Unwelcome Reinforcements

Posted on Thu Dec 19th, 2019 @ 1:20am by Lieutenant Nikki St. John & Captain Abigail Laurens
Edited on on Thu Dec 19th, 2019 @ 1:25am

Mission: Sounds of Silence
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 1

The trip out from Starbase 42 had been unwelcome for oh so many reasons. Still, her orders had been fairly plain if somewhat mystifying. Get to the ship as soon as possible and report in immediately. All good words when it came to this particular officer's basic nature; there had been that sharp spike of adrenaline at the air of mystery hung about the wording when she'd read them but that had all flattened out on the interminable ride. Still, she was here now and on the Bridge of the ship without having had to wave her orders in anyone's face. Interesting and so frakkin' trusting. She knew the general layout of the ship but it really wasn't all that necessary. Deck 1 and as had been true on every ship she'd ever been on, the Ready Room was generally very clearly marked. She walked up and pressed the chime.

"Enter," Abigail called, not looking up from the PaDD on her desk, one hand wrapped around the still warm mug of chai latte. She had been reviewing final data before submitting her report to Starfleet on their encounter with the Arg'oshians. She sighed heavily, still not truly happy, but there was little else that could be done at this point.

Signing off on the report, she transmitted it and glanced up, watching the new person walk into her ready room, one eyebrow raising curiously. "What can I do for you Lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant St. John reporting as ordered, Captain," she said in a rich alto. Lean, with a well-deserved athlete's build, she wore her black hair long and loose, framing an oval face dominated by a pair of midnight blue eyes that sparkled with intelligence. She passed over the PADD containing her orders, and pretty much everything else she had been given with respect to the ship, as she waited for a response.

Abigail sighed heavily. She had received the notification from Starfleet that they were sending a security detail to intercept them. A "security precaution" it had been called. A security precaution. She shook her head slightly and accepted the PaDD that had been handed to her. "Take a seat Lieutenant," she said quietly, making a mental note to pull Alannah in to talk to her. This was going to go down about as well as a lead balloon. "I will be honest, I don't believe your presence here is necessary, but I understand you have a job to do and that's out of your hands, so I won't hold it against you."

"Thank you, Captain," Nikki said as she slid into the seat. "As I understand it, it's not meant to be punitive or at least, I don't mean it to be. I'm here to help."

With a nod, Abigail set the PaDD down on her desk and leaned back in her chair, elbows on the arm rests, her hands clasped in front of her. "So I assume you've read at least the pre-emptive reports on what happened?" she asked quietly.

"Yes, I have," Nikki said as she crossed one booted leg over the other and rested her and stacked her hands, one over the other, on top of her thigh. "How did you finally get the Arg'oshians off the ship?"

"We provided them with two medical grade replicators pre-programmed to produce the chemical they were extracting from us," Abigail said quietly. "In return for the technology they signed an agreement that they will not invade or attack any other Federation or Federation Affiliated vessels or people. If they do it will be considered an act of war," she explained.

"Were there scans taken or samples collected," Nikki asked. Her dark gaze slanted to one side for a moment and then returned to the Captain's own with a slight shrug. "Old habits. I was thinking that the internal sensors and transporters should be updated to include that information ... but I'm sure your security team already thought about that."

"We took our own scans of both the aliens themselves as well as their vessel and combined that with the original information that our Science officer used to discover them in the first place. We've programmed that information into our own security systems and sensors so our alerts should be triggered any time their technological or biological distinctiveness is within proximity of us. The same information has been relayed to Starfleet as well to be sent out to other vessels." Abigail unclasped her hands and leaned forward, picking up her mug and taking a sip.

"Excellent," Nikki said as she lifted one hand to hook a length of straight black hair behind her ear. "I'm sure you know what my orders are as well as I do, Captain, but I do want to ask, is there anything ... specific ... that you want me to do while I'm here?" She offered up a slight smile as she added, "other than, you know, get off your ship as soon as possible?"

"No doubt you're going to want to be talking to the crew as well," Abigail said quietly. "I'm going to ask that you go easy on them and be respectful. They've been through a lot and it's definitely not been an easy ordeal for any of us."

"As I said, Captain, this is not meant to be punitive and in any case, it wouldn't be me. Starfleet sent along a counselor who will make himself available to the crew. He'll look for problems, of course, but he'll also be doing what he can to help. My job will be reviewing your security protocols and supplementing the security you have in place. Give your people a chance to rest a bit while we do the heavy lifting so to speak."

"Very well," Abigail said quietly, picking up the PaDD and handing it back to Nikki. "I guess there's no point to delay you any longer, you may as well get straight to work. No offence, but the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll be done."

Nikki nodded, jaw tight, as she rose in a fluid move; she turned and walked out of the Captain's Ready Room at a measured pace that gave nothing away. In fact, it wasn't until she was in the turbolift and the doors were closed that she sighed and leaned back against the wall. By the time the door opened, she was all professional again as she headed for the next destination on her list where she would, no doubt, be equally unwelcome.