Posted by Commander Ardashir “Jack” Creed (Executive Officer / CIO) in Ready Room - Finally. A Chance To Talk

Posted by Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Ready Room - Finally. A Chance To Talk

Posted by Commander Ardashir “Jack” Creed (Executive Officer / CIO) in Ready Room - Finally. A Chance To Talk
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Cochrane had finally completed what he hoped were all the outstanding and priority needs he had in front of him since assuming command. And that meant the finally got to tick off the first item on his ‘To Do’ list that he had made on the trip to the ship… meet with the XO.

Activating the comms, he said =/\= Commander Creed. When you have a moment, would you please meet me in the Ready Room? Thank you. =/\=

He then went to the replicator and ordered a pot of hot black coffee and two mugs. He sat them on his desk, took a seat, and began reviewing the departmental reports as he waited for the XO to arrive.

Cochrane, CO

Ardashir’s Office

Looking at the file in front of him, Faye’s face staring at him as he felt his eyes squinting as he let his mind wander. This revelation could be nothing, but he couldn’t let it slide.

=/\= Commander Creed. When you have a moment, would you please meet me in the Ready Room? Thank you. =/\=

Jack felt himself snap out of the haze as he looked around, the message seemed to be to be at a perfect timing, which in and of itself made part of Jack feel a little paranoid. He monitored all comm traffic and knew that his connection was secure. Deep down he was certain this was all just coincidence but for the past six years ever since he started down this dual path he had trained himself to always be aware of things that seemed out of the ordinary.

=/\= Yes sir, I am on my way. =/\= Creed said as he got up from his chair, looking down at the screen he took a moment as he reached for a nearby PaDD as he began to sync the data up. If this ended up being a big deal he would need to go to the Captain first as it were. He couldn’t do this like some wild maverick.

Captain’s Ready Room

Five minutes later and Ardashir was paging the door, waiting for the Captain to bring him in. Jack let his mind wander for a few seconds before he heard the voice of the Captain, it always seemed a different approach every time he had these conversations.

Creed, XO

“Come in.” came the slightly accented voice of the new Commanding Officer. As the doors opened, Cochrane looked up and saw Creed. “Commander, thank you for coming.” he said and simply gestured to one of the empty seats before the desk.

“Sorry it took so long for us to finally have a chance to talk. No reflection on you, and I hope you don’t feel slighted.”

Cochrane, CO

“It’s alright sir, can’t say it’s been the easiest first few weeks since you came aboard. Between random beasts and Kazon we have had our fill of crazy. Welcome to the Delta Quadrant I guess.” Ardashir said with a wry smirk as he entered the office.

Their time so far in the quadrant had been wild to say the least, few Federation resources so far. It was truly a wild frontier. For decades the Alpha/Beta Quadrants had made contact with many from the Gamma Quadrant due to the Bajoran wormhole. That access point had made life interesting for the fringes of Federation/Cardassian territory. The technology they used now though, while not completely new, was new to them. Outside of Voyager they had little experience here. Even Voyager wasn’t quite sight seeing, much of it was a fight for survival to make it back home.

Still, Jack felt a sense of adventure few in Starfleet had had in such a long time. While new things could always be found in your backyard so to speak, out here was like Lewis and Clark. Much of the reason people join Starfleet was to either serve their Federation, or a chance to explore and experience life that they might not have on their home world. Jack had always been a mix of both, later years had forced him into a play that made him more rigid in his thinking with S.I. and his covert operations. Despite that, or maybe cause of it, Delta Quadrant held a mystique he couldn’t help but feel giddy about.

Taking the seat Jack kept the PaDD he held close. It would come up soon but he knew there was going to be a lot of storytelling, there always was. He often wondered if S.I. made the right choice to make his secondary assignment her a shadow one. Yes he had served in covert deep undercover but his duties didn’t differ too far from a regular XO/CIO. There was a on going assignment on top of the regular duties, a personal one at that, but it wasn’t like he was chasing it every second he could.

“How have you enjoyed yourself so far sir? You didn’t ask for this but… I imagine this has been memorable all the same.” Jack said, he always had a easy charm to him. His tan skin and dark hair to some gave off a mysterious look. Being born to a Persian family he didn’t look too far off everyone he grew up with in Tehran, but to most other humans he was always a bit hard to place. He often was teased for being too handsome by his best friend when he joined Starfleet. Isan always told him if he was going to make it he needed to be more bad ass than the rest, something Jack never fully thought was the case. Jack always found a nice medium, his sister would say it was the Libra in him but he didn’t quite believe in astrological signs.

Creed, XO

“Memorable… that’s definitely one word to describe it.” Cochrane said with an easy chuckle. “Not how I envisioned my first command, but ‘Ours is not to reason why…’, as the old saying goes.” and he settled in his seat a bit more, obviously preparing to dedicate some time to the discussion at hand. “So, Commander. Tell me a bit about yourself. I reviewed your record, but that just tells me where you’ve been. Not who you are. So let’s get to know each other better. We need at least some kind of foundation before we get into any.... let’s say difficult situations. Agreed?”

Cochrane, CO

“Well… I mean what do you want to know sir?” Jack said, he stopped to think a moment on what to talk about in this moment. He had been so focused on telling him the things he needed to hear he never thought about something along the lines of small talk. “I am not one to really to speak often of my life, but I don’t try to hide too much either. Maybe not an open book but a highly detailed notes page?” Jack said, it was his way of trying to be polite in saying he tended to be private. He knew what a Captain did and didn’t need to know, and in time when serving under a Captain he may even choose to become friends even. He though wasn’t sure just what kind of Captain Cochrane was a this time.

Creed, XO

Cochrane smiled warmly and said “Whatever you want to tell me, Mr. Creed. I just want to get to know you… and you to know me as well. I foresee that we may be serving together for some time; and to do that we will need to be a productive, efficient, and solid team. This quadrant is going to throw enough surprises at us to fill a library… I want us both to know who we are and how best to make our relationship work. And so here we are.” and he paused as a thought occurred to him. “Let’s take a different tack. What questions do you have for me? Anything you want to know about? And from this point on, XO, there is nothing off limits as long as it is you and I. You want a answer, ask me. I may not be able to answer, but I promise you this. I won’t ever lie to you.” he said. The last sentence was delivered with a singular look of complete honesty and intensity. Cochrane then simply looked at the XO to see what questions may be on the man’s mind.

Cochrane, CO

“I mean I was curious what made you want to accept this posting. I know Starfleet often gives people choices when they have a command open, sometimes it’s just go do this but other times the person is giving a chance to decide. I gather this was somewhat fast paced but what made you want here?” Jack asked, curious if this was indeed his choice to stay. He knew most Captains, they don’t stay if they don’t believe in the mission. So was there something that drew in the Captain? Jack would want to know the motives.

Creed, XO

Cochrane laughed slightly and looked down at the desk as he shook his head. “Accept is kind of a strong term to use, Mr. Creed. It was more like I was… ‘selected’.” and he looked up at Jack, a slight smile on his face. “I received orders while standing watch on the bridge of the Ark Angel, actually. Report to Starbase One immediately. So I did. I was walked into the Admiral’s office straight off the shuttle and was told I had been selected to take command of the Manhattan, currently stationed in the Delta Quadrant, and did I want the posting. I asked how long I could think about it and he set the box with pips on the desk and said ‘You just did.’.” and he laughed again. Shaking his head, he continued. “So I agreed, was promoted, read into the security clearances and briefed over the next week. Then off the station and here I am.”

“But don’t take that as me simply wanting the center chair, Commander. I was fascinated by the opportunity… hell, I am fascinated by the opportunity. The sheer possibilities of what we may encounter are endless. And that is exciting. At least it is to me. What about you? How did you come to be here?” he asked, his head tilted slightly to the side and watching the man seated across from him.

Cochrane, CO