Getting Acquainted

Posted on Tue Feb 21st, 2023 @ 10:50am by Lieutenant Commander John Stryker II & Commander Lucy Heartfilia & Lieutenant Thraxina

901 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 2: Rendezvous At Starbase 10
Location: Bridge
Tags: Lucy and Big John

Lieutenant Commander John Striker walked the main passageway to the turbo lift and then up to the bridge, one that would be much larger than ‘Old Ben’s,’ an affection term for the USS Franklin, because she was old.

The door of the lift to the bridge hissed open, and although it was relatively early, there were people about, one of them was Lieutenant JG Thraxina, yet he stood a long moment and surveyed his surroundings. It was magnificent! The view screen was huge compared to the one he was used to, and the stations, not shoulder-to-shoulder. And his station, opposite Thraxinas, was going to be a dream!

He stepped into the bridge and looked at the Captain’s command chair, Fleet Captain Manolis Chiotis would like one of those, and a bridge like this. Chiotis could have had one, he was a Fleet Captain after all, but he liked the old ships and so, the Franklin was his lot.

“Mornin’ Lieutenant.” He called to Thraxina as he walked toward her. “Quite the event last night.” He noted the Executive Officer was present and seemingly involved in what she was doing. “I guess it’s Get Acquainted Day on the bridge of the Midway. Any suggestions?”

"Good morning, Commander" Thraxina smiled tightly, keeping to her 'duty first' persona on the bridge, as per usual. There were two people there she wanted to impress, especially with the newly thickened full Lieutenant's braid upon her sleeve for the first time. One was Stryker himself, of course, the other was Lucy Heartfilia, six years her senior, whose extra line of dotted braid she already envied.

"You'll be wanting to try the navigator's station for size..." she said "... but first, have you met our First Officer, Commander Heartfilia?" she asked, gesturing toward an attractive blonde woman in a teal uniform at the Science station.

"No I have not, I did, however, respond to her command last evening, and quite appropriate I believe," John replied looking over at the Executive Officer and then back to the Helmswoman. "Yes indeed, quite a treat after the 'Old Ben,' plenty of room on this bridge."

He stepped over to his station reacquainting himself with the station, not that it was much different than any other Nav Station. Just bigger, with more room. "Well, we're in hailing distance." He remarked with a grin.

Lucy turned around from the science station. She had heard the new navigator enter the bridge, but had wanted to finish her report first. She loaded it onto a data card and then removed it from the slot. "Ah, Lieutenant Commander Stryker I presume?" she asked as she made her way towards the navigation console.

"Yes Ma'am, I am." He admitted. "A pleasure to meet you Commander, and I am pleased to be aboard. Thought I'd have a have at the job site." He smiled. This was quite the room.

"I see. Well, welcome aboard the Midway. First time on a Constitution Class I gather, you seem a little in awe." Lucy replied with a slight smirk.

"I am, I'll admit that. Much bigger than the last ship I was on, bigger, more room. Our bridge was just about shoulder to shoulder, so this, this is well, right next to heaven." Stryker said. "Ol Ben's a Freedom Class battle wagon and a whole lot smaller than the Midway here."

For one so young, Thraxina was very old school in her ideas of naval etiquette, possibly because discipline was a little more fierce in the Ardanan service, where the Stratos Citizen officer corps were more like slave overseers to their Troglodyte other ranks than the more 'first amongst equals' officers in Star Fleet.

Therefore she would never think of joining in a conversation between two of her senior officers, unless invited to. She busied herself at her station, checking over a Phaser Array relay that she thought was responding a little more sluggishly than it ought.

Apart from the malfunctioning candy colored button on her helm control panel, however, there was something else bothering her. Much as she liked and admired Commander Heartfilia, (after all, it was she who had put her up for promotion!) she couldn't help feeling... and this was something she hadn't expected in a million years... slightly jealous at how well she was getting on with Commander Stryker.

Oh, it was ridiculous! They were all here to get on with a professional job, to do their best for the ship, and the Captain and the crew. She pulled herself together. it was GOOD that the heads of two of the most important departments on the ship, Navigation and Science were getting on so well. Wasn't it!

"And, the Lieutenant here was a wealth of information on the flight over. Thought I'd say it would be difficult to explain the size of the Midway to someone from the Franklin. But she did a great job." Stryker said in praise of the Lieutenant. "Ah, am I supposed to report to medical for anything, like a physical or something? I'm not clear on that at all." It just seemed like that might be something he needed to have done.

Thraxina couldn't help but hear these compliments from the handsome and experienced Stryker, though she pretended not to, and her cheeks reddened ever so slightly as she twiddled with her hi-tech knobs, switches and buttons.

 

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