Like Old Friends

Posted on Sun Nov 26th, 2023 @ 11:58pm by Lieutenant Commander Annalise Faulkner & Captain Ivan Petrov

Mission: S1 Episode 6: Joy and Ashes
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: Date 2371-09-07 at 0830
3482 words - 7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Ivan entered the Ready Room with a mug of coffee in hand. After the great battle beside the nebula, he tossed and turned. The night had gone by like a terrible dream, and he felt just as bad. Despite everything, they had survived. Or, at least, most of them had. Now it was his task to meet with the captain of the Gladius and to establish the new order of things. He had no question in his mind that he was in charge, and he hoped she would see things the same way. If not, they would need to have different kinds of words.

He walked up to his couch and sat down, passing his eyes over the loose pink swirls that remained of the nebula outside the window. The coffee was hot and bitter, he drank it black, and his eyes hurt like he’d gotten no sleep at all.

The bright blue light cleared from Annalise's vision to the vaguely familiar setting of an Imperial vessel's transporter room - one that was not her own for once. It was a strange, welcome feeling though she did not smile; this was a somber time on this ship. They had incurred heavy losses in the attack both of their own people and their fleet from what she had been told. Her eyes moved down and immediately landed on the tall, magnificent woman standing at the base of the steps of the transporter pad. She was imposing and carried herself with a regality Annalise had become accustomed to with Orion. Nobility of some sort, she figured.

"Commander Faulkner." Lyra greeted the other woman with a nod and motioned for her to come down. "I'm Lieutenant Lyra Cassiel, Chief of Security. Welcome to the Vengeance. If you'll follow me I will escort you to the Captain's ready room."

"Thank you, Lieutenant Cassiel." Annalise smiled as she stepped down, catching the woman's dark eyes briefly and noticing the coolness there. Perhaps she simply wasn't a social woman? Without conversation they left and headed to the turbolift. They stepped and maneuvered in silence around debris and people conducting repairs. It was only when they stepped into the lift that Annalise spoke.

"What is the casualty report for your ship and fleet, Lieutenant?"

Lyra's dark eyes shifted over to the blonde woman slowly, taking her in with scrutiny. "We lost five ships, seven hundred fifty slaves, and twenty-eight Terran souls."

Immediately, Annalise frowned. "I see. You will be holding a funeral here?"

"Yes, Commander." Lyra nodded without looking at her directly. They stepped off the turbolift onto the mostly repaired bridge, crossed in front of the tactical console, and then to the Ready Room door where Lyra hit the chime.

Ivan had been waiting for the chime, but even if he hadn’t been his response would be just as quick. It rang so often his answer was almost Pavlovian in its immediacy. He bid them enter, then brought his mug to his lips, playing at the piping hot liquid.

Annalise preceded Lyra into Ivan's Ready Room. She had made sure to look her best, her uniform fresh and her hair done up neatly behind her head; she couldn't shake the tiredness around her eyes though. A small, polite smile appeared on her face. "Captain Petrov."

Lyra stepped in after Annalise and waited wordlessly by the door with her eyes on Ivan. Her energy projected readiness to leave, but she didn't do so until he gave her the go ahead.

Ivan’s eyes finally moved to the gentle and pretty face of the Gladius CO. He didn’t return the smile, but offered a nod in his greeting. He remained seated.

“Commander Faulkner. Welcome to Vengeance. I wish it were under…better circumstances than have presented themselves.”

“As do I.” Annalise agreed solemnly as her smile faded. She hadn’t been bothered he hadn’t returned it; it was typical for a man.

“Lieutenant Cassiel, before you go,” he began, looking past Annalise and to his security chief, “the funeral is being scheduled today for 1600 hours in the shuttlebay. I would like to formally request your presence as a member of the royal family to remind our people who they are. You would light the pyres and give the farewell address in the name of your cousin, the Emperor.”

Lyra didn’t answer immediately, instead just looked at him for a long moment. It was clear the request had come as a surprise to her, but it hadn’t upset her. The fact was after so many years - despite knowing it was true and who she was - Lyra had difficulty truly embracing her Orsini bloodline. Of course she could project it in her demeanor and speak about it with confidence, but she had never been asked to act as a member of the royal family in her life.

Her hesitation didn’t linger; she nodded. “Of course, Captain. Would you prefer me to wear my uniform or appropriate imperial mourning attire?”

“Dress according to your social rank. In that way, people will understand what is happening.” He answered tiredly. He nodded then, once, a sad look in his eyes. “That’ll be all. Dismissed.”

“Aye, sir.” Lyra nodded and left without another word.

“Now, Commander, please have a seat. Can I get you anything to drink?” He asked, turning his full attention to the woman remaining in the room.

“Black tea with milk and honey, please.” Annalise took a seat. “Your security chief is part of the Imperial family? I don’t recognize her name.”

“It’s an adopted name. The entire situation is rather…complicated. I’m sure someone would love to tell you some time.” Ivan said humorlessly as he stood and made his way over to the replicator. He requested the tea she ordered and walked back toward her with the brew in hand. “If there’s one thing you need to know, it’s that the Vengeance crew is full of surprises. I’ve seen a few of them myself since we arrived in the quadrant.”

The large man sat down in his seat again, using the link of the couch to rest part of his leg.

“Last night was one hell of a fight, Commander. I’m surprised we’re sitting here, talking together considering how bad it got out there. Your help and the help of your crew were invaluable to saving this fleet. As its commander, I would like to thank you. Please give my best to your people.”

Annalise noticed the rather dismissive response regarding his officer, but she put no real mind to it. They’d been through a great tragedy on this ship and he certainly wouldn’t be in the mood to tell stories. She sipped her tea lightly and then lowered it back down into the saucer. “I will, Captain, thank you.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I’m afraid they tried to use us to get to you, though… but they did not anticipate the might and ferocity of united Terrans.”

“Yes, that’s true. They certainly used you.” He said, not being accusatory so much as a bit inconsiderate. “How did you hear about us? I’m assuming that’s what happened, since your signal was clearly meant for us.”

Annalise didn’t demure at his words. Accusatory or not they were true - and the truth was she would have done it again even knowing what she did now. It had been the right decision for her crew and deep down her people knew that - if they didn’t by now, they were delusional. “A trader from a station a number of lightyears from here. He tried to sell the information, but it was obvious there was something more. We took him and my XO extracted the necessary information, the details of which strongly indicated he was telling the truth about what he knew.”

“So he was the bait then. What a shame for him.” Ivan said, clearly not really caring. “Still, the gods have been good to you. The Gladius wouldn’t make it out here alone. Even aliens can serve providence.”

Ivan took another sip of his coffee before posing his next question. “So, what happened to the original captain of Gladius?”

“Our mission in the Alpha Quadrant had us scouting the outskirts of the Badlands when a displacement wave appeared. We weren’t able to outrun it; it impacted the ship and threw us to the Delta Quadrant which I expect is what ended up happening to the Vengeance as well.” She paused so he could nod confirmation and took a sip of her tea before continuing. “Unfortunately, the Gladius took rather heavy damage and Captain Ryce was killed along with two other crewman during the transition.”

“Damn shame. He was a good man.” Ivan said, shaking his head. “But you were acting XO then, right? I imagine Ryce’s replacement went soon after?”

“Two months.” This time she frowned slightly. “Though yes I was promoted to XO after Ryce was killed.”

“You’re very young for so much responsibility. Command can be very lonely. I have years of experience and my family, but you..” Ivan said, then changing his line of conversation. “Who have you had to rely on out here?”

“My crew.” Annalise said simply, her beautiful blue eyes coming up to meet his. There was a weight there, but Ivan would also be able to see the steady resolve that had served her well the past months. “I know it is not the way things are usually done, but after losing a third of our crew, we had to adjust to what worked best for us in our situation. I know such a thing likely can’t continue as it has, and I do understand that, but it is how we survived.”

Ivan listened to her intently, his face giving away nothing. When she was done, he pursed his lips.

“I understand. Desperate times call for desperate measures. You’re right, things can’t continue as they were before, but that doesn’t mean that your way was the wrong thing to do.” he said, and then shifted his coffee mug to the table. Picking up the PADD next to it, he turned it on. “Speaking of crew, we need to talk about personnel. I am thinking that moving people around is the best thing for us regarding integration and military readiness. We need to be one team, which means that some changes will have to be made.”

“I agree.” She replied simply, taking one final sip of her own tea and then setting it aside as Ivan had done with his coffee so they could focus on the business at hand. She had her own ideas, but was inclined to let Ivan speak first.

“The first is your Chief Engineer. I’ve been discussing a transfer to the fleet with my Chief, and I’ve taken a look at Marikit Urso. She’s quite impressive.” Ivan said, knowing the conversation was a difficult one to initiate but doing so anyway. It helped that he was dog tired. “I’m transferring her to Vengeance and replacing her with our Assistant Chief, Ensign Revana Nazar.”

Annalise was quiet for a moment as she looked at Ivan. The man outranked her and she understood that, but she wondered if he actually had any respect for her position as commander of her ship and guardian of her people. She was trying to be gracious in understanding that they had just been through a tragedy, but if she was here just to be informed of his unilateral decisions, what was the point?

“She’ll thrive if you give her the ability to pursue her experiments here.” She offered diplomatically but finally looked away and around the room instead.

“What kinds of experiments might those be?” Ivan asked. He didn’t typically limit his officers freedoms with such things, but he didn’t like signing blank checks either. He sensed that she was displeased with the transfer, but he wasn’t prepared to make her tell him why yet.

“Betterments to the ship. She generally doesn’t have many personal projects though I suppose she may take some up now that existing won’t be a struggle.” Annalise shrugged slightly. “She has been able to make many improvements to the power systems on the Gladius through innovative means and last I spoke with her, she and our science officer had been working on power cells fueled by living organisms. I don’t know if you intend on taking Lieutenant Wolff on as well, but they work well together.”

“Our Science Chief died a few weeks ago in an accident related to our computer core and I’ve got a Warrant Officer who could potentially replace her. Most of our pilots are gone after last night as well.” Ivan said, scrolling the list for a second even though he knew exactly who they had lost. He could still remember McMillan’s body on the steps behind the helm.

Annalise finally looked back to Ivan and regarded him momentarily. Perhaps he had noticed his abruptness in his decree regarding Kit’s reassignment and was trying to be more mindful about the situation or perhaps Kit had been the only one he had really wanted to take from her. She couldn’t help but wonder exactly what that said about the assistant chief she would be receiving as Kit’s replacement on the Gladius, but she wouldn’t make a solid judgment until she had met the woman and given her a chance to prove herself.

“The scientific facilities on the Gladius are frankly nonexistent. We have a single lab and a staff of three people. I know the Vengeance doesn’t have much more than that, but something is more than nothing. I’m afraid Lieutenant Wolff’s talents are wasted. Perhaps it might be best to assign him as your new science chief and also retain your warrant officer unless you feel she would be better suited to the Gladius? The two other personnel we have are competent in their work. As for your pilot, my current chief would love the opportunity to pilot an Intrepid class such as this. He’s young but eager.”

“And, following the death of our people, he’s the best pilot we’ve got.” Ivan said with a shrug. “Saving you, of course. I think you’re idea about moving Lieutenant Wolf here is a good one, since our science department also coordinates science efforts on our Vidiian ship. I’ll consider a promotion for Officer Ocara and keep her here as well. It’ll give you some extra space over there.”

He looked at the list again, his tired mind moving over the names he’d planned to discuss.

“I’m moving two of our doctors, Lamont and Rosen, to the Vidian ship as well, making it a significant scientific asset for the Fleet. I’ll also be assigning new commanders for vessels whose commanders died in the battle. Other than that, I’d like to consider the transfer of the crew members listed in section 3. It would include 3 junior officer transfers to Vengeance to round out our department command structures after other transfers and 9 or 10 NCOs and enlisted from Vengeance to Gladius to make up your crew shortfall.”

When Ivan offered her the PADD, Annalise took it to review carefully while she picked up her tea again to take another sip. The way she moved and sat was a clear indicator of someone who was used to being around high society but not necessarily a part of it. She made a few notes and then lowered the PADD.

“Sir, respectfully,” she began with a gentle, resolute, and yet still respectful tone, “the Gladius crew is small, but even we cannot endure the loss of six officers. That would leave us with three, meaning besides myself and my XO, one other officer. Three of my best officers - chiefs of their departments, are already being transferred. The remaining officers would be promoted to fill those vacancies except for in the case of Lieutenant Nazar in engineering. I have reviewed some of your personnel logs and I am aware that you have recently promoted some of your own NCOs to officer status and perhaps that would be the intention here, but the Gladius simply does not have enough manpower to cover what would be an extremely steep learning curve for an NCO to become an officer much less chief of a department.”

“I’d like to propose this instead.” She offered the PADD to him again. “Urso, Forrest, and Wolff as planned along with three of my mid level NCOs from the departments you were looking to take the junior officers from. They are solid people and can easily be trained up to step into officer roles themselves in the environment the Vengeance provides. From the Vengeance, Lieutenant Nazar as well as these two other junior lieutenants and ensign would be transferred along with six NCOs to fill our departments back to more sustainable numbers.”

Ivan looked at the PADD and studied it for several seconds silently, his brow knit not in irritation, but in thought.

“An interesting proposition. I see your point about officer training. I’ve got a few of my own I am planning to promote in the same way.” He said, before handing the PADD back to her. “We’ll go with your plan and leave those junior officers alone.”

“Very good, sir.” Annalise took the PADD to give one final review and while looking at it spoke again. “If you would allow it, I would like to attend the funeral this afternoon. I’d also like to offer the services of my crew if you would like them to temporarily oversee operations on the Vengeance to allow your entire crew to attend.”

Ivan thought for just the space of a moment before nodding quickly.

“That would be fine. A handful to man consoles on the Bridge should be enough. We’ll be floating in here conducting repairs. I’ll have Nazar transfer over once she finishes her work here, but the rest can assume their new duties after our promotion ceremony tomorrow morning.”

“Of course. I’ll have them sent over at 1530 so they can be briefed and your personnel have time to get ready?” She offered.

“Better make it a bit earlier. Many of our officers will need to change clothes in order to attend.” Ivan answered. “Other than that, I think our arrangements are pretty clear. Is there anything else on your mind that we should discuss?”

“I have a few requests for supplies to be made - I know the Vengeance is in rough shape right now, but these are mostly power based needs which I don’t believe you will have any trouble in meeting. We used nearly all of our reserves in the fight.” Annalise looked at Ivan, her gaze even. “Other than that, I don’t believe so - nothing that can’t wait. I would perhaps like to share a lunch with you simply to talk.”

Ivan smiled a tired smile.

“We will, when I’m a bit better company. As for the supplies, provide a list to Ops and we’ll meet the demand. The gods have blessed us with wealth if nothing else. We can buy resources and take any financial source that comes our way.”

“I am glad for that. We were not so fortunate.” She nodded and returned his smile with a demure one of her own. “I am sorry that our crews met this way, Captain Petrov, but in the end I am very glad we found you.”

“It’s a gift, Commander.” Ivan said, standing up and smiling more fully this time. “It’s a gift. We’re going to fight for survival together; we’re going to get home together. You have my word as a captain and as a Terran Lord.”

When he stood, she stood a moment later, her smile remaining as it was though she offered a more enthusiastic nod to pair with it this time. “Yes, we are, and what stories we will have to tell our families when we get home.”

Ivan nodded, obviously approving of the idea.

“Dismissed, Commander.”

“Aye, sir.” Annalise gave one more gracious nod and exited the room without another word.

Ivan watched her go as he considered who she had presented herself to be so far. He smiled as the door sealed behind her. He was glad his son had decided to try serious monogamy or else he would be a bit worried about her, and, for that matter, his desk.

END