Senior Staff Meeting

Posted on Sat Mar 26th, 2011 @ 3:31pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Commander Jonathan Mantell & Darek Halsey & Lieutenant Colonel Anastasia DeVries & Lieutenant Antoine Théroit & Lieutenant Commander Aiden Roberts (KIA) & Lieutenant Dravic Rixx (MIA) & Lieutenant Kiyraesyn Valdor & Lieutenant JG Thomas Beliard

Mission: Renegades
Location: Observation Lounge, Bridge, USS Arizona
Timeline: Several hours after 'Back in the Saddle'

Captain Nathan Cowell sat at the head of the Observation Lounge table, his hands holding a PADD and a mug respectively. In the hours since their departure from the Pacifica system, he'd taken the opportunity to get himself moderately acquainted with the patrol route they were being expected to follow. Nathan wasn't so much knowledgeable about specific threats, nor did he have a whole lot of time to look into that. That was what he had a crew for, he simply needed to put them to task. To that end, he'd decided to call them all together... well, just the important officers who ran things at least... into the Observation Lounge for a briefing. He was hoping he could cultivate some awareness for their impending patrol and get some input on how they might feel better prepared for it.

Armed with an iced raktajino in hand, Major Stace S. DeVries filed into the lounge with a crazed look in her eye. Since their departure from the 'paradise' planet the red head had taken the time to go ahead and do some side investigating into the area of space she knew the Arizona was presently heading. She could only assume this was to chat about the aforementioned place.

"Afternoon," she chirped as she took the nearest seat.

"You seem to be in a bright and cheery mood," Nathan said in an observatory manner as he glanced up from his PADD long enough to register who 'chirped'.

Stace shrugged a bit before enjoying a long sip of the cool beverage. "I just figured you'd want to talk about the tricky little area we're about to find ourselves in and well... tricky is right up my alley!"

"Yes, I recall," Nathan grumbled pointedly, "But at least maybe this time we can put that creative energy to good use."

She raised a brow and felt herself snicker a bit. "Trust me Captain... all my creative energy is put to good use."

"Says you," Nathan muttered before he set the PADD down and took a sip from his cup, "So how did you enjoy your time off? Anything interesting happen?"

Stace sighed and sat her mug down. "You could say that! But this is neither the time nor place for all that. I'm aware that you met the secret agent man... that should give you some idea. Perhaps we can discuss it later."

"Oh right... that Mister Lynch moron..." Nathan recalled his encounter with the odd little 'agent', "I think we will need to discuss that."

Thomas waited for the turbolift to stop. He had spent most of shore leave cooped up in the science lab assisting his sister in a paper she was writing. He had only gone down to the surface for twelve hours, and that was only because he knew people would wonder about him if no one would have seen him during shore leave.

He exited the turbolift and made his way the short distance to the observation lounge. He tried his best not to be nervous. This last mission had made a fool of him, the way he treated his XO, and he still hadn't met the Captain. His one attempt to make a friend seemed to have failed and he was not looking forward to more of that. As the door slid open he walked in on two officers mid-conversation. He recognized the pips on the older man sitting with a PADD and a cup, but couldn't see the rank on the woman. She wore a green collar so he knew she was a Marine at the very least.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade Thomas Beliard, Reporting as ordered, sir."

"What are you reporting, son, the weather? Sit down, stow the protocol in an overhead compartment and relax. And do mind the Major over there, she bites," Nathan said, throwing an obvious jab Stace's way.

"Aye, sir." Thomas said as he looked at the Major. If he remembered correctly she was the chief of security. "Ma'am." he said as he passed her to take a seat in a vacant chair, far from the other two.

"If you're ready for it sir, I have my mission report as well as a status report for the science department."

"Sure, I've got time to kill before people start showing up. What do you have for me?" Nathan replied, leaning back in his chair.

Thomas slid over the PADD. "We have the main science lab up and running. The Astrometrics lab has never even been powered up, let alone tested, and were gonna need it. As far as the staff, S'anra as proven herself a damn good science officer, and crewman Baxter has proven herself for whatever mess we throw at her. To be blunt sir, we are undermanned. I have not met the new assistant chief, but that makes six of us, in a department meant for twenty. I'm not saying we can't do the work, but until we get a routine we're not going to be 'miracle workers', sir."

Thomas sat back, ready for reprisal. He knew he should have waited to bring these things up, but he had also seen the sectors of space the ship would be venturing into, and knew that someone was going to want a scan here and there.

"I've got the runt doing the footwork on getting more people on board, but just like every department, until we get enough transfers or new blood coming in, we're stuck with what we have. Can't say I'm shocked that our science department in short shitted, almost as bad in Sickbay from what I understand. Rest assured, Mister... Beliard was it? That we're working these issues as fast as we can, but like so many things in military life, we're only as efficient as the upper echelons, and most of them can't move for shit..." Nathan explained, uncharacteristically understanding of the situation.

Thomas thought about the situation a moment. Then 'the bulb lit', as his sister would say.

"Sir, we may only have so many bodies on this ship, but all save for a few are Starfleet trained. They all have training and interests outside their primary role. Permission to speak freely, sir?" Thomas said as he leaned forward in his chair, ready to engage the Captain in honest conversation.

"Go for it," Nathan replied, sipping his drink.

Thomas cleared his throat, and prepared a speech similar to one he had given once before, at Utopia Planitia.

"We have a unique position. We have the chance for those aboard this vessel to perform duties that they would not normally fill. We can shift people around as we need to fit the roles this ship is going to need. You, for instance, would make an excellent medical officer. I could lend a very versatile hand with engineering, I know these engines almost as well as your Chief Engineer does. I'm sure that there are many others among the crew who could make this work well. We could be flexible. We don't need to wait for brass. If Major DeVries, for instance, can lend a hand calibrating the bridge tactical sensors to receive feeds from engineering and science, she won't even need to ask for them."

"All valid points that we can surely explore, Lieutenant," Captain Cowell nodded as he listened to the man speak.

Dravik quietly slipped into the lounge, nodding to the old Man, and the Major, "Ma'am," as he took a long drink from the Hot Tea and Engine Room Hooch concoction he had in his mug, he got a small smirk as he considered the anonymously placed bottle of alcohol on the old Man's desk in his Ready Room. As he took his seat he perused the other faces in the room, nodded his noseless head in the general direction of the rest of the officers, " 'Sup? " The man without a true form, was surely still a bit of a novelty to a few of the newer senior staff officers, however he had come to expect such a reaction from those who had never met a member of his race, which was nearly everyone.

"So, what's this party all about, Cap'n?"

"It's about all the fun we're going to have being stuck out in the middle of nowhere, Stretch. I'm sure you'll have plenty of opportunities to take the form of Captain Scott and bitch about you not having enough of anything to do anything down in the Engine Room," Nathan quipped at the shape shifter.

Aiden strolled into the lounge after having been just relieved of his station by Lieutenant Marion. While he was a fan of running his own meetings with his own folks, he dreaded staff meetings. Still, this was his first one since he had arrived on board. As always, he hoped to keep his nose below the radar for the duration. However, that rarely worked out in his favor or as he planned.

The Lieutenant saw most of his peers present and accounted for, and decided to toss his PADD down on the seat most opposite of that of the Captain. He hated fighting for elbow room amongst others. He gave a curt nod to those he made eye contact with, and his ears perked up when he heard Beliard taking about being short handed. Aiden was about to offer a hand in astrometrics with his background in stellar cartography, but opted again to continue under the radar as usual. Instead he found himself drawn to the replicator. Most of the folks present had a glass or mug in front of them, but Aiden's stomach began to growl after a long bridge shift. "Two pieces of Key Lime Pie with a side of two scoops of vanilla ice cream.. all on the same dish..."

Aiden returned to the table after the shimmer of light in the replicator produced his midday snack. Without looking around, he announced out loud innocently. "What? I'm watching my boyish figure?"

"Yeah, about as closely as all those random pieces of scattered ass you seem to collect..." the Captain observed sarcastically.

Aiden decided against asking the Old Man about his own encounters will such things over the course of the most recent leave. Somethings were best left unsaid, besides his pie did taste rather good.

Thomas couldn't completely stifle the snicker at the Captain's comment. News traveled fast on a starship. He took a moment to study the Chief Engineer, the one that Captain had called Stretch. The man, if that's what he was, seemed to have no regard for authority. Beliard was told he was a capable engineer, though. Thomas surmised that formality was less of a protocol on this ship than at UP. Granted there weren't any flag officers meandering the corridors here either.

Antoine Theroit stepped into the lounge and took the nearest empty seat. He reached for a PADD in the middle of the table.

Lieutenant Valdor crossed the threshold into the lounge, PADD in her left hand and a pleasant but focused expression on her face. She looked around the room for an empty seat. She took hers beside Antoine and waited patiently for the Captain to begin the briefing on their next mission.

Theroit nodded his head when she sat down beside him, "How you do?"

As the doors parted to the lounge, the sandy-haired -which was true in both ways- boy glided through on a single stride, letting his momentum carrying him past the length of the table's facing side, the tail of his Hawaiian-styled shirt fluttering behind him. Executing a half pirouette on the toe of his left foot, he set off around the short end of the conference table. He had to lean to make it around the sharp curve of the room to the other side of the table, where he rolled past the second side and caught himself on the edge of the table as he tipped himself onto his toes, letting the rubber stoppers and the table's edge bring him to a halt.

As the Miran lowered himself into the vacant chair next to the Captain, briefly grimacing at the reminder of his barely-dry board shorts, he glanced at the waiting faces. "Looks like almost everyone's already here, huh?" he asked, swiveling to face Cowell properly, "'scuse my lateness, I couldn't resist one last hill." As he spoke, he spun the rollers attached to his shoes on the ground, lifting up the foot to show the assembled staff. Jack grinned back to the assemblage as he lowered his foot once more, "So how'd everyone enjoy Shore Leave?"

Nathan glanced around the room long enough to take an account of their missing man. Cmdr. Halsey had yet to arrive, but given his departmental affiliation, anything Nathan had to brief would likely show up in a report that filtered across his desk anyway, so he would probably not benefit in any tangible way in the first place.

"I'm sure everyone had barrels full of fun kid," Nathan said abruptly, "And after this meeting is over we can all sit around and talk about it. Right now, we have business to attend to."

Nathan rose and walked to the large display at the rear of the room where he tapped a few commands on the PADD he'd grabbed off the table. He brought up a tactical image of the Gavarian Corridor, which stood as a 400 light-year stretch of space that bore no political affiliation to any power at the moment. It was also the pathway into the larger Gavarian Expanse which held countless worlds that had yet to be discovered and contacted. It was the 24th Century version of the frontier.

"This, boys and girls, is where we're headed. It's a lawless, empty, dangerous stretch of highway that we and only a handful of other ships will be tasked with patrolling. That being said, we're the only dedicated gun boat; this means our duties are going to include blowing up bad guys, escorting high value cargo ships to colony worlds and the occasional preemptive ass kicking," Nathan began before the screen narrowed to display Deep Space 10 and the surrounding space.

"This is going to be home for the time being. We won't be seeing anything this side of that station for a while. If you want to get off the boat before we strike out into this new frontier, you better put in your papers. After we leave that station once we get our final influx of supplies, there's no going back. You need to also pass along to your respective departments that we're about to leave civilization behind. If everything goes ahead of schedule at Deep Space 10, I might give everyone a day pass to get their personal crap in order, but there's no promises of that. It will rest solely on your shoulders as department heads to get things done quickly and correctly the first time," Nathan continued before the screen shifted to the portion of the Corridor that had been designated as a high threat area.

"This is the sector we'll be patrolling, which will overlap three more sectors. Traffic in this area has been hit and hard, though as of yet no one has been killed in the raids. That doesn't mean that will be the trend, so we're not going to just respond to distress calls lazily. Urgency out here is the key to making this place safe. I've already been authorized to use deadly force against all aggressors in this area since the territory isn't claimed by anyone, so we're not going to run the risk of a diplomatic situation should we pop a few ships. But, thanks to the wisdom of the Fleet, they've sent us a diplomat anyway just in case we run into a situation that needs more jaw jacking than napalm fly swatting. Welcome aboard, by the way," Nathan said, nodding to the Diplomatic Officer briefly before moving on.

"This patrol run should last us about two months, baring any major incidences, before we push on deeper down the Corridor. When we get to that point, we'll be heading to these sectors," Nathan indicated on the map after it had shifted positions again, "And we'll be there for at least two months. Each patrol will follow that same course until we've covered the entire length of the Corridor, then we turn back."

Nathan turned the display off and returned to his seat before continuing, "It is imperative that everyone get with their people and start mapping out training plans, drills, and supply manifests that you anticipate needing. I don't want to be halfway down the Corridor and someone come crying that they are running out of something important. If we have to fill in spare rooms with supplies, we'll do it just so we aren't short shitted. Now for the fun stuff..."

Nathan began addressing departments specifically, "Ops, it's your job to handle all the supply issues. I want you to hit every single department one by one and make sure they have what they need and then some. Also, if you would, get with the Kid and see who we're getting from Command before we depart. Any spare rooms will be converted into cargo holds and I want you to divide them up into clusters for each department. if you have to, kick people out of rooms and relocate them into a centralized area to make this happen. Leave the O-3s and above where ever they are, everyone else can be shuffled."

"Medical, I want you to get with those people on the ship who have any medical training whatsoever and give them more. Aside from myself, I don't think we have that many people that can perform surgeries if need be and I want you to train up at least four field surgeons. You don't have to certify them all immediately, but get them spun up. The more people we have with advanced training, the less we risk losing people in the long run," Nathan addressed his Chief of Medicine.

The Captain then turned to the Chief of Science, "If there are any people on the ship that minored in a science that would classify as an immediate need; stellar cartography, astrometrics, that sort of thing, go ahead and peg them for additional duties as required. I don't want them living in your labs but I will authorize you to pull essential personnel to assist you in critical mission operations. get with their respective Department Heads to work out a rotation."

"Stretch!" Nathan said, his gaze falling on the shape shifting annoyance, "I want you to identify systems that we're going to have the most wear and tear on and double requisition replacement parts. I also want you and your new drone to tear ass through the ship and overhaul everything that might need it prior to us going in to the Corridor. Even things that aren't broke but might break soon need to get some of that good lovin' you Engineers like to administer. Short of dropping us out of warp, do everything you can. And I recommend you follow along with Mister Beliard's suggestion and identify Engineering minors that can make your job go quicker."

Nathan then turned to Major DeVries, "I'll talk to you later..."

He then leaned back in his chair, "Unless I've forgotten anything important, this is the time for questions. If you got them, voice them. If not, feel free to sky on out of here and get crackin'."

"Captain, one thing before we adjourn. I have a total of 3 science labs. The labs on deck 6 could be converted to makeshift cargo bays, or a secondary sickbay. All they are there for is the added console space of additional eggheads. Also there is a terminal devoted to the science department on the bridge. I see only the need for one science lab, the astrometrics lab and the bridge console. It's all the same sensor readings for everything but the astrometrics lab," Thomas said as he tapped his PADD to verify that all commands could be routed to one lab.

"I don't foresee us needing three sickbays, honestly, so get with Lieutenant Roberts and get them converted into cargo space. Hell, use them for your own supplies if you want to. That would actually work out perfectly if you think about it. Make that happen, gentlemen," Nathan decided.

Nathan looked around the room one more time, "Anyone else? No... no... no... Alright then, let's get this stuff done. Major, meet me in my office..."

With that, Captain Cowell stood and headed out the door.