A New Page

Posted on 06/08/2020 @ 9:08pm by Captain Cian D'Anvers
Edited on on 06/10/2020 @ 4:16pm

Mission: S1E3: Visit to Starbase 375
Location: Deep Space 20 | Bookstore
Timeline: Day 2 at 0800

'Oh I just saw him pass by' they said. 'He was just around here somewhere' another said. 'Check out the bookstore on the promenade' another added thought Lieutenant Jodon Joral as he had been scurrying about Deep Space 20 for approximately a half an Earth hour. Thirty minutes of being told that Commander D'Anvers was aboard the station...somewhere. The problem was nobody seemed to have a lock on his current whereabouts or they thought they remembered seeing him somewhere, but when Jodon got there, the Captain was nowhere in sight.

When the USS Crazy Horse arrived at the space station, Jodon had excitedly rolled out of the bed in his guest quarters and. He had been sidetracked by everything else and needed to get X, Y, and Z in order before tracking down the Captain. Now he had it. He had it all. His medical records were ready to be sent to the Chief Medical Officer and Jodon had the PaDD with his official orders to report downloaded and queued up.

The young Trill ascended the metallic spiral staircase and looked left. He looked right. "Hell yeah," he said aloud though over the noise of the promenade it was muffled. He saw the bookstore which reminded him he had not actually replaced that one book Grax had ruined during his Freshmen year at the academy. I wonder if they would have a copy he thought, getting sidetracked and being swept away in nostalgia.

Then, he saw him. The Captain of the USS Crazy Horse exiting the book store and heading down the catwalk of the promenade, on a course that was away from where Jodon was. The Trill immediately laid in a pursuit course and increased his pace to a brisk walk. "Captain, please wait up" he called out to the man. It was apparently loud enough to make the man pause at least just enough for Jodon to catch up.

Immediately, Jodon reached for half the stack of books the Captain had been playing a fascinating juggling match of kal-toh with. "Let me just take some of these off your hands for a bit," Jodon said with a warm smile that was soon obscured by a stack of books. He began reading off the titles from the spines of the books. "Oooh, these are neat. Where are we going with them, Cap?" asked the Trill.

Cian's first thought was to take the books back but well, there were a lot of them and Meital wasn't going to wait forever. Still, being who he was, the questions stacked up neatly in his mind waiting their turn. "End of this corridor, make a right and then a quick left. There's a small restaurant where I'm meeting an old friend. My turn. Who are you and why do you want to carry my books?"

Jodon nodded though it was unnoticed behind the books. He was not exactly the tallest humanoid. A bit on the tall side had be been a Ferengi, but he was fortunately graced with spots all along his anatomy and not terrible dental hygiene and large ears. "Jodon Joral, Cap" replied the lieutenant. "Lieutenant Jodon Joral, but please feel free to call me J.J. if you want" he responded as he followed Cian's lead to their destination. "What was it like serving aboard the Zheng He and then later on being the Captain of it?"

"The name sounds familiar," Cian mused as he adjusted his longer stride to match. This end of the shopping area was given over to open-fronted businesses; he worked his way through a riotous blend of civilian and Starfleet personnel, past colorful displays where hawkers stood waiting to entice the unwary inside. Memories, dust-covered in their neglect, surfaced in his mind and he found himself smiling. "Your assigned to the Crazy Horse," he said after a moment. "Othran's replacement?"

The Trill was pleased to hear that the Captain was already made aware of his assignment and Lieutenant Commander Othran's sudden departure. This was rather last minute for J.J. and he himself was still soaking in everything. "Yes, Cap that's exactly right" replied J.J. "They told me to get over here to DS20 and wait for the Crazy Horse. Thought it was going to be another Science posting, but when I got further clarification I was surprised to see it was for First Officer."

"It's been a day for surprise and change," Cian said as they reached the end of the corridor and made the first turn. "It seems I've had two of my officers poached over the last couple of days." One corner of his mouth quirked upward slightly as he added, "I'm thinking the best way to protect my crew is keep them far from Starfleet installations though I suppose a ragtag procession of shuttles trailing my movements would not be beyond the reach of Admirals and the like."

J.J. chuckled at the mental image cleverly painted by Cian. "Starfleet has that tendency especially right now. They aren't afraid to yank people off an assignment and reallocate them somewhere of 'more importance's if it so suits them" replied the Trill. "I'm sorry to hear the Crazy Horse has been finding itself poached of personnel. Hopefully, they leave us with at least a few good men."

"We've a good crew for the most part though there's at least a few new crew members that still have to learn how to behave," Cian said. "Some of that will fall on your shoulders."

The Trill smiled though the thought of some crew needing to learn to behave on a Federation starship. "I will make sure that I keep an eye on that, Cap" replied J.J. "Personnel matters and crew behavior does rest on my shoulders. Is there any certain individual that is problematic?"

"New transfer," Cian said as they made the second turn. "Alexander Cash. Supposedly the new Chief of Engineering. He and his 'team' reported for duty drunk in a shuttle that looks more like the scene of one of those graduation parties. You know the ones that go on for days?" Cian's walk slowed as they neared an out of the way cafe. "That will be our biggest challenge."

J.J. nearly choked on the air he breathed in. "Seriously?! You have a Chief Engineer who reported for duty intoxicated? I will definitely keep my eyes on that one then" replied the Trill. "I see this will be an interesting assignment."

"Him and the enlisted personnel that he claims as his 'team', "Cian said. "But more on that later." He nodded toward a Starfleet Captain sitting at a table with an expectant grin on his face and two crates at his feet, one empty and one very full. "I have an appointment to keep. You're welcome to join me if you like."

"Oh I'll leave you to your business, Captain" J.J. replied. "Though formalities and all. Hi, Lieutenant Jodon Joral reporting for duty, Sir" J.J. added. "Now, I'll get to work on personnel matters."

"Welcome aboard the Crazy Horse," Cian said with a wry chuckle, "so to speak."

"Thank you, Sir. I look forward to the crazy ride."

A Post by:

Commander Cian D'Anvers
Commanding Officer
USS Crazy Horse

and

Lieutenant Jodon Joral
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse