JDL - XO & CHelm - LtCmdr Dhej & Lt sh'Thrass - "What The Winner Don't Know, A Gambler Understands"

Posted on 241411.15 @ 6:17am by Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass

=/\=Executive Officer's Office=/\=

The USS Goshawk had gone down fighting, and only a handful of the crew had been able to make it out alive; Zhyalla had been one of them only by grace of being in a fighter at the time. Her first love had always been the small agile craft, so when the civil war had hit, she volunteered to transfer to the marines to serve in the fighter wings. Large ships had bored her to tears, and any first year cadet could handle the required battle maneuvers for a large ship. However, the marine way of doing things had not agreed with her. So she'd volunteered to transfer back to the naval side of things when the civil war had wrapped up as she'd been cleared for active duty again.

She straightened her uniform as the turbolift carried her to the bridge to meet the XO. Her hair was pulled into what the humans called a French twist, successfully hiding the orange tips of her hair. Originally she'd used a yellow dye in light of her call sign: Mercury Lemon, but the color just looked dingy and crappy on her white hair, so she'd shifted to a brighter color that looked intentional. Her marine CO, as well as the Captain of the Goshawk, hadn't minded as long as she hid it well if anyone up the chain visited, and the yellow before it slid under the radar well enough that it hadn't even come up on her previous postings. Something told her that being up front about it here was more likely to get her a pass than trying to hide it.

She crossed the bridge to the XO's Office, her eyes and antennae slowly considering the people and the layout of what was to be her new home while on duty. She was going to miss the solitude of the fighter cockpit. She sighed softly, her antennae drooping momentarily, before she pulled herself up straight and perked up her antennae as she pressed the chime to announce her arrival.

Looking up as he heard the chime, Karim placed the padd he was reading on the significantly smaller stack beside him. Clearing his throat he said "Come in, the door is open." As the woman entered, he said "Can I help you Lieutenant?"

"Reporting for duty, sir," she answered, stepping forward. She stopped in front of his desk and held out a PADD with her orders.

Taking the padd, he waved towards the chair in front of his desk and said "Please, take a seat. I'm sorry if I wasn't prepared for your arrival Lieutenant. Things have been a bit hectic today for everyone."

"Thank you, sir," she said as she took the indicated seat. "If this is hectic, I am going to be bored to tears on your ship... with all due respect, sir." She grinned at him, her antennae bobbing in amusement.

Smirking very slightly, he replied "I do remember vaguely receiving notice of your transfer orders, but didn't remember when you were arriving. Have you been aboard for a while now?"

"Only long enough to freshen up, and head up here. I can only guess the paperwork for resupply I arrived with is buried in all that paperwork?" She eyed the two stacks of PADDs and one antennae rose a little higher, mimicking the arch of her eyebrow, the latter being something she picked up from Vulcans and Humans.

Nodding, he said "It very well could be." Pausing, he said "Correct me if I'm wrong Lieutenant but didn't I read something that you we were supposed to be have a new runabout arrive from somewhere carrying some new plasma injectors? Or did I make that up? I remember skimming a report where there was something mentioned about that."

Zhyalla sighed, and her antennae drooped. "They wouldn't let me fly it out here... something about still mopping up Fed First or some-" a word in her mother tongue slipped out, the tone implying it's meaning well enough and the universal translator being polite enough not to clarify, "-along those lines. They made me park it in the supply ship's shuttle bay. I'll transfer it over to Enterprise once we're done here, if you'd like." The prospect of being able to fly the runabout put a small curve on her lips and her antennae perked again.

Smiling slightly, he replied "That sounds great Lieutenant. It's the....Lovelace right? Also, I see that you are to be our new Chief Helm Officer with a side interest in engineering?"

"Yes, Lovelace. Most of my engineering skills stem from wanting to tweak and boost the propulsion of ships I fly, but I can assist a more skilled engineer with other things, or perform basic emergency repairs well enough," she explained. She'd have to make time to make some friends down in engineering lately, she thought to herself.

Nodding, he said "Well it's good to have you aboard Lieutenant. I'm sure you'll have some recommendations to improve our navigation and helm systems. Please feel free to bring them to me when you have time. Did you have any questions before I let you get to work?"

She almost said no. She could probably just hide the tips of her hair with selective hair styles outside of her quarters and it would slide under the radar... but the XO seemed a genuine man, and hiding things from the command team was only something one did if they were incompetent or unnecessarily harsh.

"There's one thing, sir," she said, sitting up straighter. "My last CO gave me special dispensation, since it could be easily hidden with the right sorts of hairstyles on duty... but my hair isn't exactly regulation." Her antennae twisted slight with curiosity at how the Trill before her would respond.

Looking at her with slight confusion, Karim replied "I'm not sure I understand. Dispensation about hairstyles?" He thought back to when he'd, or Mavala had asked for direction about what type of hairstyle would be appropriate. He chose not to bring up his inner thoughts just yet.

"No, not hair style... color." She laughed slightly, realizing her twist had done its job quite well. She reached up, pulling a metal comb with a mother of pearl inlay out of the twist, and her hair cascaded down over her shoulders exposing the bright orange tips.

Looking at the hair as it was revealed, Karim smiled and said "That is rather a rather impressive hair color Lieutenant. I don't think there would be a need for any dispensation. If you just comply with standard regulations around how hair is to be styled while on duty I don't have a problem with it. If anything I understand what you are concerned about having been in that position myself as a young woman."

"Thank you, sir," she replied automatically, then her antennae tweaked in confusion and she looked at Karim carefully. Her eyes and antennae followed the line of his spots down the side of his face, and suddenly her eyes widened slightly as her antennae stood up straighter for a moment. "You're joined?"

Smiling, he said "Yes I am Lieutenant. Relatively recently in Trill terms. Dhej's previous host was female, a Lieutenant Mavala. I sometimes get some of her memories and phrases a bit mixed up with mine. It's apparently normal for hosts that were joined somewhat suddenly. Forgive me if it was confusing for you."

"I can imagine that having multiple lifetimes of memories just dropped into your head suddenly would get confusing," she returned, reaching up to pull her hair back up into the French twist.

"Thank you for understanding Lieutenant." he replied. Pausing he added "Maybe I'll give you some hairstyle tips once we get to know each other better. Was there anything else you needed to go over with me?"

"As long as the hair style tips don't come with a requirement to watch the really bad... what'd she call them? Chick flicks? My roommate at the Academy drove me mad with them when she wanted to do makeovers. I never understood why those women needed a man to rescue them. They should have been looking for someone worthy of fighting at their sides." Zhyalla shook her head. "I'm fine, if you are, sir."

Chuckling in spite of himself, Karim replied "I think we've gone over everything Lieutenant. Thank you for giving me a break from this mountain of padds." Standing, he walked around the desk and extended his hand "Welcome aboard the Enterprise officially. I look forward to working with you and getting to know you better."

"Glad to have been a help, and thank you for having me," she returned as she stood herself, and clasped his outstretched hand.

Nodding, as he released the hand, he waited until she left the room, and crossed to the small sofa. He needed a break, and hoped he could catch a few minutes rest before he had to get back to work.

=/\= End Log =/\=

Lieutenant Commander Karim Dhej
Executive Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F

Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass
Chief Helm Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F