Making Do With The Cards You're Dealt
Posted on Tue Jan 9th, 2024 @ 6:28am by Commander Irene Vincent "Rally" & Lieutenant Kate Ross
Edited on on Tue Jan 9th, 2024 @ 6:29am
2,349 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Season 1, Episode 3: Trespassing
Location: Deep Space Station K-9- Commander Vincent's Office, Deck 9
Timeline: Sometime between "Balancing Act" and "In The Dead of Night"
"What in the-?"
Having just sent Scott on his way, Rally felt that now was as good a time as any to get settled in and file some paperwork before debriefing the crew the Tigerfish later that night. However, she didn't haven't have long to relax before her PADD started going off, alerting her to a message in her inbox. With a sigh, she retrieved the PADD and pulled up the message, quickly skimming through its contents.
Her eyes narrowed. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me..."
"Commander Vincent:
We regret to inform you that Lieutenant Eraar's expertise is urgently needed in other parts of the Federation, and thus we have conscientiously decided to issue his transfer orders, effective immediately. You will thus be responsible for..."
Rally didn't even take the time to finish the message; setting her PADD down, she banged her head against her desk and groaned.
"First Commander D'Sai, now Lieutenant Eraar... what the hell have I signed my self up for...?"
Picking herself back up, Rally proceeded to furnish her communicator and flipped it open.
=Vincent To Operations.=
=This is Operations speaking,= came the voice on the other end. =What can we get for you, Commander?=
=Who's the second most senior officer in your department, behind Lieutenant Eraar?= Rally inquired.
=Let's see... according to personnel records, that would be one Lieutenant Kate Ross; she's currently off the clock, but would you like me to leave a message for her when she gets back?=
Rally shook her head. =I can handle that myself, but would you mind running Lieutenant Eraar's notes up to my office please?=
=Copy that; we'll be there in just a few minutes, Ma'am. Operations out.=
Rally then proceeded to terminate the communication and switch over to the general intercom frequency.
=Would a Lieutenant Kate Ross please report to my office on Deck 9? Again, that's Lieutenant Kate Ross to my office on Deck 9? Thank you.=
Kate looked up at the mention of her name over the broadcast system. Panic crept into her thoughts. She instantly cataloged her last few hours.
I don’t think I’ve done anything untoward, she thought.
She looked around the rec room. No one seemed to have noticed the broadcast except Kate.
This is silly, she told herself, I haven’t done anything wrong. This is something else.
Kate stood up, gathered up her PADD and the few computer cards she’d looked through, and made to leave. She dropped the cards back in their place and began making her way to deck 9 and the commander’s office. She found a refresher along the way and dipped in for a quick once-over to ensure she was presentable.
Eventually, she found herself outside the Commander’s office. She activated the door chime and waited to be admitted.
"Enter," came the eventual response.
Kate heard the command and gave her skirt hem a quick tug into place and stepped into the Commander’s office.
Without thinking about it, Kate assumed a position of Attention, looking straight ahead, over the Commander’s head, at a spot on the wall behind the Commander. She instantly remembered the last time she’d reported to a Commanding Officer and how that had gone horribly…back on the USS Exeter. It had been Captain Mancuso and he’d thought Ensign Ross wasn’t cut and polished enough when she'd reported in. He’d made her repeat the exercise four times before he’d welcomed her to the Exeter. She hadn’t forgotten the experience.
“Lieutenant Kate Ross, reporting as ordered, Commander,” Kate practically barked.
The Commander stared at her as if she were a few crayons short of the full box.
"Easy, there, Lieutenant, you're not in trouble," she insisted before motioning towards one of the chairs situated in front of her desk. "Have a seat, will you? We have some important business to discuss."
Kate looked at the Commander, felt herself blush and then sheepishly sat down in one of the chairs.
“Sorry, Commander…the last time I reported in didn’t go so great. Guess I wanted to be safe, so I went with the Midshipman approach, you might say,” Kate explained, feeling somewhat lame about the answer. Kate felt like sliding under the Commander’s desk but fought the urge, sitting upright in the chair and looking the Commander in the eyes.
“How can I help, Commander,” Kate asked after a moment.
"Well, we got a lot to cover here, so for now let's start with the basics," the Commander began, folding her arms. "I take it that'd that you've likely been filled in in regards to your roles and responsibilities aboard this station? That is to say, manufacturing, logistics and the like?"
Kate nodded briefly.
”Yes, Commander. I read the mission briefing on the shuttle flight into K-9 and I’ve been filling in the gaps with Mister Eraar’s duty logs,” Kate responded. She took a quick breath and continued.
“I also gather that I’ll be equipping others to make the station successful - manufacturing replacement parts, ensuring supply lines at both ends, and just general support work.”
"Do you believe that you would have the ability to perform those duties, in addition to any other favors that I may ask of you, if for whatever reason Lieutenant Eraar was unavailable to do so?" the Commander added.
“Uh…well, Commander…uhm…I don’t want this to come off as insubordinate or flippant, but shouldn’t those kinds of requests come directly through Lieutenant Errar,” Kate said uneasily. “I mean, he is my direct supervisor, isn’t he?”
"Well, he would be... if Starfleet Command hadn't decided out of the blue that his expertise was needed elsewhere," the Commander explained, pulling up Lieutenant Eraar's transfer orders and handing them to Kate for review.
"Therefore, as you can see, I'm short a department head right before a major diplomatic function, and in dire need of a replacement," The Commander went on to elaborate. "Of course, I trust that Starfleet wouldn't have assigned you to this posting as Lieutenant Eraar's second-hand woman without just cause; so if I asked of it, do you believe that you, Lieutenant Kate Ross, would be capable of assuming the role of Chief Operations Officer in lieu of Lieutenant Eraar's absence?"
Kate’s response caught in her throat. Of course, she wanted to be Chief Operations Officer. That was another punch on her ‘I want to be Captain one day’ card. But she gave it another thought and then a third before replying.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of the job yet, Captain, but I appreciate the confidence.”
"Excellent," the Commander smiled, keying a few commands into the PADD. "It'll take the system a few hours to process, but I'm hoping by 1800 hours tonight, your promotion will recognized in our database."
Kate smiled at the Commander’s words. She tried to suppress the grin she felt forming, but she couldn’t. This was a huge step forward…and then the weight of the situation hit her. She would be responsible for lives now…not just her own actions. She would have the weight of a department on her shoulders. It was a rather herculean ask of a junior officer…but she thought she was up to the job.
"Now," The Commander continued, quickly changing the subject. "There's something important I'd like to discuss with you regarding the roles and responsibilities you'll be taking on as Chief of Ops, but I want to warn you that what I'm about to share with you is highly classified; I need you to promise me that, whatever is discussed in this office from this point forward, it is not to be shared with anyone- anyone- who does not have the proper clearance. Do I hopefully make myself clear, Lieutenant?"
“Understood, Commander. You can count on me to keep my mouth shut. To be perfectly honest…I haven’t really got anyone to confide in here anyways,” Kate explained. She shrugged and went on.
”Easier that way, I suppose.”
"Excellent," Rally nodded before pulling a star map up on her PADD and handing it over to Kate to review.
"This, as you may observe, is the Phantohk system," she explained, directing Kate's attention to a red dot that was very clearly situated within Neutral territory, and yet was... somehow listed as part of the Klingon Empire? That didn't sound right. "If you'll remember your history lessons, this system is supposed to be neutral domain. Neither the Federation nor the Klingon Empire can stake a claim to it. And yet, the Phantohk is only one of a handful of neutral systems to have fallen to the Klingon Empire in the past decade or so."
Kate took the offered device and studied the display as the Commander spoke. She quickly found the Phantohk system and found that, indeed, it was listed as part of the Klingon Empire.
“Are we sure that Cartography didn’t fowl this up, Commander? Do we have ‘boots-on-the-ground’ confirmation that the Klingons are on Phantohk,” Kate asked cautiously.
"I'm afraid so, Lieutenant," Rally explained. "Starfleet Intelligence can confirm it was a casualty of a 2260 campaign instigated by the domineering Klingon House of this sector, the House Khartan. Whether they've got boots on the ground or are just using the system as a staging area is up for speculation- only that it's under their control."
“I see,” Kate responded. She bit the right corner of her lip as she thought for a moment. She reviewed the map again and clearly saw the Phantohk system outlined in red, indicating it was claimed by the Klingon Empire.
“What part does the station play in this,” she asked finally. “More importantly, what’s my role in the station’s part in this drama, Commander.”
"Well, that matter is two-fold," Rally elaborated. "I'm sure you've already been debriefed on the ongoing situation with the Eifie Republic and the Rheuysian Reich, and for all the public eye needs to be concerned, that's the brunt of our operations here; on a more clandestine level, however, we're here to monitor the activity of the House Khartan and be prepared to mobilize in the likelihood they should attempt a full-on invasion."
Kate listened and nodded. She had read the situational report of the area on the shuttle ride to K-9. To say the situation was tense was an extreme understatement. If she was reading the Commander’s body language correctly, this situation was serious…just shy of grave for the Federation.
“Are we likely to be the spearhead of a Federation response, if House Khartan brings a full-on invasion? Or will we be just an intel asset, feeding the larger, outside response,” Kate asked. Either way, she knew she would need to be intimate with her upcoming role and all the developed intel on the situation.
"A bit of both," Rally indicated. "While our Garrison vessel's got some teeth, enough that it could comfortably hold its own if ambushed by a Klingon patrol, it's hardly going to be enough to fend off a full-on invasion force, hence we'd be relying on some of the more powerful vessels in our stable to provide us with the necessary support."
Kate paused before speaking again, the gravity of the situation causing a knot in her stomach. "And if it comes to war... what are our chances, Commander?" Kate asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "Are we prepared for that scenario?"
"Not all that great," Rally reported grimly. "Unless we were to resort to some more... unethical tactics, Starfleet Command estimates that the chances of a Federation victory against the Klingon Empire are less than 10%."
A chill ran down Kate's spine as she digested the Commander's words. In her mind's eye, she saw the faces of her friends from the Academy and her shipmates from the Exeter . She couldn't bring herself to view them as statistics on a casualty sheet. She forced a brave smile onto her face, her voice steady as she responded, "Then we'll need to be strategic and make every move count, Commander. I'm ready to do what it takes."
Rally smiled. "That's exactly the sort of attitude I like to hear," she commended. "Right; so, we've got boots-on-the-ground confirmation that the Klingons are occupying the Phantohk System; and what's more, that puts them within two light years of the Umbre system- one of the largest Dilithium providers in the entire Eifie Republic..."
She glanced over at Kate. "I think you can easily wager a guess as to what that means for them?"
Kate nodded. She knew exactly what that meant for the inhabitants of the Umbre system…
”Yes, ma’am…it means the Umbre system has a giant target on its back, now. And the Klingons are looking to score a bullseye….with only us in the mix to stop this kind of aggression.”
Kate's expression hardened, her gaze meeting the Commander's. "Then we'll stand our ground, Commander. We'll do everything in our power to protect the Umbre system and its inhabitants," she said resolutely.
"That's the game plan, anyhow," Rally replied. "Will there be any other questions, Lieutenant, or can I trust you with Lieutenant Eraar's notes?"
“I have no other questions, Commander. If I have any that I can’t answer with Lieutenant Eraar's notes, I’ll be in touch,” Kate said, realizing she’d been dismissed. She stood to leave.
"Thank you for this opportunity and your trust, Commander. I won't let you down," she added, giving a firm nod before turning to exit the office.
Posting By (In Order Of Appearance):
Commander Irene Vincent
Commanding Officer, Deep Space Station K-9
Lieutenant Kate Ross
Chief Operations Officer, Deep Space Station K-9
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