Birds of a Feather

Posted on Fri Oct 18th, 2024 @ 7:59pm by Captain Malcom Llwyedd & Ensign Emilynn Dove

2,049 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Prelude to Rebirth
Location: USS Firebird, various

[ON]

Ensign Emilynn Dove had been thinking about this very day for months before taking her first step aboard the USS Firebird. She recalled with delight the day she received her orders to report. There was something about this exact assignment that spoke to her. She had an almost overwhelming feeling it was exactly where she was meant to be, although she wasn’t exactly sure why. It wasn’t as if she knew much about the ship, its mission, its crew, or its captain. She just shrugged off the odd feeling and allowed herself to be excited for the journey to come.

Emilynn walked down the corridor towards the turbolift. As she did, she passed by a few crewmen working on a control panel and several others who appeared to be very late for something. No one seemed to pay her any mind. She was immaculately dressed in her standard Star Fleet uniform with her dark brown unruly hair pinned so tightly to her scalp it hurt if she gave it much thought. She didn’t seem to raise any suspicious glances from anyone so she figured she must look as though she fit in and so continued on her way.

Having studied the ship's schematics before arriving, she was pretty certain she knew exactly how to get to her first destination. She wanted to reach it with as little personal interaction as possible. After all, she was already a little apprehensive about the day. Why add to it with awkward conversations with people she didn’t know or who would ask questions she wasn’t sure she was prepared to answer. Questions that would only disrupt her mental checklist of things not to forget. And of course, she was all too excited to make it to her quarters and settle in. She wasn’t quite sure if she would be assigned quarters with another low-ranking officer or if she would get her own. She had been told it all depended on the ship, its current crew manifest, and her rank. Only time would clear up that mystery. She did hope she wouldn’t have to share given she really wanted to make this new living space feel more like a home. She missed her family home with all the things she treasured. Besides her time at the academy sharing space with others hadn’t been the most enjoyable experience for her. She had gone through a total of four different roommates, none of which fit her scholarly lifestyle. She wondered how any of them had passed any of their classes.

She reached the turbolift and pressed the button. The door opened quietly and she entered the empty space. Taking a deep cleansing breath in and then exhaling she finally spoke her destination. “Bridge”. The ride, although short, seemed to take forever. She could feel her heart beginning to beat faster. It felt as if she could hear it. She silently prayed no one else would notice her anxiety. She couldn’t quite understand her nerves given she’d grown up in Star Fleet, but this was different. She was completely alone and center stage this day. It was no longer about her father; it was solely about her. She took one more deep breath before the door opened and a circular room presented itself.

Emilynn stepped out into the busy but quiet room. She felt the room to be warmer than the rest of the ship, or maybe it was her nerves again. She noticed a few glances come her way, attentive but at the same time discreet, she smiled at a female officer who appeared to be at tactical. She urged her feet to move her forward. ‘You got this.’ She repeated silently to herself before finally reaching her destination. She pressed the chime to the Captain’s Ready Room and waited.

Malcom was sitting on the couch in his ready room, his feet up, and a mug of tea in one hand, not expecting any visitors. He looked up from the PADD he was reading, a frown on his face.

"Come in," he said and waited.

The door opened. Emilynn paused momentarily before entering the room. She found the captain, not at his desk where she had expected, but instead sitting on a couch in the room. She proceeded a little way deeper inside the room to stand before the couch. Her posture straight so as to exude confidence with her gaze straight ahead, she spoke.

"Ensign Emilynn Dove reporting in, Sir," she said in a steady but quieter voice than she would have liked. She could tell he was sizing her up, or at least that's what she thought he would do. After all, a Captain needed to know what type of officers he had under his command. She let her mind wander momentarily to a time she witnessed her father talking to a subordinate. She pondered if that ensign had felt as she did now. She waited for the Captain to reply.

"Welcome, Ensign Dove," Malcom said. He quickly ran through his mental checklist of things he was supposed to be doing and couldn't remember an Ensign Dove on his checklist.

"Please, have a seat. I'm sorry to say that I appear to have been left out of the loop on your arrival. Are you transferring from another ship or did you just graduate from the Academy?" Malcom asked.

“Thank you, Sir.” She replied with a glance and a smile in his direction, still not fully meeting his gaze. Sizing up the room she wasn’t exactly sure where she was supposed to sit. There was only one couch and the chairs in the room were both pointed towards his desk. Was she supposed to sit on the same couch as him? It appeared so, as there was no other place in the room to sit. Did ensigns sit on the same couch as their Captains? She felt her anxiety increasing but moved towards the couch to comply. She sat on the far end and turned her body to face him.

“Uh…” Emilynn started rummaging through the bag she had been carrying in a bit of a panic. “Well Sir, I um… I just graduated from the Academy recently. I received a transmission with my orders from Star Fleet. Uh. It was…” her voice trailed off as her hands finally made contact with the PADD inside the bag. She pulled it out and quickly accessed the entry to study it. Had she reported to the wrong ship she wondered. “Yes! Here it is! Um... it’s dated nearly two weeks ago, Sir.” She looked at him, finally meeting his gaze for the first time before diverting it back to the PADD and continuing. “It says to report today. Here. To you. Specifically.” She looked over at him, her hand stretched out toward him holding the PADD to give it to him as proof she wasn’t incompetent. She watched his reaction with apprehension. Was the assignment she had literally dreamed about going to end before it even started, she wondered.

"Well, I'm glad you made it here. We dock at DS9 regularly so it makes sense that they would send you here to meet us. We were a little delayed because we had to build a couple of heavy plasma converters for one of the Bajoran colonies in the Gamma Quadrant," Malcom said and then took a sip of his tea. "I have to admit, we don't get many ensigns that want to ship out with us. What made you decide to come to the Firebird?"

Emilynn contemplated the question a moment. She often wondered why she wanted this particular assignment so much. She hardly knew much about it at all. While most cadets at the academy were talking about how they wanted to be assigned to a Galaxy class starship so they could explore uncharted space, she seemed to be drawn to this vessel: A Diligent Class ship that provided aid and saw less space and probably even less action. Perhaps her mother had rubbed off on her through the years. Her mother Isabella had studied botany most of Emilynn’s life. She definitely had a love for all things living and always instilled the importance of rendering aid to anything living – people and plants included.

“My father always said sometimes the smallest role makes the biggest difference and I think that is true.” She watched him a minute before continuing. “I guess I just feel like this is the right post for me. It gives me a great opportunity to settle into my duties in Star Fleet and build on my experience.” She looked over at him to see his expression and when none presented itself, she again continued talking. “I believe I can be an asset to your crew captain.” She waited again for some sign of approval from him.

"I like to think that is true. As you know, we have a very small crew and that means we tend to become close to each other. I think that helps each of us feel connected to the mission and each other. I know everyone on the ship and I take pride in making sure that they get what they need to progress as a person and as a member of Starfleet," Malcom said. "Your role isn't what I would call small though. You will be working with Lieutenant Woodhouse and the two of you will do important things. However, Ops tends to be the quiet specialty. Some people have no idea what you do. And yet, you keep the lights on, the computers running and a myriad of other things. I think you will be an asset as well. What kind of officer do you want to be? What are your career aspirations?" He asked.

“Well an outstanding one, of course” she shot back at him with a mischievous grin. She quickly realized he had managed to lessen her anxiety and lower her defenses, which was not an easy task when it came to her. She thought how he must be an exceptional captain to so easily manipulate her emotions. She continued answering his questions in a more serious manner. “I’ve taken a real interest in communications, Sir. Aside from my regular studies at the academy, I spent a lot of my free time working on improving a communications array. I believe I’ve found a way to heighten the subspace amplifiers so our audio communications can be transmitted and received at farther distances. It’s not 100% yet, and I’ve only been successful with audio so far, but I believe eventually it could work with visual transmissions as well. I’ve done some testing in the academy holodeck, but nothing beats true live testing as you know. After I've settled in I thought maybe the Chief look over my work.”

"Then let's get you settled in. I'll send a message to Lieutenant Woodhouse. He will want to meet with you eventually. However, we have a number of Ensigns onboard and you will be sharing a room with one or two of them. I think you'll fit right in. You're arriving at a good time as well. We just had a full refit just a couple of months ago so our systems are top-notch. I look forward to you making them even better. My door is always open to you, and I don't mean that in an abstract way. You're free to come and talk to me anytime. Do you have any other questions I can answer?" Malcom asked as he stood up.

Emilynn stood to face the Captain. "No Sir, no questions. Thank you for your time. I'm just going to head to medical now and check in with the doctor and then go unpack. I'll wait for the Lieutenant's orders." With that Emilynn exited the ready room and made her way to the turbolift with a better sense of what was to come for her.

[OFF]

Commander Malcom Llwyedd
Commanding Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

Ensign Emilynn Dove
Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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