Arrivée

Posted on Thu Dec 6, 2018 @ 9:38pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit & Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

1,276 words; about a 6 minute read

ON

The newly-promoted Lieutenant (jg) Camille Lévesque was tired.

It had been almost two weeks since she received her transfer orders and boarded a series of ships. First, a cruiser launching on its maiden voyage to the Beta Quadrant, dropping her off at Starbase 400. Then a dedicated transport ship on a supply run through the gateway. And now a runabout ferrying her and a half-dozen other new crew to her new assignment.

She was exhausted.

That exhaustion evaporated the instant the ship dropped out of warp and she laid eyes upon the USS Victory. Her new assignment, workspace, and home.

Their pilot brought them into the landing bay, and a few crewmen helped unload luggage. A red-collared yeoman gave Camille a PADD containing orders to report directly to the Captain’s ready room for an initial meeting. The yeoman assured her that her belongings would be in her quarters by the time she was finished. She nodded, used the PADD to pull up a copy of her own assignment orders, and proceeded to the turbolift.

[Captains Ready Room]

Standing in her Ready Room, still dressed in the smugglers attire she’d worn as she hadn’t bothered to change clothing or go to Sickbay for a check after the fight on the surface of Heouron. The only allowance she’d made was a self-administered hypospray to counter the hyperactive nanites in her blood, as a result the mottling which had marred her skin had faded, though she was still somewhat paler than normal. On the bridge, sensors swept the sector surrounding the Arcturus Cluster searching for indications of an approaching vessel while the Captain planned a second, far more deadly assault at Heouron.. she wasn’t willing to write off her missing people. Not yet.
If no ship arrived within the next 24 hours.. she would return and bring the Victory’s powerful weapons as incentive..

The only bit of luck was that the Arcturus Cluster was within 4 hours travel back to Heouron. If this Holbridge didn’t show up, if her XO and CMO did not soon make contact....

...

Camille was nervous to meet her new Captain. She wanted to impress. Standing outside the Ready Room door, she did her best to straighten her uniform, which had slight wrinkles from the long ride. Tempted to run back and change, enough people had already seen her and would see her run from the Captain and disobey her first orders aboard-ship.

She took a deep breath, pushed her wireframe glasses back up her nose into place, and chimed the door.

The door slid open smoothly to allow her to enter, accompanied by the sound of the Captain’s voice calling out “Enter”.

Hearing the prompt, Camille stepped into the Ready Room. She stood at attention before her Captain. “Lieutenant Lévesque, reporting as ordered, sir.” Her accent was thick; her rank came out in French unintentionally. A second later she looked her Captain in the eye, and noticed her clothes and skin appearance. “Pardon me, madame, but are you alright?”

Not answering that question, instead The Captain walked from where she’d been standing behind her desk and moved toward the newly arrived officer. Damn inconvenient to have to break in a new officer while at the same time awaiting the supposed arrival of this Jim Holbridge of Starfleet Intelligence. That he addressed himself as such told her a few things about him right off the bat.

Extending one hand, she said instead “I assume you a copy of your transfer orders for me?”

"Oui, Captain," answered Camille. Sensing the Captain's annoyance, she tensed a bit and handed over the PADD that had her assignment orders on the cover. "Assigned to USS Victory as Chief Science Officer, signed Brigadier General Rothschild, Task Force Executive Officer." She remained tense before her new CO. "I look forward to working with you, sir. Madame. Ma'am. Whichever you prefer," she added, more flustered than she hoped to be.

“Captain or Ma’am, either is acceptable.” Kennit answered, her gaze on the PADD she held, reviewing and confirming the orders transferring Lieutenant Lévesque to the Victory were in order. She was aware of the Lieutenant’s tension, and even with the current situation driving her current thoughts Kennit still rather enjoyed making the new arrival nervous, she found it rather fun .. especially if the new crewman was unaware of the Captain’s rather colorful history.

“What experience have you had prior to being assigned to the Victory?” Kennit asked. “What prompted Brigadier General Rothschild, Task Force Executive Officer himself to transfer you to me?” Her tone was level, but there was an underlying note that hinted at her overall.. unimpressed opinion of officers who made such a focus of their higher rank in such positions. She felt that such officers used their rank to mask deficiencies in other areas... and got those under their command killed with inept orders.

Past experience had quite cemented that opinion in her mind.

"I'll be honest with you, Captain," Camille started to answer, having picked up some of the Captain's tone, "I think the Task Force XO just signed the paperwork. My CO aboard Jupiter Station, that's my last assignment, knew I wanted to get far out into the galaxy, and she thought this position was appropriate for me. She put in the transfer request and the General approved it."

"As for my past experience," she continued, "it's been mostly in the lab. Civilian education. Two years of accelerated Starfleet Academy training to understand starship operations. A little over a year at Jupiter Station before this assignment. My focus has been xenobiology. I know that the Victory is a combat vessel, but I'm confident I can put the ship's science labs to good use. To learn more about the Delta Quadrant." She thought a moment. "I'm not useless in a fight, either, ma'am. I'm quite good at identifying threats from sensor data, for example."

"Well Lieutenant," the Captain replied. "If you wanted to get far out into the galaxy you certainly succeeded on that score.."

"Captain," added Camille, "I know that I'm new here, and I get the feeling my transfer wasn't accepted with as much enthusiasm as I hoped. But I can learn. I've seen some of your file; what I've had permission to see, and I'd like to learn all I can from you. Please give me a chance."

"Oh you'll get your chance.." the Captain replied. "We are in the middle of a situation in fact, so you may get that chance a lot sooner than you expect.."

"Oh?" said Camille inquisitively. "Is there anything I can do right away? I know I need to check in with medical and counseling, but if I'm needed please put me to work right away." Camille couldn't help but smile a bit. Within a few minutes of boarding and she was already caught up in the fast-paced life of an officer aboard a starship!

"If you're up for the task, we can use you at the science station manning the sensors. The XO, Chief Medical Officer, and some of our marine contingent became separated during a recent away team mission. We expect a rendezvous with them within the next few hours. I want to know the moment any ship approaches our location, because if they don't arrive we're going back to look for them.." Kennit told her.

"Understood, Captain." Camille hoped to explore the ship and visit her science labs, but that could wait. "If there's nothing else, I'll go man the science station."

"Very well Lieutenant, take your station." the Captain told her.

~END~

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