Starlust

Posted on 07/07/2021 @ 11:26am by Commander Noam Canterbury & Lieutenant Chester O'Hamlin MD

Mission: S4E1: Time to Fly
Location: Starbase
Timeline: Day 1 at 0000

Noam Canterberry had spent his morning on the Starbase going over personnel files with eagle eyes and a metaphysical pitchfork, unearthing problems left and right with certain individuals who were pending reassignment, some requesting to personally be assigned to the USS Albright, others just being pushed onto them by the normal hustle, bustle, and flow that was Starfleet. Lower deck officers and enlisted personnel that had not made a big enough splash for their department heads or their station or starship's command to put their foot down to keep them.

Though the Commander had yet to meet Captain Rassek, he wanted her to understand what she was getting in Noam as her First Officer. He was a stern man, one who had a history of being a bit of a foolhardy reckless boy, a man-child at times, but he had evolved from that. The hardships that he had faced in recent years propelled him forward on the command track. Noam had been a career tactical officer who transitioned to command, only to spend most of it as an investigator for the Inspector General's Office.

He had some starship command experience under his belt as Second Officer aboard the USS Kwan, but a Sabre class and Century class were quite a bit different from one another, and this would be his first posting as First Officer. He wanted his first impression to be a good one. So, there he was filtering through personnel files and already trying to line up the riff-raff. Some of the Albright's new personnel such as himself were on the Starbase waiting for their scheduled transport.

I see I am not the only member of the Senior Staff here the Commander thought to himself as he mulled over the personnel file of the USS Crazy Horse's former Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Chester O'Hamlin. The man was to be assigned to the USS Albright in the same capacity. Grabbing himself an Izarian cherry seltzer, he set off to search for this Doctor O'Hamlin, spending the next half an hour consulting starbase security personnel and the internal sensors locating the man.

When he finally caught up with the man, he did so with a casual clearing of his throat. "Doctor Chester O'Hamlin, just the man I have been looking for."

At the greeting, Chet’s expression changed from grumpy to cheerful, but his mood remained one of professional contentment. The commander had, of course, found Chet in the station’s medical bay, helping out where he could. Having no living family of whom he was aware and with all of his friends scattered throughout the galaxy at the moment, he didn’t have any reason to take much leave and had reported the the station’s chief medical officer after only two days.

“And you’ve found me, sir,” replied Chet cheerfully. “What can I do for you?”

Noam cleared his throat and stiffened his posture a bit. "Indulge me on some company for a while, Doctor?" Noam inquired, gesturing to a sitting area. "I'm Commander Canterbury, your First Officer aboard the Albright. I have been trying to locate anyone that is assigned to the Albright to get to know them a bit better. Reading personnel files although decent, it.isnt entirely effective. I want to know more about the Senior Staff in particular. You just happened to be easier to track down."

“Having no family and few friends makes one fairly predictable,” agreed Chet with a grin as he sat across from the Commander. “Oh, can I get you anything? There’s real coffee, if you like that sort of thing.”

"I yield to you, Sir," he replied to Chet with a nod. "A man of fellow circumstances and understanding? I haven't a family either. I dare say it has probably made me a bit predictable as well." Noam turned up his nose at the offer of coffee. "Coffee," he said shaking his head. "Not my poison of choice though if I need to pull some long hours, the devil may tempt me so."

Chet grinned as he rose to collect a cup for himself. "I think there's real tea around here someplace, too," he offered. "Or the replicator, obviously, for anything else."

The Commander nodded. "To each their own, but I could never get used to coffee. Tea, on the other hand, I have not met too many of those that I have not been fond of." Noam joined Chet to grab a cup. "I have been reviewing personnel files for the Albright. You are not the only one being snagged from the previous Crazy Horse crew. What was that starship like?"

"Efficient," answered Chet. "And comfortable. I wasn't on it for a very long time. Long enough to know it was a good place to work, but that's about it."

"I understand," replied Noam. He was not the type in his previous line of work to get close with a crew. Being First Officer, however, he would have to rectify that. "I value the work you do, Doctor. Finding a good physician for a starship is not an easy task. It will be good for some of your previous shipmates to see you aboard as well."

“I sure hope so,” Chet agreed. “As a doctor, it’s important to instill confidence in one’s patients. And in this case, the patients are also my shipmates. Theoretically, it would carry over. But that’s strictly theoretically, of course. Who can say if it actually works that way except for maybe other doctors on other ships.”

Commander Noam Canterbury nodded. "Nevertheless, your medical experience and expertise will be an asset to the starship. We are primarily a scientific vessel through exploration and diplomacy will come about from time to time. Ideally, we won't see much combat, but we know how that goes."

"There's always somebody to start something isn't there?" agreed Chet. "And even if not, science is fraught with injury. Exploratory science doubly so."

Noam had to agree with that statement. "There always is, even during times of peace. Thank you for the company Doctor, and for letting me pick your brain a bit about the Crazy Horse," Commander Canterbury added as he prepared to go on about his day.

"Any time, sir," replied Chet. "Unless I'm in the middle of an emergency or something. But I'm sure that goes without saying. Dunno why I said it, really."

"Thank you, Doctor, I'll be sure to take you up on that" Noam replied. He felt there was a bit of a kindred spirit with Chet, an avenue worth exploring. He would need friends, but more so allies aboard.