DS9/A10 - Docking Ring

[Jennifer Braggins]

==

[Theresa Black]

== Lt(jg) Papaver – Science ==


Walking back and forth along the docking ring, Papaver waited for the transfer of the crew from the Philadelphia. The ship had been brought in under tow, and everyone knew it. Most had seen it from the Promenade, but she'd found out which bay the crew were coming in on, and made her way down there as had circumstances been different, she'd have been on there too.

The Ship itself was continuing on to who knew where. To be repaired or scrapped. She didn't which. But she did know two of her friends were aboard. One however was also continuing on to another destination due to injury sustained. Being sent back to Earth most likely.

Poor girl. She thought as she recalled the over exuberant Ichika.

Once of the transport cycle completed. Papaver stopped and looked for a familiar face which wasn't there, so she turned on her heel and began another proverbial walk around the block. There were two more cycles before the woman she was looking for appeared.

“Over here.” She said waving her hand above her head to gain the blond woman's attention.

Black turned to face Papaver.

“Wow. You look like shit.” Said Papaver to her friend.

Black just stood there for a minute. Since the taskforce had apprehended them, she'd had time to get a shower and a change of clothes on the trip back, but everything had just been a slow dull blur really in Maz's head. From the moment they'd been stood down and briefed on what was going to happen to them next, she'd just been... There.

“Thanks.” Maz replied.

Papaver took Black's duffle off of her shoulder. “Right then. You're coming with me. I got an upgrade to my quarters, and it's a double accommodation. So you're in with me until this is all sorted.”

“Okay.”

Papaver frowned as she began walking away from the docking ring toward the habitat ring. “I told Kijé you were coming home, but he's been assigned to the Dandridge, and won't be back for six months.” She trailed off hoping that the mention of Kijé would have had a reaction, but she just kept walking quietly.

“If you don't want to talk, that's fine. I can talk for both of us.” That did elicit a little sideways glance from Black. But Papaver then stopped and took Black's hand. “Theresa. You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to. If you want your own quarters, I can arrange that for you. I'm just here as someone for you to talk to if that's what you want.”

Black turned to face the younger woman. “Thank you.” She said giving her friends hand a squeeze in return. “Can we, just get behind closed doors before I, loose it. Please?”

Papaver put her arm around Black's shoulder. “Yeah. This way.” She said quickening their pace.


>> Habitat Ring >>

[Ktan Shadowhunt]

As had become his custom, Ktan lingered behind the rest of the Philadelphia's crew when they arrived at Deep Space Nine. The rumor mill had been active throughout their "journey," if one could call being towed back to starbase in disgrace a journey at all. Speculation over the fate of Captain Braggins buzzed all over - some believing she was set for a court martial or even prison time, others expecting reassignment to a backwater, and still others believing adamantly that they all would be receiving commendations for rescuing the hostages.

Ktan was just happy to be off the ship.

News had come in early that most of the crew was to be reassigned and most were taking this final opportunity to say their farewells and soak up time with friends before being scattered to the winds. That left Ktan - the outsider - even more isolated than he may have been otherwise.

And of course, rumors also swirled that Ktan had been a plant from Starfleet Security all along, which did not at all aid in his popularity.

So he stayed back, stayed behind. On the way to DS9, he'd been assigned to a room with a double bunk, but hadn't been given a roommate. So there he stayed. Waiting. Hoping.

He may not be able to take up his post on the ship he'd been assigned before being beamed aboard the Philadelphia - they were far away by now - but he could hope for a new assignment, one that took him as far away from Captain Braggins and her band of mutineers as possible.

Stepping on the docking ring with nothing but a small duffle with replicated supplies in it - his personal affects were back on Outpost Gamma-7, he passed a few Bajoran maintenance workers and gave them cordial nods. Their distinctive earrings reminded him that he was not alone in the galaxy in his religiosity, even if they worshipped different gods than he. They all had a connection to the divine. . . or at least the extradimensional.

Now that he was here, Ktan intended to make the most of it. He would stop by his temporary quarters on the station - a single, this time, which he was actually renting from a Bajoran merchant - take some time for prayer and self-reflection, and then tour the station that had once been the center of the Dominion War. His father and brother had been here once during the war, and he wanted to experience the place for himself.

And maybe, just maybe, while he was here, he might actually make some friends.

>> Habitat Ring >>

[Amelina Whittaker]

== Artemis Shoreleave Timeline ==

There was just something about seeing DS9 as the transport approached for docking, that made Amelina's eyes light up with sheer delight. Whether that had something to do with the fact she hadn't slept much since leaving Earth or simply because she was finally seeing the station in the flesh, she didn't know, but Amelina was certain about one thing that would make the journey even more worthwhile. Only this wasn't a what but a who, more precisely her boyfriend Miles, who she hadn't been able to see for a very long time.

Messages and the occasional video call when time permitted took away the feelings of loneliness and being apart, but to be able to see him with her own eyes, to hold him and talk to him without a screen in the way, was something Amelina was looking forward to. Of course, he didn't know she was here yet, after the brunette had decided to surprise him, but that was going to change.

Sometimes you just had to go with the flow, and do what felt right, and if that meant traveling all the way to DS9 to get some time with Miles, then that's exactly what she was going to do. Having served in the fleet prior to changing careers, Lina was used to rumours and scuttlebutt, but that didn't matter, not when she had saved up her leave and made that leap to be with the man she loved.

Grabbing her essentials, and the large bag that she had packed, Lina prepared for docking and once given the all clear to disembark, that's exactly what she did, before typing out a message on her padd as she left the transport, and set foot on the station.

[Miles, I'm here on DS9, my transport has just docked, L xx]

Tag Miles

[Miles Grant]

==Artemis Shoreleave==

Though they were on shore leave, there were still duties that Miles needed to attend to as an (Acting) Department Head. As such, there were times during there shore leave that he would be aboard the Artemis and/or in uniform. It was true most of these shifts were at the beginning of shore leave before Miles and other Senior Staff could be truly cut loose. Plus, whatever might be looming as the result of their last "mission". Miles was just finishing up and was getting ready to exit the ship when he received a notification on his personal PADD.

He smiled as he noticed it was from Lina. He truly missed her, and had been looking forward to when he'd be able to take the time to get transport back to Earth to see her. He broke his thoughts on that as he read her message. The words caught him. He had to reread to make sure he saw her words correctly. She was here. On DS9. As quickly (but correctly) as he could, he logged himself offboarding and made his way as quickly as possible to the portion of the Docking Ring that transports would be arriving.

It didn't take him long, as he reached the the Arrivals section. He looked around before his eyes landed on the familiar shape of his bond-mate. He smiled as he approached her. When he got to her, he lifted her up into his arms, elation on his face, before pulling him towards her in a loving embrace.

==Tags==

[Amelina Whittaker]

Lina knew that there was a chance that Miles might not get her message immediately. After all, she hadn't even told him about her surprise trip to see him. The AI also understood the logistics of being a DH, and the duties associated with the role, especially when shore leave was involved, and how you wanted to sign off on what was important before enjoying yourself. If that meant waiting until he was finished or finding her assigned quarters before meeting him, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, because at least they were in the same sector of space after months apart.

Although by the time Lina reached the arrivals section of the docking ring, it didn't take the brunette very long to notice him, or the smile on her bond-mate's face as he approached her. The longing that she had felt diminished in an instant when Miles lifted her into his arms, and her smile matched the elation that was etched on his handsome face.

" Surprise" she managed to utter before Lina was pulled into a loving embrace. Time held no meaning as Lina savoured the contact, happy in the knowledge that they were no longer apart.

Tag Miles

[Cassandra Givens]

Cass knew there were people that loved Deep Space Nine, they loved Quarks and the more rugged atmosphere that the station had maintained after coming under Starfleet control but Cass was not one of those people. In fact, she'd say she hated DS9, though she supposed it was nothing against the station itself. Her luck on the station couldn't have been worse, if she was honest.

That was probably why she was in such a bad mood upon arrival, coupled with the long to-do list she'd already been given. Oh, Bill had told her it would be a three week trip max, less if she could get the to-do list taken care of and handle the Artemis fiasco effectively. However, she knew better than to believe that timeline; the last time Bill had given her an assignment that seemed to have some sort of ulterior motive behind it, she'd spent six months as the acting commanding officer of the USS Phoenix. And he'd told her the assignment would take her 10 days, max.

By that calculation, this will take 378 days to wrap this mess up and get Artemis operational, she thought dryly.

Of course, if Artemis was that big of a mess...

Her steps faltered, the weight of the bag on her shoulder almost throwing her off as she considered that she might have misread Bill's motives on this. She thought Bill's interest in Artemis and Captain Crawford had to do with the potential for such rash and renegade decision making to have become deeply rooted in the culture of the vessel, making this more than a matter of just replacing a CO to stop the spread. However, he had spent the last six months trying to convince her that it was time for her to rejoin the active command rotation, take another command of her own with hopefully markedly better results considering her additional training and experience with the committee.

This is a bait and switch...

She closed her eyes for a moment, her teeth gritting at the possibility. He was likely correct that she was ready to return to the center seat -- she'd grown exponentially from her failed first command -- but she didn't like him resorting to tricks to prove himself correct. Plus, Artemis was too high profile of a vessel for her return but it was just the kind of statement Bill would want to make. A true test that under his mentorship a very young command officer had been molded into the model captain, though she suspected he overestimated how much of her rebellious streak he'd managed to train out of her.

She shook her head. It didn't really matter; if that was Bill's plan, her steps were the same regardless and there was no real course of action she could take to change the destination.

She pushed a strand of dark blonde hair behind her ear as she tucked her head to look at her PADD. The base commander had set her up with quarters on the station for the time being and her first stop was his office to smooth over any ripples from the Yeager debacle. Her next stop, after dropping bags, was a little bit of an eyebrow raiser but apparently, the Quartermaster for Artemis was the pulse of the ship so Cass felt that might be a good place to start. And then, she needed to track down Commander Coleman, the Artemis' First Officer.

Personally, she thought meeting with the Commander before Lieutenant Commander Morgan made more sense but apparently, Bill disagreed. And truthfully, he was usually right. Admiral Anderson had a knack for knowing where to find information and an even better knack for knowing how to use it.

After all of that, she needed to wrangle a Lieutenant Commander Rabb, representative for the whistle blower on the Artemis fiasco. Not only did she anticipate Rabb could give her the official defense statement for Lieutenant Commander Elias but probably the more optimistic outlook on his future, aka whether a new Chief Engineer needed to be recruited for Artemis. Once she'd met with Rabb, she'd meet with the prosecutor to determine the other side's estimate and then cut the distance for an accurate estimate.

And then, she'd probably be ready for a glass or two, though not at Quark's. Dpending on how those conversations went, it might be a bottle or two in actuality.

Did I even pack a bottle? she wondered, looking at the duffel on her shoulder.

== TBC ==

[Miles Grant]

The quick words of surprise from Lina before Miles had taken her into his embrace had not been lost on him. After their moment, he pulled away only slightly so he could look at her.

"A surprise, indeed," he replied, still smiling so much his jaw would probably hurt later. "But the best possible surprise I could possibly get." He embraced her once more before taking her hand in one of his, and her bag in the other. "Let's get you settled in, me out of my uniform, and then we can look into what kind of trouble we can get into."

He winked at her with the last part as they made their way through. He wasn't sure if she had arranged for temp quarters, but she could easily stay with him.

"How long will you be here for?" he asked. Any amount of time would be amazing, but the longer, the better.

==Tags==

[Amelina Whittaker]

Happiness continued to radiate from Amelina even when Miles pulled away simply so he could take her all in. " Exactly what I was going for," she remarked as he spoke about how this was the best surprise he could possibly get, and hearing that only validated her decision to come and visit him. The follow-up embrace was just as special as the first, before Miles finally let her go, taking hold of her hand, and alleviating the brunette of her bag in the process.

" I like the sound of that plan very much" she teased in response, part of her still wanting to pinch herself that this was actually happening, while her boyfriend led them out of the docking ring.

" A couple of weeks" she replied in response to his question about how long she would be on DS9 for. It might not seem like a lot of time, but it was still infinitely better than staying on Earth while Miles was on leave. " I did get assigned quarters so we had a base on the station, but I'm also looking forward to seeing Artemis while I'm here".

She had heard so much about the ship, and not just because it was where Miles was stationed, so the ship nerd in her couldn't pass up the opportunity to see it for herself when time permitted, of course.

== Tag Miles ==

[Miles Grant]

As they walked, Lina responded to Miles about the fact that she would be there a few weeks. This filled Miles with more elation as she also brought up her assigned quarters, but also looking forward to seeing the Artemis. He nodded at that.

"I can arrange for you to tour the Artemis," he replied. "I'll have to double check the rotation, but I believe I only have one or two shifts left before I'm completely free for Shore Leave."

As they walked, Miles considered what kinds of things they could do while she was aboard DS9. There was Quark's and a few other staples, but he also wanted their time while they were on leave to be special.

==Tags==

[Amelina Whittaker]

" I'm sure I can find plenty of stuff to keep me occupied while you're on shift, and just let me know when, as it'll be nice to see the ship properly, after everything that you've told me about it".

Lina understood when it came to duty, and since DS9 had lots to offer, the brunette could be a proper tourist, allowing her to have something else to talk about when she met up with Miles. Then, when her bond mate was completely free to enjoy his leave, they wouldn't have to worry about him being called away, unless it was an emergency. As for her seeing the ship, again she respected that this was something that would need to be arranged.

However, before then they still had the rest of today, and while they had a lot of catching up to do, the AI was thinking of getting changed into some fresh clothes, after a quick shower. Naturally, she brought this up with Miles since he had planned on changing out of his uniform.

" I know one thing, while you get changed out of that uniform, I'm going to get out of these travel clothes, take a quick shower, and change into something else".

All of this could be done in her assigned quarters and with her accrued replicator rations, and if that involved them not leaving for a little while, then she wasn't about to complain.

== Tag Miles ==

== Feel free to take us to the Habitat Ring :-) ==

[Miles Grant]

The plan was set as they continued to make their way towards Lina's assigned quarters. Lina brought up getting out of her travel clothes and quick shower while Miles changed out of uniform. The thought definitely stirred Miles, but he kept himself contained while they proceeded along.

"Sounds like an amazing idea," he then leaned in and lowered his voice, "and I may have to join you for that shower." He pulled her closer to him as they continued their walk, content in her presence.

>>Habitat Ring>>

[Tyra Crawford]

>> Earth >>

To say that Tyra was fed up, would have been the understatement of the decade and as her boot hit the deck plating of DS9, she had this incredible urge to just scream, at no one in particular.

She didn't know what game Bill was playing but she was getting pretty damn tired of it. She'd been playing ship hopper for over a week since leaving Earth on the Fairview. The Fairview had taken her to Outpost 31, where she'd board the Havoc. The Havoc had been a short trip, where she was handed off to the Minor. The Minor had shuttled her to Starbase 621, where the Icarus had collected her. And Icarus had handed her off to the Al-Batani. And that was nearly where everything went off the rails, despite Anderson giving her a strict deadline for reaching DS9 for the final leg of her journey to wherever the Hell it was he was sending her.

When the Al-Batani had encountered significant mechanical issues, they'd been six hours ahead of schedule and very likely to still arrive on time but then, the time had continued to tick past without any resolution. Finally, she'd appealed to Captain Hitro, a command classmate of hers, for some assistance in trying to keep her travel plans intact. The Cairo, acting on patrol, had passed close enough that they'd managed to use a shuttle to pass her along for a ride back to DS9, arriving only ten hours late. She could only hope this delay wouldn't have her stuck on DS9 for longer than necessary; she wasn't certain she could stomach lurking in Artemis' shadow or seeing her former crew quite yet.

Now with her feet safely on a base again, her large duffel bag on her back like a backpack and her smaller one doing slung over her shoulder, she didn't quite know what to do with herself. Per Anderson's assistant, her last ride might still be there when she arrived, the Sally Ride, and her blue eyes started to shift about the docking ring to see if she could recognize the ship among the residents. She swallowed and purposefully avoided looking at Artemis as she scanned.

"Captain Crawford?"

She spun, the large bag on her back almost tipping her over with its momentum. She found herself face to face with a tall Vulcan male in command crimson and one pip.

"I'm Ensign Vunor. I have been assigned to escort you to your objective. The Sally Ride departed prior to your arrival but we have located a suitable replacement with a similar flight pattern," the ensign explained as he began walking further down the docking ring.

Tyra tried not to remember that this was the same path Thomas and her had traveled when she'd disembarked from Artemis what felt like a lifetime before. She followed the Vulcan, having to take two steps for each of his one, as the ships dwindled down until there were only six ahead of them. Two civilian vessels, the Triumph, the Providence, the Rakantha and the Mighty A herself.

All things considered, the Triumph seemed the most likely destination and yet, they bypassed it until they stood at the shared loading area of the Rakantha and the Artemis. Her general irritation had gathered into a knot in her throat that seemed to make swallowing difficult.

"I don't understand, En--"

"I can take it from here, Ensign," a very familiar voice called out from the top of the loading ramp. Her former quartermaster was leaning over the top rail, a PADD dangling in her hand over the edge. "You're late for a meeting with the Captain, Captain, so pick your jaw up and come along..."

Tyra's mouth opened and closed multiple times as Cera flitted away from the edge and out of view, leaving her little choice but to follow. This felt like a cruel twist, even by the Admiral's standard, and yet, rather on par with her life as it stood.

Her boots felt heavy as she finally got them moving, trudging up the ramp until she was close enough for Cera to order her larger duffel handed off to a support member. And then, the tiny little spitfire of a quartermaster grabbed her wrist in a grip that was impossibly strong before beginning to pull Tyra along as if she was a lost child. And maybe, that wasn't entirely inaccurate.

>> Artemis - Briefing Room >>