Posted April 16, 2020, 3:38 a.m. by Ensign Max Church (Nurse) (Russell Watt)
Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Quinn Phy-Knight (Chief of Security) in Docking bay: Enter the security chief
The low hum of the shuttle crafts engine could be heard inside the cabin as it slowed in its approach towards the docked starship. However, it had zero chance of being heard by the sole passenger, who stood gazing out of the port-side window. Inside her head, a multitude of thoughts whizzed through her turbo-charged brain, drowning out any sounds that came from the outside world. This was so going to rock! she thought in an excitement that almost bordered upon manic. The first thing she was going to do was assemble her security team and take them on a run throughout the entire ship until they had all memorised the layout. Wait, no, better idea. She was going to round them all up and put them through their paces in the gym, then the run. As soon as it fully formed the idea was quickly shoved out of her head by another. She’d go to the Captain and request permission to take them all on a shuttle to the nearby planet, where they would do a team-building HALO jump! This was totally going to rock!Quinn Phy-Knight took in a steadying breath through her nose and forced her hyperactive brain to settle down. Get a grip, Quinn, she said to herself. You’re not even on board yet and already you’ve formulated three crazy ideas that’ll probably see you on the first shuttle back to earth and a lifetime assignment at Star-Fleet HQ. She closed her eyes for a moment to steady herself. Her ideas were not without merit. As security officers, her team needed to know the layout of the ship inside out and she needed to know each of their limitations. Not to mention that team-building exercises were also important. But there would be time for that later. First and foremost, she should probably locate her quarters to deposit her personal belongings and change, report to the Captain for assignment and then head off down to sickbay for her boarding physical; assuming there were any medical staff onboard yet.
Opening her eyes caused them to widen as she caught her first glimpse of the USS Sentinal and her brain tried to race off again with giddy excitement, like she had never seen a starship before. It was far from the truth. Not only had she done training exercises out in space while at the academy, but she had backpacked across the galaxy for three years before deciding to join Star-Fleet. In that time, she had run security on a plethora of cargo vessels destined for here, there and everywhere, along with doing some ‘other’ jobs for some security forces on non-federation worlds. It had been a thrilling time, full of adventure and danger in equal measure and something she was desperately looking forward to once the Sentinel finally set out into the big bad galaxy. She stared out into the deep darkness. Space, old friend, I’ve missed you.
“Would you like a tour?”
Quinn turned her head to look at the shuttle’s pilot. She’d actually forgotten that the man was here. “Please and thank you,” she replied eagerly. The craft slowed and she stared in wonder out of the window at the starship as it took the scenic route around to the docking bay. If only there had been some dramatic music playing in the background… maybe next time. When the small craft finally docked, she picked up her battered rucksack and turned to face the door; a huge smile on her face. When it opened, the Ensign on the other side looked her up and down and gave out a small snort of derision. No doubt he had taken in her white sneakers, blue capris, green tank crop top and long fiery-red hair and decided she was no one of any consequence. She grinned internally, not the sort of first impression you want to give your new boss. Time to lay down the law.
“Is there a problem, Ensign!” she barked loudly, startling the pilot.
The man in front of her jumped as his gaze hurriedly rose to meet hers. Olive-green eyes bored into increasingly worried browns as she strode towards him. He may have stood a few inches taller than she did, but at this moment, she towered over him.
“N… n… n…”
“Name?” Quinn asked, not lowering her voice. Knowing that this would have been the first question he would have asked had he not ticked her off. She did not wait for a response. “Lieutenant Quinn Phy-Knight, security chief and,” she paused as her lip curled upwards into an evil smile, “your new boss!”
Had the Ensign’s expression been funny before, the look of abject terror on his face was priceless. If only she had a camera. “S…s…sorry, Sir,” he mumbled frantically.
“Oh, you will be,” she replied an almost manic look in her eyes. She then plucked the PaDD he was holding out of his hands and looked at it. “You don’t have another transport due for twenty minutes,” she thrust the device back at him. “So, you’re going to run laps of this deck until such time as it arrives. And woe betides you if you’re late for it getting here.”
The man’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open. “B…b…but…” he began, but she swiftly cut him off.
“Did I stutter, Ensign?”
“N…no, Sir.”
“Then MOVE IT!” She watched, chuckling to herself as the man tore off down the corridor, probably glad for the chance to get away from her.
With the Ensign out of sight, a warm smile returned to Quinn’s face and she set off in the same direction, humming a short four-note beep to herself as she went. Now to find one of her staff who wouldn’t make derisive assumptions about her and could point her in the direction of her quarters.
Lt. Quinn Phy-Knight
Security Chief
But she didn’t find one of them, she found four, all four of them Ensigns, and freshly minted out of the Academy. Two of the males seemed to be gawking and carrying on, and the third male had a tricorder out, and was apparently mapping and studying the layout of the ship, stopping to look at room numbers, before going on. The female with the group looked at the two males clowning around and generally behaving like school kids with a shake of her head, “clowns,” she muttered loudly enough for them to hear her. They grinned at her, but continued in the similar way. She also smiled fondly at her studious companion, she wished he’d lighten up a bit, enjoy this a bit more than he seemed to be, they were on a freakin’ Starship, after all, and this was to be enjoyed.
The female NE, by the name of June, was the first of them to see Quinn coming towards them, and not knowing whether she was an Ensign like the four NEs, or someone more important on the ship, she straightened herself up and saluted inspite of herself.
“Hello, Ma’am,” she said to Quinn, “I’m security officer June, and these three are Jude, Joe and Jim,” she pointed to the three of her companions in term. Jude was the studious one, and Joe and Jim were the clowns.
“Is there anything I can do to assist you, Ma’am,” June asked politely.
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