Some Degree Of Change

Posted on Fri Oct 29th, 2021 @ 6:54pm by Commodore Keiben Haistro & Lieutenant Commander Hiro Sommers-Yoshida & Lieutenant Commander Melanie D’BrooNi- Haistro & Commander Peter Horn

1,805 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - The Fires Of Hades
Location: Central Core - Ward Room
Timeline: Mission Day 1 @ 1100 Hours

ON

Having finished their meeting with Lieutenant Commander Carter, Keiben and Tam had taken the time to leave her in Command of Ops so they could go the the replimat for a bite to eat before their next meeting. With a station some degree of change would be needed within the senior staff, or at least some degree of flexibility in their roles and to that end they had to speak with Commander Horn and Lieutenant Tua. On top of this they had the new arrivals. Lieutenant Brell had already been assigned to the Copernicus as its duty science officer and Keiben had no doubt that Junjie would make use of him on the station as well but they also had Commander Reynolds and Lieutenant Yoshida to consider.

With the late breakfast out of the way the pair had made a beeline for the ward room and called the small group together.

"My mind is still buzzing with all the changes that are happening right now." Tam remarked. "And us being placed in charge of this area, this station. Talk about a huge surprise."

Carrying a single PADD, Peter made his way into the ward room. He had taken some brief time to settle his sons and spend some time with them, aside from getting freshened up a little. Though priorly he was made to understand Khione had no place on the bridge, he still found great comfort in the pup's presence, especially with Harley still missing. She was providing the emotional support he currently needed so badly. He wouldn't take her into OPS, but since this wasn't there, he felt it would be alright.

Mel exchanged a look with Keiben and Tam as she walked in and saw yet again the dog which shouldn't be there.

"Peter I'm going to be blunt. We need to get your reliance off this animal now. Commander Reynolds is a qualified counselor. I'm assigning you to some sessions with him," she told him firmly sitting down. The Peter Horn she knew had more inner strength and had faced far worse. To see her friend now needing to bring a canine everywhere with him was disconcerting and worrying. If he couldn't cope walking around without the dog how could he cope with the kids. More so with Harley not found yet?

"As for right now Commander, you can return the animal to your quarters and then report back here... This is not a debate as I have made my thoughts on this matter perfectly clear in the past and I fully support and endorse the Doctors course of action... Dismissed Commander!"

Keiben was furious with Horn. The man had deep scarring but he was taking no action to deal with it, instead he was parading around like a man who had a debilitating condition and if it continued he as the Commanding Officer would need to take matters into his own hands and relieve Horn of duty.

"I will agree with the Captain as well as with Doctor D'BrooNi. This is no place for your animal. If you are needing the animal with you at all times, then you may need to take a sabbatical from duty to get your affairs in order." Tam stated rather bluntly. "This is no place for any sort of distraction, and your pup is a distraction."

Right after Commander Holt's last remark Hiro stepped inside the wardroom. The first thing he noticed was the Shepherd pup. He started to smile and crouched down close to the puppy. "Hey little guy." he said as he petted the puppy.

The anger around him hit him like a brick wall, but Peter did his best not to show how deeply uncomfortable he felt right now. He gave the captain a curt nod and turned but was stopped short as the new arrival crouched and drew Khione's attention. "She," he said stiffly, while gently tugging the leash. "It is a she." Perhaps they had a point, perhaps he wasn't ready to return to duty, but what else was he to do? Roam the station, in search for his wife when there were far better trained people here to do so? Worry his boys to death, by staying at home?

Unable to leave the pup at home, Peter left her in one of the offices he might claim as his own, making sure she'd be alright for a while.

Hito had seated himself while the Commander was away. Now he briefly looked at him and then Captain Haistro, Commander Holt and Lieutenant D'BrooNi. The question in his eyes was obvious, Did I do something wrong?

Mel wasn't sure who the newcomer was but kept her face neutral not believing he had just walked in and done that. Well actually, as she thought about it, it proved their point. The puppy was a distraction for others. "Sorry I'm not familiar as to who you are Lieutenant," she smiled. "Were you part of the crew that came in with Commander Reynolds."

"Yes, that's correct. We came straight from Starbase 308." Hiro returned that smile. "Word was that something strange was going on in the Briar Patch and Starfleet ordered us to investigate."

"And to answer your worries, you have done nothing wrong Lieutenant... Actually we have brought you here to offer you a job!"

Keiben spoke up, unable to hide his amusement at the reaction to the panel of Command level officer sitting before him.

"Betazoid Lieutenant!" he offered by way of explanation.

Hiro didn't quite follow. He obviously missed something as he didn't see the relation between a job offer and the term Betazoid. "Sir?"

"I apologise, I was picking up on a stray thought you had! After the last few days my mental controls are still a little... shaky shall we say!"
The Captain offered with sincerity.

Feeling extremely ill at ease, as though more than just a part of him was missing, Peter returned to the ward room and claimed a seat in stony silence.

Tam took a look at Peter then turned her attention back to Hiro. "I am pleased that you have arrived here at the station along with the others." giving a smile to the newest member of the ever growing staff on SB21.

"Thanks, ma'am." Hiro offered her a small but respectful nod. "Compared to my last posting this is quite different. The station itself as well as its location."

"Well I have an offer that I hope you won't refuse." Tam stated casting a glance over towards Keiben and Mel, then turned her gaze back to Hiro. "We'd like you to be in charge of being the Dockyard Master. Your talents and skills would be a very welcome addition to the station. Will you accept this position? You won't be working it all by yourself though. You will be having help, when you need it."

Hiro opened his mouth to answer Tamaska, but closed it without saying anything. This he hadn't expected. He shifted in his seat. "It's tempting, for sure. But that means I will have to divide my time between my duties as Chief Engineer on the Cerberus and the Dockyard. Does 'Commander Carter know of this?"

"Commander Carter, will know of this, however, the Cerberus is going to be secondary as the Dockyard will be your primary detail. Not that we are saying you won't be able to go out in the Cerberus and be her engineer. You will be getting staff to help run the Dockyard so you can still travel out amongst the stars. I feel you will be able to balance out the work along with family time as well." Tam stated.

The mention of family made Mel's heart pine suddenly for her first born. She watched Hiro waiting for him to accept the position. Hopefully. He would be crazy not too. Unexplored space, new mysteries, new beginning.

The Dockyard would give him the opportunity to be closer to his family more often. That was a big plus. He was sure Melinda and the children would be happy with that. "Alright, I accept."

Tam beamed with delight, "I am glad and congratulations on your new role. And most definitely welcome to the crew."

"Welcome on board Lieutenant... Now, Commander Horn... What can we do with you?"
Keiben had dropped his icy demeanor towards the Counsellor and was now infact playfully smiling. "I know on Copernicus you were a one man band but here you will have staff but we also want to ask if you would take on a slightly expanded role!"

Peter took note of the change of tone and wondered what was going on here. "I do not know about a one man band," he answered somewhat stiffly, "I simply had no additional staff to speak of...yet. As we are on a station now, I assumed I would receive additional staff as I cannot possibly provide counsel to an entire station of people." He paused, realizing something else was going on. "How expanded?" he queried.

"Head up the Diplomatic attachment?"
Posed partly as statement and partly as question. Even the Captain was unsure where that was actually going.

Well that certainly was a surprise. "I could," Peter answered hesitantly, "but I am hardly a diplomat. I am security by long time experience, and inexperienced as counselor. I am not certain I can...but if you need me to I will try."

"With my having been in security for a while myself, Commander Horn, we do need to use diplomacy when dealing with the people we tend to run into. And also with your having been a counselor, you would do rather well in it. A diplomatic friend of mine had stated that, its good to have a variety of skills when being a diplomat as you need to know what to look for and also be wary in case of danger or recognize danger as well. Also you would know of the laws, the rules and regulations too. " Tamaska responded.

"True," Peter had to agree. He did have the skill to assess threat, and the skill to observe, but negotiation skill was something he did lack. "Though I would request staff with proper negotiation skills," he added, almost thoughtfully. "I am not a diplomat."

"Command are working on that now!"
Keiben chipped in knowing the pair probably had a multitude of other jobs and tasks to look at before the day could really start. With that in mind he didn't want to keep them any longer.
"Do either of you have any questions?"

The counselor shook his head. "No sir."

After thinking for a moment Hiro followed suit and shook his head. "No, Captain. No questions."

"In that case, you both have work to do" Keiben beamed at the apir. "Dismissed!"

END

 

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