From: Sarah Albertini-Bond (serendipity77_at_gmail.com)
Date: Mon Jan 21 2008 - 21:26:11 PST
=/\=
"The MCINNIS Goes To HOLLAND"
<continued from Joy's "Odd Jobs">
=/\=
Location: USS MCINNIS
Scene: CO's Quarters
The quarters were nothing like she ever had before, which was saying a
lot since she had moved around a bit in the fleet.
Unfortunately "a lot" couldn't be said about her quarters.
They were small, but then again it only had to house a woman, a child
and a dog. When one came into the quarters they stood in the living
room/dining area. With a dark green L shaped sofa, a coffee table, a
vid-screen and various knicknacks, the living room was warm but small.
The dining area was a very generous phrase to describe a table pushed
up against the far wall, a wine rack, and the dog's food on the floor.
And as usual, Xana thought to herself with a glance up, it had tons of
toys all over. Both her daughter's and her dog's. It was a question
as to who had more toys and which toy belonged to whom. At least they
liked sharing, she smiled wryly to herself.
Looking up Xana pushed her white hair back and studied the rest of the
quarters from her vantage point on the floor. Off the living
room/dining room was a small alcove that had 3 doors. The door to the
far left went to the bathroom which was small and functional and
minimalistic. The door to the far right was her daughter's room.
Unfortunately most of Dahlia's things had been destroyed so Xana had
to start over. Since her daughter was fond of animals, she had picked
out a jungle theme and painted the walls (ok she filled in a sketch –
it wasn't like she was the reincarnation of da Vinci) of various
animals. The door in the middle of the alcove lead to her bedroom
which had what you'd expect in a bedroom and a small desk with her
computer.
What was notable about the quarters wasn't, however, what was in them
but what wasn't. For the first time in the fleet, Xana didn't have a
kitchen her quarters. She had a replicator and a small table for
eating but no actual place to make real food. There were only many so
many resources that each person could have available to them and with
her special request...well she made the right decision.
Still looking over at the replicator she couldn't help but sigh.
"Priorities, Dahlia, we need to have priorities," Xana said to her
daughter who was "helping" her.
Dahlia who was busy organizing the tools nodded making her big fat
blonde curls bounce. "Pry-o-tees," she mimicked. Looking up she
asked, "What's that, Mama?"
Oh dear gods, it was her daughter's favorite game – to see how long it
would take Mama to go batty by asking either "What's that?" or "But
why?". "Priorities are the things that are important," Xana
explained. Giving a rare smile she tapped her daughter's nose, "Like
you."
"Otay," Dahlia grinned. Holding up a silver bolt she asked, "What's that?"
Xana looked at the bolt and then her project on her lap. She had
thought she finished it but judging from the number of things around
Dahlia.... "That my dear is a very big problem," Xana sighed.
=/\=
TI: Ten minutes later
"Really Dr. Serafini," Xana protested as she stood in the doorway,
"I'm pretty sure whomever was on duty could have handled this. It's
not supposed to be that difficult."
Luke Serafini gave the CO a very patient look. "I'm sure it's not but
it sounds very important. Besides you're the CO, so your stuff
usually becomes important."
"It's a pry-o-tee," Dahlia announced from next to her mother's legs.
The CO rubbed her head before looking down. "Dahlia, this is Dr.
Serafini," she said. "And don't interrupt Mama."
"Luke," the CEO said interrupting her. When Xana gave him a look he
grinned, "Really I mean I got the degree but it's not like I'm a real
doctor. Well I am but you know if you get sick I'm not exactly who
you want by your side. Well I mean I don't get squeamish, and I know
some first aid and the like but I shouldn't be performing surgery
anytime soon. Don't get me wrong it's really fascinating if you're
into that stuff."
"O-kay," Xana replied. She had met the CEO briefly earlier in the day
but she had been...distracted to say the least and hadn't really
spoken to him. But suddenly Kat's comments about a runaway mouth
tickled in the back of her mind. "Honey what do we say when we meet a
new person," she said to her daughter.
Suddenly Dahlia went running off much to Xana's confusion. Within a
moment she came running back holding up her box of animal crackers.
"Cookie?" the girl offered.
=/\=
TI: One hour later
"Seriously I can make this better."
That was the comment that started it all. Such an innocuous comment
really when one thought about it. But, oh no, it wasn't. In the
course of that hour Xana had to stand back as the engineer was living
up to his nickname of "Tinker". First he had taken apart her work and
inspected everything. Then faster than she ever thought possible he
put stuff back together again. That would have been fine with her but
then once he got the full-scope of what she wanted he
(incomprehensibly to her mind) took it back apart. He claimed she
needed a back-up generator (which made sense just not something she
had necessarily thought of) and more projectors. Oh and more parts –
he definitely needed more parts. After he came back with that he went
back to putting together whatever his newest creation was.
Now the man was standing on a ladder poking around her ceiling and she
was wandering from Dahlia's room having put her daughter to bed.
"Really, Luke," she began for what felt like the 100th time, "you
didn't need to do all this."
"Nah, it's fine," he said. "Besides it's a fun little project. Way
different than doing ship design." Realizing he had been doing most
of the talking since he was here he figured he should only be fair and
actually ask the CO some stuff.
Now come to think of it, the CO was very different now than what he
saw earlier or even heard. Distant seemed to be the choice word
amongst people. However over the time he had been here she wasn't
distant; she wasn't exactly warm either but...curious most certainly.
It helped that her daughter had been around up until now, Luke thought
to himself. The kid was a toddler but already a chatterbox, he
thought to himself with a grin.
Still he was curious and naturally a pretty nice guy so he figured he
start off easy. "Ever use a holographic nanny before?"
"Ah no," Xana admitted. "When we lived on the GATEWAY Dahlia either
went to a daycare or if she could stay with one of us..."
Luke said nothing as he kept playing with the projector in the ceiling
but he watched out of the corner of his eye as the CO just shut down
emotionally. Shaking his head he tried to think of a way out of the
situation. "Uhm, if you got that drink you offered earlier I'd
appreciate that," he lied.
That snapped the CO out of her own head. "Hmm...oh yes, sorry about
that." Luke watched as she wandered towards the replicator which was
just over a wine rack. "Well whatever you want replicated, of course,
and I've got some wine..."
"Water is fine," he called out. He really wanted some wine but he
could get that later.
Luke wondered now what set off the CO and he honestly couldn't figure
it out. But within a moment he realized what it was, although on the
scale of things this wasn't that bad. Because there was Xana standing
at the base of the ladder he was on holding up a bottle of wine.
"You're one of those Serafinis aren't you?" When he nodded he saw her
slap her head with the palm of her hand. "I shouldn't have known it.
The restaurant -- "
"What restaurant?"
"Ah my family owns a restaurant in Venice and your wine is on our
menu. The most popular wine actually."
Luke watched the CO standing there. This she could talk about, he
thought. It was personal but nothing that clearly hurt her. Going
with the flow he said with a grin, "Yeah? My sister would like that.
Actually so would my dad."
"You didn't go into the family business," Xana offered as she wandered
back to the wine rack. Coming back with a glass of water held it up
to him.
Finishing it off he pointed out. "Your family is in the restaurant
business so I have to figure you didn't either."
"No," Xana mused. "I was the first in my family to go to Starfleet."
"You know there's a long tradition of a child going off to the
military," Luke offered up as he climbed down the ladder and then set
it under another part of the ceiling to tinker with the next
projector. "Actually there's this really interesting theory by a Dr.
Juni that says--"
Xana stood there and watched the CEO tinker and thought how nice it
was to let someone else do the talking.
=/\=
TI: Next morning
BEEP
BEEP
BEEP
"I love Starfleet, I love Starfleet," Xana muttered as she rolled out
of bed and sat down at her desk. Rubbing her bleary eyes she looked
at the clock which was blinking "0515". "Must remind myself how much
I love Starfleet."
[[Authorization code required,]] the computer intoned.
"Bonviva – Alpha – Omega – Six – Two – Five," the CO announced.
[[Authorization accepted,]] the computer replied. Suddenly the
Starfleet logo disappeared to show Troy Svenson, who while not looking
happy at least looked more put together than she did. {{Did I wake
you?}} he asked dryly.
Xana looked down and realized she was still in her nightgown. Great
he looked like the cover of "Starfleet Weekly" and she looked like
something the cat dragged in. "I live to serve, Commodore," she
replied while pushing back her hair. "What can I help you with?" she
asked.
Professionalism was probably Svenson's middle name because he just
shook his head and dove into the matter, something Xana appreciated.
Kat had made a comment about wondering why Xana had asked (ok begged)
for Troy's help in coming back into Starfleet. Part of it was
political, there was no denying that. But also because while she
might disagree with him on various political/military matters she did
respect him professionally and personally. So if Troy was waking her
up at 5:15 she doubted it was for kicks. {{There are a few things
you'll need to know before you leave today--}}
"Today?" Xana asked her mind reeling to catch up.
Troy gave her a look. {{It's a new day Commander. The first day of
the MCINNIS.}}
=/\=
Scene: The Glade
"And you need to do this how often?" Tomas asked as he watched Xana
take over one of the counters and stoves in the kitchen.
"I don't know," Xana admitted. Giving him a look she asked, "Is this
going to be a problem?"
"Not at all, Commander," Tomas replied. He watched her moving around
the kitchen and he was struck by a thought. She might have changed,
she had to have changed with all that happened. But at her core she
was still the same Xana. Maybe somewhere in there was hope.
For his old friend, he certainly *hoped* so.
=/\=
Scene: Bridge -> Obs Lounge
Katlina Potter-Gorman sat in her chair running through all the checks.
"Senior Staff to the Obs Lounge," she called out on her commbadge.
She knew that Xana would want them for the launch for whatever pep
talk she had conceived.
Kat was at least hoping it was a pep talk and not a funeral march.
[[All Senior Staff?]]
Kat smothered a grin at that. "Yes, Luke, all Senior Staff. I know
you'd prefer to be down in Main Engineering--"
[[It's not so much a preference really as it is a necessity,]] the CEO
protested. [[We're not at optimum efficiency for the relays and I'm
not completely satisfied with the calibration frequency of the
bioneural gelpacks and then there's the -- ]]
"Luke we're letting you go back we just need you here now," Kat
replied, interrupting the professor. Closing the comm she smothered a
grin and watched the others file into the Obs Lounge. Deciding to
join the party she went across the Obs Lounge and saw Safree Orla
standing on the side looking around. "Want another invite," Kat asked
genially.
"I didn't know if there was assigned seating, some ships have that,"
Safree replied quietly.
"The big chair at each end is for Xana and I so we can make faces at
each other – the rest of you fight it out amongst yourselves," Kat
replied. Watching the others take seats the Englishwoman took the
chair furthest from the door and joined in the conversation.
After a few minutes the doors opened to show Xana walking in with a
tray full of cookies fresh from the oven. "Senior Staff gets first
dibs," she explained.
Sitting down at the head of the table Xana folded her hands and rested
her chin on them. Looking around the table she recognized many
faces...so much history here, it would be impossible to look at some
of them and not see the history. To hear it echoing in your ear. But
then again, thankfully, there were some here with whom she had very
little history. That was a balm on the soul, a respite in the
emotional storm she was finding herself in.
"People want heroes. A friend told me that once," she said meeting
Kat's eyes. "I might have understood that at one point but I don't
anymore." Putting her hands down and looking around the table she
said, "I have to have faith in all of you. I need it. I have so
little faith in anything anymore that I'm telling you that I need to
have faith in all of you. That you'll serve Starfleet and this vessel
faithfully and without reservation. Question the orders your given.
Question the mission. But never, ever question the ideals of the
Federation and the work that we do.
"And in order to that you can't go off seeking personal glory."
Xana got up and began to pace around the room. "At the core of this
group has to be trust. A familial atmosphere if you will. You need
to be willing to putting aside whatever your personal goals are for
the sake of the Federation. For the sake of the ship. We're off to
battle, make no mistake about that. This is not a calm exploratory
vessel, we will not be breaking the boundaries of science. We will be
doing everything we can, unimaginable things, so that other people
won't have to. So I need to trust that you will do what's best for
the ship and Federation. More importantly your fellow officers need
to know this.
"But I need you to do this wisely. Do not risk yourself
unnecessarily. Make no mistake, the MCINNIS is a beautiful and top of
the line ship. However the priceless treasure that we need to protect
more than anything is you. We are short on people, and there's an
even greater scarcity of intelligent dedicated people. We cannot
afford to lose any of you – personally or professionally."
Making another loop around the table Xana wound up. "Over by the far
wall of the Bridge is the dedication plaque and it has a quote on
there from a book that was written long ago: "...be not too eager to
deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety.
Even the wise cannot see all ends." Officers of the MCINNIS, remember
those words. I do not fear dealing out death, but we must do it
judiciously and with care. Because once dealt," the CO said softly,
"it cannot be undealt."
Standing at the end of the table she looked at her Senior Staff. "Do
your best and we'll do the same for you. Now take a cookie and get
out of here, we have a ship to launch."
=/\=
Scene: Bridge
TI: Twenty-two hours later
They had left dock with little fanfare, just another ship off to the
front lines.
It was so quiet Xana thought she might pop. The trip through the
Alpha Quadrant had been rather easy and nothing to write home about.
Walking around the Bridge she looked at the various consoles until Kat
muttered something about letting people do their own work. Sighing
she went back to her chair when Eilean announced, "We have something
on scanners."
"What?" Xana asked.
"It's a USS HOLLAND NCC 5215," the Xenxian announced.
Mendar Talev was pulling up all known records on the ship. "Sovereign
class. According to SF records this ship went missing last year," he
called out.
"It's right there," Eilean protested.
"On screen," Xana announced.
Kat looked at the screen and then over at Xana. "It looks like it's
there so why did Starfleet say it wasn't?"
"It's in two pieces," Eilean announced.
"Commander there are life signs," Tal announced. "Very faint but I'm
fairly certain of it."
Xana walked over to the console and looked at Tal's readings. "The
ship disappeared last year but someone's been on there the entire
time?"
"Xana," Eilean announced, "everything I'm picking up is showing the
HOLLAND underwent some kind of battle or something. A survivor is
possible."
"But for a year?" Xana asked. "In a ship split in two?"
"Could have sealed themselves off," Safree offered.
"Why not take a shuttle," Kat pointed out. "Or send out a distress beacon?"
Eilean looked at Xana. "Or it could be a trap."
"Yeah but if it's not then we have a problem." The CO paced around
the bridge. This wasn't supposed to be their mission, they had
somewhere else they had to be. Still, they couldn't leave Starfleet
property hovering in the Alpha Quadrant so close to the Gamma
Quadrant. "Alright, two teams go down to the HOLLAND. Scour
everything and report back," the CO decided.
Kat looked at Xana. "And you're staying here."
Xana nodded as she walked to her office. "I'll be in that chair after
I finish telling Command what we're doing."
=/\=
NRPG: Alright that's where I'm ending for tonight b/c I'm exhausted.
But here's our mission for you: on the way to the Gamma Quadrant
we've come across the USS HOLLAND which went missing last year.
Currently the ship is in two pieces and there is maybe faint life
signs in one of the sections of the ship. Run amok on the HOLLAND –
it's already broken so it's not like there's much more we can do to
destroy it lol As far as I'm concerned everyone can be on an AT
unless you're not wanting that :-)
One admin note: please check your mailstrings. I've noticed some of
you are not including everyone on the MAC -- let me know if you need
me to send you the list.
Steve: I've left the ILO's introduction vague as well as Svenson's
position. Hopefully I did ok with Luke though. Let me know.
Everyone: Have fun, be careful, you know where to go if you have
questions or cookies *g*.
=/\=
Sarah Albertini-Bond
Lt. Phia
CNS
USS STONEHENGE
and
Commander Xana Bonviva
CO
USS MCINNIS (novella unit)
Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you
give it to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name
of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all
ends.
-- J.R.R. Tolkien
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