Getting Acquainted

Posted on Sunday October 6th, 2019 @ 5:44am by Lieutenant Commander Canaan Serine & Ensign Dok, Trainee & Captain Franklin Johnson & Lieutenant Colonel Phoebe Graydon & Commander Kanaka Shakura & Lieutenant Commander Karn Karn & Lieutenant J'Loni Mo'Bri Daughter House L'Keth & Lieutenant Nealey Brinsley & Lieutenant Hibiki Zh'kallas & Lieutenant Commander Freya Mannerheim & Lieutenant JG Sydney Allen & Lieutenant JG Madison Brinsley & Ensign Erica Hartmann
Edited on on Saturday February 8th, 2020 @ 5:47pm

5,108 words; about a 26 minute read

Mission: Departure and Trial Run
Location: USS Poseidon; Recreational Lounge/Bar, Main Level, Deck 5
Timeline: Pre-Poseidon Launch; Pre-Departure; Post-Officer's Meeting

[ON]

J'Loni walked into the ships lounge and smiled. It would do nicely. Big enough and comfortable, airy and pleasantly cozy and ideally set in decor. Walking over to the bar she got a tankard of blood wine and input into the replicator the list of food she was going to set out. A dish from each of their homeworlds would also help set the mood. Then she did the same for the beverages. Scared half to death as it was her first getting acquainted shindigs and she needed to do this for her own sake.

Opening her commlink she dictated her invitation. ....=/\= To all Senior staff, I would like to invite you to a small gathering in the ship's lounge at 1300. I hope you can all attend. J'Loni Mo'Bri out.=/\= and closed the link. She walked to the window and waited to see who the first arrival would be.

In the Captain's Ready Room, Franklin heard the communication and sat there slightly puzzled. He shrugged it off, looking at his schedule for the day on his PADD and figuring he could detour. The Chief Engineer hadn't planned this out with anyone, it was spontaneous, so he had to ensure nothing conflicted. Seeing nothing did, he straightened his uniform and headed down a few decks to the main level of the rec lounge. There, upon entering he made way to the table where his Chief Engineer sat, but not before grabbing himself a glass of sweet tea from the replicator.

Sitting down, he greeted with a smile. "Fancy meeting you here, Chief," the Commander said with a toothy smile. "What's the occasion?"

"Well I thought it was a good idea for me to meet the crew in an informal gathering. Nothing fancy but just so we could all get to know each other...well especially me since I have been hibernating in engineering", J'Loni chuckled.

Canaan placed a small container filled with glass beakers and test tubes on the laboratory table, the announcement drawing his attention. Glancing around the biology lab, there was still much to accomplish before their departure, but a small break wouldn't hurt.

"Mr. Dok, please continue scanning and logging the inventory. I'll return in a little while to help you finish sorting out and storing it."

The young Ferengi nodded fervently, "Yes, sir, I will."

Canaan smiled at the Ensign's eagerness to impress, finding it a somewhat endearing quality. Turning on a heal, the science officer left science lab four for the nearest egress to deck five.

When he arrived, the Lieutenant ordered a glass of iced-coffee with streams of thick caramel coating the glass and a touch of vanilla sweet-cream. He turned from the replicator, searching the lounge for a familiar face.

"Ah!" He said excitedly, sighting Commander Johnson with their Klingon Chief Engineer. Approaching the table, he smiled broadly, "Captain, Chief." He nodded to both before gesturing to one of the empty chairs, "May I join you?" Although there was a standing invitation extended by Mo'Bri, manners weren't to be forgotten.

"Please come, have a seat and join us", J'Loni said motioning to a seat.

Hibiki wasn't a senior staff member, however she was still having an argument with her replicator in her quarters. It just wasn't up to what she wanted it to be. So instead she decided to go to the lounge and see what she could get there. She didn't expect a party to be going on.

She stepped through the doors and looked around. "Did I walk in on something?" she asked looking around slightly confused.

"Please!" Franklin insisted to Canaan, smiling towards Hibiki who appeared. "Come on in, you also!"

"Please, do come in and get what you would like. It was a spontaneous thing that popped into my head. Figured it would be the best way to get to know everyone.” J'Loni said. She was happy that her crew mates had accepted the invitation. This is just what she needed to help her back into the swing of things.

Hibiki wandered into the room. She wasn't very good at some situations like this, after all she was still considered a 'Junior officer'. She however did help herself to some of the food, hoping that it would suit her liking.

Canaan slid into a seat near the Chief. He raised his glass in salutations before taking a long draw from the containers' bevelled rim. " This was sorely needed, thank you." He noted, referring to the break. "How goes everything in engineering and on the bridge?" He posed to either senior officer as he nodded towards Hibiki, gesturing to one of the empty chairs for them to join the growing group of officers.

"Engineering is a virtual tomb at the moment. All my people are relaxing as everything so far is functioning correctly", J'Loni said, nodding to Hibiki to join them.

Nealey and Madison entered the lounge and made their way over to the buffet. They both helped themselves to a few of the delicious looking snacks each before heading over to the window - preferring to ease themselves into the evening.

Canaan smiled, "It still has the 'new car' smell, right?" He joked, understanding exactly what Mo'Bri meant about her people. Although, he imagined there were one or two engineers intent on achieving perfection, muddling about with improving the efficiency of some system or another. If Mo'Bri's engineers were anything like his scientists, then it was almost impossible for them not to try.

"How about in the armoury?" He wondered, turning to Hibiki.

"Well, its well-stocked so far" Hibiki replied with a smile. "Although we still have a lot of people to train up".

At that moment the Chief Counsellor walked into the Lounge. She took one glance over the room and noticed a number of the faces seated together and spread out further across the room. Straightening her jacket, she walked over towards the replicator - smiling at those seated together as she passed - grabbing herself a green tea. Blowing on it gently and taking the first sip with a satisfied look, she then went to join the huddle sat together with the Commanding Officer amongst them, while saying nothing except silent greetings, not wanting to interrupt the flow of the current conversation.

Franklin smiled at the approaching Chief Counsellor and Second Officer, nodding towards her.

"Fancy meeting you here." he said with a smirk.

Kana smiled and simply winked back at him, as in a way to subtly tell him that she was doing what she did best - observing others - before turning her attention back to the ongoing conversation, folding her legs and taking a very relaxed posture as she listened in.

Canaan sat directly opposite of Shakura. There was a nearly imperceptible change to his posture, which although still relaxed, had his back straightening against the back support of the chair. He crossed either leg of the other at the knee, as he rested the bottom of the glass against a thigh. He smiled politely toward the Counsellor, his gaze holding hers for a second or two longer than was customary, before turning his attention back to Hibiki.

Kana smiled politely back at him, quietly noting his slight change in posture as well as his preference in drink. Understandably he was still quite uncomfortable in her presence, especially after the rocky encounter of their first meeting, but the Chief Counsellor was confident that they would be able to turn that around when they had their own get-together. “I wonder how many of those he has a day?” She pondered, referring to his cold and sugar-filled beverage.

A small pale green face peeked through the glass in the doors. Erica wasn't sure what was going on. She ran her fingers over the ensign pip on her collar. Technically she was an officer now - she could go in - however the amount of senior officers gathered in the room made her start to feel nervous.

The Commander chanced a look to see the face in the glass, then smiled as he waved to beckon Erica in.

Erica wandered in nervously. Safe to say she felt a lot out of place. She had never been in the officers lounge before, especially with so many higher ranked officers around. She wandered over to a replicator and got herself a drink then stood near a bulkhead not sure what to do from there.

The Chief Counsellor noticed the young Medical Officer wander into the Lounge and end up standing near a bulkhead on her own. Having not had a chance to properly introduce herself to the Ensign since coming on-board, Kana thought she'd take the opportunity to introduce herself. Politely excusing herself from the group she was in, she approached Erica. "Ensign Hartmann? I'm Lieutenant Commander Shakura, the Chief Counsellor. It's a pleasure to finally meet a fellow member of the Medical personnel." She had of course encountered Lieutenant T'vek at the Senior Officers' Meeting, but they hadn't spoken, so she didn't consider that an official introduction.

"Erm... hi..." Erica replied nervously. "Sorry. I'm not used to this many official people around. Makes me uneasy." she explained with a small smile.

Kana took one glance around the room, then back to Erica. "If it's any consolation, I think this is a rather unofficial gathering." She smiled, "Relax, consider this off-duty time. Rank doesn't matter here, so let me re-introduce myself; my name's Kanaka, but I let my friends call me Kana."

Erica nodded. "Just don't let me drink too much of anything which may have alcohol in it," she said to the counsellor. "I've put those days behind me, the days when it would influence me and I'd wake up with another random guy." She sighed. "I hate being part Orion. It just... you know... takes over at times..."

The Chief Counsellor listened to the Medical Officer intently. She had studied Orion psychology as part of her training at the Academy, though it wasn’t something she majored in. "I'll keep that in mind. I've actually been thinking of whether to hold meditation classes for the crew. It's something I found which helped me a lot when I was younger and having to deal with my own inner conflicts. Would that be something that might interest you?"

"I can try... but my conflicts are more... biological." Erica explained blushing slightly. "Oh hey look... he's cute... I wonder if..." Erica started to take a step towards another young Ensign who had just passed them. It was like she had homed in on him somehow like a predator looking for prey, however Erica's sudden cravings from him were far different.

Kana took a brief moment merely to observe Erica as her behaviour changed rather suddenly as the young Ensign had come into her view. While she had observed Orions in the past, Erica’s behaviour seemed to be almost primal. Whatever switch had just flicked in her brain, it was clear that she didn’t seem to have much control over it. As she gravitated towards the young man, who seemed to have noticed and was becoming a little uneased, the Chief Counsellor stepped in. Taking the Medical Officer firmly by the shoulder so as to stop her from moving on the young officer, speaking confidently and assuringly. “Steady on, Erica.” She then looked over at the male Ensign and gestured with her eyes for him to go elsewhere in the room out of sight, which he seemed to take gladly as he shuffled away, his face red. Kana then turned Erica to face her. “Perhaps you and I should work together on these biological impulses, hm? Betazoid women experience something similar in their maturity, and while I’m not there yet, I’m very aware of the likelihood and have been preparing myself for that. Some of those techniques might help you, too.”

Phoebe had been on the bridge checking over some systems when the call came through. She decided to head down, knowing that she wouldn’t be needed on the bridge, and if she was then she wasn’t to far away. She walked up to the lounge doors and entered looking around to see if anyone was there that she could sit with. She waited a moment to see if anyone would beckon her over.

As Freya had been in one of her close-combat simulations when the invitation had gone out, she was slightly surprised when she entered the mess hall and found a small gathering of her fellow officers there. After her training session, she had taken a shower and quickly slipped into some comfortable clothes to go get something to eat. As she stood in the doorway in her black miniskirt with dark blue piping and her grey uniform undershirt, she felt slightly relieved that, at the last second, she had decided to grab the uniform jacket as well - the only thing she was missing was the red tunic with the rank pips, and she was secretly quite glad about that. Looking around the room, she walked over to the replicator and ordered a beer.

Sydney was in her bunk trying to get some shut-eye before launch when the call came through. She jumped up and sat in her bed for a few seconds until she pressed her comms button =/\= This is Sydney; What's happened? Is this urgent? =/\=.

Noticing it was his cue to respond, Franklin tapped his communicator to reply to Sydney's earlier enquiry. =/\= Sydney, this is Commander Johnson, it's not important just a meet and greet in the Recreational Mess. You're invited to come if you want. =/\=

By the time the Commander had replied Sydney had put on half of her uniform and was ready to run out the door until she realised what was happening. =/\= Oh I see commander, I will come down for a couple of minutes to introduce my self. =/\=

Sydney arrived at the lounge with her grey cargo trousers and a black tee-shirt and her ball cap with the symbol of Police Scotland Logo on. She was given that cap when she dropped off at the police station when she was born.

After their slight dispute at the Officer's Meeting, Franklin was cautious on how he approached the greeting. He gave a wave to the Quartermaster, gesturing towards an empty seat nearby,. "Welcome!"

Walking around the room and sipping her beer, Freya noticed Nealey and Madison, sat away from the crowd by a window, and decided to join them. "Evening, Lieutenant and Lieutenant Brinsley, mind if I join you?" she asked, smiling.

Nealey nodded. "Good evening - please do because we'd love the company of a familiar face. I'm not sure about Madison but I don't think I've spoken to many others since we arrived"

Madison shook her head at Nealey to confirm her wife's assumption before turning to smile at her department head who was stood in front of her.

Freya pulled a chair and sat. "Well, I noticed you were sat apart from the others, so I thought I would come and join you, if nobody else will." She paused for a moment and looked around the gathering again. "You know, one would think the Commander would have noticed such things, officers isolating themselves, or behaving a little off." She paused again, taking a swig from her beer, and watching their commander in conversation. "Somehow, I don't think he has the faintest idea who he really has on board his ship. I mean, with this strange crew, there are bound to be a few people who are something other than they appear to be."

"Sorry...we're just kinda getting used to all the new faces and such. We're not usually this antisocial - I promise." Madison replied.

Nealey nodded. "I know the feeling. There's hundreds of people on a typical starship and yet there'll always be faces and names you'll never know were on board at all."

Freya nodded wistfully. "There were so many people on the Cromwell. And yet I barely remember any names, let alone faces." She drained her drink. "Sorry, I did not want to bring down the mood. I just have a lot of my mind right now. Oh, Madison - I hope you don't mind me using your first names, otherwise this would be very confusing - have you had a chance to have a look at those charts I gave you?"

Madison nodded. "First names are fine - we get them a lot anyway. As for the star charts I managed to take a look at them earlier - I don't think there'll be any issues with those."

"Excellent", Freya nodded. "I'm hoping this will be a pretty straightforward operation. Would be nice for things to go smoothly for a change." She laughed, sipping from her beer. "I have not had much experience with things going to plan, really."

Nealey nodded. "I always prepare for the worst but hope for the best - at least then I'm less annoyed and more prepared if it does go wrong. Fingers crossed though."

"How's your beer?" Madison asked.

Freya tipped her bottle upside down. "Far too empty for my liking." She took off her glasses and gave them a wipe with her jacket hem before putting them back on. "I think I need something stronger. Can I get you ladies anything while I am at it?"

Madison smiled. "A beer for me please and...what would my wonderful wife like?"

"Oh go on I'll have one too. Thanks Freya." Nealey responded.

Freya nodded and headed off to the bar to grab the drinks, and returned a moment later with two bottles and a glass of non-replicated, nearly black spiced rum. "There we go,'' she said, setting the drinks down on the table. "It's nice to just have a friendly drink just like this. Not used to that kind of thing at all."

Madison and Nealey nodded and thanked Freya for their beers before raising them in toast to their new friendship.

"To new friends." Nealey said.

"To new friends," Freya said, raising her glass to meet theirs.

Franklin smiled as he watched the ensuing conversation, keeping quiet for the moment as he sipped his sweet tea silently.

At that moment, the Chief Engineer piped up. "Captain, this was a good idea and I see it is working. I hope that it is enough to help me in the long run. Normally, I am outspoken and bold but for some reason I just folded in on myself. Maybe I should meet with the counsellor, you know. Just to see that maybe whatever it was that is causing my - how do you say - my becoming isolated, can be explained and overcome. I have a job here and I don't have the time to be folding in on myself.” J’Loni said finishing her blood wine.

The Commander smirked at his Chief Engineers statement. "I can honestly say that I am not above seeking help myself," he admitted. "Neither the Commodore for that matter. Physical health is one thing, but mental health complements the whole. I congratulate you on considering this choice."

Jonas was, depending on what timeline you were going by, either fashionably late to the party or incredibly early for his first day on the job. He'd had a few days layover on Risa, a torturous experience which he'd endured with his stoic good grace, before he'd taken his ship from the surface to rendezvous with the Poseidon. It hadn't taken too much paperwork to arrange to bring the Gryphon he'd clocked a lot of hours on with him, a fairly common practice given how much pilots get used to the ships little quirks.

He'd docked with the ship, when his PADD had politely informed him of a message in his queue regarding a little get together in the lounge. He'd checked his chrono, technically he could still message Mother and Father later and still hold his tradition. The larger chest would be transported to his quarters, but the duffel bag he'd hoisted over his shoulder and made his way towards the promise of new people and interesting foods. Once the doors hissed open and he glanced about, recognizing pretty much no one besides their bios he'd skimmed through, he toddled over to the replicator and ordered a Mareuvian tea, and started poking about the food.

Neteri was wandering around when a new face entered. By the look of the uniform he was a pilot and that was her cue to introduce herself. Walking over to him, "Nice to see a fellow pilot here. Wing Commander Neteri "Ikran" Shannon, it is a pleasure I am sure." she said smiling and extending her hand towards him.

Jonas turned as the hand stuck out at him and gave a mild grimace. One hand was filled with Lorvan crackers, the other hand with his tea. Pondering the spatial problem in front of him for a moment, he did the only thing he could possibly do under the circumstances; he popped the crackers in his mouth, brushed his hand on the side of his pants and grasped the hand warmly.

Swallowing the edibles he gave a little guilty shrug and smiled, taking a sip of his tea "Just landed, good to see another driver about. Jonas Pavan, though when I'm behind the stick they call me High Tower, you rokker? Guess I'm the new Group leader which goes to show someone's not paying that much attention. " Sometimes, when he was a bit nervous, he tended to slip back into slang that had survived travelling circus' for millennia, and had absorbed a few more terms here and there. Gesturing around with his tea cup he sort of waived around the party "This sort of fais do-do customary around here for lunch or someone's birthday?"

Neteri laughed, "No. The Chief Engineering Officer, J'Loni, threw this get together before our mission so we all could get to meet each other and talk." She said looking at her boss. "You fly Gryphons, Valkyer Mark lll's or both?"

Jonas scratched his beard for a moment as he tried to recall his mission briefing and crew listing. J'Loni, if he recalled, was the Klingon palone. Giving a little nod as he raised his cup up and took a sip from the still piping tea again, he gave a smirk "I tend to favor the Gryphon but I just re-upped my cert on most of the others. Every time with those Razor's pulling three degrees off port, I swear to Jupiter it's a pain."

He smiled and waved his cup around, as if gesturing to the whole ship " I grew up being a bus driver though on a tub bigger then this. Handled like a beached whale and was about half as slow again." He drifted away in his memory for a moment before he blinked and resumed, snagging another handful of crackers. "Nice enough ship it seems like. Last berth I had you got a kick in the rump and a map to your quarters...take a party over that most days."

"Really? Last bunk I had was a crazy. They stuck me with a miserable interceptor that flew like a buffalo in winter. Damn thing couldn't get her ass moving fast enough to not get hit in the backside. Turns out it was a first generation Peregrine fighter and they suck. Ass heavy ships...." Neteri chuckled.

Jonas gave a little hand waggle at that comment. "Peregrines aren't too shabby, they just need a little love sometimes. But that was before the whole let's actually get some fighters out there." He'd had a flight instructor that loved to talk about the history of their noble profession more than once, and at great length, and even more length. Then, when he was done, he would talk to you again about it. Then elaborate on his points.

"Still though, my Gryphon's kept me going since they gave her to me. Flirt's seen me through more than a few barney's and she's always comes out ahead." Jonas gave a small guilty shrug, revealing his ship's "name." More than a few pilots had done so. Peering over the food again he found he'd eaten through most of the crackers, so he moved on and started grazing at the Ktarian chocolate puff. He wondered if his flight suit was going to still fit after all this. "Still though, it's the driver, not the machine...least to me."

"Flirt? How did you come up with that name?" She asked not laughing because some pilots do get offended and take their ships names seriously and get offended should you laugh.

"My Gryphon is my second skin and she may not be much to look at after a fight but she has it where it counts. Back on my last posting, "Shadow Hunter" saved my ass and she got shot up pretty bad. The captain and the Admiral decided to give her to me as a gift and I was tickled to death. I got her fixed up and added a few things to modify her targeting sensor to pinpoint accuracy. There were a few more upgrades done to her before I got here but I was surprised that there are only two Razors aboard and with "Flirt" here, we have two Gryphon's now." Neteri chuckled. "Had a question for you though, have you flown a Miranda starship ever?" she added.

"My old RIO named her, said she would always wiggle it but never let anyone get close enough to do anything." Jonas smiled a little bit, and gave a little guilty shrug. He hadn't named her but he didn't dispute it either. "A Miranda specifically? No. But the Duffy was about the size of a floating city so....pretty sure I could handle it."

Neteri's jaw dropped slightly. "The Duffy? Size of a floating city? Jeezzz that is a huge ship. The biggest I've piloted was an Ascension class. Big bitch, but nimble." she said drinking her raktajino.

The door to the lounge swished open again to reveal the swaggering frame of Lieutenant Karn still in his jet black royal long coat. He swung his arms wide and almost shouted greetings to everyone.

"Hello friends and shipmates! It is I! Your chief of security! Karn! So wonderful to see you all - thank you J'Loni for the wonderful invitation! And look at this spread! I've been hoping to try some of your nibbling... no that's not right.. snacky-snacks? Bah! I'll just try the bloodwine!"

J'Loni smiled at the fantastic entrance of the security officer. Holding up her tankard of blood wine, "Join us Karn!" she said.

Karn walked over and gave a slight bow before picking up his own tankard for bloodwine. He gave it the briefest of sniffs before taking a big sip.

"My! My! My! That is some strong stuff! I should have expected nothing less from a Klingon brew! I should have acquired some years ago!"

Canaan enjoyed watching the activity and conversational exchanges between the senior staff and several officers from various departments. Some of the discussions seemed a tad serious, while others were lighthearted. For his part, the Lieutenant remained mostly quiet, contributing to the conversation when it was a topic of interest or asked a question. A passive participant, Canaan preferred to listen rather than speak. I wonder if this is how the Counsellor feels? He mused sardonically.

Standing from the table, Canaan excused himself from the conversation and pushed in the chair. Ensign Dok would no doubt be wondering where he'd disappeared to for such a long while. He owed the trainee a bit more time and attention to ensure the biology lab was up to snuff before the Poseidon departed.

Placing the empty glass in the nearest replicator, Canaan made a discreet exit, nodding to a few pilots on the way out before notifying Dok he was on his way back.

Phoebe had been on the bridge checking over some systems when the call came through. She decided to head down, knowing that she wouldn’t be needed on the bridge, and if she was then she wasn’t to far away. She walked up to the lounge doors and entered looking around to see if anyone was there that she could sit with. She waited a moment to see if anyone would beckon her over.

Kana, who had just returned to the original huddle after finishing her conversation with Ensign Hartmann, noted Canaan’s swift and discrete entrance. She was disappointed that she hadn’t had more of a chance to observe him in this social setting, though she knew she would have the opportunity to do so at another future point. Returning to her original seat, she went back to quietly observing, finishing the remainder of her green tea.

J'Loni finally saw the Executive Officer, "Commander Graydon, come, join us. We have an empty seat here for you!" She said smiling.

Franklin smiled towards his Executive Officer expectedly.

Phoebe walked over, smiling at the people around the table. "Thank you for saving me a seat." She said gesturing to the Barkeeper to bring over a round of drinks for everyone. "So, how are we all?" She asked.

Franklin thanked the bartender for his drink as he held it up in a toast-like fashion, smiling at everyone. "Doing good here, Number One!"

"Good to hear Captain. Let's hope it stays that way." She said, raising her drink also. "To the Poseidon." She said, looking round the table.

J'Loni raised her glass, "To the Poseidon, good friends, and the best damned crew she could have!" she said.

"To the Poseidon and the best damned crew!" joined in Franklin.

“To the Poseidon, and the ‘best damned crew’.” Kana smirked as she raised her tea in toast with the others before finishing the last of it.

Smiling, J'Loni drank to the toast. "And now my friends, the hour is late and I have the early shift in the morning so I believe it is time for us to bid farewell to our little gathering. I am happy we all could sit and get to know each other in this fashion. We should do this again soon.” she said as she stood and watched as her guests filed out of the lounge.

[OFF]

"Making friends isn't always easy, but when you do, you know you're never alone." - Unknown

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