Staff Briefing

Posted on Sunday 19 September 2021 @ 15:45 by Captain Melody Jones & Civilian Sansa Draxx-Jones & Commander Caroline Miller & Lieutenant Marbim Rejal & Lieutenant Nir’anyar

Mission: First Contact
Location: Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD1 0800
2016 words - 4 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Melody had arranged this morning meeting of the Senior staff to fill them all in on the upcoming mission, with a few additional personnel. She had asked Sansa and Hamish to join the briefing. Sansa had arrived the same time as Melody and felt quite important, having been invited to the briefing for the ship's senior officers and sat down at the bottom end of the table with a big smile on her face. She would have liked to sit nearer to her Mom but she knew better than to take the seat of the XO or any of the other officers for that matter.

Melody had got herself a large glass of carrot juice and sat down reviewing her notes while she waited for the others to arrive.

Gregor walked in and nodded to those in the room, he went directly to the replicator. " Large Raktajino double black. " He grabbed his mug and sat at the table and took a swig. " Ah... Better. " He looked up and smiled. Good morning all. "

Miles walked in with a large metal flask, the smell coming from it of earl grey tea with lavender. Seeing others ahead of him, he nods and chooses a seat close to Melody. "Morning Captain, still on the carrot juice kick eh?"

Melody nodded. "It's really grown on me Number One but I must admit, I'm looking forward to when I can drink coffee and alcohol again."

Miles laughed, "Sav's been making this tea for me for a while. I love the way she makes it, I barely remember what other stuff tastes like. I used to rely on heavily caffeinated Raktajino's, now this seems to liven my mood and step."

Mathias wandered in, trying to smooth down some of his hair that was choosing to be unruly that morning. He carried his own mug but the scent of peppermint wafted its way upwards. His stomach had been feeling slightly off for a little bit. He basically switched between the current tea and the other, ginger tea. "Morning," he said with a slight smile.

Anya followed shortly after, still feeling somewhat sheepish about the events of her recent away mission. She hoped it would not be raised in the meeting and so she tucked herself into a chair at the very end of the table deciding to focus on her drink rather than catch the eye with anyone else in the room.

Caroline walked in the room feeling better to be back in uniform and back where she should be. She took a seat next to Anya giving her friend a quick smile. She was about to reach for some coffee when she remembered what she suspected and needed to talk to the doctor about. Instead, she settled for water.


Sansa acknowledged each of them as they entered and was glad when Hamish entered as he would be accompanying her on their mission. She waved him over and patted the seat next to her, indicating she had reserved it for him.

Hamish walked in looking around a slight bit nervously, then his eyes settled down on Sansa and gave a nod towards her and accepted the seat next to her. This was his first official staff meeting and it sort of un-nerved him.

When everyone was seated, Melody looked around their faces with a satisfied smile. "Good morning everyone. First of all, I'd like to say that's it's good to have Commander Miller back with us safe and sound."

Miles cleared his throat and asked, "Doesn't she owe us dinner or dessert for saving her, just asking for a friend." Miles will look down the table at Mathias and wink.

Mathias just shrugged, he was just feeling a bit quiet at the moment, not falling into the jocularity of the moment. He was glad that Miles was in a good mood, but for Mathias, he was in a quiet form of mindset.

“If you have to endure my cooking you will wish you had left me,” the blond stated. She knew it was an attempt at a joke on the XOs part but it was a rather flat one. A glad to see you back would have sufficed.

Hamish was looking at what was going on, noting his cousin's state of mind, then listened to the others as they made their comments and jests. He didn't speak only watched and also glanced towards Sansa and then her mother from time to time.

Sansa kept glancing sideways at Hamish, a funny little smile on her face.

Anya smiled but kept her eyes down focused on her drink, the obsidian liquid allowing her her own thoughts reflected back at her with a clarity she didn't want or need right now. The guilt at a point that was almost overwhelming her. She had been the one to almost rip down an entire planet and she still needed to speak to the Captain and await the consequences of her actions.


Melody continued "Starfleet has given us our new mission. We will be exploring the nearby star systems in this area as, up until now, they have not been visited by a manned Starfleet vessel. Commander Rejal has provided some very detailed star charts of the local area which point out six potentially inhabited star systems. We will be departing for the closest one to our position in two days time. The reason for our delay brings me on to the next item. This is the reason I've asked my daughter Sansa and Lieutenant Teague to join us this morning."

Miles grinned, "Don't thank me, I just talked some cartographers out of their pet projects."


Melody waited for quiet. "We are holding position while we wait for USS Santa Maria which will rendezvous with us this afternoon. As well as some new crew members and some supplies the Santa Maria is carrying a very important group. The first group of Humpback whales to establish a permanent off-Earth colony on the planet of Megapteraia, the planet we made first contact with a few months ago."

With a look of pride, Melody explained "Sansa and Lieutenant Teague have been selected to assist in establishing this colony. Dr Blessed from the Taylor institute which is the leading centre in the Federation for study into these mysterious creatures and Fay, the Megapteraian ambassador who temporarily shared Sansa's body are accompanying the whales.

Lieutenant Teague here joined The Merlin recently and is our resident expert on marine biology and after her encounter with Fay, Sansa here has been studying very hard and has received an honorary doctorate from the Taylor institute after writing several impressive papers on Humpback whales, their social and behavioural patterns, filling in a lot of blanks that scientists have been working on ever since Captain Kirk brought George and Gracy to the 23rd Century.

Sansa and Lieutenant Teague will make sure the whales are settled in and established in their new home before returning to the Merlin. Any questions so far?"

Miles cleared his throat, "How many whales have expressed interest in relocating, and how long will this process take?"

"I'm not familiar with all the details just yet, but I know that this time there are twelve whales going but this is only the first trip. When I get all the details of Doctor Blessed, I'll fill you in Number One. I understand Fay has been instrumental in communicating with and selecting the whales that will make this maiden voyage."

Miles took a drink of his tea, thinking before he responded. "Not that I want to throw a wet blanket into this conversation, but are we sure we have adequate security for the whales that are relocating? They would prove to be a bargaining chip from two separate and powerful agencies. I too would love to see these creatures up close, maybe not swim with them, but they are beautiful and their music is soothing."

Still in her own world and slowly diving further down into her melancholy the Doctor just wanted the meeting to be over so she could go and hide in her office or better yet her quarters and take the day off as sick. How could she continue on this ship knowing the upcoming mission was the exploration of unknown worlds and the relocation of a small group of colonists for lack of a better term that's what these Whales were. She had almost caused the destruction of a single biosphere which would have in turn threatened an entire species of sentient beings not to mention the flora and fauna of the planet.


"One more thing," Melody added. "As it is obvious, I'm expecting additions to my family." she said patting her baby bump "And in a couple of months time, I will be taking some leave just before the birth and an additional few months after. While I will be staying on board during this time so you can pop in and say hello, Starfleet Command has decided and arranged for Admiral David Jackson to assume command of the Merlin while I am on leave. I know Admiral Jackson personally, he was a flight instructor at the academy before his promotion to Admiral. I used to scare the hell out of him every time I got in the pilots' seat." She added with a wry smile. "Don't worry, this is only a temporary arrangement and I'll be back on the bridge before you know it."

Gregor spoke up. "First off, Congrats on your upcoming bundle of joy. If you can captain a crew like, this then a child will be no problem for you." He said with a grin. "So in a nutshell, Lieutenant Teague and Miss Draxx are going to the Santa Maria for a mission with a new batch of whales. While the Merlin goes to explore an uncharted sector and perhaps some possible first contact? Sounds like a good days work."

"Summed up rather nicely there Lieutenant," Melody said. "But there are two of the little darlings in here," she added with a smile. "As far as first contact goes, it's a possibility but we'll have to adhere to the prime directive and take things very carefully and absolutely no contact with pre-warp civilizations. Does anyone else have anything to add?"


"Well then, I'll let you all get back to your duties, Dismissed." Then Melody added "Doctor Nir'anya, could you stay a moment."

Gregor got up after being dismissed and returned to the tactical station for the remainder of his duty shift.

Anya had been on her feet and on the move as soon as the Captain uttered the word 'Dismissed' only highlighting to the others something was amiss. They all knew what had happened and now she was stood at the end of the table rigidly at attention having not made her escape quite quick enough, watching each of them leave.

Miles will stop close to Melody and ask in a low tone, "Is this something I need to stay for Captain, you have a slightly, what's that term, pissed off look at the moment?"


Melody placed her hand on his arm. "It's ok number one, I'll handle this for now. I need to talk to the Doctor in private. I'll bring you up to speed later."

Miles nodded, "Yes ma’am, later it is then." Miles will exit the room and head onto the bridge.



OFF:

○●● Lieutenant Commander Marbim Rejal
Executive Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Nir’anyar
Chief Medical Officer
USS Merlin


●● Lieutenant Mathias McPhee
Chief Operations Officer
USS Merlin


○● Lieutenant JG Gregor Morgan
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Merlin


●●● Commander Caroline Miller
Chief Counselor
USS Merlin


●●●● Captain Melody Jones
Commanding Officer
USS Merlin