New Home, New Duties

Posted on Fri Sep 11th, 2020 @ 9:46pm by Commander Ryan Blake & Captain Maia Sterling
Edited on on Thu Sep 24th, 2020 @ 4:42am

Mission: The Thorion Conundrum Mission Brief
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: SD 39409.12 / 0900hours

Ryan stepped out of the turbolift with his PADD in hand. He was eager to report in and begin his new duties. He gave a nod to the officers and crew on the bridge. He crossed the bridge to the Captain's Ready Room and activated the chime at precisely 0900 hours.

"Enter"

"Ah Mr Blake I assume you have your transfer orders in hand and your training jacket?" the Captain asked.

Ryan gave a waggle of his PADD as he crossed the room to the front of Maia's desk. He stopped at the precise distance and came to attention. "Captain, Lieutenant Ryan James Blake reporting for duty as Chief Strategic Operations Officer. Computer retrieve Order 724168 from my PADD and post to the USS Leto's duty billet database." He remained at attention, though with the smallest of grins on his face.

Maia picked up the PADD looked it over then stood up.

"Welcome aboard Mr Blake," she said offering him her hand.

Ryan took Maia's hand, giving it three firm shakes and dropping it. "Privilege and honor are mine Captain. I am eager to get started once I complete my in process." He looked askance at her. "Any particular task you would like me to address first once that is done?"

"Medical physical, Quarters assignment and getting your section under control. You have a full plate now Mr. Blake. I will give you a day or two too settle in before I dump more work on you. By the way Senior Chief Keitel came aboard at 0600 this morning. He is settling in as well. Have you checked in with the XO? She may have something for you to do. I have not yet read this mornings Intel brief its due in 20 minutes."

Maia smiled.

"Have you had breakfast yet Lieutenant?" The Captain asked.

Ryan made a mental note to complete the task Maia had set for him. He had planned to do all those things throughout the day as he conducted a walkabout of the ship. Her final question caught him a bit off guard. "Actually, Captain, I haven't. I was a bit busy getting some personal effects packed." He gestured at his PADD. "As for the intelligence report. I had the foresight to stop by my old work station and had it uploaded to the Leto's database before boarding this morning. We could go over it during breakfast if you like."

"Excellent suggestion I'm famished. Officers mess sound good to you?" Maia asked.

Ryan nodded as he retrieved his PADD from the desk. He stepped towards the door and waited for her.

Maia got up and walked past him and back out onto the bridge

"Duty officer Sona, Lt. Blake and I are going to grab a bite to eat. We will be in the officers mess on deck 8 if anyone needs us." MAia said

"Aye Captain: LtJG Sona replied.

Maia led the way to the turbo lift.

"Deck 8, Officers mess" Maia told the computer.

The turbo lift whisked them away.

Ryan had remained quiet from Maia's Ready Room to the the turbolift. He was still wondering at his luck in pulling down this assignment. He gestured as the turbolift doors as the opened. "Captain's first."

Maia led the way into the officers mess. They took an unoccupied table and Maia ordered silver dollar pancakes with blueberry syrup and some coffee.

"What are you having Mr. Blake?"

Ryan was actually quite hungry as the last decent meal he'd had was lunch the day before. He ordered up a large helping of biscuits and gravy, two eggs over medium, four sausages and hash brown, along with an orange juice and coffee. Once the order was placed, he turned to Maia. "Would the Captain like to go over the full report or I did prepare a summary brief if that is more to your liking?"

"Please Mr. Blake I would appreciate that" Maia said, quietly sipping her coffee with a pleasant smile on her face.

Ryan pulled out his PADD. He took a moment to review the report summary before looking up at Maia. "Really is not much more than what we discussed last night." His eyes narrowed as he read an addendum to the original morning report. "One additional note is the presence of a B'rel-class Bird of Prey spotted near the Thorion system. The Klingon Defense Force denies they have any ships in the area."

"I wouldn't be surprised if our pirate friend Captain Arwella was back to cause us harm again. Of course it could be a rogue privateer or even miners. What is the market value of a B'Rel class scout?" Maia replied.

Ryan was not sure if Maia was being rhetorical with her question or not. What he did know was a number of B'rel-class ships were being decommissioned from the KDF and either scrapped, mothballed or finding their way into the private sector. "If I had to hazard a guess, it would be a mercenary outfit of some kind."

"Orion pirates would consider themselves to be mercenaries or even privateers. Fought them before they can be pretty ruthless. I've learned to always give them a way out, if they take it you might save a lot of lives. There is a certain honor among thieves. Is there anything else in that report? Anything about the Federation ambassadorial appointment to Thorion-4?" Maia asked.

Ryan checked his notes and saw a name he recognized. "Henry Langley. He is a friend of my mother's and a very shrewd negotiator, with a keen mind. I remember my mom telling me he was the head of the SCIS Special Projects Division during his tenure in Starfleet Intelligence before opting for a post in the Federation Diplomatic Corps." He read further. "The Federation Science Council is attaching a small team of scientists on a temporary assignment as well." He looked up at Maia. "Probably for a mineral study of the Pergium deposits on Thorion III."

"Where are we to pick him up?" Maia asked.

"We're to rendezvous with the USS Bellerophon about a day out from Thorion IV. Ambassador Langley just finished mediating a dispute between the Gorn and a Romulan refugee planet in the Epsilon Gamma system." He checked his notes regarding the Science team. "The Leonardo da Vinci is making port call at the starbase within the hour. The science team attached to the mission should be able to board this afternoon."

"It's a good thing that we are almost ready to launch. I received a subspace message from our Task Force commanding officer Captain Jasmine Somers. She wants to officiate at out launching ceremony. I told her we would be honored to have her officiate." Maia said.

Ryan mock groaned. "I guess I will need to send my dress whites to the dry cleaners." He then gave a light-hearted chuckle.

"You and me both Mr. Blake. Are you unpacked and settled in?" Maia asked.

Ryan shook his head. "I packed my belongings this morning before coming aboard. The starbase logistics division will deliver it to my on board quarters this afternoon." He paused for a sip of coffee. "I will get unpacked over the next day or two." He gave one last look at his notes as he finished his breakfast. "If you have nothing further Captain? I was going to get my in-processing started and take a walkabout tour of the ship. Meet the XO and other Department Heads."

"I have nothing further thanks for having breakfast with me." Maia said.

They cleared there plates and headed there own separate ways.

[OFF]

______________________________________________

A Post by:

Commander Maia Sterling
USS Leto NCC-80916
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Ryan Blake
USS Leto NCC-80916
Strategic Operations Officer