From the Horse's Mouth

Posted on Tue Jun 8th, 2010 @ 4:56pm by Commodore Samantha York & Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara

1,320 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Transitions
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Current

ON

Sam was almost caught up with her paperwork on both ships, but she still had some questions about the ghezuns and how they came to destroy the Orion. Or, almost destroy it. She'd talked to John, so now she needed to hear from her Chief of Security.

"York to Jaxara. Can you meet me in my ready room at your earliest convenience?"

Jaxara pressed the doorbell to her ready room. He had, in his hand, just the report for the Commanding Officer, that he suspected her requests were about. "Certainly Captain." He said, into his comm-badge, while waiting for her to tell the door to open.

"That was serendipitous," she said when he entered. "Have a seat and tell me about the ghezun."

Lorne handed Commander York the PADD he had in his hand. "You'll find all the associated paperwork already filed. Basically, near as we can tell, they entered the ship from what we think was one of the shuttle-bays, based on their home-nest location. They were... bothersome." Lorne noted. "I've got 19 Security officers that are on 'restricted duty', after a trip to sickbay from those blasted things."

"Oh? Nineteen? How did the ghezun manage to injure so many?" And how did they multiply so quickly? But she wasn't going to ask that last question. She doubted Lorne would know the answer.

"They are low to the ground, and fairly resistant to phaser fire." Lorne noted. "And it would seem that some of my Security Officers are in need of accuracy retraining. I was rather disturbed by some of the aim, apparently including my own. These things were very fairly bothersome though. Anything that can chew through solid walls, and power/fiber optic cables are a real security nightmare, as it's hard to cordon them off, or contain them."

"I saw the lounge," Sam admitted. "It was... disturbing." What was disturbing was how badly they'd missed the creatures. "Perhaps some cross training with the Marines is in order? I'm sure Lieutenant Mangalia will be happy to help your officers become marksmen." A thought occurred to her and a twinkle came to her eye. "Or their CO can beat them in at target shooting. Might make give them the motivation they need to do better." She wasn't going to tell them that she'd become an expert shot to beat her brothers. That wasn't something they needed to know. But it might make them a little less cocky, which should make them work harder.

Jaxara smirked. "I suppose I wouldn't mind a little help with Security training from they who know better. Mind you, if I remember the rumors I heard right, I'm pretty sure even my Commanding Officer could beat my scores on the shooting range."

Sam grinned. "There are rumors, are there?" That made her chuckle. "Maybe it'll make some want to do better on their phaser recertification. Talk to your Master-at-Arms about it." That reminded her, she should be getting her recertification soon.

"Master-at-Arms... haven't met them yet. I think we are getting a new one from Typhon, actually." Lorne noted. "No idea who it is though."

Sam tapped a few keys on her computer. "You're right. Should be reporting in the day after tomorrow. Something to look forward to," she said with a grin.

Lorne nodded. "Hopefully, it'll be someone who doesn't mind a lot of work. I'm going to get the entire Security staff phaser retested while we're in dock. Might consider grabbing a few people from other departments, including the Executive Officer, who wanted to go hunting after Ghezuns with slug throwers."

"I happen to like slug throwers," Sam said with mock severity. "I prefer them for target shooting. You need to have a better eye and a steadier hand to use one effectively. With a phaser you only have to get close and move the beam." Then she broke into a grin. "However, you can count me in for one of the first to get recertified. Nothing like leading by example."

Lorne laughed. "True enough. True enough. I'm not a big fan of slug throwers on starships, for security use. They can break far too many things. Mind you, in this specific instance, I doubt that was relevant."

Sam laughed along with him. "I have to agree with you. Slug throwers and starships are not a good combination as a general rule. Is there anything else I should know about the ghezun hunt or your security officers -- besides the fact that they should never be allowed to repair lounges." She'd heard Ted complain about it on several occasions since her return from Tiberius IV.

Lorne laughed. "Other than the fact that the lounge owner is a blowhard, and that he has become an excessively low priority for Security details, not especially, no."

"The lounge owner is, technically, me," she said, trying hard not to laugh. "But the lounge manager does tend to go a bit overboard at times. I have spoken to him about it." She didn't think it helped any.

Lorne shrugged. "He can deal with his own drunks misbehaving. He has the entirety of the department of Security despising him."

"I don't care if you like him or not, just remember that the lounge is on my ship. I won't have it become a place for drunk and disorderly conduct. If there becomes a problem, I'll throw the offending crewman and the security officer on duty in the brig." Sam eyed him soberly. "As long as we understand each other on this, I don't care what you think of the man personally." She paused for a moment. "Perhaps you can have him get his phaser certification so he can keep something other than a baseball bat behind his bar?"

Lorne looked disgusted. "You mean to say he doesn't have one?"

She shrugged. "I only heard about the baseball bat. If he has anything else, he hasn't mentioned it -- nor has anyone else."

"Against regulations, if he does. He is required to keep security informed of any potential weapon. I'll send the Master-at-Arms down to inventory his knives when he shows up, and see how Ted takes that, before suggesting Phaser certification."

"He is allowed knives for cooking, Lieutenant. You start nit picking the regs with him I'll have to come down harder on security. However, you're more than welcome to send him to weapons training or self-defense," she said. "Now, if there's nothing else, I believe I have all I need." And then some. She knew there were bad feelings between Security and the Lounge staff, but she had no idea how deep they ran. She would keep an eye on both
parties to be sure they played nice with each other.

Lorne nodded. "None the less, ma'am, that's vital information for potential ship-takeover scenarios that is required to be documented. That is why I recommended someone else do the job, as I do not believe I could refrain from smacking the man at least once."

"Understood," Sam said, standing. "Just remember, my quarters are above the lounge. If you won't do it for Ted, do it for my peace of mind. I don't like being woken in the middle of the night by explosions beneath my bedroom."

Jaxara nodded. "I'll keep it in mind, ma'am."

"You do that," Sam replied. "Just remember, I get cranky when things shoot through my floor, too." She tried not to chuckle. She really didn't want any lounge problems to become problems for her quarters, but she also understood how the security officer felt. "Thank you for stopping by -- and for the information."

She shook her head as she watched him leave. Maybe she should make sure her quarters had a bulletproof floor?

OFF

Commander Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Lieutenant Lorne Jaxara
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Calypso

 

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