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In an effort to promote the flow of the game, I am moving time ahead several months. My first couple of posts will cover the summary of the last mission and the crew turnover. From there, we will get into the new mission.

Stardate: 2366.10.18
USS Discovery, captain's quarters - 2225

Noah yawned as he closed the cover of the book and placed it on the nearby table. Many of his colleagues considered him a bit quiant for his preference of printed books to the various electronic methods of data delivery, but he found it to be as his mother had told him as a boy - the imagination provided a much more vivid setting for the writer's words, and there was just something that felt right with the tactile feedback of a book in his hands, something that no holovid or PADD could hope to provide.

Tonight's reading had brought him to the close of one of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classics, and for some reason, one of the great Inspector Holmes' quotes lingered in Noah's consciousness. "...when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth..."
Captain Blair found his thoughts tangenting off of the Holmes quote, down a related path, back to his first days board the Discovery. To the Gavin III mission, and the minor political outcry that had arisen from the Discovery's findings there. Indeed, the AWAY team - and, for that matter, much of the Discovery complement as a whole - had eliminated the impossible, until they had finally uncovered the truth.

The last Noah had heard, the colony's governor was awaiting her trial for violation of the Prime Directive, as well as for a host of lesser charges (including the attempted murder of her own husband). Several of her key advisors had turned against her when the truth was finally revealed, which, combined with the findings of Gavison and MacTavish, had sealed her legal fate. Of course, the logistical nightmare that had followed - the evacuation of all personnel and removal of as much Federation property as possible from the planet - had been much, much worse.

Noah poured himself a small dose of cognac from the bottle that Tuvar had given him so many months ago. As he savored the liquid, he couldn't help but smile slightly. At least the natives had cooperated when they realized that the Federation personnel were leaving - though the captain would have given almost anything to have been there the first time one of the racoolemurs had "spoken" to Mac!

How he wished he had been there himself for the discovery of a new sentient species! It was a small comfort that Talda had been on that AWAY team, and the young man held a similar passion for xenobiology. His reports had been enthusiastic and thorough, so Blair could not, in good conscience, feel too slighted. To this day, none of the Federation scientists had figured out how exactly the creatures manipulated that odd energy field on Gavin III in order to sabotage the colonists' technology. If not for ensign N'doog's "outside the box" pespective, they might never have figured out what was changing the molecular makeup of the equipment, and that had, in turn, helped to unlock the "whys" of the mystery.

In retrospect, it wasn't overly complicated. The Federation survey team had overlooked the fact that the racoolemurs were, in fact, quite intelligent - and at least somewhat telepathic, to boot, it would seem. In addition, they possessed an innate ability to manipulate that odd additional energy field in order to bring about physical changes to their enviroment.

At first, they had avoided the colonists, hoping that they would go away. When it became clear that they would not, and that the intruders intended on expanding across the planet, the natives took nonviolent - but very effective - measures to convince the colonists to leave.

The governor had been suspicious, and her husband had managed to obtain proof of the racoolemurs' intelligence. She silenced him and covered up the evidence, but the Discovery personnel had learned the truth, anyway.

Terminating the colony and placing the governor under arrest had been the right thing to do, but it hadn't been pleasant; at the time, it was even a bit intimidating to the new captain. Now, though, it was all a memory.

Noah shook his head ruefully and drained the glass. Tomorrow would be a new day... who knew what it might hold?

Stardate: 2366.10.19
USS Discovery, turbolift 2 - 0935

The hatch hissed open, revealing the interior of the lift. Noah stepped inside to be greeted by the familiar yellow-skinned visage of the engineer, N'doog.

"Mornin', Captaindude!" the catullan exclaimed.

Captain Blair returned the greeting and ordered the lift to the bridge with a grin. The engineer's... unique speech pattern never seemed to fail to invoke that response.

As the decks blurred by, Noah found himself strolling down memory lane once more...

***************

Noah keyed the intercomm. "Blair to engineering. Mister N'doog, please report to my ready room."

=/\= Engineering here! =/\= The reply came. =/\= Right on, Captaindude.. I'm on my way! =/\=

The captain shook his head. Protocol had seemed so important in the past, but the engineer coming to visit seemed oblivious to it - and for some reason, it didn't matter one whit.

The Discovery was now three days out of the Gavin system, and Noah had had enough time to go through some of the records. Not long after the call, the door chime sounded. =/\= Captaindude! You wanted to see me? =/\=

"Come in," Noah replied, and the doorway hissed open, admitting the catuallan.

"Ensign," Blair began, "have a seat. I have been reviewing your service record. It would seem that all of your superior officers have been of the same opinion - you are an excellent engineer. Furthermore, you were invaluable to the mission on Gavin III; without your unique perspective, we might not have put togther the mystery of the molecular changes in our equipment. Quite simply, the mission may well have failed without your contributions."

The engineer seemed quite pleased by the positive words. "Whoa. Like thanks for the praising there Captaindude," came the reply. "Glad to be of service to the service if you catch my drift. You know, they sometimes say you got to think outside the box, but I figure that sometimes you got to leave the room entirely. Dig?"

Noah shook his head slightly in an effort to clear the effect that Bob's speech sometimes had on him. That the engineer was a genius could not be doubted, but sometimes, his comical manner of speaking could be so difficult to follow!

"The praise is well earned, ensign," Blair told him with a smile. "Although I will admit, it can be difficult for the rest of us to understand exactly what you are saying."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Bob answered. "People need complicated and I like to keep it free and easy. But if I ain’t calling you dude, then I ain’t respectin you. Captaindude."

Noah supressed a chuckle while trying to imagine himself calling a superior officer "Captaindude" - and meaning it as a mark of respect.

"At any rate, Ensign N'doog, I called you here for a reason. I know that you have already been cited for your service on Gavin III, but I think that this would go well with it." With that, Noah produced a small, hollow pip and placed it on the desk in front of the ensign. "Computer, record. By the authority invested in me by the United Federation of Planets, I, Captain Noah Blair, hereby promote Ensign Bt... Btx... Ensign Bob N'doog to Lieutenant, Junior Grade."

If N'doog had taken offense (or even noticed) Noah's difficulty at pronunciation, he completely hid it.

"Hey! Another dot! Righteous! This is totally awesome, Captaindude. Tier’s gonna freak! Just me cruising up that chain of command! Not that I want your job there, Captaindude. Unless they gave me a ship with no ray beamers and photon blaster thingies. But hey!" Bob pinned the pip on his lapel with a smile, "My Mom is gonna love this!"


***************

The lift doors opened, ending Blair's reverie. He stepped onto the bridge, followed by Lieutenant N'doog, who took a now customary place at the engineering station.

Captaindude, reporting for duty! he mused with a grin.

Note: This post is a collaborative effort between myself and Alacrity.

Stadate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, captain's ready room - 0915

Avanti stared back at Captain Blair for a moment, “What do you mean – transfer, sir?”

“Captain Horatio has pulled some strings and called in some favors," Blair replied. "He wants you as his first officer on the new Valmont. I am not surprised, and frankly, I find it hard to believe that you would be.”

“Captain Horatio had discussed with me the idea but I felt that my place was here on the Discovery, sir. Furthermore, I only completed my command training less than three months ago.” Avanti stared back at the captain looking uncomfortable. “I like being an engineer, Sir.”

“And I like being a scientist. Command doesn’t mean you have to give up your passions.” Noah laughed, “You just have to learn to juggle them a bit differently.”

“It is not my ambition to be a Captain.” the big engineer stated.

Noah smiled. “Avanti, I have seen some very ambitious officers in my time. People who wanted to be in command so badly they would take any assignment or dangerous mission to prove their worth. You, however, have been in many dangerous situations, proven yourself time and time again, and then, without a sound returned to your post as if nothing had happened.” He smiled and leaned back in his chair, pointing towards his display of books behind him, “A great Terran once said, those who most desire power are least fit to wield it. Frankly, after the Zellog Incident, I have received no less than fourteen inquiries by captains, and that isn’t including how many must have spoken to you directly.”

The Zellog Incident The big engineer recalled grimly, How could anyone forget the Zellog Incident…...
* * *

=/\= Captain’s log, supplemental. Stardate four three five five one point nine, Lieutenant Commander Avanti reporting.

We remain in orbit over Zellog Prime. Captain Blair and First Officer Gavison have beamed down to the planet to make the necessary arrangements for the peace negotiations. The Captain felt it was import to go down to the planet as a sign of faith to the Zellogites. They have been fighting a civil war for so many years that only through the federation mediators, was any chance of peace found.

The Mediators and the Federation diplomats have arrived in the shuttle hanger, via the runabout Moto. Lieutenant MacTavish has gone down to greet them and provide them with quarters until the captain can bring the delegates from the planet. Since no place on the planet could be decided upon for a neutral site, the Discovery has been chosen as the place for the negotiations. =/\=

Avanti looked up from the console on the arm of the Captain’s chair at the planet below. Zellog had two moons that moved in counter elliptical orbits. This made it difficult on the young navigator, Ensign Gates, who had to correct his course regularly to compensate for the gravitational pull. “Doing a fine job there, Ensign Gates.” Avanti said quietly to the young Terran. He smiled at the praise but did not look up from the control panel.

=/\= Commander Avanti? =/\=

The big man touched his communicator, “Go ahead, Mr. MacTavish.”

=/\= Th’ dips be in th’ hanger, sair. We’ll be proceedin’ just’s soon’s they figger oot which one of ‘em’s got th’ most authority’s ta be th’ fairst one off th’ runaboot. =/\= Avanti could hear the frustration in the Scot’s voice. =/\= Et could be awhile, sair. =/\=

“Acknowledged. I’d advise against calling them 'Dips', Jack. It could catch on.” Avanti said with a chuckle.

=/\= Aye sair. MacTavish Out =/\=

It was only three weeks since Avanti completed the Starfleet “Command Training Modules” and he was already serving as acting Captain. The engineer missed his regular role as chief engineer, where he could listen to the resonance of the warp core and be responsible for machines, not people. He looked over to the engineering station of the bridge, currently monitored by Ensign Tier. He felt a pinge of envy toward the man.

“Commander?”

His thoughts disturbed, Avanti turned to the young lady staring up at him. A yeoman, holding a PADD in his direction, and looking up at him with that awed look he had come to expect from humans. “Yes, Yeoman?” He asked.

“The Duty Roster for your review. Sir.” She said. Of course the roster could be sent directly to the Captain’s console, but Starfleet had some funny quirks about using personnel and getting personal marks.

Thank you, Yeoman. What is your name?”

“Ayn. Sir. Yeoman Ayn.”

Avanti looked over the roster quickly; he was sure that Raines had put his usual high level of attention to the list. “Been on the Discovery long, Yeoman?”

She smiled prettily, “Just a few weeks. I was on the Alexandra before.”

Avanti gave her a smile back and handed the PADD to her, “ Thank you …” He started and trailed off, as if listening to something. Ayn took the PADD gingerly and looked around as if expecting something to happen.

“Ensign!" Avanti exclaimed. "Evasive action Delta! Now! Full impulse! Break orbit!”

Whether it was the tone of the command or the stalwart training of Starfleet, Ensign Gates didn’t question the sudden order. His hands flew across the control panel, slamming the ship into a hard to starboard peel and throwing the engines into full. Avanti grabbed the arm of the young yeoman to steady her. Teir wasn’t so lucky and tumbled downwards over the banister of his station, “What the Gokk bonking hell?”

Ensign Colvin at the tactical station called out, “Sir? What is going on?” as he spoke the TAC display lit up. “Sir we have a missile lock on us! Bearing 6.49 and closing fast. How did you…?”

“Harmonics. I felt it coming.” Avanti answered curtly, “Shields up! Target the missile and deploy counter measures. When you get a lock, do a tight beam with full power, I don’t want it exploding and us getting in the shockwave. Red Alert! Battlestations! Where did that missile come from?” the klaxons sounded and the lighting on the bridge and throughout the ship changed.

=/\= Avanti! What inna bloody hell’re ye doin’, laddie! I got dips sprawled arsehole ta elbow ever’where! =/\= MacTavish’s voice came over the comm.

“We are under attack Jack. Avanti Out.” The commander quickly shut down the line, wanting to focus on the problem in hand.

"Target acquired, sir.” Colvin called out.

“Fire!” Avanti called out. The rear phaser arrays hummed briefly and the ship was rocked slightly, but not as much as the maneuver they had just pulled.

“Sir! Target destroyed," the TAC officer reported. "The missile came from the largest moon. Sensors show a remote launch site there. There was only the one missile – A Cardassian Hemala class Anti-matter cluster. That is pretty old technology.”

“Old gokk bonking Tech, my ass!” Teir called out, “A Hemie would have torn a gokk bonking hole in the ship the size of a gokk bonking T’bal!”

“We will worry about that later. Contact the Captain immediately.” Avanti ordered.

“Sir. Our transmissions are being jammed!” The TAC officer said, “And I have four bogeys closing in fast on us. Small fighter ships by the size of them. Look like old Mark 5’s, and they are armed with … lasers.”

“Lasers? The Gokk Bonkers can fire at us until the fuel cells are drained. Lasers can’t breach our hull.” Tier laughed with contempt as he retook his post.

“Sir!” Lieutenant Hemlos at science called out, “I am picking up time space distortions within those ships. Very small, and likely man-made.” She looked up from her viewer, “Sir, they are using dimensional transporters!”

“Seal all decks! Put security protocol Theta into effect now!” Avanti ordered. Colvin immediately ran to the weapons locker and started to hand out phasers to the bridge. He was almost to Avanti when the first invaders appeared.

There was a brief shimmer and a sound like the ripping of cloth. Then two Zellogites were on the bridge, one near the turbolift and the other in the centre of the room, close to the Captain’s chair. Neither were armed but both were covered head to toe with explosives. Avanti didn’t hesitate but threw himself upon the much smaller Zellogite, grabbing his arms and spreading them apart so he couldn’t trigger the bomb. The other man saw his partner go down and triggered his immediately.

The man and bombs exploded, sending debris and people flying across the deck. Fortunately, the fire containment units kicked in and kept the fire under control. Avanti stood up. “Damage Report! Who’s with me?” He looked around to see the TAC ensign Colvin was dead, having taken the brunt of the blast with his body. The Yeoman Ayn was on the ground, her eyes staring up at him like a reproach from the dead. The other ambusher had been under Avnati when the bomb went off. The force of the blast had pushed the engineer hard against the other man, killing him in the process and probably saving Avanti.

“The gokk bonkers!” A call came from beside him. He turned to help Teir stand up.

‘You okay?”

“The Gokk bokkers! What did they do this for? It’s a gokk bonking peace mission!” Tier exclaimed.

“Religious extremists,” Avanti replied. "They are a fringe group of Zellog, believing that all who are not of the true race are impure. Millions of systems out there, and these people can’t get past the idea of dying in the name of their deity. Check the crew. Find the survivors.”

“Sir! We have reports coming in.” Avanti turned around surprised at the voice. Ensign Gates was still sitting at his post. “No invader activity on any decks so far sir, but there are massive energy readings in the shuttle bay.”

Avanti click his communicator, “Jack! You there?”

=/\= Under attack Commander! No’ th’ best time fer chit chat! =/\= came the terse response over phaser fire.

I probably deserved that, Avanti thought to himself.

Tier called out, “Hemlos is unconscious but alive. James is out cold as well, and so is Fallon. The gokk-bonking three over by the door are all gone, Avanti. It’s just the gokk bonking three of us.” Tier handed a phaser to Avanti while taking two for himself, one in each hand.”

“Ensign, what is our …” Avanti started to ask as the sound of cloth ripping came again. The commander crouched low to the ground, firing a beam directly at the new invader who was caught surprised to find anyone still alive. The direct hit put him down fast. Meanwhile, Tier was firing away with both phasers as three more assailants appeared on the bridge. Teir brought himself back to back with Avanti. The Zellogites were using a high energy laser that seemed to take a long time to charge between firing, leaving open to the Federation’s superior weaponry.

“You gokk bonkers want a piece of me!” bzap Come on, you gokk bonkers! bzap bzap Want some of this! bzapbzap. Not on my gokk bonking ship! You hear me!” bzapbzapbzap.

While Avanti and Tier took on the attackers, Ensign Gates dropped and rolled across the floor. Then he sprinted low to grab a phaser and join in the defense.

“Ensign! I need you to take TAC. Take the ships out!” bzap Avanti shouted at the ensign while sweeping away two more invaders. bzap
“You gokk bonking gokks!” bzapbzapbzap
“Sir!” bzap The Ensign replied, “I flunked TAC in the academy!”

Avanti looked at the charge on his phaser as there was a lull in the invaders beaming in, “Consider this the make up test! Now Go!”

Ensign Gates ran to the Tactical station just as the ripping noise began again. Three more attackers fell to Teir’s phaser before the Ensign had a chance to see the console was dead. bzap He started to re-route power.

“These gokk bonkers are pathetic! They beam in so gokk bonking disoriented, it is like shooting Gokk in a box.” Teir laughed bzapbzap.

Avanti smiled encouragingly at Tier but didn’t feel so optimistic. He wondered how Lieutenant MacTavish was doing in the Shuttlebay.

“Sir. I have power again. Sir! There is a shuttle leaving the hangar!”

The invasion force stopped as suddenly as it had began. Teir remained poised for attack while Avanti came over to the TAC station.

“The shuttle is engaging the enemy ships, sir.” Ensign Gates reported. “Shall I attack as well?”

“Hold on ,Ensign.” Avanti activated the communication console on the station. “Shuttle Craft Moto, This is Commander Avanti. Please Report.”

=/\= Avanti! Good ta hear yer voice, me boy! I knew ye’d manage. I’ve go’ our dips all safe an’ sound, sair; I ‘ad ta make a wee mess inna shootlebay but I got ‘em bairded an’ tucked in, so I figger ta teach these lads a thing er two aboot blowin’ smoke up a Federation kilt… These ships’re no’ vera well equipped… scarce able ta carve a scratch onna Moto. =/\=

Avanti’s eyes bulged, “Did you say you have the Diplomats with you?”

Gates continued to report, “He has disabled three of the ships, sir. Closing in on the fourth.”

=/\= Aye, Commander. Dinnae get yer knickers inna knot, sair, they’ll be jus’ fine. =/\=

“In a fire fight!’ Really, Jack!”

“Last ship is disabled Commander.” Gates reported.

“Okay, Lieutenant. Bring them on home. Avanti out!”

Avanti sighed and shook his head. “Get the ship back to Zellog and contact the Captain immediately. Call a medical team to the bridge.”

“That will be a gokk bonking problem, Avanti.” Tier said, pointing to the doors to the turbolift. There Avanti saw that one on the invaders, using the dimensional technology had appeared in the doorway of the turbolift. His dead body now fused to the metal plates of the lift doors, in a grim reminder of the dangers of using technology you don’t fully understand.


* * *


Noah leaned back in his chair. "We'll miss you, have no doubt of that. But this is the perfect opportunity, Avanti, and you know it."

The big man was silent for a moment before he nodded. Noah smiled. "Captain Horatio and I both thought that might be your answer. We are due to rezvendous with the Valmont this afternoon."

Blair grinned at the look on Avanti's face. "If you had said no - and Horatio hadn't been able to convince you, either - no harm would have been done. They have a delivery for us, anyway." The engineer's expression grew even more dubious. "All right, all right... we did make sure it was the Valmont who met us instead of another ship, and it was primarily for you, but the delivery is true."

Avanti spoke. "Captain, I will accept, but I have a condition or two."

Blair stared for a moment, then chuckled. "And you claim you aren't command material. Go on."

"Ensign Tier deserves a promotion, and I would ask that he be transferred with me. Also, sir, I would request that Lieutenant Sango also be transferred, as well; I would feel at ease with someone I know to be competant in engineering."

Noah nodded. "Very well. Tier has progressed under you - as you have always seemd to believe that he would. And you were right, the man is a brilliant engineer." He chuckled again. "And I can of course understand the need for chemistry between yourself and your new engineering crew..." the captain allowed his voice to trail off. Noah wasn't entirely sure if domtairans could blush, but he was fairly sure that Avanti was experiencing the equivalent of one.

The two men chatted for a bit longer before Noah smiled and placed a solid gold pip on the desk. "One more thing. Horatio and I argued over this a bit, but as your current commanding officer, I reserved the priviledge. You have an absolutely stellar service record, and that hasn't changed one bit over the past seven months."

In Noah's opinion, this was one of the single most rewarding parts of being a captain. "Computer, record," Blair spoke. "By the power invested in me by the United Federation of Planets, I, Captain Noah Blair, hereby promote Ly Avanti to the rank of Commander."

He reached out and shook the engineer's hand. "You'll probably want to order a red tunic from the replicator before you board your new ship. Congratulations, Avanti."

Stadate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, captain's ready room - 0950

Avanti had been gone for a few minutes now, leaving Noah with a curious empty sensation in the pit of his stomach. Though it would be several hours before the domtarian and his two engineers left Discovery, the captain could already feel the sense of loss - even though he knew it was for the best.

Eventually, he shook his head. No sense moping about all day. He reached up and keyed his communicator. "Blair to Yeoman Allen."

=/\= Allen here. What can I do for you, captain? =/\= came the response.

"Amanda, please have Commander Gavison, Lieutenant MacTavish, and Doctor White meet me in the observation lounge at 1100 hours." There was busines to be dealt with.

=/\= Aye captain, I'll see to it. =/\= she replied.

"Thank you." Noah closed the link and picked up a PADD.

*******************

USS Discovery, observation lounge - 1055

Captain Blair had kept his back to the doorway as the three officers entered, staring into space instead of his usual manner of making eye contact with each as they came in.

After a moment, he turned and took his seat at the head of the table. The observation longue, always the site of any formal senior staff meetings, seemed overlarge for a gathering of four, but his ready room had seemed too small, and Noah wanted to distill this into one single event.

"Thank you all for coming," he began. "There's no real need for me to beat around the bush, here, so let's get started." He made eye cotact with each officer before continuing.

"We are scheduled to rezvendous with the USS Valmont this evening at approximately 1800 hours. As of that time, Commander Avanti will be transferring off of the Discovery in order to assume executive officer duties aboard the Valmont. It is my understanding that we will be receiving a replacement chief engineer at that time." Noah paused to give the men a chance to respond if they felt the need.

"Now," he continued, "this leads to the main reason for our meeting. Commander Avanti's departure leaves a hole in our chain of command."

Blair looked around the room. "Miser MacTavish, you have proven your worth time and again since we first set sail. Therefore, it is my pleasure to designate you as our new second officer."

OOC: replies as needed

Once the discussion was complete, Noah looked at Doctor White. "Doctor, it is my understanding that you have rekindled interest in command training, and are even now logging time on the holodecks to perform the necessary coursework. Is that correct?"

OOC: assuming a positive response...

Blair nodded. "You have fifteen years' service in Starfleet, doctor, and I am well aware of your sound judgement from firsthand experience. Furthermore, I do trust that you will successfully complete command training in a timely manner. Therefore, I am appointing you as acting third officer aboard the Discovery."

OOC: responses, if needed...

Noah smiled. "Congratulations, gentlemen. The three of you are among the finest officers I have had the priviledge to serve with, and you all richly deserve your success. Any questions?"

OOC: if so, post them. If not...

"Very well, then." Blair stood. "Dismissed."

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, Personal Quarter – 11:30 am


Lt Bob N’doog wasn’t afraid to face many things. He’d surf the waves of Waikiki, boarded in Whistler, body slammed in rapids of Epson XII and skateboarded the sand tubes on Santara Prime (not legally of course, but like who could resist). However it was with some trepidation that he stood outside the door of the soon to be departing Commander Avanti.After all, Commander Avanti was a big guy who liked to keep to himself. He pressed the door chime with a dramatic flair.

=/\= Enter =/\=

Bob walked in to see the oversized ex chief engineer packing up his stuff. He was dressed in Command red now, which to Bob’s mind was a mistake. After all, Avanti was a dude in the groove with a Jefferies Tube. But that wasn’t what he was here to talk about.

“Commanderdude. Looking spiffy.”

Avanti smiled, “Thank you Ensign …I’m sorry I mean Lieutenant. What can I do for you?”

“Well saying bye is the alibi but I wanted to speak to you – dude to dude.” Bob paced as he talked, “Been a slice working with you man, and I mean like a cream pie slice with extra dollop of whip cream. I remember when you told like do this with that , and I was like whoa, and you were were like dude, and I was like…..”

Avanti cleared his thought, “Bob? Where is this going? I have things to do?”

“Sorry Commanderdude. It’s you and Sango. Now I shouldn’t try to board on another man’s escalator, but I think you are missing out here dude. There is serious vibes between you two and sometimes you got to ask yourself, if I was making the regulations, would I be changing the deal here? You dig? Take life by the hand and run with it man!”

Avanti stared at the Engineer like he was speaking another language. “Thank you…for that advice Bob. I will take it under advisement.”

“You do that Commanderdude. You must be thinking on the same wave as you are taking her with you. I copy that loud and clear sir.” And Bob gave the Domtarian a dramatic salute. “Good sailing Bro. Hope we work again on the fly, couple of guys and some toasted rye.”

“Goodbye Bob. It was a pleasure working with you too.”

His mission fulfilled, Bob N’doog left Avanti’s room to head up the bridge. Dude’s not gonna know what hit him. he thought sadly.

Stadate: 2366.10.21 USS Discovery, Gavison Quarters – 0700
“Shouldn’t you be about your duties, Commander?” Sherry’s hands slipped around Kelsey’s chest like smooth silk. He felt her head press into the small of his back and the warmth of her body slowly meld with his as she delivered the hug. Placing his left hand over her hands the big man made a soft ‘hmmm’ sound, but remained otherwise quiet. The object of his attention lay before him in a sleek, safe sleeping container. The soft pink of her skin, the rustic wisps of red hair that seemed to fly from her tiny head, the delicate curve of her tiny mouth as it went through the motions of suckling even though there was nothing to suckle, the tiny hands gripped into little fists—this was Kaila… Commander Kelsey Gavison’s daughter of three days.

“You’ll be late for bridge duty,” Sherry observed, still pressed up against his back, unwilling to let him go despite her words.

“I’m going to get us transferred,” Kel whispered, prying himself from his wife’s grip and turning to look her in the eye, his craggy face a mask of seriousness. He’d been swept away by the sudden rush of emotion at the thought of putting his little family in danger, and despite the Federation’s best attempt being aboard a starship wasn’t the safest place. “Someplace quiet back on Earth. Hawaii, or Scotland. You can continue your research and I’ll—“

“You’ll what?” Sherry sighed and smiled up at him. They’d had this conversation at least six times since Dr. White had delivered the baby. “Sit on the porch and command seagulls?”

“I don’t need to command—“

“You don’t fool me, Kel. If you weren’t in charge of something you’d be the biggest pain in the ass for your fretfulness. I’d never be able to live with you and I cringe to think of the neurosis poor Kaila would grow up with.”

Kelsey’s brow furrowed. Despite the fact that he knew Sherry was joking with him, the comment hurt. It was a double stroke to boot, for Sherry was cutting at his long-time desire to be the best officer Star Fleet had ever known and his fear that he’d be a terrible father.

“Look,” Lt. Gavison gave her commander husband a pat on the chest before straightening his comm. badge. “Plenty of people maintain families aboard starships, and we’re on one of the best. Go play Star Fleet Command with your friends and stop worrying. We’ll be fine.”

Kelsey mulled over the best response, what with his feelings stirred already it was difficult to find the right thing to say anymore, and he was more than self-conscious about it. Finally, he settled for a nod and with a tug at the bottom of his uniform shirt, the XO of the Discovery made his way from their personal quarters.

Sherry watched him leave with a kind look on her pretty face. She knew he was a wreck, but didn’t know how to help him. He’d always been the strong one, the stoic warrior in the face of danger, the wall against the crashing seas; now he was scrambled, constantly worried, and somewhat detached. Kaila coughed a little, drawing Sherry’s attention back to the crib where the baby opened and closed her delicate little fingers for a moment before falling back into a deep sleep. With a smile on her face, the new mother brushed a bit of that unruly hair from the little girl’s forehead and turned to be about her morning exercises. She was currently on maternity leave and had another three weeks before she was expected back on the active duty roster, but she kept herself busy with formula and readings transferred to a PADD Kelsey had procured for her, cleaning (uneccessarily for the most part) and following the exercise regime Dr. White had laid out for her. She was determined to lose her baby fat… bent and determined.

---

USS Discovery, Bridge – 0712
“Officer on deck!”

Gavison acknowledged the recognition of his position with the smallest nod as he made his way down the familiar gangway to the three seats that fanned the command consoles. It was his shift so he ignored his usual seat at the captain’s chair right and sat directly in the captain’s chair. The XO half-heartedly accepted a PADD with the previous shift’s report and the prelimenaries for the new shift from a blur of movement next to him, holding the already forgotten device in his left hand while he stared out at the drift of stars flowing past them on the viewscreen. Where he should have been considering the condition of things, the commander was, instead, remembering the time Sherry had told him about their upcoming life change. It was shortly after Gavin III and it’d been a shock to his system that he’ll not soon forget. As a matter-of-fact, it hadn’t gone too well:

”Kel,” Sherry had said one evening while he read a Narrative and Lyric Poems From the Masters on the PADD. “I—I have something to tell you.”

Kelsey set the PADD on his lap and looked calmly at his wife. He’d known her for years, though most of it had been spent on different ships he could still tell when something was really eating at her.

“Kel,” she took a deep breathe and then released it. “I’m pregnant Kel. We’re going to have a baby.”

He’d stared at her, his expression unchanging for a long moment. Then, “How?”

It’d gone downhill from there.
“Commander Gavison?”

Kelsey blinked and shifted uncomfortably at having been caught in reverie. Shifting his gaze to a young Yeoman he gave a nod.

“Captain Blair has asked for you to join him in the Observation Lounge at 1100 hours, sir.”

“Thank you, Yeoman,” Kel gave her a nod and then took in a deep breath. Pull it together Kel. You’re XO of one of the most amazing starships every created by Man and you’re rattled by a six pound, three ounce girl that can’t even recognize you yet!
Lifting the PADD, Commander Gavison began a half-hearted review of the reports.

---

USS Discovery, observation lounge – 1055
Just outside the Observation Lounge, Kel encountered Lieutenant MacTavish and Doctor White. With a nod, he led the two men into the room and took his customary seat to the right of Captain Blair while the other men sat in their usual places without putting too much space between them and the captain. The seat to Blair’s left was ominously empty.

“Thank you all for coming,” Blair began. “There;s no real need for me to beat around the bush here, so let’s get started.” Gavison met the man’s gaze. Over the past few months their relationship had relaxed a little as they’d gotten to know each other, but when it was business, Kelsey was all business.

“We are scheduled to rendezvous with the USS Valmont this evening at approximately 1800 hours. As of that time, Commander Avanti will be transferring off of the Discovery in order to assume executive officer duties aboard the Valmont. It is my understanding that we will be receiving a replacement chief engineer at that time.”

Gavison remained quiet, digesting the news and feeling a little surprised he hadn’t been informed of this prior to this meeting. It wasn’t required of the captain, but with the way things had been developing, Kel would have expected it. During the past eight months he’d grown accustom to having the large alien around. He’d enjoyed their sparring, their banter, and their quiet camaraderie on the Bridge and throughout away missions. Kelsey wasn’t the type to begrudge a friend a well-deserved promotion, but he felt strangely abandoned by this sudden departure.

“Now, this leads to the main reason for our meeting. Commander Avanti’s departure leaves a hole in our chain of command.” Gavison met Blair’s look with a calm expression once again. “Mister MacTavish, you have proven your worth time and again since we first set sail. Therefore, it is my pleasure to designate you as our new second officer.”

Kelsey’s stomach clenched almost painfully. Their relationship hadn’t improved at all since Gavin III. Kel had decided that the man was as roughly hewn as the countryside from which he hailed. The XO still hadn’t found that ground that allowed them to interact for long without him being forced to heft that shield of professional conduct, and he was sure Mac felt the same with him. This would certainly be an interesting challenge.

“Congratulations,” Kelsey said with a nod and a smile.

“Doctor,” Blair’s attention had changed, so Gavison followed. “It is my understanding that you have rekindled interest in command training, and are even now logging time on the holodecks to perform the necessary coursework. Is that correct?”

OOC: assuming a positive response.

“You have fifteen years’ service in Starfleet, doctor, and I am well aware of your sound judgment from firsthand experience. Furthermore, I do trust that you will successfully complete command training in a timely manner. Therefor, I am appointing you as acting third officer aboard the Discovery.”

“Doctor,” Kelsey said by way of congratulations accompanied by another nod and smile.

“Congratulations, gentlemen. The three of you are among the finest officers I have had the privilege to serve with, and you all richly deserve your success. Any questions?”

Gavison had none so he remained quiet.

“Very well, then.” Blair stood, Kelsey followed suite. “Dismissed.”

Kelsey planted a smile on his face that was well-rehearsed diplomacy and waited while the other two made their exit before following them out to once again take command of the Bridge.

“Chief Raines,” Gavison said as he tapped his badge.

=/\= OOC: response =/\=

“Please report to the Bridge.”

=/\= OOC: response =/\=

---

USS Discovery, Bridge – 1130
Kelsey looked up as the lift’s doors swept open admitting Benjamin Raines onto the Bridge. The other man was powerfully built, similar to Gavison, only younger and slightly better maintained. As the Chief Operations Officer made his way down the ramp, Kelsey rose and went to meet him.

“Good morning Mister Raines,” Kelsey said with a friendly smile. The two of them had worked closely together over the past few months and an easy atmosphere had developed there.

OOC: response

“I’ve just been informed of a change in roster. This will likely mean very little by way of strain on your current system, but we need to make sure temporary quarters are established until we can make other accommodations.

“Commander Avanti has accepted another post and we’ll be receiving a new Chief Engineer. Once Avanti has successfully retired from the Discovery we’ll move this new officer into his quarters. I don’t want to rush it, but we do need to make this officer feel welcome. See that Engineering is informed of the pending arrival and that everything is in top shape. I’d imagine that the new CEO will be receiving a welcome from the captain and a tour of the ship, so prepare for that as well. There’ll likely be an officer’s dinner set up to allow the CEO time for mingling and such, but you’ll have to check with the captain for a specific time.

“Also, as soon as this new officer’s record becomes available I want a copy of it. See to it that MacTavish and Dr. White have one as well. I’d imagine that Dr. White will want to schedule a complete physical with the new CEO so speak with him about coordinating that as well.”

Kelsey grinned and placed a hand on the officer’s shoulder. “I’d normally not pile all of this on you and allow for the usual delegation, but this is one of the newest members of command and it is imperative that the individual feel as welcomed and as taken care of as possible.

“Any questions?”

OOC: allowing for questions.

“Good,” Kelsey gave the man’s shoulder another pat and then dismissed him with a nod. Returning to his seat, the XO’s mind drifted once again to the vision of his baby girl… his angel.

USS Discovery, Xenobotany Labs – 1130

Lt. J.G. Natalie Keely nervously set the corbaris seculiran plant in the appropriately sterilized and fetilized pot, then set the containment field to the exact temperature specified to keep the delicate plant alive. This was her fourth try at re-potting the offspring of the much larger and even more demanding parent plant and the first three had wilted immediately as soon as she put up the field. So, for this last one she was extremely careful and also very worried it would also die...field set...and it appeared unaffected. Natalie sighed. She watched for a moment to ensure all was ok with the sprout, but it was not showing any signs of wilting at all. She pushed a blond curl from her face and tucked it behind her ear. "Wonderful!" she said to herself and the scientific log the computer was recording as she stated each step in the process aloud for her own records. "Operation four was a success." she stated, her brilliant green eyes shining in the specialized lighting. "Computer: End recording."

Smiling, she walked away, happy that at least one of the difficult plant's offspring was surviving so far. She scooped up the others to place in bio-reclamation units and then washed her work station and her hands. Everything was all set for the morning and she could leave the lab for a small break, so she headed for the ship's lounge to have a cup of tea. She had some protien extractions to do on a Romulan Jaffa root later and wanted to be re-charged before the next big job.

Lt. J.G. Natalie Keely
Ship's Xenobotanist
USS Discovery


OOC: Anyone up for a tea break?

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, Tactical Operations Support – 1015

“Carry on, Ensign,” Jack rumbled as he thrust the PADD back in the direction of the young intel officer, “tha’s good wairk. Keep me posted onnat situation, aye?”

“You got it, Mac,” Ensign Llafet replied as she tucked the PADD under one arm and strode purposefully towards the door, “I’ll have a full report ready and on your desk before the Betas come on.”

Lt MacTavish scowled around the rim of his coffee cup as he eyed the retreating Ensign. “Dinnae call me, Mac, Llafet,” he growled, “Ye c’n scrub latrines’s easy’s ye c’n gather intel, lass.”

“Roger that, Boss,” Brooke quipped as she practically skipped out of the TOS.

Jayzus! Jack shook his head slowly, tossed another swig of coffee down his throat, and turned his gaze to the aCTO who was perched, grinning like he’d just gotten back from his first trip to Risa, on the edge of his desk. “An’ I should bloody-well kell yew, Monkey-boy,” he snarled, reaching out to smack Mueller in the back of the head, “Get off me fargin’ desk!

Call ‘im Mac,” he muttered in a loopy impersonation of the Junior Lieutenant as he shoved past to take his seat, “’e bloody loves et! Call I’m boss, ‘e can’t get enough! Fargin’ skairt-chasin’, mooney-eyed…”

“Yeah, well, at least I just chase the skirts,” Mueller chuckled as he rubbed at his skull and waited for Mac to sink into the chair behind the desk, “you’ve got one hanging in your closet… Angus.” His grin widened all the more when he watch the Scot’s jaw clench and his hands grip the edge of the desk as if he were about to dive over the thing and put him in a choke hold.

“What the hell’re ye doin’ here, Jeffrey,” Mac snapped, “If yer jus’ up here ta blow smoke up me bum, I swear ta Charlie, I’ll open yer skull an’…”

Mueller was practically beaming with delight, now, and the, thus far, restrained laughter threatened to escape with every syllable that passed his lips; “Relax, Boss,” he snickered, “even I’m not that crazy. I’m here to relieve you. You’ve got a meeting. Big news, I hear.” Even though he was still fighting to suppress his laughter, the aCTO did his best to look mysterious but, with the amusement behind it, the junior TAC officer only succeeded in affecting mischievous.

Big news? Meetin’? Wha’ th’..? MacTavish’s gray eyes drifted from the display mounted on his desk, to the display of the PADD that sat just to the console’s left. There was nothing in any of his notes about a meeting scheduled. He turned his eyes back on the still smirking Mueller; “Are ye onna right day, lad, or’ve ye finally gone bollocks inna brain? There’s no…”

=/\=Lt MacTavish?=/\= He recognized Yeoman Allen’s voice immediately.

“Aye. MacTavish here,” he replied, eyeing Jeffrey suspiciously now… the man’s grin had just widened even more if that was possible.

=/\=Sir, Captain Blair requests your presence in the Conference Lounge at 1100 hours.=/\=

“Acknowledged,” he answered simply before tapping the combadge to close the channel.

“What’d I say,” Mueller grinned as the CTO glared at him, “you’ve got a meeting, Boss, just like I said.”

“I hate it when ye do tha’, Jeffrey,” Jack growled despite the fact that an approving grin had stared to tug at the corners of his mouth. Mueller had definitely proved his worth as aCTO and had become fairly adept at keeping ahead of Mac himself when it came to ‘being three steps ahead of the game’, especially where matters that fell outside of TACs pervue were concerned. “So, Mester-Know-it-All, what’s this meetin’ aboot? Ye said big news…”

Mueller shrugged; “Got me, boss,” he said, “Allen’s cute and all, and telling her so usually gets me a peek at the day, unfortunately, the girl’s not stupid and isn’t too hot on giving up the Old Man’s agenda all together.”

Mac drained the rest of his coffee and shook his head again but said nothing.

“Maybe Blair wants to give you another medal or something,” Jeffrey suggested as Jack hauled himself out of his seat and prowled around the desk. The comment about the medal drew a stern glare from the Scot. Mac had protested Blair’s decision to award him the medal after the debacle over Zellog, insisting that he hadn’t done anything to earn it and, in fact, had recommended that the Captain, instead, award the thing, posthumously, to Ensign Colvin – in fact, Mac had actually tucked that medal into Colvin’s casket, himself, at the funeral just before the modified torpedo casing was launched into the Big Black “Oo! Maybe you’re getting promoted,” Mueller continued his goading, “Lt Commander MacTavish… has a ring to it don’t you think?”

For some reason, Mueller hadn’t been expecting the next smack to his head… “Shutting up, boss,” he winced as Mac stormed out of the tiny office.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

USS Discovery, observation lounge – 1055

As had become the custom aboard Discovery in the past months, the senior staff had arrived almost simultaneously outside the doors to the conference room. As Jack approached and offered nods of greeting to Commander Gavison and Doctor White, however, he realized that the entire staff had apparently not been summoned to this particular campfire. Most conspicuous in absence was Commander Avanti… Wha’ inna name o’ Charlie’s knickers is goin’ on? he wondered as Gavison retuned his nod and led the way into the lounge, Even when th’ meetins’re jus’ high-level, Avanti’s always aboot… Monkey-boy did say ‘big news,’ though, aye?
The fact that Captain Blair was standing staring out the portal when they entered, too, hinted that there was a bit more to this conference than was standard for staff meetings. The man typically made sure to have his eyes on the door when his staff arrived and saw to it that he made contact with each as they entered. Today, though, the Captain seemed as if something weighed heavy on his mind and he waited until Gavison, White, and MacTavish had all settled into their seats before turning from the window and taking his own.

"Thank you all for coming," he began. "There's no real need for me to beat around the bush, here, so let's get started."

"We are scheduled to rendezvous with the USS Valmont this evening at approximately 1800 hours. As of that time, Commander Avanti will be transferring off of the Discovery in order to assume executive officer duties aboard the Valmont. It is my understanding that we will be receiving a replacement chief engineer at that time." Noah paused to give the men a chance to respond if they felt the need.

Bloody figgers, Mac mused inwardly, while silently nodding his acknowledgement of the big Domtarian’s re-assignment, s’prised et dinnae ‘appen sooner. He’d miss the man, of course – not that it would show outwardly. MacTavish and Avanti had developed something of a rapport during their tour together, mostly through interactions concerning modifications to the phaser arrays, shield generators, and other tactical systems, but also because Ly had often served as a buffer of sorts between himself and Commander Gavison. Mac respected Gavison, for sure, but still butted heads with the man on a regular basis… Avanti had often been the catalyst that served as an impetus to compromise between the two.

"Now," Blair continued, "this leads to the main reason for our meeting. Commander Avanti's departure leaves a hole in our chain of command."

The Captain’s gaze made a circuit around the table. "Mister MacTavish, you have proven your worth time and again since we first set sail,” he said, settling his gaze on Jack, “Therefore, it is my pleasure to designate you as our new second officer."

MacTavish’s mouth almost fell open and the expression on his face left no room for doubt that he had been caught off guard by Blair’s decision. For a brief moment Jack was speechless and, as he tried to gather his suddenly chaotic thoughts, all he was capable of was a rapid succession of blinks as he looked in disbelief from the face of one officer to the other… Are ye mad, sair? he wanted to ask, Makin’ me 2O’d be like th’ Bajorans decidin’ tha’ th’ Cardassians’re descended from the Prophets! … Gavison looked as if he was about to puke.

“Sair,” Jack finally managed to say, shaking the sudden what-the-fog from his brain, “I dinnae know if tha’s the wisest choice, sair. I’m sure there’s others more qualified than meself… Doc White’s got th’ rank ye need, sair,” he suggested, hooking a thumb at the Discovery’s CMO, “an’ likely th’ demeanor tha’d be best suited ta sech a position…”

((OOC: Assuming a “my decision has been made, Jack”-style discussion… any other comments, replies, etc…))

“Aye, sair,” Jack nodded, the gesture a mixture of defeat, resignation, and still a hint of confusion, “If yer sure tha’s what ye want. Thank ye, sair.”

Once the discussion was complete, Noah looked at Doctor White. "Doctor, it is my understanding that you have rekindled interest in command training, and are even now logging time on the holodecks to perform the necessary coursework. Is that correct?"

The conversation continued for a bit longer and saw Doctor White assigned to the Third Officer slot but Jack missed much of it aside from the “important bits”… His head swam with all the implications and new concerns that the reassignment of responsibility entailed and, for the first time during his tour aboard the Discovery Jack was at a loss as to what to do next…

((OOC: We’ll leave this here for now, I suppose… After leaving the meeting, Mac will head for the TAC office and bury himself in work for a while as he tries to sort all of this out… He’s also liable to catch Blair alone at some point and perhaps protest his promotion to 2O a bit more in private… Feel free to interrupt Mac at any point after the meeting as you see fit. Edits and updates as necessary, of course))

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, observation lounge - 1105

"Now," Blair continued, "this leads to the main reason for our meeting. Commander Avanti's departure leaves a hole in our chain of command."

The Captain’s gaze made a circuit around the table. "Mister MacTavish, you have proven your worth time and again since we first set sail,” he said, settling his gaze on Jack, “Therefore, it is my pleasure to designate you as our new second officer."

MacTavish’s mouth almost fell open and the expression on his face left no room for doubt that he had been caught off guard by Blair’s decision. For a brief moment Jack was speechless and, as he tried to gather his suddenly chaotic thoughts, all he was capable of was a rapid succession of blinks as he looked in disbelief from the face of one officer to the other.

“Sair,” Jack finally managed to say, shaking the sudden what-the-fog from his brain, “I dinnae know if tha’s the wisest choice, sair. I’m sure there’s others more qualified than meself… Doc White’s got th’ rank ye need, sair,” he suggested, hooking a thumb at the Discovery’s CMO, “an’ likely th’ demeanor tha’d be best suited ta sech a position…”

The look on MacTavish's face said it all. He had not been expecting the appointment, and didn't look entirely comfortable with the idea.

Yes, it was a bit unorthodox - since White outranked him (as would the incoming CEO, almost certainly), it went against tradition to appoint him so high in the chain of command. But White was inexperienced in command matters - had yet to complete command training, as a matter of fact - and MacTavish, crass as he was, had more than proven himself on more than one occasion.

Noah simply nodded. "I appreciate your humility, mister MacTavish, but I am of the opinion - based upon simple facts - that there isnt another officer on this ship more qualified for the position. Rank is not a real issue, as you well know - I could place an ensign as officer of the deck, and he would have command of this ship."

The captain paused, and a wry grin touched the corner of his mouth for a moment. "As for demeanor, I have yet to see 'overwhelming charm' as a requirement for successful command. This decision is mine, Jack, and I have made it."

“Aye, sair,” Jack nodded, the gesture a mixture of defeat, resignation, and still a hint of confusion, “If yer sure tha’s what ye want. Thank ye, sair.”

And so, the meeting went on.


*****************

Captain's ready room - 1145

Noah sat in his leather chair and allowed himself to muse. Who knew how much of a captain's job involved so much wallowing in your own thoughts?
MacTavish hadn't been the only one with objections to his posting as second officer. Though he would never have been so unprofessional as to question his captain publicly, Noah knew that Gavison disapproved. It was no secret that he and Discovery's TAC chief frequently failed to see eye to eye.

As he had stated in the observation lounge, the decision was Blair's alone; starfeet had granted him the authority to make such decisions, and not one of the thousand-plus souls aboard need agree with it. However, Noah was not the sort to revel in his autonomy; he and Gavison had developed a rapport, and he didn't want to damage it.

They needed to talk.

The captain cleared his desk and tapped his commbadge. "Blair to Gavison."

The reply was nearly instantaneous. =/\= Gavison here. =/\=

"Commander, if you could spare a few moments, step into my ready room, please." The better part of a year into his captainacy, Noah had yet to lose the habits of "please" and "thank you". Mother would be proud.
=/\= I'll be right there, sir. =/\= came the answer.

Momentarily, the door chime sounded. "Come," Blair answered.

When Gavison stepped inside, Noah gestured for him to take a seat. The officer's officer, Gavison used his professional manner very effectively to keep any hint of strain or stress out of his bearing, but the captain could see the slightest hints of tightness in the man's face, the minute set of his jaw that belied what was possibly some serious internal turmoil.

Noah smiled. "Thanks for dropping in, Commander. How is that baby girl? I aplogize for not having seen her in person yet, but I didn't want to intrude."

OOC: any response...

Blair decided to go a little less formal. "I envy you, Kel. Christine and I never had kids... not that it looks like that was such a bad decision, considering how it all worked out. Still," he shook his head, "you have something that I probably never will."

He fixed his XO with a no-nonsense gaze. "Commander, I know that you have elected to continue your duties, but if you need some time off, or a reduced workload for the next few weeks, say the word. Do not neglect your family for this ship - we are all on the same side."

OOC: again, any response. if I need to elaborate on Gavison's take, I will.

Once the matter was closed, time for pleasantries had ended, and both men knew it. "Kel, I'm sure that you know I had another reason for asking you here."

OOC: any response, if needed

As usual, Noah got right to the point. "You don't particularly care for Lieutenant MacTavish, and he feels much the same way about you. I know that, the both of you know that, most of the crew probably knows that, as well." He gave a dry smile. "Jack MacTavish is obnoxious, overbearing, and quite often an insufferable ass. He also happens to run possibly the most efficient department I have seen in my entire starfleet career."

Blair shook his head. "I am no military man, and MacTavish complements my weaknesses very effectively. He is an able commander, level headed and quick to act when need be, and seldom makes a bad decision. If you can name me one soul on this ship more qualified to the two-oh post, I will listen... but you and I both know that you won't come up with that name."

OOC: anything...

Blair decided it was time to wrap the discussion. "I won't ask you to be professional about your disagreement - you are too good of an officer to do otherwise. I do respect your opinion, commnder, but in light of the facts, I don't see how I could come to another conclusion. I did want to sit down with you and share my reasoning, however - I value your input."

OOC: any final response...

Noah nodded. "Very well. Thank you for coming, Kel. And please do give your wife my regards."

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, Lt. Raines’ Quarters, 1125 hours

Lt. Raines was sitting at his desk, but his mind was elsewhere. He had spent the majority of his morning preparing a computer systems usage report for Captain Blair and scheduling a routine maintenance duty rotation for the ship’s replicators. It was about time, anyway, since the replicators hadn’t had any major work since Discovery’s launch. For Ben, the past eight months had blown by at warp speed.

A lot had happened since his assignment to the Galaxy Class vessel. Aside from the routine (or not so routine) lifestyle Starfleet provided, he had also met a wonderful person—perhaps the person with whom he would spend the rest of his life: Lt.(jg) Keely. In fact, it was she that occupied his thoughts at the present moment.

They have been seeing each other for seven months now, with each day, in Ben’s opinion, being better than the previous. Even before the incident on Gavin III that nearly took Natalie’s life—would have, had he not found her in time to get her to Dr. White, who is now, in Ben’s view, the best doctor in the known galaxy—he was certain they were right for each other. Throughout the months since then, Ben has been wrestling with the idea of asking Natalie to marry him. However, he cannot seem to muster the courage to ask for her hand. Every time he tries, his throat clinches tighter than a drum or he conveniently gets a call about something. For the Chief of Operations on a Galaxy class starship, there is never a shortage of errands or busy-work.

However today, he determined, would be different. This was it…the day of dreadful reckoning; the day of heavenly bliss. Regardless of what happened today, he could stand it no longer. But what if she said no? What if she didn’t feel the same way? Nonsense. She was good about letting him know how much she loved him. What if she wasn’t ready? Would a proposal freak her out? Frankly, Ben felt like his brain was on the verge of exploding. He had always been clumsy with his feelings when it came to women; perhaps he always will be.

=/\=“Chief Raines” =/\= came Cmdr. Gavison’s voice over the com.

“Raines, here.”

=/\= “Please report to the Bridge.” =/\=

“Yes, Commander…on my way.”

Raines stood up, groaning slightly as his back muscles stretched. How long had he been sitting there?

“Computer, what time is it?”

“The current time is 1130 hours,” said the computer.
Raines strode over to the lavatory and splashed a bit of water onto his face, then gulped down the last swig of his coffee. [i]I wonder what’s going on?[/i] As he walked to the turbolift, he wondered if he would have time to speak to Natalie at all today.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bridge, 1130 hours

Kelsey looked up as the lift’s doors swept open admitting Benjamin Raines onto the Bridge. The other man was powerfully built, similar to Gavison, only younger and slightly better maintained. As the Chief Operations Officer made his way down the ramp, Kelsey rose and went to meet him.

“Good morning Mister Raines,” Kelsey said with a friendly smile. The two of them had worked closely together over the past few months and an easy atmosphere had developed there.

“Morning, Commander. What can I do for you, sir?” Raines said and returned the Commander’s smile. He had always respected Kelsey. He was a new father and married, perhaps he might have some good advice for Ben concerning Natalie?

“I’ve just been informed of a change in roster. This will likely mean very little by way of strain on your current system, but we need to make sure temporary quarters are established until we can make other accommodations.

“Commander Avanti has accepted another post and we’ll be receiving a new Chief Engineer. Once Avanti has successfully retired from the Discovery we’ll move this new officer into his quarters. I don’t want to rush it, but we do need to make this officer feel welcome. See that Engineering is informed of the pending arrival and that everything is in top shape. I’d imagine that the new CEO will be receiving a welcome from the captain and a tour of the ship, so prepare for that as well. There’ll likely be an officer’s dinner set up to allow the CEO time for mingling and such, but you’ll have to check with the captain for a specific time.

“Also, as soon as this new officer’s record becomes available I want a copy of it. See to it that MacTavish and Dr. White have one as well. I’d imagine that Dr. White will want to schedule a complete physical with the new CEO so speak with him about coordinating that as well.”

Raines took all that Cmdr. Gavison had to say in with stoic professionalism. It was, after all, his job to oversee the scheduling of resources for the entire ship. He could already tell that a busy day was brewing, and that his previous vow to pop the question on Natalie might just have to wait.

Kelsey grinned and placed a hand on the officer’s shoulder. “I’d normally not pile all of this on you and allow for the usual delegation, but this is one of the newest members of command and it is imperative that the individual feel as welcomed and as taken care of as possible.

“Any questions?”

“No, sir. I’ll take care of it immediately.”

“Good,” Kelsey gave the man’s shoulder another pat and then dismissed him with a nod. Returning to his seat, the XO’s mind drifted once again to the vision of his baby girl… his angel.

“By the way, sir, congratulations on little Kaila,” said Raines, turning around before heading on his way.

Cmdr. Gavison appeared lost in thought, however, and only smiled a bit. Apparently Raines wasn’t the only one with other things on his mind.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Operations Office, 1300 hours

Lt. Raines and his staff had been scrambling most of the afternoon to prepare for the new CEO’s arrival. It seemed odd that Avanti would be leaving after so short a time on Discovery, but that was life in the service. Some officers find themselves in high demand and are shuffled about like a deck of playing cards.

Aside from senior staff meetings and the typical interchanges that a COO and a CEO have aboard a starship, Raines had not been close to Avanti. They had worked together only a handful of times, but still Raines had a lot of respect for the engineering genius of Avanti. Discovery was losing one of her finest officers—that could impact a crew profoundly.

Raines was confident, though, that the Operations staff had everything covered. Temporary quarters had been assigned to Lt. Cmdr. Waldgrave, the new Chief Engineer, and the small staff that would accompany her. Lt. Raines himself had gone to inspect Engineering and make sure that the junior officers were prepared to meet their new department head. Even though Capt. Blair had yet to get back with him on an exact time, Ben had already delegated to Mr. Ames, who had proven to be a fine friend and assistant these past few months, the responsibility of preparing a formal dinner for the senior staff to welcome the new CEO.

Cmdr. Gavison had requested the new CEO’s service record, and at first Ben was curious as to why he couldn’t just access it for himself. Well, the old saying is true: ‘You learn something new everyday.’ Apparently, when a crewman is transferred on short notice from ship to ship, the Operations Department at Starfleet HQ has to update the system to reflect the changes before the service record is made available. To do that, however, requires confirmation from both ship’s captains and the admiral in charge of ship to ship transfers, or some such, at SF Command’s Operations Department. Until all that is completed, the service record is briefly removed from the memory banks until updated. Ben, a former junior officer of Starfleet Operations was, oddly enough, unaware of this particular quirk in the Starfleet Database. He wasn’t surprised, though, because most of his time there had been spent not at the computer, but at the piano entertaining the Starfleet Command brass.

“Computer, has Lt. Cmdr. Waldgrave’s service record been updated in the
Starfleet Command database yet?”

“Affirmative.”

“Upload it to Discovery’s main computer. Authorization: Raines, Alpha, Tango, 7, 7.”

“File transfer complete.”

Raines took three of the plethora of empty PADDs that he kept in his desk and made a copy of the information for the first officer, Lt. MacTavish, and Dr. White, then sat back to relax for a moment. It had already been a long day, but he would still have time to drop and see Natalie after delivering Lt. Cmdr. Waldgrave’s service record to Cmdr. Gavison et al.

“Raines to Cmdr. Gavison.”

=/\= “Gavison here.” =/\=

“Sir, I have the personnel file you requested.”

OOC: Response

“Aye, sir. I’ll be there momentarily.”

OOC: I’m assuming Gavison is still on the bridge as it is about one o’clock. I’ll edit to suit, if not. Also, if Mac is on the bridge Raines can give him his PADD, too. I am assuming (for whatever reason) that he is off somewhere increasing phaser efficiency or something. ;-)

-----------------------------------------------------------

Bridge, 1315 hours

Raines walked briskly around the cherry-wood horseshoe that divided the bridge to Cmdr. Gavison, who was once again sitting in the middle chair. Obviously, Captain Blair had much preparation today as the guard was changing in engineering and in the command structure of the ship. He approached the first officer with a broad, professional smile.

“Here you go, commander. It took me a while to get it, but here is everything you’d want to know about Lt. Cmdr. Waldgrave,” said Raines pleasantly as he handed over the PADD. “Also, I had Mr. Ames arrange for a formal dinner in the officer’s mess for sometime this evening, but I haven’t heard anything from the captain about a time yet. Quarters have been arranged for Lt. Cmdr. Hardgrave and the others that will be transferring aboard. I made certain to include fresh flower arrangements from the nursery as well as baskets of freshly replicated fruit. I think they’ll feel right at home, sir.”

OOC: response

“Thank you, sir. If you’ll excuse me, I need to see Mr. MacTavish and Dr. White.”

With a terse nod and another quick smile to Gavison, Raines was back on the turbolift and continuing with his hectic day. Of course, in the far reaches of his mind he could see Natalie’s beautiful smile and her brilliant green eyes waiting for him…they were always there.

OOC: Rather than write short blurbs to satisfy the passing of PADDs to White and MacTavish, we’ll assume that Raines takes them where they need to go. If anything of note needs to happen during those exchanges, I’ll edit to suit.

----------------------------------------------------------

Outside the door of Lt. (jg) Keely’s quarters, 1500 hours

After running about the ship like a mad man for most of the day, Ben was finally able to stop by and see Natalie.

“Computer, locate Lieutenant Natalie Keely”

“Lt. Keely is in her quarters,” replied the computer in its perpetually curt voice.

With a sigh, Ben touched the doorbell and waited…

OOC: Okay Avrielle…you get to take the ball for a bit because this post is getting WAY too long. Do what you like between Ben and Natalie…I trust you and will go with it in my next post.

=OFF=

15:00 hrs

Natalie had just finished her day's load of work. Of course there was always more to do but she had to set herself a cutoff point or else she'd live in the xenobotany lab. She had even managed to cut an interesting specimen of indiginous Cardassian moss from a Cardassian Kartos tree and cultivae it into it's own growing space. Something new to learn from. Kartos trees don't often grow moss outside of the homeworld and their natural environment so this moss's growth was phenomenal, a thing she had wanted to study first hand for years and now she would get the chance, purely by luck.

She had wanted to begin studies right away but after securing it's containment field she had noticed the time and decided it was better to start fresh on it first thing in the morning. She then returned to her quarters, checked her messages for anything personal...like from Ben...but to her dismay there was no word from him. Not for the past two days. Ever since he started to fumble over something during lunch the other day and then was suddenly quiet instead, soon both were called away to ship's duties and she never found out what he had wanted to say. His new silence (he'd never gone more than a day without contacting her) made her wonder if he had been trying to break up with her. This disconcerting idea lingered in her head most of the day, ruining her perpetual good mood around most plants. Did Ben want to end their relationship? If so, why? Deep down, she knew why, because men, no matter how sweet, are all alike, she told herself. It must be about sex, she was convinced of it.

In the past eight months their relationship had progressed wonderfully except when it came to...those things. They were both too self conscious and shy, niether making the first move to go anywhere beyond the comfortable and familiar. Kissing had been a big deal, fumbling around with clothes on had been a big deal, fumbling around with partial clothing had been a huge deal...and beyond that they were both too shy to do much more than take baby steps in the direction of anything more serious. Perhaps he had wanted her to be more bold. To take control. Maybe he wanted their relationship to be more sexual, well to be sexual at all. She felt guilty about the problem, it was very much her own fault. She could have done a little more than wait for him to make a move all the time. She had considered it in the heat of the moment, that perhaps 'petting' wasn't enough to keep him satisfied for long. She supposed he was right to have these feelings, but to want to break up before ever even giving her a chance to come around to the idea...it upset Natalie greatly to consider him that cruel.

She had been in the shower, just getting out when her door chimed, her thoughts encompassed with the idea of Ben's possible unhappiness with her, and sex...She asked the computer who was at the door and was informed it was the very person who was currently occupying her thoughts. That's when she made a decision. She would show Ben how wrong he was, tonight she'd give him the night of his life.

Wrapping a towel around herself she padded to the door and opened it. "Ben! Where have you been?" she said reaching out to hug him and give him an extremely passionate kiss, pulling him into her quarters with her as she did so. "I've missed you." she said huskily between kisses, her towel slipping just a bit but in her determination to save her relationship, she didn't care one bit.

Tag: Raines

"Sweetie, I've been missing you a lot lately and thinking...perhaps we should take things further." she said as she unzipped his uniform top. "Eight months is a looong time for two adults to have such a modest relationship, don't you think?" she asked, drawing him into another long kiss, "I...Benjamin, I...want...you." she blushed deep crimson as the words came out of her mouth, not even sounding like her, but pushed on, letting her towel drop to the floor, the declaration now quite clear.

Tag: Raines

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, Science Department 1215


Lt Chantelle Hemlos glanced at the watch on her slim wrist and realized she had forgotten to eat lunch. She rubbed her stomach as if to massage the grumblings away.
“ummm…guess that’s why I’m feeling nauseated. I wonder if Jack has had anything yet” she murmered to herself.

“Did you say something sir?”

Chantelle blushed. Ensign Talda who had been standing nearby was looking quizically at her.

“Oh, er no. I was just ah, thinking aloud” she said.

“How is that report coming along”? she asked…trying to take the focus off the personal conversation she was having with herself.

“It should be ready within the hour sir” He said as he shuffled a few papers around on his desk. “I took the liberty of extracting the core samples Geophysics supplied and matched them against the ones we have in our databanks. They look to be primarily the same with a few minor molecular exceptions. Of course one can never tell wha…” he continued on but Chantelle began to daydream and lose focus on what he was saying. She found herself back in Jack’s quarters the night before, lying in his arms, warm and safe…wishing she could talk herself into staying there til morning and knowing if she did, someone would undoubtedly see her leaving. She just didn’t want to deal with the repercussions of such an encounter. Jack already had enough on his plate to keep his stress levels high and she didn’t want to add fuel to fire with rumors swirling about in regards to his private life.
He had wanted her to stay…even said “please”, but she just wasn’t willing to make that move right now. They had known each for 7 months and though they had been intimate on more than one occasion, she just wasn’t ready to go to the next level.

“If I could just allow myself more freedom” she thought…

Ensign Talda’s voice broke her reverie…”excuse me sir?” he asked. Instantly she realized she had said it out loud.

She blushed again and brushed away a stray hair from her eyes.

“uh, yes...I was just saying that I ah, that perhaps we should ah, should maybe er…FREEZE them.”

Talda looked dumbfounded…”Freeze the core samples sir?” he asked incredulously. “Wouldn’t that cause them to become brittle and useless sir”

Chantelle stumbled for recovery and said in her haughtiest
Scientific tone…”Well of course it would Ensign!”
“now finish up that report so we can determine the correct procedure” adjusting her glasses as she slipped past him.

The door to the lab swished open and she disappeared before he could assimilate what just happened.

"whew...I gotta stop doing that!" she thought to herself...

"excuse me sir?" a voice said nearby...

Chantelle rolled her eyes and made her way to the TAC office.

Stardate: 2366.10.21
USS Discovery, captain's ready room - 1720

Noah sat in his chair, studying the PADD in his hand. Starfleet command had finally come through and forwarded the service records of the personnel that Discovery would be gaining. A security officer fresh out of the Academy, an engineer or two, assorted enlisteds - in all, it looked like ten or fifteen new faces.

He noted the two he would have the most contact with - the new Ships's Counselor, Lieutenant Arevaci, and the new Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Waldgrave. The records indicated qualified officers, which he expected, but cold entries on a PADD never told the whole story.

=/\= Avanti to Captain Blair. =/\= the intercom broke his reverie.

"Blair here," he replied.

=/\= Captain, we're picked up the Valmont on long range scan. Looks like we are on schedule. =/\=

Blair nodded, though no one could see him. "Thank you, commander. I'm on my way."


**************

The hatch to the bridge hissed open, revealing the interior. Commander Avanti, dressed in command red, sat in the captain's chair, with Gavison to his right. The domtarian stood as if to move, but Blair waved him off. "Carry on, commander," he spoke. "The CONN is yours until time for you to leave." Instead of taking the command chair, the captain seated himself in the empty spot to Avanti's left.

Realizing the captain was serious, the engineer resumed his seat and continued as usual. "Helm, how long until we rezvendous?"

Lieutenant Zara's hands flew across her display for a moment before she answered. "E.T.A. is fifty-two minutes, sir."

Avanti nodded. "Maintain course and speed, lieutenant."

********************

Bridge - 1813

Lieutenant MacTavish spoke up from his place at the TAC rim. "Commander, they be hailin' us."

Avanti nodded. "Put them onscreen, please."

"Aye, sair," cam the answer. The display on the primary viewscreen shifted from a starscape to that of the interior of a Federation starship, focused on a dark-haired human male in his late forties.

"Commander Avanti! Good to see you again!" Suddenly, Captain Horatio's brow furrowed and he shifted his gaze to the side. "Noah Blair, I thought that we agreed I would be the one to promote him!"

Blair chuckled and shot a sideways glance at Avanti. "We did no such thing, Caine Horatio. You tried to play the seniority card on me, but as Avanti's current commanding officer, I trumped you by means of proximity."

For a moment, the two locked gazes, but when a grin began tugging at the corner of Noah's mouth, the staredown ended with chuckles on both sides. "Very well," Hortio answered, "but don't think I will forget this, Blair!"

Noah nodded in mock sincerity. "Indeed, captain - I will sleep with one eye open."

Horatio shook his head. "All right, then. Your officers are ready to come aboard as soon as you give the green light. Also, Doctor Milkens and his vaccine materials will be read momentarily. Oh, and Noah?"

Blair inclined his head. "Yes?"

"Thanks." Blair nodded, and the communication ended.

The captain made eye contact with Avanti. "Commander Gavison and I will see you off, if you please."

The domtarian nodded. "Thank you, sir. Lieutenant MacTavish, you have the bridge."

**********************

Transporter room one - 1820

OOC: any final goodbyes, whatever...

Noah clasped the domtarian's forearm. "I am proud to have served with you. Godspeed, Avanti."

The engineer took his place on the transporter pad. When he had received confirmation from the tech, he nodded. "Energize," he ordered.

Moments later, he was gone.

A short time later, the tech looked up. "Captain, I have a request from the Valmont - three to beam over."

Blair nodded. "That will be fine."

Noah knew that the three would be the CEO, the counselor, and this Doctor Milkens. The lower ranking personnel would come over in larger groups to transporter room two.

Once the three forms had fully materialized, Blair greeted them all. "Commander Waldgrave, Lieutenant Arevaci, Doctor Milkens. I am Captain Blair, this is my executive officer, Commander Gavison. Welcome aboard the USS Discovery."

The captain gestured to a gold-clad petty officer. "Please show the doctor to his quarters." Upon reciving an affirmative, he looked back at the old man. "Doctor, We will be underway presently. My science staff will see to it that your materials are properly taken care of. We shoud reach our destination in four days time."

Once the doctor had left, Blair fixed his gaze on the counselor. "Mister Arevaci, please check in with Doctor White, our chief medical officer. When your schedule permits, drop by my ready room."

He turned to the engineer. "Commander Waldgrave, I'm sure that you will wish to acquaint yourself with your new department, so I will stay out of your way for now. Likewise, however, I would appreciate a moment of face time when you get the chance."

OOC: anyone interject anything if needed.

"Very well," Noah concluded. "Carry on, then."

Stadate: 2366.10.21 USS Discovery, Dr. White’s quarters– 0500

=/\=Victor, it’s five! Get up already! We’re waiting for you in Ten Forward!=/\=

Ugh… Gurk? Wha? Damn I overslept….Was I sleeping?
Vic reached over to his nightstand and tapped his commbadge. “Sorry Cinna, I’ll be right there.”

He quickly threw on a new uniform, topped it off with his blue lab coat and pinned his commbadge to the lapel. He was clean. Last night about 0300 the neonate nurse on duty paged him about baby Gavison. Nothing major, just those little things that happen with newborns who are learning to react with the world around them. Vic had left strict orders to page him directly for anything dealing with Kaila. Better to miss a little sleep than risk one of the more inexperienced medical staffers… well… Vic didn’t like to think about that. Dr. Wash was an infection doc with less than a days experience dealing with newborns, and none of the residents were even liscenced. Cinna was the only other to trust, but she knew that she was only an enlisted nurse. A paperwork nightmare for her to take charge of a Commander’s child.

The door to his quarters slid open to reveal a hallway with shift three lighting. It wouldn’t get much brighter for another hour or so, which is exactly why he was going to Ten Forward for “Darkened Coffee” as Cinna had to appropriately named it.

Dr. White punched his destination into the computer and was there momentarily. The doors of Ten Forward slid open to reveal a few third shift personel winding down, and Cinna, Gabe and Taylor sitting at their usual table in the corner. Bill had made a habit of coming a few times a week, but he was only starting to feel included in the clique. He wasn’t there this time.

Cinna was the first to speak, as usual. “What exactly were you doing last night? I saw on the records you visited the Commander’s kid again.”

Vic sighed, “Just routine. The girl has had everything she could possibly imagine pumped into her with zero effort for the past nine months. Can’t expect her to enjoy having to work for it.” He grinned. Taylor smirked. Cinna rolled her eyes. Gabe stayed focused on his coffee.

“I was about to go tell the Gavison’s that they can take their daughter to their quarters. She’ll still be in her safehouse, but I don’t think she needs 24 hour watch anymore. Lt. Gavison won’t take her eyes off her anyway, and I doubt the Commander will be thinking of much else.”

Cinna nodded. “I’ll put in the request immediately,” she said as she punched it into her PADD.

Taylor squee’ed with excitement. She loved this part. “I’ll get her a new bed!” The Discovery hadn’t had many newborns, so she was thrilled to get this chance. Being Chief Sterile Supply Coordinator had it’s perks, afterall.


USS Discovery, Sick bay (neonatal unit)– 0600

Without much surprise, both Cmdr. and Lt. Gavison were there at six sharp to take Kaila. Taylor (or Chief Alexandria as she was known to them) escorted the parents, pushing the large crib that would be baby’s home for the next few weeks, at least. She checked and rechecked that it was working properly before signing the electronic tag and saying farewell. It was only a short travel from the Gavison’s quarters back to Ten-Forward to finish her morning ritual with the others.

Victor welcomed her back, and they sat around doing nothing… just like always. It was a rare thing for four department heads in Starfleet to just sit and do nothing together, which is why they all enjoyed it.

Finally, Gabe broke the silence. “So I hear Dr. Gene is leaving.”

Vic nodded, “Yep, he requested to switch out along with one of the residents he had taken an interest in. Sad to see him leave, but I’m sure the Captain will find a suitable replacement.

“Computer. Time” Cinna begrudgingly spoke.

=/\=The current time is oh-seven-hundred-hours.=/\=

“Time to move out I suppose.”

They left a small tip for Jacandra, and headed back to Sick Bay.

A few hours passed with little ado about anything, with the only constants being the boredom and the regular checkups on Mother and Baby Gavison. White found one of his new favorite hobbies was watching Blair, Gavison, Avanti and MacTavish. He had decided to take another shot at command training, if nothing more than to prove that he can do it. So far the holodeck has given him average marks, as expected. At this rate he’d be an Admiral in about sixty years.

Around 1030 the familiar voice of Yeoman Allen could be heard asking around Sick Bay for Dr. White. She learned a while ago that the doc sometimes “forgot” his commbadge during more… unpleasant patient examinations. She found Chief Decon wandering around and left the message with her.

USS Discovery, observation lounge – 1055

“Doctor, it is my understanding that you have rekindled interest in command training, and are even now logging time on the holodecks to perform the necessary coursework. Is that correct?”

Vic was a bit ashamed to admit his medocre performance, so decided to simply nod. I was a bit uncharacteristic of him to be short with the captain, but he figured Blair has had ample opportunity to access his training logs.


“You have fifteen years’ service in Starfleet, doctor, and I am well aware of your sound judgment from firsthand experience. Furthermore, I do trust that you will successfully complete command training in a timely manner. Therefor, I am appointing you as acting third officer aboard the Discovery.”

This blew Vic away. Yea it was sad to see Avanti go, and even sadder to see MacTavish given more power (now the guy would surely blow a gasket) but this was possibly the worst of them all.

“I know you won’t change your mind, but I told you when I joined this ship that I’m not command material. But, I suppose we all must face our demons eventually. Thank you for the trust and the position, Captain.”

Mac had voiced his protest as well, and it would seem they are not that much different. The bridge was about to get a lot more interesting, that’s for sure. Four *very* different command styles would at least keep the crew on their feet.

The new 3O decided to clear his mind for a bit. He tapped his badge. “White Rabbit to Red Fox. Copy?”

=/\=Vic that’s gotta be one of the dumbest things you’ve ever said.=/\=

“It was Taylor’s idea, blame her. Anyway Cinna, I’m going to be in Bridge-one for a while. Hold the fort.”

=/\=Dr. Gene has already emptied his office. He must be leaving today with Commander Avanti.=/\=

“Seems that way. I’ll be there in a few hours. Good Bye.”

The door to the bridge slid open, where he found Commander Gavison firmly in control of things. He waved off the salutes from the other crew and plopped down in the emergency medical station. He busied himself by keying in perscription renewals, but his main thoughts were on the department. A new aCMO, and Third Officer duties…

He came upon the TAC department in his list, and keyed a few refills. MacTavish’s name was still starred by Dr. Wash. Refused Medication… loudly Well, Jack had denied blood pressure meds before. No sense giving up just yet though. He’d deal with that later though. It seems Lt. Raines has a gift for him. The Doctor thanked the Ops manager and told him he’d have his people get in contact with ops people to schedule appointments for the newcomers.

White then ventured back to Sick Bay to see Cinna on her feet as usual, directing civilian and military personell to various waiting rooms and exam rooms. “Cinna, sometimes I wonder why I’m even here. You can forge my signiture, answer my phone, make my appointments and practically do my exams. All I have to do is cut off my finger and carve out my retina and you’d be the new CMO. You’d have to dye your hair a bit though. Red doesn’t suit me.”

His smart comment earned him a gurney pillow to the back of the head, which he was conveniently unable to dodge. Her laughter trailed off into one of the stock rooms.

USS Discovery Sick Bay – 1600

The farewell party in the med crew was a gathering for sure. Minimal appointments, no emergencies, and lots of food. Anyone was invited, but the attendance was vastly dominated by medical crew and immediate friends and family. Dr. Gene, one of the residents, and a handful of enlisted were stepping off onto the Valmont either for duty or further reassignment.

It had been a fun few hours, but it had to end eventually. The call came from the bridge that the Valmont was in range, and those leaving gathered their belongings while the rest began party clean up duty.

White and Cinna accompanied those leaving to the bridge, where they said their final farewells. Avanti was the biggest loss to the crew, but Vic preferred to think of it as a huge gain for the Valmont’s crew. He spent the last few minutes while the ships got within range signing off on everyone’s reports so they were medically able to be reassinged. Vic, like most of his practices, wasn’t quite sure if this was an actual starfleet procedure, but he acted like it was. Always nice to have a record. He shook the big man’s hand, and then retreated to his command station. He didn’t care to be there when all the switching was done. He’d stay off the bridge in the Deck One Emergency Medical Station. Close enough to catch Arevaci on his way out, but far enough where he could distance himself from the formalities to come. Cinna took Vic’s feelings a step further and went back to Sick Bay to close up her shift and get the night charge started.

(OOC: Vic will wait in the deck’s emergency station outside the bridge and meet Arevaci away from the other brass.)

(USS Discovery, Keely's Quarters, 1500 hours)

She had been in the shower…

…Wrapping a towel around herself she padded to the door and opened it. "Ben! Where have you been?" she said reaching out to hug him and give him an extremely passionate kiss, pulling him into her quarters with her as she did so. "I've missed you." she said huskily between kisses, her towel slipping just a bit but in her determination to save her relationship, she didn't care one bit.

Ben watches his girlfriend come on to him with more sexual energy than the ancient Roman goddess, the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite, could muster, and slowly his mouth begins to drop as a sense of mild shock, mixed with an overpowering lustful, urge stirs through his body…then strange thoughts come sweeping into his mind as Natalie rains kisses about Ben’s blushing face.

“What if she has gone mad?

Haven’t paid her much attention lately, I know…but, what the HELL is this?

Oh…my…the towel...

wow!”
Ben let himself get caught up in that most amazing moment before the truth of the matter came to him. Natalie is really in love with me…that’s what this is about. As if to confirm his suspicions Natalie spoke:

"Sweetie, I've been missing you a lot lately and thinking...perhaps we should take things further." she said as she unzipped his uniform top. "Eight months is a looong time for two adults to have such a modest relationship, don't you think?" she asked, drawing him into another long kiss.

Raines regarded Natalie with a gentle look as she went on. He looked deeply into her beckoning green eyes and noticed that his tunic was off. He wanted her…above all else…her. He could be named Fleet Admiral of Starfleet and still not want anything more than Natalie’s love.

"I...Benjamin, I...want...you." she blushed deep crimson as the words came out of her mouth, not even sounding like her, but pushed on, letting her towel drop to the floor, the declaration now quite clear.

“Well…have me,” he said, running his hands through her strawberry blonde hair. He kissed her on the lips…and everywhere.

=/\= ++++ CENSORED ++++ =/\=

As he lies in bed cuddling with Natalie after their trip to home plate, he knows that this time will be the one that he always remembers. Above all the previous few sexual encounters he had had, this one topped them all. He thinks, “I should ask her now…this is it.” He is, however, perpetually the worrisome analyzer…after all, that was what the COO did each day. Worry…analyze…do’ it. The “wad” of Ops, as one of his fellow Academy cadets used to say.
Ben sat up and momentarily leaned over the side of the bed, before reaching his arms into the air in a magnificent stretch. “Natalie…thank you,” he said looking into her eyes. Once again they were like emeralds gleaming in the low, soft light. “There is something…well, something I needed…wanted to ask…” He felt stupid…what if she said no?

TAG=Keely

“Well,” he said, stalling in a spilt second panic, “we should move in together…I mean…that would be nice.” That was not what he meant to say. ’Ben,’ he scolded himself mentally. ‘What happened to: Hey Natalie, I love you…please marry me…we’ll grow old together, but love each other always?’ Moving in together would be wonderful, but now he had yet another thing to fret about; what if she thought he was asking only because of the sex?

=OFF=

Tag: Keely