A New Era

Posted on Thu Dec 15th, 2016 @ 1:31am by Captain Daniel Westphalen & Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn

1,555 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Rebuilding
Location: Mission Lab 2
Timeline: Before mission

ON

Amber had been gone longer than expected, but the chance to take a bit of time off to work on an archaeological dig again was too good to pass up. Still, it had been six weeks with very little communication because of some unusual solar activity. Only the most critical communications were passed on to the team, and only the head of the dig was able to contact anyone off-world to preserve what little time they did have with working comms.

When the shuttle arrived to swap half the team, Amber stowed her duffel-bag and gratefully sank into one of the seats for the long trip back to the Aurora. Most of the people around her were happily using the Federation communication system to contact loved ones and hear all the latest news. She, too, was eager to hear news from her family and friends, but first she needed to check for any messages from Starfleet. She'd had a niggling feeling for the past week that she would be transferred instead of sent back to the Aurora. She didn't know what caused that worry, as she'd been assured her place was secure, but she couldn't shake it.

There were several dozen messages. A quick perusal assured her they were general items that didn't affect her directly. Then she saw one that made her pause. She'd been promoted? That surprised her. What surprised her more was that she was now the new Executive Officer.

She had a brief moment of panic, until she confirmed that Daniel was still the CO. At least there was that. She checked to see what time it was on the Aurora, and decided that any message could wait until she arrived.

The trip was not nearly as long as she'd anticipated. By 0700 Aurora time, she was walking onto her new quarters. She looked around, noting the extra space and that all of her belongings had been carefully moved from her old quarters. She unpacked her duffel, putting everything away and dumping all her clothes into a basket to wash later, took a long, much-anticipated shower, and dressed for duty.

The ship was slowly recovering from the shambles the refit had left her in. Updated sensor suites (including a new forward spectrographic array for planetary surveys, something that Amber herself had asked for after a colonial feasibility survey that took almost a month longer than was alloted), replacement plasma conduits in the drive section, and a series of small upgrades and repairs from the Aurora's three years in space meant that several hallways had tools, paneling, and parts resting at the edges of the walkways. Deck 2, her new quarters assignment, was luxurious by the rather spartan standards set by the rest of the ship's accommodations, but it still had the homey, workaday feel that had always followed the ship in its missions.

Amber's terminal in her quarters signaled an update as she emerged, dressed in the burgundy appropriate to her new post. The display indicated a priority message from Starfleet.

Once accessed, the message was straightforward and perfunctory - congratulations on her post, that she came highly recommended for the promotion, and that she had been specifically requested by the current commanding officer of her assignment for the position. Additionally, she was given detailed documentation on her new security clearance, as well as coded missives containing her new command codes and honorary certification for the bridge officer's exam, citing her work on three different scientific missions in which she had stepped into a command role in order to organize and establish efficient process.

All of the documentation prompting her to receive another pip, command codes, and a place as the second in command of the ship that she had essentially run the lifeblood of the last few years were signed by Daniel Westphalen.

Amber smiled as she read about Daniel. She would have to thank him when she saw him next -- although she wasn't as confident as he was that she was the best choice for his First Officer.

She took several minutes to scan through the documentation before asking the computer where Captain Westphalen was currently located.

"Captain Westphalen is located in Mission Lab 2, Deck 6, section Alpha."

Amber smiled. "Thank you, computer." She knew exactly where to find that particular lab.

The Aurora's captain was running sensor diagnostics in the mission-configurable lab on the lower decks. He could have let the engineering teams handle it, and likely should have. But the captain was ready to go, and any small things that he could do in order to expedite heading out on the next mission appealed to him.

He was already processing the results when the door into the lab opened.

"Busy as usual, I see," Amber teased, stepping into the room.

"Ships like this deserve a crew that can take care of all of her," Daniel said without looking up at her, though he did smile despite himself. "Besides, my leave ended early and I was tired of hanging around the Starbase and receiving daily progress reports. Better I'm here, generating one or two of those reports myself."

"Uh huh. You know what they say about all work and no play, right?" she continued, stopping to watch what he was doing.

"I'm familiar with a few versions of that particular turn of phrase," he teased, pulling up a status display on the console largely for her benefit. "But I'm curious as to your interpretation."

She leaned close and whispered in his ear, "It makes Daniel a very dull boy and that would be a tragedy."

He smiled briefly at that, glancing her way. "I promise, I took my downtime as irreverently as I could. Finished a few holonovels, tried canoeing a few different places... even took a brief trip to Calisis IV in order to sample some of their new techniques in protein-bound cuisine."

"And I missed it?" she shook her head in mock seriousness. "Pity." She leaned against and empty part of the counter by Daniel. "I missed you -- when I had time to think. But I do question your sanity in recommending me for a promotion."

His expression got serious momentarily. "Consider something before you question too much. Your duties as Chief of Science were largely administrative, most days. Yes, you had chances during surveys to participate directly in the research and data collection, but by and large, you were arranging lab schedules, guiding research focuses, and assigning priority access to equipment."

Daniel stood up straight, his attention now fully on Amber. "Obviously, it wasn't a bad job, and one you handled with aplomb. But your leave of absence was to participate in a research dig. That informed my decision to recommend you for promotion. You deserve to have authority in more than just which science division gets access to the sensors today. The day to day of the department can be placed with someone else, but your curiosity, your head for multi-discipline scientific applications... those are better suited in a leadership role. Guiding the entire purpose of the ship, not just its biggest division."

"Yes, I'm good at organizing, arranging, and managing, but I am still a geek at heart. I'm not turning you down, but I don't know much about battle tactics." She cocked her head to one side and grinned. "On a positive note, I think I'll like working with my Commanding Officer. Do you think he'll mind if I get a little -- impersonal -- from time to time?"

Daniel smiled, but there was... hesitance in his eyes. He didn't appear to think the relatively forward question was unwelcome, but something had changed for him. "I'm certain that he's open to it," he said, wavering slightly.

"Daniel..." He'd been hesitant enough when she was simply the Chief Science Officer -- at least at first. Was this promotion a step forward and a giant leap back?

He offered an apologetic smile. "It's nothing to do with the promotion, or the change in responsibilities. Some... things happened on leave. I just need a chance to settle them before I feel like picking up where we left is... well, something I can put my all into, rather than have you wondering where I am in my own head."

Amber nodded. She understood. If his feelings had changed, or if he had to figure out what he wanted, she needed to give him that time. "Okay. Then I'll leave you to your work and get settled in." She gave him a nod and turned to go back to her quarters.

Daniel watched her go, his face betraying only the slightest hint of pain. He hadn't prepared for what seeing Amber again would do after what happened on his leave... or what it would mean to him. He belatedly wished he'd had said anything to clarify. That he hadn't left her with the impression that she wasn't what he wanted. But all the same, he couldn't bring himself to chase after her and explain himself.

The doors out of the lab had long closed when he finally shook himself out of the reverie of a simpler time, and his eyes fell back down to the console. He began working again in silence.


Captain Daniel Westphalen
Commanding Officer
USS Aurora

Lieutenant Commander Amber Quinn
Executive Officer
USS Aurora

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