The Ambassador, Day and Mishka Excerpt

Posted on Tue Feb 18th, 2020 @ 1:37am by Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Day Smith

1,742 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Aftermath and Downtime
Location: SB80 - Deck 980 - Reception Lounge 15
Timeline: MD004: 20:15 hrs

This interaction takes place during the events in The Ambassador

"Lieutenant Day Smith," the Chief of Operations introduced herself to the stranger, "I will make sure to try them." She turned to face the lieutenant junior grade, "Are you assigned to the Valiant?" She had not seen the officer before, and she would've imagined they would've stood out to her.

The bear actually colored slightly as she dipped her head, "I. Oh. I am Lieutenant, Junior....well you know that," the bear sighed, "There. I screwed up introducing myself to a senior officer. And, no I am currently unassigned but was detailed here as, according to the officer I spoke to, the only member of the Sodeskaian race on the station."

Day's eyebrows furrowed slightly, a superior officer. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder just long enough to realise that the Sodeskaian meant her, "Could have been way worse." She tipped the drink in Mishka's direction, "Do you have control over that?" immediately intrigued by the shifting colour.

The bear's coloration turned a shade redder and her shoulders slumped a bit. "Oh, I wish I could control it. Believe me," the JG confided. "It's just one more thing that makes me different at home." The bear glanced around the room and gave the operations officer a ghost of a wink, "Luckily, most people don't put it together as, what some races would call a blush." The bear just about kicked at the floor as she took a brief gulp from her glass and said, "You have no idea what it's like to feel so awkward sometimes."

Day reached out her hand and gave the junior grade Lieutenant a pat on her shoulder, it was a bit stiff and mechanical but the gesture was there all the same, "I might," She pulled back her implanted hand, hoping it wouldn't make the other woman feel awkward. She knew the remains of her Borg tech put people ill at ease, "we all have our own insecurities Lieutenant Ru'fallo."

Mishka's smiled at the contact and her eyes found Day's hand and the implant. Quizzical eyes found the Operation's officers and she asked, "Interesting tech. Borg?" The bear nearly reached out to take the Op's officer's hand, then caught herself.

The sudden movement made Day jerk her hand back as well. Only then did the words register, she was interested? Not the normal response she'd get, "Yes." She said almost in a whisper, as if embarrassed by the admission.

After taking in Day's movement, then reaction the Sodeskaian smiled slightly, "No offense. It's comforting to see, really. The Collective are used as children's cautionary tales amongst my people. And of course history is what it is. But seeing someone like yourself here. In Starfleet does much to take that fear away." The bear grinned, "I am defiantly going to tell my Babushka about this!"

"I would advise against it." Day her eyes turned away somberly. The rehabilitation process had been long and painful, both emotionally and physically. She wouldn't wish that on anyone. "We should all remain very cautious of the Borg. They are still out there. Their pursuit of perfection unrelenting."

"Of course they are," the bear chuckled. "However, it is no good being so frightened you cannot act. This is why I chose security over engineering. To see what other threats are out there and protect everyone." The bear colored again slightly at what she took as bold words. "You say you're with Valiant? Defiant class right? I heard something about her..."

In truth Day didn't want to think about how she'd react if ever faced with the Borg again. Being so frightened that it became impossible to act was certainly high on the list of possibilities, "Oh?" She wondered what about the Valiant could've been so interesting that it had reached fleet personnel on Starbase 80.

Mishka nodded, her coloring turning back to a sunburned cinnamon and her eyes thoughtful. "Well, I'm in the replacement officer pool, though the station security chief mentioned trying to get me on permanent. I'd rather be aboard a starship. You all had that security alert go through when the bombing was happening. Then had one of your crew get snatched and you had to go get them. " The bear had a very curious look on her gold/brown eyes now. "Sounds like you all stay busy. How's she to serve aboard?"

The entire thing was a bit much to process for Day, it also reminded her of the way she had trodden on some toes in her own department, "The crew is pleasant. We are few in number, that makes us closer. More reliant on each other." It didn't quite seem like Day's own words as she spoke them.

Mishra nodded, her ears perking slightly as she seemed to be warming to an idea. "What about Command? She's skippered by O'Donnaghue, right? Did they really find him tied up naked in his visiting officer quarters? I'm not even sure who your executive officer is..."

"I am sure as a security officer you will appreciate the fact that I cannot discuss an ongoing investigation," Day looked around the room and spotted the XO somewhere in the crowd and pointed him out, making no effort to disguise her gesture, "Commander Thibideaux is right there. I am sure he is more than willing to make your acquaintance."

Mishka blinked at Day's last words, then a big toothy smile splashed over her face. "Curtis Thibideaux is your Executive officer. Why, I Know him. He visited Sodeskaian with my brother Dimitri when D shortly after they graduated from the Academy and both ordered aboard the USS Kilauea."

Taken by surprise due to the sudden enthusiasm at the utterance of her XO's name Day took a step back, "Do you want to go over there and have a talk with him?"

The bear's enthusiasm seemed to shut off like a switch as she thought about that. "Oh, I don't know that I...we should. He looks fairly busy and he might not even remember me. I was only eleven then and that's been ages ago..."

"How long ago was that?" Day could only remember about eleven years back, so in some ways she was probably considered to be an eleven-year-old girl trapped in a grown woman's body. She knew that some of the counsellors had seen it that way.

Mishra looked at Day and said, "Seventeen years now, I guess," Mishka said. "My career track got a bit slowed down when I switched from Engineering to Security during my junior year at the Academy." The bear shrugged and looked off into the crowd, watching it circulate.

"My counsellor always told me that it is important to remember that it is not a race." Day took a sip of the drink in her hand, she hadn't done so before. Her face contorted a bit at the strong taste. She wasn't sure if she liked it, "Everyone will get where they need to go in their own time."

Mishka grinned. "Tell that to my mama. She thinks I should be commanding my own ship by now. But I am looking for a home. If I stay here, I'll get trotted out to more of these things, given the political climate. Mishka's tone turned more thoughtful at that and she eyed Day. "Maybe you'd put in a word for me?"

"Oh. I. Eh." Day took another sip, even though she didn't really enjoy the first one, "I am unsure if that would be beneficial to your position. I just make sure the quarters are assigned and the replicator rations are filled up." It was a gross over-simplification of her tasks but for this moment it suited her just perfectly. She didn't want to be made responsible for the career of someone else. She could barely hold her own ground.

Mishka gave the dark haired woman another look. "Quarters assignments. Replicators...sounds like Operations. You're a Lieutenant...so you're Chief of Operations aboard Valiant?." The bear gave Day a knowing look. "So, Commander O'Donnaghue and Commander Thibideaux are CO and XO, that would make you about right for a Department head. Ops often is the third in command chair, but...you don't seem the type." The bear hold out her paws which were the size of dinner plates, "No offense, Lieutenant. Just working through what I see in front of me..."

"More than other vessels of the class the Valiant was refitted to have an emphasis on science. As such the Chief Scientist also functions as its Second officer." Day would rather not think of a situation where she would be put in command of the vessel and expected to successfully command it through a crisis situation. She was trained of course, and she knew what to do, but the thought alone of it actually happening was enough to stress her out.

The bear nodded, "So it's a mix, but small enough where Junior officers like me could have a chance to shine and work on career advancement. Miska's grin turned toothy. "And what better way to get close to one's crew mates but to live elbow to elbow with them in a small ship, hey?"

"I guess." Day wasn't too fond of the small ship dynamics. Especially with the discontent brewing in the Operations department being spurred on by one of the enlisted crewmen. Her train of thought was interrupted as the crowd stirred. The doors had opened and through it had come a procession of high ranking officers. She spotted a flag officer leading the group. At the very end of the group came an eight-legged insectoid being, "I think the main reason for this get together has just arrived."

Mishka caught Day's look and turned with her and her eyes squinted slightly. "I think you're right. Looks like brass and officious looking types. I guess we'd better at least pay attention or they'll throw us out," the bear quipped.

"I do not think Commander O'Donnaghue would really appreciate me getting thrown out." Day concurred and turned to face the small dais set up at the other end of the room.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Day Smith
Chief Operations Officer
USS Valiant

&

Mishka Ru'fallo (NPC)
Security Officer
Starbase 80
(As written by Curtis Thibideaux)

 

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