07-17-2024, 01:37 AM
== 10.5 weeks after Artemis' return to DS9 ==
== 1000 hours ==
Cass wasn't sure whether it had been misplaced optimism or a serious lack of comprehension that had led Bill to giving her the assignment timeline he had given her but six weeks later, Cass was still trying to come to terms with the situation that was the captain-less Artemis.
Think what you would about Captain Crawford's command decisions, particularly her most recent, but there was no denying she ran an efficient ship. She'd even managed to fill most of the vacancies before her departure with the exception of Chief Engineer, which had made Cass' job both easier and harder. It meant she didn't need to provide replacement recommendations to the committee but it also meant there were more people to evaluate.
It had only taken her conversations with Lieutenant Commander Morgan and Commander Coleman to realize that interviews of the senior staff and senior members of each department were going to get her nowhere. While both were cordial, there was a guarded defense that no amount of bluntness was going to outmatch and truthfully, she didn't know if she could have stomached the interviews either way. In their eyes, she was looking into the punishment of a martyr or two and she wasn't sure she could disagree with the assessment.
Instead, she'd combed through reports and logs detailing mission upon mission, looking for the breadcrumb that would indicate the Artemis was corrupted from within and beyond help. She'd wandered the ship, looking for telltale signs of disrepair or maybe, another hidden still, and all she'd found was a well cared for, maybe even loved, vessel and junior officers that were just as loyal as their seniors.
During her time aboard the Artemis, she'd mainly spent her time in the ready room, trying to avidly ignore the fact that it felt like there was a ghost present. The wall behind the desk still held impressions of where she knew a formidable weapons collection had hung, there was a coffee stain on the corner of the desk that would just not scrub out and there had been a forgotten, mostly empty bottle of bourbon shoved haphazardly behind one of the drawers.
But if she had thought the ready room was difficult, the CO Quarters were a different type of difficult. She'd avidly avoided the room until base engineering had shoved her out of the ready room on the pretense that the replicator needed to be upgraded the night before. With a report needing to be finished, she'd thought very little of evacuating to the CO Quarters, given they'd been empty for over 8 weeks at this point, but as soon as the doors had opened, the faint scent of coffee had hit her straight in the face. And then, all the little signs of life became almost impossible to ignore. A life that had been boxed up with a speed that had likely been jarring and painful.
However, Cass had shaken that from her brain as she'd settled down on the couch to work out her final report. It was a position she maintained until approximately 0300 when she'd finished and transmitted it to the committee with little fanfare.
And then, she'd apparently fallen asleep on the couch as her next conscious thought involved an incessant beeping.
"Computer, turn off alarm."
[Unable to comply. No alarm currently active.]
It was another solid ten seconds before her brain defogged enough to realize what the tone indicated, a priority message.
Her legs were uncoordinated as she pushed herself off the couch, wobbling like a baby deer before she managed to get some muscle control. Still, her progress to the desk was more like a stumble than anything graceful and she put much of her weight on the desk as she accessed the message.
It was short and sweet, to the point.
[From: Admiral Bill Anderson
To: Captain Cassandra Givens
RE: Artemis
Artemis scheduled for launch at 0800. Recall and prepare crew.]
Attached were encrypted command codes, her command codes.
She took a mouthful of 7 hour old coffee, the cold, bitter substance sliding down her throat much like the dread settling into her stomach. This wasn't what she wanted but when did she ever get a choice? It was just like she'd suspected.
Fortunately, on paper, Artemis was ready. Cass had recently selected a replacement for Lieutenant Commander Elias and Cass was confident that the man, an experienced engineer in his own right, would not succumb to the pitfalls Elias had. However, Cass had hoped to hand that knowledge off to another captain, not witness validation of her beliefs firsthand.
"Captain Givens to Lieutenant Commander Morgan. Can you please meet me on the bridge ASAP? Thank you," she requested, not bothering to keep the channel open for the quartermaster's answer.
>> Bridge >>
== 1000 hours ==
Cass wasn't sure whether it had been misplaced optimism or a serious lack of comprehension that had led Bill to giving her the assignment timeline he had given her but six weeks later, Cass was still trying to come to terms with the situation that was the captain-less Artemis.
Think what you would about Captain Crawford's command decisions, particularly her most recent, but there was no denying she ran an efficient ship. She'd even managed to fill most of the vacancies before her departure with the exception of Chief Engineer, which had made Cass' job both easier and harder. It meant she didn't need to provide replacement recommendations to the committee but it also meant there were more people to evaluate.
It had only taken her conversations with Lieutenant Commander Morgan and Commander Coleman to realize that interviews of the senior staff and senior members of each department were going to get her nowhere. While both were cordial, there was a guarded defense that no amount of bluntness was going to outmatch and truthfully, she didn't know if she could have stomached the interviews either way. In their eyes, she was looking into the punishment of a martyr or two and she wasn't sure she could disagree with the assessment.
Instead, she'd combed through reports and logs detailing mission upon mission, looking for the breadcrumb that would indicate the Artemis was corrupted from within and beyond help. She'd wandered the ship, looking for telltale signs of disrepair or maybe, another hidden still, and all she'd found was a well cared for, maybe even loved, vessel and junior officers that were just as loyal as their seniors.
During her time aboard the Artemis, she'd mainly spent her time in the ready room, trying to avidly ignore the fact that it felt like there was a ghost present. The wall behind the desk still held impressions of where she knew a formidable weapons collection had hung, there was a coffee stain on the corner of the desk that would just not scrub out and there had been a forgotten, mostly empty bottle of bourbon shoved haphazardly behind one of the drawers.
But if she had thought the ready room was difficult, the CO Quarters were a different type of difficult. She'd avidly avoided the room until base engineering had shoved her out of the ready room on the pretense that the replicator needed to be upgraded the night before. With a report needing to be finished, she'd thought very little of evacuating to the CO Quarters, given they'd been empty for over 8 weeks at this point, but as soon as the doors had opened, the faint scent of coffee had hit her straight in the face. And then, all the little signs of life became almost impossible to ignore. A life that had been boxed up with a speed that had likely been jarring and painful.
However, Cass had shaken that from her brain as she'd settled down on the couch to work out her final report. It was a position she maintained until approximately 0300 when she'd finished and transmitted it to the committee with little fanfare.
And then, she'd apparently fallen asleep on the couch as her next conscious thought involved an incessant beeping.
"Computer, turn off alarm."
[Unable to comply. No alarm currently active.]
It was another solid ten seconds before her brain defogged enough to realize what the tone indicated, a priority message.
Her legs were uncoordinated as she pushed herself off the couch, wobbling like a baby deer before she managed to get some muscle control. Still, her progress to the desk was more like a stumble than anything graceful and she put much of her weight on the desk as she accessed the message.
It was short and sweet, to the point.
[From: Admiral Bill Anderson
To: Captain Cassandra Givens
RE: Artemis
Artemis scheduled for launch at 0800. Recall and prepare crew.]
Attached were encrypted command codes, her command codes.
She took a mouthful of 7 hour old coffee, the cold, bitter substance sliding down her throat much like the dread settling into her stomach. This wasn't what she wanted but when did she ever get a choice? It was just like she'd suspected.
Fortunately, on paper, Artemis was ready. Cass had recently selected a replacement for Lieutenant Commander Elias and Cass was confident that the man, an experienced engineer in his own right, would not succumb to the pitfalls Elias had. However, Cass had hoped to hand that knowledge off to another captain, not witness validation of her beliefs firsthand.
"Captain Givens to Lieutenant Commander Morgan. Can you please meet me on the bridge ASAP? Thank you," she requested, not bothering to keep the channel open for the quartermaster's answer.
>> Bridge >>