"Welcome aboard the Warlord, everyone." She started with a smile. "I am Captain Lydia Velasquez. Although I intend to meet with each of you personally, I wanted to make certain you knew who I was in case you have any questions or problems." As she spoke, the back door of the cargo bay opened. A number of senior crew members ushered themselves in. Velasquez turned briefly to confirm who had entered. "Excellent. I have your duty assignments with me." With that, she held up a PADD full of names and descriptions. Kirk noticed her hand was shaking. "As I read your name, I'll let you know who your senior officer is." She turned to the recent additions to her speech. "Ladies and gentlemen, as I read your names, would you please raise your hands so your people know who you are?" They each nodded compliance. "Bridge officers will remain with Commander Kirk, who is to my right." On queue, Stephen raised his hand. "These people also have your temporary quarters assignments."
She rattled off the names and, one by one, they each went to their superiors. Only T'Nia and the doctor remained on the cargo transporter pad. "T'Nia, obviously you'll go with Commander Kirk to the bridge. Commander, would also be so kind as to show the doctor his sick bay and living quarters?"
"Yes, Sir." Stephen replied smartly. The doctor and T'Nia headed towards Stephen.
"Thank you." Captain Velasquez's voice raised. "Everyone, as you'll see, we still have quite a bit of work left to do before this ship is truly ready for deployment. However, there have been numerous advances just in the past week due to the talent and hard work of the people whom you report to. I am honored to include you in this list of talented and hard working group. With the deployment of this starship, the Federation will be a safer place. You will have a hand in that. Take pride in who you work with. Take pride in who you report to. Most of all, take pride in the ship you serve. If we take care of her, she'll always get us home. Dismissed." With various looks of awe and bewilderment, the new, young crewmembers departed.
Kirk, T'Nia, and the doctor remained for a moment. "Will you be needing anything else, Captain?" Kirk asked. His voice was calm, but his eyes looked worried.
Velasquez saw the geniune concern. Even though she was in a considerable amount of pain, and starting to lose muscle control again, she felt she needed to be strong. "Negative, Commander. However..." she thought for a moment. "Doctor, once you get settled in, let me know. We have a few issues to discuss. No hurry."
"Certainly, Captain," the doctor nodded. With that, the three departed.
Once the door had safely closed, Velasquez took her right hand off the console. It began shaking wildly. In an attempt to steady herself, her right leg gave out and she fell to the ground...hard. She had to close her eyes. The fall not only hurt her hip, it made her head worse. Reaching into her pocket with her left hand, she pulled out another pain reliever and muscle relaxer. They had only worked for about ten minutes apiece. She began swearing in Spanish as she took the pills. She laid on the floor, waiting for the medicine to kick in. Thankfully, the doctor was here. He should be able to figure out what was wrong. Once the pain and spasms subsided, she quickly got up and went to her quarters. Hopefully, the doctor wouldn't be long contacting her. She hoped her 'don't panic the others' philosophy didn't come back to haunt her.