The Ball of Plasma Meets the Brick Wall

Posted on Mon Sep 19th, 2022 @ 5:19pm by Lieutenant Commander P’rel M.D & Lieutenant JG Nayisa Wrea

Mission: Scylla and Charybdis
Location: Intel Offices
Timeline: Md1
1556 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Curiosity was one of the few emotions driving Nayisa as she eyed the chief's office from a nearby work station. Somehow, the chief had survived the events that led to her alleged death, and Nayisa didn't know the details but the Vulcan was up and about. Well, technically she was in her office, but she could be up and about. Nayisa knew she'd have to introduce herself eventually, but she also wanted to give P'Rel time to get back into things. 24 hours of recuperation should be enough time, I think, Nayisa mused, finishing up her report.

At least in her experience, there wasn't usually a lot of time to process between missions, and it wasn't uncommon for her peers to drive the last mission out of their minds. Doing one last read through the PaDD, Nayisa put on her cheerful smile as she strode up to the door of the office with a little hop in her step and pressed the chime.

Setting down the Avalon briefing uplink from Command, P’rel looked up at the door as if she could see through it, like looking at the door would somehow tell her who was on the other side. Not in the mood for unannounced visits at the best of times - this certainly not being the best of times -, the Vulcan inwardly grimaced at the prospect of Commander Savin coming to harass her into therapy, or Commander Keating come to share her feelings of their Rondac experience - or worse, Mr Saghir with some inane problem he was perfectly capable of solving. Sighing internally, she pressed the comm return button which had illuminated on her panel. “Yes?”.

Nayisa straightened a little and gave the door a smile, as if the Vulcan on the other side could see it. "I have a progress report ready for you, Lieutenant!" It was obvious that if there was some procedure to handing in reports, Nayisa was grossly unaware of it.

P'rel inwardly grimaced. This person sounded far, far too happy and enthusiastic. Assuming it was the new transferee, Ensign Wrea, the Vulcan officer wondered what in Vulcan's Forge she could possibly be reporting on. Wrea hadn't been given anything to do, and that meant she was using her initiative, and initiative meant enthusiasm; enthusiasm often led to surprises. Surprises were not pleasant. Pressing the door release, a grinning and - yep, she was right - regrettably enthusiastic young ensign appeared just barely on the other side of the threshold. "No thank you", she responded flatly, almost instantly closing the door again and wondering if Wrea would just leave.

No... thank you? Nayisa thought as the door shut as quickly as it had opened. It caught her by surprise, but then some type of resolve seemed to settle inside her. The number of grumps in their field was astounding, and she shouldn't be surprised to find at least three on any ship. She knew that her enthusiasm sometimes made her less credible, but it was a way of keeping her sanity. She sure as hell wasn't going to conform to the grumpy mindset just for her peers. Making up her mind, Nayisa pressed the chime again. "Lieutenant, you forgot to take the report," she said, keeping the same tone but toning down the enthusiasm in her visible expression.

Releasing the door once again, P'rel glared at the ensign and held our hand out to receive the PADD. "What is this a report on?" she asked, not bothering to conceal how much she didn't want the puppy-dog ensign bounding around her solitude at the moment.

When the door opened again, Nayisa stood a little straighter, and offered the PaDD to the open hand. Immediately picking up on the obvious nonverbal cue that she was bothering the Lieutenant, the silver-haired woman kept a respectable distance and made no assumptions that she was going to be invited in. "There was some bug that was making three work stations not function properly, but it got tracked down and fixed. I also had a handful of tasks come my way once word got out I was prescribed desk duty by the doctor. Turns out people don't like desk duty. I did a summary report of all the tasks, and wrote a more detailed report for each task. The tasks are ordered by time of completion, then alphabetically."

Unimpressed with the banality of the busy work, P'rel didn't even bother to look at the report. There was a problem, it was fixed, and she just didn't care beyond that. "I am unfamiliar with the recent transferees Ensign. Why are you on desk duty?" she asked, feeling a slight - very slight - twinge of pity for the officer,

"I was injured during my previous assignment," Nayisa responded. It was a simple response, but she got the impression that if P'Rel cared about the details, she'd go look it up herself or ask. With nothing in her hands now, she opted to rest them behind her back. "This ship's doctor suggested either desk duty or no duty so I can make a full recovery, and I'd much rather have something to do. I'd drive myself up the wall otherwise."

Sensing that this woman was likely to be on the staff for more than a fleeting few days, P’rel inwardly rehashed Kane’s advice about getting along….”I too find an absence of tasks….frustrating.” She conceded. “You were injured?” She probed. “Injuries in service often carry an assignment of blame. Where is the balance of blame in your case, ensign?”.

If it were anyone else, Nayisa would have laughed off the idea of her injuries being her own fault. But she knew that Vulcans tended to be serious in their questioning, and this was no different. It did look like P'Rel was at least trying to be cordial and strike a conversation. "If you want to get technical, Starfleet's," she responded with a shrug. "But the Pioneer got into a fight, and I was in the wrong place when a bulkhead gave."

P'rel arched a brow at such a statement; "I would imagine there isn't a right place to be when a bulkhead gives", she said, with a feeble attempt a humour.

A Vulcan... making a joke?? Nayisa was surprised but quickly recovered and gave P'Rel a grin, a sign that she fully intended to encourage this deviation from Vulcan philosophy. "There is a right place to be, it turns out: not in its path!"

Tilting her head slightly in acknowledgement, P'rel disinterestedly scanned the report on the PADD. "When will you be clear for field duty? I anticipate away missions during this operation".

Aaand back to Vulcan seriousness. Nayisa gave a slight pout at the transition, but didn't push it. "Ideally, three days," she answered, some disappointment evident in her voice. "With a risk of at least one of us getting an earful from the doctor, though, one day." She felt better now, but it had only been about 4 days, and Ki did say a week. Ugh, why did she have to be the one hit with a bulkhead? This desk work was boring.

"Well", P'rel began her reply. "I would assume that were I to irritate Doctor Ki by deploying you to field duty early, you would be able to make such a proverbial headache worth it. What is your specialism Ensign?" she asked, making a mental note that she would fully review the woman's file later.

Nayisa gave her a brief enthusiastic smile. While she knew to be careful and not overwork herself, breaking rules was one thing she never seemed to get away from. "I get in, get what I need, and leave. I'm flexible to the method of infiltration, but I prefer sneaking in and staying to the shadows. I specialize in programming and have yet to meet a computer I couldn't get into." It could be argued that she excelled at deception too, but Nayisa chose to keep that to herself. She expected deception to be implied given the job title.

Making a note to test the ensign on the qualities she purported to possess, P’rel allowed a brief smile. “Then I shall ask you to complete something more worthwhile than those tasks which you have been filling time…” she began, wondering if the young ensign would rise to the challenge she was about to set. “…Prepare two tactical infiltration plans, liaise with Lieutenant Zade if needed; one, assume the Avalon is found and under Romulan control, requiring recapture or destruction; two, the incapacitation of the Romulan vessel via infiltration and sabotage.”

Nayisa almost missed what P'Rel said because... yep, that indeed was a smile. From a Vulcan. 'Seeing a Vulcan smile' was definitely going in her brag book. It didn't matter that it was brief enough to miss if someone blinked, it happened and she saw it. The silver haired woman let her goofy smile return, partly because she finally had something worthwhile to do and partly because she witnessed a rare event. "Yes, ma'am!" She said, straightening herself. For a moment, Nayisa wanted to ask if her clearance was high enough to get certain information, but it was literally her job to get things. She'd find a way.