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Operations Inspection

Posted on Fri May 22nd, 2015 @ 11:14pm by Commander Sinek & Lieutenant JG Karina Sha’ha’zen & Lieutenant JG Seras

Mission: The New Sydney Fiasco
Location: Operations
Timeline: Just before Shore Leave Granted

Serving as the Second Officer aboard the Hera meant some administrative duties alongside those of the Science Department. One of those duties involved routine inspections of all departments and reporting back to Angel. He decided his first surprise inspection would be operations. This would also give Lieutenant Commander Sinek an opportunity to meet the new OC.

A surprise inspection was not the only thing waiting for Karina. As Sinek made his way towards the Operations Center, a short blonde woman with slate grey eyes and cranial protrusions stepped out of a lift, smiling brightly at Sinek as she fell in step along side him, obviously headed for the same destination.

"Good morning, Lieutenant..." That's where Sinek stopped. Had he seen the New Transfer Report, Sinek would have recognized Lieutenant Seras. However, today he had to rely upon the lieutenant introducing herself.

"Good morning, Commander," the woman replied cheerfully in a ghostly, synthesized tone. Verbal communication was not her strongest point, so she missed the way his voice trailed off to prompt her to provide her name.

Lieutenant Commander Sinek briefly looked at her, awaiting the continued response. When he realized there was none coming, Sinek picked up the conversation. "I have just arrived in operations for a Level 2 inspection." A Level 2 inspection was not quite as detailed as a Level 1, but with a Vulcan doing the inspection could almost be the same.
"Perhaps you should alert Lieutenant Sha'ha'zen."

"Goodness! Had I known there was to be an inspection, I would not have lingered so long to report in!" the woman exclaimed softly. "I suppose that would make you the First Officer? No no, both the Captain and First Officer are female, right?" The woman stopped short, her long ponytail swishing behind her. "Perhaps an introduction is in order. I am Seras, and who should I tell Lieutenant Sha'ha'zen is performing the inspection?" she asked pleasantly.

"Lieutenant Commander Sinek," the Vulcan replied. "I am the Second Officer as well as the Chief Science Officer. Lieutenant Seras...yes, I remember seeing that you would be joining us. I was just not yet aware you had been on board. I have not yet seen the morning report. I'm sure you will be an adequate addition to our crew."

"The shuttle from my homeworld arrived at New Sydney just this morning," Seras informed him. "And I hope I'm adequate, at the very least," she added with a bright smile. "I will go report in and let Lieutenant Sha'ha'zen know that you are here." Then she turned to continue on to the Operations Office, pausing to make sure she was going the right way, then found the right door and rang the chime.

Having an office of her own had been unsettling even for Karina whom usually preferred some solace. She'd been occupying herself with a PaDD with the latest operations reports, inspection summaries, and crew manifests when a sound at her doorway rang. Looking up with a short flush of her freckle line, the Hiigaran's brows furrowed as she wondered who'd be visiting.

"Uhm... enter," Karina said after a moment, having almost forgotten to answer at all.

Seras entered the office briskly and handed Karina a small PaDD with her transfer orders. "Lieutenant Seras reporting for duty," she said. There was a strange look on Seras' face as she looked at Karina, but after just a couple of seconds she blinked and then shook her head as if to dispel a funny feeling. "And Commander Sinek has come for an inspection."

The word inspection almost made Karina jump out of her chair. It was hard for her not to set her PaDD down the table immediately and start to make her way out, but the Hera's new Chief of Operations used an old trick to maintain some semblance of calm and dignity.

She counted slowly to three...

At the number three, her mind fully processed what was happening and even had the courtesy of delivering a reasonable response. "In that case, welcome aboard," she said, slowly rising out of her chair. Karina took one PaDD, not particularly sure which report it had on it, but an old instructor at the Academy used to tell her that she should always have something in her hands. It was a good way to look like she was busy.

"Where is Commander See-nek, now?" Karina asked next, mispronouncing the Vulcan's name. Realizing the error, she closed her eyes and formed the name silently before trying again. "Sinek."

"He is just outside the door," Seras said. Her chipper attitude was fading as that strange look reappeared on Seras' features. There was something about Karina... Again, she had to dispel that feeling before continuing, "He wanted to give me the opportunity to report in and inform you of this inspection."

These were expressions that Karina had seen thousands of times before, a strange sense of deja vu. She could see the gears inside Sera's head turning, grinding, trying to figure out where she recognized her from. It was part of the reason that Karina kept such detailed personal log entries... log entries she usually added to the public record.

But usually they occurred more frequently in people that Karina had met. And unless Sera was capable of emitting similar pheromones, Karina had never met her.

Now isn't the time... Karina thought, remembering that Sinek was just outside.

"Ok then. No point in keeping him waiting," Karina said as she hurried towards the door. It parted evenly, revealing the Vulcan in blue collar. Vulcans... Karina thought; with only one or two exceptions in her entire life, she rarely got along with Vulcans. "Commander See-nek," Karina greeted, deliberately mis-pronouncing his name. If he wanted to throw a surprise inspection, then she'd have no issue trying to get underneath those emotionless nerves of his.

Karina flashed a smile, ignoring even a hint of perturbment he might betray. although it hardly carried any sincerity. "Rumor has it you're here for an inspection. Nice way to see if I either sink or I swim."

"Indeed," the Vulcan replied, his face expressionless. "I have reviewed your file, Lieutenant. On PaDD, you appear highly capable of smoothly managing a department. This is a Level 2 inspection, no documentation needed for review. Give me a walk-through and will see the details of how things are holding up. Mentioning details, my name is pronounced like the human work "cynic."

Sinek motioned with his arm and held out his hand away from the office, "Shall we?" Seeing Lieutenant Seras still present, he added, "I suggest the Lieutenant be given a tour with us."

Karina flashed a quick glance in Sera's direction. She hardly knew anything about her new Assistant beyond the woman's name. Would her presence help or harm Karina right now? Help... hopefully, Karina thought with a nod. "Of course," she said, leading the way towards the nerve center of the Operations Center.

Unlike the smaller Intrepid-class vessels, and those of comparable weight and class, the Nebula-class Hera possessed a dedicated Ops center apart from the bridge. Here, most of the things Karina did on the bridge, she could do here. It also allowed her to hand out duty assignments and maintain a clear picture of the Hera's systems at all times.

It was also the first time Karina had seen one...

"Here we are," Karina said, trying to sound confident even though it were possible, even likely, that Sinek was more familiar with this room than she was. Casting a gaze towards the main status board, she saw a lot of green, one or two yellows, but thankfully no reds reading the Hera's present status.

And as it was, the two yellows merely indicated that the ship's warp drive was operating at below standard levels, which was routine seeing as how they were in orbit of a planet.

Seras was more than happy to tag along. She was Karina's assistant now, so it made sense that she be present for the inspection anyway. Thankfully, she had had the pleasure of serving aboard a Nebula Class ship before her Leave of Absence, so just a brief glance at the Master System Display and Seras had a good idea what was going on with the Hera.

"Sensors are operating at peak efficiency, Environmental systems are functioning properly, and power distribution... is adequate, but it looks like there is an obstruction in the EPS lines near the phaser banks. Repair teams are already flushing the problematic lines, they should be done within the hour," Seras rattled off as she traced along the MSD to get updates from around the ship. "Although... Why were the phasers modified with triolic waves?" Since the incident with the temporal event and the Devidians was still under investigation by TI, that mission had not been released for Seras to read about when she was researching the Hera.

Sinek observed the Master System Display as it was reviewed for him. "It was changed after we were pulled back in time to make our phaser fire look similar to the Federation star ships of the time. It appears everything is functioning well."

Looking at the main screen, Sinek punched the command to bring up the duty rosters. He reviewed them for each department. Turning to Lieutenant Sha'ha'zen, he spoke, "I trust you notified Lieutenant Beaumont that Crewman Fielder was not punctual for his duty shift in Engineering today." It was a statement not a question.

Karina looked at the same screen and saw where Fielder -- (whoever he was!) -- had reported in for his shift several minutes late, then turned back to Sinek. "Hmm..." she began, studying the screen more thoughtfully. Her first and second passes at a response would have flirted dangerously with insubordination. Granted, a question like that was micro-managerial, and any seasoned Department Chief would brush it aside as such. Then again, she was the new kid on the block.

Fighting a battle here over something so trivial would handicap her down the road...

"Not yet, but I will be sure to handle this," Karina continued, swiping at the screen so that it detailed Fielder's history... or lack thereof... in reporting on time to his duty shift. The man was either late or barely on time. "With Lieutenant Beaumont's cooperation, of course."

Dammit... she was playing too defensively. If there was something shiny that she could have distracted Sinek with, she would have. But for the present time, Karina was forced to continue letting him run the court.

Sinek momentarily looked reflective. He realized it was only a few minutes. He realized it was only a few minutes. However, repeated offenses would result in decreased productivity and overall crew efficiency. The crewman may have a logical explanation. That was up to Lieutenant Beaumont to determine and accept. Operations must see to report the incident.

"Very well, Lieutenant," came the stoic reply. "You will be glad to know you passed your inspection. Most will be announced, especially Level 1 inspections. I thank you for your attention to duty."

A wash of relief came over Karina. It started at her temples and then worked its way down to her shoulders where she realized she had been tense only a moment before. "Not a problem," she replied absently.

Sinek nodded toward the COO and evenly stated, "it was good to finally meet you, Lieutenant Sha'ha'zen." Then her turned to the other operations officer and with the same even inflection said, "Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Seras."

The Vulcan then turned and strode out of Operations. His pace seemed to say he had somewhere to be precisely in a few minutes.

 

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