Changing Of The Guard

Posted on Thu Aug 16th, 2012 @ 5:21pm by Captain Li Hawke & Major Patrick Smith

Mission: Sections of the Delta Quadrant
Location: XO's Office

The meeting with Patrick had been delayed by recent developments, but once she had been released from Sickbay, she had returned to work, choosing to get some administrative issues taken care of. She had promised Harding that she wouldn't go mountain climbing or chasing bad guys for a day. The thought made her smile, given she has just extricated herself from the station's resident bad guy. The mention of mountains, however, reminded her that it was time for hers and Nenita's monthly holodeck dinosaur hunt. She sent a message to Nenita, then looked up as her door chime sounded.

"Come in," she called out.

Pat entered after his own pretty hectic day of meetings and getting brought up to speed on the various operations that were running that he knew nothing about. Pleased to hear that Li was clear of Suresh now he was looking forward to their meeting. "Commander. Good job getting that finished off," He said picking a quick topic to chat about and get resolved.

"Well it's not exactly finished off, I just had to remove myself from the situation. It is far from over Patrick. From what I gathered, he has some runs for you coming up soon that could be important in discovering the next link in the chain." Li reached for the cup of tea that sat before her on the desk. "Fair warning, though, he's going to be difficult for a while."

"Oh I know. I'll try and be as nice and friendly as possible and not push too many buttons. Maybe a bottle of wine will cheer him up?" He asked rhetorically knowing it would more than likely do the opposite. "Any idea what these jobs are likely to be yet?"

"I wouldn't even say the word wine around him." Li pursed her lips for a moment. "The next one is playing errand boy. A shipment to be picked up not far from Archadia, then transported to another ship. The rendezvous point is about twelve hours away. You'll hand over the goods, then get back here."

"Hopefully unlike the last one I won't get shot at. it really isn't good for the parts having to do some of that stuff yeno?" he said the pilot side of him showing through. "I'll try and get a look inside it as usual but if he or that silly Ferangi are about then there won't be much chance."

"Well do what you can, and keep me informed. And be careful." She paused, then continued on. "I also wanted to address the issue of Nick."

"I shall," Pat replied as he shifted slightly at the topic change. "After you Commander," he offered.

"I met with him yesterday. I know the two of you don't see eye to eye, and he's made his opinions more than clear. However, he is very good at what he does and he is a professional. He is not going to subvert your authority or disregard orders. Admiral Wegener and I both agreed on your taking over the department and I trust both his judgment and my own instincts. Nick trusts mine as well, so he has agreed to behave. He has a lot riding on this too."

Pat nodded, "I'd say it's all down to him getting jealous of Nenita. But he doesn't have much to worry about there. I'm more of a free spirited going to die in a huge fireball before I'm 40 kind of guy anyway. Plus, he doesn't know whats in my record. I think when I say both he and I have done stuff that neither will ever know about it's probably true."

"Maybe it's time you two had a little talk, get to know each other. If he knew what you are capable of, it certainly might help. Nick has earned his stripes the hard way and he can certainly appreciate what others have gone through to get theirs." Li smiled as she reached for her cup.

"Hmm maybe. I'll ask him and see if he wants to go somewhere quieter," Smith suggested mostly to himself as he nodded his head in the direction of the window. "Not many people can hear out there what gets said if I take one of the craft off the flight deck... especially given that we bugged my ship."

"That's an excellent idea. And that's all I have for now, if there's anything you need, call. And be careful down below, Patrick."

"I will be. Like I said. Death by fireball and not a slimey crimelord," he joked with a big grin on his face. "I'll get changed and head down. Congratulations again Commander."

***********

Commander Li Hawke
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Patrick Smith
Chief Intelligence Officer