" Command "
(Previous Post was Jessica's "The Numerous Dimensions Of The Universe")
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Stardate: 60324.0730
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
The young woman had returned to the bridge after a restful night… that
having been because the redheaded woman had been alone with her
adoptive daughter… Talia's birth mother not having been anywhere to be found.
At first Sabrina had figured that the ILO had been busy with some sort of
Intel related matter concerning the MERCURY, but as time passed and the night
pressed on the CO of the ANUBIS began to wonder if there had not been
something else at play.
Talia had not once inquired about the absence of her biological mother which led the young woman to guess that the child knew something that her second mother did not… something that the promise of fruits covered in chocolate and whipped creamed had failed to discover. Maybe Enaii had just been over diligent in her work to locate the crew of the MERCURY, a trait that any CO would have been more than happy to see in their ILO, but unfortunately Cpt. Rikar had not been a typical CO for this particular instance.
Not wanting to draw upon herself the wrath of the woman who utterly disliked to be disturbed for anything other than the complete destruction of the universe as it was known, the young woman had opted to delay her question to this morning, hoping that the holographic image of the ILO would be present on the bridge when the CO would walk on. Hopes… like so many dreams, are a fleeting thing all too often shattered by the harshness of reality.
"Good morning Captain," Ens. Doratheva, the ANUBIS' new Sec/Tac officer said as she greeted the redheaded woman, prompting the ExO out of the central chair and onto her feet.
"All departments have reported in and are ready… Engineering has been busy keeping us at maximum speed, so we should arrive at the MERCURY's last coordinates within the next 4 hours." The half Human, half Romulan woman reported as she vacated the seat meant for the senior most officer on duty… which in this case was the captain.
"Glad to hear that the night was a peaceful one." The young woman offered as she made her way to the centre of the bridge, glancing in the direction of the unmanned ILO's station. If Enaii had been working in the IGC, she had elected not to wear the headpiece that enabled her to interact with what was happening on the bridge while working several decks away in the ANUBIS' Array section.
Serenna seemed to wait for the young woman to take possession of her chair before she left the bridge, but it had required the CO's nodding to send the ExO on her way… obviously Rikar had not been ready to sit in *her* chair, at least not yet. With the hybrid ExO off the bridge, the young woman turned her attention to 1 of the officers who had been on duty… namely Ens. Doratheva.
"So… may I ask what you think of the ANUBIS and her crew?" The young woman inquired as she moved away from the empty seat and towards the station of the Sec/Tac officer, giving the impression that she had been searching for an excuse not to sit in the chair that had now been hers by right.
"The ship is very impressive and is far more than I could have ever expected… but I don't mean to imply that I am in anyway disappointed by the crew, far from it. Everyone has been most accommodating… it is just so much to take in all at once." Eva replied as she reviewed her answer and found fault in everything she had said.
"Glad to hear it… I know that personally I am happy to have you with us." The CO offered with a smile, easily recalling how nervous she had been the first time she had stepped onto a starship after having left the Academy… and as traumatising as that experience might have been for the redheaded woman, it could not be compared to what Eva had been put through. The ANUBIS and its base of operations, the NEW ALEXANDRIA, were not renown for being the easiest of assignments for new recruits, but is Ens. Doratheva had made it this far, it could only mean that she had in some way shown skills and abilities that others had not.
With the discussion over, the young woman turned her attention back to the front of the bridge and the 2 officers who were there and had been there when the CO had left the night before. Although Rikar knew about Annie's unique abilities if anyone could call being a robot an ability, Sabrina decided to see just how the android responded to social situations.
"So… have you 2 spent the entire night here?" The CO inquired as she made her way between the 2 stations, standing right in the middle allowing the FCO and Ops officers to simply turn their heads to the side in order to see the person who had presented the question.
"Yes." The 2 of them replied in perfect unison as if they had shared the exact same thought at that very time.
Taken a little by surprise by the perfect synchronicity of their reply, it took a few moments for the young woman to recuperate. Since the official status of the android named Annie had not been revealed to the rest of the crew, the CO decided not to press her experiment in the Avatar's social skills and turned around to face the centre of the bridge. After having taken a few steps, Cpt. Rikar came to a full stop and gazed at the empty chair as if it had been ready to leap out at her.
Sooner or later she would have to accept that the command chair was *her* place, but obviously the time had not been the right one for the young woman to take this somewhat final step in accepting not only her new role as the ANUBIS' CO, but also all of the responsibilities that went along with it.
As the CO searched for an excuse to step off the bridge she noticed that the stations of the CEO and CSciO had been empty making her ability to pass on command of the ship a little more difficult that the redheaded woman had anticipated. After Serenna, the ExO, command of the ANUBIS would have normally fallen on the 2nd Officer, a position which at the moment had yet to be filled… this meant that Rikar had to use rank in order to establish who would take over while she was gone.
The next highest ranking officer after Serenna had been none other than the ANUBIS's own ILO, but since the holographic image of Enaii had not been present, the young woman could only guess as to the location of the Lt. Cmdr forcing her to make another selection… or to have Enaii summoned to the bridge to take over. Faced with such an unappealing choice, the CO opted to avoid any type of open confrontation with her life-mate and decided to go down the command ladder to see who would get their chance at being in charge of the ship.
The next choice would have been the CSciO who also held the rank of Lt. Cmdr, but the absence of the Shillian on the bridge made that possibility one that could not be used… a sort of mixed blessing as the young woman had a hard time picturing the over talkative woman in command of an entire ship. With all of the Lt. Cmdrs. On the senior staff having been eliminated as potential choices, the CO turned her thoughts to the next officer on the list that she had called up in her mind… Lt. David Dawson.
As much as she suspected that he would be more than capable of fulfilling the requirements of the temporary position, the young woman had almost been glad that the CEO had not been on the bridge at that very moment. The recent events that had plagued the engineer's life had made it though enough on him without Rikar adding to his problems, something that being in command had a habit of doing to someone. What the latest possibility having been also dismissed, the captain turned to the next possible choice.
"Lt. Fairborn… I need to step out for a moment… so you are in command." The young woman announced as she made her way towards the back of the bridge and the turbolift that was located there.
"Captain… with all due respect… I must decline. Although I am currently assigned to the ANUBIS, I am not officially a member of its crew and am here only as a special envoy from NEW ALEXANDRIA. This allows me to help with the duties of FCO and any other related matter you may see fit for me to work on, but I fear that these duties cannot include command since I am not officially a member of this crew. That said though, I am most honoured by your trust in me." The Oltharian replied as only the gentle giant could making the young woman's last choice an invalid one.
For a brief moment the CO contemplated the possibility of turning command of the ANUBIS to Annie… after all that had been 1 of the things the Avatar had been designed for, but after a short internal debate the young woman decided against it. Until such time as the crew was made aware of the android's true nature and purpose it had been better not to place any addition focus on the artificial woman.
With all other options exhausted and the rest of the senior staff unavailable the young woman turned to the last possible choice. With the ship well under control and the timeline to the last known location of the MERCURY placing them 4 hours away, Rikar figured that there had been no harm in giving the Sec/Tac officer a chance to experience something new.
"Ensign Doratheva… looks like you're in charge. Try not to start a war with whatever race we might come across." The young offered with a distinct tone of humour in the last part which did nothing to quench the expression of complete bafflement that had appeared on the half Edo, half Betazoid woman.
Before Eva could say anything the CO had vanished off the bridge leaving the Ensign in charge of the ship and all hands onboard.
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Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the
Darkness and the Light" 2005 post #276
