Clandestine Beginnings

Posted on Tue Feb 18th, 2014 @ 1:51pm by Ensign Leon Kingson & Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke

Episode: Orphans
Location: Shuttle Bay, USS Highlander.
Timeline: MD05 0915hs

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"Sir."

Leon woke with a start. He looked around, getting his bearings. He was still in the shuttle he had left in to board the highlander. Strapped to his seat, another officer was staring down at him, evidently awaiting some kind of response. He recognised him, as one of the other officers who had boarded with him.

"Sir" He repeated.

"Sorry. I was gone for a moment." Leon apologised.

"Not a problem sir. Just wanted to let you know that we've arrived. We'll be docking with the Highlander shortly."

Leon nodded, and quickly skimmed over his PADD. Various files on different crew members involved in the Endeavours destruction. Both official and confidential logs were also stored there. Before Leon dozed off, he had been reading up on the Captain, First and Second officer on board the Highlander. He put the PADD down for a moment, gathering his belongings. A few other more solid essentials would be transferred to his quarters later, but for not he had just a few supplies on his possession.

Within minutes, there was a slight shudder as the shuttle docked with the Highlander. A last minute crew addition to the USS Highlander, Ensign Leon, the new Chief of Operations had arrived. This would be his home for a good while. The shuttle hissed a little as systems cooled and various pipes de pressured. A small bleep, and a clean sliding sound could be heard as the door to shuttle opened.

Ensign Leon cautiously stepped out on the deck of his knew home and looked around. The gleaming metal of this recently refurbished ship shone. Here and there Star Fleet officers were embarking on their duties. Most, if not all of the new crew had arrived and were beginning to settle in to regular work by now.

Leon, followed by three of four other officers disembarked the shuttle, and stood to the side. a little unsure of what to expect. This was, for most of them, their first position in the fleet, and were eager to make a good impression. The only problem was, that there was no superior officer, in sight.

Hawke marched into the shuttle bay at a brisk pace followed by a Bolian operations petty officer he had snagged along the way. The Bolian was doing his best to keep up, but Hawke wasn't making it easy for him. He spotted the five lost-looking new additions to the crew a mile away and made a bee-line for them.

Commander Ra-Xialii had asked him to welcome the new additions aboard while he was snowed under with some tasks the skipper had delegated to him. Horatio was beginning to feel that this new gig as Second Officer would mostly involve him picking up the leftovers. Regardless of what he'd be assigned, he was determined to accomplish each task he was set.

He looked back at the Bolian and jerked his head in the direction of the newcomers. The Bolian nodded and then bellowed, "Atten-shun!"

Hawke suppressed a grin as he watched them snap to attention.

Leon, like the others jumped at the words. They formed a stiff line immediately, ready for inspection. Leon watched the Lieutenant carefully. He briefly remembered the information he had been given regarding the man. Smartly dressed. Commanding presence. Evidently Officer material. He hadn't served on the Endeavour long before the incident, but was a notable member none the less. Good words about the man all round. Important details to remember.

But first and foremost in Leon's mind was the thought: This man is judging me...Best make a good impression... Regardless of an officers career choice, first days were always nerve racking. SFI Officers, including Leon, were no exception to this rule.

The Second Officer stood before them, his hands clasped firmly behind his back, and surveyed them like a drill instructor. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a measured tone. "I am Lieutenant Horatio Hawke, Chief Flight Control Officer and Second Officer of the Highlander," he said, consciously trying to sound a little casual, despite the charade. "I have been given the privilege of officially welcoming you aboard this ship. So ... welcome aboard."

"Now," he continued, with a gesture to his blue skinned shadow. "Petty Officer Krot here will show you to your quarters. If you have any questions, he's not a bad fellow and I'm sure he'd be eager to answer them. You will already have your reporting orders, so I suggest you quickly dump your effects in your quarters and then go find whoever it is you have to report to. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!" they all replied in unison.

Hawke smiled, "Fantastic. Once again, welcome to the Highlander. Krot, you can take them from here."

The Bolian stepped forward and started to direct the newcomers while Hawke zeroed in on the only gold-collared ensign in the group. "Ensign Kingson, I presume?" he said, extending his hand for the younger man to shake.

Leon relaxed a little, and took the hand of the SO.

"Yes Sir. Chief of Operations reporting for duty sir." He shook the officer's hand politely, and smiled back.

"It's good to finally meet someone here. I've not had much of a chance to meet many of my crew mates yet. Been going over the ships schematics. the OS are a little different to ones they use in the academy, and I don;t want to asphyxiate us all on my first day. Probably take me a few days to get used to it. Never really been on an Intrepid class ship before. Have you been on this ship long?" Leon knew full well that he hadn't, but Hawke had no way of knowing that. Beside's, advice on how to blend in on a ship, best rec rooms, and nearest bars were the first questions a new officer always asked. But to flat out ask, before even signing in with the captain was paramount to carelessness. Impressions. Dignified, committed and relaxed. Qualities needed. If only they'd put that on the application guide of SF Academy. Things would have moved a lot smother. Leon though to himself.

Hawke eyed the eager young ensign, wondering if he was ever this talkative when he was a freshly graduated ensign on his first assignment. He decided he probably wasn't. He let Kingson run himself out of steam, rather than jump in on him.

"So..." Leon trailed off, his tone much more informal now. "I suppose I should meet with the captain now..."

"Come with me," he said with a smile. "I'll take you to your quarters. Then we'll go see the old man."

"Thank you. So this captain I'll be meeting... What's he like?"

As they strode across the shuttlebay deck toward the corridor, Hawke considered his response. "Well," he said finally. "He's definitely not your typical starship captain," he said, choosing his words carefully. "Captain Williams doesn't go much for protocol and procedure, but he's a genuine kind of guy. Takes people as they are. Just be yourself and you'll do fine, Ensign."

They had almost reached the turbolift by this time and Hawke tapped the call button. "So," he said as they waited. "First assignment out of the Academy and you're already a department head. I'm guessing you're either some kind of wiz kid, or you're really well connected." He smiled as he waited for the reply.

"It came as a complete surprise actually, but thinking about it, it must have been a bit of both really. I've wanted to join star fleet since I was about...ten or twelve...So I started as early as I could. Summer classes. Self study. But mostly I pestered my sister when I visited." He paused.
"As for contacts, we were running some simulations up on the luna base. A month of low gravity training. Lets say things got a bit hairy and leave it at that. I must have made an impression on the commanders there."

"Clearly," Hawke agreed as the turbolift arrived and he gestured for the ensign to enter first. "Deck three, section five," he ordered as the doors closed. Then he turned back to Kingson. "I grew up a fleet brat. Both my parents were in Starfleet and it was pretty much a foregone conclusion that I'd follow them. Do you have your transfer orders with you? Make sure you've got them on a PADD so you can present them to the skipper."

"Thanks. I've got a few here. Lets see...its on one of them..." Leon began accessing a few of the PADDs. Most were on standby, and lit up easily, displaying various orders. As he switched on one of the last few, a screen lit up. But it was not an order. It was a series of the crews counsellors reports. A standard officer would not have access to these. Leon was not a standard officer...but Second Officer Hawke had no way of knowing that! He hastilly switched the PADD down, and moved on the next few, praying the lieutenant had not seen what was displayed. He found the right PADD, and put them together, along with his medical records, he needed to drop off at the Medbay, and his Operations PADD, for use in the Operations department.

"Got them." Leon said relieved.

The turbolift opened and they walked only a short distance to Kingson's designated quarters. "Just drop your stuff off, you can settle in later. Here, I'll hold those PADDs for you." He put his hands out to relieve him of the small bundle of PADDs he carried.

Leon hesitated. What if the Lieutenant saw what was one the PADDs? No. He would have to trust him. Take a gamble. Looking shifty now would not help at all. He handed over the order filled PADDs to the Lieutenant, careful, to keep to 'secret' PADD in the centre of the small pile, away from prying eyes. Leon went inside.

His room was nice, medium sized room. A bed occupied the wall opposite, and a door close by to a bathroom. A second doorway opened into second living space, with a small sofa, and coffee table. He paused at a window that looked out onto the city of metal. The desert sands were dark in the shadows of the great metallic behemoths that stood broken and un-flyable above them.

He placed his remaining belongings on the table, (He would move in when the remainder of his belongings arrived.)

Leon walked back to the entrance where Lieutenant Hawke stood.

Hawke waited patiently, resisting the urge to peek at the PADDs he held. What the ensign was reading was his own business, so he resolutely held them face down while he waited.

"Ready to go?" he asked as Kingson returned.

"Yup, lets go meet the Captain."

"Excellent," he said, handing the stack of PADDs back to the junior officer.

Something went wrong in the handover, though, and one of the PADDs slipped. As both officers reflexively reached out to catch the slipping PADD, they each neglected the pile which was sent tumbling down to the deck.

Oh no!

Both officers reached down to pick up the scattered pile of PADDs on the deck, each grabbing one or two here. As they went about it, Hawke caught the slightest glance of one of the screens before the ensign plucked it up and held it screen to the back of another PADD. He wasn't certain, but he thought he saw an image of the chief engineer.

Hawke handed the two PADDs he had retrieved back to Kingson. Why would he have a file on Ethan? he thought to himself. He decided he had to ask. "Was that Lieutenant Kessel on one of those PADDs?"

Oh dear... Think Leon...Why would a fresh out of the academy have an image of the infamous Ethan Kessel...?

"Hmmm? Oh that. Yup. That's the Lieutenant. He's something of hero back at the academy. Borg Survivors aren't unknown, but he survived more then what the average drone would. An never before seen assimilation technique! Beaten by a human! Did you really think it wouldn't talked about back at the academy?

"He was assimilated, lost so much to them, but is still serving Star Fleet. Even 'Seven' can't say she survived that . I was just reading some of academy's student honours page on the shuttle. Must have forgotten to log out."

Hawke cocked his head to the side as he digested the ensign's reasoning. He wasn't sure if he believed him or not. If he was being totally honest, he had no idea how far or wide the tale of the Endeavour's demise had spread. Was it all over the news sites? Between his own personal circumstance and a comfortably ignorant life on Justerini Street these past few months, Horatio hadn't cared to scan the news of the galaxy.

If the story was out, it would be tough for the brass hats in San Francisco to keep Ethan's role under wraps. On the other hand, it was the kind of story Starfleet might want to keep quiet; at least the part involving the Chief Engineer.

He decided to give the ensign the benefit of the doubt as he tilted his head toward the turbolift. "Okay. Let's get going," he said. As the headed back for the turbolift stop he leaned in and said, "Word of advice. You might want to tone down the hero worship when you're around Lieutenant Kessel."

"Oh, that won't be a problem. I'm sure he's got enough on his plate without a Junior Officer bothering him. As far as he'd know, I'm just another officer.
Well, lets go find the captain shall we?"

Smooth Leon...Great start...

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