Familiar Face, New Place
Posted on Tue Nov 21st, 2023 @ 12:45am by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brix Saad & Fleet Captain Maxwell Culver & Commander Lorut Vila & Commander Vianola Paxidor
1,898 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
First Contact
Location: USS Intrepid: Aft Docking Airlock
Timeline: MD3: 1130 hours
Brix rushed onto the bridge and then pulled herself up short of barging into the briefing of senior officers. Flipping around the small PADD in her hand, Brix typed out a quick message to the captain and commander.
Then she stood by as she waited for the briefing to end.
Inside the briefing room, Max rolled his eyes at the buzz off of his PADD before reading it. The words we clear and simple. “Commander Paxidor docking in ten minutes.”
Max looked to see if Vila had read her PADD too.
Vila got the message from Brix in the middle of their one on one meeting.
"Hmm," the Bajoran commented, more of a snort than a true comment. "From what I've read, it's an appropriate arrival," she said. She'd taken the time to review the other woman's file, as she did for all the staff. They both seemed to have "strong" personalities, and she wondered if Culver was ready for this. "Have Brix bring her directly here," Vila suggested, her face poker-straight.
It had been a while since Vi had seen Max but when she had left their bond was strong. They'd talked whilst she was away but it had been less and less as his command shifted from seabase to starship. Vi understood, and in truth she had been busy as well and not just with the El Aurian side of things.
"They want you in the briefing room, Commander Paxidor."
Vi nodded. "Thanks Chief, take it easy." she replied as she headed for the briefing room.
Moments passed as she stood in the lift. There was a flash of a thought of 'if only they had music in here' but she had heard that Human's had done that before and it had proven to be mixed in its reception. As the doors of the lift opened she made her way across the bridge and pressed the button for the briefing room doors to open before walking through.
"I'll have Rush put...well, a rush on that," Vila was saying, as the chime rang and the doors opened. The Bajoran's head snapped up. She smiled lightly. "Ah, Vian-ola Paxidor, I presume?" she said, mispronouncing the other woman's name on purpose. It was one of the things she did...if people could handle her minor bullshit, they could handle her bigger things. She would leave them alone after that.
Vi smiled at the mispronunciation. To be honest even if it was said the way she XO said it, it was still correct if not said the way she would say it, but other cultures said things in different ways. It was easy enough to correct.
"You presume correctly, Commander Lorut. Can call me Vi though, Vianola..." she said her own name correctly but in a manner that didn't make it obvious, and the Irish lilt in her voice often was quite disarming, "can be a bit of a mouthful." she held her hands up. "It's nice to meet someone else who can bare the weight of Max's 'expectations'." she teased looking at the Captain then back at Lorut.
Vila smiled. "Indeed," she said. "Thank you. Please, sit down. If you two would like some time to catch up, I can come back," she said. "If not, we can do a quick briefing then I'll leave you two to it," she said. "Captain?" she inquired.
Max stood, ignoring Vila entirely. He was sure something obnoxious had happened, but he sure was happy to see Vi. Not to mention relieved.
Crossing the room, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a swing around. “It’s so good to see you again. We have a lot to catch up on.” He was entirely verbal, until he added telepathically, ’Vila is a bit much. She’ll be prickly for a while…don’t let it bother you.
Vi was shocked by the voice in her head. Apparently she had missed more than she thought. Telepathy in El Aurian's was a rare trait, and even rarer given their species scattering. "I would say we do sir." she gave him a squeeze back. "I mean last time we were on the sea." she teased.
Vila smiled lightly. "You left just as I came aboard there," the Bajoran said. "Please, sit down. Hope your shuttle out here was nice," she said. "I am Lorut Vila, of Bajor. I took over for...I can't remember his name, the Romulan, when he decided to leave us, as well," she said. "The Captain and I were catching up on our current mission-we have found three people in stasis pods, and it's...well, just another day around here, really," she said.
Leaving the embrace of Max and moving towards a chair, "Thanks, my shuttle was fine. Had a young officer bending my ear about his excitement of a his first posting but I got through it." Vi chuckled. "Colonel s'Khev, yes. He was a fairly decent Romulan, but on a Starfleet ship... I don't think he'd quite have fitted in." she mused as she got comfortable in the chair she was in.
Vila simply shrugged. "Romulans are fine," she said. "At my former posting, we had a few. But I agree, his particular temperament might've...clashed," she said. Clashed they had.
"Three people in stasis pods? Interesting, have you revived them?" Vianola asked.
"Yes, we have. They're alive and well, terrorizing the crew," Vila said. She wasn't impressed, truthfully. She found monarchies and monarchs to be...quaint. Of course, they'd probably say the same about Prophets, but Vila wasn't a believer anyway.
"Aw, I remember being young and excited for my first posting. The USS Marie Curie," Vila said. She'd met her ex-husband there. Was it twenty-five years ago now?! How time flew! "The bigger issue is that their planet is in danger of both dying out, and getting hit by a small but rapidly-moving comet," she said. "Straight for the core. Astrometrics isn't my speciality-I am a chemist by training-but I've been around long enough to understand the gravity of it."
“And while it slowly kills a planet’s people, it has sped up for the final collision. Almost like Ebenezer Scrooge, starving the Cratchets before being responsible for the death of Tiny Tim. Where the hell are all these book references coming from?” Max wondered. “Anyway, you get the point of it, I expect.”
“We’re on a clock. And while we may have chased off Lieutenant Desha, we’re doubly blessed to have Vianola Paxidor back at tactical in case we need to blow that comet into smaller pieces.”
"You think too much of me, Captain," Vi replied. "But I am happy to be of service in any way I can, to you both." she looked at Lorut and Culver. "How are these pod people terrorizing the crew? Do I need to confine them? I don't care if they are monarchs... I'll do it!"
“Mostly they’re just being pests to the crew. Give a Royal an inch and they’ll take a mile. That kind of thing. Perhaps terrorize might be too strong a word?” Max suggested.
Vila shrugged. "I felt terrorized," she muttered. "Perhaps it is," she said, a bit louder. Truthfully, terrorizing the crew was her specialty. "Anyway. The Captain is correct, time is of the essence."
"I appreciate that but I still need to know if they hindering the crew in anyway. If they get in security's way, or our processes, I will diplomatically see they are put in their place." Vi said lightly. "As to the comet, do we have a plan to deal with it yet? If my memory serves they are predominantly ice and dust."
“You have full power to seal them up in their quarters if you feel they’re hindering our work. You’ll have my backing on that, but I don’t think it will come to that.”
“As for the comet, I’ll let Commander Lorut fill you in on the plan for that. It’s her specialty,” Max said, recognizing the former science officer inside chomping at the bit to talk about something that excites her.
Vila smiled lightly. "Thank you, Captain," she said. "Yes, the Comet is quite large.The comet massed 9.982 e12×1012 kilograms, with a density of 0.824 grams per cubic centimeter and an albedo of 0.11," she said.
"It seems like it was once inhabited-there's a structure on it. From what we can tell, we being the science team, it is man made, and it's definitely a building inside the ice and stone," she said, pausing to sip at her Jumja tea. "We plan to investigate, and then knock the comet out of orbit with the tractor beam," she said. "Did you ever hear about an Akira class ship moving a comet out of orbit? I was on that team," she said. "I know the original Enterprise, the first one, moved an asteroid, as well, so there's precedence," she said. "That's the layman's way to say it," she said.
“I’m also pulling in a few favors to have the USS Opal, a Scott class ship, join us on the project. I may be playing it on the safe side, but better that than make a mistake,” Max added.
"Doesn't hurt to have a helping hand." Vianola offered in agreement. "When something as serious as saving a species from destruction I think erring on the side of caution is a smart move."
Vila simply nodded; for once, she agreed with Culver's assessment on this. He was correct-they would need an extra hand, and the extra support of the nearby Space Station “like” starship was only an added bonus.
“Well, I’m sure you’d like to meet your team. Unfortunately, it’s been hit or miss in that department. Lieutenant Tête has been with us since the ship was launched, so she’s your best bet for a briefing."
Vila didn't have much more to contribute so she just nodded, and sipped at her coffee.
Aside from administrative stuff, like your assigned quarters and such, do you have any questions for either me or Commander Lorut? Max asked. “If not, we can wrap this up here.”
"No sir, no questions so far. If I do I'll come to your or Commander Lorut." She smiled at the Bajoran before turning back to Max. "Sounds good to me." Vi said with a smile. "Always like to get myself involved at the earlier opportunity. I'll get my self orientated."
Vila smiled. "Sounds like you have yourself sorted, then," she said. "My office is always open to the crew," she said. Of course, they all knew that was a lie-she didn't like people just showing up but it was what she HAD to say. "I'll walk you out, the Captain and I are done, I think," she said. She needed to hit the racks for a bit. Beta shifts were her favorite, but they did do a number on her sleep schedule. She stood up then. "It was nice to meet you," she said, the first sincere thing she'd said that morning.
“See you on the bridge,” Max added, glad that he would have another experienced officer while his entire cadre of department heads were busy working on the comet problem.
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