An Interesting Arrival

Posted on Sun Jun 21st, 2020 @ 3:24am by Lieutenant Kalin Brennan-Griffin PhD & Captain Nycolas Temple & Cailus Griffin & Eva Griffin
Edited on on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 5:48am

Mission: New Moon Rising
Location: Shuttle Bay 01
Timeline: Shortly before "Neon Boulevard"

Their shore leave on Earth had been a long overdue reprieve for both Cailus and Shae, who had both been through enough in recent days to last any normal person a lifetime; Cailus, who had been trapped in stasis for years, found closure on Mars after missing out on a life with his wife and daughter, and he got to reconnect with the last remaining family he had left, while Shae finally returned to Ireland to see her family for the first time in years without fear of bad people coming to hurt them. It had been bittersweet for both of them to return home after so long, and there had been a fair share of tears, but there truly was no place like home and it had felt good for both of them to finally be back.

But all good things must eventually come to an end, and when their transfer orders came through, they had to say good bye. Now here they were, on a shuttle bound for the Luna-class vessel Pandora; the trip had passed by much faster than they were anticipating, so it wasn't long until the shuttle was easing into the shuttlebay of what would become their new home.

Nycolas had been busy unpacking still when he received word from Starfleet that he was about to receive two transfers from another ship. It had already been a busy day of arrivals and moving in, but there was something about these two that made him drop everything and greet them personally.

The captain stood on the deck of the Pandora's shuttle bay as the runabout sailed slowly inside and settled down gently onto her primary landing pad. As the craft powered down, the shuttle's passenger door slid open and Nyx waited eagerly to greet the new crew members.

The minutes ticked by, and finally movement could be seen from the passenger door, and soon after a willowy vulpine-humanoid woman stepped out wearing a Science teal uniform, and in her arms she carried a small child who looked to be no more than 3 years of age, though still quite small. She was quickly followed out by a tall, broad shouldered Security Officer who was quite the gentleman, carrying her bags for her. Her eyes immediately fell on the man on the shuttlepad waiting for them, and she snapped to attention, or as close as she could get with a child in her arms; they didn't know much about the Pandora and her mission just yet, but they'd had enough time to at least look up the personnel files for the Command staff, so they recognized their new Commanding Officer from the photo in his file.

"Sir, Lieutenant Kalin Brennan and Ensign Cailus Griffin, reporting for duty," the woman reported for them both.

"Sir," Cailus added simply, greeting the captain directly with a curt nod as he stood at attention. The contrast between the highly formal Cailus and Shae with Aoife in her arms was striking.

Nycolas found himself caught in a sentimental moment as the young woman and her daughter approached, his mind instinctively focusing on the last time he saw his wife and his own child. How he had walked backwards through the corridor of their Copenhagen apartment building, not wanting to turn away from them until the last possible moment. How he wanted to stop what he was doing, say to hell with Starfleet and run back inside. How guilty and sad he felt when the lift doors finally closed between them. His daughter had been so strong, smiling and waving, as if Daddy was just going to work for the day and would only be back soon. He shook his head, pressing the memory out of his thoughts.

Forgetting all proper proper formalities, Nyx's softer side took over as he moved a step over to smile at Lieutenant Brennan's child, his usually brooding face turning into a beaming grin.

"Ohh how I miss the quiet years," He commented, "Or, year, as it were. My little girl learned to talk and hasn't stopped since." His mind reached for a name for the Lieutenant's daughter, "How old is, uh, she?"

"Fourteen," Shae answered, which was technically true in the same way that Cailus was technically 124 years old now, but in truth Aoife's age was much more complicated than that. Still, that didn't stop her from saying it to see how her new Commanding Officer would react; she must have been in high spirits still to be so mischievous with the boss. "Aoife's age is a complicated matter, sir. Physically, she's around 3, but mentally she's still infantile," Shae answered more earnestly to dispel any confusion. "On the Tornado, a nurse specializing in early childhood development was assigned to Aoife to act as her nanny for while I'm on duty; she will be joining us on the Pandora as well to continue Aoife's therapy." All the while, Aoife just stared at this new person, wary but inquisitive; her development may have been infantile, but there was still intelligence in her eyes as she observed this new person talking to them.

"Fourteen!" Nyx practically exclaimed it more than said it, taking a moment to process the unusual information. The captain was being a little less formal and more social than usual, but he was trying to make friends with the new crew. He scratched his beard a little as a thought popped into his mind. "Does that mean the 'terrible twos' last six and half years? If so, Starfleet needs to give you some kind of medal."

Shae laughed softly at his response. "In truth, she spent a great deal of time in stasis; like I said, it's complicated. So no terrible twos, at least not yet. And I've only just gotten her back and it would have killed me to have to leave her with family for this tour of duty, so I appreciate that you are allowing family on such a small ship," she said with humble gratitude.

"Well I will ensure that your nurse is assigned to the quarters next to yours," Temple replied with a shrug, "You know, this is becoming quite the family ship, as our Executive officer also has her child along for the journey, though he's only a newborn." He paused, furrowing his brow, "I assume."

"Thank you sir." Shae couldn't help but giggle at Nyx's doubt that the XO's child was only a newborn; stars above, this had to be able the most informal check in with a CO that she had ever done, but right away she could tell she liked him! "Well, unless he's spent extensive amounts of time in stasis or is part El Aurian or Vulcan, then it's pretty safe to assume he's as old as his mother says he is," Shae replied with great amusement. "And I would very much like to meet the XO and her son; the boy may be a bit young just now, but he won't be for long and Aoife could use a little friend to keep her company."

"Yes, the XO is Lieutenant Commander Glyndar," Temple nodded, "Please go and see her once you're both settled in."

Nyx then moved to shake the hand of the Pandora's new Chief of Security, the now-Ensign Griffin. As he did, he decided he would never refer to the accomplished officer by such a rank. Even if Cailus had voluntarily taken a reduced position, to Nyx it was merely a formality of circumstance, necessitated by bureaucracy rather than the man's undeniable talent and expertise.

"And greetings to you, sir," Nyx said to Griffin with a nod, "I am honoured to have you both on board."

"Thank you Captain," Cailus replied, shaking Nyx's hand firmly with his prosthetic counterpart. He hadn't expected the CO himself to greet them, but nevertheless retained a stoic, professional manner. "The Pandora is a truly beautiful starship."

"Aye she is," Temple remarked as the quartet walked towards the corridor, "Not long out of berth from her first tour of duty, she's now been completely spruced up and modified once more. Lieutenant Brennan, you will find state of the art science facilities on your deck. We're going to investigate the very essence of the Inconnu expanse and explore her deepest secrets, I'm so excited to discover what's out there."

"I am eager to rise to this challenge," Shae replied, and she was pleased to hear that all the science facilities would all be on the same deck, which would make it much easier to manage her department.

"And Mr Griffin," Temple turned to the Security and Tactical Chief, "You will find all the latest toys and technology at your disposal, we'll need your focus and your cunning to see us through this journey safely."

Cailus nodded curtly, although there was a hint of eagerness in his voice that betrayed his apparent stoicism. The captain's casual manner was off-putting, but also surprisingly infectious. "I'm looking forward to it, sir. With luck my expertise won't be necessary out there, but Security will be ready if called upon. I'll begin training and drills as soon as possible."

"I like the sounds of that," Nyx replied, giving him an enthusiastic smile, "I believe we may be joined by a Marine platoon as well, as Starfleet are keen to ensure we make it through alive. And also so this shiny piece of property doesn't land in the wrong hands. I'd like you to liaise with our Marine Chief whenever he or she comes onboard."

"Ah...yes, sir. I've worked with Marines before." Cailus couldn't stop himself frowning at the thought of a military detachment aboard an explorer, but refrained from saying anything more. It didn't dampen his enthusiasm much, regardless.

The group approached the turbolift, as a couple of crewmen hustled past with the Lieutenant and Ensign's belongings. Nyx stopped and waited for them to pass, a polite smile still on his face, until they were out of earshot.

"I have to admit that I am curious about your transfer here," He began diplomatically, "Even my clearance couldn't peek into some of the mission logs of your previous adventures, nor was the Admiral particularly forthcoming, so it's all a bit of a mystery." He laughed, though just a little.

"It's... complicated..." Shae had a feeling she was going to be saying that, a lot in fact. "There are some things I can't divulge, but what I can explain I will do my best to help you understand," Shae said as they walked. "I do not mean to be mysterious, but unfortunately that is simply the way of things."

"Our respective pasts have nothing to do with the Pandora, sir," Cailus added, "or the mission. You have my word on that."

Nyx shrugged, "You're both already quite interesting people, from what I do know, so perhaps it's just as you said, Lieutenant, all a bit complicated?" He raised an eyebrow to the officers, "I'm happy to leave it at that, for now, so long as it doesn't affect the safety and well-being of this crew."

"That is all I want as well, for us to be safe," Shae replied earnestly. "Although, going into the Inconnu Expanse probably isn't the best idea if one wishes to remains safe," she added sheepishly, which then begged the question: what was she running from that made the dangers of the Inconnu Expanse safer? "Though I certainly won't complain; a shiny new ship with top of the line everything..." She trailed off with a hum and a happy smile, eager to get to know all the equipment in her department.

"Scientists and their toys, sir," Cailus commented drily as he looked between them. "I could've sworn I saw a few tears when we were reading the ship specs on the shuttle."

"He exaggerates, there were no tears," Shae said with an embarrassed blush. No tears, but there was an abundance of happy excited sounds when she saw that there was a partial holotank in the Astrometrics lab!

Temple chuckled, "Oh there's been a few 'åh min Gud' moments from myself as well. So I won't keep you much longer -" His PaDD suddenly chirped, indicating another new task for the Captain to do. "And apparently I need to go myself. Right well, find your quarters and get acquainted with the Pandora. I hope to have a senior staff get-together tonight on the recreation deck."

Cailus glanced at Shae for a moment in silent communication before looking back to the captain. "Of course, sir. I look forward to it."

"We'll be there," Shae chimed in with a smile.

"Wonderful, I'll see you both there. Deck five." Nyx replied with a smile. His PaDD chirped again, this time more insistently. "Alright, I'm going, I'm going!" He smiled to the others, "Welcome to the USS Pandora."

"Thank you, sir," Cailus said politely.

"Thank you!" Shae replied with excitement.

The Captain gave a wave goodbye to the new arrivals and jogged off into what he hoped was the right direction. As he left, his mind went over his first impressions. For a couple of officers with a checkered and, certainly in Griffin's case, highly unusual past, they sure didn't act like it. They seemed like a normal couple of folks, just happy to be onboard a new assignment. But there was still a curiosity to why they were here, and there was a part of Nyx that really wanted to find out what it was.

As the captain walked away, Cailus nodded in acceptance. "Seems that we got lucky," he muttered quietly to Shae. "He sounds like a good CO."

"He does...." Shae said as she watched the Captain walk away. Once she was certain he was out of normal ear-range, she looked up at Cailus. "I wonder if he can be trusted; he has the right to know why we're on his ship and the potential danger that could mean... but I also don't want him to look at me as a liability to his crew."

Cailus glanced back down the hall that the captain had strolled down. "Sophia trusts him, Shae," he finally said, his voice barely audible. "I wish I could get a secure comn channel to ask her directly, but she wouldn't have brought us here otherwise. I think we can tell him the truth, or at least part of it, and he'll understand. You're an enemy of some very bad people, and you've been assigned to deep space for your own protection and because it is the best application of your talents. No Starfleet captain would argue against that."

"Then I will make time to tell him," Shae said with a nod. "Deck 3," she then said, sending the turbolift into motion again so they could find their quarters. Time would tell if Cailus' theory was correct, but she was willing to put her faith in and Sophia's belief that their CO was trustworthy enough...