Episode 6: Monkey Business

Summary:

It is mid December of 2388 on the USS Fenris and everyone is getting used to the new changes all over the place. While going on a routine run for more supplies to keep the ship running, Captain Lillian Crae is also showing her replacement captain, Captain Josalyn Dorne, the ropes of her ship. Leading the Away Team to the small O-class planet, Berstly--which has yet been unexplored--is Captain Josalyn Dorne herself and she is determined to get to know what will be her new crew. Unbeknownst to her, however, a species of monkey-like aliens has called the planet their home and does not like intruders. When the Away Team is separated, picked off and captured, it is up to the Fenris to send in a rescue team and try to make better first contact.

Objectives:

• Reach Berstly
  
• Beam down an Away Team to gather supplies
  
• Red Shirt goes missing (I had to)
  
• Away Team is split up
  
• Rescue Team is deployed
  
• First Contact is made
  
• Can the Fenris get their people back and make it out?

||USS Fenris
||Bridge
||Mid December, 2388
||0820


Josalyn Dorne couldn't for the life of her figure out why it was that Lillian Crae was still talking to her. Yes, she understood in all of this time knowing Lillian--a short time or not--that the woman was very much a momma bear and needed to have her ship under her control, but this was almost too much. Josalyn knew what it was that she was supposed to be doing and yet Lillian seemed to have to explain everything and in great detail...Josalyn wondered what being married to this woman must be like. They weren't that far apart in age, and yet Lillian had this air of a child about her and it was probably because on top of being a mother, Lillian was a Betazoid.

Betazoids were just playful by nature.

Still, it was almost as if Lillian didn't want to let the ship go and Josalyn wanted to have the ship to herself now...it was after all hers now. Lillian was going to be a doctor again on Betazed and teach future doctors and nurses, and this short captaincy of hers was coming to a close in a couple of days and she needed to let it go. At the same time, Josalyn understood what it was like to be a mother--she had become one at a very, very young age--and so she just smiled at the young woman standing before her and decided to instead, distract the Betazoid with small talk.

"Your husband must be glad you're coming home in time for Christmas," Josalyn tried as some of the science officers on the bridge scrambled about trying to keep Lillian and Josalyn happy.

There was a tension on the bridge and on the ship for that matter, having two captains there for the last couple of days. Lillian had just wanted to get Josalyn nice and settled in and while appreciative, it was a lot of stress for the other officers, who felt as if everything had to be twice as perfect just in case one or God forbid both captains got a little upset. Add in that Lillian was already missing the little boy she had given birth too not that long ago, and emotions were all over the place.

"He can't miss me that much...he sees my face every few hours when I check in and demand to see Jamie and Sareth," Lillian admitted with a blush. "If anything he'll forget I haven't been in the bed lying next to him the last few nights. 'Hi, honey. Breakfast is ready...' and that will be that."

Josalyn laughed a bit. "Married to a marine? I can't even begin to imagine it."

"Most can't, but it was the best choice I ever made after becoming a mother," Lillian told her smiling. "In fact, maybe in our down time trying to be a normal, settled family, Taylor and I will try for a little girl to add to our two boys."

"Little girls are cute," Josalyn began nodding, "and then they become teenagers and you can't wait until they leave for the Academy, only it scares you shitless because you were her age when you got knocked up with her in the first place."

"Could have been me easily," Lillian agreed as she sat down and stopped pacing. "Still, I think we're off topic here..."

Josalyn laughed when Lillian did because she'd been caught--she had tried to distract the Betazoid but there was a problem with that: most were telepaths. At least full blooded ones, which Lillian was and given how sensitive she was after giving birth, she knew that Josalyn was just trying to get out of another lecture about another personnel and how best to utilize their skills. These were things that Josalyn would pick up and it's not like Lillian couldn't put it into a report.

"I hate reports," Lillian told her, blushing crimson. "For the love of the Four Deities, I'm sorry. I'm getting sloppy with the mind reading since this husband doesn't reprimand me for being who I am."

Josalyn laughed and shrugged. "Trust me, I have nothing to hide. You, however, should check in with your husband and I will get to know the crew here in my own way."

"I know, I know, you're right, I just...they're like my baby bears."

"I know they are, so trust me, okay? I promise I won't do anything to them that might make you maul me."

"I like you," Lillian laughed as she got up to head to Sickbay. "I think you just might be a better captain here than I was...then again, I bet anyone could be."


<Taggles: Everyone. Have a little fun with an intro to your characters, or just fun times and I will get the planet rolling soon enough. ^.^>

||USS Fenris
||Sergeni's Quarters
||Mid December, 2388
||0823

Being on an alien ship was no longer a new experience for Sergeni but still an unsettling one. For one the corridors were too brightly lit and covered with information on MSD displays, no armed guards stood at check-points in case they needed to be dispatched to defend key sections of the ship from boarders and there wasn't any saluting from passing officers. People were glancing at him as he passed and for some reason Lance Lieutenant Sergeni Kostev of the Royal Vulnian Naval Fleet figured it wasn't because of his height. In a sea of uniformity he stood out in his blue duty jacket, trousers and boots. On Sergeni's head there was a blue peaked cap, his trousers were secured around him with a belt that held a holster. Inside the holster was a mass of metal which constituted a Vulnian heavy plasma pistol, the standard side-arm of the Vulnian military forces.

Unlike phasers which discharged concentrated pulses or streams of nadion particles, Vulnian weapons operated on a much simpler, less elegant basis. When fired a single ball of ionised, compressed and heated gas would leave the muzzle in the form of a liquid-like blob held together by a magnetic force. When the pulse struck matter the bond would break and the blob would spill over the target. Flesh would instantly be melted away, metal would become molten slag. They had no stun setting which made Sergeni believe it would probably be ordered to remain on the ship given its much more brutal nature than Starfleet weapons.

Across Sergeni's back was a large bag containing his personal effects. On his jacket was a Starfleet combadge which was another odd addition to his situation. He would be an exchange officer, a man who would get to know the workings of Starfleet better so that the Vulnian military would know what to anticipate when on joint operations with Federation forces. If any such instances would arrive. When Sergeni reached his quarters he opened the door and looked around at the bland room. Sniffing deeply he noticed a lack of any scent. How could a ship be so...clean?

Placing his bag on his desk the man sighed gently he wondered how he could command a platoon of Starfleet Marines. While no doubt similar to the Royal Naval Guardsmen he had served with, they were so...different. So much...weaker. Could they stack up to his expectations? Could he stack up to theirs? He was an outsider and it was well remembering that. Tapping his combadge the man coughed slightly.

"To the captain of this vessel, this is Lance Lieutenant Kostev making my presence known. Would it be possible for me to meet you to deliver my orders?"

<tag: The Boss lady!>

||USS Fenris
||Bridge
||Mid December, 2388
||0830


For a moment Josalyn just froze in the captain's chair because she didn't know if Lillian or she was supposed to answer that as Lillian had been doing it. Josalyn had just been the observer as of late even though she was going to be taking over and learning the ins and outs of the ship on her own and it was about time that Lillian let this little bird spread her wings and leave the nest, right? Lillian hadn't actually handed the ship over to her but since this was going to Josalyn's ship...

Just like that, Josalyn had her hand on her comm badge. "That's a reasonable request. My ready room as soon as possible."

She believed that to be a good enough response and she smiled a bit as she gave what felt like her first order on board this ship. Of course she'd met the Yeoman already and given him a command or two even though Lillian had asked her to be gentler with him, but this was different. This was a marine asking to brief her and since she was the rightful captain of the Fenris at that given moment, it was her job to recieve the orders and meet her crewmember. Whether Lillian would be upset about it or not didn't matter because this was Josalyn's ship.

Hers.

Nodding, Josalyn hurried to her ready room and even though Lillian's things were still there, including a picture of her holding Jamie in her arms with Taylor and Sareth around her, this was hers. She didn't really have time to move anything so perhaps the Lance Lieutenant would think that something strange was afoot, but Josalyn needed to start being able to be in control. This was going to be her place of command and she needed all of her officers to understand that, understand her, and do what she told them to do regardless of what that something was. So she sat down and ran her fingers through her hair and settled into the chair as she looked down at the PADD in her hand that Lillian had given her earlier.

"Lance Lieutenant Kostev...wonder which marine exactly he is..." Josalyn pondered out loud.


<Taggles: The lovely MCO>

||USS Fenris
||Sickbay
||Mid December 2388
||0830


Selina Karr moved around Sickbay excitedly as she danced about a bit to the music selection going over the speakers. She had gotten the computer to open up her music selections--which was a very large folder these days given her age--and she hummed a bit as she also counted her hyposprays and worked on finishing up her inventory for her Sickbay. Her Sickbay. Yeah, she had owned her own hospital once and had had quite a few 'sickbays' in her time, but this one just felt special.

This one was on a Starfleet vessel.

Even other Starfleet vessels, Selina had been on, but this one felt warm and comforting and homey and she knew that her place was on an exploration vessel. She was going to get to travel more places and perhaps find more free time in which to start carving out a real life for herself instead of the one that she had currently...she'd been dedicated to medicine long enough. Such a dedication would never leave her, but she knew that she needed to start to try and make something of herself that didn't have to do with loving and leaving--she was just so good at that. Not getting attached was best. Getting attached meant a lot of pain when you lost them.

If there was anything that Selina Karr wasn't a stranger to, it was loss. She had out lived her mother and while children were supposed to do that, it had been over 150 years since her mother had passed and over 100 years since she had lost her father and two older brothers to the Borg. That didn't even include all of the friends she had lost because of her slow aging process as she was half El'Aurian and that meant that with attachment to people brought pain. Once upon a time she had wanted a deep, lasting love filled with passion and arguing and long snuggles and slow kisses, but what was the point when they were going to die?

A quick fix was best.

Still, as it were, right now she was just thinking about her music and figuring out which supplies she was low on because she needed to get the list together. She had been distracted the night before from it and now as she danced about working out her list on her PADD, Lillian walked into Sickbay and smiled a bit at the doctor. Lillian knew the woman was far older than her, but she didn't act like an old woman--she acted like a carefree spirit that had so much more life to live and Lillian envied that. Yes, she had a lot of life to live too and she had the perfect husband to grow old with, but this woman would live for hundreds more years.

"Doctor Karr?" Lillian asked slowly.

Selina stopped and looked at Lillian, nodding at her. "Captain Lucas..."

"I am going to miss people calling me that," Lillian admitted shaking her head.

"Get the Mr. to call you it during a pre-sex roleplaying game," Selina suggested with a broad smile. "Besides, aren't you due for your Phase in like ten years? Train him early."

Lillian giggled and nodded. "I can't say I'm not looking forward to returning to Betazed and being around more people with your candor. I wonder how Taylor is doing down there with all these people that speak their minds and read his."

"I'm sure that if he couldn't handle it, he never would have married you," Selina said as she handed the PADD over to Lillian. "All good to go, Cap."

Lillian was pleased with the work that Selina had done for her and even though the CMO's duty jacket was open and she was playing not entirely Sickbay music, Lillian was pleased. The woman's work spoke for itself and even if this was just a list of supplies that she needed, Lillian felt like she was leaving the place in good hands and was glad that after Elena had left, she had found such a doctor. This one had a good bedside manner and she made people feel safe and that was what a Sickbay was supposed to feel like. It wasn't supposed to scare people away.

Reius and Elena had been brilliant physicians, but they had made Sickbay feel like a cold and scary place and no one ever felt at home there. It didn't really stop people from getting hurt, it just stopped them from wanting to get treated and that was a problem in and of itself. Now the place felt comfortable and homey even though it didn't entirely feel professional, and Lillian wondered for a second how the new captain would deal with that because Lillian would let it go. Then again, Lillian felt as though maybe 'captain' was too much for her and she was much more cut out for this kind of thing...for the carefree, lovable doctor.

"Thank you, Doc," Lillian told Selina smiling, turning to head out of Sickbay and then turning back around as Selina started dancing around a little again. "You might want to at least zip up the duty jacket...I have a feeling that old friends on the Blackbird or not, new captain isn't going to be as lax as me about this."

Selina nodded at that and kept dancing a bit. "Then she and I have quite a lot to talk about..."


<Taggles: Everyone. Go to town and we'll be in orbit of the planet soon. ^.^>

||USS Fenris
||Frost's Quarters
||Mid December 2388
||0830

The cold water kissed his face washing away the previous nights hold on him, the nightmares too.

Dark compound, sirens, shouts, the flash of phaser fire, screams, weak shouts for help, finally death rattles and then him, Frost completely alone, fire... then he wakes up screaming, chest heaving, disorientated.

He sighed and dried his face looking for a long while into his own eyes, trying to read the man looking back at him.

"Who are you? why are you here?"

Last week he had been a disgrace eeking out his career aboard the windsor and hiding out in the armoury, then he'd been shipped to farpoint and prodded, probed and had a shrink walking around in his head.

well, at least I've had my medical already

He'd been transferred from transport to transport and now here he stood in his quarters on the USS Fenris. The whole experience was a little overwhelming.
He slipped his muscular frame into his new green uniform, slipping his bootknife in, not exactly regulation but it'd saved his life a few times. Tying his long hair back he stood in front of the mirror looking at himself and sighing

"well, here we go... like the old drill sergant said: jump now or I'll push you soldier"

He attached his comm badge and picked up his Padd looking for where the CO's office would be. He knew the drill, report to the top then to his section head.

Tossing the Padd onto the bed he left his quarters and headed for the CO's office.

<Tag any and all... oh and the CO lol>

||USS Fenris
||Security Offices
||Mid December, 2388
||0830

"I don't believe I asked for your opinion,"

"But, Commander, I just don't think that--"

"--all I asked for was a list of supplies and you brought me excuses,"

"The supplies that we need, we can't get off of some planet, Commander. We need a space station or a colony to supply us with them."

"I don't care, Lieutenant," Marissa scowled, "I asked for a detailed list and now you have to do it again."

He opened up his mouth to speak again but Marissa held up her hand and sent him away with a murderous look, grumbling to herself about his incompetence as she adjusted her uniform and gently rustled her bangs to give her hands something to do. With a new chain of command, Marissa had thought that a few changes were in order and that meant her hair as well because this was like a new beginning and what screamed something new like bangs?

"What I could really use is a drink..." Marissa said.

She sighed loudly and went into her office, resisting the urge to call Gabe and complain because he had enough on his plate right now trying to handle Engineering and also make nice with a new captain and she wasn't about to be that girlfriend. Things were going well for them and she didn't want to screw it all up by calling him and complaining about incompetent officers when he probably had to deal with a fair share of his own right now dealing with the transition and Lillian leaving.

Lillian was leaving.

Marissa was going to miss the quirky captain.

At the same time, Marissa completely understood the new captain's approach and was kind of looking forward to a little bit more structure because while Lillian was a great captain, she treated everyone more like her friends than her subordinates. Still, Marissa wondered if Lillian had spoiled them all enough that now they would get orders and resent the woman giving them to them and that wasn't how it was supposed to be: you were supposed to be your captain's bitch...that was just how it worked.

"Deep breaths and then just do the damn list yourself..."

||USS Fenris
||Main Engineering
||Mid December, 2388
||0840

Stepping out of his office, Gabe tossed his PADD onto a workbench as the door closed behind him. He crossed over to the Master Systems Display table in the middle of the room and called up the ships current status. Everything was well within normal operating standards, so he looked around, watching as his people went about there day and mused on how much things had changed recently. Taylor, Sareth and young Jamie were gone, enjoying the easy life on Betazed waiting for Lilly to join them., Most of the crew had rotated out or were about to, even the air seemed different.

He shook the thought from his head as he closed down the screen and wandered over to the warp core. In truth he was looking for something to do, he was proud of the work he and his engineers had done over the last few days but that left he him at a loose end. Part of him wanted to rig the readouts to give him something to fix but knew it was a bad idea.

He stood and closed his eyes, listened to the deep boom of the warp core as it cycled. In his mind's eye he went over the last year.

*Thum*
Himself and a small team heading to Fenris in a shuttle, the great wolf's hull damaged and leaking air. His First meeting with Marissa by the pool on Tercius Prime.

*Thum*
Lilly's announcement that she was pregnant, the happy news punctuated by Doclin's attack and kidnapping of her and Marlo.

*Thum*
Himself and Taylor's team on Betazed, sweat dripping down his brow, his breath fogging the faceplate of his armour. The Isolinear Smileyface built into the fake bio-weapon.

*Thum*
Lilly, Taylor and Kalen's Runabout crashing on Kadoshe II and Doclin's Little 'Zombie' Experiment.

*Thum*
Ensign Dolliver and the murder case Idriis, Himself and Karina entering the victim's home via the 'back door' to take a look around.

He opened his eyes as Ensign H'Vora handed him a PADD.

"Today's duty roster Sir." the ensign said, looking at Gabe, "Anything wrong sir?"

"No Ensign, Just taking a few minutes... Right then, lets show our new captain how the best Engineering team in Starfleet works huh?" He said with a smile, Glad he'd swapped some of his most... unprofessional officers to other duty shifts.

||USS Fenris
||Ready Room
||Mid December,2388
||0832


The 'ready room' was an unusual term for Sergeni. On Vulnian ships it was known as the wardroom and served the senior officers than just the commander. Obviously different ships, different fleets and different way of doing things. Leaving his quarters he stole a glance at the MSD display to get a proper indication of where the ready room actually was. After getting the location he took a turbolift up to the first deck and skimmed behind the bridge crew as if trying to avoid their attention.

Once Sergeni had reached the ready room door, he chimed it and awaited entry.

Josalyn found herself smiling when she heard the door chime. "Come in,"

This was her place and soon her things would be there, making the place look more like her own place and helping her crew to understand her better. Then again she was going to lead the Away Team when they got to the planet, so she'd be making an impression and that was what she wanted to do. She sat up straight in her chair to show the man coming through the doors that she meant business, but she certainly was not expecting what was going to happen next at all.

The Vulnian admitted himself into the room once the captain had made her order clear. Sergeni had to duck slightly to miss the door which caused him to scowl in annoyance. Did they have to build a ship so small? Once he had gotten past the threshold of the door he offered a salute to the captain before dropping has arm and gently placing a PADD on her desk.

"Lance Lieutenant Kostev reporting for duty ma'am. These are my orders. I have been transferred to this ship to commander your...marine detachment." he said slowly with a Baltic-like accent.

Jesus, he is a large man. Josalyn thought blinking.

She could only imagine the looks that the others gave him and blinked at him for a moment because she was still processing. Slowly, however, she took the PADD in hand and began to look it over, not feeling entirely comfortable in Lillian's space, but making the best of it as she only got this office in two days. Looking up, she made eye contact with the man and motioned to the chair across the desk from her.

"Captain Dorne, but as you can see, the last captain has yet to vacate," Josalyn explained, motioning to a family picture. "Regardless, you'll be taking orders from me and you need a physical. I want one on file for you that is up to date. Why did you choose a Starfleet vessel, Lance Lieutenant?"

Obviously this large man was used to a bigger space and he was so close to the drilling in here--at least far closer than anyone else would ever get. He was a race she had yet to understand and yet he was her new MCO, so she was certain that on some level she was going to have to trust him--at least to carry out her orders. Settling into the comfortable chair a little more, she waited for his response, trying to figure him out a little bit in this initial meeting... first impressions were important.

For some reason medicals were detested throughout galaxy, even amongst Vulnians. There was a small look of contempt for the order which was replaced with one of stoic discipline. Nothing was going to get him out of that and so there was little point ordering the need for a medical exam. Before shipping out the Vulnian doctors had already decreed he was healthy enough to be deployed but for some reason Sergeni figured that wasn't going to be enough.

He looked at the offered chair and squirmed in discomfort. On board Vulnian ships, officers offered chairs in their offices to superiors and equals, not subordinates which was why Sergeni remained standing in front of the desk as if the chair didn't even exist. "Choose?" he asked as if the word was an oddity. "I didn't choose this transfer captain. An admiral sat across a desk from me and handed me that very PADD. Vulnian sailors do not...choose...assignments. They are given them."

"Oh, so you might harbor a little resentment in the order?" Josalyn offered nonchalantly.

It seemed to her that this Vulnian in front of her refusing to sit down wasn't too happy about his placement on this ship and that wasn't going to fly with her. She wanted him to want to be here and want to do his best for himself and for the crew that he was now a part of. Josalyn also didn't know quite what to make of the large man so far, but she could tell that he was just a tad grumpy if not incredibly grumpy. It made her wonder if he was actually going to like it here or not...but he was a soldier and that meant he would try to do his best, right? She had to believe that it meant that...

"I only ask because it's important that every person on this ship want to do their best," Josalyn explained as she set the PADD down. "So if you do not want to be here...is it only duty binding you to this place? Because even if that is the case, as long as you do your job you can't be on my bad side."

"What I feel about an assignment is irrelevant Captain." stated Sergeni bluntly. "I'm not being ordered to execute a Starfleet crew, I'm being ordered to serve within one. Maybe within Starfleet you get to choose where you wish to serve and have the luxury for having opinions on your duties but Vulnians do not. This assignment is for the good of the Empire as no doubt our two cultures may find themselves serving together in battle. Officers like myself have been ordered to work beside Starfleet officers to see how they function under different conditions, to see how they function in a general sense and as a way of cultural immersion. In other words; to get used to you."

Blinking the officer tilted his head. "So, how can I feel resentment towards orders that ultimately benefit my people?"

"Just trying to figure you out a bit, Lietenant," Josalyn responded as she folded her hands and leaned forward. "I think we'll get along fine and as far as us all getting to know each other, it'll happen in due time. For now I'd like you to check in with Doctor Karr and then brief your marines and run them through some drills. As long as you follow my orders precisely we'll get along fine."

She smiled to herself as she asserted her authority but her smile faded when the doors slid open and Lillian appeared, obviously done with Selina. Lillian was running about finishing things and had planned to clean out her office that day to let Josalyn make it hers. Closing her eyes as Lillian opened her eyes to speak, Josalyn just took a breath and looked at the Betazoid, knowing a very Betazoid outburst was about to happen.

"Bless the Four Deities!" Lillian exclaimed in shock. "You might even be larger than Dariak! Wow...you're a very, very large man..."

Josalyn smiled awkwardly, lips a little pursed before she continued. "Anything else, Lieutenant?"

Blinking between Lillian and Josalyn the Vulnian simply looked bemused at what was going on. With his mouth semi-open he just seemed to give a small sound to confirm that he had heard the captain but for some reason the sudden outburst from Lillian seemed to unbalance him. For the professional pretence to just be suddenly broken it was indeed a setback for him.

"Dariak is a very common Vulnian name." he said slowly, for fear that any more words on the subject would cause another outburst. "I understand captain...can I leave in case I'm interrogated about this...Dariak?"

"My profession sapping skills are abundant," Lillian said and smiled at the Vulnian. "No interrogation, simply amazed by your height. Feel free to carry on with whatever orders you were just given, I was just going to start clearing out my things to give Captain Dorne her space. Carry on, Lieutenant."

Josalyn sighed and waved at Sergeni like she was ushering him out. "Sickbay and then troops...carry on, Lieutenant."

As Sergeni took his leave, Lillian turned to Josalyn. "Can you imagine how large his--"

"--that is certainly not professional," Josalyn said quickly, red in the face.

"I was going to say 'feet', but that too." Lillian said laughing, moving to pack some of her things.


JP By the Boss Lady and the Marine CO

||USS Fenris
||Bridge
||Mid December,2388
||0850

It had been a long eight months, and yet it seemed as if only a day had passed since the incident on Kadoshe II. He still had nightmares about it, though he hadn't really ever spoken about it to anyone besides Lillian. He had never meant for Alyssa to worry, and he certainly didn't want to give her cousin any sort of leverage either. Though she was supposed to observe doctor-patient confidentiality, he sometimes wondered. And he didn't need anything else hanging over his head. At this time of the morning there were very few people actually on the bridge. He had taken over for the Ensign who was his copilot at helm for his shift early. He couldn't sleep lately, so here he was just arriving before most of the crew would be about their duties. He had yet to meet Lillian's replacement. He was sure she would come to her bridge sooner rather than later. He couldn't imagine the woman being anything but punctual at the very least. After all, she was a starship captain. He hadn't even read up on her personal dossier yet, which was unlike him. Kalen had been trying the last few months to put logic first and stem his tide of rash decisions. It was a good try, but he seemed to be always intent on going with his gut. He laughed and shook his head, looking around to make sure that no one thought he was crazy. Luckily there was only one of the science personnel manning sensors and the Yeoman on the bridge and they didn't seem to think that Kalen was crazy, sitting at the helm and laughing to himself.

He punched in his course correction to save them a little time and stood up and started to stretch. He wondered what kind of person she would be. Lillian was always a captain first, but he would never have called her a hard-ass. She was emphatic and kind, more bubbly than anything cruel. Not that you ever questioned her orders. He shook his head and went to the replicator in the Briefing Room to whip himself up a quick cup of coffee. He was sure that the new captain, Dorne ah yes that was her name. He was sure she would be around in the next ten minutes or so to check on everything. They could interact at that point, he was sure. After all, it was just another day. He made his way back to the helm, his cup held carefully away from all the electronics. He looked out the view screen and watched as they passed through space, feeling calm and collected for the first time that morning.

|| USS Fenris
|| Bridge
|| Mid December,2388
|| 0855

Shuddering in the harsh lights of the bridge, Carlos counted seconds and wondered when the painkillers would kick in. His head throbbed and his frantic massaging of his temples to try and remedy of it was futile, save for the fact that he felt the stubble on his cheeks and realized he had forgotten to shave again. Hopefully no officers would notice his discomfort while he was ensconced in his little yeoman's alcove. Nothing left to do but stay where he was and try to ride out this hangover.

Swallowing hard, Carlos rearranged some files for the umpteenth time. Real work was impossible for him at this point, and he hoped he was the only one who could tell. The computer before him didn't make any sense to his pain-fogged mind, and it was altogether likely that last night's alcohol hadn't fully worn off either. He shot a nervous glance in Lieutenant Gespard's direction when he heard the officer laugh. Fortunately the man didn't appear to be looking in Carlos' direction, and soon departed for some coffee. That seemed like a good idea to Carlos for a second, but then he decided his stomach probably couldn't handle it.

Still waiting for the painkillers to kick in, the yeoman called up some meaningless reports on his LCARS and pretended to be reviewing them just in case someone snuck up behind him. Watching the glowing screen with half-closed eyes, Carlos tried to gather his thoughts and remember what had transpired last night to leave him in this awful state. So far he wasn't having much luck.

Just then a notice caught his eye, and he scrolled back to read it. With a mild shock he realized that today was Captain Crae's final day aboard. That triggered a number of emotions within him. The Captain had always been good to him, and they had been through a lot together. He finally could say he had a decent relationship with his CO, and it was about to end. Goodbyes were hell, and would be even more hellish on a day like this. And on the other hand, there was the prospect of having to meet and greet a brand new captain with a command style that might be radically different.

He shuddered again. If he could help it, that meeting with his new CO would be delayed, unless she came and sought him out. For now he would remain in his alcove half-working on reports. And a farewell to Lillian didn't seem prudent either, given his condition. Better to just fade into the background as another cog in the machine, even if he was a rusty cog. So Carlos grimly returned his attention to the reports, still not reading them, just counting the seconds until the painkillers kicked in.

||USS Fenris
||Gym
||Mid December, 2388
||0900

"Not a person in the world can save you..."

The words rang through her mind as she punched the punching bag.

Anna was a warrior, or so she told herself. Sweat was dripping down her body as she let her wrapped up hands make firm contact with the punching bag in the gym on board the Fenris. Whenever she was in a space like this, hitting the punching bag seemed to help. Her state of mind right now was fragile and she was restless, her long, blonde hair pulled back in a tight, high ponytail.

Do you think that anyone in here actually believes you? You're young. You lie."

Punching the bag harder, Anna found herself whimpering a moment as his words cut like a knife through the peace of her mind. She was supressing him again as she always did, hoping to forget him one of these days for once and for all. Everything about him made her skin crawl and she wanted to make him disappear into thin air. No one would miss him. No one would care.

Closing her eyes, Anna punched the bag hard one last time and heard the distinct sound of cracking knuckles. "Fuck!" she exclaimed bringing her hand in close to her chest like she was protecting it. "Enough for today..."

Nodding, Anna headed to her quarters to shower and change into her marine greens to meet her MCO. No doubt he'd want to meet her marines and Sickbay could wait...she didn't want to talk about why she was here doing this anyway...it was best left forgotten and ignored.

"I will always find you..."

Idle threats of the weak were best left behind her.

||USS Fenris
||Captain's Ready Room
||Mid December, 2388
||0855

While chatting with Lillian definately had its high points, Josalyn was certainly happy that the Betazoid was taking her leave of the office...bare as it was becoming. She looked around and realized that without the captain's personal touches it was just a boring old room and something about that made the whole space rather forboding to the new captain. Josalyn immediately started brainstorming about which object should go where, knowing at least a picture of her and Emma needed to go up for sure. In her mental planning, she realized that she was kind of completely tuning out what Lillian was saying and looked at her, the Betazoid laughing.

"I'm going to let you be and go and pack up the Captain's Quarters enough for you to move into them tomorrow," Lillian said smiling. "I hope you love this place as much as I do."

Josalyn smiled and nodded. "Something tells me this will be my new home."

"Good," Lillian said, box in hand as the doors to the ready room whooshed open. "Something tells me that you have a visitor, Captain..."

Frost looked up as the box carrying officer walked past him, her pleasant smile catching him slightly off guard. He returned it best he could and stepped into the CO's ready room. It was kind of spartan, forboding and kind of lacking in any personality he inwardly cursed- there was nothing here for him to get a read on his new CO with, she was shorter than him, pretty and well proportinoed. No tattoos, no piercings, nothing for him him to run with. He felt a little more off kilter than he had when he walked in. Collecting himself he saluted and stood to attention

"J.G Frost reporting for duty Ma'am,"

His English accent seemed to reverberate off the bare walls, he hoped he didn't sound quite as nevrous as he felt.

"Another marine to start off my morning," Josalyn nodded with a smile on her face, motioning to the chair in front of her new desk. "Perhaps you know the way to a chair..."

She tilted her head a little to one said to study the blonde man in front of her and only knew he was a marine because of the green uniform and it made her take in a deep breath. Josalyn knew she wasn't getting an entirely new marine detachment, it was just that she didn't know whether or not all of this fresh blood was partiicularly good or not--either they would find it easier to get used to her or they wouldn't. Either way, she gave him a smile to try and let him know that she wasn't the devil or anything like that, but she was still his captain and that meant that some sort of relationship had to be formed between them and now.

"Just let me bring up your file..." Josalyn said slowly, bringing it up and looking it over. "So you're a transfer too? So is your Marine CO--have you met him yet?"

Frost sat opposite the Captain, swallowing hard. He was nervous not because of the Captain on the contrary, she was actually putting him at ease. Her bright smile and easy personality had already given him a good feeling about her, her professionalism was refreshing also he was nervous because A) she was going to read about the incident which practically derailed his career and B) she was about to discover his middle name. He collected himself and smiled back softly.

"No...No Ma'am I am yet to meet him though I understand a few of the new arrivals are Marines... The corps is moving a lot of guys here... Have you been in command long Ma'am?"

He inwardly winced, she quite obviously knew her way around rank and she definitely had the aura of a leader, he asked because command tended to weigh down on a person, change them somehow. Yet she seemed so light and friendly. Bizarrely, even now he hoped it wouldn't crush that spirit.

"Of the Fenris? That woman carrying out the box was the captain before me and she's technically still captain for the next 24 hours," Josalyn admitted with a gentle shrug. "This is my second posting as the actual captain of a vessel. I'd say a little over a year's experience, but I was the executive officer of the USS Blackbird for three years before I got to have it to myself. I suppose you could say I'm new too, but I know what I'm doing."

She nodded and that and looked back at the information. "So...Sergeant...looks here like you might need to set up some time with the CMO or a counselor, just in case. Doctor Karr likes to have everyone's psychological profiles on record just in case. Careful with her though--she's an old bird that has yet to learn that blunt isn't always best. Do you have any goals while you're here?"

Frost nodded, he'd heard of the Blackbird. one of the engineering boys who'd shared his particular corner of exile aboard the Windsor had been a huge fan.

"The Blackbird? Impressive Ma'am, I knew an engineer who'd rave about her engines...mostly double dutch to me but it was the most animated I'd ever seen him,"

He laughed softly and nodded.

"Dr Karr? I haven't met her either yer Ma'am...I will check in though. I can't make any promises on what she'll get but I'll do my level best."

He thought for a moment about what he wanted, the goals he had aboard the Fenris--he could have lied, he could have hid behind his mask as usual but studying the CO's eyes he saw a little spark that told him that she'd smell it. He hadn't known her long but she struck him as the kind of person that would be your best friend if you were honest and straight, lie to her and she'd cut you in half. He opted to be honest despite how uncomfortable it felt to him.

"Goals Ma'am? I see this as a second chance, redemption to put back on track the career I managed to all but ruin with my carelessness... My goals here are simple, I want to make a difference, I want to fit in and become a part of the team...if I may ask a question Ma'am...what do you expect of your crew?"

"If you want a second chance so bad, I think you can get just what you want. Those are good goals, and something tells me that marines make quite a splash around here--last captain married her MCO and then handed the ship over to me all shiny like new with the keys still in it," Josalyn joked and then she scrunched her face up a little in thought. "What do I expect of my crew? I expect them to work like a well oiled machine..."

She gave herself a moment before she kept going. "I don't have the luxury of being able to be everyone's friend, but I do want to know my crew and I want to know them well and I want to be able to work with them. I am the one that is in charge, I have to make tough decisions, and not everyone is going to agree with me when I make a choice, but I expect them to follow whatever I order I lay out when I lay it on the table. So what do I expect of my crew? I expect them to follow instructions and I expect them to not only do their jobs, but make sure that they're all mingling together. We are like pieces of a machine, and if one of us is off, everyone is off and I can't afford to have anyone be off."

Perhaps that answer was a bit rude, but she had tried to explain it a bit more in her second attempt because she was the authority and he had to know that, but she wasn't a master with a whip. Josalyn didn't see herself as some all powerful Goddess that peasants needed to kowtow before, she just knew that being in control didn't always mean being someone's friend. Everyone had to work together to achieve a goal and she was the ringleader, so to speak, and it was her job to make sure that everyone else was doing their jobs and well.

Frost allowed himself a smile at her joke, feeling a little more at ease around her. The previous captain had married her MCO? it wasn't the first time he'd heard of it but it was amusing in a heartwarming way. He blinked and nodded at the tone of her answer, he let his mask fall back into place and nodded his solemn agreement.

"Command opens a door to problems of a whole different nature doesn't it?"

He fell silent a moment, remembering. Gathering himself he spoke again, a little softer this time.

"Speaking with the CMO...is that a requirement or would you rather I reported to my section chief first?"

The CO seemed like a complex woman, on one hand she had a good heart but on the other she knew command came with a burden. He allowed himself an inward smile, she would excel here. He needed to find his stride aboard this ship now. Living in exile in some dimly lit armoury just wasn't an option anymore.

"I sent him straight for a physical, so it's probably best you meet the others, talk to him when he gets there and then do your physical before running any drills." Josalyn explained with a gentle sigh. "As talented as Doctor Karr is, she can't do two physicals at once."

She took a deep breath and then shrugged a little. "Command is its own issue all in itself. I'm sure we'll all get a routine down, however, and we'll all work it out. Right now I want you to settle in, meet your CO and then go talk to the doctor. Welcome aboard, Sergeant Frost."

Frost stood up, to attention and saluted.

"Yes Ma'am, thank you Ma'am."

Turning on his heel he walked out feeling a damn sight better than he did before he walked in.


JP by Sergeant Frost and Captain Dorne

|| USS Fenris
|| Shuttle Bay
|| Mid December 2388
|| 0900

"Shuttlecraft Colorado, you are cleared to dock in hangar bay 3."

"Roger that, Fenris, coming around on a 7-0-niner final approach."

With an elegant curve, the long-range shuttle glided gracefully into the Fenris' hangar, coming to a complete stop almost exactly within the marked landing zone. Coming to a halt with a gentle shudder, the shuttle's landing struts engaged the hangar floor as the outboard jets quietly released excess pressure. All in all, the landing couldn't have been more perfectly executed. Minimal turbulence, perfect docking sequence, and an overall lack of unnecessary course corrections on the outbound flight.

None of that occurred to the shuttle's lone passenger, who had grimaced the whole time at the iniquities of space travel, despite it being one of his primary research priorities. In a kind of cognitive dissonance, he viewed it as an annoyance, suitable for studying but not for experiencing. Nevertheless, he accepted it with a haughty self-pity, reminding himself that it was all for the sake of science.

So, with those lofty thoughts in mind, Dr. Kaleiman Burast stepped down the shuttle's loading ramp even before it had fully touched the ground. The hangar crew took note of his impatience to exit the small craft with a look of bemused curiosity on their faces, but continued about their tasks. This did not go unnoticed by Dr. Burast, but he affected an impassive expression nonetheless. Still, upon seeing his baggage being offloaded, his expression soon became imperious.

"You there! Be careful with that footlocker!" Burast accosted a crewman setting down his gear. "That contains irreplaceable specimens from halfway across the galaxy and I'll thank you to be careful with them. By that I mean they are to be carried by hand. No transporters! Now then, take a note. I want these containers delivered to the Science Lab," he gestured to half of the mound of baggage, "and these to my quarters. Quickly now, if you please!" And without waiting for an acknowledgement or any possible reply, the scientist spun on his heels and made his way for the hangar door.

Catching a passing crewman by the arm, Dr. Burast snapped "Which way to my room then?" After a few flustered minutes of checking his PADD, the crewman located and directed the scientist there. A quick turbolift ride and a brief unpacking session later, the good doctor was striding down the corridors towards the Science Labs, fiddling with his comm badge on the way there.

"Computer. Computer!" he snapped irritably. "Inform the ship's captain of my arrival, if it hasn't already been done, and add that I want a meeting as soon as possible to discuss science department functions and research priorities. Also arrange a meeting of all Science personnel at 1130 to discuss new operating procedures. And transfer a list of my dietary specifications to the…mess hall. That is all."

And with that, Dr. Kaleiman Burast strode into the Science department and into a new era of discovery…and challenges. Some for him, some for others.

||USS Fenris
||Sickbay
||Mid December, 2388
||0900


Selina was spending her current free time checking on some of her ongoing experiments that she had brought onboard with her. She'd been here a little longer than Josalyn, but knew her captain from the USS Blackbird and knew they'd be serving together again. The woman had yet to zip up her duty jacket, and she was singing, her brown curls hanging gently, swishing as she sang with expression and passion. It was an old Earth song from a play she was pretty sure, but it was one of her favorites and she had her eye on the door just in case someone came in that needed her.

She knew enough at this point in her life to always be prepared, but she thought it a crime not to live life to the fullest as well. In her life she had seen and done a lot, but there was still so much to see and do that she always felt rather busy and right now she was unwinding and relaxing and enjoying herself. If someone came in that needed her, she would stop recallibrating and calculating and patch them up and send them on their way--for now, she was simply singing, swaying a bit with the music and being very dramatic about it.

"I am the very model of a modern Major-General," she sang, a smile on her face. "I've information vegetable, animal, and mineral. I know the kings of England, and I quote the fights historical from Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical; I'm very well acquainted, too, with matters mathematical. I understand equations, both the simple and quadratical; about binomial theorem I'm teeming with a lot o' news, with many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. I'm very good at integral and differential calculus; I know the scientific names of beings animalculous: in short, in matters vegetable, animal, and mineral, I am the very model of a modern Major-General."

The singing was an oddity to Sergeni since singing was usually confided to the mess halls of ships. Either the sedatives here brought out a more jovial side in patients or the doctor had something to sing about. For a moment he hovered in front of the door out of lack of desire to enter the room. He didn't know what to expect and no one was shooting at him. That was a situation he could deal with, not this. Not singing doctors.

However orders were orders and he opened the door to be subjected to music and a singing woman in a blue uniform. Well, that answered who was doing the singing. "Ahem." he coughed lightly to the doctor to get her attention. "Commander?" he asked once he had seen her rank pips.

"Doctor, and I could feel you come in," Selina said as she hummed a bit more, looking at the man with a smile on her face and then looking back to her research.

However, Selina had to do a double take because the man was very, very large and she found herself slipping off her gloves and leaving the experiment as is. She moved out into the main area of the Sickbay with a smirk on her face and very obviously began to look the man over like he was prey. Such a reaction she was sure the man got a lot and yet...Selina was now far too curious for her own good and as always, her mouth got the better of her.

"Well, my, my," her eyes traveled down to his crotch and she nodded, "my...have a seat on the bio bed and take your jacket off. I assume you're here for a physical? I've been here a few months now so I would know if an--how tall are you? 8 feet? I would know if we had an 8 foot crew member. What brings you to the Fenris, and aren't the ceilings a little low for you?"

"I crouch slightly," he said with a frown at both the questions and the correction. He wasn't even going to bother comparing the Vulnian forces to Starfleet again. Taking off his duty jacket, Sergeni revealed a grey undershirt that served to keep his modesty should the jacket be removed for whatever reason. If anything it was to keep up the ideals of professionalism. "And eight foot five." added Sergeni.

Sitting down on the biobed the Vulnian looked at the doctor with a facial expression of melancholy. "I joined because I was told to." answered Sergeni rather bluntly who wanted to get this whole situation over and done with. The medical at least.

"Someone is incredibly grumpy," Selina said with a little laugh and she too took her duty jacket off.

She didn't want to zip it up and if she was giving a full physical, then she knew that it was going to get in her way all open like that. Selina reached for a tricorder and then moved to the console next the bed as she smiled a little at his correction of his height and just nodded at that. He was here because he was told to be here and something told her that he hated being here--blame her empathy. Unlike Lillian, Selina didn't much care if anyone got upset for her and her emotions and feelings and she was blunt and honest and she knew exactly who she was--everyone else be damned if they didn't like it.

You couldn't live for 200 years and not make a few enemies.

"My list of crewmen transferred over only gives me one 8 foot 5 man so you must be Lance Lieutenant Sergeni Kostev...very nice name. Rolls right off the tongue," she said nodding as she ran through the file that had been sent to her and moved the tricorder near him again. "I'm going to need you to take off the grey shirt too so I can better assess the scars."

Saying that, she reached up to touch the one that travelled down his left eye, nodding gently. "As the Chief Medical Officer, I'm going to need to know if any of these wounds bring you any kind of mental discomfort. I have to know if I can ship you out to serve this ship with a clean bill of mental health as well as physical. It's my job, I'm not daring to try to get to know you...you don't seem like you want a friend, so I'll just be your handsy physician for now."

"Such an assessment isn't necessary. These scars are centuries old and have long been examined by doctors. But...if it would put your mind at ease." he replied with a soft sigh. To placate the doctor Sergeni removed the grey shirt to reveal his upper body. There wasn't an obscene over-abundance of muscle, more of a toned appearance from swinging a sword too many times. There were a few pock-marks from disruptors, marks from Asi claws and even a few from Klingon swords. His head leaned into her hand out of a natural reaction before he pulled away, still with a sullen look on his face.

"The scars are nothing more than marks on my flesh. The cause of them being there is long over. Being as old as we can be, Vulnians undergo numerous psychological examinations." explained Sergeni calmly. "And I didn't come to this ship to make friends, Doctor. I came here because I was ordered to."

"So you said before, my dear...you live as long as El'Aurians, perhaps?"

Selina nodded at him as he explained the age to her, but she stroked his scars regardless of what he had said, wondering what they were each from. She smiled a little at the big grump in front of her and nodded too at his comment about orders because he seemed very dutiful. He was given an order and he followed it to the letter and he was now here on the Fenris because he was told to be here and so he was going to do his job.

"I want you to take a deep breath for me," she told him as she slowly took her fingertips away from his scars and instead felt around his abdomen like she was checking for irregularities, making eye contact with him. "Your physiology is different, but I still need to check your lungs and your reflexes and make sure nothing seems off at all. You are rather fascinating...I could examine you for hours and not be satisfied..."

"I am not familiar with that species." he said with narrowed eyes. "Vulnians can live up to eight hundred years and still retain combat effectiveness. The ninth and tenth century of life would be what you would call 'senior years'. Not even our enhanced longevity can sustain us indefinitely." Sergeni seemed to frown at the comment about an examination that would take longer than an hour. What was with this woman? All he needed was a clean bill of health and then he could go. Was there more to it?

"For the record doctor Vulnians have three lungs. Our third lung allow us to cycle gas compounds that would normally be unbreathable. However the sensation can be...painful. Let the record show that if I fall in combat you can make all the examinations you wish until you are content. For now...let us continue with my medical." Sergeni groaned, taking a full three lungfuls of air in as requested.

"Trust me, I didn't mean like a science experiment," she told him, correcting herself. "I just meant...nevermind, it's not professional."

Selina was going to say so much more, but instead she just paid attention to his breathing and then recorded her findings into his personal file, updating it. Talking to him was rather one sided and she had a feeling that she was going to be disappointed if she tried more than she was right now. She had fun doing what she did and difficult patients came with the territory and sometimes it made her a little grumpy too, but oh well.

"You are a person, not an experiment, and I apologize if the wording of my previous statement made you think something else." Selina said nodding, moving to check his reflexes. "Just need to check your reflexes and you're good to go...though I admit I'd rather spar you for that part--check your instincts--but that is not my job. Trust me, you are almost rid of me..."

Blinking at the reply she offered, Sergeni seemed a little bit surprised by the word 'spar' being used within a Starfleet medical bay. "You spar?" he asked as if the notion was a complete fantasy. "I wasn't aware member species of the Federation possessed any hand to hand combat skills. For some reason I thought the idea of such a personal form of fighting to be barbaric to your...civilised outlook."

"Not everything in life can be pretty," she replied with a smirk. "Besides, I was a century and a half before I even joined Starfleet. Sparring is healthy, exhilirating and brings things out of a person that other things can't. Learning more about me than you expected to, huh? I'm not just some doctor--I have facets and layers and I'm very complex. You can't live for as long as I have and be two dimensional. Do you spar, Lieutenant? Something tells me you might be a bit 'barbaric' in the very best way..."

So it was a bit lewd how she said the last bit out loud...she meant it to sound that way.

For some reason the question hit a nerve within Sergeni to the point his eyes narrowed at the doctor. "I am a Vulnian warrior. Sparring is just one of the many talents I possess." he huffed defensively, the lewd tone completely going over his head. "I'm rather practised in close combat skills and Vulnian martial arts. Perhaps when time allows I'll have to teach you a superior way to defend yourself."

"I've never tried these Vulnian martial arts, so you're going to have to show them to me," she said smiling at him and reluctantly motioning to his shirt. "You seem to be healthy to me, so unfortunately I'm going to have to let you put your shirt back on. Also, just for future reference as you are a marine, if you ever don't want to talk to the counselor and you have any kind of mental needs, I am here and I can clear you--I am fit to handle psychiatric evaluations. Food and sparring after the supply run? I could use a good night of physical contact--sparring of course."

"The other kind of physical contact too, but the big guy's not interested in that." Selina thought to herself.

She took a step back and rustled her hair gently. "I expect to be thoroughly run through my paces when you show me how your race gets the job done. Judging by your musclar structure, your workouts are rigorous and yield desired results, so I'm looking forward to it. Teach me as long as you like, I have the stamina. For now, you are fit for duty, please return to your post."

Winking at him as she said it, she gave him a smile and turned to go back to her work, stealing a very obvious glance at him as he put his shirt back on as well as his jacket and left her Sickbay...quite the specimen of a man she had to admit.


JP by Selina and Sergeni

||USS Fenris
||Cargo Bay One
||Mid December, 2388
||0945

It was time for Sergeni to finally complete his orders that the captain had laid out to him earlier; to meet his marine platoon. His understanding of the unit was it was a twenty-strong unit of these supposed elite infantry. Their job wasn't to solve crime or even prevent it like Starfleet Security. Marines were a weapon like a phaser array or a torpedo. Their function was to render the enemy inoperable and to offer the captain an extra card to play when diplomacy wasn't working out for her. Vulnians only had one department to handle both duties; the Naval Guardsmen. On top of their obvious ship-board duties they were also used to secure landing zones for the arrival of Royal Guardsmen units. Unlike the marines of Starfleet however, NGs used naval ranks.

Luckily for Sergeni the ceiling of the cargo bay was nowhere near his head which meant he didn't feel as cramped and constricted as he did in other rooms. Tapping his combadge he connected to the rest of the detachment. "All marines, report to Cargo Bay One." he said before pulling himself up on a box containing...whatever it contained.

Frost Nodded silently to himself as his comm badge bleeped to life, tapping it.

"Understood, Frost en route,"

He headed for the nearest turbolift, as it whizzed past the floors he allowed himself a moment of reflection. He had met the captain and it had gone well by all accounts. Most CO's took one look at his service file and ran for the hills but if it phased her in the slightest she hadn't let on, she hadnt even made fun of his middle name which was always a bonus.
The lift stopped, the doors opened and Frost stepped out into cargo bay one, his eyes instantly found the large man sitting on a box. He seemed to be very still, the kind of stillness that men attained after seeing combat for a few years. Frost didn't know if they would get on but he knew they had that stillness in common before anything else.
He approached, standing to attention and saluting.

"Sir, Sergeant Frost reporting as ordered sir,"

Anna had just finished drying her hair and getting her uniform on when she got the call. She applied some make-up and made sure the pony tail was tight before leaving her quarters. Her marine greens were pressed and neat and she looked presentable for meeting her peers so she was glad she was going to keep her mind off of things.

Entering the Cargo Bay, Anna smiled a little and looked around as she tried to figure out what to do next. Seeing Frost she smiled warmly and nodded in his direction before seeing Sergeni. His large appearance unnerved her and she knew she couldn't let him see that but she felt a little strange. He could easily take her apart and she knew he would never try anything but she was nervous.

"Private First Class Leary, Sir," she said as she stood at attention and saluted her commanding officer.

Returning both their salutes it wasn't long before the rest of the marine detachment arrived and stood to attention, he looked around them as if giving them each an inspection on an individual basis. To Sergeni the state of a uniform was the state of the soldier. Of course to inspect the tidiness of combat fatigues was complete nonsense but duty uniform had to be at a certain standard. With a small huff of satisfaction he stood in front of the loose formation.

"My name is Lance Lieutenant Sergeni Kostev des Traxis. From this point on, I own each and every one of you." stated the Vulnian in a matter-of-factly manner. "You are my soldiers and it is my duty to command you in the defence of this ship and of this crew. Your duty is to carry out my orders to the best of your ability. Who here is the most senior ranking non-commissioned officer?"

Frost Nodded inwardly, he was right about the new Lieutenant- he was a man of action, a man who would gladly die for any one of them and ask nothing but duty in return. Frost liked the man's attitude already, like with the Captain Frost could tell Sergeni would defend any of them to the hilt, but cut you in half if you messed with him. He was the perfect counterpoint to the sunny and cheerful smile Anna had given him as she entered. Frost had smiled back but now was the time for duty, for him to be what he was trained to be

He stepped forward and stood to attention, speaking loudly and clearly

"Sir, that would be me sir... Sergeant J.G Frost sir,"

Anna glanced at Frost out of the corner of her eye and imprinted him on her mind right then and there because he was a Sergeant. He was just as much her commanding officer as Lance Lieutenant Kostev and that meant no funny business: she made a mental note to look up more about both of them when she had the down time.

When Frost stepped forward he gave the man an appraisal by looking him up and down. An NCO was suppose to be the pillar of any unit in the military. Officers might direct, NCOs led. They were a glue that held more junior or inexperienced members of a unit together through their own personal ways of 'encouragement'. Once he had given the man a once over he looked at Frost's face. "You shall serve as platoon sergeant then. All NCOs shall report to you and you alone. Later today I want a full combat kit inspection say...1400 hours? If time allows us of course."

Sergeni looked around the marines to find one of them, a female trying to steal a glance at both of them. Giving himself a small cough he stood in front of her like a menacing tower. "Private First Class Leary." he began, remembering who she was. "In what capacity do you serve this platoon? Rifleman? Grenadier?"

Frost nodded.

"1400 sir, understood sir,"

He swallowed hard, he was the platoon sergeant. Something he hadn't expected in his wildest dreams, he fell back in line and stayed stock still as the CO stalked around looking at the troopers. He reminded Frost of a big cat- the same kind of grace that can only come with a predators instinct, something told him that everyone in the room was a predator. Even the pretty ones.

The CO stopped in front of Anna. Frost kept his eyes forward and let his 'promotion' sink in.

Anna kept her rigid stance and answered when spoken to. "I am whatever you need, Sir. Riflemman, grenadier, first and last resort..."

She didn't want to admit that her other commanding officers would call her hotheaded and risky...but she got the job done. Anna was attracted to dangerous situations. She loved the feeling of almost dying, that rush of life: it made her feel invincible even when she was hurt. Getting hurt just meant that she was still alive. That she could steal bleed. Anna could hold her own, she just found that her superiors found her lacking, not in heart or skill, but in discipline.

"I am best at stealth, Sir," she clarified so she didn't sound flaky, "I am good at getting into places other can't without detection. I am skilled with weapons and I have yet to die...I enjoy being sent into the fray, Sir."

"Do you understand the concept of patience, Private?" asked Sergeni. He wanted to probe Anna, test her. Looking on the marine manifest there wasn't one designated marksman amongst them. Would she manage to take that mantle or would it fall to others?

Anna paused because she had never thought of herself as patient...not really. She'd been patient waiting to get out of the asylum but that was because she was waiting for revenge. Actually, she was still waiting for that so maybe she was patient. Either way, she had been asked a question and needed to answer it. Her MCO wasn't going to wait for her to answer forever.

"I prefer to solve a problem quickly, Sir, but if it means the success of this detachment, I can be patient, Sir," Anna told him. She hoped he wouldn't be angry with that answer. "What do you need of me, Sir?"

"I was thinking of placing someone as the platoon's designated marksman. Not entirely a sniper but someone who can put down accurate fire." explained Sergeni with patience. It was good that she admitted that the 'fray' is something that Anna could face down as a soldier should. "What exactly was your last marksmanship score?"

"37 out of 40, Sir, I'm a good shot," she told him with a nod.

Marksman...she could do it if she tried hard enough, but she'd be itching to fight.

"Sergeant Frost, you will also work with the private here to ensure that she attains the full marksmanship score. Any marine who is under thirty-eight will also go through re-training." stated Sergeni without so much as a blink. "Dismissed."

Frost nodded

"Yes Sir, understood sir"

He raised his voice

"Okay Marines, you heard the top, I want everybody down on the firing range at your earliest convenience and I want scores sent to me personally"

JP Between Frost, Anna and Sergeni

Jos and Kale cause it needs to happen, the CO and new Chief of Science...

||USS Fenris
||Sickbay
||Mid December, 2388
||0930

Gabe nodded to the crew members that littered the corridor as he made his way to Sickbay, While working on Deck 5 he'd somehow, and he wasn't sure how, managed to cut open his left arm. He'd thrown a makeshift bandage over it but this was something that needed a professional to look at.

As the doors opened he saw Selina, as per usual, clad in her departmental under shirt. He nodded to her as he stepped into the main bay, Looking around for Lilly, knowing if there was anywhere she'd be on the ship before she left it'd be here.

"Morning Doc, got a little something ya may like to look at." He said, holding up his arm, the bandage starting to look more red then white now.

Selina smiled as she felt Gabe's presence and her face lit up even more as she saw that it was in fact Gabriel Sharpe that was walking into her Sickbay. She'd already made herself acquainted through at least one meeting with each crew member so that she knew their medical history and knew who she was in charge of now. The ship's crews' health was her top priority and she was determined to do right by them, but she was more fascinated by some than by others.

Seeing the bandage, she smiled a little. "Looks to me like you got a problem, Handsome. Mind telling me how you got it?"

Just like that she was grabbing the medical tricorder and a hypospray, as well as the dermal regenerator because this was her kind of job. She had to make sure that he got properly treated and could be shipped off with no infection and no scarring as that was what came with the territory of her position. Getting the injured and then fixing them up in record time and sending them back out to do their jobs, whatever those jobs may be on the ship.

"Ya know how it goes. I was elbow deep in a bulkhead and zigged when I shoulda zagged. Hurts like a bugger." he said, slowly pealing off the bandage, "We had a few problems on Deck 5... figures since I was looking at a damn near perfect engineering report this morning."

In truth he'd been hoping for a quiet morning maybe get himself a little time to see Marissa, but a blown EPS line had changed that.

"How's it look Doc?"

Selina smiled a little at that because it seemed like there was always one problem or another be it a colony, a hospital or a ship. Otherwise, there'd be little use for them all and from what she'd seen of the ship so far, the engineers kept her purring like a kitten, but even they had off days. The ship couldn't be perfect 100 percent of the time, but she knew that it was in good hands--Lillian had raved about Gabe and his work on the ship and so Selina trusted him enough.

"Looks like it can be fixed, I am the best," Selina said with a wink, as she started to clean up his arm a little bit. "Do you want a pain killer or would you like to tough it out as I clean it out and then patch it up?"

"I'll take the pain killers if it's the same, I've had enough 'tough it out' medical visits over the last few years, don't really feel the need to do it again, besides once ya've laser welded ya own arm closed with nothing more then a hunk of metal to make sure ya don't bite ya own tongue off, ya learn pain killers aren't such a bad thing."

Selina smirked and nodded approvingly because Gabe got more and more interesting by the moment and it made her smile. "Professionally speaking, I had to ask--I get crewmen in here that want to show me they can tough it out like a man," she said smiling, putting the hypospray up to his neck and injecting he painkillers into his bloodstream. "Good for my ego, but no so great for their pain receptors."

She waited a few moments to let the pain killers take effect before she started to clean out the wound a little bit, making sure it was sterile and clean before she could close him up. God forbid that anything got in that would cause him discomfort later on down the line, and once she'd discarded the bloody cloth to clean him up with, and then looking over the affected area. The man had been through a thing or two and his arms were nice...probably from tinkering with things all the time.

"Nice arms you have here," she told him as she got the dermal regenerator.

"Thanks...I think." Gabe replied, a little unsure how to react, "I'm not that kinda guy that feels the need to 'Be a man' in that particular fashion, never saw the point."

"Other then that, how's things been since ya got here, enjoyin' the place?"

Selina couldn't help but giggle a little as she closed up the wound, realizing that either something was off with her flirting, or the men aboard this ship just didn't get it. Was she not being forward enough? Honestly, she was starting to think that maybe everyone around here was a little too stiff for her liking, into men, or some other issue because it wasn't her. She was certain that she wasn't the problem because her playfulness was obvious and she wasn't a terrible flirt, she knew that--she'd had a couple centuries to perfect her technique.

"It's a compliment, Handsome, and I'm enjoying the place just fine--it was about time I settled down a bit more instead of traveling from place to place with nothing but my wits and a medical bag." Selina said smiling at him and then smirked again. "What kind of man would you say you are then, Commander?"

"I'm just a guy that likes to get things done. I soak up knowledge like a sponge, forget nothing and have more then a few extra skills then you'd think given my job. Used to be I'd overwork and under sleep but luckily that's changed...was working myself into an early grave was just too stubborn to stop." Gabe said, glad to steer the conversation a little. He'd known she was flirting with him but in truth he wasn't sure if he was comfortable with it, it'd take time for him to get used to the doctor's playful nature.

"Well then don't worry, your arm is as good as new," Selina explained as she ran her fingertips over the healed up skin gently. "Shouldn't have a scar on you and the tissue is healed up. It might be a little tender the next hour once the painkillers wear off, but it's good as new. Try not to zig when you need to zag next time..."

She rested her hand on his shoulder and gave it a pat, smiling and nodding and then letting her hand leave him entirely. Standing up, she started to discard of the bloody cloths and sterilize her instruments again, glancing over at Gabe and then taking a deep breath. Screw professionalism at this point because she had something on her mind and she'd be damned if she didn't get it all out there and in the open.

"It's obvious that I'm flirting with you, right? I'm starting to feel like you men on the higher up are...well, either not interested, which is fine, or swinging for the other team, which would be unfortunate. You're rather a good catch it seems even though granted I barely know anyone on this ship and I'd hate to see the other sex win out with you," she said with a gentle laugh. "Still, to each his own, but I'm curious."

Not quite sure how to answer, he gave the situation some thought. Gabe chuckled, "Oh I figured as much and no I don't 'swing for the other team', it's just that I'm currently spoken for that's all."

"Oh, well then," Selina said with a laugh, "that gets that out of the way."

She smiled at him and took the information in, feeling better about herself and the situation that they were in. Having fixed up his arm, she knew that she needed to let him go, but she couldn't help but rest a hand on his shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze. Sickbay was supposed to be a place where people knew they could come in and ask for help even if they were terrified of doctors and the like.

"My door is always open," Selina told him and then went to finish putting away her things. "To fix you up, to talk, to do a counseling session...anything you need, I'm here. I hope to see more of you, Commander--in a less bloody situation, of course."

"Of course." Gabe said with a nod, standing up, "I'll be sure to drop by if i need anything... meanwhile i still have a few rounds to make, So i'll get outta ya hair."

||USS Fenris
||Sickbay to Shuttlebay III
||Mid December, 2388
||1010


"I really think that you should leave such repairs to your outranking officers," Selina told an Engineering Ensign with a smile and gentle shake of her head. "That, or practice some more in the Holodeck and then try to prove something. There won't be any scarring, but those were some burns, Kiddo."

Ensign Connel nodded and then smiled at the doctor. "You know, I'm 24 years old, I'm not a kid..."

"You are to me," Selina replied but she smirked at his flirty tone. "Maybe you hurt yourself to land in my Sickbay? Some doctor fantasy?"

"Well, the last hot doc here was into women, so you can't get mad at a guy for trying," he said winking.

Selina laughed and leaned in close. "Well, you're going to have to try harder than that."

"Dinner then, maybe?"

Normally Selina would jump right on it because he was clearly interested and on a ship like this there was always some down time that could be filled with fun...but Selina had been forward this morning. Her night was mapped out for dinner and sparring with the new MCO and so instead she figured she play it up because this ego boost was nice. Ensign Connel was young and he was full of spirit, attractive too, but he was a bit immature for Selina's taste and instead she'd just milk the situation for all it was worth.

"Prior plans," Selina told him, motioning to the door. "You're also still on duty and I have a reputation to uphold for fixing people up and sending them back out. Butt out of my Sickbay."

Ensign Connel smiled and nodded. "What you say, Doc....I'll be back."

"With less burns, please!" she called after him laughing.

Shaking her head at that, she went back to her research from before, taking a deep breath and looking over her findings before she checked the time. Knowing they were close to orbit, Selina grabbed her duty jacket and pulled it on over her teal undershirt, checking her pips and making herself look a bit more professional, hair pulled back and everything. Just as if Josalyn and Selina were mentally linked, Selina heard the comm system come on and she smirked a bit at the familiar feminine voice coming through.

"This is Cap to Old Bird," Josalyn said and Selina could tell that she was smiling, "I need you to report to Shuttle Bay III so that the Away Team can take off."

Selina nodded at that. "Roger that, Cap. Old Bird is in flight."

Laughing and grabbing her medical bag, Selina headed to Shuttle Bay III because she was more than ready to go on this little mission. It was just a supply run and so the Away Team had minimal personnel, but there was one person in the Away Team that Selina had yet to meet and was more than curious about: the new Chief of Science, Kaleiman Burast. She wanted to have a one on one with the man, of course, as he was Science and she was Medical and he had peaked her curiousity, but she was looking forward to this.

On top of that, Selina got ready for things ahead of time and had checked, double checked, triple checked and even quadrupled checked her medical bag, adding a little bit that she probably wouldn't need but wanted just in case. She was always ready to go even if she wasn't the most professional person in the world, but she knew when to get the job done and right now she had samples to collect. Smiling to herself and to everyone assembling in Shuttle Bay III, she saw Ensign Connel and laughed a little bit.

"You're stalking me..." Selina joked as she rustled her ponytail.

Ensign Connel rolled his eyes but he was grinning. "Running an errand for the Chief while I'm here."

"Yes, Sharpe...a man I wish I knew better."

"You're making me jealous, Doc."

"He's the 2nd Officer, I am entitled to say such a thing. Besides, I'm my own woman."

Josalyn sighed as she entered, Ensign Connel getting stiffer. "Alright, alright...when the others gets here, we'll take off."


<Taggles: Away Team, aka Kaleiman and Kalen. Everyone else can also do things. The marines can run drills while the Away Team is gone, people can run into each other doing tasks, all of that. Enjoy yourselves!>

||USS Fenris
||Shuttlebay III
||Mid December, 2388
||1010

After having left the bridge for the away mission, Kalen was a little nervous. Shuttles held a history for him, and the memories caught up to him in his walk. But he calmed himself down as he had entered the shuttlebay. He couldn't be seen as being worried about the journey, after all he had to get them safely down on to the planet. And he would perform that job as best he could. He smiled at the engineers who were loading up the shuttle and helped them out a little bit without getting in their way. After he did what he thought he was skilled enough to accomplish without messing anything up, he stepped into the shuttle and started to make his final preparations, doing all of his pre-flight checks.

After he was sure everything was as good as it could be, he sat in the pilot's seat and just took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and find the place where he would need to be to be a successful pilot. He knew that he wouldn't cause them to crash again, he just knew that he had made a mistake before, and it had cost him. But this time would be different. But he should probably talk to someone about it after he got back. Maybe if no one else, he could talk to Selina. She seemed like she wouldn't judge him for the issues he had been going through lately. He stepped out of the cockpit and moved out from the cockpit, making sure the away team was all ready to go. He nodded to the CMO and the Captain and smiled, "Good morning, ma'am. Are we almost ready to launch?"

<tags for away team>

||USS Fenris
||Bridge
||Mid December, 2388
||1010

It was the waiting that always got to him, Gabriel Sharpe paced the bridge waiting for the away team to signal their readiness to launch. He had to give Captain Dorne credit though she'd not been here long and already she was leading from the front. While it was against his own judgement to let the ship's captain run around willy nilly on an uncharted planet, his time with Lilly had taught him that there was little he could do about it.

He gave a wry smile as he saw Carlos hunched over his console, wondering how long a night the man had had. He knew the look well he'd seen it enough times, heck he'd lived it a few times in the past before his time in the corp. 8 Months of Able One Three 'warmdown' sessions had given him a lot of drinking practice.

He slowly walked over the the Yeoman , "When ya get chance, head down to the mess hall and ask for a fry up." He quietly whispered to the man with a wink before moving on.

The bridge was subdued this morning, everyone getting on with their own thing preparing for the mission. The replacement Science officer was doing last minutes checks on the sensor results of the planet, The Helmsman was waiting at his console, with the ship in station keeping their was little for her to do. Marissa was no doubt going over the landing zone with a fine tooth comb to make sure there were no surprises, he gave her a nod as he wandered past doing his best to stay professional as he gave her a smile.

He finally came back to the Captain's chair and stood in front of it. "Okay people lets make sure this goes off without a hitch, We have to show our new captain what we're made of." He said using his best authoritative tone.

||USS Fenris
||Shuttlebay III
||Mid December, 2388
||1010


Josalyn smiled at those assembled for the Away Team and looked them all over like a general inspecting his troops. This was supposed to be a really straight forward gathering supplies mission and she smiled a bit because it would be a nice, easy mission to start off with this crew on. She knew that she needed to prove herself in any kind of battle too--this ship got in a lot of those--but right now she just wanted to get onto the uncharted planet and scope it out and return with supplies.

"You can start your pre-launch procedures, Lieutenant," she told Kalen with a nod. "We'll be underway in a few moments. You too, Ensign. I suggest you make sure everything is running smoothly."

She smiled when Ensign Connel did what he was told and then she looked at Selina as Selina checked the medical bag and she chuckled a little bit. Josalyn and Selina knew each other and so it was nice that they had the one other person to trust to get the job done, but at the same time Josalyn knew how Selina worked on Away Missions and she hoped Selina wouldn't mother them all. Then again, it was nice to have a doctor around that gave a shit about everyone else, sometimes above even her own skin.

"I hope you've got everything," Josalyn teased as she looked around the shuttlebay.

Selina laughed a little. "Everything and then some...plus, rebreathers for all."

"Probably a good idea--the atmosphere here isn't our normal atmosphere." Joaslyn admitted nodding, taking a rebreather. "When we get down there, no one is without a partner if we split up, do I make myself clear? You can't just run off and grab samples whenever you please and disregard your own safety."

"That was once, Jos..."

"That was six times, Doctor,"

"Captain..."

They both nodded at each other and then Selina got into the shuttle and Josalyn nodded and gave the shuttlebay one more sweep to see if Kaleiman was going to show up or not. If he didn't it wouldn't really be a big deal, but she would have a talk with him about it later most definitely. For now, it was time for them to get ready to go and to take scans and to come back with supplies and do it in hopefully record time.


<Taggles: Kaleiman and maybe Kalen prepping the shuttle>

||USS Fenris
||Shuttlebay III
||Mid December, 2388
||1015

"Mind those sample cases, man! They are fragile on a micro-cellular level, and I don't care to test out their internal stabilization fields to any great extent today!" Burast snapped at one the unfortunate Science division ensigns accompanying him through the shuttle bay and carrying the majority of his gear. He toted a fair number of specimens, specimen collection containers, and specialized monitoring gear himself, but it was only the items that he didn't trust one his subordinates to carry.

"You there, Ensign…S'avak! I'm hereby entrusting you with the class 2 bacterial samples. I can't be bothered with that level of research for this mission, so you'll need to handle it. Be sure to observe the proper handling and testing procedures. If you need a refresher on the specifics, please review my paper 'On the Study and Comparison of Type 6 Fauna Microbial Samples,' with Dr. Tokoy. I'm sure you'll find it most illuminating, but please disregard the more…flowery prose in that article. That is a symptom of the Bolian penchant for form over substance, and I assure you I fought against them for some time, to no avail alas. Still, my annotations should help you decipher his more esoteric turns of phrase, S'avak." The ensign merely nodded at all this and shifted the heavy backpack she carried.

He knew the Vulcan officer's name only because she had impressed him with her knowledge of his field of research and his papers in particular. It was enough to warrant her name recognition based on a few meetings, the same cordiality he would extend any aspiring grad student back home. Her Vulcan personality did not concern him at all, since he found all aliens to be roughly the same on the level of personalities…on a cellular level, now that was where things truly got interesting. So he had one of Ensign S'avak's tissue samples being tested on his bacteriophages in the labs, along with several other standard Vulcan patterns. If there were some irregularity he might get to know her more, but for now he considered the learning of her name a privilege granted to her in and of itself.

And the other ensign's name? He didn't have a clue, and had no time to learn it at the moment. "Careful with that tricorder, man! I spent the morning calibrating it based on the survey readings, as poor as they probably are, but I've no desire to repeat that tedious task on some wretched uncivilized planet. Now then, step lively! Ah, here we are." He gestured to the shuttle before them.

The three scientists approached the waiting away team, and Burast called out a loud salutation to the captain, who he believed was his one ally aboard the ship due to their shared understanding of the value of scientific research. "Ahoy there, Captain! I'm here and so is my gear, so let us depart for the surface! I hate to keep these tissue specimens un-refrigerated for too long, you see."

Tag: Jos, away team

||USS Fenris
||Firing Range
||Mid December, 2388
||10.45

Frost walked up the line as Marines in individual firing booths practiced on the holographic targets. He glanced at each of the target readers outside the booths. Some of his marines were good shots, others a little less so but they were improving. The LT had ordered range scores and Frost was somewhat satisfied he would be pleased, as with all skills there was a room for improvement but so far nobody had scored beneath 85%

He tapped the alert button on the side of one booth, a petite redhead turned to face him, Frost smiled and keyed the intercom

"Marine, watch your right flank... holograms have failsafes, the enemy wont"

She saluted

"Sir"

Frost smiled and continued walking, the Marines were hungry, a lot of them were new. Afew had some experience behind them but for the best part he felt like he was breaking in trainees.

He headed to a vacant booth and keyed in his personal code, the holograms shimmered to life. He tied his hair back and hefted his rifle taking a breath. The rifle hummed as Frost squeezed the trigger over and over, flicking from one target to another to another and another, He was scoring a few headshots but the majority of his fire was striking the centre mass, just like the manual said.

10 minutes later the holograms shimmered out and he sighed replacing his rifle. He had always found the firing range at least a little theraputic.

He smiled as the computer put his score out, 96% accuracy rating... he hadn't lost it. He looked out of the window at the planet below them, frowning a little. The planet stirred his soldiers instincts something wasn't right but he wasn't an officer his responsibility lay in the men and women in those firing booths. He headed to his small office to compile the report for the Lieutenant.

<Tag any and all>

||USS Fenris
||Shuttlebay III-Berstly
||Mid December, 2388
||1020

Kalen sat in the shuttle making his final preparations for the launch while all the supplies were being loaded. He ran over all his checklists and double checked through all his pre-flight nuances that he had developed. He made sure everything was locked down and stowed away. This wouldn't be a bumpy ride or anything, but he had to make sure of certain things now. He had a voice in his head that would nag at him to go through everything just one more time and this time nothing would go wrong. He'd flown away missions since the last disaster of course, and it wasn't that he was nervous, it was just one of those habits a person can get into. And Kalen was a becoming a very thorough man.

He made through towards the cabin and looked around at everyone, knowing that everything was ready to go. He nodded to the captain in the co-pilot's chair and smiled softly, "Good afternoon ma'am." He stated simply after finishing accomplishing her orders. He hoped that they could establish as good of a working relationship as he had had, that would certainly be a good thing. He fired up the shuttle as he got all the doors closed up tight. He keyed in the sequence to open the shuttlebay doors and the one to remove the docking clamps on the shuttle. "Here's to a successful first away mission, Captain." He saluted her momentarily as he started to accelerate slowly through the open bay doors. He loved the job, but the vastness of space made him feel so small, and there were so many factors that had to be just right to achieve space flight. He grinned to himself, proud of science, and its defiance of the nature of space.

He navigated the shuttle out of the Fenris' orbit around the planet and plotted all his angles of atmospheric entry, double checking his math in his head as he minutely corrected the course that the computer had set. Of course they wouldn't have been injured or anything, he just didn't think they should stress the hull more than necessary. It would be a short few minute ride down to the surface, and he wanted to make sure that everyone was as comfortable as possible. He punched in his entries and looked over at the Captain momentarily, wondering why she had decided to come on such a routine mission, even if it was her first official one as the Captain. He shrugged his shoulders and let the computer do most of the work, he really wasn't required. He was sure in a few years, pilots wouldn't even be necessary for missions like this. Or even long warp travel. That certainly would put him out of a job. But nothing a computer could do would ever replace a pilot's intuition, or his emotions. Sometimes they detracted, but at others they were a bonus. As they entered the atmosphere there was a little trembling throughout the shuttle, but it passed after a minute or two. He gazed out around at the landscape and looked to the Captain, "Where should I set her down, ma'am? Just anywhere?"