Operation: First Officer
Paris, France
Earth Date: 11 Jan 2245
"Aieeee! Alors, il ne marche pas…"
Pierre recoiled back towards the lab bench, left hand clutched in his right; having worked on plant life for most of his Starfleet career, but really none the wiser since new species were popping up all of the time. Turns out this plant didn't want to be experimented on, and it knew how to use its needles. He was pretty sure this one wasn't too poisonous – he'd live to see another day.
The water washed over the small wounds on his fingers easily, eventually washing out the spines. With a sigh of relief, he turned to return to the plant, but the warming glow of his PADD, and the orange flashing message on the screen took his attention. A meeting at the Starfleet Scientific Headquarters, at 6pm today. Usually they gave a little more notice, but he didn't think anything of it. The admin side of this job were starting to grate on him a little. He just analysed bits or organic matter that managed to get back to Earth. It'd been too long since he'd set foot on a Starship. And then the paperwork to go with the mundane analysis down on Earth was stupendous.
He had been Lieutenant Commander Pierre Du Pont – Life Sciences Officer under Christopher Pike back in the early days. Starting out as a Cadet, he quickly showed his superiors up and was promoted at the ripe old age of 23. But, with promotion came fame and with fame came opportunities on Earth which at first sounded amazing. A heavy sigh and a brief glance out of the window to the street below followed this sobering thought. He was reaching 35 now… chances of getting out there again were small.
Finishing up in the lab, he swung the door closed. Paris in the evening sun was famous for being beautiful… but not when it was pissing down with rain. Running through the tourists and making a beeline for the Headquarters (after grabbing a coffee for an extortionate amount of credits), he finally arrived at the electronic doors of the building and ducked into the hallway, looking like a drowned rat.
"'av you got an appointment, monsieur?" the young woman at the reception desk eyed him suspiciously, looking him up and down – surely he can't be one of us!
"Yes, I 'ave an appointment mademoiselle," he made a move towards the lift before a muscly man appeared out of thin air and blocked the way. Smiling sheepishly, he dusted himself off and turned to the receptionist.
"You should know, sir, zat I would need to see your ID"
"Bien sur," he ruffled about in his coat to find the piece of plastic. Why on Earth they would need to see his ID when he needed a fingerprint scan to operate the lift, he would never know. He managed to produce his ID, much to the displeasure of the receptionist.
"Mr. Boulet"
"Mr. Du Pont"
"You 'ave been called 'ere today for a surprise, Monsieur…"
"A surprise?" Pierre took a chair on the other side of the desk and slumped down, folding his coat over his lap.
"I understand you are interested in going back into… ze final frontier, as it were," the older man chuckled to himself and leaned back in his chair.
"Mais oui, who would not like to go back?"
"Indeed… I suppose for someone like you, it is very important, non?"
A pregnant pause as Pierre tried to figure out the motive of the man sitting in front of him.
"Well, someone is a lucky man. Zhere is an opportunity for you, Pierre, on a ship. And not just any ship… and not just any position."
"I see."
"Perhaps it would be better to come from someone else…"
A silhouette of a man appeared in the doorway. Certainly not another Frenchman, Pierre thought. The way he stood, his open stature, the way he carried himself. All of this, and he hadn't even uttered a word. Coming out of the doorway, the stranger ambled into the room; a pale brunette with blue eyes.
"Hey there, how ya doin'?"
An American… Pierre stood up to shake his hand.
"Paul Andrews,"
"Pierre Du Pont"
"I've heard so much about you, your reputation precedes you" Paul tried to be as amiable as possible. After all, this man was going to be his first officer, his confidant, his right hand man… and he would run the ship if something were to happen to him.
"Very kind, monsieur, and you were also very renowned as Captain Matthews's first officer, non?"
"I don't think renowned is the word…" Paul laughed nervously.
The two men stood and looked at each other, in an awkward silence.
Finally Boulet stood up and gestured to the two men, breaking the silence.
"So, I need a First Officer for my ship, and I was wondering if you'd like to fill the void" Paul chuckled, still on edge.
"Indeed," Pierre stood, thinking for a while, before reminding himself of the majesty of the world outside of Earth, "I accept, Monsieur."
Paul clasped his hands together, smiling. Finally his crew was complete. Even if it was almost certainly going to have some 'growing' problems.
Hope you like it. More chapters to come soon.