New Blood

Posted on Wed Apr 4th, 2012 @ 4:08pm by Lieutenant JG Patok Malroon & Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jones & Lieutenant JG Zam Stott [Byrne]

Mission: Deep Space 19
Location: USS Antarctic, Transporter Room - USS Endeavour, Transporter Room 3
Timeline: MD05 2145hrs
Tags: Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jones, Lieutenant JG Zam Stott

Life aboard the USS Antarctic hadn't been as eventful for Patok as it had for some of the others. He had spent much of his time in Engineering to help cover for the shortage of personnel. The ship seemed to function well enough without the extra officers that would be transferred to the Endeavour, but he was still surprised that they had so few resources. The Engineering department had few issues during the trip, so he mostly found himself doing routine scans of deuterium containment, which didn't satisfy his curiosity.

He hoped that this day would be much different, as he was being transferred over to the Endeavour. He had received a briefing about the station they were attempting to repair, and it was exactly the kind of thing that piqued his interest. As a matter of fact, it had been years since he had been as excited about anything else. It wasn't everyday that he had an opportunity to explore such an old technology that was so well preserved. He exited his temporary quarters and made his way to the transporter room where a few other new officers were gathering to beam over at 2200 hours. He hadn't been on board very long, and many of the crew still gave him a second look as he walked through the corridors. They had probably never seen a Nogron before, and he was starting to enjoy the extra attention that it brought.

In the transporter room, he noticed that he was the second person to arrive. The woman there before him was a science officer, and she was intently engaged in the contents of the PADD she was holding. She briefly looked up to acknowledge him, but didn't speak. Moments later, a familiar face came through the door. He was a younger security officer that Patok had spoken with on several occasions. His name was Morton Fisk, and he was a Crewman Second Class.

"Hey hey!" he said, "Are you two nervous for your first day on the new job?"

The science officer shot him a quick grin before turning back to her reading. Patok had found it difficult to differentiate between excitement and anxiety when speaking with humans. He hadn't had any nervous feelings, but was very excited to explore the remnants of an old civilization.

"One is overly nervous," he said in a flat tone. He was flushed with emotions of excitement in his mind, but it was lost in his stoic expression.

"Well don't pee your pants," Morton replied with a laugh. Idioms were baffling to the Nogron, and this particular human seemed to use them often. Patok hadn't considered the possibility of soiling his pants at his new post. It wasn't a reasonable concern, at least not under normal circumstances; however, he thought it might be worth considering that restroom access aboard the station would be limited.

"One will be extra careful," Patok replied. It was clear to Morton from the time it took him to respond that he had given it some serious thought.

Morton shook his head as he laughed, "You are unreal." The Nogron would have shot him a questioning glance, but it appeared just as expressionless as usual. Still, the length of silence proved that he was mulling it over in his mind. Morton didn't give him the opportunity, "you don't need to respond to that... figure of speech."

In six years of study at the Academy, Patok had learned to dismiss many things that were said in conversation, but he still had a lot of work to do. By that time, there were four officers in the transporter room, ready to beam aboard. They stepped into place, and shortly found themselves aboard the Endeavour.

As the two new officers materialized on the Endeavour's transporter pad Liz put on her best warm face she could. The officers looked almost as nervous as she felt Turning to the officer wearing gold "Welcome aboard the Endeavour my name is Lt Jones and I will be your department head. Welcome to the finest vessel starfleet has to offer, enjoy the comforts it offers as soon you will be tossed into the fire." Truth be told Liz enjoyed introducing new staff to the ships current assignment, facts now sugar coat later.

Extending her hand up to the large office "You must be Lt Malroon, for your first assignment I want you to work with the engineering duty officer to realign the power transfer system running from the Endeavour to the station. If you haven't done so please get yourself up to speed with what we know about the station. If you have any insights please share them. Your here because of your experience. Any questions?" Liz could sense a lot of insecurity for the new Lt and tried to ignore it as she felt her Betazoid powers gave her an unfair advantage over others.

Patok gave her a formal nod to confirm his identity, and listened carefully to her instructions. "Understood," he replied. "Should one report for duty immediately?" He didn't wish to concede that he was tired from the journey, but almost desired to see a bed as much as he wanted to get on board the station.

"Get settled in and just report in the morning, Lt Stott will escort you to your quarters." Liz sad in response.

The Bolian, who had been standing firmly and silently behind the human woman, simply nodded before uttering tersely, "Aye, sir." He glanced at the new arrival before turning for the exit, an equally terse "Follow me," emanating from him as he walked away.

As usual, Patok was oblivious to Zam’s disgruntled state. It wasn’t that he was completely hopeless at recognizing emotional expression. In fact, he was now used to the fact that a smile meant happy and a furled brow meant angry. Though, he was convinced for several years that Vulcans were always angry, until someone told him otherwise.

This was different. For most of his life, Patok didn’t have to worry about voice inflection or the use of words to express emotion. He even had trouble recognizing a question if it didn’t begin with a trigger word. In his mind, Zam was a chipper, blue man, eager to show him the ins and outs of serving aboard the Endeavour.

“Thank you for your hospitality,” Patok forced a smile. It was hard to image that it could appear less genuine.

Stott merely grunted as they moved out and into the corridor, and was silent all the way down it until they reached the turbolift, at which point he simply ordered "Deck 4." As the lift rose through the seven intervening decks, the operations officer merely stood and gazed intent at the door, as if a speck on it were deeply fascinating.

While it was true that Patok had the skill of a trout when it came to reading facial expressions, awkward silence was a universal language that even he could understand.

“Is something the matter, Lieutenant?”

The Bolian turned towards the other Lieutenant. "What's your position onboard the Endeavour?" he asked, shortly.

"One is the Assistant Chief Operations Officer," Patok replied.

"And I'm Assistant Chief Operations Officer," the man said. "And that is what is the matter, Lieutenant." The lift doors chose that moment to open and release them from the rapidly shrinking turbolift carriage onto the decking. Stott stood to the side of the lift doors and indicated down the corridor. "Fifth on the right," was all he said.

Patok was curious at why this would trouble the Bolian, but he had learned from numerous experiences that further prodding would only escalate the situation. He blinked a stoic blink and replied, simply, "Thank you."

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Lieutenant JG Elizabeth Jones
Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant JG Patok Malroon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer

Lieutenant JG Zam Stott
Assistant Chief Operations Officer