Meeting the Chief

Posted on Tue Apr 5th, 2022 @ 5:00am by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Ensign Hok

Mission: Character Development
Location: USS Athena, Security offices
Timeline: Between missions
1415 words - 2.8 OF Standard Post Measure

A long sigh escaped Zade's lips as she stared at the PADD in her hand of all the things she needed to get done, her other hand supporting her cheek as she sat in her office. Between planning for the upcoming mission and trying to resolve whatever the hell was going on in the department, she certainly had her hands full, even after assigning some of the workload to other people. It didn't really leave her time to familiarize herself with the ship, which she really wanted to do sooner than later.

"Yeah, this isn't working," she said out loud to nobody in particular, setting the PADD on the desk. Sitting and staring at something was not how she liked to work. Perhaps a walk would help. Standing, the Trill stretched for a moment before grabbing the PADD and heading for the office door. Maybe she could convince someone to join her so she could bounce ideas off them. She'd get to know another person in the department, familiarize herself with the ship, and think about her task list. Exiting her office, she looked around for someone she hadn't met yet to walk with her.

Hok's long journey from being a Ferengi seeking profit, to a man being hunted by criminals for something he didn't know or do, to the desperation of running to the Hewmons and Starfleet to protect him, had led him to the Athena after graduation. He had come over on a shuttle at the end of some sort of medical emergency mission, but he hadn't been part of that. Now that things were moving forward, he was reporting to the main security center. As he walked past the chief's office, he bumped into someone.

"Oh! Excuse me. I didn't see you there."

Luckily the doors to her office closed, otherwise Zade might have fallen back into the cramped room. Instead, the collision made her bump into the door. Looking to see who bumped her, she recognized the Ferengi who came with the team from the Colossal. "It's alright, nobody's hurt," she said with a small smile. While they never directly worked together, he was one of the few Ferengi that made it into Starfleet, so she was at least aware of his presence. "Ensign Hok, right? Zade," she introduced herself, offering a hand to shake. "I was just about to take a stroll around the ship, if you wish to join me."

Of course Hok collided with his department head. She seemed to be okay, so he didn't bring more attention to it.

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Ensign Hok. It's good to be aboard." He waited for her to begin their walk.

"Well, welcome aboard." Zade let her smile get a little bigger, glad that she found someone to walk with, and headed for the exit to the offices. "If I recall correctly, you recently graduated from the Academy, is that right?" She had skimmed his profile, but all she really knew immediately was that he was a recent graduate and that his first official posting was to this ship. "Is Instructor Valera still his usual stick-in-the-mud self?"

"Yes, ma'am, This is my first assignment after graduation." Hok didn't know what to make of the question about Instructor Valera, so he gave a diplomatic answer. "I learned a lot from Valera."

Zade bobbed her head a little, as if she were debating something. "He does have an extraordinary wealth of knowledge," she ultimately commented. Personally, she found his teaching style to be somewhat dated, but he knew how to drill in concepts. "Did you have a focus? Something you excelled at, or just enjoyed,...?" The question trailed off, suggesting that it was pretty open to interpretation. She wanted to see where his strengths were, partly out of curiosity and partly to help integrate him into the department.

"Before I left home, I worked in private security," said Hok. "To be the best, I learned as much as I could. Unarmed combat. Weapons. Whatever I could find. My favorite discipline is the Vulcan martial arts.." He chuckled. "The order and skill involved attracted me. Of course, as Valera taught, working in security is more diplomacy than muscle. If a situation ends in some kind of violence, you probably did something wrong."

Nodding slowly, the Trill processed the response as she spotted the turbolift doors peek around the edge of the curved corridor. "You are right," she confirmed. "Vulcan martial arts... that one is still a challenge for me, so kudos. Anything you're hoping to learn or improve on?" Zade slowed her pace to eventually stop in front of the turbolift doors. Now with no risk of walking into someone, she looked over at the Ensign.

Learning the best way to earn profit off unsuspecting Starfleet officers, thought Hok, but he couldn't say that. "The best thing I can say, is I want to show people a different side of the Ferengi people. When a person looks at one of us, there's a typical presumption. We're more than just latinum." Hok smiled inwardly. He would need to remember that line for future references.

Zade nodded, recalling her own biases. In the very few times she had encountered a Ferengi, they were latinum-driven, which only enforced the stereotype. She could tell by the way Hok held himself that he probably wasn't like the Ferengi she had encountered before. "If anyone gives you a hard time with those presumptions, do let me know," she said, her eye catching the turbolift doors as they opened.

"I will, but I'll be fine," said Hok. "Part of being in Starfleet is working together with people that are different." He was beginning to lay it on a bit thick, so he needed to be careful.

Two people in teal uniforms exited the lift, and Zade waited until they were out of the way before entering, side-stepping to make room for Hok. While she had her own task list memorized, she still glanced at the PADD in her hand to look at something in particular. "You have the fresh Academy perspective," she began, the PADD returning to her side. "The Captain briefed me on the upcoming mission this morning, and the vagueness of what we're walking into concerns me. I'd appreciate your ideas, if you're open to sharing them?"

Hok smiled. "I'd love to help." He was genuinely glad to be included.

Giving a short nod, Zade slid her free hand into her pocket. "Really all I've been told is that we're coming up on an outpost that was used during the Dominion war, but shouldn't exist after the peace treaties were signed. I think it's reasonable to plan for a more hostile welcome, but with so little information, really anything could happen." A frown started to creep onto her expression as she thought for a moment. "The Captain made it sound like an away team would likely be sent to the outpost, which seems like a high risk, at least until we get more information on arrival. Thoughts?"

As long as Hok remained in the protection of Starfleet and working in security, he understood there would be times he would be thrust into dangerous situations. He just didn't expect that would happen his very first mission.

"You're right that we'll need more information," said Hok. "Since the outpost still exists after all this time, whoever is there knows how to avoid being detected. I think their defensive systems, whatever those are, would be set up to not draw attention from long-range scans if they needed to use them. It's also reasonable to say they'll see us coming, so they'll have all the advantages in the beginning." Hok shrugged. "That's what I think, but of course, it's just speculation."

"I agree completely," Zade confirmed, his words matching her speculations. "Speculation is really all we have to work with right now, unfortunately. Once we get within sensor range and can collect information, we should be able to rule out some ideas." She thought she had noticed a hint of something cross Hok's expression after she explained the mission, but it was far too brief for her to identify what it was. The turbolift came to a stop at deck 8, just one level from where they were before, and Zade exited once the doors opened. It sucked to play the waiting game, but there was only so much she -or anyone, for that matter- could do with the information they had.