Not Enough Cookies in the World - Part I

Posted on Sunday, 19 March 2023 - 3:53pm by Commander Soral & Ensign Oriana Skye Sety & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Lobes & Liberties
Location: Various | USS Standing Bear
Timeline: Current

ON:

Location: Soral's Office

Oriana stared at Soral. “Can you not call Lieutenant Kingsley yourself?”

“Indeed, I can, I just choose to delegate that task to you.”

Oriana sighed. “You realize I have no power. You outrank her. She will listen to you.”

“I am attempting to give the Lieutenant her space.”

“Permission to speak freely?”

Soral raised an eyebrow. “Of course.”

“Horseshit. You are avoiding her because you’re afraid of how you’ll feel when you see her.”

Soral started at Oriana for a long moment and then said. “Indeed, but as the XO it is my prerogative to do so.”

Oriana sighed. “Checkmate, I guess. Alright I’ll be your errand woman and run over to ask the second XO to sub for you.”

“Do you see how you saying yes would have avoided this long conversation?” Soral asked.

She shook her head and headed out. He was so different from what he once was yet so similar it was hard to tell who was who.




Location: In Front of Alex Kingsley's Quarters.

Oriana sighed. She flexed her hand and then rang the chime to Lieutenant Kingsley's quarters. She didn't like being an errand runner like this but Soral had asked. She was worried about why he'd asked but understood why he hadn't called Kingsley himself.

“Come in!” Pulling on her uniform jacket, Kingsley turned towards the door as it opened. “Official business or…?”

Oriana held a PaDD. "By order of Commander Soral he has asked that you... um greet the new staff before we leave. There are seven coming on but it will be a lengthy process as the Commander has ordered them up one at a time."

Alex rolled her eyes as she stepped in front of the mirror and began styling her hair in a tight intricate braid. “Of course, he wants to make it last as long as possible while also wanting more reports than ever from his department heads… fine. Is the conference room free? Or at least a nice size cupboard? My office is … chaotic. It wouldn’t be a good first impression. Do you have details of the new arrivals?”

She smiled. "I got a room ready, and here are the arrival files they are all....interesting. They are exchanges all of them. We have a pilot from Ferenginar who gets space sick, a Bolian scientist who throws up after every transport, a Vulcan woman who is command chain orientated, a few other equally colorful people. I um....made sure their quarters are prepped so you can get them reviewed and off to their new home and out of your hair as quick as possible. " Oriana smiled.

“Let’s keep the space sick Ferengi until last, and have them stop by medical, just to make sure he isn’t throwing up all over the ship,” Alex sighed as she skimmed over the data Oriana handed over. “I guess the sooner we start the better. And I do mean we.”

Oriana laughed. "I kind of figured. I have one condition. I get cookies."

Alex mulled it over. “Chocolate chip?”

"Deal." Oriana said. "Let's hop to it. The last thing I need is more of this crotchety temperament. I don't remember him being...so...crotchety."

“You have no idea. Okay, let’s go, I have a mountain of paperwork to do after this,” Alex lamented.

Oriana smiled and led the way to the conference room. It only took a few moments to get the drinks and cookies set up before the first chime at the door. Oriana looked at Alex. "Ready?"

“Let’s do this,” she nodded, tugging on her uniform jacket to straighten it as she called out “come in!”

The door opened and in walked a human looking woman with brown hair that was reminiscent of a certain scientist who was known for the theory of relativity. Her think black framed glasses kept slumping on her nose.

Oriana leaned in. "Engineer from Betazed."

"Hello! I'm Davira Tain, I'm an engineer. I fix things." She said in a voice octave that should not have been legal.

“Always a good trait in an engineer,” Alex offered. “I’m Lieutenant Kingsley, and this is Ensign Sety. Welcome aboard. Please, help yourself to some refreshments or the replicator is available if you’d prefer. This is just an informal meeting to welcome you and get to know you and what brings you to the Standing Bear.”

"Ohhh replicator! Does it need fixing?" She reached into a belt like pack on her waist and three decupling tuners fell out. "OH! I got it! I got it!" She bent down picking them up only to smack her head on the table with a loud thunk." She stood up rubbing her head. "It's okay! I'm fine! Doesn't hurt until I hit it more then four times. I'm only on time two!" She held up two fingers to indicate the number and then promptly dropped her tuners again.

Oriana pressed her lips together to avoid laughing.

Alex groaned inwardly and instead glanced down at the PaDD. “Well, I’m sure the Chief will find you something useful to fix,” she offered politely. Somewhere far far away from the warp core… “in the meantime, report to medical for a full physical. They can adjust your glasses, to ensure you don’t bump into too many things while you are on board.

"Okay! I'm going to be a great engineer here. I will do Betazed proud!" She turned and gave a shaky salute and headed out smacking into the door as it opened. "I'm okay!"

Oriana covered her face with her hands. "That was..."

“Bad,” Alex groaned as she bit into a cookie, “really really bad.”

Before Oriana could respond the door chimed again. She looked at Alex. "And so, the trails and tribulations of the second officer have begun." She paused. "There should be music. We totally need an ominous drum here."

Alex arched an eyebrow, took a deep breath and called out for the next newcomer to join them.



To Be Continued...