Post by Commander Arthur Ashbury on Aug 1, 2011 13:39:16 GMT -5
Art whistled as he negotiated the corridors of Delta One, speaking to this and that inhabitant of the Station, now shorter, now longer, ever pleasant in his conversation. The Commander was visibly in his element, three months into his mission, when everything was moving along smoothly. Well, apart from the fact that their Chief of Operations had had to excuse himself for being overworked after fixing all the things the D'medi conspiracy had broken a few months back. Art shrugged: things happened, and at least Operations was always in capable hands, his hand-picked crew had seen to that.
In fact, the Commander had been out of it for a while, having taken a leave to visit the Alpha Quadrant. That was now a few weeks ago, and he had since taken over from Celeste again. He wondered why the debriefing had taken that long, but soon shrugged it off as he just thought a lot had happened in his absence, and owed the long duration of the debriefing to that.
In the meantime, perhaps most annoying, Cadfael and Elaine had taken up the habit of remarking on every minute of time he shared with Celeste. As if... well, he thought with a grin, I know better than they do. Cadfael had been the more subtle and pleasant about it, while Elaine... well, she just kept going on about it as if spending time with his second-in-command wasn't something perfectly normal. When, upon his return from leave, he had greeted Celeste with a friendly hug, Elaine asked if he'd 'missed her'.
But all was well on Delta One, and the Commanding Officer had a relaxed job, so he went to Ops in the turbolift and sat down in the command chair, casually laying his feet on top of the Command table. Suddenly, something bleeped. Starting up, thinking he had perhaps, by accident, hit the self-destruct button as if in a classic gag, he was consoled to see the screen opposite him flash with an 'incoming transmission' notification.
"Oh d..." he started. "Who's hailing us?" he then asked, more appropriately.
"Admiral Janeway, sir," and then, as if not totally obvious, the officer added. "At Starfleet Command."
"Yes, yes," said Art, laughing. "I know where Admiral Janeway is stationed. Wait a minute..." He started to hastily close his uniform's jacket, making sure whether the rank pips where all pinned neatly on his collar, and then ordered: "On screen."
The familiar, wisened face of Starfleet's Head of Operations in the Delta Quadrant, who had led Starfleet's first steps into the new quadrant, showed up on screen. "Good afternoon, Commander," she said with a smile, in her motherly manner.
"Admiral Janeway," said Art, smiling broadly. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
He noticed Admiral Janeway's gaze being focused on his left breast, and looked down to see what she was looking at. Suddenly, his smile faded, and he turned pink a little. His commbadge needed to be straightened again! Apparently it had slipped ever so slightly out of place as he had opened his jacket. As he straightened it hastily, turning red, Admiral Janeway laughed. "Still not entirely sure of protocols, are we?" she asked.
"Oh, no, Admiral," Arthur began, stammering. "I assure you, I always..."
Admiral Janeway waved his defence away. "In the Delta Quadrant, you've got to improvise, Commander. I'm glad you got that lesson, it suggests to me that we've picked the right man for the job!"
Arthur smiled gratefully. "From you, Admiral, that compliment is most heart-warming. But I'm sure you didn't hail me just to tell me that I'm running things well, so soon after our last meeting."
On his way back from leave, Art had stopped by Starfleet Headquarters on Earth to meet with Admiral Janeway, and they had a pleasant talk about adventures in the Delta Quadrant, where the experienced officer gave the 3 months-in-service Commander some wise advice on this assignment that wasn't exactly run-of-the-mill.
"Well-played, Arthur," she said, using his first name as if he were one of Voyager's crew. "No, in fact I am suggesting that it's time to stop smiling and start working." She laughed. "There have been some very important developments that directly involve Delta One."
"You'll be very pleased to hear," she continued. "That a week ago, the Federation Council received a request for Federation membership by your generous hosts, the Rathren." At Arthur's surprised smile, she grinned. "Thanks to your efforts, of course." Back to serious mode: "Well, the Federation Council actually isn't sure. It'll be long before we can welcome our first Delta Quadrant members, but we need you in the first steps, to see if they're ready to start the accession process."
Tapping his commbadge to contact Mirax, Arthur saw Janeway smiling. "Ambassador Mirax has already received instructions from the Federation Diplomatic Corps."
"Your ability to read my mind perplexes me, Admiral," said Arthur pleasantly. "Are you sure you don't have Betazoid blood?"
"Oh, quite sure, Commander," she said. Then, sternly: "This is not a matter for jokes, of course. We need to think of all the ramifications before this step is taken. Good luck, Commander."
Arthur nodded. "You can count on us, Admiral!" he said enthusiastically.
"Good to hear I appealed to your enthusiasm, Arthur."
"I look forward to our next talk," said Arthur. "Perhaps you'll visit Delta One someday?"
"Perhaps. Janeway out."
Arthur got up out of his seat, hyperactively pacing through Ops. Okay... work to do. "Ashbury to all Senior Staff: report to the Observation Lounge between now and about sixty seconds. We got an important transmission from Starfleet Command."
Tag: All!
In fact, the Commander had been out of it for a while, having taken a leave to visit the Alpha Quadrant. That was now a few weeks ago, and he had since taken over from Celeste again. He wondered why the debriefing had taken that long, but soon shrugged it off as he just thought a lot had happened in his absence, and owed the long duration of the debriefing to that.
In the meantime, perhaps most annoying, Cadfael and Elaine had taken up the habit of remarking on every minute of time he shared with Celeste. As if... well, he thought with a grin, I know better than they do. Cadfael had been the more subtle and pleasant about it, while Elaine... well, she just kept going on about it as if spending time with his second-in-command wasn't something perfectly normal. When, upon his return from leave, he had greeted Celeste with a friendly hug, Elaine asked if he'd 'missed her'.
But all was well on Delta One, and the Commanding Officer had a relaxed job, so he went to Ops in the turbolift and sat down in the command chair, casually laying his feet on top of the Command table. Suddenly, something bleeped. Starting up, thinking he had perhaps, by accident, hit the self-destruct button as if in a classic gag, he was consoled to see the screen opposite him flash with an 'incoming transmission' notification.
"Oh d..." he started. "Who's hailing us?" he then asked, more appropriately.
"Admiral Janeway, sir," and then, as if not totally obvious, the officer added. "At Starfleet Command."
"Yes, yes," said Art, laughing. "I know where Admiral Janeway is stationed. Wait a minute..." He started to hastily close his uniform's jacket, making sure whether the rank pips where all pinned neatly on his collar, and then ordered: "On screen."
The familiar, wisened face of Starfleet's Head of Operations in the Delta Quadrant, who had led Starfleet's first steps into the new quadrant, showed up on screen. "Good afternoon, Commander," she said with a smile, in her motherly manner.
"Admiral Janeway," said Art, smiling broadly. "To what do we owe this pleasure?"
He noticed Admiral Janeway's gaze being focused on his left breast, and looked down to see what she was looking at. Suddenly, his smile faded, and he turned pink a little. His commbadge needed to be straightened again! Apparently it had slipped ever so slightly out of place as he had opened his jacket. As he straightened it hastily, turning red, Admiral Janeway laughed. "Still not entirely sure of protocols, are we?" she asked.
"Oh, no, Admiral," Arthur began, stammering. "I assure you, I always..."
Admiral Janeway waved his defence away. "In the Delta Quadrant, you've got to improvise, Commander. I'm glad you got that lesson, it suggests to me that we've picked the right man for the job!"
Arthur smiled gratefully. "From you, Admiral, that compliment is most heart-warming. But I'm sure you didn't hail me just to tell me that I'm running things well, so soon after our last meeting."
On his way back from leave, Art had stopped by Starfleet Headquarters on Earth to meet with Admiral Janeway, and they had a pleasant talk about adventures in the Delta Quadrant, where the experienced officer gave the 3 months-in-service Commander some wise advice on this assignment that wasn't exactly run-of-the-mill.
"Well-played, Arthur," she said, using his first name as if he were one of Voyager's crew. "No, in fact I am suggesting that it's time to stop smiling and start working." She laughed. "There have been some very important developments that directly involve Delta One."
"You'll be very pleased to hear," she continued. "That a week ago, the Federation Council received a request for Federation membership by your generous hosts, the Rathren." At Arthur's surprised smile, she grinned. "Thanks to your efforts, of course." Back to serious mode: "Well, the Federation Council actually isn't sure. It'll be long before we can welcome our first Delta Quadrant members, but we need you in the first steps, to see if they're ready to start the accession process."
Tapping his commbadge to contact Mirax, Arthur saw Janeway smiling. "Ambassador Mirax has already received instructions from the Federation Diplomatic Corps."
"Your ability to read my mind perplexes me, Admiral," said Arthur pleasantly. "Are you sure you don't have Betazoid blood?"
"Oh, quite sure, Commander," she said. Then, sternly: "This is not a matter for jokes, of course. We need to think of all the ramifications before this step is taken. Good luck, Commander."
Arthur nodded. "You can count on us, Admiral!" he said enthusiastically.
"Good to hear I appealed to your enthusiasm, Arthur."
"I look forward to our next talk," said Arthur. "Perhaps you'll visit Delta One someday?"
"Perhaps. Janeway out."
Arthur got up out of his seat, hyperactively pacing through Ops. Okay... work to do. "Ashbury to all Senior Staff: report to the Observation Lounge between now and about sixty seconds. We got an important transmission from Starfleet Command."
Tag: All!