S3-M10: Unfinished Business

[Kirok]

[Captain's Quarters - September 16, 2399 - 1500]

After the picnic, Kirok returned to his quarters.  The door slid open.  And his unbroken habit of looking for Dillion took over.

The dog was no longer there.  But the dog bed remained.  The last thing that the half Vulcan had failed to part with yet.

The Captain swallowed hard and walked to his closet.  He changed into his uniform.  Then pulled out a kit full of tools.

There was still the threat of the Omega Particle in the L-S system that needed to dealt with.  That area had been free of traffic since the Jem'hadar ships had been disabled.   And he was the only person who knew how to disable the Omega Particle - and he planned to do it himself.

[Kyle Briggs]

[Bar B Q => XO Office => CO Quarters]

Kyle had left the Arboretum and went to his office. He had intended to just spend a little time going over and approving the department schedules. However, when he booted up his desk computer, he was informed about a flight schedule for the Lirpa. He brought it up and took a look at the crew listing and destination. He transferred the information to his PADD and left. A few moments later, he was standing outside the Captain's door. He heard the chime announce his arrival and waited.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

:: Katra Station | Security Office ::

"Ok. I seen the order so. But whaddif I dinnae want a yow-man?" Kyan asked plaintively.

Chief Petty Officer Carter blinked, her confusion evident. It was her third day on the job, and Kyan's first day back from a month of leave. They hadn't met previously, and things weren't starting off on what she would call the "right foot". "Um.. so... it's pronounced yeoman." she replied hesitantly. "The "o" is long... and uh.. well, Lieutenant, you have to have one?" Her pitch rose at the end as though she were asking a question, and truthfully she may have been. The Starfleet veteran of nearly thirty two years had never had... this conversation with an officer, and she wasn't quite sure how to go about it. She'd also never worked with a Miran before. While she had read Kyan's Service Record, which was impossibly long for a Lieutenant, she still felt somewhat awkward. She had the urge to interact with him as she would any other ten year old boy, but at the same time, she had an example to set for the enlisted crew who reported to her. Somehow, she thought "Because Starfleet said so!" was probably not the right way to go about things.

"Yowman, Yeoman... da answer is still No man." Kyan grinned. "Besides, what do I need with some secretary anyway?" he asked dismissively. "I dinnae need one before. An it's not like i'm sitting in here all the day long like some Admiral, with me arse growing roots in the chair am I?"

Carter shook here head. "No... no.. a yeoman isn't a secretary! It's an assistant, to handle paperwork, administrative issues, and stuff like that. They will also be in charge of the Security Office, like an office manager. They make sure things get done." She could tell that she'd gotten somewhere. His eyes had widened a bit and he was thinking about it. Or rather, he was thinking about the yeoman making sure all the paper work got done, which he hated.

After a few minutes, Kyan spoke up. "So... this person just stays in here and makes sure things get done?" he asked, and then "And does all the paperwork!?"

Carter nodded happily. "Yeah! Well, not all of it but they do most of it." She could tell he was on the hook. Now she just had to rel him in. "And they also attend staff meetings if you can't go," she threw out, seeing if it would draw more interest.

Her instinct was spot on.

"Ok. Fine." Kyan replied. "We'll have one. But I get to pick sure! I'm not having some boring old grup sitting in here all day with me. So get someone interesting."

Carter pulled out a padd. "I've got the list of candidates here." she offered, handing Kyan the padd. "They've all got the best evals of any Security officers on the station."

Kyan accepted the padd, looking over it. He didn't recognize any of them aside from Balan, and that because he met him during the Hunter attack. "Ok. tell Balan to come to the office. I wanna talk to him about this."

Carter nodded and tapped her com badge. Cater to Balan, please come to the Security Office.

[Kirok]

[Bar B Q => XO Office => CO Quarters]

Kyle had left the Arboretum and went to his office. He had intended to just spend a little time going over and approving the department schedules. However, when he booted up his desk computer, he was informed about a flight schedule for the Lirpa. He brought it up and took a look at the crew listing and destination. He transferred the information to his PADD and left. A few moments later, he was standing outside the Captain's door. He heard the chime announce his arrival and waited.

[CO Quarters]

Kirok wasn't expecting any visitors.  In fact, he had hoped to slip out without being noticed.  Not that he was trying to break any Star Fleet rules, but some things simply needed to be done by oneself - and this was one of those things.

"Proceed" Kirok called out.  His preferred term to let whoever was at his door to come in.  Then he turned to face the door, blocking the visitors view of the kit.

"Kyle.  Come in.  I hope you enjoyed the picnic" the half Vulcan said when the doors parted.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

Sitting behind the desk-part of one of her work stations and slowly bobbing on her gym ball, Sirol skimmed through the department shift plans and announcements for the upcoming week.
The Uropygi, which by now had "˜chosen' (as in: reacted most happily to-) the name Aeryn sat on her lap and curiously peeked over the console onto the screen with her.
Sirol softly patted her companion's head and smiled at her, then turned on one of the music pieces she knew Aeryn enjoyed the most, before she looked at her screen again.
The upcoming week promised less estimated work than she had hoped - as usual - but it would have to do.
She missed the times in which she had all hands full of work, and could put both, her intellect as well as her education to a good use.

With a fond, warm smile she thought back to her last meaningful assignment:
Captain Eydis entrusting her with directing and distributing hir warriors to help establish a non-technological communication network during the last emergency"¦
Being utilised for actual work had felt relieving, and the contact with Captain Eydis and the other Tholians had, and still did help Sirol cope with both, the lack of a function as well as her past traumata.

With a little smirk she looked at a 2D, framed holo-picture on her "˜desk':
A snapshot showing her, together with Emerald, Xasik, Eydis, Serena, Kyan and Gideon, back during the gathering in the Arboretum.
The people aboard closest and dearest to her.

A little blip on her screen however suddenly caught her attention.
Transfer note: Science Officer Nysa Reisen
A new addition to the department.
A new scientist!

Leaning a little forward and gently wrapping her arm around the Uropygi on her lap Sirol's smile widened.
"œLooks like we will be getting a new peer soon." She quietly mumbled.
"œ...Maybe we should prepare a little welcome for them..."

[Eli Ferris]

Lt. Commander Eli Ferris| Operations Manager's Officer| Katra Station

Eli was still dressed in his more casual dress, having allowed himself to get distracted by the blinking message light on his desk top monitor. It was so easy for him to do, and he looked over the message. It wasn't anything urgent-just a update notification regarding the network update being completed. It was nice that the Ops team had kept on working, and he always appreciated the efficiency aspect. It was something Eli was becoming nearly obsessed with, but the team already hummed pretty well. Rather than demand his way, Eli had made it a point to work with each subgroup to support his new role. The network update had been the first task after he had seen the struggles with the communication in the last crisis.

He had been debating on back door approaches. Most of his ideas had struck him as temporary measures that wouldn't quite pass Starfleet code, at least without some additional security. But, in the recent crisis he had noticed the Tholian's effectiveness in communication. Science Officer Sirol was quite close with the Tholians. Perhaps that was an avenue to pursue.

Eli pulled his civilian clothes off and pulled his gold uniform on. It was still a new look, and he still thought of his dad, the career Starfleet Engineer, and what he would think of his former pilot son. Still wasn't sure how to say that.

He put the personal bits aside and hit the comms.

Ferris to Sirol. 

[Xasik]

[Katra Station | Simulation]

Xasik

With a wide yawn, Xasik shuffled his way through the corridors as he made his way to work. Another restless night with an early wake up call had him exhausted before his shift had even started. Xasik felt like hot garbage and he would certainly need caffeine to make it through his shift. Emerald on the other hand was quite pleased with themself. They had been so excited when he had put them into the ECS and had not stopped chirping ever since. This morning the Reman found his child's squeaks utterly ear piercing in his sleep deprived state.
"œEmerald, please!" Xasik begged as he stopped to order a coffee for himself and one for Sirol who was no doubt already in the lab and working.

Emerald only seemed to chirp louder at the sound of Xasik's voice, to which the Reman simply groaned and ordered his coffees before continuing to the lab. One awkward turbo-lift ride later and they arrived on the correct deck. Xasik ignored the looks he got from other personnel as his child happily squeaked and chirped to themself, proceeding to get louder as they stepped out of the turbo-lift and the lab came into view.  Emerald seemed to love announcing their presence wherever they went. Xasik would have no chance of sneaking anywhere with his child.

Entering the lab, Xasik almost sighed in relief at the sight of Sirol sitting at her station with Aeryn.
"œMorning," he announced himself to her, but he was certain that she would have heard Emerald from a mile away. He made his way directly over to her and placed the coffee he had gotten her on her desk. "œStrong, no cream, lots of sugar," he stated as he placed the beverage down before placing Emerald in the ECS on her lap. "œTag, you're it," he yawned. "œThe little demon is making sleep very difficult. Would you mind watching them for a little bit so I can take a brief nap before I get to work? And yes, the coffee is a bribe. Did it work?"
Not forgetting Aeryn, Xasik pulled a little snack for the Uropygi from his pocket. They were starting to become friends and he found that he adored Sirol's little companion the more he got to know her, so a little treat here and there kept the bond growing.

With another yawn Xasik made his way to his own station and sat down in his comfy chair, put on a set of headphones with soft music playing and closed his eyes for a brief nap.

Emerald

At the sight of the family space, Emerald could not contain their excitement. They began to call to The Soft One loudly, feeling her humming as soon as they left the small space filled with Others. They could feel her warmth and love and were excited to see her again. It had been an entire sleep since they had last seen her and they missed her. They could also feel The Skittering One (Uropygi) with her, humming with her. Emerald loved the Skittering One. They enjoyed playing with her and looked forward to seeing her too.

Upon seeing them, Emerald squeaked and clicked happily. "œPEEP PEEP SQUEAK!" They called as they reached for The Soft One and The Skittering One. The only one missing now was The Humming One, but Emerald was certain they would appear if they were close by.

The Tholian child squeaked in delight as The Sharp One one placed them with The Soft One. They felt safe with two of the parents in the family space. Safe and happy.

[Balan]

[Katra - Balan's quarters]

Starfleet was nice enough to give Balan his room. Which was like a big closet but it was what he needed. Balan was in original form reading on Gorn culture. Sadly, Skar had been transferred of Katra, They did not say why but it was a done deal. He would have liked to get information from the individual from a book. There will be more Gorns in Starfleet. They are rare. He had read USS Challenger had a female one now.

Carter nodded and tapped her com badge.  Cater to Balan, please come to the Security Office.

The upper part of his formless body looked up from the book as a new female voice had called him. He formed a mouth. On my way sir he replied to the hail from their Chief of Security. Then he morphed into his chosen body form body, Balan.

Then just as he was about to step out. Who was that anyway? Why is she calling them and not Kyan?

[Katra - Security Office]

The Security office doors swooshed opened to see Kyan was there and a female. She was a yeoman. This was the first time since he saw one here in the office.

"Sir, I am reporting for duty," he said in attention.

[Kirok]

[Ops - September 16, 2399 - 1500 - Zex]

The picnic in the Arboretum was still going, but the Deltan had chose not to go.  Instead she was in Ops.  Working.

She considered reaching out to Eydis.  It had been some time since their last meeting.  But given how they had left things, she felt it best that shi reach out when shi was ready.

[Sirol]

< Katra Station / Simulation Lab >

As it was all too often, there could be two hours without anything happening at all, only to be interrupted by several things happening at once; condensed into less than twenty seconds.
This was one of those situations:

"œStrong, no cream, lots of sugar," he stated as he placed the beverage down before placing Emerald in the ECS on her lap. "œTag, you're it," he yawned. "œThe little demon is making sleep very difficult. Would you mind watching them for a little bit so I can take a brief nap before I get to work? And yes, the coffee is a bribe. Did it work?"

The scientist just stared at Xasik, automatically nodded and accepted both, the coffee and the ECS with Emerald inside. Then her eyes followed him offering Aeryn a little treat as well before he headed over to his own work station, followed by an overly curious Aeryn, only for him to"¦ Take a nap?!
She blinked, at first unable to answer his question in the face of her bewilderment.
Starfleet's lack of discipline obviously seemed to have a bad influence on her co-worker. But at least he brought her coffee and was on time"¦
Considering that Xasik actually was a hard working, reliable and professional scientist, as well as a full-time-parent she decided to just not comment on it.
Even if she would have attempted to, she doubted that she would have found the words"¦

Eventually though, the chirping of her communicator pulled her out of her own confused mind and back into reality.

Ferris to Sirol. 

Hearing Commander Ferris' voice was a surprise, but certainly a pleasant one.
She had not had the chance to speak to him during the gathering in the arboretum, so their essential last time spent together had been during Emerald's hatching.
He had been promoted in the meantime and she had meant to relay him her congratulations.
With an audible smile Sirol took the call and leaned a little forward on her gym ball.
"œGood morning, Commander. How"¦"

The Tholian child squeaked in delight as The Sharp One one placed them with The Soft One. They felt safe with two of the parents in the family space. Safe and happy.

Sirol looked at Emerald inside their bubble and gently placed one hand on top of it.
"˜Just one more minute, dearie... I promise...'
She tried to relay to them via the Lattice, hoping that - even if the child would not understand her words yet - they would understand their meaning and not feel left out.

"œMy apologies..."
She politely spoke towards Ferris who must have undoubtedly heard the cheerful little Tholian's chirping.
"œ...How may I be of assistance, Commander?"

[Xasik]

[Katra Station | Simulation]

Emerald

Getting excited by the squeaking of The Soft One's spot Emerald squeaked happily in reply, reaching out for the source as they did when they were excited, but when they felt the soothing warmth of The Soft One's humming, Emerald quietened down and sat happily basking, in the soothing, humming warmth. They felt connected to The Soft One and understood that she would give them attention as soon as she stopped squeaking with the squeaks of the other that they could hear.

The looked up and over at the Sharp One as he grumbled deeply from within as he so often did when resting. Emerald squeaked at him in concern and almost giggled when they saw him stir and sit up briefly before settling back to nest. The Sharp One was alright, Emerald was satisfied, even more so when The Sharp One squeaked at The Soft One. All was well in the family space.

[Kyan Mackenzie]

"Sir, I am reporting for duty," he said in attention.

Kyan looked up from the padd that he'd been reading when Balan came in. "Aye Balan! Merry Met again." he offered as a greeting. "This is Chief Carter. She's new here the now and she thinks..."

"Starfleet thinks." Carter amended before she could catch herself.

Kyan shrugged and continued. "Yah. Starfleet thinks that there oughtta be a Yeoman in here to make sure all the paperwork stuff is done and that all the security people are where they're meant to be and stuff."

"It's a fairly big job Mister Balan." Carter chimed in. There are alot of responsibilities involved with it. If you're interested, We can talk more about."

"And it's not a secretary you'd be either." Kyan added. "The which is fine because I can make me own coffee sure so ye wouldnae be doing that sort of thing."

[Balan]

Kyan looked up from the path that he'd been reading when Balan came in. "Aye Balan! Merry Met again." he offered as a greeting. "This is Chief Carter. She's new here the now and she thinks..."

"œAre you not the Chief?" Balan had asked Kyan. He knew there was one chief per department. He saw the pips on Kyan and Carter had not the pips to be a chief. Once again, Kyan humor had worked on him. That was what he had hoped for.

"Starfleet thinks." Carter amended before she could catch herself.

Balan rubbed the back of his neck. This was a weird scene for him. It was rather silly. That was a good thing. Unless something was bad news. They are lighting the mood to light before going to the dark side.

Kyan shrugged and continued. "Yah. Starfleet thinks that there oughtta be a Yeoman in here to make sure all the paperwork stuff is done and that all the security people are where they're meant to be and stuff."

"It's a fairly big job Mister Balan." Carter chimed in. There are alot of responsibilities involved with it. If you're interested, We can talk more about."

Are they requesting me to be yeoman which was a secretary job and serving coffee?

"And it's not a secretary you'd be either." Kyan added.

Are you reading my mind, if so. STOP IT! he thought.

"œThe which is fine because I can make me own coffee sure so ye wouldnae be doing that sort of thing."

"œSo you got yeoman asking me to replace her. And what will become of you?" he asked Carter. That was a habit of Balan. He was concern of other people and who they are. This to could allow him to work closer to Kyan.

"œI am up to the job," he said smiling. This could be the correct step for advancement. Starfleet recognize hard work and that was how you work your way up.

[Kirok]

[CO Quarters - September 16, 2399 - 1500]

Kirok watched the XO for a moment.  He figured that Kyle was here to challenge his decision to got on the away mission himself.  But he thought it best to wait the man out.

Still, the half Vulcan started listing in his head all of the reasons it had to be him who went on the mission.  Not someone else, him personally.  Just in case that was what Kyle was here for.

[Kyle Briggs]

[CO Quarters]

Kirok called for Kyle to enter and the doors parted. He walked in and was immediately face to face with the Commanding Officer. Both men stood there looking at each other for a few seconds.

"I think you know why I'm here." Kyle said using the informality the two shared when speaking privately. "I went to my office to take care of a few things and saw the flight request for the ship. You know as First Officer, it's my job to keep you here and safe, right? Can I ask where you're headed?"

Kyle knew this was all just a formality for the record. If Kirok had set his mind to go do whatever he was planning, then Kirok was gonna go to it.