Rush assignment

Posted on Fri Mar 26th, 2021 @ 9:12am by Petty Officer 1st Class Alexa Williams

Mission: By Artemis' Bow
Location: Shuttlebay one, USS Athena
1237 words - 2.5 OF Standard Post Measure

The shuttle pod landed in the bay, it had barely touched down when the off ramp started to open, someone was clearly chomping at the bit to get off and embark onto the Athena. As the large door folded down, it revealed a dark-skinned woman in a loose-fitting tank top over a sportsbra topping grey cargo jeans. She had a backpack and a guitar case over her shoulder, a sports bag in her hand and what seemed to be a custom phaser rifle in the other.

As she descended the ramp the backpack started to slip, she tried to readjust but could keep it from falling off into her elbow making her stumble but not quite fall. The awkward motion made her drop her sports bag, "well shit." She immediately looked around to see if nobody saw her awkward entrance.

"It's okay, nobody saw you," a little voice whispered conspiratorially. Peering out over the large PADD in her hand, Alexa grinned. "I think I did exactly that same thing when I arrived too. It's maybe a rite of passage now. Oh - I'm Alexa Williams, Captain's Yeoman. You must be Lieutenant Kayrah?"

"And I know how to make a great first impression," Kayrah came to a stop in front of the yeoman, "the man himself too busy?" she then leaned in and added in a conspirational tone, "or too self-important?" she added a wink just for good measure. She had been on many short term assignments and for most of them the first time she saw the CO was during a dull briefing or on the bridge on her first shift.

"Oh he's got lots going on for sure, but I bet he'll be happy to meet you!" Alexa gushed. "I'm here to do the formal bits, making sure you got aboard before we departed, knew where your quarters are, that sort of thing. Apparently, I'm a lot more people-friendly than the Captain, but I think he's okay."

There was a slight frown from Kayrah, "My wife is a lot more of a people person as well, but I'd like to think I hold my own," she looked around the shuttle bay as they made their way over to the corridors, "My quarters would be somewhere around deck three I believe." She had read up quickly on the Prometheus class on her way over, she liked being prepared. But there was a lot more to prepare for with the possibilities that MVAM offered in regards to tactical advantage.

"Yes, that's right!" Alexa was a little surprised, but went with the flow. "Senior officers quarters are all around the same area. I believe the marine detachment section was repurposed for the onboard security teams, though."

"More people under my watchful eye, I'm not sure Starfleet would've assigned me here, had they known." Kayrah smiled a bit deviously, as if Starfleet didn't know her capabilities and limitations. She was just someone they could easily assign to a short term position, she'd be happy to fulfil that and then return home to her family back on Risa, "so when would I meet with the Captain? I've found the command team always likes to meet new senior staff quickly. Get their ducks in a row." She waved the PADD at the petty officer, "We also need to get aligned on the mission profile."

"In a rush?" the young Yeoman asked. "Don't worry, the Captain is definitely going to need to speak to his new Chief of Security. But I'm sure he'd want you to be settled-in first. Get to know your staff, unpack and everything."

"Always," Kayrah remarked, "he seems more patient than most COs I've worked for." As she came to the turbo-lift she leaned in and in a conspirational tone added, "what about the rest of the command staff? Is the XO any good?"

Alexa giggled a little. "The XO is fine. She's nicer than the Captain, that's for sure! Most of the crew are. Though...I heard some funny things about the Intelligence Officer. Maybe stay clear of that one for a while."

"Noted," Kayrah was definitely going to dig into the intell officer more. There was always a reason for such rumours, even though most of them amounted to nothing, "any other senior officers I should steer clear off? or cosy up to?" It was always good to have a bit of a heart to heart with one of the enlisted at the start of an assignment, get some of the surface layer gossip, "neurotic Engineers I should talk to only on Tuesdays, or scatterbrained Ops people I should remind of requisitions early and often?"

"Tick, and tick," Alexa grinned. "Add one mad scientist Chief Science officer and you've pretty much described the senior staff. Oh, but I hear the new helm officer is nice. She's only just arrived too - maybe you'll have something in common?"

"At the very least we could share notes on how to deal with our colleagues," Kayrah appreciated that Alexa was quite open about this and that she was able to point her in the right direction of someone else in a similar situation as her. She made a mental note to seek out the Chief Flight Control as they stepped into the turbolift, "Did you experience the Multi-vector thing yet?"

"Oh yeah! It's pretty scary the first time, but after that it becomes pretty normal." Alexa bounced as she walked and talked excitedly. "Have you been on a lot of ships that could separate like that before?"

"Served a stint on a Galaxy-class, never separated it during my assignment," Kayrah shook her head a bit, "not a Prometheus before," She thought about it for a moment as the turbo-lift made its way to the right deck, "Was on an Akira with a Fighter Squadron, I guess it gives you the same kind of tactical advantages." It was clear that she was excited about the possibilities of the Prometheus' MVAM.

"Probably," Alexa nodded, but waved the big PADD in her hand. "I'm not usually thinking about that though. As Captain's Yeoman I mainly just bring him the reports and the occasional cup of coffee. It's not as glamorous as getting to fire torpedoes."

"It's mostly a lot of sitting around, waiting for the Captain to give the order, you know Starfleet, they love to talk and talk and talk," Kayrah said with a wink before stepping out of the turbo-lift that had come to a halt at the indicated deck, "not much room for blowing stuff up. Most of my days are filled with giving junior officers a stern talking to when they hit each other in a fit of cabin fever." It was exactly the way she liked it.

"Huh. Still, even that sounds like it might be a little fun every now and then," Alexa grinned.

"Next time I'll make sure to call you over when the talking to takes place," Kayrah smiled as she noticed Alexa slowing down and coming to a halt in front of a door leading to quarters, "so I guess this is me then." She adjusted the bags over her shoulders and put out a hand to shake the Yeoman's hand, "thank you for your warm welcome, miss Williams."

"Likewise!" Alexa bounced on her tiptoes a moment, shaking the hand and then offering a bubbly wave and half-skipping back down the corridor.