Stardate 2365.02.08
Starbase 118 07:45
Could this day possibly get any worse, Dio thought, as he ran through the corridors of Starbase 118.

First he got a surprise reassignment - in the middle of assembling that new sensor suite no less! He'd been waiting weeks to dig his hands it to it. Shoved transporter with not even an hour to pack and not even time to say good bye, shuffled into another ship heading toward Starbase 118. Off to his new assignment. At least his captain tried to look sad about his departure.

USS Peregrine.... Peregrine... still doesn't ring any bells! Dammit, this could be a big break for me!
So he got here three days early. Excellent! Relaxation. Just what he needed. One thing led to another, a nice dinner, a few drinks, the pretty petty officer from the Coronado. Of course, that's when things went completely horgahn-up. Apparently some enlisted men on leave also remembered him. Less then fondly from the poker game his first night, despite the many times he assured them he didn't cheat! So what if he just happened to have played poker since he was seven. The enlisted men had grabbed him leaving the petty officer's room late at night. He'd given a fair few black eyes, but there was no way he was going to fighting off six. It finally ended when he heard and felt the hiss of a hypospray.

Blackout.

After waking up to the inside of a far-from-roomy cargo container, it had taken easily half hour of banging on the inside of it before an Andorian dock worker had come along to investigate. Thankfully he was able to talk the dock worker out of reporting it and convince him it was just a funny haha-prank. He didn't need Starbase security digging into this and doubt he could prove it wasn't just a prank gone to far.

If anyone asked, you fell down some stairs. Several times. Won't be the first time!
He dragged his aching body back to his temporary quarters. New bruises a plenty, a twinge that he hoped was just the bruises on burns and not a broken bone he'd need to explain. The burns on his side were raw again and his head felt like the underside of an Orion slave-girl after a cruise ship comes in. Nothing he wouldn't survive. By the time he got out of the shower, his head was clear enough to realize the time. And date.

He'd been out for nearly a day.

"Pardon, excuse me, pardon me, gang way!" He was quiet and shouting in turns as he pushed his way through the morning crowd. One duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a small wheeled bag dragged behind him as the thin man ran toward the transporter room, long black hair bouncing in a braid behind him. Dio tossed himself through the line up to the transporter chief, panting for breath.

"Uh... pardon me. One to beam over to USS Peregrine. I'm expected, thank you!"

The transporter chief for Starbase 118 just grunted in acknowledgment as Dio climbed onto the transporter pad. The haze of twinkling lights hopefully taking him to great new things!
-------------------------------------------------
USS Peregrine 118 08:10
Dio babbled at the transporter operator on duty as he stepped off the platform, dragging his luggage along

"Oh, pardon me! Lieutenant Dio Lasad, reporting for duty. Which way is the bridge?"

The transporter chief - Daria - looked over the presentable (if exhausted) man that had just arrived in his transporter room and kindly gave him directions. Dio took off like a bullet and very nearly concussed himself when the doors didn't open as fast as he was accustomed. He caught himself with the bruised shoulder and managed to keep his pained expression to a convincing-looking grimace.

"I'm OK! Just need to report in, thank you!"

He proceeded down the corridor at a much calmer, leisurely pace.

Act natural, deep breathing. Step into the turbolift. Head to the bridge and don't mess up anything else!
((Dio is enroute to the bridge, and will speak to whomever seems to have been left in command while the captain is in his meeting, assuming the captain doesn't beat him back.))

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine - Main Lab 0600
Walking into the main science lab, Horatio found himself entering an empty room. ...Where's Lauren?...
Pacing the entire lab, he discovered that, as he suspected, he was indeed alone. Leaving the lab, his instincts guided him to the garden, whereupon entering, he found Lauren in deep concentration over.. "Canadian Moonseeds." He said loudly.

As if on queue, Lauren flinched visibly in surprise, and turned toward him. "Li-lieutenant! G-good morning! Can you ever quit sneaking up on me like that?" She looked frustrated but relieved.

"Crewman, what on earth are you doing?" He asked plainly.

"I came to do my hourly check on your," she made air quotes here, "bastard love child and this specimen caught my attention."

"Ah, understandable. Would you join me for breakfast? I suppose in your case, I should say dinner? You can update me on your accomplishments tonight."

"Of course, sir."

---

USS Peregrine - Mess Hall 0615
Seated with Lauren, he found they had varying tastes in food at the moment. He had a plate full of vegetables and carbs ranging from cucumbers, tomatoes, broccoli, corn, quinoa, jalapeno peppers (though he found his personal peppers to be much more flavorful), lettuce, spinach, and the like with the odd piece of fish amongst them, for he found himself to be a pescatarian instead of a full-on vegetarian.

She, however, clearly enjoyed meat as she had a hefty cut of beef on her plate with plain mashed potatoes and corn. "A simple meal, instead of your mishmash of food." she remarked jokingly as they were ordering.

"I would imagine for someone so interested in extraterrestrial botanical specimens, you would have some sort of non-earth fish on your plate, at the least." She said as they seated themselves moments earlier.

"Consider me a stickler for what I'm familiar with, at least when it comes to putting things in my stomach." He grinned. "So, tell me of your night."

As he said this, Ensign Dalia walked into the mess hall, her purple eyes easily finding them dining amongst the tables. Horatio bid Lauren delay a moment to allow Dalia to join them.

Ensign Maize sat at the table with a bowl of red liquid with rice and vegetables spotting it. Noting their curious expressions, she said, "Bolian tomato soup. I've grown fond of it."

His curiosity satisfied, he turned his attention back to Lauren. "Now, tell me of your night."

"Well, I reviewed Ensign Dalia's work on the pod and I agree with her assessment that the marks on the outer hull seem to be caused by a combination of the pod seemingly being ejected at warp speed and whatever the contents of the container coming into contact with it."

Dalia nodded, clearly agreeing that her own work is correct.

"Without a specimen, though, we have no way of knowing with any level of certainty." she continued. "Outside of that, it was an uneventful night. I routinely checked on the garden and found nothing of note to happen."

"And the lesson on wolfsbane?"

Dalia's eyebrows rose inquisitively. "Wolfsbane?"

"I've compiled what you've requested and have gone a step further by preparing exactly what you'll need from engineering to insure the safety of those interacting with the plant. You only need to give this document here," she pulled out a small collection of papers clipped together, "to Lieutenant Commander Thorson, and unless I'm mistaken, he should be able to accommodate what we need without much effort or research on his own, though given his thorough outlook, I assume he'll want to review my work, of course."

Finally the one surprised in their exchange, Horatio was caught off guard by her clearly exceeding his expectation. "This is amazing, miss Crane. Well done, indeed. Very well done."

"Does someone mind bringing me up to speed on wolfsbane?" Dalia interjected with some annoyance.

"I've been given permission to grow northern european wolfsbane in the garden. Captain Drake has asked that I have a plan of action to educate my staff about it and to set up proper containment fields with fail-safes to protect the ship and her occupants."

"If he wants that, it's clearly dangerous." she said pointedly.

"It is, which is why I will have Crewman Lauren and myself as designated primaries for interaction with it."

Ensign Dalia recoiled as if she had been slapped. "I-wha-...What?" She managed to remark.

"Crewman, you're dismissed, thank you for your work this past evening."

"Of course, Lieutenant. Good day to you both." She took her empty plates and left the mess hall.

"Dalia, stay a moment, let me explain." Horatio began uncertainly, unsure of what to say.

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine - Bridge 0830
The first thing Dio noticed is that the ship was rather.... smaller, then he expected. He dismissed it out of hand.

That could mean anything! Could even be my imagination or a concussion.
He took a few moments in the turbolift to straighten his uniform, tuck a few stray hairs behind his ears and check his face in a mirror. No bruises, nothing obviously untoward. He couldn't afford to look like some ruffian.

Dio took a deep breathe before the doors to the turbolift opened. The bridge was a bit more compact then he expected and fairly empty. But it was in good shape and there was a very professional Benzite woman seated in the captain's chair.

Benzite.......OH!
"Lt Moriden? I'm Lieutenant Dio Lasad, transferring to the USS Peregrine as the new Chief of Operations." He hazarded a guess, stepping around the bridge and offering out a hand. His guess was evidently correct and rewarded by what he could only interpret as a confused smile.

"Pardon me. But. I was informed that we should be expecting a Lt Tetsuku?" Moriden replied, wheezing slightly between words.

Dio groaned, flashing a sheepish smile at the Benzite "Oh my stars, I thought this had been cleared up by the personal office already. There's a Lt Dio Tetsuku of Operations on the USS Troy. And for some reason, his name was sent along on my records. I contacted the personal office to have it corrected when I reached Starbase 118, but I guess they haven't caught up yet."

Lt Moriden sniffed suspiciously at the young man, but accepted the data padd he offered. Each sentence punctuated by soft wheezing "Your orders check out. Welcome aboard sir. Since you have not had time to check the duty stations, you have the beta command shift today starting at 1500. The captain will be returning shortly, in the meantime your quarters are on Deck 2."

"Of course lieutenant!" Dio replied, hefting his duffel back on to his shoulder with a cheerful grin. "I so look forward to working with you. So, as soon as I check in with command and medical, I'd like to meet with you personally to get me up to speed before I speak to the department as a whole. 1400 hours?"

((Assuming no-one else is on the bridge who wants to talk to Lt Lasad immediately.))

At Moriden's nod of acknowledgement, Dio waved at those in audience and practically bounced back into the turbolift. Leaving Moriden to ponder at the rapidly retreating back of her new officer.

Stardate 2365.02.08
Starbase 118, Conference Room A3 - 0745
Tochi had, of course, known that Captain Drake had no intention of showing up for this meeting at 0800. The man had an inborn punctuality and, also, the discipline instilled by his years of training and service in Starfleet but, in this particular case, neither of those things actually drove Drake's desire to arrive as early as they had. Instead, the Trill surmised, it was Silas' absolute refusal to give the pompous Captain Jacobs a microgram of ammunition to use against him that urged the hyper-punctuality, this morning. So it was that, at 0715, Vaela had taken the CONN and, immediately thereafter, Captain Drake and Lt Zai had left the Peregrine in the capable hands of her crew and made their way to the designated conference room aboard Starbase 118, arriving well in advance of the scheduled start time.

All in all, there hadn't been much conversation between the XO and his Captain, this morning, either. Drake had been relatively quiet and contemplative and, for his part, Zai had affected much the same demeanor - both of their minds, Tochi knew, were likely travelling aboard similar trains of thought - and, so, they sat there for a good while; each reviewing, categorizing, and prioritizing their individual thoughts in the comfort of that shared silence. As the hour drew nearer to 0800, though, the silence seemed to lose a bit of it's easiness to something of an edgy apprehension,

He's dreading this face-to-face with Jacob's, the Trill mused, glancing at his CO and, yet again, mentally reviewing every bit of overlap in the service records of Drake and Jacobs, trying to isolate a particular incident or interaction which could have inspired such a palpable tension. Tochi had formed something of an idea as to where to abrasiveness between Drake and Jacobs might have been rooted but had, as yet, to ask Silas to confirm his suspicions. Instead, he found himself approaching the situation as Kasru might have, playing the political "long game," as it were, waiting patiently, watching intently, and not letting the tiniest detail go unnoticed or unnoted. He'd have his confirmation by the end of this meeting whether it was vocalized or not.

"Here we go," Tochi murmured as the conference room door hissed open. He offered Drake a reassuring grin and got to his feet as Jacobs and his XO entered.

"Mister Drake," Jacobs sneered by way of greeting Silas; the disdain in his intentional misuse of the honorific was as obvious as the haughty set of his visage. The Coronado's Commanding Officer turned his scornful eyes on Zai for a brief moment,

"Sir," Lt Zai said from behind a spurious smile.

, and then returned to Drake and mockingly queried; "Your own executive officer is a lieutenant?"

Had they not been characteristically clasped behind his back, in that instant, someone would surely have seen the fingers on one of Tochi's hands start to curl into a fist. It was an almost instinctual reaction, really, and belonged solely to Tochi, though the symbiont did empathize. He was reminded, in a flood of Kasru, though, that such a reaction would not bode well for anyone concerned, and forced himself to relax his hand,

"On a Saber class vessel, we have a shortage of senior ranking officers," Drake offered a measured response to Jacobs' goading, "Fortunately for us, Lieutenant Zai is as fine an officer as I have had the pleasure to serve with."

Tochi's smile was a bit less spurious when he offered it to Jacobs, again, along with a curt nod.


Captain Jacobs' face avoided a sneer, but his voice did not. "Indeed," he offered before idly indicating the woman to his left. "This is Commander Farr, my own Executive Officer."

"Bethany Farr," the woman introduced herself in a far more pleasant fashion than did her Captain, "A pleasure to meet you gentlemen."

There's our in-road where the Coronado's command staff is concerned, Zai thought as Farr shook hands with Captain Drake, With no lack of disapproval showing on Jacobs' pinched face.
All traces of disingenuousness were gone from the lieutenant's smile when he accepted Commander Farr's hand. "Tochi Zai," he offered by way of formality, "Very nice to make your acquaintance, Commander."

"Drake," Jacobs was already continuing with his imperious posturing when Zai let go of the woman's hand, "you are here because the diplomats have requested to meet the commanders of each vessel - not for your silver tongue. You will answer questions if the diplomats direct any to you, but otherwise, you will speak only if spoken to. At all times, you will show proper deference to the chain of command. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir."

After that exchange, Zai was almost relieved that the Rytain and Kuldar diplomats entered at just that moment. The Rytain Ambassador Threel's entrance preceded that of the Kuldar's Ambassor D'lar by a nanosecond, it seemed, but, once through the door, the pair saw to it that the space between them was considerable. There was a flurry of introductions, greetings, and, at some probing by Threel, some explanation as to the difference between rank and title.

",the commanding officer of a Federation starship is always referred to as ‘Captain,'" Silas was explaining to the Rytain ambassador, "One is a position, one is a rank. I hold the first, though not the second."

Threel nodded, appearing mollified by the explanation. "Thank you for clearing up the confusion," he responded.

Silas smiled politely. "Of course."

Well done, Captain, Tochi thought, Despite those initial choppy seas, we're into smoothing sailing, now, it seems.

For the next bit of time, too, it did seem as if all was proceeding as expected. The Ambassadors and Captain Jacobs went over the itinerary for this diplomatic undertaking, proceeded on to discuss the topics of each contingent's staff and their needs, and, then came what should have been a brief discussion on the assignment of quarters and facilities for the delegates aboard the Coronado, Should have,

"Commander Drake," D'Lar barked toward what should have been the tail end of the conversation, "is it not true that you are in command of the superior vessel?"

Zai's eyebrows shot upward, at this, and, from the look on the Captain's face, it seemed that Silas was similarly taken aback. The corners of Tochi's mouth wanted to follow his eyebrows when, after Jacobs had attempted to field the query aimed at Drake, the Kuldar ambassador shut him down and reengaged the Peregrine's CO. Fortunately, the Trill managed to maintain a proper sense of decorum and regained his composure as quickly as it had been disrupted. This was a much harder task to accomplish when, after Silas was allowed a brief moment to explain the differences between his own ship and the Coronado, Ambassadors D'Lar and Threel both opted for ‘smaller cabins on the superior ship.'

Interesting, Tochi thought, trying his very best not to crack a smile in the face of Jacobs' indignant spluttering. It should have been expected, we suppose. Given both Rytain and Kuldar histories, coupled with cultural and tactical tendencies, this kind of ‘Alpha posturing' should have been obvious,

"As you wish, ambassadors," Drake responded diplomatically to the delegates' unexpected demands, I will have quarters prepared for you at once."

"We are scheduled to depart at thirteen hundred hours," a seething Jacobs managed to interject.

The good Captain appears to be boiling himself from the inside out, Zai couldn't help but notice and, truth be told, revel in, as the Ambassadors lobbied their final requests and farewells. Jacobs fumed in silence, though, and Silas seized upon that roiling reticence, contacting Lt Moriden and giving the acting Ops Chief orders to make the appropriate preparations for the ambassadors' arrival.

=/\=Aye, sir. ~wheeze~ I'm on it, now. =/\=

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Drake out." With that Silas met Captain Jacobs' gaze. "Do you have any orders, sir?"

His lips tight in anger, Jacobs shook his head before speaking slowly and pointedly. "Do not screw this up, Mister Drake."

Silas nodded, unable to keep a smile from tugging at the corner of his mouth despite the tension from the situation.

"Dismissed," Jacobs spat as he spun and stalked out of the conference room.

"Commander Farr," Tochi said, catching the woman's attention before she could be sucked into her captain's wake. He extended a hand which she accepted. "Captain Jacobs looks a bit miffed," he offered with as warm a smile as he could muster, "Please, tell him not to take any of the ambassadors' demands as a personal affront. We suspect that both delegates are simply laying claim to perceived strength in order to mask all too real weaknesses. Certainly he understands that, hm?"

Commander Farr blinked once or twice, offered a nod and a smile of her own, and said; "If he didn't hear you on his way out, Lt Zai, I'll be sure to relay the message.

Again, a pleasure to meet you gentlemen," she said taking her leave, "Good morning."

Once she was gone, Tochi turned to Silas, and smiled. "That went well," he said, gesturing to the door, "Shall we, Captain? We've got a just few short hours to ‘polish a turd' as the good Captain Jacobs might be wont to say,"

A few moments later, in the corridors of the Starbase, as they made their way back to the Peregrine's berth, Tochi glanced sidelong at his Captain and said; "We're pretty sure we've figured out where the animosity between Jacobs and yourself comes from, sir, and, if it makes you feel any better, I thought about dropping him on his pompous ass, myself, in the first minutes we met the man."

((OOC: Boom! That took a minute! Room for interjections and whatnot, throughout. Looking to do a back on the ship post very shortly. ))

Stardate 2365.02.08
Deck 2, Dio Lasad's quarters - 0845
Dio leaned against the turbolift wall. He had a few hours to get settled before his first command shift and hopefully salvage a first impression with his new captain and XO. As tempting as a nap was, he had far, far too much to do to get caught up on before his first shift.

When life gives you lemons, you use the lemons to clean equipment until it shines! Dio reminded himself with forced cheerfulness. Trudging down the corridor to the room number he'd been provided. He smiled at a few of the passing crew members - some returned it, others were preoccupied with their data padds. No one was overtly hostile, which was a relief.

The quarters at least weren't as small as he thought. When he found out he'd been reassigned to a Sabre-class ship, the lieutenant had imagined that they'd be slotted into little bunk-bed tubes with a dozen other people. But he had a nice living room, private bedroom and all the standard fixtures he'd gotten used to. It had obviously been cleaned out very recently, it had the newly-scrubbed scent and the room was bare of any personal touches or furniture. Dio let out a sigh as he dropped his bags - at long last - on to the couch.

He wasn't sure how long the captain would be absent, but he was certainly not visiting medical until after he saw the captain. No need to have his first meeting further disrupted

Seizing the little time he had, Lasad sat down at the computer terminal in his and started pulling up the personal files for his department. He had weeks (months) of department reports to sift through, but that could wait for now.

One full officer serving under him. Lt Candar Moriden, his second on operations. She'd performed exceptionally so far on the assignment and been on-board for six months, including bridge duty.

Logistical specialist Darasterlee Brok and Personnel management Tara Palmer. The only complaints listed were for a few double-booking incidents with scheduling access to the holosuites. That initially surprised him, until Dio noted that the last six months had been a very routine patrol.

Nothing like a long, boring mission to make the natives restless! If the next mission is this dull, we'll need to start up some events and classes to take the burden off the holosuites.
He had five system specialists with a excellent spread of skills. Three hospitality crew members under him to work the Observation lounge, as well as the gym....

=/\= ~wheeze~ =/\=

=/\= ~wheeze~ Bridge to Lieutenant Lasad.=/\=

Dio looked up from his reading, tapping his badge "This is Lasad."

=/\= ~wheeze~ We have had an adjustment to our mission plans. Two VIP quarters need to be prepared immediately for the ambassadors of Kuldar and Rytain. ~wheeze~ I have informed Security so they can be prepared. I thought you should be alerted as well. =/\=

The dryness in her tone wasn't just the rebreather, I could have wrung out a martini with that tone.
Dio pushed himself up from his desk, ignoring the various bodily complaints and tugging down his uniform. The cosmos was definitely intent on proving that "no rest for the wicked" was less proverb and more a universal law, like gravity.

"Have Amai reach out to the ambassadorial staff for requirements, the diplomatic corp on Starbase 118 for as much cultural information as you can muster up. Food allergies, and send it to my data padd..." Lasad paused to read off the ID on it. "Medical might also have allergy information. Make sure both medical and Hospitality know. Then have whomever is still awake for Hospitality meet me at the VIP suites. Security will undoubtedly want to sweep them as well."

=/\= ~wheeze~ =/\=
=/\= Yes sir, queries have already gone out for the information. Anything else?=/\=

"Besides a stiff cup of coffee?" Dio grinned wryly to himself as he strode out of his quarters "Give the captain my utmost apologies and that I will report in as soon as we have the suites prepared. Unless he wishes to see me first."

=/\= ~wheeze~ =/\=

=/\= I will convey this. Lt Moriden out.=/\=

((OOC: Medical, Security, feel free to RP out lt. Moriden reaching out to you!))

((First post written with Boo Boo/PO Cook! Sorry if long, but good stuff.))

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine, Sick Bay - 0650
There before the head nurse was a rather unassuming woman with laugh lines, a scattering of silvering in her hair, and a steaming cup of tea. She wore the typical uniform of a starfleet doctor, doctor's coat over, with the insignia of lieutenant. A PADD and setting of what smelled like tea settled on the desk before her.

Seeing the stocky, strong woman enter, bright and well presented, with a clear voice, she already felt this ship was in good hands. Rising, she came around to the taller nurse offering a hand in welcome.

"Ah so very good to meet you, Head Nurse Cook, unless you prefer I call you by another title or name? In Sick Bay, I tend to call folk what they wish. We spend so much time together, thicker than thieves as they say. And I was so hoping we would have a chance to chat before a line of crewman came in from their shore leave. Even an hour can wreck merry havoc with the eager kind. Oh my manners, I'm Doctor Louise Moore. A pleasure indeed." She spoke with an obvious accent, British and fluid, cadence calm and welcoming.

Without really trying Dana found she liked the woman immediately. Her manner seemed very friendly and her willingness to be more informal in the Sick Bay was a plus in her eyes.

"If you like you may call me Dana or PO Cook" she said with a faint smile, "Do you prefer your Title or Rank?"

Louise let the smile warm further retaking her seat and welcoming Dana to a seat across from her. "Louise among us, dear Dana, or Dr. Moore in other mixed and higher company. I hear Lieutenant and wonder who walked in! I've always been a doctor first, all the military ranks came along on their own."

Taking a sip of tea, she waited for Dana to snag her own cup of whatever she liked. "As to my arrival, well, I honestly am unsure of what came about with Dr. Synklar. I do hope to continue on good efforts, working together. Whatever new assignment he is on, I am sure it is to help Starfleet. So tell me about yourself, Dana, and our grand ship."

"Very well Dr. Moore," Dana replied and then added, "I mean Louise." Just having met this woman it was hard to call her by her first name but if that is what she wanted that was fine. Just between them of course.

Dana didn't know why the sudden ship in the CMO and CTO positions so she didn't add anything as it would only be speculations otherwise.

"Well the Peregrine is a fabulous ship," Dana said, "at least I think so." She added a smile and shrugged.

"I have only been aboard about 18 months now but I find it to be a wonderful assignment," as she spoke she sort of look around the room as if examining it for the first time, "I have been stationed in larger commands before but I think the smaller vessels have a better 'comradeship' to the crew."

She refocused on the Doctor and chuckled, "Just my personal thoughts Sir."

"As for me," she shifted uncomfortably in her stance for a moment, "I come from a Star Fleet family and have always wished to serve. I love caring for people but I don't mind butting a few heads together if the need is there. I can always patch them up afterwards." She laughed then straightened her stance.

"I hope to serve you as well as my previous CMO," she said with pride in her voice, "I will try to make sure the rest of the medical staff do their jobs as well. Petty Officer Bachman and Nurse Patel are a little ... well they're so green they are probably capable of Photosynthesis." She smiled a little at what amounted to a joke from PO Cook.

"Do you have any orders sir?" She asked finally knowing that they had to get down to business at some point. Dana wasn't used to standing around and just chatting unless it was only a drink and tea didn't count in her book.

The wee joke brought a chuckle in return from the doctor. "We were all green once. Having them paired with more senior members, with a few small projects to them would be a fine way of giving them experience." Then she asked of orders, standing tall, straight, ready for action. Can't say I blame her. Sitting still can be such a chore.

"Indeed, Dana. I'm sure the records could use some sprucing. We should have a work up of the crew, updated physicals and samples, and the like. I would also like to look over those reports a bit more closely for a..." She moved over the PADD, tapping through to a report. "Thorson and a pod with some pulse of energy. The reports look to have no issues found. Was sick bay consulted with the Science team to look over the pod and logs?"

"Pairing up the less experienced with the more experienced is a good idea," Dana told her, "but counting you and I there are only 4 staff in the Medical department. As I am sure you are aware."

Dana sighed slightly before continuing, "I have taken Nurse Patel under my wing and he has shown some good improvement. Lab Specialist Bachmann is a bit of a loner it seems and due to his work in the lab I don't get to spend as much time with him as I would like. I believe Lt. Synklar was working with him on improving his performance. I don't know the progress unfortunately."

"As for the records," Dana went on, "they are in pretty good shape I think. But if you have suggestions for improvements once you see them then I would eagerly listen. Now the crew could use updates on their physicals and we have had turnovers so we should indeed do use some work-ups on them definitely."

When she mentioned Thorson and the Pod Dana shook her head, "As far as I know there was no request made to Medical in regards to the Pod or it's contents." She sounded a little put off with that fact as if she too thought they should have be consulted.

"If you like, " she continued, "I can start scheduling physicals for the crew and may I suggest we start with the newly arrived personnel." She seemed eager to do something as if it had been slow around here lately for Medical.

As Dana spoke, Louise gave in to a bit of thought, making mental notes as she did. She's keen, insightful, aware of others beyond a medical chart, and strikes right to the heart of things. I think she's grand.

"You're certainly on top of things, Dana. And I agree whole-heartedly on this pod situation. Medical certainly needs to be kept in all the loops when it comes to the crew and oh...strange things brought onboard." She gave a wink making note to bring it up at the next staff meeting.

The doctor consulted the PADD, tapping, listening, glancing between the digital and the fine nurse before her. "Seems starfleet has further plans for the ship and is building a proper team. Looks like we have quite a few more being added to our medical roster."

"That's Great!," Dana replied, "we have always been understaffed and I have mentioned it in my reports on several occasions."

Louise tapped again pulling up a roster to list on a larger display.

"We have... myself as CMO, yourself as quite the capable Head Nurse and Petty Officer, Bachmann as our specialist. We'll see if we can pull his nose from sensors a bit more with a look over that pod and our Chief Engineer Thorson. Nurse Patel. We have been given leave to bring in three more nurses before we ship out from the base. And I asked to have a yeoman brought on, a rather fine though young addition, Toriak. He is a stickler for records as Vulcans can be, and may give you a great deal of help as well."

Leaning across the desk, she gave a nod to Dana. "I'm already assured you are quite the best to have with the mayhem about to fall upon us, not to mention leaving soon this morn to escort the Coronado and diplomats. So! Standing orders."

Dana straightened at the praise from her new CMO. It was appreciated but she didn't want to interrupt her again to offer her thanks.

Louise slid a finger along the PADD and tapped. "I'll fish through and accept the three nurses, get them aboard, and have a quick chat with the Chief of Engineering to make sure we get a proper review of what happened. I'm with you, they needed to bring in Medical on this. Bachmann can help with any lab work and sensor reviews to help us. I'll also check with the captain on our Kuldar and Rytain diplomats."

She studied Dana then. "Dana, pull up all records you can and medical information on Kuldar and Rytain peoples, preferably on these exact diplomats if we have them on record at all. If not, I'll add it to the list for the staff meeting. We may have a bit of a mess on our hands quite suddenly, and I want us ready. Have Patel assist and study all you do. When the three new nurses come in, pull them in as well. For physicals, start looking over the medical records to schedule starting with crewman to get our team working together."

"Soon as we are enroute and have a bit of clear sailing, we can have a good chat with Chief Thorson together. Ah Dana, so happy to be working with you, dear. I have no doubts in your skills and have a good feeling about our new team."

Dana couldn't stand any straighter without snapping her spine. The praise was unexpected but welcome as she couldn't disagree with the CMO's observations.

"I will get right on it Sir," Dana said, "I will have those records as soon as possible. I will have Nurse Patel assist me. As soon as the new nursing staff arrive I will get them squared away and start working up the crewman physicals as soon as we are underway. I am sure I can whip these new nurses into shape in short order."

PO Cook grinned slightly at the prospect of new underlings to mold into shape. She stood eagerly awaiting her CMO to release her to her tasks. She was eager to start and to prove that Louise's perceptions of her were not misplaced.

"Fantastic, Dana. Please continue on, dismissed." Smile still warm, she looked back to her PADD getting to work. Time to find us a few good nurses with a potential for learning clinical medicine, hmm.

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine, Sick Bay - 0850
After a couple hours of reviewing records and downing a pot of weak tea, Dr. Moore had the makings of a fine team pulled together.

She updated the roster and sent a report PO Cook. The newly added staff included a Yeoman Toriak, and three nurses with general practitioner to specialty areas of nursing and medicine Peter Adama being the highest on the list according to Dr. Moore.

Contacting the computer to locate Chief Thorson and Chief Tesenblen, the chime came in followed by a wheezing sigh.

=/\= ~wheeze~ Bridge to Lieutenant Moore. =/\=

Tapping her communicator, she replied. "Yes, Moore here."

=/\= We received updates regarding the diplomatic mission. ~wheeze~ Kuldar and Rytain ambassadors are joining the ship for the duration of the escort. We may need to update facilities of allergies and medical needs. =/\=

With a few taps at the PADD, she brought up the ship's roster noting names. "Thank you for the update, bridge. Please inform Lieutenant Lasad we are gathering data and will send a report to operations."

=/\= ~wheeeeeeeze~ Acknowledged. =/\=

She raised her brows, intrigued by the suddenly long sighing wheeze. "I wonder if she needs a review of her respirator. Or...something else must be happening. Time to wander offices!"

Taking up her PADD, Dr. Moore left her office and sick bay to seek hydroponics and Chief Tesenblen who hopefully would be less busy than engineering this early in the morn. As the doors slid open, she spied pods with plants, various studies in progress, and a young woman working intently over a test of plants and microscope.

As the doors closed, the woman rose to come across giving the doctor a rather quick review. The marks on her neck earned a question of, "Sir?"

"Ah sorry to intrude on your work, but I am seeking Chief Tesenblen. This is hydroponics? Oh my manners, Dr. Moore, I'm your new medical chief."

Lauren blinked and nodded, catching herself before showing surprise. "Ensign Crane. Yes, this is hydroponics, but the Lieutenant is in Science Lab 2. I can direct you." With a few quick words and motioning to a map on a PADD, the doctor was off again, scientist hunting.

Soon enough another set of doors slid open revealing a grand sight of growing things. "Ah, science lab 2 indeed! It's a actual garden."

Moving further into the space, eager to look over everything yet unwilling to accidentally blunder into something dangerous or delicate. "Good day, Lieutenant Tesenblen?" Louise shoved her hands into the pocket of her teal labcoat, wandering to find the elusive scientist.

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine, Engineering - 0830

Eric took a moment to thank Odin that he had been able to get a decent night's sleep. This day was barely underway, and it was already traveling at transwarp velocity.

After grabbing breakfast and the obligatory cup of strong coffee, Eric had arrived in Engineering and made the usual checks. He'd apologized again to Toporov for causing him pain and distress yesterday, although he couldn't help chuckling about it. "From now on, whenever I call for you, just give an appropriate THUD from wherever you're at and we're good," he joked. "Wery funny," Toporov grunted. "I vill say now that I heve no idea vhat heppened vhen your sonic shower coats you in fluorescent green testing dye at some point in the near future." Eric gave the big Russian a hairy eyeball for a long moment. "Touchè," he granted as he ambled away. He got a good chuckle from that mental picture, at any rate.

As Eric paused at his desk to check his communications, he was shocked when he opened the first message. Half the department heads were just gone. Just like that! What the hell happened?! he wondered. Regular changeouts of personnel, sure, but this? Something wasn't right here. A potentially hazardous escort mission with brand-new department heads, no prep time, no warning? It was damned peculiar, and Eric decided he would try to have a word with the captain later, away from any morning briefing that might happen.

Eric checked over all of the ship's systems, noting that everything was in good order and that the Peregrine was in top form. Eric hadn't heard anything regarding plans for the escort mission yet, but he was damned well going to make sure they were ready for anything.

An hour later, Eric thanked Odin again for the sleep, as it looked like it might be a while before any more was to be had. By that time he had accumulated requests from all over the ship: Tochi had taken a moment to contact him briefly a short while ago, letting him know that some lightning-fast adjustments were going to be made to guest quarters for some impromptu guests. Tochi had sounded extremely self-satisfied when he'd called; Eric knew from Tochi's voice that there was a tale behind the tone, and he resolved to find out later. There was also a brief message from the new (brand-new) CMO requesting a meeting. Eric knew he'd have to coordinate with Medical on modifying guest quarters anyway, so he called Sickbay. "Chief Engineer Thorson to Dr. Moore. I understand you'd like to meet with me. I'd also like to discuss any Engineering modifications you'll be needing for our new guests. When would work for you?"

((OOC: assuming the good doctor responds and a time is set))

"Very good, Doctor. I'll see you then. Thorson out."

Eric had also received a message from Lieutenant Tesenblen regarding some modifications or fabrication or something. He tapped his combadge once more. "Chief Engineer Thorson to Lieutenant Tesenblen. I received your message; did you have need of our services?"

((OOC: assuming Horatio briefly summarizes the problem and they set up a time to meet))

"That'll be fine, Lieutenant. Thorson out."

As the Engineering to-do list grew, Eric realized that this would be a full day all around. Knowing that he needed to have the best help available to accomplish everything they needed to do today, Eric tapped his combadge yet again. "Thorson to Lieutenant Sa'eridon," he said. "Lieutenant, sorry again to interrupt your time off, but Engineering is becoming very popular today, and I wonder if I could have your assistance. I'll get Lieutenant Morgan to cover your shift tomorrow."

((OOC: Assuming Karri agrees))

"Thanks so much, Karri," Eric said sincerely. "I'll see you shortly."

((OOC: OK, tosses to Dr. Moore, Horatio, Karri, and Tochi if he wants to visit the brief interaction they had. I left it vague and without need to respond if not. May be biting off more than I can chew calling for so many RP's, but we'll take it a nibble at a time. The appropriate parties may holler at me at your leisure to make it happen.))

Stardate 2365.02.08
Lt. Reid's Quarters - 0845
The events of the last day and the stop at Star Base 118 had put a bit of snag in John's usual routine. The duty rotation had become second nature but a new CTO and the escort assignment he had let his own time jumble. As much as he would have liked to have taken Lt. Sa'eridon on a holodeck hike of American southwest mountains it just didn't seem the proper timing. If things stayed quiet maybe Wednesday when they were scheduled off duty he could show her a New Mexico sunset from on top of Mount Baldy.

His next scheduled bridge shift was late and there time to fill before he rested so he was hitting the studies. John knew he needed more in his ship to ship tactical so he worked toward his Advanced Starship tactical Operations Certification. John was impressed Lt. Berk's record and maybe between him and Captain Drake he'd be able to achieve the certification. John sat in the Command chair on today's shift. These were the times that stretched him, hopefully in a good way.

A message alert rang out on John's PADD and he switched to the incoming from Ops Lt. Moriden. Reading the message that the ambassadors of Kuldar and Rytain were coming aboard made him sigh heavily. His research into the battle tactics of these races also gave insight into their mind set. Ambassadors were supposed to be all about peace but they were also most likely to be spies.

The Kuldar could not be trusted at all and the Rytain thought very highly of themselves. These two Ambassadors would use very trick they knew to gain an advantage on each other. Now they will be here with potential access to technologies way beyond their current level. What a prize it would be for either to return with advanced weapon information.

John wasn't sure if Lt. Berk had had time to read his report so it was his duty as ACTO to send his recommendation to Mathias. Quickly composing an informal report John suggested an Honor guard on the Ambassadors arrival and then provide an "Honor" escort to each for the time on board. If it was possible get a bio scan of each, that could establish a signature for sensors to track their movements.

John attached his previous tactical report and emphasized that the Kuldar were pragmatic over gaining an advantage so that respect must be shown as an Ambassador but not to trust their actions.

It seems things are not going to stay quiet.

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine - The Garden 0830/0852
After spending some time reviewing Ensign Maize and Lauren's work and checking in with the day's tests, he decided to take a stroll through the Garden and check petty officer Crane's instructions for engineering. Having sent word already, he expected to hear from Chief Engineer Thorson some time this morning about setting up the needed containment.

Walking into science lab 2, he was greeted by the familiar sight that he enjoyed seeing any time of day. Pacing around, saying hello to his plants, he began the meticulous task of caring them, one he took incredible pride and enjoyment in, despite how tedious others might see it.

It was bizarre to him. He couldn't fathom spending this much time, being this careful, doing literally anything else, yet for The Garden, he made the effort. The effort of working with one's hands creating life is an exercise of the soul.
He had cleared space in the far corner of the lab for the potential growth of his northern european wolfsbane, careful to give it a wide berth from his other plants. As he looked over the area again, a voice rang out:

=/\= Chief Engineer Thorson to Lieutenant Tesenblen. I received your message. Did you have need of our services? =/\=

Responding, he said, "Yes, I need a multi-layer containment field set up in science lab 2, though maybe science lab 3 depending on logistics. Perhaps some time this evening to further discuss, at your convenience?"

=/\= That'll be fine, Lieutenant. Thorson out. =/\=

"I admire the man's work ethic. I can't imagine the load on him on a day to day basis." He said to the empty room.

Getting back to his work, he passed the time by continuing to clear the desired area for the meeting with CE Thorson.

---

A short time later, as Horatio was preparing the soil, he heard the entrance to the Garden open and an unfamiliar gait and step piqued his curiosity. It was lighter and seemed more relaxed than the normal interruptions of Lauren and Dalia.

A new, decidedly angelic voice crept into his ears, "Good day, Lieutenant Tesenblen?" Well that's a new one. What a lovely sound she has.
Rounding the corner, Horatio came face to a face with what he perceived to be a strikingly pretty woman, his voice catching as he laid eyes on her. "Good morning, mad-uhhh, mis-..um, ma'am... how may I be of assistance?" He finished quickly, trying to salvage his dignity. Smooth.
(OOC: Assuming introduction)

"Ah, it's wonderful to meet you. I'm Horatio. What brings you to my lovely slice of paradise?" He said smiling broadly, sweeping his arm in a wide arc, trying to salvage his first impression. And what can I do to get you to come back? The thought flickered through his mind before he could stop himself. You're as smooth as sandpaper, calm your tits, she's probably here to check on your head from your brilliant display of stupidity yesterday and, no doubt, your tongue tied little show of excellence didn't help.
(OOC: Interaction time)

Stardate 2365.02.08
Deck 3 - VIP Suites - 0900

((OOC: This is just some fluff stuff between Dio and his staff))
Dio scanned over the environmental requirements. Thankfully, neither ambassador needed some kind of elaborate oxygen-chlorine-napalm mix to breathe. They really didn't have time to make those kind of adjustments *and* make the adjustments necessary to protect the ship from that kind of atmosphere.

Rytain are accustomed to a slightly lighter gravity (.95% Earth) and 10% less humid. National colors, gold and russet.

Kuldar are accustomed to higher gravity (1.03%) no humidity adjustment. National colors purple and black.
He pulled up some photos of architecture and groaned. Carved stone on sand on one side, beaten metal motifis on the other.

It can't ever be easy.
--------------------

Natasha leaned forward from where she was parked against the bulkhead. She was normally off-shift by now, but a positively peeved-sounding Moriden had asked if she'd be available to help their new chief officer setup the VIP suites for diplomats. After finding out why they had a new chief officer of operations, her curiosity about the new boss had overridden her R&R plans.

Both eyebrows tilted up as she spotted the lanky gold-clad young man striding down the corrider, nose burried in a data padd. A soft whisper to her right "Ooo, is that the new officer Leah?"

Leah looked up from the cup of coffee she'd be swirrling, squinting a little in the direction Natasha was looking. "Maybe? So many new faces these last few days, t'aint easy to keep track of who is who. Dosier said Risan and he ain't got the little forhead..." She gestured and poked her thumb between her eyes. "...tattoo."

"Leah!" Natasha hissed "That's rude!"

"What?! Look, your dancing for nothing Nat. He ain't my type. Not enough meat." The irish woman grinned once at the horrified Natasha, before cupping her hands and yelling "OI! Sir, are you the Lt Lasad we're here for?"

------------------
Oh stars and lights, this is how I go out. The thugs decided to finish me off with assassins. Sexy assassins.
"Depends on whose asking" Dio put on his best charming smile and inwardly preparing to bolt.

Leah pressed the cup of coffee into the hands of the surprised officer, before snapping to a salute - Natasha hastilly following "Petty Officer, 2nd Class, Leah Finnley, at yer service. The tounge-tied lass is crewman Natasha Pierce. Welcome aboard the USS Peregrine."

"Oh!" Lasad replied, looking into the cup of coffee with first surprise, then utter gratitude. Whether this was an olive branch from Moriden or some kind of passive insinuation about his state when he arrived, he'd take it. Dio quickly returned the salute and gave a smile to the pair "Thank you. At ease Mister Finnley, Mister Pierce. I appreciate your responsiveness and the welcome. It's certainly the...warmest I've received so far today. We've got to make some very quick changes to two of the suites to suit some very touchy ambassadors. This room...."

He waved vaguely with the coffee cup "...will be for the Rytain ambassador. We'll have the Kuldar ambassador at the other end of the corridor so we can accommodate some minor atmospheric changes. That reminds me!"

=/\="Lasad to Mister Juarez"=/\=
Juarez looked up from his duty station with a mildly annoyed look. The unfamiliar voice interrupting his work was most certainly not welcome.
=/\=Juarez here, to whom am I speaking?=/\=

An absolutely obnoxiously cheerful voice replied to him.

=/\="Lt Lasad, new operations chief. Pleasure! I apologize for the inconvenience, I know we haven't had a chance for a staff meeting or introductions yet. However I desperately need some minor environmental tweaks made to two of the VIP suites. Lt Moriden will have sent the data along."=/\=
Juarez sat up further in his seat, pulling up the messages from his console. Moriden had indeed sent him a message.
=/\="Uh, yes sir. I've got the information and can make the adjustments without adversely effecting the other rooms or the ship. Give me an hour to calibrate and lock everything back " =/\=

=/\=FAN-tastic, thank you very much Mister Juarez. I promise I'll be by later to make proper introductions! =/\=

That done, Dio took an exceptionally long drink of the coffee. The caffeine pushing away the remaining fog from his earlier (unconscious, cargo container) adventures. With a dramatic turn and wave of his arm, he walked into the suite "I intensely dislike the use of Mister for everything, but until I find out my standing, we'll stick to protocol. So my most excellent Misters Finnley and Pierce, we have an hour to make two suites look fit and personal for ambassadors so Security can sweep the place. Lets make it work!"

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine - The Garden 0853
Far from a British garden and yet she could not help but think of home being around the green glow of light filtering through leaves, tied stems, mixes of dangerous and lovely. She leaned inward, hands in pockets, just as a gentleman bald with eyes as green as his plants came around.

"Good morning, mad-uhhh, mis-..um, ma'am... how may I be of assistance?"

She gave a smile so warm and broad laugh lines deepened and a dimple or two showed. With that genteel British way, she didn't point out the stuttering. "Good morn! I believe you may be who I'm searching for. I'm Louise Moore, the new doctor on staff."

"Ah, it's wonderful to meet you. I'm Horatio. What brings you to my lovely slice of paradise?" He waved an arm about to encompass the lab.

She came up to offer a hand in greeting, taking his with a firm grip if offered back. "I must say, if I had a garden to while away, I certainly would, though with a pot of tea and a medical journal. Ah, yes, Horatio," she let the name roll about heavily with an accent, "I hope you don't mind a little chat? Unless you are terribly busy?" What a nice name that. Horatio.
((OOC responses and the like))

"Seems the ship has been busy as well, with a strange pod brought on board and an energy pulse recorded, diplomats on the way, and if recent records are right, a slight bump to the head?" She tilted her chin, giving him a sideways look as if expecting a bit of information on how he was feeling.

"My hope, dear Horatio, is to share data, help with investigations between our offices, and to get to know each other."

Stardate 2365.02.08
Starbase 118, Corridor - 0840

As Drake and Zai made their way back to the Peregrine, Silas couldn't help but feel a slight bounce in his step. On the one hand, the mission had just gotten tremendously more complicated; the Peregrine staff was now expected to babysit (and oversee) two ambassadors without really having the space or personnel to do so. And, of course, there was the nontrivial factor that Drake would trust neither of them literally any further than he could throw them. At best, this was some power play for the negotiations; at worst, one (or both) ambassadors were spies intent on twisting the situation to their advantage. In fact, Drake mused, I'd almost be surprised if they *weren't* spies.

Still, Silas would be lying if he didn't admit that he had enjoyed seeing the insufferable Jacobs put in his place, even if only on minor issues. May as well take that petty pleasure where I can get it, he thought.

As they walked, Tochi cast a sideline glance and spoke up. "We're pretty sure we've figured out where the animosity between Jacobs and yourself comes from, sir, and, if it makes you feel any better, I thought about dropping him on his pompous ass, myself, in the first minutes we met the man."

Silas flashed a rueful grin, and once more counted his lucky stars for Tochi as his XO. The Trill was a true friend, the sort you would hope to have at your back in any situation - whether that was on an AWAY mission, in an alley behind a seedy off-planet bar, or in a stuffy negotiation session with irritating ambassadors.

"Tochi," he replied, "the man is every bit the pompous ass and then some. You've seen how he can be in the sum total of an hour's worth of exposure to him; I've had the 'pleasure' of spending three and a half years serving under him. And yet..." Silas frowned as they walked, "if I told you the whole story, you might well think less of me. It's not that I haven't fantasized many a day about wiping that smug look off of his ridiculous face, but it didn't go down quite like that. If I had simply snapped and punched him... well, almost anyone with a pulse could at least understand it, even if they didn't agree. But I lost control, and it was far worse than that." The Captain's gaze went unfocused. "It's a tale for another time," he added simply.

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

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine, Bridge - 0850

Silas had barely retaken his chair from Lieutenant Moriden when Petty Officer Vish materialized in front of him, PADD in hand. "Good morning, Riva," he spoke by way of greeting. "What do you have for me now?"

The Bajoran yeoman smirked in response. "For starters, sir, some formalities for you to sign off on related to the ambassadors that we have apparently poached. You also need to sign off on the transfer of the Hekaran pod to the USS Serapis, who arrived while you were away. Oh..." she paused, mischief in her eyes twinkling brighter than the traditional earring she wore in her right ear, "your Operations chief also deigned to show up while you were away."

Drake frowned at the disrespect for the rank, but did not mention it. "Lieutenant Tetsuku? Good, I'll need to meet..."

"Not Lieutenant Tetsuku," Vish interrupted. "Lieutenant Lasad."

The Captain's frown deepened. "Lieutenant Lasad? But I thought that..."

"Apparently, there was some sort of mix up on the transfer orders," she interjected. "Lieutenant Lasad's dossier - or what Starfleet bothered to send of it - is there on the PADD. Yes, there are major holes. If I didn't know better, I would wonder if someone wasn't pulling you around, sir."

Silas sighed. He considered scolding his yeoman for reading the Ops Chief's file; he had little doubt that she had likely used his security codes to access details not publicly available... but then again, Riva frequently did so to help him do his job more efficiently. After all, having someone trustworthy to act as a filter for the mountains of paperwork associated with running a starship meant that the Captain could dedicate his time to more than reading transcriptions of requisition forms... which resulted in a net positive of a more efficient ship. As such, Drake decided that, this time around, discretion was the better part of valor - though he made a mental note to remind Riva that certain items should be off limits (or, at least, off limits to public discussions).

"Jerking me around, Riva." Silas instead corrected. "The expression is 'jerking me around'. And yes... the thought has crossed my mind, as well."

Drake glanced over the conspicuously barren dossier, then signed off on the requested forms before returning the PADD to Vish. "Riva," he spoke, "we've had far too much turnover far too quickly. I know that it's unusual for me to do so on back to back days, but I feel like we need another staff meeting to be sure that everyone is one the same page. Please notify the department heads that we're having a staff meeting at eleven hundred hours. The ambassadors will be here by twelve hundred or so, and we're scheduled to leave at thirteen hundred; we'll call it a working lunch, as I doubt many of us get an actual lunch break today."

Vish accepted the PADD from the Captain and nodded with a more serious expression. "Aye, sir. I'll let them know."

"Thank you, Riva," Silas answered. With a grin, she was gone.

Stardate 2365.02.08
USS Peregrine - The Garden 0853
The beautiful intruder smiled warmly. "Good morn! I believe you may be who I'm searching for. I'm Louise Moore, the new doctor on staff."

"Ah, it's wonderful to meet you. I'm Horatio. What brings you to my lovely slice of paradise?" He waved an arm about to encompass the lab.

The lady before him walked up to him and extended her hand, which he took and shook with pleasure. "I must say, if I had a garden to while away, I certainly would, though with a pot of tea and a medical journal. Ah, yes, Horatio," she let the name roll about heavily with an accent, "I hope you don't mind a little chat? Unless you are terribly busy?" Hearing that voice say my name is just...well it's lovely. I wonder what my voice sounds like to her? What her own voice sounds like to her?
Momentarily distracted by the inner questioning, he landed squarely back in the conversation to respond. "Not at all, Doctor. I'm preparing to meet with Chief Thorson about a new project."

She continued, "Seems the ship has been busy as well, with a strange pod brought on board and an energy pulse recorded, diplomats on the way, and if recent records are right, a slight bump to the head?" Her head tilted in a curious manner. She is checking on me. What a clever method of doing so.
"Ah, yes. Yesterday, I was over in this corner," He pointed to the offending corner with the low hanging cabinet that he still hadn't taken care of, "when I discovered that datura stramonium actually exhibits a higher form of coriaceousness than those in the genus, which I'm hoping to leverage into cross breeding of new species in order to possibly, with hope, one day leverage a new species, capable of sustaining a photosynthetic cycle in a lower oxygen-" Horatio caught himself rambling, "...Ah, apologies, I got distracted. As I was saying, in my jubilation, I jumped, literally and figuratively, for joy and collided with the cabinet. I feel significantly better today, after a good night's sleep."

(OOC: Allowing for response, if desired)

"My hope, dear Horatio, is to share data, help with investigations between our offices, and to get to know each other."

"Of course, Doctor Moore," Horatio enjoyed saying her name. And staring into those eyes...Get a hold of yourself, man. "my facilities, data, and crew are available as needed to you and your team. I believe science and medical should be on the best of terms. Speaking of, there was something the Captain wanted me to discuss with you."

(OOC: reaction)

"Well, as I mentioned earlier, I'm preparing for a new project. As it happens, I've been given permission to grow aconitum lycoctonum..." he tried reading her expression out of curiosity. "Wolfsbane. Given the sheer danger of such a beast, I was asked to speak with you about potential protocols to avoid mishaps and, should the incident occur, solutions to problems. I can prepare solutions for accidental physical contact with the specimen, but I struggle with ways to cure the effects of the neurotoxin on the body, and given the profundity of the symptoms, I believe it's critical to my research that we agree on something together."

(OOC: Your turn. I can edit my final paragraph if Doctor Moore reacts differently, as needed.)

Stardate 2365.02.08
Starbase 118; Corridor - 0840
"Tochi," Drake said in reply to Tochi's observation about Jacobs, "the man is every bit the pompous ass and then some. You've seen how he can be in the sum total of an hour's worth of exposure to him; I've had the 'pleasure' of spending three and a half years serving under him. And yet..." Silas frowned as they walked, "if I told you the whole story, you might well think less of me. It's not that I haven't fantasized many a day about wiping that smug look off of his ridiculous face, but it didn't go down quite like that. If I had simply snapped and punched him... well, almost anyone with a pulse could at least understand it, even if they didn't agree. But I lost control, and it was far worse than that." The Captain's gaze went unfocused. "It's a tale for another time," he added simply.

The Trill offered a nod and an understanding smile. "Another time it is, Captain," he said, "it's not as if we'll have a lot of time to sit over a cup of coffee, today, anyway, is it? I have a feeling that Threel and D'Lar will be impinging on quite a bit of free time over the course of the next several days, for that matter, and, likely, we'll have Jacobs hovering over our shoulders, as well."

They had reached the doors to the transporter room by this point and discretion dictated that this particular path of conversation come to an end. Before the transporter room door whisked away ahead of them, though, Tochi paused, clapped Silas on the shoulder and offered up this last; "It would take a lot more than a single tale of ‘'fire-in-the-belly" youth for us to think less of you, Silas. We've been there more than once, ourselves."

That said, the Trill offered his CO a wink and a grin, and then proceeded into the transporter room. "Two to beam over to the Peregrine," he told the technician manning the controls,

USS Peregrine; Deck 2 - 0850
As Vaela was on post at CONN, and given the fact that the Peregrine wouldn't even be leaving the dock until 1300, Tochi had decided that taking a few moments to change out of his dress uniform and into his "standard duties," wouldn't throw much of a spanner into today's works. The unexpected taking on of the ambassadors and the mass staff change had done that suitably well enough. As he clipped along toward his quarters, it occurred to him that he hadn't heard much from Eric since that incident with his glitchy arm, yesterday, If there was something truly off kilter, he'd have let us know, Tochi told himself, All the same, though,
He tapped his commbadge as the door to his quarters whisked away ahead of him; "Lt Zai to Commander Thorson."

=/\=Thorson here,=/\= came the response, =/\= Good morning.=/\=

"Good morning, my friend," Tochi said following Eric's acknowledgement, "Just wanted to touch base with you on a couple of things. First and foremost; how are things with your cybernetics? We never did hear back from you, yesterday, after you disappeared from the Obs Lounge,"

=/\= Every single test I've run says everything is normal,=/\= the Engineering Chief said, =/\= But I still have to find out why that happened. I think I'll be meeting with the new CMO later. Maybe she can help shed some light on it.=/\=

"Good to hear," Zai nodded, hanging his dress tunic in the closet before slipping into the standard duty jacket, "that was just a bit on the scary side. Keep us posted if things change, though, hm?"

=/\= Will do. We need to make another attempt, see if we can get the mead inside this time,=/\= Eric chuckled.

"Alright," the Trill snickered, affixing his commbadge to his jacket, now, "Second order of business; Captain Drake and I met with the command staff of the Coronado and the Rytain and Kuldar ambassadors, this morning. As it turns out, the ambassadors are locked in a ‘who's is bigger' contest and, given that Peregrine is the ‘superior vessel,' both have decided that taking a berth with us is preferable to the space and amenities provided on Captain Jacobs' ship," There was something of a seriously bemused chuckle, here, before Tochi continued, ", Jacobs was less than happy about that but, we think, that's because he's playing the same measuring contest as the ambassadors, Anyway, my friend, be prepared for a ping from Ops in regards to any environmental or configuration changes to the quarters they'll be assigned. It looks like this may be anything but the milk run that Captain Drake was expecting."

=/\= We're on it, Tochi. Looks like we're popular today, so I'll be calling in extra help. And I completely agree with your caution, my friend, =/\= Thorson went on, =/\= Lessons I learned the hard way under Picard. Which is why I would love to have a conversation later, about why they rotated half the damned ship out, literally while I slept.

This doesn't feel right, Tochi. They didn't touch Engineering, so I know good people are still in place here, but I don't like going into an unknown tactical situation with half the crew manning brand-new posts. I'm sure they're good people, but they're not our people yet, and they don't know this ship yet. I'm swamped for who knows how long, but when we get some time I would very much like to find out what the hell is going on here. And if you can let the Captain know I'd like a moment when he has time, I'd appreciate it. =/\=

"Agreed," Tochi answered, stepping back into the corridor and making for the bridge, "I'm sure the Captain is going to call a staff meeting in advance of the ambassadors' arrival. Some of your concerns will certainly be addressed there. As to the rest, wellll, that's a discussion best taken offline. We'll make arrangements."

=/\= You watch your spotted backside, my friend.=/\=

"We always do, Eric," Tochi grinned, "Talk to you soon. Zai out."

((OOC: Just a little something fluffy, providing the convo between Thorson and Zai mentioned in Duncan's last post. All responses from Thorson provided by Duncan, himself, I din't be hijackin' NUFFIN!!!

Anyway, Tochi's en route to the bridge, if anyone needs to bump into him or whatnot, feel free. ))