Chapter Eight: Changes
"Some of our ships patrolling the former border of the Cardassian Union near Ferenginar have sent reports stating that insurgent Breen ships have been spotted and engaged," Admiral Kethor briefed. "There have also been raids on Federation, non-aligned, and Ferengi cargo and supply ships heading toward devastated planets within the Union and other areas throughout those sectors. We are not concerned about them becoming a severe threat to you; however, the borders are being overrun more often by these renegades."
"What does the Breen government have to say about these incursions?" Serea asked.
The Bolian Admiral visibly sighed and he leaned forward toward the screen, "The Breen have been in anarchy since the end of the war and the coup that overthrew the former government did not help the situation either. Our connections through the former Cardassian Embassy on the home world have not been heard from in some time and our minimal amount of ships in their space have proved little to no help in controlling the situation. Starfleet Command wants to create a stronger military presence nearby Cardassia, rather than near the Breen home world."
"What measures does Starfleet plan on taking to change the current atmosphere of this section of the Alpha Quadrant?" Serea asked with an upturned eyebrow.
"I'm glad you asked," Kethor replied as he retrieved a padd from his desk. "The upgrading of our forces in the area will be greater than previously intended. The Federation wants to add other aligned control in the area to help Starfleet with the temporary occupation of Cardassian space, including scouts and occasional patrols from the Klingons and possibly the Romulans, as well as building up weaponry and defense at Deep Space 13."
"The new changes will require more crew on site," Serea paused for a moment and then continued. "Will we be receiving additional crew to cover these upgrades to the station?
"Yes," the admiral nodded. "Your Second Officer, Lieutenant Commander Christopher Raleigh, and Assistant Tactical officer, Lieutenant Shannal Haldia, will be arriving within the next few days. Special permission was granted for faster warp speeds in order to get them to you sooner. Starfleet is not going to send anymore Science personnel because it is not high on the agenda for the time being but extra medical will be arriving within the next month."
"What ship will they be arriving on?" Serea asked quickly.
"The USS Victoria will have them onboard and also will be delivering several of the retrofitting materials needed for the update," the admiral explained. "Now, let's go over what the set schedule Starfleet has put together for your sector…"
* * *
"You're here early," Naetharr commented after stepping off the lift and noticing Vedrann in the Command Center.
"I wasn't the first," he commented with a wry smile in Naetharr's direction. "Commander Serea was here before oh-six-hundred."
"Two hours ahead of the shift?" Naetharr scoffed. "What is she? An android?"
"Syrreiya… she's not as bad as you think," Vedrann answered as he glanced up at the metal and glass doors to Serea's office. "But she's talking to somebody important."
They could see through the panels of glass where Serea sat in the chair at her desk with ramrod straight posture as she interacted with the desktop and whoever was on it. Her brunette hair was pulled tightly back in a plain, yet complicated design and her pointed ears were clearly visible against her head.
"Ah, yes," Naetharr interrupted his observing, her voice thickened with her accent whenever she felt like being crass with her words. "I forgot you spent time taking her on a tour yesterday."
Vedrann definitely had been with Serea for a long time the day before but he was still as in the dark as everyone else about their new commanding officer. He had read about her career in Starfleet and some of her background that was contained in the crew bio information but left much to be learned. He had attempted to stir up conversation with her ranging across a spectrum of subjects but she always avoided telling him details about herself.
After he realized it was pointless going in circles in an attempt to become better acquainted, he began to observe her more as he took her around the station. Vedrann always prided himself in figuring people out by simply watching how one presented his or herself. He loved it when he could pick up little habits a person would not even notice he or she had. Being more than a head taller than Serea's height of just over 1.7 meters, he found her having to lift her head much higher in order to address him. She also seemed to almost stand straighter to make herself appear taller in order to be on equal footing with him. It surprised him at first and caught him off guard but he reminded himself that he must give it some time before learning all her quirks.
One particular thing he noticed Serea had was a slight spring in her step after every few paces she took. He could tell she obviously tried to avoid it in the professional demeanor she wanted to portray as an authority figure. She also tended to use her hands at certain points in conversation to describe things, a trait he never saw L'Nara do or any of the other Vulcans he had met for that matter. Especially after the introductions in the holosuite, Vedrann wondered if it was a struggle Serea had with making sure she was showing where her place as commander was immediately to her crew.
Vedrann determined Serea was holding back more than simply letting herself become friendly with others. However, he believed there may be something deeper than he could imagine. He could see sadness behind her green eyes if he watched them long enough. He only caught it on a few occasions on their tour because she hid it the best out of everything else he was trying to find.
"She's a… unique individual is all I can say," Vedrann said searching for the correct words so he could be articulate in his response. "It might take some time to become accustomed to the way she does things."
Naetharr glanced at the office doors once more and then sighed as she walked over to her post. The Starfleet engineers who worked with Naetharr noticed her arrival and quickly turned from a conversation to concentrating more on their work at hand before she would get on their cases for not working hard enough.
The mechanical noise of the lift arriving again caught Vedrann's ears and he turned to see Michael and Rilar enter the room. The two appeared a bit ruffled as they shifted in their uniforms to make them look appropriate.
"Rough night?" Vedrann asked them as they neared him.
"The bartender at the new Andorian restaurant wanted to celebrate his first night by adding some Romulan Ale to our drinks without telling us," Rilar explained, his eyes a little red rimmed and exhausted. "Have you ever tried it?"
"Cannot say that I have," Vedrann confessed. "Is it bad?"
"It gives you a hangover the size of the sector," Michael added wearily as he shuffled past his superior officers toward the Engineering section, nearly tripping on an exposed walkway panel.
"I will make sure to avoid it," Vedrann chuckled deeply and then added, "But how do you know he put it in your drinks?"
"Oh, you know what it is once you start getting a little drunk," Rilar said as he wandered to his Tactical station. "Nothing matches its strength."
Vedrann inwardly laughed to himself as he watched Rilar carefully take his seat at his raised station in the lower portion of the Command Center. He had enjoyed talking with the Bajoran tactical officer over the past two weeks he had been stationed on DS13. The two of them were close in age with a number of similarities from the occupations of the home worlds to their pleasant dispositions.
Catching the noise of the lift coming up a third time, Vedrann turned to see a Starfleet medical officer step onto the deck. She stopped and on the upper section looking lost at first but then fixed her eyes on Serea's office. As she began her way toward the office, she noticed Vedrann watching her. She appeared to recognize him and approached him with a calm smile.
"Vice Commander Tennal," she addressed him as she came close to him. "I am Doctor Senecal."
"It is nice to meet you Doctor," he said with a slight bow of his head. "But please, call me Vedrann."
"Of course," she replied a little nervous. "I was wondering if Commander Serea was here yet. I wanted to report for duty before our briefing this morning."
"Yes, she is here," he said. "But it appears she is busy speaking to someone."
She peered over his shoulder at the Commander's office and noticed her involved in some work and a discussion with her desktop display.
"Oh, then I will wait for her," she said quietly and nodding in response to Vedrann.
"If you'll excuse me," Vedrann said as he slipped around Senecal to meet the L'Nara who had just arrived on duty.
Senecal watched as Vedrann met with the Vulcan woman and then made their way down to her station.
"Hello, Doctor," Rilar greeted as he came up from behind Senecal on the upper platform and then came around in front of her. "How was your evening? I hope you made it to where you were going."
Senecal jumped slightly in surprise, she had not expected someone to come up behind her. The sound of his voice had her catch her breath in her throat, she swallowed quickly before responding to him.
"Yes, I did," she said smiling and then noticing his slightly disheveled appearance. "My evening was nice, but it seems you had a good time last night."
"Oh… that," he said as he tried to smooth his dark brown hair out with his hand. "It involves a couple of drinks unknowingly spiked with Romulan Ale."
She was not sure what to make of him while eyeing his uneven hair and red eyes. Even his Bajoran earring was on awkwardly. Senecal determined he did not seem the type to lie about such events despite it sounding like a strange story.
"Must have been one crazy night," she said in agreement, still not certain what to make of him.
"Would you like to come to dinner tonight?" he asked her suddenly.
"What?" she sputtered in surprise, her eyes wide for a moment. Is he asking me on a date?
"Do you want to come to dinner tonight?" he asked again. "James and L'Nara are coming. We thought you might want to come along with us."
"Oh," she said quietly but felt a twinge of disappointment hit her surprising herself that she even was thinking that way. "I don't know if I should. Katja and I …"
"Katja can come along," Rilar cut in with his winning smile. "The others won't mind. Think of it as a 'Welcome Aboard' dinner for you two. The rest of us have been on the station for a couple weeks now during the reconstruction and we want to make you feel at home here."
Senecal nervously smiled and gave a small sputter of a laugh as she tried to come over her uneasiness, "I don't know. It's only our second night here and we have some things to do…"
"Please," he said, his dark eyes flashing with hope. "We really would appreciate you joining us."
She held her smile as she watched him waiting for an answer from her. Rilar could see her fighting with herself on the inside over the decision. Why is she holding back?
"We'll come," she said giving in finally to his invitation.
"Great!" he exclaimed. "Eighteen-hundred hours in my quarters."
Rilar stepped down the stairs to the lower circular platform and walked across it to meet Michael on the other side of the upper platform on the other side of the Command Center. He leaned down to meet Michael who was halfway stuck in a console repairing some circuitry.
"Change of plans," Rilar told him.
"What do you mean?" Michael grunted from inside as he attempted to fix a panel.
"We're having dinner in my quarters tonight," Rilar explained. "And you need to tell L'Nara to come along, too. Tell her I'll even make her some Vulcan dish so she doesn't have to eat whatever the rest of us are going to have."
"Why the changes?" Michael asked, still inside the console.
Rilar glanced in Senecal's direction, seeing that she had walked to the center of the lower platform at the stellar chart meeting table in the middle of the room with her back to them.
"Well, I invited Dr. Senecal and her daughter to join us," he explained.
"Ow! What?" Michael said as he pulled himself out of the console holding his now injured hand.
"It's much nicer than the Replimat," Rilar explained, the public food court with replicators did not seem appropriate to him. "And I don't think we should go back to that Andorian Restaurant anytime soon so what other choice do we have?"
"Whatever you say," Michael said with a confused look on his face. He was beginning to wonder what was going on with his friend and the doctor.
The sounds of the metal doors to Serea's office resonated in the room and the crew all turned to see her walk down the flight of stairs to the bottom level.
"I see all of you are here," Serea said as she descended the final steps. "We can conduct the briefing now."
The department heads all began to walk toward the center of the room on the bottom level where Senecal was already standing. As soon as Vedrann, Naetharr, Rilar, and L'Nara were at the console, the meeting began.
"Being the first briefing of our newly assembled crew, I know all of you were not expecting a very detailed meeting," Serea started. "However, the reason for starting this meeting later than originally scheduled is due to changes Starfleet has just informed me of."
She continued after a breath, "Our sector is in the middle of a newly formed raiding route. Breen insurgents are not being held in check and former Cardassian military officials are on the loose as well. Starfleet does not believe this will become a larger problem for us but for precautionary measures and needed military strengthening in this part of the quadrant, Deep Space 13 will be undergoing another series of refits."
Naetharr shifted her stance as she inwardly grumbled to herself. There are always more upgrades to continue doing on this station; it's an old piece of junk. Though, she did wonder what new gadgets and "toys" Starfleet would be sending her way.
"Along with the upgrades," Serea pressed on. "We will also be receiving a new crew compliment which brings me to our next topic. A slight rearrangement of the departments will be needed for the next change, too. The second officer has been assigned; his name is Lieutenant Commander Christopher Raleigh. He will be not much different from a first officer on any Starfleet vessel but will be at a lower ranking and standing under Vice Commander Vedrann Tennal. Considering the new harassment of ships in the sector and the possibility of a greater presence of unaligned cargo and freight ships stopping here as a secure median between their routes, I have decided to divide the Tactical/Security department into two separate branches. Lt. Commander Raleigh will be doubling-up as Security Chief of the station instead of placing the large responsibility of handling both station security and tactical on Lt. Commander Rilar Gital."
Rilar nodded in agreement to Serea's decision. He did not mind the extra work particularly but he also did not mind the fact that he would be having less to worry about during the day. He could tell that the Commander's position on the change was an intelligent one, not one based on believing he was not capable of it, considering how much the station was going to be changing in the next few weeks.
"We have an Assistant Tactical officer arriving in the next few days," Serea went on to explain the next portion. "Lieutenant Shannal Haldia will be heading the new Patrol Task Force based from here on the station; however, she will still be under the command and discretion of Lt. Commander Rilar. The Patrol Task Force will be a squadron of highly rated pilots who have recently undergone training in fast paced battle, or simply coined by the old phrase, 'dog fighting'. They will be using smaller vessels similar in design to pods but heavily armored, more easily maneuverable in flight, and equipped with the most top of the line equipment, including warp capabilities, available in the Federation. They will be the first line of defense in this sector and system."
Serea could see her crew exchange looks of surprise but also with heightened interest. She knew as well as they did that something on this great a scale had been implemented before in Starfleet.
"In the meantime," Serea said as she got to her orders. "Lt. Naetharr, have your engineers prepare for the arrival of the new retrofits by finishing the last of the work previously needed within the next forty-eight hours."
Naetharr groaned on the inside. Extra shifts definitely were going to need to be pulled by everyone in her department.
"Yes, sir," she acknowledged the orders.
"Commander Rilar, make all the necessary preparations for the new Security department," she commanded of her Tactical officer. "When Commander Raleigh arrives he can handle the duty shifts and other organizational plans."
"Yes, ma'am," he nodded.
"Dr. Senecal and Lt. L'Nara," Serea addressed them. "Daily duties and studies on Jetal and its people that you have underway will be your main priorities for the time being. New crewmembers for your departments will be assigned at a later date. Otherwise, that is all for today. Dismissed."
The department heads started to disperse to their regular stations. Senecal followed Serea up the steps to her office.
"Commander," Senecal called after her commanding officer.
"Yes, Doctor?" Serea answered as she turned to face her.
"Dr. Senecal reporting for duty, sir," she said to officially designate she was on board the station ready for her duties.
"Welcome aboard," Serea said with a polite bow of her head.
"Commander, I was wondering if when Starfleet would be sending the medical information for the new crew arriving this week?" Senecal asked. She needed to get her staff readied for the new influx on the station and delegate appropriate shifts.
"We should be receiving the new crewmembers' medical logs by the end of tomorrow," Serea replied. "Starfleet also informed me more medical staff will be sent within the next few months to accommodate the new stance we will be having in this sector and having a well trained medical facility available is a great necessity."
"Thank you, sir," Senecal replied, feeling much more relieved upon hearing more medical personnel were eventually going to be deployed. "I appreciate the update on the situation."
"Of course," Serea said. "Now, I must return to the paperwork I must finish for our new crew."
"Yes, sir, have a good day," Senecal replied stepping back to head to the lift.