S12 - M10: Humility's Right Hand

[Ariste Stark]

[Turbolift]

Aristotle stood in the Turbolift, fidgeting over and over again with her uniform. It felt like a foreign object. After being off her feet so long, the material of the jumpsuit made her skin crawl. She had no doubt she would grow used to it in time, but her anxiety wasn't helping her.

She hadn't been on a starship since the incident, especially not one of this class. She was nervous, what they would think of her - of her.. condition. She knew it wouldn't be an issue, she'd proved it hadn't effected her working speed, and Starfleet wasn't partial, but it still worried her. It felt like a burden, having to wear one. It made her feel like.. like the Borg.

No, she couldn't think like that. At least, not on duty. Off duty she could think all she wanted, and drown said thoughts with some whisky and bourbon. But now, she had some system checks to do, so she had to find the commander.

[Bridge]

Taking a deep breath as the Turbolift doors opened, she stepped out, eyes quickly scanning everything. She'd grown somewhat accustomed to the amount of information her eyes took in now, but it still could shock her sometimes.
Turned towards what she identified as Tekin, she gave him a smile.

"Captain? This is Lieutenant JG Stark reporting in. I've been asked to conduct the system scans on the bridge, with your permission." She spoke formally, something she'd never done usually. Standing to attention, she waited for his response, as someone caught her attention from the other side of the room. Ardyn? Nah, it couldn't be.

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]
Ardy noted Jeb's wanderlust. He was taken aback a little, as he didn't realize how obvious it was, but didn't mind all too terribly.
Obviously, her assessment was accurate. He was absolutely captivated by exploring deep space.
"I've only been up here for about a month. It's all so new. I've actually never left the North American continent of earth before."
It seemed to Jeb like a friendship between himself and Ardy was sprouting, and he didn't want to let that slip (all his childhood friends were still in the Amish community in Wayne County, Ohio, while his Starfleet friends were all over the galaxy). The way to lose it would be to ramble on about himself, so he didn't. As his brain dwelled a little on the past, he asked about Ardy's.
"So, where in the galaxy are you from? The sol system, or one of the colonies?"

[Bridge]
Ardy inputted in another setting on her console when Jeb's question seemed to come slightly unexpectedly. After a moment of thought, she shrugged; "I was born in the New Dallas colony, but we moved around a lot, so I can't really say I'm from anywhere in particular. I've spent more time in a starship than on land, that's for certain. What about you, Jebby?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar voice reporting into the captain. Oh, the captain! Ardy realized as she quickly straightened up to appear like she wasn't totally slacking, not that he would care much, but still. Swiveling her chair around, she almost couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Ariste come in.
Grinning, she came up to the woman, "Ariste! Long time no see!"

[Jebediah Schrock]

[Bridge]
Ardy inputted in another setting on her console when Jeb's question seemed to come slightly unexpectedly. After a moment of thought, she shrugged; "I was born in the New Dallas colony, but we moved around a lot, so I can't really say I'm from anywhere in particular. I've spent more time in a starship than on land, that's for certain. What about you, Jebby?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar voice reporting into the captain. Oh, the captain! Ardy realized as she quickly straightened up to appear like she wasn't totally slacking, not that he would care much, but still. Swiveling her chair around, she almost couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Ariste come in.
Grinning, she came up to the woman, "Ariste! Long time no see!"

[Bridge]
Just as Jeb was about to reply to Ardy (whose background was clearly fascinatingly different than his own), he saw Tekin with a new pin on his collar. He had heard rumors that Captain Jones was taking a posting as a Department Head, and this seemed to confirm that her replacement was newly-minted Captain Tekin Nevir.
Adding two and two thus, Jeb stood up and announced "Captain on the bridge!"
Then, Jeb sat down by the ops console, looked back towards the Captain, and waited eagerly for his next set of orders. He hoped they were finally going to go back out there, to the excitement of outer space.

[Alexander Wu]

"Oh. You can count on me that," he replied. The pilot would want to pat Wu on the shoulder.  "I don't want to be rude. But, that Ensign over there looks aweful familiar. Hey, Tex!" The flight officer shouted to the youngster. Elias was indeed being called upon.

[Starbase Columbus: Promenade]

Alex refrained from grimacing when Addams yelled nearly right into his ear. Turning to see who the pilot was referring to, he nodded towards the yellow collared officer. "Ensign, my friend here appears to know you. Why don't you join us before I lose hearing in my ear?"

[guest1523]

Alex refrained from grimacing when Addams yelled nearly right into his ear. Turning to see who the pilot was referring to, he nodded towards the yellow collared officer. "Ensign, my friend here appears to know you. Why don't you join us before I lose hearing in my ear?"

[Starbase Columbus: Promenade]

Confused but also a little flattered, Elias joined the two others on the promenade.

"Thank you, Sir. I'm Elias von Marheim and supposed to transfer the Discovery's crew.", Elias told them, happy to have found somebody to talk to. He assumed a more respectful but businesslike posture, he hoped would be appropriate for this more informal meeting.

"And I'm very sorry, Sir,", he replied to Mr. Addams with a polite smile "if we know each other, I must have forgotten. Did you call me "Tex"? Maybe you mistook me for somebody else?"

Elias could not think of an occasion where he might have seen the other guy. Maybe at the academy? He had a whole bunch of memories of that time, that were blurry at best. The bay-area night. Most cadets agreed, that California was one good place to have the Star Fleet Academy at. He'd probably met great many people he'd never remember. Maybe the man opposite was one of them. The Lieutenant Commander on the other hand was familiar to Elias. His orders had contained a list of the chiefs and officers and he was more than happy getting to know the chief flight officer of the Discovery.

[Don Damien Addams]

[Starbase Columbus: Promenade]

Confused but also a little flattered, Elias joined the two others on the promenade.

"Thank you, Sir. I'm Elias von Marheim and supposed to transfer the Discovery's crew.", Elias told them, happy to have found somebody to talk to. He assumed a more respectful but businesslike posture, he hoped would be appropriate for this more informal meeting.

"And I'm very sorry, Sir,", he replied to Mr. Addams with a polite smile "if we know each other, I must have forgotten. Did you call me "Tex"? Maybe you mistook me for somebody else?"

Elias could not think of an occasion where he might have seen the other guy. Maybe at the academy? He had a whole bunch of memories of that time, that were blurry at best. The bay-area night. Most cadets agreed, that California was one good place to have the Star Fleet Academy at. He'd probably met great many people he'd never remember. Maybe the man opposite was one of them. The Lieutenant Commander on the other hand was familiar to Elias. His orders had contained a list of the chiefs and officers and he was more than happy getting to know the chief flight officer of the Discovery.

[Starbase Columbus - Promenade]

Jokingly the non-Starfleet man turned to Alex. "I can do louder," he grinned.

The Ensign was indeed not Tex. "An Admiral's monkey your not, Tex." He smacked his right pawn to his face. Then removed it. "You seemed look like him, but the ridge on the forehead are not there. Well. Please take my apologies," he held his hand to shake the other.

"Well fresh from the academy. I can smell the fresh press uniform. Hey, why don't I buy you two drinks. On me,"  he piped up.

[Tekin Nevir]

[Bridge]
Just as Jeb was about to reply to Ardy (whose background was clearly fascinatingly different than his own), he saw Tekin with a new pin on his collar. He had heard rumors that Captain Jones was taking a posting as a Department Head, and this seemed to confirm that her replacement was newly-minted Captain Tekin Nevir.
Adding two and two thus, Jeb stood up and announced "Captain on the bridge!"
Then, Jeb sat down by the ops console, looked back towards the Captain, and waited eagerly for his next set of orders. He hoped they were finally going to go back out there, to the excitement of outer space.

[Bridge]

Well.. that didn't take very long at all, and Nevir couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at how quickly they performed.. going from relaxed to attention.  The Bajoran decided to raise a hand.  "As you were.  I'm surprised you two aren't taking the time to get off this ship." he said, as the doors hissed open.

[Turbolift]

Aristotle stood in the Turbolift, fidgeting over and over again with her uniform. It felt like a foreign object. After being off her feet so long, the material of the jumpsuit made her skin crawl. She had no doubt she would grow used to it in time, but her anxiety wasn't helping her.

She hadn't been on a starship since the incident, especially not one of this class. She was nervous, what they would think of her - of her.. condition. She knew it wouldn't be an issue, she'd proved it hadn't effected her working speed, and Starfleet wasn't partial, but it still worried her. It felt like a burden, having to wear one. It made her feel like.. like the Borg.

No, she couldn't think like that. At least, not on duty. Off duty she could think all she wanted, and drown said thoughts with some whisky and bourbon. But now, she had some system checks to do, so she had to find the commander.

[Bridge]

Taking a deep breath as the Turbolift doors opened, she stepped out, eyes quickly scanning everything. She'd grown somewhat accustomed to the amount of information her eyes took in now, but it still could shock her sometimes.
Turned towards what she identified as Tekin, she gave him a smile.

"Captain? This is Lieutenant JG Stark reporting in. I've been asked to conduct the system scans on the bridge, with your permission." She spoke formally, something she'd never done usually. Standing to attention, she waited for his response, as someone caught her attention from the other side of the room. Ardyn? Nah, it couldn't be.

The Captain gave a smile.  "Welcome aboard Lieutenant.  We are doing some essential computer upgrades, so for now, take the back monitoring station.  Look for any kinda of system or power loss.  If the engineers are doing their magic, there shouldn't be any... I don't want this ship losing power so easily anymore." he said, as Ardyn seemed to make a connection.

[Bridge]
Ardy inputted in another setting on her console when Jeb's question seemed to come slightly unexpectedly. After a moment of thought, she shrugged; "I was born in the New Dallas colony, but we moved around a lot, so I can't really say I'm from anywhere in particular. I've spent more time in a starship than on land, that's for certain. What about you, Jebby?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by a very familiar voice reporting into the captain. Oh, the captain! Ardy realized as she quickly straightened up to appear like she wasn't totally slacking, not that he would care much, but still. Swiveling her chair around, she almost couldn't believe her eyes as she saw Ariste come in.
Grinning, she came up to the woman, "Ariste! Long time no see!"

"You two know each other?  That should make the transition easier. I just came by to take a look.  The station has stated that their refits and upgrades should be completed tomorrow.  We'll be doing a shakedown run.  And Jaeger, I want you at the helm for it.  I'll let you know if anything changes, but just in case, assume that we will be reporting in at 0900." he said, turning and taking a few steps.  He was about to reach the turbo lift when a thought popped in.

"Oh, and Jaeger?  I'm going to need that medical follow-up from Columbus's sickbay before tomorrow, okay? Need that evaluation before we leave.  As you were." he said, looking straight at the flight officer to mentally convey his meaning.  With that, he left to handle some business as he waited for the day to turn.

[Alexander Wu]

[Starbase Columbus: Promenade]

Confused but also a little flattered, Elias joined the two others on the promenade.

"Thank you, Sir. I'm Elias von Marheim and supposed to transfer the Discovery's crew.", Elias told them, happy to have found somebody to talk to. He assumed a more respectful but businesslike posture, he hoped would be appropriate for this more informal meeting.

"And I'm very sorry, Sir,", he replied to Mr. Addams with a polite smile "if we know each other, I must have forgotten. Did you call me "Tex"? Maybe you mistook me for somebody else?"

[Starbase Columbus: Promenade]

"Ah, to join our Security department?" Alex recognized the Ensign's name on a recent roster update. "Well we'll be glad to have you. I'm Lieutenant Commander Alexander Wu, Flight Control and Second Officer. This is Mr.Don Addams."

"Well fresh from the academy. I can smell the fresh press uniform. Hey, why don't I buy you two drinks. On me,"  he piped up.

"I'm afraid I can't, I'm actually on my way to Ops, but I appreciate the offer." Alex offered his hand out to Addams, and then von Marheim. "Mr.Addams, my offer still stands, you know how to get ahold of me if you decide to rejoin our ranks. Ensign, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'll see you onboard."

[Ariste Stark]

[Bridge]

The Captain gave a smile.  "Welcome aboard Lieutenant.  We are doing some essential computer upgrades, so for now, take the back monitoring station.  Look for any kinda of system or power loss.  If the engineers are doing their magic, there shouldn't be any... I don't want this ship losing power so easily anymore." he said, as Ardyn seemed to make a connection.

"You two know each other?  That should make the transition easier. I just came by to take a look.  The station has stated that their refits and upgrades should be completed tomorrow.  We'll be doing a shakedown run.  And Jaeger, I want you at the helm for it.  I'll let you know if anything changes, but just in case, assume that we will be reporting in at 0900." he said, turning and taking a few steps.  He was about to reach the turbo lift when a thought popped in.

[Bridge]

Ariste nodded, standing at ease. "Of course, sir. I'll monitor the progress and notify you as soon as they're completed." She turned to take her position, pausing and looking back at him. "With your permission, I can draw up some suggestions and run them by you, if you still want increase efficiency." She offered with a small smile, before turning to Ardy.

"Ardyn? Long time no see!" She broke into  a grin, echoing the words back to her. "I didn't know you transfered here!" She laughed, her tone wavering as she wondered if Ardy had heard about her... addition, yet, or if it'd be a surprise. "How have you been?" She moved to give her a hug, if she would accept it.

[Louisa Willow]

Observation Deck - Starbase Columbus

It had been a while since Louisa had found herself working on a ship and wearing the uniform of Starfleet. What started as a good transition back to normality turned sour when one of Louisa's close friends back on Earth passed away. She had only been out of a coma for around 5 months and was immediately dragged back down into the dirt, taking all of the hits that life had thrown her way and barely coming out the other side in one piece. She had been struck with grief for the past couple of months, it had been amplified by her inability to control her emotions and if you were to take one look at Louisa not that long ago, it wouldn't be hard to identify her as a basket case. She had been mentally torn to pieces and the challenge that had faced her during that time was bigger than anything she had ever been through before.

Since then, she had dug herself out of the deep hole of emotions that had consumed her and she was back to some normality. Louisa felt much better now, she had finally finished the mourning process and felt ready to come back to work.

Louisa found herself on Starbase Columbus, the administrative centre of tenth fleet which she had been a part of since her return to active duty after finally being declared fit for duty and being placed on the USS Tempest. However, Louisa faced a new challenge this time, including a reassignment to the USS Discovery. This time, she was here to stay and she wanted to prove herself. Not just as capable, but as one of the best nurses you would find on the ship.

Louisa looked out of the observation deck view screen down to the massive ship known as the Discovery which Louisa would be working. She had always been nervous when doing new things and this was no exception. The idea of being reassigned had never come to Louisa's mind, she had thought she was going to get the next stop to the Tempest so when she was told she had been reassigned she wasn't the best person to be around. Looking over to her twin brother who had taken an absence with her, she let out a small sigh. "I can't believe we were reassigned. I was barely used to the Tempest and now we have to go through it all again." Christopher grinned slightly, taking a step closer to her and patting her on the back. "You'll get used to it in no time. Come on, let's go and get ourselves aboard." Louisa simply nodded, bending over and picking up the duffel bag which she had dropped on the floor earlier and making her way for the transporter room.

15 minutes later...

The journey to the transported room had turned out to be an interesting one. The twins had got lost in the wrong areas of the starbase many times before they finally asked someone for directions and were led there by who looked to be an OPS officer who was going that way himself. They transported over to the Discovery after, leaving their bags with a rather capable looking OPS officer who offered to take their bags for them and made their way to the bridge to find the captain.

Bridge

Louisa stepped onto the bridge, quickly looking around the room and identifying the captain then turned to Christopher and gave him a small nudge to the chest. "I think that's him, over there." Louisa said quietly, proceeding forward towards the man who seemed to have finished addressing some officers.

"C- Cap- Captain?" Louisa did her best to check the pips on his collar as she asked, eventually confirming it but making a poor delivery of it. 'Way to make a first impression.' She was shaking, perhaps more than someone who was nervous would normally do. She looked over to Ariste for a moment, realising she was stood at attention. "Should I sta-" Realising she was talking out loud, she went red in the face, moving to attention and doing her best to ignore it. Some things were still blurry to her, especially out of being out of action for what might as well have been a year and a half. Her previous posting had only lasted a few weeks before she was pulled away after hearing the news of her friend. Her fundamentals would need some work.

"I am nurse Louisa Willow, I was told to report in..." She paused for a moment, her face still glowing a warm red of embarrassment. "I apologise, for whatever you would call that mess before." She finished, hoping that by some miracle he would ignore it or for some reason let her off the hook. She could only hope at this point, the display earlier was dreadful.

[Jebediah Schrock]

[Bridge]

Well.. that didn't take very long at all, and Nevir couldn't help but feel a sense of pride at how quickly they performed.. going from relaxed to attention.  The Bajoran decided to raise a hand.  "As you were.  I'm surprised you two aren't taking the time to get off this ship." he said, as the doors hissed open.

[Bridge]
'Was the Captain fraternizing with them?'
Jeb was perplexed. In the Amish community, the hierarchy was clear and rigid. In Starfleet, a military-ish organization, it was supposed to be similar. Yet here Captain Tekin was.
"S-someone had to c-crew the ship." Jeb awkwardly stated the obvious.
He then mentally cursed himself for being so unsteady in his speaking. 'Way to leave a bad impression, Jeb!'

Then, things happened dizzyingly fast. First, an engineer with a visor who seemed to know Ardy from some previous posting came aboard. Then, a nurse came on and introduced herself to the Captain even more awkwardly than he presented himself earlier.
All this action made Jeb feel hungry, but he couldn't grab a bite to eat while on duty. Instead, he decided to distract himself by inquiring of Nevir.
"Sir, if you'll pardon me asking, what is our next mission?"

[Ardyn Jaeger]

[Bridge]

Ariste nodded, standing at ease. "Of course, sir. I'll monitor the progress and notify you as soon as they're completed." She turned to take her position, pausing and looking back at him. "With your permission, I can draw up some suggestions and run them by you, if you still want increase efficiency." She offered with a small smile, before turning to Ardy.

"Ardyn? Long time no see!" She broke into  a grin, echoing the words back to her. "I didn't know you transfered here!" She laughed, her tone wavering as she wondered if Ardy had heard about her... addition, yet, or if it'd be a surprise. "How have you been?" She moved to give her a hug, if she would accept it.

[Bridge]
Ardy came up and hugged Ariste in return, glad to see her old friend again. It was certainly strange to see Ariste in a visor, for certain, but she understood the details of the incident, and chose not to mention it for the time being. That would be a subject for another time and place. Nodding in response to Tekin, she internally groaned as she got the mental intonations of the order. It was like he knew she wasn't going to do it otherwise. For all she knew, he did.  "Got it, Boss." She definitely was not a fan of the routine checkups she had to get because of this baby, but they were a necessary evil, she supposed.
Turning to Ariste she smirked. "I've been alright, could be better, but this morning sickness has kinda knocked me flat. Otherwise, life is good. What about you?

[Ariste Stark]

[Bridge]
Ardy came up and hugged Ariste in return, glad to see her old friend again. It was certainly strange to see Ariste in a visor, for certain, but she understood the details of the incident, and chose not to mention it for the time being. That would be a subject for another time and place. Nodding in response to Tekin, she internally groaned as she got the mental intonations of the order. It was like he knew she wasn't going to do it otherwise. For all she knew, he did.  "Got it, Boss." She definitely was not a fan of the routine checkups she had to get because of this baby, but they were a necessary evil, she supposed.
Turning to Ariste she smirked. "I've been alright, could be better, but this morning sickness has kinda knocked me flat. Otherwise, life is good. What about you?

[Bridge]

"I'm good! I mean, as good as can be I suppose. The time off was good, I started working on my father's old project, to build an android, and..." Her eager chattering died off as what Ardyn had said sunk in slowly. "Wait..."

She tried to make sense of it. Morning sickness? That couldn't mean anything else could it? Ardy didn't drink, so she wouldn't be hungover...

"Ardy, are you pregnant?" Subtlety wasn't her strong suit, as she blurted out her realization. If her eyes were visible under her VISOR, they would be as wide as saucers, and then some. She'd never taken Ardy for the motherly type. Or the tied-down type either. Crooking a brow, she forced herself to stop jumping to conclusions, waiting for her to answer. Hopefully she actually was pregnant, and Ariste hadn't just insulted her to her face..

[Tekin Nevir]

Bridge

Louisa stepped onto the bridge, quickly looking around the room and identifying the captain then turned to Christopher and gave him a small nudge to the chest. "I think that's him, over there." Louisa said quietly, proceeding forward towards the man who seemed to have finished addressing some officers.

"C- Cap- Captain?" Louisa did her best to check the pips on his collar as she asked, eventually confirming it but making a poor delivery of it. 'Way to make a first impression.' She was shaking, perhaps more than someone who was nervous would normally do. She looked over to Ariste for a moment, realising she was stood at attention. "Should I sta-" Realising she was talking out loud, she went red in the face, moving to attention and doing her best to ignore it. Some things were still blurry to her, especially out of being out of action for what might as well have been a year and a half. Her previous posting had only lasted a few weeks before she was pulled away after hearing the news of her friend. Her fundamentals would need some work.

"I am nurse Louisa Willow, I was told to report in..." She paused for a moment, her face still glowing a warm red of embarrassment. "I apologise, for whatever you would call that mess before." She finished, hoping that by some miracle he would ignore it or for some reason let her off the hook. She could only hope at this point, the display earlier was dreadful.

[Bridge]

Before the younger-looking Captain could depart, some more new faces decided to show up on the ship. This was certainly a new person... he could almost swear he could see her pagh with the nervousness she was showing.  A quick glance to her collar and he raised a flat palm to her.

"Relax, crewman.  We haven't even left dock.  I am Com- Captain Tekin Nevir.  Sickbay is currently being restocked and updated, so currently you are not on duty.  We have leave until tomorrow at 0900, so you can either go down and get familiar with Sickbay, or check your transfer order for your quarters.  Your superior officer will be Doctor Jones.  Now, like I said, relax.  You don't need to impress anyone." he said, about to take another step when his earlier question was answered by Jeb.. followed with another question.

"Our next mission?  That is a good question.  Our current directive is to push into the unknown... for us that would be the Delta Quadrant.  Voyager's charts show only a beeline from where they started to coming back here, and even that beeline is incomplete.  Here, we are trying to map out our galaxy.  That said, there is another directive I have a personal interest in.  Should that come into play, I'll let you know.  As for our mission, we are going to do another shakedown with full crew to make sure the ship is better than it was."

He glanced down at his PADD and noted the time.  "I will try to enjoy the rest of my semi-leave until tomorrow.  If you wish to keep things formal... Jaeger, you have the bridge." he said, going to the turbolift.  As the doors opened and he stepped through, spinning on his heels, he looked out at the crewmen on the bridge, and a smirk popped up on his face.  Sure, there were some new faces, but he still kept a good portion of his family... and these people would eventually join it too.

"Oh, and Ardyn?" he said with a grin.  "Don't forget to lock up when you're done."

With that, the turbolift doors closed, and Nevir went to enjoy the rest of his day.

Tomorrow, the real work begins.

[guest1523]

(Starbase Promenade)
As he shook the hand of the senior officer, a lot of things became clear.
The Lt Cmdr had been negotiating with Mr. Addams about rejoining Starfleet. Obviously Elias couldn't estimate the chances of success for that endeavour. But Mr. Addams, he concluded was still involved in starfleets matters even if he didn't wore the uniform. But depending on his skill and qualifications he had no doubt, that Lt Cmdr Wu's offer would be quite tempting. A commission, maybe even a senior one? He had read, that in earlier times, deals of that nature came often with a certain economic bonus. Money. Today this was not really en vogue or even an option for the most part. And Addams didn't look like a Ferengi.
Also, it wasn't Elias' business.
Nevertheless he was curious about this man, that got a private re-recruiting session with the Ops-Chief.

"Well Mr. Addams, nobody has ever accused me of declining an invitation for a small drink and I think I got a bit of time before I make my official, let's say debut, with higher ups on the Discovery."

He was confident, Addams would know where to get a good drink.