Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

Posted on Mon Feb 13th, 2012 @ 12:34am by Captain Benjamin Byrne & Commander Jaeih Andorzai

Mission: Deep Space 19
Location: USS Endeavour - Transporter Room || Deep Space 19
Timeline: MD06 1200hrs

Almost as soon as the transporter room doors shut behind the Endeavour's new first officer, they opened again to admit the captain, who had changed his jacket once more for the warmer and less formal excursion jacket he had worn when he had first gone over to the station to inspect the progress. "Commander," he said with a smile as he joined him. "I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

Jaeih's mind had been on other things. While he wasn't expressly against the posting to the newly christened 'Deep Space 19', he felt a slight apprehension. After all, he had been assigned as First Officer of the Endeavour, not a space station.

"No, sir. Not at all." He replied as his superior joined him on the pad. It wasn't unusual to see a Captain don a field jacket but something seemed amiss to Andorzai. He was too used to seeing the gold trim of admiralty uniforms. Once one noticed them, they became pervasive- all pomp, circumstance and glinting trinkets. It might be nice to work in something of a 'no frills' environment again.

As the pair moved to take their places on the transporter pad, the captain nodded to the transporter operator. "Energise."

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Deep Space 19 - Command Centre
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The two officers materialised in the stations command centre, off to the side and out of the way of the general hub-ub of the work that had been ongoing since the engineering teams had restored power to the station three days ago. For the most part, many of the computers were now operational, and some stations were linked in to portable Starfleet LCARs remote access terminals, in order to try and help the technicians work the systems that the consoles were linked to.

The man in the centre of the room cut a forlorn figure as the two approached him. While he had been enjoying the work they had been doing on the station, he knew this moment was bound to come. Picking up his PADD, he moved across the control centre to meet their approach.

"Commander Andorzai, I presume?" Ballard said as he intercepted the two officers. "Provisonal Lieutenant Commander Narayn Ballard. I believe you're here to relieve me?" Ballard cut a glance at the Captain. He wasn't going to spend his time getting to know his replacement. He was here now and there was nothing he could do about it. He'd report to the Antarctic for reassignment to Starbase 332.

"I have indeed." Came Andorzai's response quickly. He too was eager to get to work and didn't have much time for the formalities of the relief. "I hear you're going to get your full pips. I wish you luck, although from what I've heard, you won't need it, Chief."

Andorzai's use of his old rank made Ballard's heart sink. It seemed so long since anyone had called him Chief and since he had fraternised with the NCOs in their mess, playing cards and laughing. Here he was, off to find himself amongst a completely different group of people. It all seemed very final.

"How's progress coming, Commander?" Byrne asked, wanting to get his new first officer started and busy coordinating the efforts here on the station so that he could have a private word with his friend before they had to part ways.

"Oh, you know how it is, Captain." Ballard replied, offering little in the way of actual information. "Engineering are still working on restoring maximum power and I've got a few teams out exploring beyond our known perimeter. To be honest, we've not had much to report in the last few hours."

Benjamin nodded. "Commander," he said to Andorzai. "Please take over operations here. I want your priority to be to get Station Operations functioning enough to begin active usage." Nodding to him which, in partnership with his tone, indicated the end of the conversation, he beckoned with his head to Ballard, and stepped away over towards the side of the room.

"On it, Sir." Andorzai said, his head suddenly pivoting around the room, trying to get his bearings amongst the tangle of cables and consoles.

"The Antarctic's nearly ready to depart," the captain said, his tone one of a friend rather than as a commander. He reached out and put a hand on the shoulder of the former intelligence officer. "I know it isn't exactly what you planned on, but once your final courses as Starbase 332 are done, you'll be officially recognised as a commissioned officer." He smiled. "No more floating around in the grey zone."

Ballard let out a long sigh. He hadn't really had time to think about it, let alone from that perspective. "I suppose it'll feel a bit odd going from a higher 'nearly-rank' down to something else. For all I wasn't keen on the idea, I think I've become used to sitting in the command section."

"It does have a certain appeal to it, doesn't it?" Benjamin said with a smirk. His mind brought up the memory from years ago, when he had first assumed command of a starship's bridge, and the immense amount of pride he had felt at that moment. "There's nothing quite like getting to sit in that centre chair."

"No, I know." Ballard replied with a due sense of melancholy. "Still, I suppose wherever Starfleet decide to send me will have its own challenges. That is if I don't get stuck on three-three-two for a tour."

"Oh even if you did end up under Captain Gunning for a while, I highly doubt that it will be as dreary as you might expect," the captain responded. "From what I've been hearing from Starfleet, the political and tactical situation down in that region is far from smooth sailing. A few months back I even heard that the Metis was added to the station's existing garrison vessels."

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be that bad," Ballard replied with a tinge of resignation in his voice, "I've heard good things about their promenade."

"Just stay away from the Tholian cuisine," the captain said, pointing a mockingly stern finger at the man. "Unless you want to spend your next tour of duty confined to a sickbay." As his smile transformed into a more somber one, he held out his hand for the man to shake. "Keep in touch, Narayn, and good luck."
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Captain Benjamin Byrne
Commanding Officer

Commander Jaeih Andorzai
Executive Officer

Provisional Lt. Commander Narayn Ballard
Outgoing Executive Officer
USS Endeavour