Up to Speed

Posted on Sun Oct 7th, 2018 @ 3:28pm by Captain Enalia Telvan & Lieutenant Delilah Dauntless

Mission: Hera v Hera
Location: From Briefing Room to Captain's Ready Room, Deck 1, USS Hera
Timeline: Minutes after 'Briefing'

"Captain?"

Lieutenant Delilah Dauntless called out to the taller Trill officer, as she hurried forward to closely follow her out of the Hera's Briefing Room. The diminutive 20 year-old did her best to fall into lockstep behind Enalia's long-legged gait. "May I have a moment to speak with you, Sir?"

Enalia stopped and rounded on her Ops Chief so fast, the shorter woman nearly ran into her. "First off, never call me sir. If you had come to your briefing with me when you came aboard, you would know that that is the easiest way to piss me off. If you want to do it now, then please feel free to follow me."

Without another word, she resumed her short walk back to her ready room and went inside, all but flopping into the chair behind the desk. "Have a seat and start talking."

Dauntless looked down at the seat, knitted her brow with a frown, then slipped smoothly into the seat. "If you have the time now," began the young girl, her tone of voice as composed as her prim posture, "I believe I would benefit from... some further explanation... regarding the unusual circumstances of this mission."

Enalia waved one hand dismissively. "What's so unusual about it? I've been running missions worse than this for years. At least I know Hera can be killed if it comes down to it." Then she leaned forward on her desk. "But I'll humor you. What do you need explained?"

Delilah paused for a moment, unsure what to make of her superior officer's cavalier response. Running missions like this for years? What the hell kind of starship WAS this, exactly?

"Everything," Dauntless said at last, trying to mask her discomfort at admitting the need for help. "Captain, I was given a very brief overview of the Hera's mission role and recent history along with my assignment orders from Starfleet Command. Yes, it was rather sparse on the details, but suppose I chalked that up to standard operational security protocol. Also, it wasn't lost on me that my assignment here was endorsed by Starfleet Intelligence..." The young lieutenant sat up straighter, resisting the urge to look cowed or uncomfortable. "Naturally, I assumed that my abilities in Quantum Systems and Computing would likely be utilized in areas like data analysis or cryptography..." The young woman sighed and looked down at her hands folded in her lap, briefly forgetting the cool, collected front she had been putting on since the briefing began. "This, though..."

Delilah's voice trailed off as she remembered the soundless carnage she had seen on the holovid that Captain Telvan had played for them all earlier.

Enalia relaxed and reached into her desk's cooler for a couple of cold bottled drinks. Popping the cap off of both of them, she slid one of the Artan Ales across her desk to Delilah. "You look like you could use a drink. My family makes these so enjoy it while you can."

Delilah eyed the tall, thin bottle before picking it up. The young lieutenant tentatively raised it to her full pouty lips and took a quick sip. The girl did not expect to enjoy the beverage at all, so refined was her delicate palette. Therefore she was pleasantly surprised that she found the Artan Ale's flavor to be crisp, cool & refreshing.

Taking a swig of her own, the captain paused a moment before beginning her explanation. "This ship is classified even among Intel Command and those that know of us often refer to us as a ship of death. If you haven't seen our hull or our death counts, both friendly and foe, I recommend you do so. In fact..."

Punching up a holographic display from her desk terminal, Enalia pulled up a model of the Hera in all her blue and purple pearlescent glory. Below were several stats. Highlighted were crew deaths and kill count. Almost three hundred for the crew deaths and the kill count was measured in billions. On top of that, the rest of the ship's specifications were higher than that of a recently refit Galaxy class.

"So as you can see, you've landed right in the thick of it. We've infiltrated Borg cubes, Romulan prisons, gone back in time to destroy a genetics research lab before it could change the course of history... We were even witness to part of the battle of Axanaar. We prevented a Devidian incursion in the timeline there. We've also done such things as relocated an Iconian Dyson sphere and killed a being hundreds of thousands of years old to prevent him from wiping out life as we know it." Clicking off her desk's holo-display, Enalia leaned back in her seat and took another swig of her ale. "And you'll read about none of it anywhere. If you even mention it to anyone off of this ship, Intel Command won't take kindly to it. After fighting literal unkillable demons and an Iconian, a goddess with an army doesn't seem all that big a threat."

"I see," Dauntless said at last, after a long pause, doing her level best to keep her expression calm as she weighed the Captain's words. 'Ship of Death? Seriously? Delilah could imagine the withering gaze her grandfather would be giving her if he could see her now; she could hear her older sister's derisive giggle at the ambitious young woman's unexpected ill-fortune. The young lieutenant's jaw clenched, and her grip around the cold bottle of Artan Ale tightened reflexively as she tried to appear to take Telvan's news in stride. "And my role, Captain?"

"You have one standing order. Don't die." Enalia took another drink before continuing. "Beyond that, you're here because you were recommended by Intel Command and I saw something in you that I thought would help the rest of us stay alive. I'd like for you to prove me right. Not meeting with me during your initial in-processing as a department head, is not a good way to start that. Calling me sir is also a misstep. Mess up a third time and I might loan you out to some pirates. Who knows what they'll want from you."

"As for your role on the ship, you're the chief of operations. That means anything dealing with comm, our computer cores, hacking, the stealth plating... If it's not direct maintenance, direct attack, piloting, or science mumbo-jumbo, you're responsible for it."

Dauntless nodded, then sat back in her seat and steepled her fingers, contemplatively. "Understood. I did notice some 'irregularities' regarding the Hera's schematics when you pulled up the Master Systems Display just now. Some of those specs looked a lot different from what I studied for a Nebula-class vessel. Would I be correct in assuming some of those changes involve our information systems as well?"

"Right." Enalia pulled up the schematics and highlighted the data centers. "Unlike a normal Nebula class that has a main computer core and a maintenance interface next to it in the saucer and a backup core in the engineering hull, we have two full cores in the saucer, a backup in the engineering hull, a secure core in both Intel and the pod, and a full AI suite dedicated to the labs on E deck in the pod. Coupled with that, we have a distributed backup data net across the personal terminals that we can use if those should fail. As for our comm and sensor range, we can outclass any other ship in the fleet. On top of that, once we bring our stealth plating online, the Tal Shiar would be envious of it. If they knew it existed, that is."

Delilah pursed her lips and crossed her arms as she scanned the holographic display and took note of the Hera's disparate operational systems. Computer systems and telecommunications were well within the 20 year-old's wheelhouse. At a glance, she was confident she would have very few problems there. This stealth plating system, however...

"Tell me more about this stealth plating system," Delilah asked, as she slowly rose up out of her seat and peered intently at the pulsing blue outline around the projected mock-up of the ship. "I don't think I've ever seen anything like this."

"That's because you haven't," Enalia replied as she pulled up the operations guide on it. "There's a feedback system in place so we know if it's working and once it's engaged no known sensor systems can see it. The only way to see the Hera is to physically look out a window. Even if there's damage to it, it can mask up to a ten meter gash with ease. There are augment generators around the warp coils and impulse exhausts so even those become invisible. We still leave an exhaust trail, but at least at the ship, sensors can't see us. As for our exhaust trails..." Pulling up another readout, Enalia grinned even wider. "We have probes that can perfectly imitate our warp and impulse trails and can tighten ours so as to leave nothing for a while."

"I'd like to study this a little more closely as time permits," Delilah said softly, almost to herself as she scanned the information presented to her. "Am I cleared to this information?" she asked, an inquisitive eyebrow arching above her ice-blue gaze.

Clicking her desk terminal and holo-displays off, Enalia leaned back in her chair and sipped at her drink a bit more, finishing it off. "That depends on if you're going to sell it to someone. I know who you work for but I also know what kind of skills you offer. I know I can trust your skills. What I need to know is if I can trust your loyalty to this ship and the Federation. If I can, there are wonders on this ship that put that to shame. If not..." Rather than finishing that thought, she let it hang in the air.

"I'm not really sure that I believe in 'loyalty', Captain," answered Dauntless with a sniff, visibly annoyed at having the holographic images she had been studying summarily shut off. "In my experience, things like loyalty, love and honor really only boil down to self-interest." The slender computer specialist stood up straight and adjusted the fit of her uniform jacket with a slight tug. "But, whatever. As long as I wear this uniform, you'll have my compliance and my competence. That'll have to be enough."

"Then how about this for self interest. If you don't find some brand loyalty to this ship and the Federation, Intel Command and I are going to be sending you home in a torpedo casing. We work together as a team and those that don't end up dead. Is that clear?" Enalia wasn't messing around at this point - she'd seen too many people die under her command as it was. "If it isn't, I can modify a class eight probe and send you home in that right now."

Delilah did her best to suppress a smirk at her commanding officer's threats. It pleased the 20 year-old and made her feel secure - in control - to know that she had not been the first to lose her cool. That, in of itself, was its own victory. The real advantage, however, lay in what Enalia's reaction revealed about herself. The older Trill woman's distrust of Delilah seemed to be a sore spot, a potential pressure point that could perhaps be leveraged to the young woman's benefit. Something to consider later. Dauntless clasped her hands behind her back, and gave her captain a subtle nod.

"Very clear, Sir," said the young lieutenant at last. "Thank you for taking the time to bring me up to speed. I promise to put what you've told me to good use."

Enalia stood, a calm and collected raging storm that obviously wanted to kill the woman before her. "And yet you've proven that you can't. The first thing I told you was to never call me sir again yet you just did it. You're even more dense than I first thought, aren't you? Did you hear anything I've actually said?"

Delilah snapped her fingers, as if realizing her mistake, and nodded. "That's right. You did mention that displeased you, didn't you?" The young woman seemed to consider that for a brief moment, then appeared to concern herself with how her perfectly-pressed uniform jacket hung upon her diminutive frame. "If that's all, Captain?" intoned the impertinent young lieutenant.

"It's not all. Since you need an attitude adjustment, report to Commander Paris tomorrow morning for extra duties. Dismissed." Enalia sat back down and promptly proceeded to ignore the young Lieutenant.

Delilah stifled a grumble at Captain Telvan's parting shot. Oh, for salvation's sake,, the diminutive girl thought to herself. Her initial interaction with the Hera's executive officer had been awkward enough. Now she was expected to repeat the experience? Ugh, wonderful. In response, Delilah only gave the faintest, most curt nod she could manage to the Trill captain. Then, with hands clasped behind her, Lieutenant Dauntless turned on her heel and walked out of the Captain's Ready Room.