy – Eugene Robinson, Captain. The new schedule was going to be a pain in the ass but workable. ''This crew has kicked ass in the real world situations it’s been in. A wargame with a few piss ant Sabre-class ships should be child’s play.''

Stepping onto the bridge it was a buzz of activity. Maintenance workers from McKinley Station milled about along with crew that were either assisting or performing normal shift duties. Some senior officer was talking to the crew at the flight control station. Deciding not to bother the technicians for fear of them forgetting another deck or some other part of the ship he went to the tactical station to observe what refitting was being done there. The officer of the watch started to address his arrival on the bridge but Chris made swift gesture with his hand to silence him.

As he looked over the tactical station he recalled his time as a tactical officer in the Xul War. Memories of every variety drifted to the surface of his mind. Always the current pulled him back to the abortive attack on Sky Harbor…Tom had almost died. His jaw clinched slightly has recalled seeing the blast that had almost ended his best friend….the blood pouring out of Tom’s chest and between his fingers as he feebly tried to keep him alive…

“Is this the best you’ve done?” the voice came from flight control. It was a voice filled with authority. “Does Commander O’Flagherty even bother with routine drills or is he running a pirate ship here?[/i]

The jarring statement jerked Chris away from his stroll down memory lane and back to the present. Stepping around the tactical station he positioned himself between the captains chair the helm were the senior officer he noticed a few moments before was browbeating his helmsmen about Tom.

“Is there something I can help with Admiral….” Chris let the question dangle in the air. The bridge became silent. Likewise Chris was fully away the man speaking was no admiral.

“It’s Captain.” the other corrected as he turned to face the XO. “Captain Eugene Robinson – actually.”

“Oh.” Chris replied with a sigh of relief. “I’m sorry. I assumed the way you were harassing my crew and making disparaging remarks about my captain you must have been a member of admiralty, not just a captain. Have you gotten lost and boarded the wrong ship or is there something perhaps I can help you with?”

If he didn’t have the captain full attention before he certainly had it now. “Well, you must be Christopher Vaughn. I’ve heard about you…”

“Oh good.” Chris offered a single clap. “Unfortunately I’ve never heard of you, Captain Robertson.”

“It’s Robinson” the other snapped the correction. Chris could see he was clearly looking for an opening to begin the Standard Issue Starfleet ass chewing.

“Ah,” Chris stepped back and lowered himself into the captain’s chair, crossing his legs and slouching comfortably to the side with a pleasant smile as if he were discussing the weather with a friend. “I’m sorry about that too. I have tremendous problems with the name Robertson…or Robinson or whatever it is. May I call you Captain Eugene then?”

“Absolutely, not...”

“Just Eugene then?”

“NO!”

“Very well. Just Gene. Good idea. It will make our interactions in the future more casual and thus more relaxing.” Chris smiled again. The captain was momentarily dumbfounded by the turn of the conversation.

The bridge crew’s work had come to a complete halt and they were now watching the two men in the center of the room. Half the crew looked shocked or terrified and the other half seemed to be holding in laughter.

“I want you to know I really appreciate you coming by to bother my crew, Gene. I’ll be glad to let Captain O’Flagherty know you stopped by. Do you need help finding the transporter room?”

“You are a Starfleet officer!” the captain started, his voice was nearly a yell. “Feel free to make fun of me, but I’ll be damned if you think you can mock the chain of command…”

“Just to be clear,” Chris cut the captain off. “I should feel free to make fun of you?” he glanced to the officer of the watch. “Make sure that is noted in the ships logs.”

“Commander Vaughn I want to see you in your office immediately.”

“Gene, I would love to continue our discussion. Unfortunately I have to get ready for the wargames – I’m sure you remember the schedule has been pushed up a bit – so if you wouldn’t mind making an appointment with my Yeoman and she will make sure you get penciled in at my earliest possible convenience.” Chris offered another smile. “Sir.”

Robinson’s face was a color of crimson very similar to his command red uniform shirt. “Captain O’Flagherty will be hearing about your obnoxious behavior, I can promise you that.”

“Thank you, Gene. I am a fan of having my antics talked about.” Chris gave a slight bow to his head. “And please note, if you have any further questions about this ships drill routines, its captains qualifications or any other trivial details please remember to direct them to either Captain O’Flagherty or – assuming you have made the requisite appointment – me. The crew of the Atlas is hard working and far too busy to be pestered by errant senior offices with an abundance of free time and unrestrained authority.”

“Have your fun Commander Vaughn. I hope you enjoyed being an ensign – you might soon get to do so again.” Robinson stormed passed him and into the turbolift.

Featuring by new friend – Gene.
 * 02-12-2012, 00:02Kate Banninga Katie just got out of the shower when she was ordered to go to the brig immediately. Quickly putting on a uniform she ran out of the room. When she came around the corner just before the brig she almost bumped into Pellew. “Did you got summoned to?

Pellew jumped back, “Oy, what the hell...... Oh Katie, yeah the Lieutenant summoned me. What do you think he wants?”

“Well, let’s find out, should we.” She said as she they walked in. There were a lot of crewman in the brig. Katie stopped to try to locate her Chief. “Looks like were not the only once that were called.” she mumbled to Edward.

Edward spied one of the members of his interrogation team and motioned to him to come over.

“Petty Officer Clayborne whats all this ruckus?”

The PO rubbed his temple as if he had a headache, “well, someone decided to clean out the brig, if you know what I mean”

Edward rubbed his head, “an the hits just keep rolling.”

Katie looked around the people in the room one more time. She noticed Takong waving at her. As she approached him she could see in the brig. “Oh, my..” she said as she put a hand for her mouth. The Chief was kneeling next to the lifeless body of Bena. As Katie turned around, in the hope her stomach would calm, Takong started talking.

“One of my men found his body lying there. It’s looks like he took his own life” the Klingon said.

Pellew sighed, “How in the hell did he do it and how the hell did he do it while incarcerated?”

“We won’t know for sure until the doc has examined him, but we think he was poisoned” Lebowski said. He had stepped away from the body. “Pellew, Banninga,” he said to them. “Care to brief me on him” he pointed to the pygmy. “With all that was going on lately, you two are the last to see him alive. Does he have any enemies, anyone that wants to kill him?”

“Uhm..” Katie started. “He was the reason we got attacked by the Whisper, but I don’t think they did this. They wanted to destroy the whole ship, not just him.”

Pellew put a wad of chew in his mouth, “Well boss It could be suicide but then how’d he get the stuff?”

Lebowski shrugged, “Sounds like a mystery and if I'm not mistaken you’re in charge of intel and interrogations so take Banninga with you and interrogate up some intel.”

Pellew winced, “Yes sir.”

Katie missed the conversation between the men. She was staring at Bena. Even though he hit her in the head, she felt sorry for him. How horrible to be so afraid that you would take your own life. She was shocked. She felt responsible for him, even if he was just a prisoner. She was the one that brought him in. He was someones son or worst someones father. The idea alone brought back memories she didn’t wanted to remember now. Pushing away those feeling, she looked up to the others. “What”

Pellew smiled, “We got work to do because this old boy had help takin his life and we need to find who.”

“Ok, let’s get started than.” Katie said while shaking her head in a last attempt to get back to this world. She turned to Takong “where is the sentry that was guarding the brig?”

Pellew looked at the chief, “Bring him to the interrogation room.”

“Hold on, never heard of innocent until proven guilty? You don’t have to treat him as a criminal.” the Chief said. “You can use my office to ask the crewman some questions, I’ll wait here for the medical officer to examine the body, and oversee stuff here.”

Katie walked to the the crewman who had been in charge of the brig. “Crewman, can you walk with us.”

''' Security Office

''' Edward was sitting on the desk and the crewman walked in. Edward kicked the chair in front of the desk towards him. “Ok start from the beginning and don't leave anything out.”

Katie took a chair on the other side of the room. They would use the same technique as last time. He would be the bad cop and she the good cop. Just like they did on earth all those years a go.

Crewman Alwine looked at the two officers. He was nervous as hell. “I.. Uhh...” he stammered. “I don’t know what happened. One moment he was yelling and screaming that the world would end, and the next he was dead.”

“So the bastard was screaming and you didn’t think to check?”

He looked at Katie for mental support, but she was looking past him so he turned back at Edward. “He had been screaming the whole time since you left. I checked on him when he suddenly stopped, but then it was to late.” He looked at his feet, afraid of the next question.

“The sawed off wanker got something from somewhere to take his life and he sure didn’t have it when we pi......”

There was a knock on the door.

Edward yelled out “Enter!”

The door slid back and science crewman Ashley Harmon walked in. Edward suddenly seemed to loose his voice. The last time he had seen her they were on a date that got caught short. Then he got promoted and hadn’t had a chance to talk with her.

She had a pissed off look in her eyes, “Sir, Ma’am, I have been assisting with the med examination and we extracted a tooth from him that had cyanide hidden in it. When he punctured it it released the toxins into his system.”

Edward looked at the crewman in the chair, “You can go.”

Ashley turned on her heel and went to leave. Edward called out to her, “Harmon, Hang on I need to speak with you in my office for a second.”

Katie looked from Edward to Ashley. There was definitely something going on between them. She stood up and walked towards the door. “Five minutes” she said to Edwards. “I need a new coffee anyway.”

Edward saw the your a retard look in Kate’s eyes as she left. when the door slid closed Ashley slapped him as hard as she could.

“You bastard, I haven't heard from you and the next time I see you you are mr big shot! Why didn't you tell me you were leaving the berth?”

Edward rubbed his face, “I deserved that but in my defense I’ve been pulling duty in two different departments and this promotion was kinda thrust upon me love.”

She looked a little less mad but still annoyed, “So I guess that dinner was it?”

Edward looked puzzled, “Why?”

She shot him a you are moron look, “Because Enlisted and Officers don't fraternized.”

Edward smiled, “Then we don't fraternized....... we date.”

She slapped him on the back of the head, “I’ll have to think about it.”

She turned and walked out of the room. Edward sat back in the chair, “Dames!” '''

Part 1 of a JP with Edward Pellew ''' USS Atlas
 * 02-12-2012, 12:33Jacey AdamsEngineering

"Coffee," Jacey sighed happily as she spoke. The warm cup in her hands was half empty although it had just come into existence moments earlier.

"Jacey?" A quiet voice piped up from behind, "Got a second?"

Turning about, her tired eyes fell upon Rebecca, "I'm sure I can spare a few. What's up?"

Although Rebecca's nature was overly bubbly and - well frankly annoying - the poor girl looked sedate as she spoke, "I..." She stopped and went silent. Rocking gently on her heels she seemed to be pondering her words.

Jacey's brow raised, "Are you ok? You look as if you're about to cry?"

"I don't know. I mean I do know but I don't know..." Her hands came up and covered her face, "I really don't underst.." Her face collapsed and she broke into soft sobs.

"I.." Jacey looked about the room which was thankfully void of other engineers, "Uh..." Clumsily she reached over and patted Rebecca's shoulder, "There there...."

''Oh god I sound like my mother ... ''"I'm sorry..." Rebecca stammered, "I just...I really .."

Jacey sighed, "Don't talk. At least not here and not to me. As much as it pains me to say this - I think I know someone better for you to be speaking with."

Tapping her combadge her nose wrinkled slightly as she called the ships counselor. After the fiasco with Evan, which he had been taken off ship for, Jacey had avoided that department. Not a hard thing to do when the ships in a crisis.

=/\=I'll be right down.=/\= The thick british accent responded to her call and the channel closed.

"Why would you do that?...." Rebecca said quietly, "He'll just make it worse..."

"No..." She sighed and patted her shoulder, " I think he might be useful this once."
 * 02-16-2012, 14:11Tom O'FlaghertyCaloris Station

Tom pushed through the corridors filled with busy people trying to catch the Vulcan officer who was moving at a brisk pace toward the shipyard. His charcoal haircut shone like a beacon allowing Tom to home in on the tall command officer. Not much had changed since the last time he had seen him in the Jericho Station medical bay. Sonnek had recovered quickly from his injuries on Starbase 47 and then quickly applied for a transfer back to the Alpha Quadrant. Apparently, he had also gotten his commission after leaving the Gamma.

"Lieutenant Commander Sonnek, may have a word, please." Tom was just close enough now to get the man's attention, and they both stopped in the corridor, which seemed to be more of an impedance than either expected. Sonnek motioned for Tom to join him at a junction that was jus ahead.

When they reached the larger area, he turned to face Tom. "How may I be of assistance, Commander?"

"Sonnek, it is good to see you."

"It also pleases me to see you, sir." Sonnek's typical granite face never wavered. He understood the greeting was customary, though he felt no real emotion over the reunion. "You have done well for yourself, sir."

"As have you, Sonnek." Tom started to place a hand on the Vulcan's shoulder, but stopped when he remembered his manners. "Excuse me. What brought you out here to the Gamma Quadrant? I though you never wished to return."

"I did not wish to return. I was ordered her for them war games." There was a flicker in Sonnek's eyes that Tom was sure expressed his displeasure at being here. It was something the Human had never seen in the Vulcan before, and it bothered him.

"I won't take much more of your time. What is going on?" Tom asked the question tentatively. He was sure the Vulcan towering over him was rather impatient to move on to his ship.

"I have very little insight for you, Commander," Sonnek began. "It would seem our group has been gathered specifically for this. I, for one, have questions as to the motivation behind Captain Robinson's intentions."

“Captain Robinson is not one of my greatest fans.”

“I’m afraid I do not understand, Commander.” Sonnek’s left eyebrow hiked up in the most Vulcan of gestures. With hands clasped behind his back, Tom thought he looked like a statue looking down with cold analytical eyes.

“Captain Robinson was one of my professors at the Academy, and he didn’t really think I was worthy of the Starfleet uniform.” Tom looked around at the hustle and bustle of the station while he quickly recounted the story of his time in Advanced Flight training with the sour-looking officer. “I almost didn’t graduate because of the choices made in that year.”

“I see,” Sonnek didn’t really appreciate what Tom said, but didn’t agree with the human’s diagnosis of the situation. “I do not believe you appreciate how much of an influence he still has over you, Commander. You should go and speak with your ship’s counselor.”

“So analytical,” Tom mused. “I probably should, but there is much work to do before I can have time for that.”

He took a deep breath and sighed heavily. The weight of the gathering storm pressed on him heavily, and his head started to swirl for a moment until he took a moment to steady himself. “Commander, I will not take anymore of your time. I appreciate the opportunity to see you again, and I hope we get a better chance to catch up after the exercise.”

“I would like that, Commander O’Flagherty." Sonnek gave a slight bow, the top of his raven hair making a halo in the corridor's lighting. "If you will excuse me, Commander, I must return to my ship."

"Of course, Commander,” Tom said as he stepped back. Sonnek was off into the flow of foot traffic as it flowed away, leaving Tom standing in the alcove. Thoughts raced through the human’s mind, how was the ship going to be ready in time, and how would the crew handle it. It seemed like he and Chris had some hard work in front of them. Engineering
 * 02-24-2012, 13:44Jacey Adams''' USS Atlas

All of engineering was in work mode. There were no shifts, few breaks and food only when necessary. Sleep was on hold as well. Given Jacey worked Alpha shift and was now working through the usual Gamma shift time-slot the day had molded into one long unending shift. Time was something she avoided as it only made her realize how much work still had to be done.

She had missed her usual snack break and eaten instead an hour after her lunch. Now her stomach was rumbling, her back was sore and yet the thought of putting her tools down and eating was...unappetizing.

Plus there was a half patched hole in the ship.

Rubbing her left eye she absentmindedly wished they could just use some intergalactic duck tape on the damn thing. There was no way they were going to be completely finished fixing it before they had to leave.

Tapping her combadge she opened a link to Peters, “You okay out there?”

A pause came before his sentence, “Wanna switch?”

Jacey smiled, “Hell no, that’s why I delegate.” she touched a few buttons on her PADD, “You’re doing good out there. “

“It’s a pain in the ass, the urge to just cover it and hope it holds is tempting me every second I’m out here.” Peters laughed, “Although I’m sure I would have a hard time explaining that to the Captain.”

“Well explaining it would be easy, I’d be more worried about what he’d say about you creating another hole in his ship.” She sighed, “Get as much as you can done well. I don’t want a rush job.”

“Can do.” He paused, “Could you get some food sent out here?”

Jacey paused and for a confused moment thought of his request, “Correct me if I’m wrong but...you can’t eat in a suit.”

“It’d be nice to look at and wish I could...”

The channel closed and Jacey brought up the shift rotation for the Structural division of Engineering. Shockingly she’d realized Peters had been at works even longer than she had. Not even a complaint.

Tapping her badge she called a backup for him. Then she put the PADD down. It’d be a treat to meet him at the entrance with something to eat. He deserved it....and maybe she’d steal a bite or two.

''' ==Part two==
 * 02-27-2012, 09:38Edward Pellew'''

When Katie saw Ashley walk out of the office she went back in. With a grin on her face she said “What did you do to that poor girl?” Before he could answer she continued. “You know that if you did that little thing with an other officer, you’d be in big problem, right?” She took the chair on the other side of the desk and put her feet on the desk. “Ok, where were we?”

Edward looked at his face in the window. “It’s death to strike an officer right? Nevermind, so the Pygmy I guess decided not to be taken alive.”

“I don’t think he cared much about being taken. When we took him in, all he was worried about was the whisper. It almost looked like he didn’t care. What I learned about him I say he didn’t wanted to wait for the Whisper to destroy us, so gave nature a little help.” Katie said, mostly thinking out loud.

“You could be right...... So I guess we need to deal with drugs among the crew now.”

“I can’t believe that we’ll find much drugs on board the ship.” Katie replied. “Wouldn’t the sensor’s have picked that up?”

“Yeah but that particular drug would show up as cigarettes or like cigars on sensors so the offenders must have been caught while high.”

“Ok, I have a feeling we haven’t caught someone being high. Any ideas how to find the deliverer?” she said.

“Beat the shit out of the ones we have in holding until they squeal? or something close to that.”

Katie chuckled. She turned the computer terminal her way. “Computer, present findings medical investigations of 65102, authorization Banninga Delta One.” With that order the computer began compiling a list of the findings.

Edward sat back in the chair, “I was hoping for a quiet cruise but no. Whats the bleeding computer singin?”

Katie was reading the list. "I think we just got lucky. What do you know about the toxin Harmon said was on his tooth?”

“I know its ruddy deadly, obviously but I don't understand why he waited so long.” “Apparently potassium cyanide is a crystalline solid what halts cellular reparation. In a matter of minutes the [i]victim]/i] goes in to an coma with seizures, apnea and cardiac arrest, followed by death.” Katie said reading the screen “That they found it on his tooth only says he eat it, not if he administered it himself. So we still don’t know if he killed himself, even though that is most likely”

“The question is was there any sign of a struggle. I cant detect any, can you?”

“No, I can’t either, but it can also be administered in his food.” She scrolled down the text. “I can’t find who searched him when he came in. If he wasn’t searched there’s no way to know if he had the poison on him.”

Pellew sat back in his chair, “Well looks like we hit a wall. What else is on the docket for today maybe working on something else will reveal more to the mystery.”

She looked up from the screen and sighed. She hated it when she couldn’t wrap up a investigation. “Well, actually I was supposed to meet my brother as soon as we docked. And you?”

“I feel like a visit to the bar is in my immediate future.”

Katie laughed “Who doesn’t after all that’s happened last couple weeks. Have you looked at the new security roster jet? Looks like we’ll finally get some extra people.”

“yeah that would be good but Lt hasn't taken me off the OPS rotation so I’m still pullin double duty.”

“I’m sure if you want to you can join us for full. Operations is also getting extra people, I suppose.” Katie looked at the time and realized she needed to get going if she wanted to be on time. As she stood up she asked Pellew. “Look, can you update Lebowski about our findings? I really need to go.”

Edward nodded and sat back down to fill out the report.

Post with Kate Banninga '''
 * 02-27-2012, 12:06Kate Banninga ::USS Atlas::
 * Katie’s Quarters::

Katie was almost finished when she heard the door chime. She quickly removed the towel from her hair and combed with her fingers through it. “Enter” she yelled while trying to find her hairbrush.

As the door opened David walked in the room. He smiled at the look of Katie walking in the room, looking for something, like always. “Hey Little one, am I early?” he asked her.

Katie grinned. He always called her little one, even though she was only a couple minutes younger than him. When she found her brush she quickly brushed her hair. Normally she would put it in a tale, but today she let her long brown curls fall over her shoulder. “You’re always early. Give me a minute and I’m ready” she said.

As Katie was getting ready sat down o none of the chairs next to the table. The room was very boring, not what he was use of his sister. At their grandparents house she’d managed to give her room a cosy feel, in combination with the always present chaos of stuff. “What did you do to this room? It’s very neat.” If you looked past the padds on the table, the gym clothes in the corner and the unmade bed he thought.

She looked up to him and grinned. “I just got this room a couple days a go, with my promotion to ensign.” she said as she handed him her uniform with the single gold pip on it.

“Wow, congratulations.” He was a bit surprised. He’d never expected her to be an officer that quickly. “I guess you really look like mama.”

She grabbed her bag and walked towards the door. “I guess so,” she hadn’t thought of it like that. “Well, let’s go. I’m ready”

He put her uniform down and followed her to the transporter room.


 * Blackville, Megiddo Colony::
 * Italian Restaurant::

After the waiter had brought their drink Katie asked her brother what she wanted to ask him ever since he send the earlier message. “Ok, spill. What are you doing in the gamma quadrant?”

He took a zip from his drink before answering. “I made a deal with opa, I’m going to be setting up a vineyard here, where we’ll be growing different kind of gamma quadrant grapes. Just like the project has on Vulcan and Bajor.” He leaned back at his chair to see his sisters face changing from curiosity to anger.

Katie was shocked. “You? You’re going to set up a vineyard? Are you crazy? You don’t know anything of running a vineyard?”

“Well, that’s why I need you, because you do?” he replied with a devilish grin. Before she joined starfleet it was her job to find and buy vineyard. With the profit of those vineyard the project is able to finance the other divisions.

She shook her head. “And how exactly did you planned to do that, I’m a starfleet officer serving on a exploration vessel. I won’t be around that much? And by the way, I only have experience with earth vineyards. I don’t know anything about the Vulcan and Bajor projects. That’s uncle’s thing, not mine.” The waitress brought their diner. “And since when do you want to work for opa. I thought you hated the Project and everything that comes with it?”

“Things have chained since you left, you know?” David said while looking at his plate. “Before you left opa didn’t mind that I didn’t wanted to work for the Project, because he had you. You put so much enthusiasm and hours in, that it was more than enough for the both of us.”

Katie took a bite of her food as her brother was telling. She indeed made a lot of hours, she hadn’t realized how much until she left.

“After you left opa threatened to stop my allowance. I didn’t have a choice. Luckily your brilliant ex boyfriend came with the idea of sending me to the gamma quadrant. Uncle’s vineyard have been very successful, so he wanted to expand anyway. And by sending me they would also have a representative in the gamma quadrant. An active one at least.” He continued his story.

“I’m aware of the success of the off earth vineyard, I’ve received update on their project, but I didn’t know they were ready for expansion. Anyway, what’s the plan exactly and how do you plan to use me in this.” Katie said.

“I will go on a outing to The Wildlands next week, on the mainland of Megiddo III, in search of some land. That will probably take some months. I have to talk to the locals, The Gyrall, and hope to make some kind of agreement. After that’s done uncle will send some of his hybrid vines for planting.”

Katie put her cutlery down and stared at David. For a moment she didn’t say anything. “You’re crazy you know that. You make it sound much simpler that it is. Have you even considered all the problem you can run in to?”

David ordered their favorite dessert, Tiramisu before continuing. “Off course I have. If I can’t find the land, so be it. I just take it a day at a time, first I get to go touring through a almost unknown place in the quadrant.” David said with a sparkle in his eyes. That’s the part of the whole idea he liked most. Going through wild nature and meeting other species. :: COB's Office ::
 * 02-27-2012, 23:03Wade ColganIntroductions :: USS ATLAS ::'''

''' Master Chief Brockman was sitting at his desk reviewing the work schedules coming down from the XO and the department heads. The vein on the left side of his head was pulsing with the increased blood pressure. He couldn't believe the work load being out on the crew. Just as he was about to type up a response when the chime to his door sounded. "What?"

Crewman Recruit Wade Colgan stood at attention in front of the door and kept his face in its stony complexion. “Crewman Recruit Colgan reporting as ordered, Master Chief,” Wade said in response to the impatient, gruff question from the large man behind the desk. “Request permission to enter.”

"You better or you will block the corridor." Brockman rose from his chair behind the desk, his lanky frame coming just short of two meters. In his hand he held the PADD with the Crewman's personnel file on it. "Stand easy, Crewman."

Wade didn’t like the Chief’s remark and wasn’t sure if he was being serious or sarcastic. Stepping into the office and assuming a more relaxed position, Wade gave the Chief his usual “sizing up.” Whenever he met someone new, no matter their rank or status, he always did his customary sizing up. It came from a background of having a reputation and having to be able to defend it in the fight world. “Thanks, Chief,” Wade said as he stood before the man. He waited to see what direction their interaction would take next.

Wade was a bit apprehensive about this meeting. After all, he knew that the Chief would be going over his file and giving the probably and customary talking to. Usually, this consisted of the normal, “We won’t tolerate that on this ship,” and the, “You better behave yourself or we will have some problems.” But Wade knew that this was different. He knew that if he couldn’t control his anger aboard this boat, then he would have more than problems from the higher ups. It could cost him his life. Of course, his demotions would jump out at the Chief, surely, along with all of the charges such as: striking an officer, insubordination, crew disturbance, and even an official, if, albeit, overblown, inciting of a riot charge. Wade began to wonder if he would even be allowed onto the boat.

"I'm sure this isn't your first visit to the principal's office," Brockman said without looking up. "You were sent here because you are a screw up. This ship seems to be filled with them."

He crossed around and stood behind his desk. "Things are in flux around here. Everyone and everything around here is not like it's supposed to be, and it's the enlisted crew who have to pick up the slack. I'm not going to give you the discipline speech, other than to say if you screw up, I'll throw your ass out an airlock. Do you read me?"

Wade appreciated the COB’s honesty. It seemed to Wade that Chief Brockman and him may get along if he continued on this boat, but it was too soon to tell. It was a good thing that Brockman was not an officer, or the discussion could have gone differently. Wade had never liked officers and nearly all of the major problems that he had had in the past were because of officers.

“Read you loud and clear, Chief,” Wade said in an attempt to keep his voice matched with his fixed facial composure. “Am I to report to my Department Head now, Chief? And who am I supposed to report to for my mandatory behavior evaluations?”

One of the aspects of Wade’s current deal with Starfleet was that he had to undergo behavioral reports frequently so as to keep him in check. It was like having a babysitter or older sibling that you had to be kept accountable by and that did not sit well with Wade at all. He liked doing what he felt he needed to do in order to get his job done. That was why he often had so much trouble with officers. If he felt an order was stupid, he simply didn’t follow it. But it seemed that he would have to try to change that, if only a bit.

"I don't give a damn who you report to. Go to the Counseling department and get assigned, just like everyone else." Brockman set the PADD down on his desk with a thump before continuing. "Any more questions?"

Wade continued to look straight ahead and not at the Master Chief. “No, Chief,” he replied. “And just for the record, I don’t give a damn who I report to either.” Wade paused so that the words could set in the with Master Chief before he continued. “Am I dismissed, Master Chief?”

"Only if you take some food for thought," the grating Chief growled. "The reason you have so many marks on your record doesn't take a counselor to see. You still haven't understood that you're an enlisted. It means you didn't get to judge the merit of an order you're job is just to make it happen, by whatever means. Once you figure that out, you'll learn that things can go easier, now get out."

Wade could feel his temper begin to rise up inside of him. Immediately, he could think of more than a few things to say in response to the Chief’s words. His fists clenched, ready for a fight - his knuckles white. But quickly, he made sure to keep his temper in check. This was it - his last chance. If he screwed this up, it was it. Slowly releasing his grip, Wade remembered that he needed to reply.

“As you ordered, Chief.” Wade saluted and turned to leave the office. As the door shut behind him, Wade slammed his fist into the wall outside the office. The resonating thud Wade was sure would be heard by others nearby. He didn’t care. Walking away from the office, he decided that he would make his way to his new Department CO’s office in order to report in. '''

' ​A JP brought to you by Tom O'Flaghtery's NPC Master Chief Brockman and the newb, Wade Colgan.'' ::SECURITY OFFICE:: ''' Lebowski walked from his office to the screen in front of the room. “Ok, listen up everybody” He waited a moment until he got every ones attention, meanwhile he accessed the new mission information and put it on the screen. “''The Atlas will be testing it’s weapons and defensive system by participating in the so called War games. Even though it’s a test, I want you all to act if it were for real. So every will prepare battle stations, so that we are ready when the games begin. Look around your assigned station to check if everything is at it suppose to be, and if not, fix it.''”
 * 02-28-2012, 13:22Kate Banninga''' :: USS ATLAS ::

He looked around his department. The whole department was present, and they all looked tired. The team had a challenging couple of months, while running on a Skeleton crew. “''Look, I know you’re all tired, but just hang in for a while. After the games we’ll get a full crew. Than we have time to relax a bit and we’ll start running normal fully staffed shifts.''”

His last remark produced a group wide chuckle. “Ok, everyone knows were he need to be, let’s show the rest what were made of.” To end his briefing he said “Dismissed” and by that the group started to dissolve.

Crewman Recruit Wade Colgan arrived shortly after the briefing had begun and found a spot in the back of the briefing room where he could watch from. It was a bit fast for him that so soon after deploying to his new assignment, he would already be going through a war game scenario. Throughout the briefing, Wade scanned the room, making sure that he was able to size up each of the people sitting within the confines of the briefing room. He could handle any one of them if the need ever arose.

He wondered if any of them had seen combat as yet. There were probably few, if any, who actually would have. He had seen combat on more than one occasion. It made a small smirk come across his face to wonder if any of the people in the room with him would even be able to stand up to the test of combat. Ship Security Forces was no easy task, especially in the midst of combat. Often times, its personnel would be called on to take the fight to the enemy along with guarding the ship.

As the Chief of Security concluded the briefing, Wade stood with the others. After a few moments to let the small crowd of people clear up, he made his way over to the COS.

“Crewman Recruit Colgan reporting in, Chief,” Wade said as he stood at attention with the same stony demeanor and face that he had shown Chief Brockman.

Katie was standing next to the chief when the new crewman reported in. The chief asked her before the briefing if she could wait for going to her station. She didn’t know what the reason was, but she had a feeling it had to do with the new crewman.

“''Ah, Colgan, there you are. I heard you were coming to join us. You’re quit a hand full aren’t you?''” Lebowski replied.

“I suppose my reputation tends to precede me wherever I go, Chief,” Wade replied with a slight tinge of sarcasm in his reply to the Chief.

“''Well, just make sure I don’t regret having you on my team. For now''” he turned to Katie before continuing. “You’ll be going with Ensign Banninga for this assignment, she’ll show you around and tell you what to do.” With that taken care of he walked back to his waiting stack of padd that needed his attention.

After the Chief left Katie offered her hand to the new crewman. “Nice to meet you, ever worked in Security before?”

Wade was glad to see the Chief go. Unlike Master Chief Brockman, Wade did not like his Chief of Security at all. Turning to the attractive Ensign and looking at her outstretched arm, Wade took her hand into his and made sure to give a hard, firm squeeze. Even though she was cute, he still didn’t like Officers.

“Ma’am,” said Wade as he gave her hand one shake and returned to attention. “''Yes, I have worked in Security before. At least that’s what they told me I was doing every time I reported to a Starship.''” Wade knew that his remark probably wouldn’t get him off to the best start with the officer, but it was just the way he was. His dry, sarcastic humor usually didn’t serve any other purpose but to piss people off. “I guess the COS did not care to share my file with you?”

“''No, he didn’t. It’s probably still on his desk''” she said with a grin. “Give me a minute and I’m good to go.” She walked to the replicator to order a coffee. When the cup materialized she took a sip and closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes she said “Help yourself” pointing to the replicator. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t function properly without coffee.”

“I’m fine, Ma’am,” Wade replied still not making direct eye contact with her. He knew that this officer was already trying to appeal to him and get on his “good-side.” “With all due respect, Ensign, I would prefer to dispense with the pleasantries and get straight to the tour,” Wade said in his usual gruff voice. Already he was being a bit impertinent to the young Ensign. He wondered how she might react to Wade’s no-nonsense, disliking officers, straight to the point attitude.

Katie looked at him. Great she though, this is going to be fun. “Let’s go” and she walked out of the office without waiting for a reply. If he want to act as he did, so could she. “''We’ll start at deck 6. That’s where the bridge and main engineering are.''” They stepped in the turbolift and she ordered it to deck 6.

Wade followed the Ensign at a short distance. As they stepped onto the turbolift, he caught a feint hint of her perfume. It was enticing, yet respectable. After ordering the turbolift to deck 6, Wade stood in silence with her in the turbolift. Small talk was never his strong suit whatsoever. He didn’t care for it, nor was he really able to keep up normal conversations about family or the weather. It didn’t mean much to him. He could speak volumes on work, fighting and sports, but not the small stuff.

Anyone who had tried to get close to him was never able to really scrape the surface of who Wade was or why he was the way he was. Because of his personality, it made it very difficult to have a steady girlfriend, but that had never really bothered Wade. While he had never discouraged female companionship, and even had a reputation for surpassing one’s high expectations in the bedroom arena, it took a rare, strong and unique woman who was able to stand Wade. There had only ever been one girl who had understood him before...

Wade quickly snapped his mind away from the thoughts of her and immediately shut it away inside of its cold, heartless lock box and shoved it as far away as possible into the recesses of his mind. That was where it needed to stay and dammit if he wouldn’t make sure that it always did. Before long, the turbolift whooshed open and, lead by Ensign Banninga, the two stepped out.

“The bridge, the shuttlebay and main engineering, which is located on deck 11, are always under guard by two of our Sentries,” Katie started talking. “Security doesn’t need to be on the bridge unless we need to man the Tactical station, or if hell breaks loose.”

Wade followed closely behind the Ensign as she started to show him around. He appreciated the Ensign’s matter of fact tone as she began to lead him around. When it came to business, Wade was nothing but business.

“At the end of this hallway is the bridge entrance, but given the circumstances I don’t have the time to show you.” She turned around and walked in the opposite direction. “''On the aft side of this deck is the main shuttlebay. Patrol often takes extra rounds through the bay, just as an extra. We also assist the sentries in case we receive any dignitaries.''”

When they entered the bay Katie walked right to the launch doors. “''This is one of my favorite spots of the ship. When the doors are open the view is magnificent.''” She said all enthusiastic, but a simple look at his face reminded her that he didn’t care about it. “'' We should get our gear, it’s just one deck down. Turbolift or Jefferies tube?''”

Wade kept up with the officer as she sped through the tour of what he needed to see on the ship. As he would be deployed with this Ensign, he had to make sure that he didn’t burn his bridge with her just yet. After all, this was his last chance. If he couldn’t find a way to function in at least a working aspect with the rest of the crew, or, at the very least, with his immediate commanding officer, then he might as well request permission to swing at the gallows now.

“I suppose that would be your decision, Ensign,” Wade said in his normal, gruff tone. “I am here to follow orders.” He conveniently left out the fact that he normal didn’t obey orders he thought were stupid. The Ensign would have to read about that herself in his extensive disciplinary reports from Starfleet Command.

“Than turbolift it is” She was really getting annoyed with this guy. “''Ok, let’s cut to the chase. What’s your problem. You’re walking around with a face like a thundercloud, as if you don’t want to be here. Last time I checked Starfleet was voluntary.''”

Wade couldn’t believe that the Ensign had just confronted him in that way, but he sure did admire her candor in doing so. But he wasn’t so sure that it was the right step to make on her part. Maybe it would have been better for her to read his file first before having to meet with him and interact with him.

Turning to face the Ensign straight on and breaking his professional stance for the first time since he had met her and the Chief, Wade could feel his temper already starting to get the better of him.

“Alright, Ensign, let’s do that,” Wade started, his gruff voice becoming inflicted with anger. “''You obviously have not read my file and therefore have no idea that I tend to not get along so well with officers. If you would like a piece of advice, before the next time we meet, you might want to do your reading on me a little bit. I’ve got one chance left and I am not going to let it be blown out of the water because of some Ensign who enjoys the view from the Shuttle Bay.''”

She couldn’t believe what she heard. “If you had any idea what we’ve been doing here the last couple weeks, you wouldn’t start nagging about me not reading a padd, ” Katie replied, she was loosing her patient, something that almost never happened. Raising the level of her voice she continued. “And who the hell do you think you are that you demand from me to know everything about your past.”

“Listen, Ensign, I could give a damn about what you and the rest of the crew have been doing on this ship the last couple of weeks,” Wade continued, his voice growing more strained and his body continually tensing up as if ready for a physical fight. “''Read my file, don’t read my file. But before you go asking me what my problem is, you might want to do your own checks first. I am here to work and that is what I am going to do.''”

Realizing that this could be the event that turns into the straw that broke the camel’s back, Wade started to ease up and back off from the Ensign. Wade took a few more moments to collect himself and try as hard as he could to keep his anger in check. Who the hell did this Ensign thihnk she was? Asking him about his past like that. It was infuriating to him. “And as far as my past goes, anything you get to know about me you’ll have to read in my file.”

Wade returned his posture back to its attention stance and looked straight ahead at the door of the turbolift. Clenching his jaw, he said, “Is there more to the tour or am I dismissed, Ma’am?”

“You wish’ She was counting to ten. Getting to ten she just continued walking towards the away mission lockers to get geared up. When they entered the lockers room she pulled open one of the lockers. It hit the other locker with a loud bang. “Here,” She said and walked to another locker to get a gear for herself.

Wade felt a small bit of contentedness at having sent the Ensign into the mood that she was now in. He had gotten under the Ensigns skin faster than he thought he could have. It was better to make sure that those he served with knew that he wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. He might not have been much of a cordial person, but he was damn good, dependable and reliable Security Officer in Starfleet. In his opinion, why did anything else matter? He was there to do his job and to do it well.

Only one person had really seen a more in depth look into who Wade was and how he could be with someone he cared about. Dammit again, Wade thought to himself as the memory of her began to resurface again.

He donned the gear that was thrown to him by the Ensign. A slight smile spread across his face which he quickly subdued. It felt good to wear some Tactical Gear again. The familiarity of the weight and the feel of it as it clung to his body was welcomed. It was the first time in over a month that he was able to gear up and he was enjoying every second of it.

After he was fully suited up, he turned to the Ensign. “Do I get to enjoy the pleasure of your company some more or is there someone else you want me to report to, Ma’am,” Wade asked with more than a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

Just before she walked out of the room she turned around. “''You really should watch you’re words and you’re behavior. With that kind of behavior towards a superior officer you really can get in to trouble.”'' She looked in his eyes.

“''I have read you’re file and I think you would be a great asset to the RR team I’ll be leading. I just wanted to see how you could hold that temper of yours inside.''” She removed a padd from her jacket and tossed it to him. “''Here are you’re real orders for today. You’ll be walking patrols with crewman Tall, he’ll really show you around. Oh and by the way, you failed miserably.''” After she said that she left the room and went looking for Peter.

Wade stood with the PADD with his day’s orders in his hand. He was surprised by the Ensign. She had baited him, and it really pissed him off. As he clenched the PADD in his hands, he did it with so much strength that a slight crack appeared in the screen. Despite his being pissed off at being baited like that, he admired the Ensign. She had balls, and a good leader needed a pair of them. Even though he was impressed with her performance thus far, he did not put any stock in it. Garrison leaders could quickly turn into blubbering idiots with no talent for leading men when it came to their first real test of battle. Many times in the Security Forces, bad leaders were quickly routed out.

Reading the PADD briefly, he decided that he wouldn’t stand around anymore being pissed off that someone had been able to bait him into seeing if he could control his temper or not. But, again, despite his anger, he had to admire the Ensign. It would take some time and her proving herself before Wade would decide if he liked her or not as a leader. Without standing around some more, Wade set off to find crewman Tall and begin his first rounds aboard ship.  A JP with Wade Colgan Counselors Office
 * 02-28-2012, 23:33Jacey Adams''' USS Atlas

“So...”

Jacey sunk deeper into her chair, “So?”

“So... are you going to talk about him?” Michael tilted his head lightly, “Or do I need to guess?”

“Which ‘him’ are you referring to?” Jacey’s brow raised and she half grinned, “There’s a lot of men around.”

“The first one. The one that you got that shiny bright engagement ring from,” He lifted up a PADD, “I read an article about it. Quite the affair. Newspapers and camera’s all pointed towards your little family.”

“My family is anything but little.” She shrugged, “What about him?”

“Well, do you want to tell me what happened?” Michael’s fingers laced together as he rested his elbows on the hard desk that separated them.

“You’ve read the articles. I’m assuming then that you’ve read the follow up ones that were done after - ”

“You mean the ones after you ran away?” He injected.

“I didn’t run away,” Jacey sat up slightly, “I changed my mind.”

“Which a girl of - “ He paused, “You were sixteen right? “

“Barely.” She nodded.

“Rather young to marry.” Michael’s brow raised this time, “And your parents were alright with it?”

“They loved him. He came from a family that would compliment our own. We were the..legal side of things and they were more business. My dad thought it was a brilliant idea.”

“And your fiance, how did he propose?”

“We,” Jacey paused and thought back to that day seven years ago, “We had gone to a movie. My parents and I had been fighting. He swooped in to save me like some gallant knight. We went for ice cream after and while walking through the park - he asked me. Had a ring and everything.”

“How romantic.” He smiled, “And you said yes?”

“Of course. How could I say no? We’d been together for a year and I was so crazy about him.” Jacey smiled momentarily, “I was so so lost before he came into my life. High school had been hard. Harder than I’d probably ever admit to my parents. They’d put me into this school for the motivated and privileged, however half the kids who went to that school hated Starfleet and what my dad, as a judge, stood for. I was the scapegoat for all that anger.”

“How did you two meet?”

“Detention,” She laughed, “Ironic place to meet a knight. He was such a goodie as well - it should have tipped me off.”

Michael’s head tilted with a curious glance directed at her statement, “Tipped you off to what?”

Jacey actually frowned, “To the fact a guy like him wouldn’t be looking at someone who was barely passing her classes.”

“You think he had motives?”

“I suspected but he always laughed it off. He said I was better than I thought and he could see it. I guess in some ways he was right. I mean, I actually did pick up my grades and when he proposed I was so excited.... I even joined some after school clubs. It seemed that dating him caused the school to get off my back slightly. I was barely picked on.”

“When did you realize your father was behind it?”

“He had ..” Her voice broke and she cleared her throat, “We had sat down with our families to discuss the arrangements. I was still young so they had to agree to the marriage. The plan was for us to get married in a rather large and elegant ceremony, move in together and finish school. He was two years older and set to graduate so I would stay in high school and he would be in university. It wouldn’t be awkward and I would follow soon enough. Our parents were excited and my dad was so proud of me.”

“And then?”

“Before they left I saw my dad pat him on the back and hand him an envelope.” She shook her head, “It was too casual for someone he’d only recently met.”

“They hadn’t met before?”

“No...I mean he only came to my house when I was in trouble. Mostly we hung out at school or after school.”

“Did you ever find out what was in the envelope?” Michael moved his hands and picked up a PADD, obviously taking a few notes.

Jacey nodded, blinking momentarily as if she realized how much she’d said. Normally it was a battle for her to sit in this room and conjure up answers to the stupid questions he asked. Was she loosing her touch?

“And?”

“And...” She stood and shrugged, “I’m done my weekly mandatory hour. But please stay tuned for part two...same time...same channel.”

“You aren’t dismissed Miss Adams.”

“And you forget I don’t give a damn.” Jacey exited at a brisk pace. Her skin felt as if it was crawling from the memories she’d brought up. A shower was needed. A hot one. And then work. Work would help even out the emotions in her that clawed through the barriers she'd set in place so neatly over the years. The fact she had to take time off during this hectic period for a session made her angry. That emotion soon ate up whatever sadness was seeping through. Now she was just angry. That would calm soon and when it did Jacey would go back to being the awkward bubbly girl that shied away from people and ate way too many grilled cheese sandwiches.

---Featuring our handsome NPC Counselor Mr.Wilson (I totally blanked on his full name...may have messed it up...meh he's british)

http://i42.tinypic.com/35let7r.jpg '''
 * 02-29-2012, 19:06Kate Banninga ::Deck 11:: 

Katie was on her way to meet Peter. They arranged to pair up for the rounds, because she really wanted to talk to him about David. Beside herself Peter was the only one that really knew David. They’d been friend long before she and Peter were. For some unexplained reason she was running, like she was in a hurry. As she stepped to the right of the hallway she bumped in to someone, coming out of an office. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you. Are you ok?”

“Mmmm yep, just makes my day even better than it already was.” Jacey rubbed her shoulder, “How you doing Banninga?”

“Just the usual, work work work.” she said with a smile. “And you? Are you sure you ok, you don’t look ok?”

“Counselors...they have a way of rubbing people the wrong way,” Jacey cheered her facial features up, “Nothing some hot coffee can’t fix. What about you? Are you guys all set for our war games?”

“Sound great, my last cup was almost an hour a go, way too long to go without coffee if you ask me. I was just on my way to meet my partner for patrol. I can make some time for break. It’s like we’ll be doing a lot during the games.” Katie replied.

“I agree,” Jacey paused, “Should we find your partner so he doesn’t think you’ve up and disappeared?”

Katie laughed “Don’t worry about Peter, he knows me longer than today. If he can’t find me he will start looking for a replicator. You’re probably a bit more familiar her, where can we get a cup of coffee”

“Deck five would be our best bet. I’m not in the mood for replicator coffee. I hear the mess has a real pot brewing.” Jacey smiled, “Up for it?”

“I would love to.” How was it possible she didn’t know there was real coffee available on this ship. The mess had just gained a new regular, Katie thought as they were going to the turbolift. “How are things going in engineering? Refit almost ready?”

“Oh...”Jacey groaned and slumped her shoulders, “A headache. I hate the time restraints. I really feel as if we’re letting the chief down.”

“Are you far behind?” Katie asked.

“Fixing a hole takes time.” Jacey called out the deck as they entered the lift and the doors shut, “Fixing a lot takes time. We’ve got enough to barely patch it but the rest...well we’ll just have to keep working as we move along.”

When the lift halted they stepped out and headed towards the mess hall. “Ok, well if you need a couple extra hands, maybe we can help. We are trained in damage control, you know.”

“I may take you up on that. I mean, we’re capable but it’s a lot to deal with.” Jacey exited and moved down the corridor.

“Just name a time and place and I’ll be there.” Katie said with a grin. “That way I’ve got something useful to do, instead of waiting for trouble.”

“Trouble...” Jacey laughed, “Yeah I tend to get into that far too much.” She walked through the doors of the mess and moved to the counter, “Two coffees. The good stuff.” she looked at Banninga, “Sugar or cream?”

“Both, with a double sugar.” Katie replied. “I was actually referring to a different kind of trouble. The kind you mean I can’t you get out of, only help you get in.” She accepted her coffee and stirred until the sugar had dissolved. She carefully took a zip. “Wow, this is definitely the better stuff.”

“Yep. I found it awhile ago. I only go replicator when I have to,” She motioned towards a seat, “Sit?”

“Sure, by the way did you found a new room jet, or are you still sharing with what her name?” Katie asked as they sit down.

“Naa I’m still there. We’ve got new crew coming aboard and Im not sure what kind of space we’re looking at. I have no idea,” Jacey scratched her brow, “ How did I end up with Apryl in the first place?”

“Don’t ask me, I still have no idea how you can stand being with her in a room. She would drive me crazy being alone with her more than a minute. I’m just lucky. I got a room of my own last month. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my roommate happier when I left. And she was Vulcan, so imagine.” Katie said after she took another zip from her coffee.

Jacey nodded, “I’ll sort it out in time. I’m not really bothered. Sometimes Apryl is actually nice to have around.”

“mmm, ok, if you say so.” she said.

“Believe it or not, she’s not completely evil.” Jacey laughed, “Are you getting on with the rest of the crew ok?”

Katie laughed. “I’ve not yet met many other outside Security, but the department is great. There is this new guy, he’s kind of grumpy, but he’ll be ok and offcourse there is Tall, he still avoids me as much as he can.” She took another zip. “I can’t wait till the reinforcements arrive. Almost everybody is on his last breath.”

“What about personal,” Jacey leaned her elbows on the table, “Anyone special in your life?”

“Not at the moment, I’m still enjoying being single again.” Katie said, staring in her cup. She tried not to think about him. She looked up to Jacey. “And you?””

“HA!”Jacey spit the sip of coffee out of her mouth. Given the recent conversation with her counselor, she currently loathed the thought of men even more than usual. Wiping her lip she shook her head, “Men seem to avoid me unless they get something out of it.”

“Tell me about it, Man, It’s always the same story. Everything is Koek en Ei untill you really get to know him.” she was getting angry again. It’s been ten months, but she was still angry at him.

“Everything is...what?” Jacey’s brow raised.

Katie laughed, she didn’t even notice she used dutch. “Sorry, dutch proverb. Mean everything ok.”

“Ah, well...I hope so,” Jacey smiled, “Sorry almost spitting my coffee on you..” Katie looked at her clothing. The tactical vest had some splashes on it. “Don’t worry about it, as long as I don’t have to wash it, it’s ok.”

The young engineer laughed, “I think I’m going to be a nun for awhile. No men, no dating, no thoughts of men, no fantasies...no nothing. I’m going to ...make love to my coffee cup.” Jacey smiled and took a sip, “mmm.”

“That’s a step to far for me. I love coffee, but I have my boundaries.” Katie said while laughing. “What’s wrong with having uhm.. fun, I mean just fun, no commitment. Besides I don’t think many guys want to date a security officer.”

“I tried that...and,” Jacey lowered her voice, “And I wound up with a crush on the biggest asshole on this ship.”

“Really, that sounds awful, I think I would go crazy seeing him all the time. You’re probably very good in hiding?” Katie replied.

“Hardly..”Jacey shrugged, “He doesn’t even notice me as is.” Katie took another zip of her coffee. “Wow, that’s better. Luckily my ex isn’t Starfleet, he’s on earth. I’ll only see him if I go home, something I’m not planning to do anytime soon.”

“I sadly have an even worse ex back home,” Jacey laughed, “Hence why I think I’ll just avoid men. I’ve had three relationships in my life and each one has been dramatic and emotionally exhausting.”

“I guess that makes me lucky, I’ve only had one serious relationship. A guy I met at school, long story short, he wanted to get married, I wanted to join Starfleet.” Katie laughed sarcastically at the memory. “Eventually I gave him my job, before I left.

That was me up until a year ago. I’ve made some of the dumbest decisions of my life...” Jacey finished her coffee, “Not anymore.”

“Like?” Katie asked. Somehow she told this women stuff she didn’t tell anyone.

“Mmm the jerk I wound up crushing on. The counselor who was out for...well his motives were definetly not pure. I just can’t seem to pick anything other than trouble.” Jacey shrugged, “Not sure how to get around that one.”

“I don’t think anyone know the answer for that mystery.” Katie sighed. “I wish life was so simple”

“Mmm simple.” Jacey checked the time and groaned, “Thankfully men can be put on hold for work.” She stood, “Coffee again?”

Katie stood up as she saw the time. “Sound great, maybe next time we can meet without bumping into each other.”

“Yeah,” Jacey rubbed her shoulder again,” I don't think I can take that again.”

Katie laughed at her remark. “I’ll see you around”

''' Some girl talk over a cup of coffee with Jacey Adams.  Captain’s Ready Room
 * 02-29-2012, 21:03Christopher Vaughn'''Deck 6

Tom sat at his desk, the collection of PADDs from the different departments all on one side of his desk to be read. In his hand was a letter he had written years ago while in the Academy. It had been addressed to his mother, but he had never sent it. Inside was the account of how he was going to leave after his second year. His advanced flight course had become too difficult and it looked as if he would never be able to return. The words on the PADD brought all the memories of that difficult time back to him, and a tear began to roll down his cheek as he sat there reading.

Chris strolled down the corridor toward the captain’s ready room. It was located only a few steps from the bridge whereas the XO’s office was several deck above. I should really get my own private turbolift. he mused. Coming to a stop at the door to the ready room it didn’t slid open automatically. Locked, odd. Tapping comm controller at the door he threw on his best British accent, “Commander Vaughn to see Captain O’Flaghtery .”

When the door chimed, Tom almost jumped from his chair. He didn't think anyone had noticed him boarding the ship, but then realized, all anyone had to do to find him was ask the computer. Quickly, he cleared the PADD, and wiped his cheek clean before responding. "Come in."

The door slid open allowing Chris to enter, “Morning Tom.” He said jovially then frowning slightly. Tom seemed somber. There was a slight redness to his eyes that Chris wasn’t used to seeing in his friends eye. Taking a seat he spoke lightly, “A little redness in the eye Tom. Either something’s the matter or you have been in my private stash of smokes.”

"No, it wasn't the cigars," Tom said softly. "Just taking a trip down memory lane." Tom stood and ordered himself a glass of water before returning to his seat. "How are the repairs coming? I'm sure you're really having to crack the whip on the crew. I'll be glad when I can give them some R&R."

“I haven’t had to press the crew to hard actually. Gerhardt is keeping them mostly in line. Been somewhat boring for the Ol’ XO.” Chris offered a abject pout. “However - speaking of people giving our crew the whip - I met your old buddy from the Academy...you know. Gene.”

Tom almost gagged when Chris said the name. "Gene? He wasn't my friend from the Academy. He's the sorry flight instructor that almost got me kicked out because he always played second fiddle to my father. I swear, if I ever get the chance, I'll pop that son of a bitch in the mouth."

“Oh, don’t worry we are Firm Friends now. Gene and I.” Chris replied with a smug grin. “Unfortunately not firm enough to warrant him being able to see either of us without an appointment through our new yeomen. I mean, we aren’t running a pirate ship here after all. But I explained all that to him.” he waved his hand dismissively.

"Apparently, he thinks we are," Tom said as he leaned his head back against the chair. "These war games have to go well, Chris. We can't afford for the ship to get a poor rating."

“They will go just fine. Trust me.” Chris flashed a smile. “Even if I have to sleep with / extort / cuckold / put a hit out on each of the judges my self.”

"Well, let's hope that's not the case." Tom finished his water and put the glass back in the replicator. "So, in your most professional opinion, what do you think of our judge, Captain Robinson?"

“He is a douche bag.” Chris replied instantly. “Fortunately I have the cure. And when we blow these war games out of the water you can rub his face in it.”

"Robinson has got to be one of the most by-the-book people I've ever encountered. And that's saying something considering the Academy curriculum." A flash of memory clouded Tom's perception for a moment as those days of drill and class flashed across his eyes. He could picture everything just as it had been, even the brick of Archer Hall. "It won't due just to win these games. We have to be perfectly regulation in how we do this. He has a manual permanently lodged in his ass."

“By the book doesn’t win fights.” Chris replied. “If the ‘Book’ was all it took then Robinson would be a war hero, not an academic lackey. If we want to not only win - but wow - we have to think outside the box. Besides, if Robinson knows the ‘Book’ so well then he has certainly made sure to stack the deck in such a way to insure anyone playing by the book can’t win. He’s counting on you trying to live by his standards.”

"He'll say we are uncontrollable and irresponsible if we deviate from the regulations. Yes, he will stack the deck, and then when you start to improvise, he'll fail you for not meeting the standards of a Starfleet officer. Then you have a desk job." Tom sighed heavily at the thought of being behind a desk. "I'll probably end up teaching at the Academy."

“We do everything completely legit. But the complete opposite of what any other officer would do when faced with a similar situation.” Chris said. “If we don’t break any regs and win - even if its unorthodox - he will be hard pressed to fail us or find an Admiral willing to do the same.”

"We will see." In his mind, Tom already knew what Robinson was going to do. It would be the same thing that happened all those years ago at the Academy. Only this time, it wouldn't be for a grade. "Make sure Mr. Rahner has the Engineering department ready to go. I know there will be some kinks thrown into that department. We really need to figure out our opponents a little better. What do you think of a sending off for them?"

“You get them invited to the Station Officers Club and I’ll do a little recon...in there honor.” he gave his captain a wink. “Who better indeed.”

"I'll see what I can do." Tom rubbed his temples as he tried to formulate a plan. "If you need to prep anything, now is the time."

“You just get them to the Officers Club, get the ship ready, finish the refit, prepare the crew and leave the rest to me.” Chris stood briskly.

''' A JP with Chris and Tom, making the magic happen.  :: DELTA SHIFT ::''' :: SECURITY SWEEP :: ''':: DECKS 7-12 :: '''
 * 03-01-2012, 13:03Wade ColganRound 1 :: USS ATLAS ::

Wade proceeded as his orders instructed him to do and made his way to Deck 7 where he was to meet with a Crewman Tall and begin conducting his Security Sweep. Wade began to feel his anger over the Ensign’s baiting subside as his mind was now shifting to focus on the task set before him. As he passed the others in the corridors, he didn’t think to introduce himself. After all, he had learned that it was better to not get too friendly with those around him that he had to protect. It made things easier when they ended up not making it through combat. But Wade would be dammed if anyone was to be harmed because of a security breech during his shift.

As he boarded a turbolift, Wade began go over all he had seen thus far in his rather short tour. He always had made it a point to memorize everything about the ships he was serving on. After his shift was over today, he would go throughout the rest of the ship and make sure he knew what was located on the rest of the decks. In an emergency, you never knew what part of the ship you would be deployed to and you didn’t have time to pull up a hologram of the ship’s layout. You just had the time to act, achieve and succeed.

A smile came across Wade’s face as he waited for the tubrolift’s doors to open onto deck 7. Act, Acheive, and Succeed. He had always liked the phrase that he had come up with while training for one of his fights in High School. It had served him well to remember it over the years and there was no way he was going to forget it now. Not when it mattered most that he needed to succeed.

The turbolift finally opened and Wade stepped out into the corridor. Crewman Tall was standing in full tactical gear, ready to receive Wade and begin the sweep. “Crewman Recruit Colgan,” Tall said extending his hand, “I’m Crewman Tall.”

Wade didn’t understand why everyone aboard this ship felt like they needed to shake every new person’s hand. Was it that they all longed that damn much for human contact? Taking the Crewman’s hand, and giving it one firm, hard shake, like he had done with Ensign Banninga, he returned to his normal, fixed posture. “Let’s get to it, Crewman,” Wade said.

For a moment, the Crewman did a double take on Wade’s tabs to check his rank. “Did you wanna look the rest of me over or can we get on with our job,” Wade said impatiently.

“Of course,” Tall said sweeping his hand down the corridor.

The two of the men began to walk down the corridor. It didn’t take long before Tall was already back to talking. “Right now we are headed to...”

Wade cut him off. “The Main Shuttlebay Hangar. After that we proceed to transporter rooms 1-4, the Cargo Bays, Auxilliary Deflectors, Away Mission Lockers and more. I’ve read the ship’s specs, Crewman, and I’ve already been given a tour, albeit a short one. I don’t need another one.” His tone was slightly annoyed and his face reflected that.

Tall’s mouth hung open slightly as they continued to walk along the corridor. “I take it you’ve met with Ensign Banninga then,” said the Crewman with more than a hint of disgust in his voice.

“No, I was given a tour of the ship by the Skipper personally,” Wade’s words hung in the air for a few brief moments before he continued. “Yes, I have met the Ensign.”

Tall was beginning to feel a bit annoyed now. “How did she come off to you? I mean I do not like her at all. She is...”

Wade continued to sweep his eyes back and forth through the corridor making sure everything was in its proper place as the Crewman droned on. The words washed over Wade and he was able to effectively zone out and focus everything on his work.

“...And I mean it’s just stupid for a Starfleet Officer...” continued Tall.

It didn’t take long before the pair had arrived at the Main Shuttlebay. Wade stood in front of the door, and quickly did a check to make sure nothing had been tampered with. Tall did a half-hearted look over as he was intent on unloading his hate of Ensign Banninga off onto Wade.

“...As if I was trying to get caught, you know?” Tall said trying to get Wade’s opinion.

Wade couldn’t take it any longer. Grabbing the man’s shoulder, he spun him to face Wade square on. “Listen up you little whiny bastard. I could give two shits about your opinion of the Ensign. It you want someone to cry to about how horrible the Ensign is go find some pissant crewman who doesn’t care about doing their job and instead wants to have a little tea party and discuss their shared feelings on Banninga.” His eyes were intense with anger. “I am not here to talk, I am not here to be your friend and I am sure as hell not here to listen to your blathering.”

Tall stood speechless. His eyes were fixed on Wade. After regaining his senses, and feeling compelled to try and gain some more dignity with their exchange, Tall puffed his chest up and brought a finger up to Wade’s face. “If you think...”

Suddenly, Wade’s temper went wild! Before Tall could say another word, Wade had already grabbed the finger, bent it back, pulled backwards and down on his arm, sending his elbow coming up and forcing his arm back. Wade then, in an instant grabbed Tall’s other wrist, spun him around and kicked his knees out from under him. As Tall slammed to the floor, Wade brought his boot down on top of the back of Crewman Tall’s head. Holding his arm up and locked, Wade bent down slightly to talk to Tall. “You ever put your finger in my face again and you’ll lose your whole damn hand.” There was a slight pause as Wade let his words sink in. Tall groaned on the floor beneath Wade’s boot. “You read me, Crewman?”

After a few more seconds of writhing, Tall shook his head slightly. “Good,” Wade said as he released Tall from his lock and took his foot off of the man’s head. A few moments passed as Tall stood up again and shook out his body. Wade’s temper began to subside and his rational thought began to get the better of him. What the hell are you doing, Wade chastised himself. He bean to realize that the act could very well be his undoing, and this was only his first patrol aboard ship!

They entered the Main Shuttlebay and continued to do their sweep. The rest of the time they swept, it was silent - Tall only spoke to the Officers he would check in for Security Sweep in every station they visited. Tall’s face was full of anger at the knowledge that he had just been humiliated. At least there had been no one passing in the hallways to see. Wade continued to be thorough in all of his checks despite the fact that he should have been worried that Tall would report him as soon as the sweep was over. Wade didn’t care about that right now, though. His obligation to keep the ship and all those aboard safe was his top priority.

Two decks and what seemed like 30 thorough Security Area Checks later, Wade decided to say something. “I don’t like Officers - ANY officers. Let’s leave it at that,” Wade said without even looking at Tall.

Not a word was said in response.

Wade and Tall arrived at the Engineering Workshop on Deck 10 where they were supposed to report to a Ensign Adams. As they approached the door, Tall stopped and turned to Wade. “You can take this check.”

Wade looked Tall over. He was good at reading people and it was an essential part of his job. If you could read a person through their body language or facial expression, you could pick out potential threats out of any group anywhere. Tall was apprehensive and a bit nervous and Wade couldn’t help but wonder why. For now, it didn’t matter. After a preliminary sweep of the entrance for tampering, Wade walked in first.

“Where the hell is that damn little....” She sat on the floor, one arm buried up to the elbow in a console full of twisted wires and bit of old equipment. The task of fixing said mess was routine however the device she needed had slipped from her hand when a piece of hard metal stabbed itself into her wrist. Pulling her hand out she flopped down onto the floor and sighed. This day was just never ending.

As Wade stepped into the Engineering Workshop, he saw an attractive brunette sitting on the ground clasping her wrist. Immediately, Wade’s body tensed a bit and he quickly swept the room with his eyes, but not in a way that seemed paranoid. It was casual so as not to draw any attention or seem unwarranted or out of place. Stepping up and seeing the tabs on her shoulders, Wade knew this was who he needed to report to. “Here for a Security Check, Ensign. Are you Ensign Adams,” Wade asked. His eyes went to her wrist as he waited for her response.

“Adams...” Jacey stood and shrugged “I think she’s around here somewhere. I’m just the cleaning lady. I can take a message if you want. I’m sure she’s fine with you doing your...security thingy. I’ll let her know you stopped by.”

“She’s Ensign Adams,” Tall said over Wade’s shoulder while shooting an impertinent look at Adams.

Wade turned to Tall with a rather annoyed look on his face. “Thanks Sherlock. Why don’t you start to sweep?” Tall looked at Wade with even more irritation and turned to sweep the Workshop.

“Do you need medical attention, Ma’am,” Wade asked the Officer.

“Ma’am.”Jacey full out laughed, “Ma’am. Holy hell..I’m my mother.” She looked over at Tall, “Nice to see you too. I didn’t recognize you without my roommate all over you.” The look she received was a half glare,/half embarrassed blush and she was glad to see it still effected him. The nightmares of what she and Banninga had seen in the Jeffries tube was still there haunting her everyone now and then.

“Thank you for your care,” Jacey turned to the other Security crewman, “But unless you’re offering to kiss it better I can guarantee I can handle this.” She winced as she inspected her wrist, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

Wade was not at all charmed or enthralled with her attitude. Without his face changing, Wade said, “Your choice, Ensign.” Wade looked at her wrist and guessed that she may actually need a stitch or two. During training, he had excelled at his Emergency Medical Trauma training.

Tall made his way around the Workshop and Wade continued to stand by Adams and look the room over himself. He didn’t like the Ensign’s attitude, but her jibe at the Crewman had made his shift so far. Obviously that was the reason behind Wade taking the lead on this inspection.

“I guess it is safe to say you don’t want to report anything, Ensign,” Wade asked.

“Stop calling me that,” Jacey’s eyes rolled, “Please. My name is Jacey or you can call me Adams. Hell you can call me anything but Ma’am or Ensign. I really don’t like the...I dunno...formality of it. I spend my life under a console while playing a warp core and integrity fields. I’d rather be known for that than the pips on my shoulder. How pathetic does it...” Jacey paused and realized she was, once again, rambling, “I mean...no. No nothing to report. In fact it’s boringly quiet in here.”

“That’s nice,” Wade said sarcastically with a small smile to match. “I am afraid I can’t do that. Unless you are ordering me to do otherwise,” Wade asked in seriousness.

He hoped that she wouldn’t think him a “by the book” up tight asshole type, but that was the truth of it. He had already screwed up on this shift by taking down Crewman Tall. He didn’t need another officer walking in here and him not referring to her by her rank. He had enough insubordination and disrespect of rank infractions on his file already.

“Can I do that?” Jacey perked up and a small grin formed on her lips.

“Since you have the rank, I guess that is your prerogative, Ensign Ma’am Adams,” Wade said. “Now you’re just being mean, Ensign Ma’am Adams.” Jacey looked Wade over. He was handsome, that was for sure however his lack of smile took away from that. Mixed with the almost ice cold eyes that stared at her, he was kind of...creepy. Plus Tall seemed terrified of him, “Very well then..” She realized she didn’t know his name, “What is your last name Crewman.”

“Colgan, Ma’am,” Wade said matter of factly. What the hell was it with the people on this ship being so personable?

“Colgan eh,” Jacey looked over at Tall, “Hey can you go get me a coffee or something? You’re being rather useless...”

“But he’s the one standing arou-” Tall left the room with the look he received from both Jacey and Wade.

“Okay...”Jacey jumped up on a console and winced as she used her wounded wrist, “I get the fact you’re all work and I get the fact that you’re a guy who obviously doesn’t like Ensigns... That’s okay. However you look at me as if I’m the devil incarnate, which makes my skin crawl. Now I don’t know you, so I know I haven’t done anything to cause such a reaction. So here’s something I think that would be beneficial. Why don’t you get that stick out of your ass and I’ll stay out of your way. Both wins for you and some good advice added in as well.”

Wade’s body tensed as his anger rose. “If there happens to be anything near my ass, you put it there with that stupid attitude of yours, Ensign. You are an officer, and I don’t like officers.” Wade could feel his voice slightly rising and his body continuing to tense as if ready for a fight. Was it the fact that this Ensign was just rubbing him the wrong way, or was it the fact that she not only reminded him or her...but she looked like her too... Quickly pushing those thoughts from his head, he straightened up and faced forward at attention. “Are we done here...” he paused before looked down at her sitting on the console with a hard stare, “Ma’am.” He returned his gaze to the front after a few brief moments of letting the word sink in.

Jacey thought for a moment before reaching up and removing the pips off her collar. Holding them in her open palm she couldn’t imagine what could make someone hate such a large variety of people. To hate something they wore and to completely dismiss the person underneath. She looked up at him, “Yeah - we’re done.”

She hopped off the console and tossed the pips at him. Which he caught without even blinking, “Now I’m not an officer. I’m just a girl in uniform, bleeding a little uncomfortably and ...those two little pieces of metal caused you to completely disregard that. I’d really hate to have your view of the world.” Jacey knelt down and began to dig into the console she previously had been, “MIght wanna go find Tall, that’s the longest coffee run ever.”

Wade looked at the rank pips in his hand. He looked at her gravely as he held them tightly in his hand - so tight that the pips dug into his hand and blood began to drip from them. Looking at the young officer, he chose his words carefully. “Rank is more than just pips on you shoulder, Ensign. It is who you are. You can’t get away from it just by taking these off,” he said showing the pips covered in his blood in his hand. “I hope that when things get tough around here, you won’t throw these away and can lead those who are depending on you.”

After a few moments of staring at each other intensely, Wade let the pips fall from his hand and onto the floor. A few more drops of blood fell from his hand. After a few steps he stopped at the door and turned to her.. “As for my worldview...”

Jacey stood up and moved over to the pips on the floor, “Oh shut it seriously. You’re talking out of your ass.” Picking up the pips she wiped them off and reattached them, “I’m an engineer. I may be an officer by rank but at the end of the day I got it by being a damn good engineer and doing my job with every single ounce of strength I have. So you can keep your twisted opinions. Because I wonder, at the end of the day, what you are? An officer hating security guard who obviously isn’t big enough to get past some troubled past in order to accept the fact that one bad experience with an officer isn’t enough to condemn the whole lot. So if you don’t mind- spare me the speech about who I am as you don’t know. And, call me Jacey. That’s an order.”

She turned her back and went back to her console, “Dismissed.”

Wade stood in the door, looking back at her. His eyes bore into her as much as he could make them. In his mind, the picture of her flashed into his mind, momentarily replacing the ensign seated on the console in front of him. In reference to her comment on being only an engineer, Wade said, “Not to me...” His tone was unnervingly revealing with feeling. It caught him off-guard, betraying his stone-cold demeanor which he always possessed.

“I’ll send a Medic for your wrist,” Wade said as he left the Workshop and found Tall standing outside. He still had a Shift to finish...

An Intense post with a Cameo JP by the awesome Jacey Adams...


 * 03-01-2012, 16:50Adina Wolfe'''::Deck Five::
 * USS Atlas::'''

Rube was worried.

Of course she realised that her worry was really nothing more then a counsellor empathy subroutine left in her system from her original EMH Mark Two programming, but she felt worried all the same. Since the message from her friend Adina hadn’t done much other then cry and sleep. When her next shift came around the young engineer simply got out of bed, got dressed and went where she was told. All without uttering a word.

Now for most around her this wasn’t really that noticeable, Adina had only been back on duty for three hours by this point after all. But for Rube it was a nigh-eternity, the fact that she had followed Adina around work all day, her clothing reconfigured to that of an Engineering Ensign and yet still not even registering to her friend as she went about her set tasks.

“Adina honey, you awake in there?” Rube offered for the fifteenth time in the last twenty minutes.

Adina didn’t even blink, her eyes locked on the backup EPS relay control unit before her, hands working the controls more by memory then conscious thought, the young Cadet really was in a world of her own, and no-one else seemed to be invited in.

“Which one of you two is Wolfe?” A gruff voice suddenly asked from behind the pair, Rube spun on the spot to find herself staring into a barrel chest, craning her neck upwards she found herself looking into possibly the biggest, toughest looking engineer the hologram had ever seen.

“Yike...she is, why?” Rube offered simply.

“Lieutenant Sheppard.” The man offered bluntly, as if it explained everything. After a short pause and a raised eyebrow from Rube he shook his head and continued. “I’m here with the McKinley group, and I’m taking over here, now.”

“Okay then, in that case we’ll be off.” Rube smiled, “Come on Adina, let’s leave the ‘nice man’ to do his work.” The hologram had only taken a step past Sheppard to realise that Adina hadn’t moved, scratch that, she wasn’t even sure if the Cadet had heard her at all, much less reacted.

“Adina....come on honey.” Rube whispered into her ear, “We gotta go.”

“Cadet Wolfe!” Sheppard roared as if on the parade ground, “You have been ordered to stop work and leave this position, you will comply, understood?”

Adina didn’t even look away from her work, the short whine of the sonic screwdriver in her hand piercing the awkward silence like a knife.

“Cadet Wolfe!” Sheppard roared again, grabbing Adina by the shoulder and pulling her upwards. A small clatter on the deck caused the Lieutenant to stop and kneel down, “What’s this?” He offered simply, holding up what Rube instantly recognized as Ensign Lucin’s earring, the bronze and green metals twinkling in the light of the EPS conduit.

With a sudden move Adina snatched for the earpiece. Sheppard, acting on instinct, held tightly to the Bajoran jewelry, a split second later he felt a sudden pain in his jaw and his view suddenly jerked to the horizontal. It took a few moments to realise what exactly had just happened...

“You...hit me!” Sheppard roared even louder then before, clenching his fists tightly as he picked himself up. “You bitch!” It took all of his training to avoid smashing the young Cadet into the bulkhead. Seething with rage he simply swore and left, his last roaring words echoing down the corridor...

“Your CO will hear about this!” Engineering -Deck 11
 * 03-01-2012, 18:30Jacey Adams USS Atlas

"Arrogant..." Jacey mumbled as she thought back to her encounter with the officer hating Security guard. He was a piece of work and after her hand was repaired he was the only thing causing her discomfort. Jacey wasn't comfortable with the way he looked at her. There was such anger in his eyes. It brought out that female urge to try fix him - like a pet project. However at the same time she also wanted to eject him out an airlock.

“Psst...Adams..”

“I’m standing right here Peters, no need to whisper.” Jacey lifted her eyes, “Miller? Peters...what are you up to?”

“Shhh, keep your voice down.”

“Why? Because someone might hear us talking?” Her brow raised, “I really am not in the mood. Do you have any idea how much- “

“That’s what we’re here to talk to you about,” Peters grabbed her arm and pulled her into a corner. Miller followed and Jacey kept her eyes on him, “He won’t bite.” Peters added, noticing her gaze and stiff posture.

“Unless she asks.” Miller added, “Of course.”

“Hey, remember what we talked about.” Peters gave a knowing look to Miller before he spoke again, “We have an idea, but we need your help to implement it.”

“Oh boy. I have a feeling this is not going to be legal.”

“It’s not illegal per-say...” Miller said, “More of a grey area.”

“Grey?” Her arms crossed, “Okay I’m listening.”

“Well...”Peters began, “We’ve still got that damn hole to finish. Word has it we’re shoving off soon. We can’t go into the war games with a hole in our ship.”

“No...really?” Her sarcasm dripped from the words, “But we have limited people and - “

“And that’s the problem. But we can fix it.”

“For a price.” Miller added.

“A price?” Jacey’s arms uncrossed, “You want to hire more people?”

“Well it’s not unheard of. I mean the station is already lending us a hand...”

“Are these people station crew?” Jacey was a little confused as to why the secrecy if Station crew members were offering to help.

“Well they’re not station …”

“Per-say.”

“They’re more...” Peters paused

“More..”Miller tried to fill in, “More...the kind of people who spread wealth and joy throughout the galaxy.”

“Smugglers? You want to let them near our ship?”

“Well they won’t steal anything!” Miller snorted, “We aren’t that stupid.”

“Oh really?” Jacey sighed, “And why do you need me?”

“Well...we were hoping maybe you could clear it with the Chief..”

“Or maybe the Xo.”

“Or the Captain.”

“Or not.” Jacey stepped back, “Your idea, you guys can do it.”

“No no...we aren’t their biggest fans. You’re more...”

“Cute.”

Jacey glared at Miller, “Cute?”

“In an obnoxiously funny way...yeah cute.” Miller smiled, “Please.”

“There is no way I would approach the Captain with this. Ladder rules dictate the Chief.” Jacey paused, “Wait...you said for a fee?”

“That’s where the XO....”

“Oh no..ooooh no. You did not name drop Vaughn's name into this conversation did you?” Jacey groaned, “Come on guys. We can get a few teams out there and - “

“And get our asses kicked. We’ve got a handful of engineeres and more busted ship than we can fix in the time necessary. Having twenty extra hands solely dedicated on that hole....”

“With equipment we don’t even have to make sure it stays un-holy.” Peters pouted, “Please Adams.....Please...”

“Why don’t you - “

“We can’t get into the officers mess..”

“And you can...”

“And...” Jacey groaned, “I am going to kill you when we’re done.” Jacey waved her arm to dismiss them as she took off out of the room. She had no idea what the hell she was doing.