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Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Operations Department Head Office | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Brutus
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Frank had only been on board for about two days now. It had been a rush of meeting people, or really, meeting Blue and some of the engineering staff so far. He'd got assigned quarters on the Junior Deck, not rating Senior Officer's quarters, but like as not he'd not be in them that often. Between Auxiliary Engineering, and Main, and no doubt the other trouble he'd get into aboard the shift, and whatever time he might have for leisure, it was likely he wasn't going to be there for much more than sleeping and breakfast. Although he had been told there was a nice breakfast nook holodeck program where he could cook with actual ingredients, he was going to have to check that out.

But today, today he had come to meet Natalie Stark. He'd at least done some due diligence, looking up her file. Another young Department Head, it seemed that the department chairs for the Theurgy, were filled by young, highly motivated officers, a lot of them female. Not that their gender had any bearing on their work, Frank just found it interesting, he was used to seeing the positions above his own, filled by grizzled officers of long service, so this was just a new environment for him to process.

He made his way to Deck Twelve, and gathered his bearings as he stepped off of the Turbolift, having come from Vector Three, where he'd spent the last three hours or so getting his feet wet in Main Engineering. Eventually, and quite slowly, he made his way to the Office that read 'OPs Dept. Head' and read the indicator that showed Natalie Stark's name. He grinned gently, and straightened his duty uniform, tucking his PADD under his arm, and chimed the entry button, having not presumed to just burst into the office.

Once he was invited to come, he'd enter slowly, straight backed, but with a relaxed gait. He was an older officer, in his mid to late thirties, with a brown beard that had started to gray, and side burns starting to take on salt to match. He had a broad barrel chest, and thick arms, with the slightest belly and unnaturally large hands, roughed around the knuckles and fat fingers that had been stubbed a hundred times. He had a form that was clearly quite strong, but not as defined as he would have been in his twenties, in the past, he might have been a logger, a miner, or a rail-worker. He wore no wedding ring, or other signs he was married or engaged, and he  did not really have any nonstandard accessories.

He would wait to speak apart from a light, "Good Morning" as he would take up a spot in front of her desk, standing, until he was addressed by the more superior officer, but he met eye contact if it was offered, and wore a patient and pleasant smile, full faced, with kind features that reached his blue eyes.

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #1 –
[Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]Attn: @uytrereee 
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The last two days had been some of the busiest for Natalie since they'd first arrived at Aldea a month ago. True to his word (though she had seen some evidence of that already) Rear Admiral Anderson had indeed sent replacement officers to help fill in some of the losses the Theurgy had sustained over the past few months of long, painstaking flight from the Federation, and the ensuing cat and mouse games with the task force created to wipe them out of existence. Some of those new replacements had arrived en masse aboard a pair of Klingon starships. Some had been...recruited locally. She thought of one meeting she'd had recently and grimaced. An eye would need to be kept on that new resource, but they were quite promising.

Covering her mouth with another yawn, the Operations Chief padded around her small office, and moved to the replicator to refresh her morning coffee. Alpha shift had started a little over an hour ago, though she had been up a bit longer than all that. Yet she was still tired. She'd been up rather late the night before with reports and a small matter that had necessitated a trip over to Vector 03 at an entirely unpleasant hour of the night. Vanya had chastised her for being out so late, but she was the ships second officer as well as its Operations Chief. In short, she was always on call.

Today at least, on call did not mean on the bridge. Docked as they were, she had only needed to briefly check in on the relief officers staying watch over the main bridge on Vector 01 before retreating to her own private sanctum. Extracting the refreshed cup of coffee - Nat brew #3, 2 sugars, cream, her go to for the morning shift - the officer turned back to her seat, pausing to salute the small hologram of Commander Christian Hendricks, her predecessor. "We've nearly got the department back to full strength. Wish you could have seen it," she told the holocube; it smiled up at her, a wry little grin, but did not otherwise respond. It, along with a few of his own personal affects, sat on a small pedestal in the corner. A tribute to the man whom had died and left her in charge of his department. Her department. It really had begun to feel like her's, after all this time.

Moving past the memorial, she settled into her chair, pausing to look at the Master Systems Display for the Theurgy while running her hand over the Martian-Navajo made blanket that lay folded over the top of her seat. Satisfied, she sat down, and punched up a report on her desktop station, the drull words replacing the photo on the background of her recent trip to Aldea for 'forced' shore leave. A notice popped up on the screen reminding her that she had an appointment arriving in the next five minutes.  Flicking her fingers over the screen, she dismissed the little pop up and tabled the report she'd been about to read, and instead pulled up the service file related to Lt. Frank Arnold, recent transfer to the Engineering department. He'd been assigned, she confirmed, as one of Blue Tiran's Assistant Chiefs. A wry grin formed over her face, wondering how the new comer had taken to the bristly Chief Engineer. She and the other woman still had plenty of wrinkles to iron out of their own relationship, but they had managed to be professional so far, to which Natalie - and she was sure Ducote - were happy about.

And there is Albert, after all. Whatever she thought of Blue (respect and frustration in equal parts), she adored the mechanical owl and all he represented. He was not present however. The door chimed, announcing that her appointment was. Standing up, Natalie tugged her skirt down into place and smoothed it out before calling out to allow the man to enter. And he did, with a smile on his face. He was older than her, as were many of the officers she out ranked on the ship. He was taller than her as well. At 5'4" it was hard not to be taller than Natalie, unless one was a Tellerite. Though he sported an impressive beard, he was not a member of that esteemed species.

In short it was impossible not to like the other man when taking him in. He had a quality about him that reminded her of a younger version of Sten Covington, the older, grizzled late Chief of the Deck, though he had been a warrant officer and Mr. Arnold was a full Lieutenant. Still, there was a quality that made Natalie answer the man's smile with a ready one of her own. She strode from around the desk to greet him, extending a hand and shaking in turn. "Good morning, Lieutenant. It's a pleasure to meet you. Please, take a seat," she gestured to the chair in front of her desk. It did nto have a blanket thrown over the back, but was otherwise neat and comfortable as any other standard issue office chair aboard the multi-vector dreadnought. "Can I get you anything to drink?" She asked, gesturing to the small replicator her office was outfitted with. It sat tucked into the Starboard side wall. Opposite on the port wall was a collection of ship sketches, from her previous assignments.

Once that was settled, she moved back to her side of the desk, sat down carefully, and pulled the chair forward. She picked her own mug of coffee up off of the heating pad that she had personally installed into the top of her desk, and cradled the mug between her hands. "Well then, Mr. Arnold, what can I do for you this morning?"

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #2 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Brutus 
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Frank had been busy, but it hadn't been the kind of busy he'd liked. He'd been here, he'd met someone, been there, met someone, and so on and so forth. He hadn't even cracked open an access panel yet! It was bullshit, if you asked Frank. Some days, he yearned to be a lowly Ensign again, with nothing but a duty list to complete. But really, he knew he loved this, he got to do what he liked, day in and day out, this was just the part of every Federation Officer's job they didn't like. The dreaded churn of the transfer. But so far everyone he'd met was rather pleasant. That made it easier, and most of them had been easy on the eyes, which made it even easier.

As they met eye contact, he looked her over, scalp to sole, once, then twice. A fuller figure than some of the other women he'd met, with appreciable curves, that were not entirely masked by the standard cut of a Starfleet Uniform, legs that he admired for a moment longer than appropriate before his eyes returned to eye level. She had hair darker than his, but her eyes were a similar shade, and she was much shorter than he, at least seven inches he reckoned, and yet he figured when she spoke, she was still authoritative, although he had no basis for that. Frank was likable if nothing else, he had warm features, and often displayed welcoming looks, it was never that which made him not liked, it was his tendency to ramble. He took her hand in his own massive paw, rough with noticeable callouses indicative of many a day of hands on labor, and would give her hand a shake, firm, but not crushing.

Before he sat, he took a brief moment to look about the room, accessories often said a lot about the person who kept them. She had a blanket across the back of her own chair, and there we some affects scattered throughout the room. The pedestal in the corner caught his eye, just for a moment, but now was not the time to ask. It could have been her father, or otherwise for what he knew, and he did not want to offput her by prying, at least not right away, there'd be plenty of time for him to annoy her later.

He would have taken a seat, but as he was about to, she offered him something to drink, and he paused, just for a moment. He had been up since about four, so he was admittedly tired, and a bit peckish. But she'd said drink, not eat, and he would chuckle, "A scotch, neat." He chuckled and waved his hand, a joke of course, "A black coffee, with two sugars, if it's not too much trouble." He would wait to see if she was to grab it, or he, before he would take his seat, not wanting to presume she had offered to serve him. Either way, he settled into the indicated chair, and set his PADD down in front of him. He motioned to the sketches, and would say, "Those, are very interesting. Are you an artist? I'm a woodworker myself, and I'm always looking for new studies." He stroked his chin, "The database provides all the models and holos I could ask for, but...they lack a personal touch, don't you think?" And there was his rambling on full display.

Eventually he turned back to her, and with a small sip of black coffee, he shrugged, "To be honest with you Lieutenant Commander,, I am not sure there is something you can do for me." He chuckled gently, "But I had thought, with coming on board, the first person I should meet would of course be my new boss. That's a story in of itself, but I am sure you know her a lot better than me." He didn't need to tell her who that was, he knew that quite readily, "But naturally, apart from perhaps Mr. Jeen, you seemed the next natural appointment. On the Magellan, Operations and Engineering worked quite readily hand in hand, simply because of the cross nature of our work. I've been trying to do my reading, I understand this ship operates a fighter bay, that will be something I've never seen before, so I was intending to take a little tour one of these days soon, but I won't bother you for that." He gave a nod, "But otherwise, I wanted to come and say hello, put names to faces, because eventually I imagine, there will be many somethings that requires our departments to cross coordinate, and I want to know who's calling me a 'knuckle-dragging son of a bitch', on a name basis." He winked at her, Frank was clearly a lightly mannered man, fond of humor.

He nodded lowly, "I've been given Vector Zero One, so I doubt I will be working as closely with you, as Kaylon Jeen might be, but while we're all tottering about on one big ship, I reckon we'll cross paths a lot, at least at briefings. And I didn't want you wondering who the numpty leaning out of the conduit was." He laughed, "Besides, I like a woman with authority, I figured I'd come by and meet you." He shrugged, "See, I've already talked too much." He took another big sip of his coffee, and said, "Replicators get a lot wrong, coffee, they've mastered that one." Then again it wasn't as though Frank had spent enough time planet-side to know if replicator coffee sucked. "That blanket, it's interesting." He motioned to the back of her chair, and said lightly, "Heirloom, or cold blooded?"

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #3 –
 [Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]Attn: @uytrereee  
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If Nat noticed that Frank's gaze lingered on her legs perhaps a bit longer than was polite, or that he liked what he saw, she gave no outward notice. For all her efforts over the past month (over the past 7 years in the service, and the years prior at the Academy, for that matter) Natalie still missed many social queues. Some of the absolute basic level nonverbal forms of communication could slip right over her head; much to the amusement of the very few people who knew her well enough to be in a position to tease her about it. A short list, to be sure, though a list did exist all the same. 

Without missing a beat, Natalie smiled at his attempted joke on drink offerings. She'd known an officer or two, back during the Dominion War, that might not have said that in jest. That was then and this was now and the Lieutenant made it clear that all he needed was coffee. Similar enough to her own regular order, save the cream, she was happy to replicate it, and hand over the mug that materialized, steam pouring out of it. Just because she was the senior officer in the room did not mean she expected him to fend for himself. It was her office after all, and her father had raised her with some manners. What surprised her was his next question, and it had caused her to pause in her journey back to her chair, and consider the drawings that dotted the walls. Not many thought to ask about them, and she found herself picking at the hem of one of her sleeves as she formulated a response. 

"I did, yes. Those are the Mjolnir, Lexington and t'Zahn, respectively," she pointed, working from left to right. "I drew each one after I transferred off the posting. They were in my quarters until I took the job as Chief of Operations. While I've never tried wood carving before," she had to admit that sounded somewhat intimidating from where she stood, though by now she was moving back toward her seat, "I do have to agree with you that there is something that comes with creating something yourself. That makes it seem more genuine." She might not go as far as to call herself an artist; the sketches were almost like a rough diagram as a stylized piece. A hobbyist, perhaps, not an artist. She'd be wrong, but that is what she'd call herself if put to the question again. 

So this is more a get to know the team kind of meeting, Natalie thought to herself and relaxed just a little bit, easing further into her chair as she listened to Lt. Arnold make his case for the visit. A short chuckle escaped her lips when he referred to his boss, but she did not allow herself any more reaction than that. No need in letting the respective department staff's think there was something a foot or at cross purposes between the department heads. The man was right after all, Operations and Engineering worked hand in hand. "With respect to the Fighter bay operations, I would suggest reaching out to Ensign Liam Herrold. We made a mustang out of him recently; he was a Chief Petty officer up until that point. I'm not entirely sure he's forgiven me yet, but he was replacing a chief warrant officer and I didn't fancy making him a warrant at the time. So he got the full commission, and more importantly, he knows the bay as good as any three other officers." She smiled a bit fondly, once again reminding herself taht it was foolish to think of Liam as 'young' or 'that kid in charge of the bay.' He was after all, only two years younger than her. Almost as an after thought, she added, "I'd also suggest dropping in on Lt. Commander Ravon while you're down there. Liam can tell you everything you'd ever want to know about keeping Valkyrie fighters operational , Mr. Ravon can tell you what it's like to fly and fight a squadron of them."

Settling that matter to her satisfaction - she'd let Frank set up his own meetings at his convenience, it certainly wasn't her place to do so - the young department head pressed on. "I don't think I've ever called someone a...knuckle dragging son of a bitch before, certainly not over an open comm channel, but if I do, I do appreciate having a face to go along with the name."See, I can do humor too! Or so she told herself. She was smiling. His affable nature really did make it hard to take any sort of offense. "I do spend a good amount of time on the bridge of Vector One however, so we might see each other more than you think. I keep my office here on Vector Two because Ops tends to run all over the ship, and my predecessor liked to have a centralized - relatively at least - location to operate out of when not on the bridge. I kept the habit from him." It had certainly seen sensible, and she didn't want to waste time and resources relocating the office to some other part of the ship. The same logic that worked for having the OPS office in the middle of the ship worked for having the Second Officer post up there as well. About the only inconvenient thing was that, should the Continuance protocol ever kick in again, and Natalie was still assigned to command the Stallion she'd be away from both her office and her quarters. 

She decided not to let herself wonder just what he meant about women in authority. Some species had issues with that; she'd seen so on occasion during her previous assignments, though she had not been on the direct receiving end of it so far aboard the Theurgy. Most human cultures did not, so she wasn't entirely sure how to take his words. Shrugging them off with a smile at his own self deprecating nature seemed reasonable enough. Again, it was rather impossible to take any sort of umbrage with the man. He appreciated good coffee after all, and that put him in her good graces readily enough. His words about the blanket caught her off guard.

"Er, cold blooded? I'm not sure I catch your meaning," she confessed, though she supposed it was easy enough to sort out. "It was a gift from a family friend. They had made it, back on Mars. I think I had just turned 13 when it was given to me. I'm not sure if that makes it an Heirloom or not though." Many of what had once been called 'Native American' tribes had relocated to Mars during its early colonial histories; some had stayed through the Romulan war and continued to live and thrive there, like those in the community that Natalie had grown up in, at Bradbury Point. Others had left the red world behind, pushing ever further out to find a home where they would not feel encroached upon, as their ancestors had been. Regrettably, she had read of once such tribe that found itself caught in what had become, long after they'd settled the world, the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. She wondered what had become of them in the wake of the Dominion War, and if they still called that distant world home. 

Not a question she could answer then and there, so she set it aside and focused on the Lieutenant, favoring him with a smile as she reached back and ran her hand over it. "Its a reminder of home. My predecessor, Commander Hendricks kept a few things like that around this place. Made it feel more inviting, and less like visiting the principles officer. I decided I should do the same. And sometimes it gets chilly in here. Silly, I know - I could just have Thea turn the temperature up but," she shrugged a bit, raising her palms up toward the ceiling before placing both hands back down on the desk in front of her. "Old habits, I suppose."

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #4 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Brutus 
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Frank would have been silently glad to not be noticed. He was obviously alone on the ship, having left a moderate term girlfriend on the Magellan without much more explanation than a note. He was missing company of course, but to get caught oggling a superior, on first meeting, made a really bad impression. So when he caught no social cue that his faux pas had been caught, he just reminded himself to not do it again...okay once more, and then really done.

Back during the Dominion War, Frank probably wouldn't have been joking. The Cortez saw much of the front line, he'd been awarded two medals for service, in his capacity as a Junior Engineer, an achievement Frank was proud of, if not very boastful. His thoughts about Natalie's legs, and otherwise, quickly evaporated once he was handed a hot cup of coffee, topped by fine wisps of steam. He grinned to her, tipped it to his lips, took one big sip, and offered, "Thank you." He took a few more sips, the ends of his mustache wetted by the nectar of mornings.

He gave a nod as she explained the drawings, and said lightly, "Interesting. I made a model of the Bellerephon once, a less famous Intrepid Class than the Voyager of course, but with a particular hull modification that makes it semi unique in appearance." He nodded, figuring those were her last billets, duty stations. "I was aboard the Cortez, Exeter, Akagi, and Magellan before coming aboard the Theurgy." He stroked his graying beard as if to indicate, "Getting a bit tired of all the moving." He chuckled softly under his breath, "Although it's good I got off of the Cortez when I did, given what happened." It had been a matter of fact accident, his reassignment only meant to be temporary. He smiled at her, "If you ever get a desire to give it a try, let me know, I'll teach you a thing or two." He gave a nod, "I say the same thing about my flutes. Replicator is too...perfect."

As Natalie gave him some names, he would take down some notes on his PADD, Ensign Liam Harold, check. Lieutenant Commander Ravon, check. Each went on his list. He'd also likely look up the assistant deck chiefs and the like, figure out who ran what so he understood the dynamics of the bay. That'd be important were he ever to end up tossed to the wolves. He chuckled, "I imagine it's fast. Flying, that is." He chuckled to himself, "Thank you for the referrals, I'll make sure to try and check in with each of them."

He smirked softly as she said she'd never called someone a knuckle dragging son of a bitch, and said to her lightly, "Give it time, there's always time." He winked at her, "Hell I said it six times last week." That was also a joke, clearly told as a joke. He did admire her humor, and her smile, she had a pretty smile, and eyes, and face...bad Frank bad! He gave a nod, "Well I won't complain about that! It'll brighten my day to say the least." He nodded, "Makes sense, you run a lot of shipboard operations, you want to be in the middle of the ship, plus the fighter bay is here." He rocked his head back and forth as he thought, "Makes sense. I don't have an office yet, but I do have the Auxiliary Bay, so that'll do just fine for me."

Frank appreciated women in power, he found them more logical a lot of the time, less likely to clash with him, and more likely to ask for help when they were lost. No male on male ego to deal with. Of course this would not be articulated, but Frank was the farthest thing from misogynist. He gave a slow chuckle, "An anachronism, inferring that you're more likely to get cold, comparing you to a snake or lizard that needs a constant heat source to survive, given their blood does not retain much if any body heat due to endothermic body processes, unlike humans." He waved a hand, "Bad joke. More like bad reference, but, it is what it is now, dead on arrival."

As she explained the heritage he nodded, "Real Martian huh? Native American maybe? It's neat, it's nice to have heritage items." He shrugged, "Sounds like an heirloom to me. It's from an important part of your life, in the past, so it's an heirloom." He thought about the natives, his dad always spoke highly of their settlement deeds, trying to make their own way, and Frank admired that too. It'd be easy to be beaten down after it happening so often.

He nodded lowly, "Old habits do die hard. I always preferred wearing a sweater, to ambient heat. Maybe it's the element of being able to easily escape back into a chill. Like a fall day on Earth, too hot, just step outside."

He gave a slow chuckle, "Well so this meeting doesn't just peter out, maybe I'll tell you about me, you share a little about you?" He shrugged, he was going to share either way, "I was born on a mining freighter, no stranger to hard work or brash people, so Blue and I get along, and she has a really cool owl named Albert, he's an incredible invention." He thought, "Studied Metallurgy, I'm a damage control specialist by now, somewhat of a hands on expert. Studied at the lattice institute before my first posting. Served in the Dominion War with the Cortez, cut my teeth on an emergency repair that got us back in the fight, got a couple medals for that, but more importantly, got to kick the Cardi's out of our space. Went to the Exeter on what was meant to be a temp exchange, ended up staying 3 years because the Cortez went missing, promoted to the Akagi, then to the Magellan, and ultimately ended up here."

He pause for a moment before going on, "Not married, not dating, although I'd like to be. If you're interested let me know." He winked at her, that was a joke meant to catch her a bit off guard.

"I like private holo time for music, and I already told you I woodwork. I work very long hours because I live for this job." He chuckled, "And I've been accused of being quite rambly, a bit too forward, and a bit of an oversharer."

He looked at her, "Besides being stunning, anything I should know about you?"

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #5 –
[Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]Attn:
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It was unavoidable that Nat should turn pale when Frank mentioned the ill-fated Bellerophon. Though she had not been there for the actual destruction, Natalie had been on hand for the aftermath. Push the to the limit, looking for a way out and desperately hoping to meet up with the rest of the vectors at the rendezvous point, Carrigan Trent had ordered a tactical kill attack on the Bellerophon. Reports varied depending on who you believed but instead of crippling the ship and leaving it intact but drift, the assault broke the ships spine, cracking it in two. The Helmet rescued as many crew as they could manage; the ships current chief counselor was the highest ranking survivor. And here was Lt. Arnold, new to the Theurgy talking fondly about the various modifications the late Intrepid-class had. God help me, he doesn't know. She recovered herself quickly and by the time he finished recounting his own service record - more postings than she had been assigned to, for sure, her face had been welcoming again, and nodded at what he said. "I'll keep it in mind, and thank you for the offer. It does sound quiet impressive."

True enough. Carving a ship out of wood was an all together different order of effort and skill from simply drawing one.

The conversation flowed from there, and she fot an explanation for his word choice. A sheepish smile flashed over her face, genuine and unguarded. Lizards were cold blooded, though that also made her think of Cardassian's, who followed along similar lines. Briefly Natalie remembered Dr. Silim Parnak, whom she had met once or twice after he had come aboard at Starbase 84. The Cardassian doctor had been a perfect gentleman, and one of the few of his species she'd met that had not been actively trying to kill her. She hoped that he was doing well, wherever he had ended up.

But cold-blooded...she should have been able to sort that out on her own, and bit her lip for a moment before giving a nod. "I suppose you have the right of it, though for me its more setting out side back on Mars than Earth. All said and told the only real time I've spent on the birth-world of humanity was during my tenure at the Academy, and an occasional small lay over. And if were in system for more than half a day, I'd take my leave time on Mars." Still, she understood the sentiment if not the specifics of the exact experience. Into the small lull that followed, Frank seemed to square his shoulders and charge on through. He had a way about himself, that was for sure, and Natalie nodded in assent to his suggestion for a little bit of a background exchange on personal notes. It might have been brash arrogance in another junior officer, but there was a certain bite that was lacking to it all, and thus Natalie went with the flow of conversation, listening and nodding along at the right moments.

He hadn't told her anything new about Blue Tiran that she didn't already know, save the fact that the Lieutenant thought he and his boss got along well. She wondered just what mood Frank had caught Blue in, but dismissed it. If her Assistant got along well with her, that was good for Blue Tiran, and good for the Theurgy as a whole. They all deepened on the Chief Engineer to keep those engines running. He was spot on when it came to Albert, and here she quietly inserted a quick, "A most fascinating owl, Mr. Albert." She did not elaborate further, just smiled as he continued. His record was longer than hers, but not all that unfamiliar. For her it had been the Mjolnir that she had served on for the duration of the Dominion war, fresh on the heels of the Breen assault during her time at the Academy. His joke caught her just as flat footed as he'd intended and she nearly choked on her coffee, sputtering, shaking her head and laughing.

"Thank you, no. I'm not accepting any marriage proposals at this time." She managed, patting her chest as she swallowed some of the coffee she had almost laughed out. She hoped he had not been offended by her laughing, but her personal life was...well, it was complicated, though she thought so in a relatively fond fashion. She was not, however going to go into that, no matter how open and...frank, Frank was being. And how many times has he heard that bad pun?

Pursing her lips - he'd just boldly complimented her, regardless of if she agreed with his assessment or not - Natalie rolled his question around. How to answer, how to answer? Shrugging she leaned forward and wrapped her hands around her mug. Tete-e-tete, she thought. "Well first and foremost, I am unaccustomed to flattery. I certainly appreciate it but I rarely know how to properly respond to it. If I seem a bit stand-off-ish because of it, please don't take it personally." Truth. Hathev has been getting after her about that kind of thing. Being honest about her feelings and reactions to the people around her. Social interaction was still damned hard, thank you very much.

Wit a smile, she pressed on. "While your focus was on metallurgy, if I followed correctly, mine is the  subject of Artificial Intelligence, specifically its application to starship design and maintenance, but my Masters Degree was in general AI, with a minor in AI Rights. Fascinating field. I blame my Academy roommate for it." Academy roommate, and temporary roommate aboard the Theurgy whe she first became stranded there after the Cayuga had to make a separate mad dash out of the Azure Nebula with no time to get all the crew back to her. But seeing that Frank didn't quite follow (and why should he have?) Natalie elaborated, still smiling. "Not only did the powers that be stick me with a Romulan for a roommate freshman year, they neglected to mention she was an Android. Made for a very interesting four years, and understandably influenced my path of study at the Academy. I always liked to tinker, but having to actually repair my friend? Yeah, quite an impactful experience."

Laughing at fond memories that, at the time, had been anything but, Natalie sat back in her seat. She did not have many friends, at the Academy, or after. She was not close to many people, and not without cause, especially of late. Vanya was one shining exception in her life, and she was as pleased as could be to have her back. There was no denying that having her around had been...beneficial to her in a multitude of ways. With that in mind, Natalie pressed on.

"I was pressed into service early, when the Breen assaulted Earth. I was at the Academy at the time and the attack cut short the rest of that year. I spent the war on the Mjolnir as mostly a support ship, until I transferred to the Lexington. Did a lot of world rebuilding while I was on that ship, going from planet to outpost to starbase and back. That's when I got my masters. I was assigned to the t'Zhan after that, during that minor spat with the Tzenkethi." Her face darkened quite a bit at that. She had little love for the reclusive xenophobes. "The less said about that, the better. Needless to say, when the ship was being retired, I was informed that I'd be transferred to the Theurgy, because of my history with Artificial Intelligence. Hand selected, as the ship was a prototype, first of her class with a self aware internal AI. As you can imagine I was ecstatic."

She still thought fondly of Thea, and her journey to person hood. More than one big wig at Command had worried about just this thing happening, but so far,  Natalie was pleased with what she saw. The mission that she had signed up for was not the mission she was on now. "Thing's haven't quite gone as planned. But. Be that as it may. As you noted earlier, I do like to draw in my free time, though I trend toward staying in my quarters and reading for free time, instead of going to the holodeck. I am not exactly a social creature. Far from it, in fact. I might very well be the most introverted member of the senior staff. I just do a decent job of faking it.

"If you overshare, I tend to under-share. And if you're too forward, I tend to be reserved. This conversation non-withstanding." It was an area that she had been pushing herself to deal with, from the moment she'd been tasked with replacing Commander Hendricks at the ships Chief of Operations. Being thrust into command of the Stallion during the flight in the wake of the first encounter with the Savi had been another crucible forcing her out of her shell. And now having the responsibility of Second Officer on her shoulders, she could no longer afford to be a recluse. She had to be more personable than she felt, had to make herself available to...well, to moments like this. And she had to coach and nurture other officers which was, damned hard when you had half the number of years under your belt as many of the people you were in charge of. Case and point sitting across from her.

"In short I'm a work in progress." Feeling like she'd just run a verbal marathon, Natalie took a sip of her still hot coffee to sooth her throat and let out a soft sigh. There was one thing she needed to address, and she'd put it off with a bit of a history of herself. But Lt. Arnold seemed to be a well meaning sort, so it was best that she let him know now before he accidentally bundled into a moment like he had earlier. "I haven't really sat in on the briefing that new crew have been undergoing."

The shift in tone, from affable to serious was distinctly noticeable. There was no bark to it, not cold nature, no rebuke. But the change was there, and it demanded attention. "There is a lot that this ship, this crew, have been through since last November. From Jupiter Station all the way to the doorstep of the Aldean system, our flight has been a painful, violent one, no matter how we have tried to minimize it. Unfortunately, the lion's share of that violence has been at the hands of other Starfleet vessels, whose crews believed they were doing what was right, deceived by an infested Command." Yes, this was a heavy subject indeed, and she felt more than a little guilt over having to bring it up.

"I honestly don't know how much is or is not known about our encounters. How much truth has been distorted, and how many encounters have simply been covered up and not spoken of, instead of twisted to the benefit of propaganda. But one of those ships we encountered - one of the ships we destroyed, despite trying our best to avoid doing so, was the Bellerophon." That hung in the air like a lead balloon, the weight of it pressing down on Natalie. "The survivors are aboard this ship. We rescued as many as we could. One of my junior officers, Ensign K'Lara joined the crew from that ship, after the truth had been revealed to her. Lt. Commander Hathev, our ships Chief Counselor, is the senior most survivor from the Bellerophon and represents the former members of that ship on the Senior Staff. Plus, she's one of the best damn counselors I've ever seen.

"I though that, since you brought the ship up, you should know. If you had any friends aboard her, you might want to check the current crew roster. Or the memorial wall in the Arboretum." Those that the Theurgy had not been able to save were on that wall, though a few names had been later removed - some had survived the destruction, and the crew had learned of this after the fact. She let that silence linger for a moment, then puffed up her lips and let out a long, slow breath. "I know its not exactly a fun subject to talk about, believe me. But we have a lot of crew that way - survivors of other ships we've encountered. Though in our defense, we didn't destroy most of them. The Borg did in the Endeavour,an infected Starfleet Captain took out the Resolve and half of Starbase 84. The Romulan's assaulted the Black Opal Installation, we actually came to the rescue there, funnily enough." That was mostly true. "And I - we did rescue the Cayuga. Some of her crew got stranded here during our encounter in the Azure Nebula. But the Harbinger to a lesser extent, and more so, the Bellerophon and the Dauntless, we did destroy those, and some of their crew are still here."

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #6 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Chief of Operations Office | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Brutus
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Frank hadn't read many of the after action reports, in the few days he was aboard. He had been far more concerned with his technical duties, as well as some rec time with his saxophone, getting his quarters assignment, meeting Blue, getting to know the deck crew, things of that nature. So he couldn't guess why Natalie's face turned the way it did. He raised his brow, and wiped his mustache, just in case he had a booger hanging there on display, and she was trying to be polite. No booger, and he wasn't aware of the boogeyman that hung about the mention of the Bellerophon, not yet anyway. At her thanks, he gave a nod back to her, offering lightly, "Yeah of course, I'm new here, and it never hurts to make a friend or two." Especially friends that looked like Nat, that were high up on the ship, it was a good move all around, although Frank rarely made friendships out of pragmatism, he just liked people, and people seemed to get along with him fair enough. He was affable, with a way of drawing out people's good nature.

Frank's wood carving took an exceptional amount of time, and the spatial thinking required to make the right strokes, certainly came from a very similar place, to the strokes required to whip a starship into place. The conversation flowed quite readily, although sometimes he felt like he might be trying to pry out Natalie's molars with what he was asking.

As she spoke of where she spent her shore leave around the Sol, he nodded lowly, offering lightly, "My dad lives over near San Francisco now, but he didn't move there until after I started the Academy. I was a space brat, like I mentioned, so mostly our layovers were short, except for a yearly for the crew. Time's money, money's time, and you can't waste it sitting around. Deuterium claims mature, and if you lose one because your crewers are busy trying to screw and drink on planet, it makes you mighty sore." He chuckled gently, "Probably why this all feels natural to me, floating around in space on long turnovers." She'd mentioned family friends on Mars, but he would ask anyway, "Family on Mars? Or just friends? Maybe you just like red?" He grinned at her, laughing gently, "Must be something to keep you going back."

At her speak about Albert, he nodded excitedly, and he sat up in his chair just a little. "Albert is amazing! I've yet to figure out if he's a pure AI, or really clever programming. Either way he's impressive, the way he acts and his mannerisms and stuff. Very cool." He smiled lightly, and offered, "And yeah Blue, that's a good department I think. Very brash, very straightforward, I prefer it that way personally, better than having to hide your feelings, or wonder what your commanding officer thinks." He shrugged.

As she choked on her coffee, he just laughed softly, "Sorry." He felt bad that he was sputtering, and he offered lightly, "Whoah whoah now, I wasn't proposing. I'd start with a date, something candlelit, soft music." He smirked, "Dancing. Go easy Commander." He rolled his shoulders as he leaned back, "That's a shame, you'd like my sax. You're missing out." He winked at her, before listening to her explanation, and he gave a shrug, "I grew up with miners, you don't have to worry about hurting my feelings. I'm just free and open with the compliments. I see a woman I think is pretty, I'm happy to tell her. Why play the will I won't I game you know? Worst that happens is you make someone choke on coffee, best that happens is you get a date out of it." He shrugged, "Or you know, put in the brig because the Chief of Operations asphyxiated on aspirated coffee." He chuckled softly, and speaking of coffee, drained a little more of his morning mug.

He nodded lightly, "Metallurgical Engineering. Can ferrous alloys, things like that." He stopped talking after that, and listened to her, hearing that she was heavily focused on AI. That explained her position somewhat, with the shipboard AI the Theurgy boasted. He crossed his arms and listened for a while. He raised a brow, "AI rights really? That's very interesting." It really was, it was an odd issue, and with more of the models that appeared on the scene, it made sense someone had to philosophize on the issue. He mused as she said she had an android roommate, and he raised a brow, "Really? And you two got along well? A Romulan Android...what a trip, that had to be a crash course if I've ever heard one." He raised a brow, "And you went under the hood, living the dream!" He was clearly fascinated by the concept of an android, "I'd love to eventually meet an android, to understand one...would have been incredible. I have to wonder how they conceptualize personal relationships, or even romance."

He heard she was pressed into service early on the Mjolnir, he offered lightly, "I was fortunate enough to have my Masters and a few years of Fellowship before my time aboard the Cortez, it must have been a real fast transition you had to make." He listened to her service record, and then he offered, "Well working with the AI aboard this ship, must be quite a dream. I mean, I was excited to learn I'd be onboard a new vessel, with new hull composites, some of which likely came out of my Fellowship." He nodded slowly "But you're working with..." He snapped his fingers trying to conjure the name, "...I know the AI has a name, I simply cannot remember it. That's gotta be very very cool for you." He gave a slow grin, "So then if you're an AI expert, is Albert a true full AI, or just a clever interface device? I'm interested."

He gave a slow nod, "Well if you're feeling social, feel free to reach out. I'm fairly easy going to drink with in the lounge." He nodded lowly, "But you know, no worries if you just want to be left be, and you've got your own friends so." He would give a smile, "Hey, faking it is basically the whole job." He nodded gently, "Yeah so far you haven't been very withholding, I think you've been more open than needs be with a stranger."

At her notion she was a work in progress, he laughed notably, and said, "Yeah who isn't?" He smirked, "If you're not growing, you're rotting right?" He nodded lowly, and said, "I was given the general situation here on Aldea when I came aboard, Blue put me on about the Savi yesterday, I've been trying to review the logs on that whole situation, since they're working in Main Engineering."

He listened patiently about the ship, and he nodded, "I saw some of the ongoing repairs on the way in, and I have read those reports. It sounds like the ship took a real battering at times. And without the regular upkeep of Starfleet stations and yards, it all piles up." He stroked his chin, "Attacked by the very people we're trying to save." It was 'we' now after all, traitors hanged together.

As she said the Bellerophon was destroyed, he offered a low, "Shit." He'd always liked that ship, more for the name and the history, than the fact she was a neat Intrepid. But either way, a ship like that getting blown, by a ship he was now on, it was unfortunate. "I almost got posted on the Bellerophon. Took a tour of her while I was posted on the Akagi" He stroked his beard slowly, "I didn't know anyone aboard...but shit. To work with those survivors, man they must have some perspective on deception. Chief Counselor, got it, I'll drop in on her as well, just to make an acquaintance."

He gave a grunt, "Have to just try to do more good than bad I suppose, we're all taking different size bites of the same shit sandwich." He nodded lowly.

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #7 –
 [Lt. Cmdr. Natalie Stark | Chief of Operations Office  | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ]Attn: @uytrereee  
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Having grown up and lived all her life on a planet prior to Starfleet, Natalie always found 'boomers' to be a fascinating microcosm of humanity's culture. The name dated back all the way to the late 21st and early 22nd century cargo haulers, who would sometimes spend years in space moving goods from one planet to the next. While the speed at which freight and cargo moved had increased manifold since those early warp days in humanities past, the term still found usage, if only among the human members of the Federation. Learning that Frank was one such person put a whole different perspective on things. "It took me a long time to get used to sleeping on a starship, without firm ground under my feet. But starship power systems was one of the things I'd done very well at in the Academy, so a ground side posting was never really in the cards. And I wanted to see the galaxy. Fought a war, first, that wasn't in the plans, but I have seen a heck of a lot more than I would have staying at a starbase or a ground installation." With her expertise in AI, she could have done just that, taking a post at some place like the Daystrom institute or even Jupiter Station. 

Natalie decided she didn't want to think about what if's and might have been's, had she been on the other side of the attack at Jupiter Station, when the Theurgy started her headlong flight out of the Sol System. Realizing she hadn't quite answered Frank's question, she added, "My family still lives on Mars, and I liked to back. Always tried to get out on Lake Bradbury - or Lake Casini, depending on who you asked - as well, when I visited home."

She allowed herself to enjoy as much of the banter that followed as she could. Take the good moments when they came to you, or so the logic went. Hard to argue with, given how many bad moments there had been in the last year or so. Even the Romulan Diplomatic Mission had been a failure, no tow ways about it. She decided she would let Albert inform Lt. Arnold of his own person-hood, as he saw it, rather than do so herself. It was a tad mischievous of her, but she thought it would be more amusing that way. And she shrugged off his polite though teasing response to her denial of any dating opportunities, taking it for nothing more than, again, pleasant banter. Dating was... complicated enough already. And if that isn't the understatement of the year, I don't know what is.[ Natalie had had some rotten luck in that department, though she had begun to learn a few things about herself since the Battle of the Apertures. "I'll have to pass on the offer, but I appreciate it all the same, Lieutenant. I don't think I'm at risk of dying, so I think we'll let you off easy."

Talking about their respective fields brought Albert back into the conversation despite her original intentions. She had to hand it to Frank - he had a way of getting her to talk more than she intended, or usually liked. Probably healthy for her, she reflected with a shrug. Steepling her fingers she nodded in agreement with his assessment. A lot about her posting was a dream come true, even if parts of that dream had manifested more like a nightmare. "I'll introduce you to Vanya at some point. We keep her pretty busy these days, but I do have the inside track on her time." Again with the understatement. "It's not exactly a secret that she is an Android, but a lot of people that don't know her wouldn't be able to tell just seeing her in a crowd, or having a random chat. That said, there aren't exactly a lot of Romulan Starfleet officers in the whole of the Federation, let alone aboard the Theurgy so it wouldn't be exactly hard to put two and two together. But I didn't know she was an Android until she had a small accident and needed some help getting fixed up our freshman year. 

"As for our ship's AI, she goes by Thea. Invite her to lunch some time. I'm sure she'd enjoy the conversation." Thea might not know what to do with herself if put on the spot with Frank, given the Lieutenant's verbose nature. "I was going to tell you 'ask Albert yourself' but since you asked me, in my assessment, he has become a true AI. He didn't start out that way, and I think he's still fumbling about and learning how to be himself." 

Engineering life, social interactions, the Savi - they covered an impressive amount of ground before they'd arrived at that last, lingering note. As he processed the situation, the phrase 'But for the grace of God go I,' came to mind for Natalie. He could very well have been aboard the late Bellerophon had things gone a little bit different. "It may just be my opinion, but, we're lucky you weren't aboard her. No way to tell how things would have unfolded and if you'd have made it through to our ship in any event, or not. And while it's not quite the way I might have phrased it, you have the right of it there." Though she doubted she'd ever use the words 'shit sandwich' she had to admit the colorful metaphor fit the situation rather succinctly. 

Sipping gently from her cup of coffee to collect herself, Natalie reviewed the conversation as a whole entity. She talked more than she liked to, and they had been forced to cover some unpleasant ground, the encounter had been enjoyable, on the whole. As far as first impressions went, Lt. Arnold managed to make a good one. Smiling at him, she gave a little nod as she set the mug back down. "Well Lieutenant, for what it's worth I think you're going to fit in well with the crew. If you ever need anything from Ops don't hesitate to ask. I know we're coming up on the end of our allotted time, but was there anything else you wanted to cover before we both move onto our next meetings and tasks?" She'd give him the last word if there was something else pressing on his mind.

Re: Day 30 [0930 hrs.] Doing the Department Run Around

Reply #8 –
[ Lieutenant Frank Arnold | Chief of Operations Office | Deck 12 | Vector 02 | USS Theurgy ] Attn: @Brutus
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It was funny to Frank, the things that Natalie said about learning to sleep on a starship, he felt about learning to be on a planet. To him, he had no idea what it was like to have solid ground underneath your feet, and sun in your face. He’d not had his first sunburn until he was eleven years old. Radiation burn, sure, conduit-fry, absolutely, but real sun, never. He’d not grown up with things like allergies, even though most didn’t exist, and didn’t grow up with a lot of strangers. That likely contributed to his affable nature, and openness, he wasn’t used to the notion, at least in his developmental years, of living around people that weren’t intimately involved in your life most days. The Colliery just hadn’t been that big, tip to toe only a couple hundred meters. He gave a grin as she said her piece about learning to sleep, and he said, “I find it very hard to exist outside of confined spaces. It’s been explained to me, that I have a mild form of agoraphobia, terraphobia, and am claustrophillic, due to long periods during childhood being confined.” He stroked his chin, “When that gentle hum of starship resonance goes away, I can’t sleep for days. I’ve only ever really gone to planets when I’ve been told to, or a girl has dragged me along.” He laughed gently, shaking his head, “Suppose that makes me perfectly suited for my job, but not for retirement.” He nodded lowly, “A lot of us cut our teeth in the war, I know I did. Probably perfectly developed you for the mess we’re in now.”
 
He liked Natalie, she was a curious puzzle to try and unwrap, withholding, but not intentionally so. It was a neat game of personalities, and she was a good enough listener, for him to share perfectly. As she passed on his offer, he gave a smile, and leaned back in his chair. Perhaps a twinge of disappointment passed the corner of his lips, but it was only for a moment. That wasn’t why he’d come, so he couldn’t be that upset by it when he left. After all, he’d met who he wished to meet, and they’d seemingly passed well enough. He said in al ight teasing tone, “Alright Commander, but I must let you know you’re making an error.” He chuckled, but he moved on, so as not to broach the threshold of discomfort.
 
Frank smiled lightly, not exactly following who Vanya was at first, but he put it together fairly quickly once some details were parsed in. As she said she’d introduce him, he nodded excitedly and said, “I’d like that! A Romulan android, that’s, well it’s interesting.” It was hard for him to not think of her as a machine at first, but then he mused it over and said, “Sorry, /she/ sounds interesting.” He gave a slow grin, they’d been roommates, this Vanya was the very same as the story from before, and he gave a grin, “Hence the inside track on her time.” He laughed softly, and said, “I’d enjoy meeting Vanya.”
 
He learned the ships AI went by Thea, well, relearned it. He’d certainly been told once before, when he was being given the Vector 01 overview, but the idea of inviting her to lunch, that…was genius. He smiled brightly, and said, “I’ll be doing that, lunch with the first AI to be integrated into a starship, it’s my dream girl. Personality, with phaser banks.” He laughed, clapping once, just because the idea was so interesting to him. He took a long drain of his coffee, sipping the dregs, small hangers on in his mustache, and started to think he’d had far too much of this Senior Officer’s time now.
 
They’d covered many topics, and the meeting was far less surface than Frank had expected, which was surprising in the most pleasant of ways. He thought about the Bellerophon as she said the were lucky he wasn’t aboard, and would say lightly, “I suppose that stands to be determined, my value to the Theurgy, but I am grateful as well.” He smiled lightly, “A shame though, she was a beautiful ship.” All of the Intrepids were to Frank, such a unique jump in hull configuration. He laughed as she said his phrasing wasn’t quite what she’d use, and said softly, “The devil is after all, in the details.”
 
He heard her trying to wrap up the conversation, very kindly, and he gave a nod, “I think I will too Commander, and I won’t. The same goes for Engineering, or any of your needs on Vector 01, day, night, I’ll be up.” He winked at her, and slowly rose from his chair, “I think I’ve had enough of your day today, but thank you for the candid conversation, it was pleasant. Perhaps I’ll be able to bend your ear again some day.” He nodded, and then at that, would say, “Good day Commander.” He’d set his empty cup down on the edge of the desk, and gather his PADD, turning to the door to depart Natalie’s office.
 
-FIN-
 
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