STF

Pre Sim - OH MY! (Caught in the Captain's Quarters)

Posted April 23, 2021, 6:32 p.m. by Lieutenant Junior Grade Amber Josen (Communications Specialist) (Melissa Aragon)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman) in Pre Sim - OH MY! (Caught in the Captain’s Quarters)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Amber Josen (Communications Specialist) in Pre Sim - OH MY! (Caught in the Captain’s Quarters)

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman) in Pre Sim - OH MY! (Caught in the Captain’s Quarters)
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
He was gone. Just like that, the Fleet had recalled Zarath and he was gone.

And now another Captain was due this afternoon.

Amber was in the Captain’s Ready Room straightening things up and humming to herself. There was a small bunk folded into the wall with fresh sheets on it. The couch and seating area were once more clean and clutter free. And the desk had been reset to right with fresh file holders and the most recent 48 hours of comm logs at the ready. She made sure the shift reports, most recent department reports and the ship readiness report were also ready for his viewing.

The young woman wasn’t familiar with the Captain that was coming on board. But that didn’t phase her. She was still new enough, herself that most notable names were still anonymous to her. So she hoped he wasn’t one of those with a high opinion of himself who would feel slighted if she didn’t fawn all over him like a love struck Final Year getting to meet her hero. The idea of that image, her eyes batting like she was having spasms as her hands wrung with anticipation of touching him, left such an impression on her mind that she burst into sudden laughter just then. Passing the small mirror above the alcove where the replicator sat, she created that image in her reflection as her hand went to her lips to cover a twitter. “Oh Captain… I can’t believe you are here. I have soooo wanted to meet you and you are before me at last!” She giggled once more as she imagined the flush on her cheeks. Her mind screamed it was never going to happen, yet she allowed herself a moment of make believe as she battered her eye lashes once more imagining that simple minded twit as herself. She was so caught up in the moment she wouldn’t have heard the Red Alert if it had gone off just then.

Lt JG Amber Josen
Comms Officer

About that time the door opened and an actual Final Year fresh faced woman walked in, PaDDs and extra uniforms in hand, along with a crate of glasses and other clutter. She paused only momentarily as she heard the woman. If the girl was really all for entertaining the captain that way, she wouldn’t argue. “Ah hello Lt. I wasn’t aware the captain’s ready room was occupied. I’m En Rand Farquharson, Captain’s Yeoman. He’s due to arrive tomorrow morning.” She set the create down and began putting things away and moving things around according the the captain’s preferences that she had received earlier that morning for how he liked his office. She’d already prepped his quarters and would do a once over of those again later that evening. “Can I offer any assistance?” she asked politely and professionally.
Yeoman Rand

Amber jumped and laughed as embarrassment colored her cheeks to the shade of an security crewman’s crimson shirt. “Oh stars!” She laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to come in.” She moved to help the woman with the things she had. “I think I should offer you assistance. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rand. I’m Amber Josen, his comm officer.” She set one of the boxes on the table so the woman’s arms were free to deal with the clothing. “I’m looking forward to meeting him. I know you’re helping get him all set up for his arrival. But how is your arrival going? What can I do to help you?” She moved to the small butler pantry and started putting glasses away.

Amber
Comms

Rand tilted her head to the side and regarded the woman curiously. “You are in the captain’s ready room, knowing a new captain is coming on board, and you didn’t expect anyone to come in?” Obviously this young lt had never been present at a command change. At the name Rand nodded. She had been reading up on the senior and bridge staff for her report she’d be expected to give to Carmichael when he arrived. “Lt junior grade, Josen, Amber. Ship’s communications officer.” The rest of the file summary flitting through her mind, 22 years old, human, born on Earth. She comes from a Star Fleet family and all primary and secondary school reports indicate Star Fleet was always her goal. She was injured her second year at the Academy in a plasma accident. She still has some scarring. She transferred from Diplomacy to Communications. She has a desire and passion for First Contact. She has not memorized languages enough to speak it but is able to identify the species 40% of the time. Rand wondered if she should inform the captain that the comm officer was making herself at home and acting ‘moon-eyed’ in his Ready Room. She wasn’t sure the protocol about that, she’d have to make sure before proceeding.

Amber laughed. “I have an alert set for when he boards. I was going to be clear of here by the time he was coming down the hall. Or,” she shrugged and smiled, “at least in the hallway awaiting him.”

Rand tilted her head to the side, confused. “I know why I’m in here, I’m the captain’s yeoman. That means I’m his secretary, personal and administrative assistant, chief, house keeper, laundress, and a whole host of other job titles. But why are you in his ready room?” She was genuinely confused. Was there some aspect of protocol she’d missed when it came to the communications officer? “Did I miss some protocol or regulation? I am inclined to think no because you’ve set an alarm so you can be out of here, and that leads me to think you should not be here. Or is it a hold over from the previous Captain’s preferences?” That seemed to relieve Rand, “If that’s the case I would be very interested in your insight into those preferences so I can inform the new captain and he will be aware to understand as the crew adjusts to his preferences.” Rand was totally sincere in all her questions, she wasn’t being offensive or sarcastic, her tone of voice would indicate that. She was simply doing her job.

Amber laughed. “It isn’t that I’m not supposed to be in here. As Comms officer, I was often in and out of here setting things up for comm meetings, restocking his pantry, et cetera. He didn’t have a Yeoman, so I suppose I did double duty.” She didn’t want to bring up the relationship that had started to blossom between her and the Captain. It wasn’t Rand’s business, for one. And for another, the Captain’s sudden departure made it a moot point now anyway. “The alarm was set so I could be in the hallway to greet him. That was all. The previous Captain let those who needed, access the room for whatever was necessary.” She quickly added, “That’s not to say we all went in and out on a whim. I brought private discs to him. Security came in once a month to maintain his personal weapons he kept here. And once a month the head cook came in to replenish his corner with whatever specialties he requested.”

Again Rand paused as she set the uniforms down. Obviously Josen was tying to be social , a situation that Rand was not comfortable with. Rand needed to try and channel the sass of her inner Randy. Her brother would be able to handle this and she would to. She was on duty and had a lot of work to do. “I’m a not helping him, it is my job.” Though her job as yeoman would likely, in the end, lead to her and Carmichael being good friends (or she’d be replaced) this was her job and she needed to get to it. Rand was very polite, but sternly professional as she set about her work. She was there for her job not to day dream about the new captain. She walked over to the butler pantry and held up a hand for Josen to stop. “None of these things belong here,” Rand spoke quietly and politely. She wasn’t trying to be offensive but the woman was making her job more difficult. She began to remove what Josen had placed and then remove the rest of the items. The butler pantry was being removed in favor of a smaller cabinet. There was a chef and supposedly a second rank Yeoman with cooking skills coming on board. Rand moved to the desk seeing a pile of reports and PaDDs and glancing at them stopped herself from audibly sighing. Tact, she needed tact, she could that. “These are great, thank you,” she picked the reports up and nodded her thanks, “Saves me from having to track them down later. Actually if you could let anyone you think might need to know, I need the department and ship’s reports to me by 0600 and 1800 every day. Gives me time to compile and ready the days reports for when the new captain will want them.” She was sure Josen was trying to make a good impression, but the format was not how Carmichael had indicated he wanted them. The last thing Rand needed, newly out of the Academy, was for the CO to think she couldn’t follow simple requests. She didn’t want the first thing he saw when he walked into his ready room was reports that weren’t formatted to his specifications.
Yeoman Rand

Amber was easy to get along with. She wasn’t sure what the big deal was about setting out glasses, but she stepped aside, close to the door, and allowed the Yeoman to move about like a queen bee setting her nest to rights. “I will see to it. It’s not much different from the time they are due now, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Is there anything in particular you want in the reports besides the usual stuff? Or a way you want it formatted to make your correlations easier?” Where most folks would have been put off, Amber hadn’t been around enough folks outside the Academy to take offense. She wasn’t naive, or even jaded. Amber was just one of those people who did her best to make those around her feel more comfortable.

Rand looked over as Josen walked to the door, she had expected the woman to leave but apparently not. “I’m sure this seems odd to you, but the engineering crew from K3 is coming in to do a remodel and I have to get everything out of here.” She kept working. She gave the explanation but was slightly irritated over the woman’s need to hover. “Ah yes, one moment,” she said in response to the question about the reports. That was a reasonable cause for the woman to stay. Rand had started the conversation about reports, after all. She pulled out a couple of empty data disks from the box and then sat down at the computer on the desk. Out of her pocket she pulled a ring of cylindrical medal keys. She slipped one into the captain’s console and then entered her access code that allowed her to pull up all the information she had access to. She inserted the data disk and transferred the captains preferences for the communication reports and his preferred format. She withdrew the data disk and then logged off the computer and removed her key, putting them directly back into her pocket. She walked over to the door and handed Josen the data disk. “Here you go, Lt. That should be everything you need.”

“And your own quarters? Is everything to your liking? Or anything extra you need to help make your life easier in doing what you need for the Captain?” Some folks came on board seeking more privacy, special privileges, and the like. But there were some, like Rand, who could ask for things like an additional interface on the console in her quarters. Or perhaps she would ask for Special kitchen service when there wasn’t any, just to be sure the Captain had his midnight snacks on time. Either way, Amber was certain, whatever she asked, it would probably have a reasonable excuse behind it. She also made a mental note to see to it that the woman was included in more off work things as well. She could easily see the Yeoman ending up a work only driven woman.

Amber
Comms

Rand sighed to herself. The woman really wanted to socialize and Rand was on duty and didn’t have time for this. “Operations on K3 is very efficient. Capt Jenkins made sure to have everything sent over and installed that the new captain would require me to have. My quarters are standard and fit my needs. I’m looking forward to see who my roommate will be. Sentinel doesn’t rank a full Yeoman corp but there will be two of us to handle everything.” She went through the office one more time to make sure she’d boxed up everything when the chime was heard. She opened the door, “Chief, right on time. Come on in.” In walked a team of 5 station engineers with more equipment than seemed necessary.
Yeoman Rand

Amber slipped the disc in her pocket just before K3 arrived. Side stepping, she sighed mentally. This woman was a little too stiff for her liking. She wouldn’t make friends with that attitude. Keeping her smile so Rand wouldn’t sense her worry, she shrugged. “I don’t know who your roommate will be. But if you wish, I’m happy to volunteer. Then, at least, you will know you can kick me in the shin if I get out of line and I won’t take offense.” She honestly wanted the Yeoman to like her. She couldn’t deny that even to herself. As Comms she would be the other person working closely with the Captain. There wasn’t a need to see who was top dog between them, it was going to be Rand due to her position. But that didn’t mean they had to be at odds. And despite Rand being all business, Amber had the feeling the isolation would get to her quicker than she thought if she kept it up. The Comms officer hoped to help her find a balance between all encompassing perfect Fleet Officer Yeoman and individual person.

Not wanting to hover any more, she nodded before the woman could answer. “Just give it some thought. I already know you’ll have duties most won’t understand. Better the pain you know and can train than the one you don’t.” She winked and turned to head back to the bridge. They may not become best friends who shop on Risa together and chase men. But hopefully they could become friends enough to understand and respect one another and their positions and responsibilities.

Amber
Comms


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