You're putting me in charge?
Posted on Thu Apr 10th, 2014 @ 6:20am by Captain Jey Cleh & Commander Eliana Masters
Mission:
New Frontier
Location: Shuttle USS Grandier/Starbase 80 Shuttle Dock
En route to Starbase 80, the USS Grandier's sole occupant, Lizzy Cleh sat with her feet propped up on the console, and her eyes closed, lightly snoozing. She had been traveling for a few days at warp six.
Bored out of her mind, Lizzy had spent most of the trip reading up as much as she could about her sister's career, and hacking into her files. Knowing Jeh the way she did, getting into her personal files was easy, but her Starfleet files were a bit more difficult. Lucky for her, Jeh had listed her Starfleet command codes in one of her personal files, just in case she forgot them.
Unknown to Lizzy, the shuttle had dropped out of warp, nearing it's destination. Her light snoring was interrupted by the COMM system coming to life.
=A= Unidentified shuttle craft, this is Starbase 80. We have you on approach. Please identify yourself.=A=
Lizzy sat up, moving her feet off the console. Looking out the view window, she saw the station. A good part of it seemed to have no power, as the lights were off. She hit the COMM button, hoping she could pass well enough for her sister in her reply.
=A= Starbase 80, this is Captain Jeh Cleh on the USS Grandier. Mind if I find a parking spot?=A=
There was a moment of silence, before a reply came back. =A= USS Grandier, you are cleared to dock in Shuttle bay 2. Someone will be there to greet you.=A=
=A= Acknowledged. Grandier out. =A=
Lizzy sighed heavily. She was still highly aggravated at the fact she was forced to take her sister's place, and seriously wondered how she was going to manage to do any work on the medical systems... Knowing her, she'd just break something worse. "Computer, initiate automatic docking procedures for shuttle bay 2."
"Acknowledged. Beginning docking procedures." Came the monotonous reply.
The shuttle pulled into the doors, and landed softly on the bay's landing pad. Lizzy grabbed up her sister's duffel bag, and the personal medical kit that she'd brought from her estate... Something she never left home without. She took a deep breath before opening the hatch, and stepping out.
The bay was fairly large, with several other shuttles, and fighters scattered about. Some were being worked on, while others sat quietly in their places. Part of her was in awe of what she saw. If this was the shuttle bay, she wondered how the rest of the station would look. As she looked around, she didn't fail to notice the woman that was approaching her from the far side of the bay.
Despite her split background in both Operations and Flight, something within Eliana preferred spending her time around things that flew, no matter where that place might be. Perhaps it had something to do with the comfort of her flight suit, a well known commodity amongst pilots when compared to the standard issue uniform.
Masters had been serving as the ranking officer aboard the ship. She had not been expecting to have to take the role because as far as she knew, she was only serving the starbase by overseeing its flight operations. Much to her surprise, her rank made her eligible to be ranking officer and her tenure had sealed the deal.
This, however, would all be changing within moments.
"Captain on deck!"
People everywhere snapped to attention, regardless of what they were doing.
Lizzy jumped slightly at the sudden outburst. Looking around to see everyone within sight standing at attention, it was hard to believe it was because of her.
"Wow..." As the word slipped from her mouth, anyone watching her, might think it was because of the sheer size of the shuttle bay. She quickly gathered her composure, and cleared her throat. "Don't mind me. Go back to what you were doing." she finally said.
Over the last few days, part of her reading had included some basic information on how Starfleet operated, what the ranks meant, and how officers might react.
While everyone else went back to what they were doing, the woman in front of her was still standing at attention. Blonde hair, and blue eyes looked at her with a bit of expectancy. Looking at the rank insignia, Lizzy could tell this particular woman was a Commander, which was one rank below her. She racked her brain for a moment, looking for the right words to say, before she finally remembered.
"At ease, Commander." She ordered, hoping she'd given the right order. "Who are you?"
"Commander Eliana Masters ma'am," Ellie replied, her posture relaxing. "I stand to be relieved as ranking officer."
"Relieved, Commander?" Lizzy seemed a bit surprised, and suddenly uncomfortable, as she realized exactly what Commander Masters meant. "Wait, you're putting me in charge?"
"Yes ma'am I am. Per Starfleet regulations," Masters almost continued on, but the presence of three or more pips generally meant at least a basic understanding of the rules, and Captain Cleh certainly qualified under that definition. Still, the question that she had asked threw Ellie for a bit of a loop. Masters thought a moment further before realizing that perhaps the long journey was to blame for the captain's disorientation. Even pilots complained of spending long hours in shuttlecraft and they had the best view by far.
"I'm sorry ma'am," Eliana's changed her tone of voice, dropping the official tone and picking up a friendlier one. "I should have sought your intentions before ambushing you like that. Welcome to Starbase 80."
Lizzy sighed heavily, resigning herself to her situation. "I guess I can't argue with the rules." She said as she gestured for Eliana to walk with her. She assumed this would pass for taking command, as she didn't have all the details of such things. "Give me a station report. Why is half the station without power?"
"Officially, the damage to the station has been reported as caused by the Kzinti before they relinquished control of the base during the conflict. Repair efforts are underway, but teams have been understaffed and overworked so progress has been slow," Masters explained as they walked away from the shuttle. "Today has been the first day in a massive influx of equipment and personnel. I expect things to pick up considerably."
"Sounds promising so far." Lizzy said somewhat absently. As they passed by one of the maintenance workers, she tapped him on the shoulder. The man immediately turned to look at her. "Do me a favor, and put a hold on my shuttle, so no one else uses it. It's not one that belongs to Starfleet."
"Yes, sir." He said, then moved off to follow her orders.
'That was easy' Lizzy thought to herself, before turning back to look at Eliana, a thought occurring to her at that moment. "If I'm relieving you of command, that means that I'm the highest ranking officer on the station." She explained more to herself, than to Eliana. "Where's the Commanding Officer?"
"Yes ma'am, it does," Masters nodded. "The commanding officer is listed on the manifest as a Commodore Kathleen O'Shea. I had to look it up, but she, along with many other key personnel are due to arrive within the end of the week. Until such a time, you will be the ranking officer aboard the station. I only had the job due to tenure. There are several full commanders aboard."
This was getting more and more interesting for Lizzy by the moment. The two started walking again. "Since I'm relieving you, I'll need a first Officer. The job is yours, if you want it, Commander." Lizzy explained. As the two walked out the door, and into the corridor, Lizzy stopped, and sighed, looking a bit lost. "I have no clue where my quarters are."
"I'd be happy to take on the position for now," Eliana nodded as they continued on. "As far as I know, the final manifest has yet to be set, but I'm happy to step in wherever I can along with my duties in flight. As for your quarters ma'am, I can help you find them."
Together, the two women approached a computer terminal embedded into the shuttlebay wall. The list of arrivals and departures disappeared as the computer system on the starbase correctly identified both Masters and Cleh as its current users. Access to other subsystems not directly related to flight were opened to them, and it did not take long to track down a list of room assignments.
"Ah, there we are, deck nineteen," Ellie pointed out. "I am unsure of the condition of your quarters. Portions of the deck are under repair and refurbishment, but others are ready for move in."
"Guess I'll find out soon enough." Lizzy said, noting the route she had to take to get there. "Worse comes to worse, I'll take up residence in guest quarters.... Computer, note at the current date and time that I, Captain Jey Cleh am assuming command of Starbase 80, until the Commanding Officer arrives."
"Command transfer requires authorization." Came the monotonous reply.
"Authorization Cleh 46, tango, tango." Lizzy said.
"Code accepted. Command transfer successful."
"Is there anything else I need to know, before I head off to find my quarters?" Lizzy asked, turning to Eliana.
"No ma'am, it's all in the briefing. Welcome aboard. If you need me for anything, I'm operating out of one of the conference rooms on deck fourteen until we get flight country sorted out." Masters stopped in front of a turbolift door and called for it. "Until I'm needed elsewhere, I'll be waiting for the CAG to show from 220th. Right now, there's sort of an overlap between facilities and personnel that needs to be sorted."
"I'm sure it can be sorted. Just let me know if you need anything." She told him. She hated having to take this job, but if she was going to take on her sister's position, she had to make it work as best as she could. At that point, the lift arrived, and they both stepped in. "Deck 19."
The turbolift whirred to life as it whisked them away from the hustle and bustle of the hangar floor to the relative quiet of the administrative section on the starbase. The sound of engines spooling down was replaced with the barely noticeable hum of the environmental system doing its best to keep everyone in climate controlled comfort. Eliana made no move to step out of the lift.
"If there's nothing else Captain, I'll be making my way to fighter country."
"I'll be fine, Commander." Lizzy said as she stepped off the lift, and started walking away, not bothering to look back as she waved haphazardly. "Go do what you need to do."
"Yes ma'am," Masters replied just as the doors slid shut. Silently, she chastised herself for appearing to be in a rush. After all, a person only ever got one shot at the first impression. Ellie took a deep breath, filed away another name and face into her memory, and kept going.
Captain Jey Cleh (Lizzy Cleh)
Executive Officer
Medical Systems Specialist
Starbase 80
and
Commander Eliana Masters
Director of Flight Operations
Second Officer
