Fancy Meeting You Here

Posted on Thu Mar 7th, 2013 @ 9:08pm by Admiral Ricky Wegener & Lieutenant Nick Marcinko & Admiral Lucius Hawke & Commander Dae Nalas & Lieutenant Commander Leto & Crewman Jorge Faisneis

Mission: The Struggle Within
Location: Intel Conference Room - Deck 33
Timeline: Current

Intel Conference Room - Deck 33

Lucius was there early and he was expecting Ricky and Lt. Commander Nalas first. The new CIO needed to report in and meet his station CO. PLacing his pad on the table, he looked out the portal as he waited for Ricky to arrive.

Luckily he didn’t have to wait long. Rick breezed in having apparently just finished a hot dog, or something else in a bun, because he had crumbs down the front of his uniform. He tried to swallow the last bite as he waved at Lucius and finally said, “Sorry about that. I only realized a bit ago that I hadn’t eaten in a while and didn’t know how long this was going to last.” He noticed Lucius eyeballing his uniform and looked down, which was followed by feverish wiping to remove any evidence before the rest of the group arrived.

He smiled sheepishly at his friend. “Eh, what can you do, right? Man’s gotta’ eat.”

“Understandable, especially given we have no idea how much actual time passed for you from one universe to the next, even though the cross seemed instantaneous.” Lucius smiled widely as he crossed to shake Rick’s hand. “Welcome home Rick, you are indeed a sight for sore eyes.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Rick said. “I know it’s gonna’ sound strange, but I missed this place even though I was kinda’ still here.” He laughed and checked his uniform once again to make sure he was presentable.

“A strange sensation, no doubt. Commander Sakkath and Lt. Commander Zeferino did an admirable job in yours and Li’s absence. You’ve read the reports on Cadet Conradi and the Archadian situation?”

“I have, well, skimmed through them to be exact, but I got the high points. Since they’re both somewhat resolved I felt secure enough to come here first and go over them again later.” He decided to sit against the bulkhead where a small ledge was. This was Lucius’ meeting so the head spot was his. He was just here to meet the new CIO and get a first-hand update on the goings on of Intel.

“Good. I felt the need, with the Dendrian situation developing to move Lt. Smith back to flight as you saw. The new CIO will be here in a moment, and then Lt. Leto and Master Chief Marcinko will join us.” Lucius paused for a moment and he had a wary expression on his face. “I’m hearing there is some tension between Leto and Marcinko, fair warning.”

Rick nodded and then stopped. “Leto?” He thought a moment. “Oh, yeah, Nenita.” He shook his head. “She sure does whatever she needs to, huh? So, what’s the problem? She kick his ass sparring or something? He tends to take that stuff personally.” He chuckled at the thought of Nick sulking.

“This one seems personal. I gather he took issue with some things that happened but I’ve not delved into it too much, for obvious reasons. Unless it becomes a problem that the CIO thinks deserves more serious attention.” Lucius shrugged.

“Hmmm, a bit strange for Nick, especially with his past. He’s always been one to do whatever it takes with a mission,” he stopped and shook his head, “and most of the time going overboard. But, yeah, we may have to make sure your new guy is up to date on this. What’s his name again, by the way? I saw it in the information you sent me but I’ve already forgotten. Gods, Lucius, I need to sleep for a few days to get back to normal, I think.”

“I think so too. I’d suggest that you take your reading material and camp out at home with it for a few days. There is one thing you and I need to meet privately to discuss but we can do that later tonight. After that? You need to kick back for at least a couple of days. The new CIO is Lt. Commander Dae Nalas. I pulled him off deep cover way down on Cestus III. He was due to rotate off before he went crazy, and he’s one that will take a firm hand as needed.”

Rick nodded in approval. “Sounds good, and I’ve always trusted your judgment. And Lucius, thanks for stepping in while I was away. I know you kind of had to being the only flag officer here, but I still appreciate it. And I can’t find fault in anything you’ve done. Seriously, why aren’t you out running a base or something? Don’t you get tired with the Intel desk job?”

Lucius only smiled. “I know you know a lot, Rick, but all I can say is it’s never dull.” The doors slid open as he finished and Dae stepped in, now in a perfectly turned out uniform.

“Lt. Commander Dae Nalas reporting for duty, sirs.”

“Welcome Commander. May I present Vice Admiral Ricky Wegener, station CO.”

Rick stood and shook his hand. “Welcome to Starbase 900, Commander. I hope you like adventure because we seem to be full of it out here.”

“So I am understanding sir.” Dae smiled. “It’s already looking most interesting.”

The doors opened once more and Leto entered. “Admiral Hawke. Admiral Wegener, welcome home, sir.” She turned to the other man in the room to greet him and stopped short as she recognized the man from the bar. Her gaze travelled to the pips on his collar and she groaned inwardly.

Dae grinned at her but before he could introduce himself, the doors opened once more.

Crewman Faisneis and a few others walked in, nodding at the Admirals and other officers, but the doors didn’t close. Nick had gotten the summons from Hawke and knew that he’d have to show up, leave or no leave. He figured both Hawke and Wegener would be there, since the latter had just returned from his trip to the alternate universe, and he knew Leto would be there. As usual he saw her and averted his attention to something else, like finding a chair at the furthest position away from her as possible. But what got his attention was the man he’d met at the Wormhole, now in a uniform matching everyone else’s. “Huh, didn’t see that one coming,” he muttered, but knew something was up with him when he met him.

He took a seat and kept his eyes downcast as everyone began taking their seats as well.

“Thank you all for coming.” Lucius took his seat and spoke once the rest were sitting as well. “First, I want to welcome Vice Admiral Wegener home. That means that Commander Hawke and Lt. Darwin are also home. Suresh, who was responsible, has been apprehended. The next thing on my list is to announce that Lt. Smith has been moved back to flight as CAG, and the details on the move are in your padds. That left an opening for a new CIO. May I present Lt. Commander Dae Nalas.”

Dae gave a nod to those seated all around. “Good afternoon. Two of you I have met already but over the next day or two, I’ll be meeting with all of you. I’ve spent my time on the trip out here getting up to speed on recent events and we’ll be covering those as well.” He spared a quick glance to Nick and Leto. “Most of you I will see tomorrow. Lt. Leto, Senior Chief Marcinko, I understand you two are taking some well-deserved time off, so we’ll confer at the end of that time.”

Leto nodded, glad that he hadn’t mentioned who had ordered that time off. “Of course.”

Nick cleared his throat. “Master Chief, sir,” he said, wondering if he’d done that on purpose. But he only glanced at him a moment and then back at the table in front of him and wondered why everyone kept screwing up his rank lately.

“My apologies, Master Chief Marcinko. I’ve had a lot of names thrown at me in the last few days on the heels of a hellish year down under. There is something regarding your rank, based on some notes left by Commander Hawke and Lt. Smith, that you and I should discuss but we can do that on our own time. Now that the Archadian situation is more or less settled, our next order of business is Ozum. As you all know, the Dendrian Ambassador is here. I want everything we can find on them in order to assist Commander Kh’ali. Any questions?”

Lucius waited, simply watching Dae in action, then shot Ricky a knowing look.

Nick went flush wondering just what the hell his rank had to do with anything and wondering if his actions with Leto, which were strictly off duty issues, were the cause. But he didn’t say anything in case it wound up being something he didn’t want everyone else to hear.

Rick had been a fly on the wall, just listening to what was being said. He did notice that Nick wasn’t acting like himself and wondered just what the problem actually was. But he did want to say something to the group. He stood and looked around the large table. “I’m sorry to interrupt, Commander,” he said, “but I just wanted to express my gratitude to all of you for the work you’ve done concerning the Archadians. This could have turned out to be much, much worse but you all came together and worked your magic to bring this to an end. Thank you, all of you.” With that said, he returned to his spot against the bulkhead.

“I could not agree more. It required delicate handling and at times became dangerous but in the end you pulled through. Well done,” Lucius added. “And that’s all I have.”

“And that’s all I have as well. You all have your orders, with the Admirals’ permission, you are dismissed.”

“I’ll leave you to it, Commander.” Lucius stood. “Admiral Wegener and I have some things to see to but welcome to 900.”

As usual, everyone waited until the flag officers left before trying to beat them to the door. Once they had gone Nick stood, hoping to leave before anyone else but he was summoned to stay by their new boss. His back was turned but he stopped, closed his eyes and exhaled hard, hoping he wasn’t going to talk about what Nick was thinking.

“Lt. Leto, I”d like you to stay as well.” Once the room was otherwise empty, and the doors closed, Dae continued. “I am well aware of the tension here, and while the reports didn’t exactly go into detail, I wasn’t born yesterday, and I have a pretty good head on my shoulders.I realize this is a rough time for the two of you. I don’t want details either. What I want is to be able to rely on the stars of this department to be able to work together. Your track records are stellar and what you’ve achieved out here is nothing short of remarkable. I’d hate for anything to change that.”

Nick’s jaw was clenched so hard that one could probably have heard the tendons beginning to twinge. He didn’t think that his relationship was anyone’s business, especially since he’d shown that he was still there to do his job no matter what had happened. He didn’t have to like it, he just had to do it, and he had. He kept quiet and didn’t take his eyes off of the table. If he had spoken up, he probably would have been made a Senior Chief again.

Jackson’s warning earlier came back to her and now the worry grew. This was exactly what she feared and so she started to speak but her voice was hoarse. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I understand your concern. I can assure you it will not.”

Dae looked from one to the other. The tension was even thicker and it was beginning to get to him as it poured over his senses. “Good. And off the record? You two are both obviously miserable and I hate to see that too, especially since it’s more than obvious how you feel. You are both off for the next several days, make the most of it.” There was a surprisingly wistful note in his voice now. “Nothing is worth losing someone you love over. Dismissed.”

Nick sat still a moment as he waited for Leto to leave. This time it was merely out of respect for her and the feelings he obviously still felt. But he remained still as she stood and headed for the door.

Once Leto was gone, Dae turned back to Nick. “What can I do for you Nick?”

The doors closed behind him and he waited a beat before speaking. “I was actually just waiting for her to leave. Didn’t want to cause any issues.” He stood and started to leave but stopped. “Oh, yeah, what rank thing?”

“Ah yes. According to Li’s notes, you’ve begun working on becoming an officer. Is that still on your list of things to do?”

“Becoming an officer again,” Nick replied, relieved that it wasn’t another talk about a demotion. “I was a jay-gee when I got out the first time. When I came back I was enlisted. But I’ve taken all of the required catch-up courses and passed. Now I’m just waiting on a decision from Li, it seems, since she’s the XO now.”

Dae nodded. “Very well. Once she’s had some time home to recover from their recent side step, I’ll meet with her and we can get this finalized. Your work here certainly warrants the changeover.” He paused as he watched Nick briefly. “And if you need an ear, I’d recommend stopping in to see the Counselor. Or call me, though what I have to offer is a night out to let loose. It’s been far too long since I could let my guard down for a second without fear of being killed. You deserve it and I sure as hell do.”

That was much easier than he thought it would be. Nick recalled when he had been promoted to MCPO by Li and her warning about being a better NCO, not being such a fucking dick all the time--of course, he was paraphrasing but that was pretty much the gist. But at his mention of the counselors on 900, Nick became defensive again. “I don’t need to talk. To anyone. I need everyone to quit sticking their noses in my personal business.” As soon as he said it, Li’s words smacked him right in the face. He heaved a frustrated sigh and added, “But...I might take you up on the night out. Oh, and in case my personnel file didn’t spell it out for you, I’m a huge asshole and I hate everybody. If you don’t mind that, then we can do some drinkin’.”

Dae smiled finally. “I don’t want to be in your personal business unless it starts to affect my business. You two are some of the best I’ve ever seen and I’ll be blunt. I don’t want it affecting things here to the point that the higher-ups decide to step in and split up this team. I don’t think you want that either when you get right down to it.”

The thought had occurred to him and the man was right, he didn’t want that to happen. “So when are we drinking? I seem to be free for a few days and don’t mind getting sloshed to the point of needing medical care.” Purposely not acknowledging what Dae had said, Nick changed the subject back to the party. He said he didn’t want to be in his personal business, so Nick didn’t keep talking about it.

“Tomorrow? I have a date tonight. Granted, I’m having to pay her for this date but hey.” He shrugged. “I’ve heard a lot about the Nexus so I’m going to see what it’s all about. What do you know about Marla?”

“Marla?” Nick repeated then shook his head. “Never heard of her. But I’ve been a bit busy and recently...” He stopped realizing what he was going to say. “...committed,” he added quietly. “Look, uh, have a good time,” he said, turning to leave, embarrassed and suddenly saddened at the same time. “Hit me up tomorrow.” He left the conference room, his face burning and red but he wasn’t going to stick around with the new guy looking like that.

Once he was gone, Dae let out a long sigh and rubbed his eyes. The mental atmosphere was easing now that he was alone and he was glad of it. He had been upfront with both of them, Nick especially. There was a danger that one or the other could be reassigned and that was the last thing Dae wanted. He just hoped it was enough.

He seriously needed to get the funk out of his thoughts and, realizing the time, he rose as well. He had just enough time to get changed for the evening, and he was now looking forward to it more than ever.

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Vice Admiral Lucius Hawke
Vice Admiral Ricky Wegener
Lt. Commander Dae Nalas
Lt.(jg) Leto
MCPO Nick Marcinko
Crewman Jorge Faisneis