All That Glitters Is Not Gold

Posted on Sun Sep 17th, 2023 @ 5:09pm by Commander Steven Greco & Lieutenant Dashku Zhevou

1,855 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Year One: Whispers in the Wind
Location: USS Moore - Bridge
Timeline: MD 008 - 0830 hrs

Dashku stepped onto the turbolift of the USS Moore and took a deep breath as soon as the door closed behind her. She absentmindedly checked her uniform for likely the hundredth time just to make sure it was perfect. She double checked the braid in her hair to make sure there were no issues and just like all the other times it was still perfect. She’d settled in her new room quickly, coming aboard for the first time had been fairly standard.

As soon as the turbolift doors opened, she’d be on the bridge of her new assignment. She had a mix of nervous and excited energy, causing butterflies in her stomach. She knew it would happen and it was why she skipped breakfast save for coffee. The lift even smelled like it was brand new, or maybe that was just the way it smelled on this ship?

The weight of the responsibility for the entire Operations department for the Moore, and she was going to have to live up to the work she’d done on her previous assignments. A half smile crossed her lips. The Moore was a newer technology wise, but her department was smaller than her tour on the Scarab but that just meant figuring out how to manage a starship with a smaller team.

When the computer beeped and said, “Please enter destination.”

Dashku let out a breath through her nose, she’d completely forgotten to tell the lift where to go.

“Bridge.”

There was a beep in response and the lift started to move towards the bridge of the ship. She couldn’t help but smile at the small error. She was going to be taking her bridge station for the first time as a department head.

The time it took to the bridge felt like an eternity, hear heart beat practically ringing in her ears with each passing moment. When the doors finally opened it revealed a bustle of activity, enlisted crew were trying to get final sign offs from officers. The bridge crew seeming to settle in to their various stations. She stood still for just a moment to drink in the entire scene.

Finally, once she’d taken it all in, she walked through the bridge and couldn’t help but feel like each step was on a cloud. A few people seemed to take note of her, but it felt like nothing more than a new crew member settling in. As she relieved the officer sitting at the ops station, the officer stepped a side and nodded to her.

“Welcome aboard, sir,” The young Andorian nodded, his antenna turning inward towards each other. “Nothing to report from previous shift.”

“Thank you ensign, you’re dismissed,” Dashku replied with a slight nod. “I’ll see you at our first department wide meeting.”

“Yes, sir,” The ensign nodded before departing.

As she turned to look at the console before her, she took in every detail. The bright accent coloring, the layout of the controls themselves and all of the various systems that the ensign had been monitoring. It was a much nicer layout than the Akira class ship. The ship’s systems were the easy part. It would be managing her department and working with the rest of the command crew that would be her next challenge and she was truly looking forward to it.

Steve looked up from the report he was reviewing from where he sat at Conn. He noticed the newest arrival to the crew. How could he not. Putting his PaDD to the side he stood and worked his way down to the Operations station. “Lieutenant, I’m Commander Greco. Welcome aboard the Moore.” He offered with a friendly smile and hand to greet her. “I trust your trip here was pleasant enough.”

Dashku turned to the commander, recognizing him from his personnel file. She'd done a little homework before coming aboard to get to know who she would be working with and for. She stood up to show respect, taking a second to size him up. A little taller than her, but not by much, which made him a taller than average human.

"It's good to finally meet you Commander," She replied, taking his hand and giving it a firm shake. "I'm happy to be aboard the Moore. Most advanced ship I've served on to date."

Steve gave a soft chuckle and nodded in agreement, eyeing around the bridge. “Same for me. I’ve been stuck on Miranda class most of my career. It’s nice to be brought into the modern world.” He commented before gesturing his head towards the door to the ready room. “Come on, I think it’s time you met the Captain. Have you ever served under a Vulcan?” He asked curiously as they walked over to the door.

"No, so that's going to be a new experience for me," Dashku answered him, once they'd arrived at the Captain's door. "I've served with Vulcans, they tend to dismiss me as an overly aggressive Orion. As for ships, if we're not counting my Dad's fishing trawler and a civvie ship, I've been on a California class and an Akira class."

Steve simply nodded in agreement as he went to press the chime to the captain's ready room. "They still making Californians?" He asked good naturedly but nodded at the thought of the other ship the lieutenant served on as they waited. "I've always been a fan of the Akira class myself. If I am ever lucky enough to earn a command, that would be the ship I'd hoping for.

Stryvek strode out of his Ready Room and headed for the Command chair. The effects of the Pon Faar and aftermath had worn off and he was himself again. "Commander please report. Any news from the convoy?" He asked as he began to read through departmental reports from a PADD that Petty Officer Hirano handed him.

"The Californias are..." Dashku started but was cut off when the Captain walked out of his ready room, right by them and headed for his chair. She arched one of her brows and looked over at the Commander, questioning if that was normal. "I'll take my station, sir."

Greco gave Dashku a similar curious expression before turning to the captain. “Just wait a minute.” He said quietly to the new arrival before turning his attention more fully on the Captain. “Sir, our new chief operations officer has arrived. I thought you’d like a formal introduction.” He said perplexed. Steve tried not to be, but he was protective of Operations as a bridge station. He spent most of his career as an Ops officer and it wasn’t as exciting as tactical or helm, but was just as important in a crisis. He didn’t he care if she was Orion or Andorian or anything in between.

"Of course XO. The traditions must be observed." Very often Stryvek's lack of emotion causes him to forget that he could inadvertently hurt someone's feelings. He rose from the chair and made his way to the Operations console. "Good morning Lieutenant. Welcome to the Moore."

She pursed her lips for a moment and glanced at the XO again, before looking at the Captain. This was going to be an interesting assignment, she could only hope she could adapt to a Vulcan captain. "Thank you, sir. I look forward to serving on the Moore."

Steve bit back his annoyance and sighed at the situation. He had been on the planet for several days, but thought that the Captain would have a better reaction to seeing a new crew member than most. Greco was starting to see the similarities between the Vulcan and El-Aurian. Taking a step down towards Ops, he turned towards Dashku. "Several of us get together after our shift in the lounge, the DMZ. It's a good place to unwind. You are always welcome to join us." He said with soft tone and warm smile. It was Steve's job as First Officer to see to crew morale, he was determined to do his best to make the Orion as comfortable as possible.

"No need to conceal your gatherings XO. I believe it to be in everyone's best interest to blow off steam as the human expression goes. Now, Lieutenant according to your record you excel at coordination. That is a skill that we will need should we go to multi vector assault mode." The Vulcan Captain stood with his hands behind his back as he spoke.

Dashku had never really liked Vulcans, their robotic nature and the fact that they denied themselves simple pleasures never made much sense to her. She also didn't see that the XO was trying to conceal what was done off hours, but he was the Captain and she wasn't going to question it. Perhaps there was more of a dynamic at play between the two of them that she wasn't picking up on. As she settled back at the Ops station, she turned to talk to the two of them.

"I will check it out once I'm off duty," She said to Steve. "Yes, sir. It's one of the reasons why Operations was a natural fit for me."

"Excellent, I would like to hear your ideas on the possibility of transferring power between the sections of the ship while in multi vector assault mode. It is something that has been thought about since the Prometheus Class was designed and yet not something that has been completed." Stryvek thought that if they could crack this flaw in the ship's operations they would be very close to unstoppable.

Steve nodded in agreement with the captain’s sentiment. “Yes, it will be most interesting to see your proposals. The Engineering Corps has been working on the problem for years and can’t find a practical solution. But, you have a crack team under you in the department. I’m sure you’ll come up with some great ideas.” Steve gave another friendly smile to the Orion. “Again, welcome aboard, Lieutenant.” He offered before heading back up to his station.

Dashku couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped her throat, she was quick to clamp it down. These two wanted her to solve a problem that all the engineers in Starfleet couldn't. It had to be a joke, save for the fact that Vulcans didn't know what a sense of humor was. She finally gave her head a slight shake, her braided ponytail moving back and forth.

"I'll look into the problem, sirs."

"Thank you Lieutenant. I am sure you will accomplish great things here. Now if you would excuse me." Stryvek said before he returned to the center chair and sat down. His original PADD returned to his hand as he set about his work for the day.

"This is going to be an interesting ship," Dashku said quietly, it was more to herself but she was pretty sure they both heard her. Steve being close by and the Captain's Vulcan ears. It was also a part of who she was.

 

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