Intros and Lowdowns

Posted on Tue Mar 11th, 2025 @ 11:16pm by Lieutenant Ryan Keel & Lieutenant Commander Eirly Andersen

1,997 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Gone, Without Ever Knowing the Way
Location: Deck 8: Chief Security Officer's Office

::ON::

Striding confidently through the corridors of the Astrea, Keel nodded at some of the crew who made eye-contact and acknowledged him. The Astrea was a large ship - by far the largest Keel had served on in some time, and word had not yet really spread that there was a new Department Head aboard. Not that Keel minded, they'd learn his abilities through his work, and it would allow his reputation to grow.

Following up on the Captain's recommendations were his first order of business, and to that end he'd made an appointment with the Chief of Security, and as it turned out, Second Officer of the Astrea. As much as he liked the Dragonian, Xalanth's tips hadn't really stood up to anything more than generalities, unfortunately, so Keel had decided to just be his charming self in order to win her over.

Taking a turn on Deck Two, he headed for Andersen's office, making sure that he was on time. Catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection of a control panel, he quickly arranged his hair in a way to his liking, and tugged on his uniform top in order to get it to sit more tidily. Hitting the chime on the door, he awaited a response, calmly rehearsing his own lines.

With the added duties of being Second Officer, Eirly had recently realised that her first job was lacking in areas, especially with this whole Freecloud business. Yes, Xalanth was amazing in picking up her slack but she didn't want to just be dumping everything on him all at once. The most pressing issue she had to deal with in the next day or so was Tyler and the issues that had been brought forward about him from some of the other team members.

At this point in her shift, she was actually looking forward to going back to her quarters and having some time to herself before she went and saw Malcolm. Sighing, Eirly rubbed the corner of her eye and yawned, thinking that a coffee would be good, just as the chime rang through to indicate someone was there. No one was planned according to her schedule, so she just called out, "Come in!"

Entering the office, Keel put on his most winning smile, and began, 'sorry to bother you, uh, Commander,' he trailed off, losing his train of thought as he caught sight of the Astrea's second officer. He wasn't quite expecting someone so pretty, somehow. Sternly marshalling his thought, he pushed those notions away, and rallied. 'I'm Lieutenant Ryan Keel, ma'am, the new Chief Diplomatic Officer. Captain Johansen recommended I touch base with you in your capacity as Chief of Security.'

There. Keel didn't believe in useless meetings and felt he'd given her an efficient overview of why he was here, and why it would be worth her time.

"It's good to meet you, Lieutenant. But please," Eirly said with a warm smile as she stood up and went to greet him with her hand outstretched, "Call me Eirly, I don't believe in formal titles unless we're on a mission." Truth be told, she was still getting used to her new rank and being called Commander. She often found that it promoted a sense of equality with the crew of lower ranks if it was an informal chat and she just went by her name rather than rank. "It'll be good to have you aboard, I'm sure Wren will be delighted to finally have someone else in her department."

'I've met Wren,' Keel replied, a little uncomfortable at using their given names, but that's what the Commander preferred, so he went along with it, 'she's a formidable junior officer, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to working with her - I think we'll bring out the best in one another.' That was one way of putting it for sure. He took the proffered hand, and smiled again, 'and while we're at it, you're more than welcome to call me Ryan.'

It was part of her job to notice the smaller details in things, especially when it came to talking to people, but Eirly noticed the unease in his voice at mentioning Wren's name so she chose to go back to using the titles instead. Going back to sitting behind her desk, Eirly turned off the padd in front of her and moved it to the side, motioning for Ryan to take a seat in front of her, "So what can I do for you today?"

'Firstly I wanted to introduce myself,' Keel flashed a smile, 'I think I can tick that one off the list. Second, I was hoping for a rundown of planets in the local region who might reach out to us to ask for Tactical or Security assistance. Whether in the form of loaning personnel to their home forces, or in our providing data to them. I'm hoping to coordinate our efforts with the locals in order to maximise what we can do for them.'

"That's a really ambitious plan you've got, and I hope beyond belief that you achieve it," Eirly nodded and smiled in return. A handful of days on the ship and he was already planning ahead, "It's nice to see the original purpose for the Diplomatic Corps being valued for once too. In saying that though, I do believe Ensign Harper in Science is working on putting together something similar for scientific purposes, so I can get her to send that report through to you once she's done, if you wish?" Even though she'd just met him, Eirly didn't want Ryan going on a wild goose chase just to get what he needed.

'That sounds great,' Keel replied with a smile, 'we can probably get two birds with one stone there as well. Nice and efficient.' He thought a moment, then asked, 'I suppose as Second Officer you'd have sight of any similar reports that might be compiled so we have a holistic approach? It's not just the security of the local planets that are important, but any other needs the Astrea is on hand to provide, particularly medical ...'

"Oh, that one I can help with!" Eirly replied excitedly as she typed a few commands into the computer, picked up an empty padd to get its details, then transferred the requested data onto it. She handed it back to him, "When we first dropped into this area, we were given a detailed report of planet and colony requirements from areas similar to this for what they required, so it's being used as a guide at the moment until we've got our own report to submit."

Finally, something useful, Keel thought as he accepted the padd from Eirly. He couldn't help but be touched by her enthusiasm though. She seemed far from the usual grizzled Security veteran who usually reached the Department Head position. A breath of fresh air. 'Thank you,' Keel replied, opening the padd and looking at the breakdown. 'That's ... a lot of planets,' he said, confidence momentarily foundering.

"Yep," She nodded in reply, "Unfortunately, it's not really my area of expertise so I can't really make any further judgement on it. All of that goes way above my head. Are there any other reports or anything you'd be requiring to go with that one?"

'You wouldn't happen to have anything on the Romulan situation, would you?' Keel asked hopefully. 'I haven't had the most recent reports since I started the transfer process.' He grabbed his own padd, 'here's my security clearance, saves you needing to search for what's appropriate for me,' he half-laughed. 'Otherwise I think it's a good start for now. I can't promise I won't come back looking for more work.'

"Thank you for that," Eirly took a look at his clearances before handing the padd back to him, "If you give me half an hour, I can have everything you need to know on the Romulan situation. I'll have to send the request through and wait to get a response first though, which should be fairly quick." She waved her hand in dismissal, "Have you checked in with anyone from Medical yet? I'm pretty sure both Doctors Beckett and Andersen are currently on shift, and possibly the CMO themself, Doctor Jezra Siv."

'I haven't been to Medical yet, but I'll be sure to look them up on my rounds today,' Keel confirmed, he was warming to her business-like tone and attitude. There was little inane chitchat with Eirly, and he appreciated it. 'I've only actually reported into your deputy, Xalanth, to get my phaser certs.' He arched his eyebrows, 'rather embarrassingly for an ex-Marine, I only scraped it this time. I should practice more.'

"My recommendation would be to go and see any of them after this," Eirly raised an eyebrow, an ex-Marine who only just scraped in on their phaser certs? That was almost unheard of. "If you want to go and train with the Marines, I'm sure Major McEntyre would be more than happy to let you do that. Otherwise, you're more than welcome to train with us." She leaned back in her chair, "Speaking of: most of this department are coming up for their certification renewals soon, so I can evaluate your skills at the same time, if you'd like?"

'That would be great - I figure we'll be working together fairly often if the need arises. Getting to know one another better might help in defusing tensions down the line if we're making contentious requests of one another,' Keel replied reasonably. Besides, he thought, getting to know the seniormost officers on the Astrea was no bad shout - getting his face out and about and recognised, coupled with his work ethic should stand him in good stead for the future.

"You'll find that a lot of the senior staff here are extremely approachable, myself included, and we're always up for getting together and getting to know each other," She gave him a warm and light smile and laughed, "I mean, if you get to know me, you'll come to realise that this is the one day no baked goods are sitting on my desk, for instance." It was a light bit of information that she offered up freely, hoping to put the new guy at ease a bit more.

He chuckled in appreciation, 'the Fleet runs on baked goods and caffeine. I honestly couldn't do without my pastries in the morning - it sets me up just right. That and the raktajino,' Keel smiled, and looked at the chrono. 'Thanks for your time this morning, what you've given me is going to be very helpful.' He got to his feet, 'I have a Diplomatic Officer to see about a briefing so I shouldn't take up more of your time, Co - Eirly,' he forcibly corrected himself.

Eirly appreciated his thoughts on baked goods and caffeine, and nodded the appreciation, "You're most welcome, Ryan. If you need anything, please just come and see me and I'll be able to help. Enjoy the rest of your day and I'll catch you around some time on the ship." She gave him a short and dismissive salute to indicate he could leave.

'I'll make you my first call if I have an issue,' Keel replied and nodded at the dismissal. As he headed out the door, he was already looking at the padd with the information Eirly had given him, looking through the potential possibilities for the Astrea. The list was long and varied and it would take time to digest. He hummed a Rigelian jug tune as he navigated his way home. The Astrea was definitely going to be interesting.

::OFF::

Lt. Commander Eirly Anderson
Second Officer Chief Tactical Officer
USS Astrea

Lt. Ryan Keel
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Astrea

RSS Feed