Back In the Saddle

Posted on Mon Sep 5th, 2016 @ 11:41pm by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Captain Patrick O'Connor
Edited on on Mon Sep 5th, 2016 @ 11:41pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Taking Chances
Location: USS Bonne Chance, Deck One, the Bridge
Timeline: 2265
Tags: promotion,1stlove,Patrick

No one else was in the turbolift when they entered, so Charybdis seized the moment to kiss the captain of the Bonne Chance hungrily one more time before duty, grabbing his hair and pressing herself urgently against him. There was the additional thrill of possibly getting caught that added just a hint more zest to it, and she broke it off in just enough time to give them both a chance to wipe their mouths and exit the lift looking only slightly flustered.

Patrick was once again glad that the pointy-eared minx wore no makeup, otherwise he would be wearing quite a bit of lipstick right now. And he somehow doubted that lavender was his shade...

Composing himself before the turbolift doors opened, Patrick then walked out onto the bridge like it was just another day at the office. He took his position and watched as Charybdis took hers, enjoying the sight of her rounded rear sashaying over to the science station, where she promptly assumed the position over her viewer that provided him with a spectacular panorama of some of his favorite countryside. Jim Kirk may have Spock, but he sure doesn't have a view like this, he thought to himself as he sat down in his command chair and took a deep breath. It felt good to be back in the saddle again, as it were. "Status report."

Lieutenant Exeter stepped out of the command chair at the captain's approach and saluted him as he always did when being relieved. "All systems are green, sir. The engine room reports that repairs are complete, the brig reports that the prisoners are still secure, there have been no further hostilities directed against the Bonne Chance and we are still patrolling the Federation side of the border of Orion space with no incidents in the past eight hours, sir. Will there be anything else, sir?"

Patrick's face took on an inquisitive look, as he swiveled to looked over at the science station to regard Charybdis. "Prisoners?"

The Vulcan vixen smiled slightly and bounced down to the command deck to hand him a PDD. "Yessir. My complete report is here, but you can review the documentation of the prisoners as well as the information and inventory recovered from the enemy vessel here and here sir." She indicated the appropriate bullet points with one long-nailed finger.

"In summary sir, we have two Kolari females in custody who survived the destruction of the carrier- they were apparently the 'property' of Admiral Thog, and they survived the destruction of his command carrier by sealing themselves in the vault which we discovered in the debris, towed in and removed them. Engineering and Security coordinated to insure the vault was safe, Science came in to assist with inventorying it, and Security have been doing a marvelous job of keeping them secure while wearing EVA suits on duty. Science and Engineering are currently working on biofilters for filtering out their pheromonal secretions."

"Beyond those two we have six Nausicaan raiders who were captured, as well as two raider vessels that Lieutenant McCray assures me are now 'harmless as lambs'. I was uncertain as to what you might wish to do with the prisoners so we simply maintained them in custody until your return." The First Officer looked rather pleased with herself, all things considered. Stoic she most certainly was not.

Patrick rubbed his face. It was a lot to take in for him being gone such a short while... he had thought that the away mission would have returned to a simple report. Instead it seemed his acting commander and his crew had been rather busy. "Keep the Nausicaans in the brig, see if Siivas has a means of suppressing the Orion pheromones, and we will rendezvous with the Surok in 37 hours and hand over the prisoners at that time, the Orions included. Let them try to infect a ship of almost nothing but Vulcans at that point."

"Aye aye, sir. Inventory of the vault contents are... here. And there is still the disposition of the two raider vessels to consider." The science officer raised an eyebrow at that, and he knew from their association she obviously had some ideas in that arena.

"Thoughts?" he invited with a bemused expression.

The raised eyebrow was mated with a lopsided grin. "Yessir. Our Chief Engineer seems to think that one of the vessels might be useful in the future for a 'Trojan horse' gambit, as well as a potentially expendable ship. And I believe that training on small craft unlike our own shuttlecraft, where stability has been compromised for maneuverability might provide an interesting challenge for our helmsmen and navigators."

At that she indicated the duo in gold uniforms at their stations between him and the main viewscreen. On the left was a tall, slender female Caitan with a long mane of chunky white hair, furry white cat-like ears sticking out of the top of her head, and he could see that a modification had been made to the helmsman's seat to allow for a short-furred long white tail to switch back and forth as she steered the mighty vessel, seemingly oblivious to the world around her. He could hear her humming under her breath as she worked, her head bobbing oh so slightly to the tune.

Beside her to the right was a humanoid male, tall, slender and mature with dirty blonde hair who seemed quite intent on focusing on something... or possibly anything other than what was happening behind him.

"Sounds like a plan. But no working on them during duty hours unless all other things are dealt with. And I will want to be kept up to date on who is doing what and when," Patrick ordered.

"Of course, Captain. They will be signed out like any other shuttlecraft in the bay, and any tinkering will be handled in downtime; however, we may incorporate them into battle simulations in future wargames, setting pilots against navigators and so forth. I will keep you posted of any and all developments, sir." The sultry scientist looked pleased with herself as she moved to return to her station.

"Am I relieved sir?" Lieutenant Exeter asked... the man was a stickler for regulations. But then, that was why Patrick had assigned him command of Gamma shift.

"You stand relieved, Lieutenant. Now then, helm..." he looked down to see the young Caitan at the position looking back at him, doing a double take. "Uh, helm, lay in a rendezvous course for the Surok, warp 4."

His first officer whispered from her station, in a voice that only he or she... or possibly the Caitan, he realized- would be able to hear, without looking up from her viewer. "Lieutenant Junior Grade Selune, helmsman. Her recommendation for commendation is in your hands, Captain, as well as Lieutenant McCray's. Lieutenant Junior Grade Rebian Reveran is navigating next to her."

"We'll have a talk about him later. Suffice to say he is one step away from returning to Ensign Reveran, thus why at his age he is still a JG..." The tone in the whispered voice was actually curious to him... he'd never heard that one before. "By the way, I must place a call on behalf of Starfleet. It will likely be rather heated and emotional... may I use your ready room, Captain?"

The curvaceous commander was looking at him, and he could see in her eyes that this was a duty she did not wish to perform... but it had to be done, and she had volunteered. Once again he felt assured that he had chosen wisely in his new second in command... she would do what had to be done, for the ship and her duty. And he certainly had no doubts as to her loyalty.

Looking at the new front line, he thought Children.. merely children. But everyone has to learn at some point, and better to be a CO that understands that than one that doesn't. He watched the stars go by as he reviewed the reports while the muffled screams and curses emerging from his ready room were too quiet to be heard by the rest of the bridge crew... he had soundproofed his ready room as well, and it was serving admirably right now. Presently his blue-clad first officer exited, looking somewhat stricken, so he gave her an inquiring look. But she nodded slightly and waved him off- she was upset, but she would deal with it, and she would explain it all to him later.

"Very good. I will be reviewing this material and then reporting to Starfleet shortly." He stood up, sliding out of the command chair as he addressed the bridge. "And let the record show, Lieutenant Commander Charybdis has been promoted to First officer."

At that he strode to his ready room, "And she has the conn."

 

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