Incommunicado – A Meeting of Minds
by Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
OOC:
FYI: This post will directly follow on from a forthcoming post between Relma and Capt. Tahir.
When we come to SD58 if anyone would like to put an NPC in the Operations department (or have their pre-existing NPC present) for the departmental meeting please drop me an e-mail (morseybaby7@gmail.com) or PM me on the site. I'll send a mail out on the OOC list when I start it as well. Thanks, Moose.
ON:
Still carrying his belongings, and an increasingly tetchy Jolan, Relma proceeded through the corridors of the command level until he came to the quartermaster's office. Pausing only to softly clear his throat and straighten his collar he pressed the door chime. He had never dealt with a J'naii before and was far from sure what to expect exactly. In comparison to most of the officer class of Starfleet Relma was always a little slower to accept other cultures, but he would, of course, do his best.
Petro looked up from her computer, still entering the data that had been gathered on their little shuttle excursion while addressing requests for supplies and inventory assessments. She had thought that she would be working solely as the communications officer, but since she was the one with the most experience and no one else had been assigned the task, she also served at the quartermaster. It didn't bother her at all and having the closed office was a nice diversion from the open area of the Communications station. Still, it was a lot of work and took up quite a bit of her time.
"Enter," she said in response to the chime. "How can I help you?"
Moving into the office, Relma looked around. At the desk was sat a small figure, recognisably J'naii, but there was something different about them. Although the answer was fairly obvious it did not come very easily to Relma, trying as hard as he could not to make it obvious he was trying to work it out. Approaching the desk, Relma offered his right hand and said "Lieutenant Petro, I presume? I'm Chief Relma: I've just been assigned as the Chief Operations Officer here and I thought I'd introduce myself. Nice to meet you."
He had barely finished speaking when from his back there emerged a wistful meow. Kneeling down he swung the carrier off his back and took out the small animal. "And this is Jolan, who's a little grumpy I'm afraid because he's been in that carrier for the better part of an hour." He said, clutching the cat to his chest.
Petro accepted the offered hand. "Felines don't like being trapped," she said, "A pleasure to meet you. Have you had your quarters assigned yet?"
Shaking hands he noted that Petro's was much softer than he would have expected and that the hand-shake itself was slightly weaker. "Indeed not." Relma replied, smiling as he stroked the cat's head reassuringly, "I'm afraid not so far, Lieutenant. Thanks to the communications difficulties I think the first thing anyone knew about my arrival was when I showed up. Captain Tahir mentioned you had been investigating the trouble: have you made any progress?"
"That depends on how you would define progress." Petro replied, already looking into quarter assignments. "Right now we're no closer to a resolution than we were a few hours ago, but the investigation continues. Is this your first time at Deep Space Five?"
"Indeed - my first time on a Celestial class as it happens." Relma replied "It's certainly very big." He was about to continue when Jolan started trying to escape his hold so he knelt back down and put the animal back in the carrier. "Regarding the situation: I understand you operate as both Quartermaster and Chief Communications Officer: if you need to pass over some of the Quartermaster roles while you're working on this situation I more than understand. Bureaucracy and organisation, I'm afraid, is not one of my strong suits, but I'm sure the rest of the department and I will be able to muddle through for now. And, as another department head, I offer you all the resources of Operations should you need them."
Petro smiled, "I appreciate that." She continued typing in her console. "Deck 35, Suite 28." She looked up at the Bajoran. "Chief Operations Officer. Even the title sounds busy."
Relma replied, while still attempting to keep the precocious little furball in the cage happy, "No problem. I'll swap busy - especially if it's a full maintenance schedule - for bureaucracy any day, Lieutenant, I have no idea how you manage it. As much as I'd love to stay and help out just now: I think I better get this one into quarters before he gets mutinous."
The semi-voluptuous j'naii laughed. "I understand. Do you need any assistance locating your quarters."
Meryn shook his head - both as a way of declining her offer and to try to hide the look of surprise which had spread over his face: the laugh had made him realise what he had not been able to previously; that this J'naii, far from being gender neutral, had taken on a feminine persona. A normal officer would probably have had far fewer difficulties realising such a thing and accepting it, but Meryn wasn't at all sure what to make of it: he'd mentally prepared himself for working with a J'naii, but a normal one. Should he act any differently around the Lieutenant as a result, or should he treat her as any other woman. Despite his quandry he regained his composure after a moment and smiling answered "Thank you for the offer, Lieutenant, but if I could find my way around the Cardassian monstrosity that is DS9 I'm sure I'll be able to manage this. Plus I'm sure you have far more important things to be doing." He reached down to pick up Jolan's carrier and put it back over his shoulder and added "Oh, actually, Lieutenant, before I go. I don't suppose you could do me a favour and call a departmental meeting at 0730 tomorrow? Anyone, including yourself, working on the communications problem would be excused, but I would like the chance to get to meet most of the department."
"I believe I can do that for you. 0730 tomorrow," she said, notating the information. "What location?"
"Errrr..." Began the Bajoran "where would you suggest, Lieutenant? I'm afraid I've not yet had the chance to fully acquaint myself with the facilities here. For one thing... I don't even know if I have an office or anything like that."
"Main Operations." Petro said, pointing across the ring from her office. "You have a small office over there. I think the best place for the meeting might be the Senior Officers' Conference Room on Deck 14."
Relma nodded and, readjusting the bags on his shoulders, replied "Excellent. Thank you so much for that, Lieutenant. I'll get out of your way for now. A pleasure meeting you and I look forward to working alongside you."
"Likewise." Petro replied. "There are several shops on the main promenade where you can find some delicious treats for you feline too. Depending on what she likes."
Relma smiled "Thank you very much, Lieutenant. Daft little fella's been much better than expected - so maybe he deserves something. I'll be sure to have a look. Much appreciated and I wish you luck with the rest of your day." He turned and headed for the door "And as I said: if there's anything you need please don't hesitate to ask." With that he exited the office and made for the nearest turbolift.
Petro watched the Chief leave, the feline on his back. She had never had a pet before and wondered what it would be like. She wondered for a moment if Rakka had ever had a pet before. She'd have to remember to ask.
OFF:
Lieutenant JG Petro
Quartermaster / Chief Communications Officer
Chief Warrant Officer First Class Relma Meryn
Chief Operations Officer
(and Jolan, of course).
by Lieutenant JG Petro
Post Details
| Title | A Meeting of Minds | |
| Mission | Incommunicado | |
| Author(s) | Lieutenant JG Petro | |
| Posted | Sat Jun 02, 2012 @ 10:05pm | |
| Location | Quartermaster's Office, Deck 12 | |
| Timeline | SD 57, 1645 hours (Following "Order-gram for Tasha" - forthcoming) | |
| Tag | Anyone wanting an Operations NPC. |
FYI: This post will directly follow on from a forthcoming post between Relma and Capt. Tahir.
When we come to SD58 if anyone would like to put an NPC in the Operations department (or have their pre-existing NPC present) for the departmental meeting please drop me an e-mail (morseybaby7@gmail.com) or PM me on the site. I'll send a mail out on the OOC list when I start it as well. Thanks, Moose.
ON:
Still carrying his belongings, and an increasingly tetchy Jolan, Relma proceeded through the corridors of the command level until he came to the quartermaster's office. Pausing only to softly clear his throat and straighten his collar he pressed the door chime. He had never dealt with a J'naii before and was far from sure what to expect exactly. In comparison to most of the officer class of Starfleet Relma was always a little slower to accept other cultures, but he would, of course, do his best.
Petro looked up from her computer, still entering the data that had been gathered on their little shuttle excursion while addressing requests for supplies and inventory assessments. She had thought that she would be working solely as the communications officer, but since she was the one with the most experience and no one else had been assigned the task, she also served at the quartermaster. It didn't bother her at all and having the closed office was a nice diversion from the open area of the Communications station. Still, it was a lot of work and took up quite a bit of her time.
"Enter," she said in response to the chime. "How can I help you?"
Moving into the office, Relma looked around. At the desk was sat a small figure, recognisably J'naii, but there was something different about them. Although the answer was fairly obvious it did not come very easily to Relma, trying as hard as he could not to make it obvious he was trying to work it out. Approaching the desk, Relma offered his right hand and said "Lieutenant Petro, I presume? I'm Chief Relma: I've just been assigned as the Chief Operations Officer here and I thought I'd introduce myself. Nice to meet you."
He had barely finished speaking when from his back there emerged a wistful meow. Kneeling down he swung the carrier off his back and took out the small animal. "And this is Jolan, who's a little grumpy I'm afraid because he's been in that carrier for the better part of an hour." He said, clutching the cat to his chest.
Petro accepted the offered hand. "Felines don't like being trapped," she said, "A pleasure to meet you. Have you had your quarters assigned yet?"
Shaking hands he noted that Petro's was much softer than he would have expected and that the hand-shake itself was slightly weaker. "Indeed not." Relma replied, smiling as he stroked the cat's head reassuringly, "I'm afraid not so far, Lieutenant. Thanks to the communications difficulties I think the first thing anyone knew about my arrival was when I showed up. Captain Tahir mentioned you had been investigating the trouble: have you made any progress?"
"That depends on how you would define progress." Petro replied, already looking into quarter assignments. "Right now we're no closer to a resolution than we were a few hours ago, but the investigation continues. Is this your first time at Deep Space Five?"
"Indeed - my first time on a Celestial class as it happens." Relma replied "It's certainly very big." He was about to continue when Jolan started trying to escape his hold so he knelt back down and put the animal back in the carrier. "Regarding the situation: I understand you operate as both Quartermaster and Chief Communications Officer: if you need to pass over some of the Quartermaster roles while you're working on this situation I more than understand. Bureaucracy and organisation, I'm afraid, is not one of my strong suits, but I'm sure the rest of the department and I will be able to muddle through for now. And, as another department head, I offer you all the resources of Operations should you need them."
Petro smiled, "I appreciate that." She continued typing in her console. "Deck 35, Suite 28." She looked up at the Bajoran. "Chief Operations Officer. Even the title sounds busy."
Relma replied, while still attempting to keep the precocious little furball in the cage happy, "No problem. I'll swap busy - especially if it's a full maintenance schedule - for bureaucracy any day, Lieutenant, I have no idea how you manage it. As much as I'd love to stay and help out just now: I think I better get this one into quarters before he gets mutinous."
The semi-voluptuous j'naii laughed. "I understand. Do you need any assistance locating your quarters."
Meryn shook his head - both as a way of declining her offer and to try to hide the look of surprise which had spread over his face: the laugh had made him realise what he had not been able to previously; that this J'naii, far from being gender neutral, had taken on a feminine persona. A normal officer would probably have had far fewer difficulties realising such a thing and accepting it, but Meryn wasn't at all sure what to make of it: he'd mentally prepared himself for working with a J'naii, but a normal one. Should he act any differently around the Lieutenant as a result, or should he treat her as any other woman. Despite his quandry he regained his composure after a moment and smiling answered "Thank you for the offer, Lieutenant, but if I could find my way around the Cardassian monstrosity that is DS9 I'm sure I'll be able to manage this. Plus I'm sure you have far more important things to be doing." He reached down to pick up Jolan's carrier and put it back over his shoulder and added "Oh, actually, Lieutenant, before I go. I don't suppose you could do me a favour and call a departmental meeting at 0730 tomorrow? Anyone, including yourself, working on the communications problem would be excused, but I would like the chance to get to meet most of the department."
"I believe I can do that for you. 0730 tomorrow," she said, notating the information. "What location?"
"Errrr..." Began the Bajoran "where would you suggest, Lieutenant? I'm afraid I've not yet had the chance to fully acquaint myself with the facilities here. For one thing... I don't even know if I have an office or anything like that."
"Main Operations." Petro said, pointing across the ring from her office. "You have a small office over there. I think the best place for the meeting might be the Senior Officers' Conference Room on Deck 14."
Relma nodded and, readjusting the bags on his shoulders, replied "Excellent. Thank you so much for that, Lieutenant. I'll get out of your way for now. A pleasure meeting you and I look forward to working alongside you."
"Likewise." Petro replied. "There are several shops on the main promenade where you can find some delicious treats for you feline too. Depending on what she likes."
Relma smiled "Thank you very much, Lieutenant. Daft little fella's been much better than expected - so maybe he deserves something. I'll be sure to have a look. Much appreciated and I wish you luck with the rest of your day." He turned and headed for the door "And as I said: if there's anything you need please don't hesitate to ask." With that he exited the office and made for the nearest turbolift.
Petro watched the Chief leave, the feline on his back. She had never had a pet before and wondered what it would be like. She wondered for a moment if Rakka had ever had a pet before. She'd have to remember to ask.
OFF:
Lieutenant JG Petro
Quartermaster / Chief Communications Officer
Chief Warrant Officer First Class Relma Meryn
Chief Operations Officer
(and Jolan, of course).