Making Rounds
Posted on Thu Dec 7th, 2017 @ 4:34pm by Commodore Tyler Malbrooke
Edited on on Thu May 31st, 2018 @ 9:59pm
2,479 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Enemy Within
Location: Chief of Operations Office - Deck 6
Timeline: MD002 1100 hrs
Tags: SD 71373.1100
Tyler decided to take a walk around his ship. It was a little disconcerting to him that although everyone smiled and greeted him when they saw him. There was a cold distance, he missed the camaraderie that one of lower rank had with their shipmates. The loneliness of command he thought.
He decided to see how the youngest of his senior staff was adjusting. He chuckled to himself youngest she is half Vulcan and most likely older than most. But, this was her first deep space assignment. So he rang the chime for the Ops Chief's office.
T'Rish had just requested a cup of hot tea from her replicator when she felt the man on the other side of the door. The chime rang out and she called for him to enter. Despite the short time she had spent on the ship she had made a point to recognize Commander Malbrooke and his moods. She could sense the loneliness coming from him. It was a normal reaction to command. He was surrounded by people by himself. Turning to the replicator she ordered him a cup of coffee with the sugar and milk on the side. Holding out the cup as he entered she nodded to him. "I apologize in advance for my informal assumption but I was just getting myself a cup of tea and figured I would offer you some coffee." she state coolly. "I don't know how you take it so there is milk and sugar also." Once he had taken his cup from her she took a sip before moving to her couch.
Tyler walked in and was taken aback there was only one woman who knew what he wanted before he asked, and that was his wife. However, then he realized that his Ops Chief was half Betazoid and probably felt his need for caffeine. He smiled broadly "Thanks Ensign I needed this..." he said taking the coffee. "So tell me how are you adjusting... I just thought I would check in as I know how daunting a first deep space assignment can be..."
T'Rish took another sip of her tea. Her eyes fluttering closed as she savored the sharp taste of her unsweetened herbal tea. "This may be my first deep space assignment with Starfleet, but I spent 6 years on a Bolian freighter before the Academy." she paused as she took a seat. she was being more informal than she normally would have been but after spending some time with the good doctor she felt more, comfortable. "Deep space feels more like home than being planet or station side does." She wrapped her hands around her cup. The chill in her skin was ever present at Terrain room temperature, but the constant supply of hot tea always seemed to help.
Tyler sipped his coffee and let the warmth and caffeine wash over him. "This is really good coffee you must be looking for a promotion." He said with a chuckle. "But, there must be a place where your family is, where your heart lays. A place where you can call home." He added.
"Oh please..." She started remembering herself as she motioned for the couch. "Have a seat." She smiled an almost imperceptible smile at the comment regarding the promotion. She knew she wasn't the type to be content as an Ensign, but she hoped it wouldn't be her ability to replicate coffee that would secure it for her.
Pondering her statement for a moment she tried to figure out how to respond. "I guess Vulcan would be home, but only in the sense that my people are there. By that logic, Betazed is also home however I have never been there." She took another sip of her tea as her body absently tucked her foot underneath her to get more comfortable. "The Academy never really felt like home, I guess the Jedzek would be the closest to a home...but even then..." She left the implication hanging between the two of them. Why she was suddenly so willing to discuss her past was not even a concern at the present moment.
Tyler sat down on the couch and laughed at her response to the promotion. "I put this to you for your logic to ponder. Home is where your heart lay. Now I know the Vulcan side of you would deem it emotional, however, hear me out. Home is where you are most comfortable, most yourself. Not wary of how people judge you or perceive you. I sure hope that I can make this ship home for my crew, and by extension Empok Nor." Tyler sipped again...
"Using the parameters of your definition..." The hybrid started. "Then I guess you would currently be sitting in my home." She took another sip of her tea. "This is my domain within your domain." She continued. "Where I feel the least out of place. That may be the closest I get for the time being." She wondered if she would ever feel at home as much a Richard seemed to where ever he was.
"Then why are you sitting here so uncomfortable... I have noticed around the ship and even right here, in your home. You are always tensed up, holding something warm. Now I deduce that is because you have Vulcan blood and are not fully used to the ambient temperatures on a starship." Tyler steeled his eyes on her.
"Computer raise ambient temperature in this room to 27 degrees Celsius..." The computer acknowledged the command with a chime. "There that should make your home more comfortable" he said and smiled. "You should never be worried about other people in your personal space. This office is yours and therefore should be suited to your needs." Tyler took a deep sip of his coffee. He thought that he may regret those words as he remembered his time on Vulcan.
T'Rish's eyes closed as she savored the added warmth that filled the room around her. It wasn't a large difference but it took the edge off of the chill she was always carrying with her. She had made the change to her quarters, but hadn't seen the logic in doing so in her office as it would only benefit her. The added warmth didn't stop her from wrapping herself more within herself before she spoke. "I appreciate that, Sir." She couldn't help the contented curve to her lips as she enjoyed another sip of her tea.
"As I said when in your domain people must bend to your will. You straighten out the Bajoran problem?" Tyler said as he sipped his coffee. He was glad that he was able to make her happy even for a moment, but two things nagged at his mind. The first was the sight of a smiling Vulcan. The second was how long he could sit here as the sweat beaded his head. He decided it would be a self challenge.
"Yes and no." The Hybrid replied. "She is at least showing up for her duty shifts on time, but her attitude and attention to detail leave a lot to be desired. I do not believe it is outside of my ability to handle." She looked at CO noting his discomfort in the new temperature of her office. Guilt, she finally decided is what she was feeling she was experiencing. "How about you? Has anyone other than your wife asked how you are doing?"
It dawned on him that in fact no. Well other that his wife and his other wife, the XO, no one did. "In fact no I guess that is the nature of command. But I am doing well, we have a good ship and a good crew. Feels good to get out there and start to poke around as it were." He closed his eyes as he felt the subtle vibration of the ship at warp and heard the small hum of the warp core. He was proud and he was home...
"Your love for this antiquated ship is still puzzling." She couldn't help it. His reaction the first time had been...amusing to the Betazoid part of her. She shouldn't tease her commanding officer, but Richard had suggested she try to embrace her emphatic side more. "I have to admit, I have grown quite fond of this ship in the few days I have been here."
"The Intrepid class is not as old as you think, and the Pioneer herself was just commissioned in January of this year. She is not as old as you think. There are many light years left for this old girl." He said and he smiled...
"I also find your sensitivity regarding the intrepid class to be illogical." She took another sip of tea. Her cup was now empty and that made her long for another cup. Pushing off the couch she moved to the replicator on the opposite wall. "Do you need a refill?" She offered. She noticed the increased perspiration of her CO. She was tempted to lower the temperature in her office she didn't want his increased discomfort to lead him to leave. She was finding that she enjoyed having people around.
"You want to see the logic in loving the ship you are on? I would direct you to any and all transcripts by a certain Spock. He speaks of his time serving on the Enterprise rather illogically I would think. Well according to your parameters it is illogical. It is not illogical to have pride in ones work. And don't tell me that Vulcans don't experience pride. I know better. No thanks on the refill..." He smiled and gave her a small wink...
In a very non-Vulcan move, T'Rish rolled her eyes as she retrieved the newly replicated cup of tea from the replicator and moved back to the couch. "Performing ones duties in an exemplary fashion is not pride and doing so is in fact logical. Pride is the emotional need to pat ones self on the back for performing ones duties to a high level, which you should already do. Thus, performing exemplary becomes the expected normal for the task and is no longer deserving of pride . So yes, pride is as illogical as any other emotion." She sank down onto the couch once again pulling herself tight to conserve heat. "Additionally, Spock was a human vulcan hybrid, much like me, many of his baser reactions were not based in logic." She added to dismiss his previous comment.
Tyler was surprised at her response, he had never heard another Vulcan speak of the venerated ambassador in such a way. "If this ship is so antiquated then tell me youngling... Why are you here? What is keeping you here? Where is the logic in staying in a place where you will learn nothing new?" Tyler leaned back on the couch and gazed out the window a the space beyond.
T'Rish simply look up at her commanding officer and replied. "You." She took a sip of her tea. "I wanted to this posting to learn from and serve with you." Her face was passive as she wrapped her hand around the cup.
It was Tyler's turn to raise an eyebrow in that Vulcan fashion. "Well Operations is where I started, and any good Ops Officer does not make ill comments about their ship." Tyler replied and smirked at her.
"Noted." The Vulcan replied easily. "Technically, I was questioning your attachment to the intrepid class. Not this ship. A Captain's attachment to his ship and crew is only logical. Like a duck and her ducklings." She couldn't help but return his smirk.
"I do believe that your own logic answered the question. A Captain should be attached to his ship it is simple, logical..." He smiled and impersonated a Vulcan's monotonic way of speaking at the end of his statement.
"I am glad that we are finally in agreement." She replied either completely missing his mocking tone or ignoring it. "Perhaps in the future you can keep that in perspective when I annoy you." Richard really was a bad influence on the Hybrid.
"Ensign if you believe that you annoy me you are sorely mistaken. If that is the empathetic feeling that you are getting then you may need to go get your skills brushed up. You don't annoy me in any way..." Tyler looked at her steely eyed.
"Perhaps,..." She replied. She looked at the chronometer on her desk before looking back to her CO. "I am sure you have more important things to do than sit on my couch while your baby is at warp." She gave him an excuse to leave suddenly becoming aware of how much time they had spent on her couch. "Not, that I mean to imply that you are wasting you time by getting to know a senior officer." she left the remaining meeting hanging in the air between them.
Tyler stood up... "Well Ensign, if you have better things to do... then I will be on my way." He smiled at her as he made for the door. He did not find her annoying and that was the truth. He viewed her more as a father viewed a daughter.
T'Rish raised her eyebrow questioningly. That wasn't what she had implied or said at all. With a shake of her head. "By all means...I didn't mean to keep you." She figured she would add to the confusion of the situation. She could tell that despite her better judgement she was going to befriend the CO.
Tyler stopped just short of the door. "I'll tell you what, how about a game of Kalto?"
"Only if you are willing to teach me." She replied. "I used to watch my parents play, but it has been years and I have never played."
Tyler replicated a Kalto set, and set the game up on the table. "Well you see Kalto is a game of shapes and logic." He turned the game on and a jumbled mass of grey bars appeared. "The goal is to rearrange these bars until it forms a cohesive shape like so." Tyler moved one bar and a small section of the mass changed shape into a square. "Structure, logic, function, control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control."
Tyler motioned for T'Rish to take a turn. and the two sat there and played a logic game as the ship sped toward the unknown.
A Joint Post By:
Commander Tyler Malbrooke
Commanding Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign T'Rish
Chief of Operations, USS Pioneer
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