New assignment

Posted on Friday October 15th, 2021 @ 5:44pm by Lieutenant Lisa Creed & Lieutenant Commander Curzon Bennett

Mission: Jeepers Creepers 2: Creepers In Flight
Location: Shuttle Bay - DS3
Timeline: Backpost

::ON::

After Lisa had arrived at the station after her long journey from Risa and now her newest assignment was here on Deep space 3 as its new Chief Operations after the last Chief had been reassigned within weeks of his arrival, she hoped that would not happen to her as she knew the procedure by now and that her first port of call was to report into the Stations Executive officer. One Lieutenant Commander Ithahr th’Shrannok. And then after that have her required Physical done by the CMO. And finally, meet her department section heads for a briefing on the Status of the Stations Promenade. She also knew that she would have to meet with the Promenades liaison to get their point of view as well.

As she left the Shuttlebay with her duffle bag over one shoulder, she hoped that there were no problems that she had to deal with and everything was quiet, but that was too much to ask for as she knew Starbases were like one big melting pot and one big house as she headed down a corridor to find the nearest turbo-lift to head to the Operations deck.

'Lieutenant!' Ithahr called out as he spied the latest arrival amongst the senior Officer, 'Lieutenant Creed, excuse me, over here!' He raised an arm in salute.

Lisa had heard the officer call her by her name as he walked over and noticed the rank on the officer's collar, She said," Lieutenant Lisa Creed reporting in as Deep space 3's New Operations Chief," as she stood in front of the commander and waited for the response.

'Stand easy, Lieutenant, no need to be so formal - we're out at the end of the Galaxy, top brass won't be looking over our shoulders,' Ithahr chuckled, 'Lieutenant Commander Ithahr th'Shrannok at your service. If you'd care to follow me, I'd like to help you get settled in, if you don't mind? How was your trip out to the Veridian system?' he indicated the way to the turbolifts with a sweep of the arms.'

"So, what is the state of play here Sir?" she asked looking back at the station's Executive officer as she knew that getting up to speed with things would help her, she also knew that Stations were a different animal than ships and would need time to adjust.

'Deep Space Three was inactive for a long period of time. With the additional instability in the area since the Hobus supernova, Starfleet decided to bring her back online in a hurry,' replied Ithahr as they began walking to the turbolifts at a brisk pace. The Andorian was surprised that the Ops Chief wasn't interested in small talk, but supposed it took all sorts. 'There were very few Ops officers assigned, so one of your deputies, Ensign Grant, has been working around the clock to ensure the systems are functioning.'

Ithahr paused in his speech and walk, and leaned in, 'if I may be presumptuous, it might be an idea to reward Ensign Grant, and send a request through to my office for additional personnel.'

"I see," replied Lisa looking back at the Station's Xo as she continued to keep pace with the officer," she asked, " May I ask how long Ensign Grant has been here for Sir?" so she knew her priority was to check everything and the status and how well she had run this place.

'Ensign Grant predates both of us. She was one of the first aboard when they decided to reactivate DS3,' replied Ithahr as he resumed his walk and led them to the turbolifts. 'Most of the restoration work has been the result of her, and her team's, hard work. The previous Chief Operations officer did not last long. I believe it was stress. Grant has held them together this far.' as the turbolift door opened, Ithahr glanced at the new Chief, 'do you have your quarters assignment yet?'

"I see," replied Lisa as she kept her stride to that of the bases XO, she continued "What else has happened here before I arrived?" as she knew that she had a lot to catch up on and meet the Ensign that she was to Promote to Deputy chief as she had earned the right to the position.

"A fair few things. I gather that the station was attacked by a new type of Borg drone early in its existence, and only recently there was a mass brawl by some Klingon officers attached to the embassy. It was quite a to-do by all accounts," Ithahr remarked dryly. "We've had a few senior officers come and go, whether being reassigned or not up to the job." As he called the turbolift and waited, Ithahr sighed, "I am a recent new arrival myself, I hope the station gets some respite in its turnover of officers."

"Ah," replied Lisa "and what of the promenade?" she continued keeping pace with the senior officer as they walked along the corridor with other officers giving them a bob of their head, as she wondered just how many shops and bars were on the station's promenade.

'It's growing,' replied Ithahr easily, 'but we're eager to get it to full capacity as soon as possible. We hope once we've dealt with the pirate issues in the sector we'll be well on our way to improving trade and growing our hub here. The strategic plan over the next five years is to make Deep Space Three the lynchpin of the Federation in the sector as we push on into the Shackleton Expanse.'

"Getting back to Ensign Grant, Sir, Could you see to it for me that She is promoted to Deputy Chief for me," she asked knowing how well that the young officer had coped and proved herself worthy of the position, as she knew that only just arriving and then asking the XO to put an officer up for that role was asking too much, however; She had earned it.

Ithahr nodded his head, "I think that's a fantastic idea, as I mentioned earlier. Ensign Grant has done excellent work, and she should help immensely."

"Sir, On the way over here I checked the Roster and there seems to be no Chief Engineer," looking at the Station's Executive officer, she continued, " Am I going to be running both departments?" as she knew that if so the paperwork was going to be double; she thought oO thank god I have a deputy chief, Oo as she waited for the response from the senior officer.

He stopped talking as they stepped into the Turbolift, using the moments he needed to instruct the lift to take them to the appropriate deck to think. "No. At least not formally," he said eventually. "In cases where a senior officer with the required know-how is needed, we will defer to your expertise. On a day-to-day basis, the seniormost Engineer will run the department and deal with their paperwork until the new Chief is transferred in."

"Sir, if my teams are overworked, I'd like them to have scheduled rest days as not to tire them out," responded Lisa as she hoped that this might be fair to ask the senior officer for since only arriving here.

"I don't aim to micromanage each department," replied Ithahr kindly. "You're the department head for a reason. We'll trust you're able to schedule an equitable work schedule that ensures all members of the department get the rest they need. For now, if it means bringing in additional resources from other departments to cover quieter work shifts, then so be it. The station can't be allowed to grind to a halt at this point."

"I am not asking you to Sir. All I am asking for is permission to grant rest days to my teams," replied Lisa looking back at the station's XO, she continued, "I need to know that my teams are not tired as mistakes can happen," as she just wanted things to be fine and dandy here.

Ithahr smiled and cocked his head as his antennae thrashed about for a moment. "Of course, Lieutenant. You can organise the work details as you see fit to ensure your crew have adequate rest." Ithahr glanced at the door as the turbolift slowed. "Ah, it seems that our journey is almost at an end." He indicated she should step out of the turbolift door.

"Thank you, Sir," replied Lisa as she knew that her next port of call was medical and needed to consult her map to locate Sickbay, as she stepped out onto the corridor from the turbo lift leaving the Commander to go on his way.



::OFF::

Lieutenant Commander Ithahr th'Shrannok
Executive Officer
Deep Space Three

Lieutenant Jg Lisa Creed
Chief Operations Officer
Deep Space Three