Talking the helm

Posted on Tuesday August 27th, 2019 @ 9:34pm by Lieutenant Commander Freya Mannerheim & Lieutenant JG Madison Brinsley

830 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Departure and Trial Run
Location: LT Freya's Quarters, Deck 4
Timeline: Pre-Departure, Post-Briefing
Tags: Pre-departure, post-briefing, conn, meeting

Freya was sitting in an armchair in her quarters. She had taken off her uniform, changing into her far more comfortable exercise gear, and was reading the latest reports from the Federation's news networks, trying to switch off a little from yet another long, tedious day of brooding over navigational charts and calibrating the helm systems.

It was about time the ship got underway, she thought to herself, as she took a sip from the glass of spiced rum on the table next to her. It had taken her a while to track down an unreplicated bottle, but she had finally found a Ferengi merchant on Starbase 99 that had exactly what she was looking for. She smiled to herself as she remembered the slightly more aggressive negotiation tactics she had had to employ to get the Ferengi to budge on his ridiculous prices. Whatever universe, she mused, Ferengi would always be greedy bastards.

She was interrupted in her musings by the door chime, and she immediately realised she had forgotten the time. This had to be Lieutenant Brinsley, the Assistant Chief Flight Control officer, she assumed. "Enter!", she called out, and put aside her PADD.

Madison heard a voice from behind the door granting her permission to enter Freya's quarters. She pressed the button next to her - causing the doors to swish apart and enable her to enter the room. Once she was inside Madison stood just inside the door - which had closed behind her - and smiled at Freya.

"Lieutenant Brinsley reporting as requested" Madison said.

Freya stood, inwardly thanking luck for not having taken off her prosthetic leg, and walked over to the Lieutenant, shaking her hand. "Lieutenant Freya. Nice to meet you, Mrs Brinsley. I met your wife at breakfast this morning, we had a nice chat." She indicated the small sofa in the corner. "Please, take a seat. May I offer you something to drink?"

"Likewise Lieutenant - my wife reminded me that we'd agreed to meet up here this evening" Madison replied.

Madison took the offered seat before sitting down and taking up Freya's offer of something to drink. She'd not long had something - but felt like she could do with something a bit more refreshing than a cup of tea.

Madison concluded. "Erm...I'll have a pineapple juice please"

Quickly, Freya went to the replicator to fetch Madison's juice, the grabbed her rum before sitting down next to her. "So, you are the Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer? Quite a mouthful, that title, isn't it." She laughed. "Anyway. What experience do you have with Miranda-Class vessels?"

Madison gratefully accepted the drink before taking a much needed long sip of it.

"Honestly? Outside of training simulations none whatsoever I'm afraid - although I'm confident I'll be able to navigate the Poseidon with out any difficulties" Madison responded.

Freya nodded and took a sip from her own drink. "I see we have similar amounts of experience on this type of ship then. Still, I am sure we are going to do just fine." She stood and went to her desk, picking up a PADD she had worked on earlier, and handed it to Madison. "Here's the navigational charts for our journey, and what I think is the best route. I would be grateful if you could review them and give me your opinion. I have also attached the personnel file of one Ensign Smith, who I am told will join us until we reach Starbase 47, where we will collect the permanent third member of our team." She smiled. "Any questions, Lieutenant?"

Madison accepted the PADD and started looking at it. She would make sure to have a proper read of it once she got back to her quarters - or failing that the next morning before she got ready for her shift.

"Just one that I can think of off the top of my head - what shift rotation does the Poseidon use?" Madison asked.

"Standard three-shift rotation. I'll take the day shift, you'll be on in the evening, and Smith takes the night shift. At least for the start, we can change things around as needed."

Madison nodded. "That'll help with childcare arrangements - my wife is on the day shift so she'll be able to look after our daughters when I'm on shift and vice versa"

Freya smiled. "Excellent. If you ever need it rearranged for whatever reason, just let me know. Anything else?"

Madison finished her drink before putting the empty glass down on the nearby table. As she had no other questions she shook her head - keen to get back to her family and tell them how the meeting went.

"I can't think of anything - and thank you. I'll bear that in mind" Madison replied.

"Well then," Freya said, finishing her own drink. "You know where to find me if you need anything. Enjoy the rest of the free time before we head out."

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