Coming Aboard

Posted on Sun Mar 20th, 2022 @ 4:48pm by Captain Temperance Harding & Lieutenant Sarok

Mission: Mission 2: Chasing Shadows
Location: USS Endurance

ON

Temperance Harding stood, waiting. She had been alerted to the assignment of a new member to the Endurance - a Science Officer. They would surely need one, she mused to herself as she waited, by the Airlock access that connected the ship to the Starbase's umbilical corridor.

She wanted to make an informal, personal greeting, rather one a more formal one in the Ready Room. It had begun to rankle her, just how much a Captain could get bogged down with the paperwork of command.

Sarok was checking the record to make sure he was at the right corridor before heading towards the airlock of the ship. The ship which would be his new assignment. His new home.

During his time amongst many other Federation races the Vulcan had noticed that many of them seemed to find the arrival at a new ship a very emotional moment. Some even stood still for a moment taking in the atmosphere while trying to get a glimpse of the ship from outside.

While he was crossing the short corridor, he concentrated on his emotions at that specific moment that were kept hidden and controlled deep inside within the Vulcan emotional boundaries and restrictions. There was a mixture between anticipation and nervousness, but nothing compared to the fuss that many others made about that moment.

So when he reached the airlock, he neither hesitated for a second nor took a deep breath but just entered the Endurance just to be stopped by a person who had waited right there.

"Lieutenant Sarok." As she always did, Harding used the pronounciation of her ancestry - Leftenant. She resisted her natural impulse to offer a handshake, as she knew that a number of Vulcans didn't like the custom. "I am Captain Temperance Harding, and I wanted to welcome you aboard the Endurance."

“Captain,” said the Vulcan and nodded slightly to return the greeting. “I did not expect you to welcome me here directly at the airlock.”
This was more or less the Vulcan way of saying that he was surprised to meet the Captain here.
“Permission to come onboard,” he added to follow the traditional protocol.

"Permission granted, Lieutenant." Harding indicated the way down the corridor. "I wanted to bring you up toi speed on our current mission, as there are some elements of a sensitive and restricted nature."

“Thank you, Captain.” The Vulcan started to head in the direction that Harding had showed him. The fact that the commanding officer had welcomed him directly at the airlock was unusual. He wondered if that had something to do with the said nature of the mission. “Sensitive and delicate?” In his experience most missions he had been on could have been described like that. Or they had turned out to be at least one of them in the end.

"A pirate element has been attacking freighters in the Federation border regions for some time." Harding explained as they walked, summarizing what they already knew. "In recent times, the attacks seem to have been centered in the area surrounding the Lembatta Nebula."

He looked at the CO. "This sounds interesting, Captain. I have had a look at several nebulas and have been able to gain some knowledge about them up until now. This might be useful." It was the Vulcan way of saying that he really was into that sort of astronomical phenomenon and had some background knowledge.

"As you may know, Lieutenant, Starfleet hasn't had much luck fully mapping the Nebula - information has come to light that indicates it has been used as a Romulan research facility for biological weapons. Our mission has become two-fold. Explore the Nebula and hunt down the Pirates, and deal with whatever remains of the research facility, and any technology we find. Salvage if we can, detonate if we must."

He furrowed his brow taking in the information. "In my experience many nebulas disturb sensor readings due to their composition. So I am not surprised. I also do not find it hard to believe that someone might try to use some part of a nebula's composition to create a weapon." The Vulcan looked at the CO again. "On the other hand, many nebulas themselves pose a threat to those trying to harvest those components in the first place. There is often radiation or the process of gathering the component is difficult due to instability."
The Captain had already aroused the Vulcan science officer's interest and he had just come on board.

"I managed to get some additional sensor equipment for the Fighter Squadron - I thought you might be able to assist Lieutenant Mitchell - our Squadron Commander - with plotting out the search. We're sending the fighters in first, with the Endurance quarter-backing behind them for sensor analysis."

Sarok nodded approvingly. "Of course I will do everything I can to assist Lieutenant Mitchell." He had spent enough time on Earth to know what the term quarter-backing referred to and he knew that humans seemed to enjoy that particular game as illogical the game itself seemed to him.
"I will get try to gather all the information that we already have on that particular nebula right away as well. Is there anything in particular you would like me to pay closer attention to?"

"Anything that might indicate what the Romulans have been working on. Our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Starkweather was the first to put us on that line. I would suggest also liaising with him with your data." Harding paused for a moment and sighed. "I am sorry for dropping a lot on you all at once, especially before you have even found your quarters."

“You do not have to be sorry, Captain. In fact, I very much appreciate it that you informed me right away.” It was only logical. That way he was able to prepare for the mission beforehand and preparation was already half the battle as humans liked to say.
It was a habit of humans and most other species that they liked to see their rooms when they arrived somewhere new. Although he could somehow understand that rather emotional driven habit, he could not really relate to that.
“I will be able to go to my quarters soon enough and I very much assume it will be standard Starfleet quarters.” If he wasn’t Vulcan, he would have given his CO a friendly smile. But ho only looked at her an nodded slightly.

"Very well. I do believe that is everything I need to bring you up to speed on. If you have anything you require, please feel free to reach out to myself or the XO. Commander Lightfeather is sometimes hard to pin to any one location, but that's the mark of a good XO." Harding inclined her head to the man. "If you will excuse me, Lieutenant, I need to attend to some other matters."

"Of course, Captain," he said nodding slightly. "As soon as I have found my quarters, I will get to work and find the information on that nebula that we already have.

"Your quarters should be just ahead." Harding smiled at the man, and made her exit.

OFF