Catchup with Breakfast

Posted on 09 Jun 2023 @ 9:58pm by Commander Calliope Zahn & Lieutenant Louke Haille

Mission: M3 - Into the Deep
Location: Pathfinder, Staff Conference Room
Timeline: MD 09 0828
1553 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Her supplement doses downed, her face washed and a change of uniform donned, Calliope was back on the bridge a few minutes after her talk with DeHavilland, and following her incidental lift encounter with the Marshal. She tapped the Operations Chief on the shoulder, motioning for Saaba to assume his station.

“Lieutenant. Please join me in the conference room.”

Louke glanced up in surprise as the Commander approached. “Ma’am,” he offered, rising from his seat and stifling a groan as his body adjusted to the shift in position.

She didn’t particularly wait for a response, but simply continued along the path, expecting him to follow in her wake. As he caught up to her, Calliope was at the replicator.

“About time for breakfast, isn't it? Nothing quite works up an appetite like hurricanes and weapons fire.” She entered a menu pattern for a breakfast wrap with some hot sauce. “Anything for you? Might as well take advantage. I mean to bend your ear.”

“I won’t lie, Ma’am; I think I missed breakfast by a few hours.” Smiling somewhat sheepishly, Louke pulled up an omelet with herbs and meat as well as a mug of coffee before joining the Commander at her seat.

Calliope set her tray on the table and let Louke place his own, getting a few bites in while he came around to sit across from her. They did little other than chew and sip for a good five minutes or so. Calliope being entirely absorbed in the meal.

“So,” She said, licking her fingers. Having launched at 0200, running on a half a night's sleep, she was starved, and hadn’t fully appreciated the fact until now. Already she’d put down half the wrap and set it aside to wipe her fingers. Luckily her display from her wrist cuff was a holographic projection. Being tidy or not made no difference. “We’ve got to reorganize the entire bridge duty schedule, taking into account wounded and otherwise. But before we come to that. You gotta help me out with something else.”

He was a good ways through his own breakfast as she came to the point. Taking a swallow of the steadily cooling coffee, Louke made a mental note to refresh it soon. “Duty Schedule shouldn’t be too difficult, Ma’am - we can tackle that after? What else do you need?”

“What the hell happened while I was away? I mean I think I have some bits and pieces, but it’s mostly made of broad strokes. I need you to fill me in quick so I can get this straight.”

A wry smile crossed Louke’s face as he shook his head. “Quick may not be the most … efficient delivery? I’ll do my best, though. What’s your last solid point of intel and we can move on from there.”

“So, I,” She motioned to herself, then made an aeroplane motion with her hand to suggest the runabout flight and a dive. “Get on the Acamas, go for a swim. We get the buoy system uplink. You guys are seeing our travel-log of the abandoned upper levels of the ocean. Then our connection cuts out. While I decide to continue following our Korinn contact to the reef, what happened up here? How and when did the Marines get sent in on the Demophon? And why was our Chief Engineer on a shuttle? Walk me through events.”

Finishing off his mug, Louke set it aside. “Ok. The long and short of it is that storm; Around the time we lost signal contact, we were tracking the thing maxing out the Terran scale and moving into something else entirely. Captain DeHavilland had us reviewing any scans of the surface we could locate - hoping to find an alternative way of making contact - when we came upon the settlement and Major Finn recognized the layout as being Marine origin. That’s the point where discussion of relays shifted to options for a recovery of any possible survivors.”

“Aaah,” Calliope nodded. “So visuals showed that shore camp the Sunrise survivors had set up. And you guys knew about the same time we learned about them. Is that when DeHavilland sent Finn and his people down?”

“Negative, Commander - the Captain was markedly against the idea of bodies on the ground, what with the threat from the Pyrryx combined with the storm, and still not knowing the status of your team.”

Calliope frowned. “So, she didn’t send Major Finn?”

“Things became complicated from that point forward. We had Pyrryx on the move; Captain Callum was recommending a retreat, Finn requested a confirmation on whether the signal towers were sending or receiving,” Louke listed off details as succinctly as he could. “That was when Captain DeHavilland approved Major Finn to take a shuttle to recover the survivors on the Island while Captain Callum dispatched a run-about to try and re-establish contact with your team on the Acamas." Louke let out a breath, before adding. “Of course, that was about the same time the Major and four of his team departed the vessel on their own power without authorization. So the Captains switched their objectives and Commander Quinn was sent to locate and connect with you.”

“On their own power?” Marines didn’t have their own power. They were always riding under naval host. “Like out the windows? Oh.” Louke’s expression told her she wasn’t far off. “They did an orbital jump without DeHavilland’s approval. And Quinn went looking for the Acamas.”

“Yes, ma’am.” This was the hard part. Louke rubbed a thumb along the bridge of his nose as he sought to put his reactions into a sensible form. “Most of what happened after that was gleaned through reports from the vessel and what we could observe from the Pathfinder. Essentially, the Commander made a decision to lower shields in order to boost signal for a contact, and the Z’ala fighter craft chose that moment to attack. They managed to get the shields back up and the shuttle returned to the ship, but not before serious damage was incurred. Ensign Jup was a near fatality.”

“Leaving Jup in medical stasis.” Calliope said, frowning. It was bad enough to be wounded in a straightforward fight. But it seemed senseless, tracking a ship that wasn’t even at the site being searched any longer. “And leaving Ensign Wiser in the state he was.” Calliope made a couple of notes on her ought timeline. “And you said Theseus sent the Demophon in after the Marines? When Callum traded plans with DeHavilland?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I think that firms up the lines connecting all the dots for me.” Calliope picked up her wrap again, getting a couple more bites in before talking around her food. “Word is we’re keeping Dr. Corduke and the other Theseus crew that ended up here until we get back to base. We can take that into account in rotations. Ensign Wiser is relieved temporarily. Mental wellness. And Commander Quinn is recovering from his plasma burns. So Ensign Tilmer has Engineering. Seeing as he's... junior, very junior, I’ll need you to make yourself available to him for direction and support during the repairs.”

“Understood.” Louke began assembling his tray to dispose in the reclimator. “I’ll refill my coffee and get started on the duty rosters.” His brow furrowed before adding, “I understand we’re down a pilot as well?”

“Gunnarsen? Yes, well. He might be released for duty again at some point. Provided fainting isn’t a habit for him. I’ll check up on him. With Wiser out of the rotation it would be nice putting someone in. Zletze shouldn’t be on a double shift.”

“That can be arranged.” Pulling out his PADD, Louke made reference notes for further down the line. “That said, we do have quite a few officers with dual qualifications, so we should be able to fill in the gaps if need be.”

“When you have a schedule, let me sign off on it. Captain DeHavilland is not going to be on the bridge for a bit. She’ll be making the rounds with sickbay, the survivors, and the delegates, as well as a couple of the departments. I’m going to arrange to work with Commander Magnolia, to get on the same page with the Theseus before we run crew debriefs. I’ll be available if needed, but I’ll need you to handle the bridge while I’m in the meeting.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Making the final notes, Louke began pulling in the active manifests to work on rescheduling. “I’ll flag you the moment I have the schedule set and ready for approval. Until then, I’ll be on the bridge.”

It was more than nice having someone reliable and with a steady personality as an anchor point. Wiping her mouth, she cleaned up her breakfast remains and took it back to the replicator.

“Thank you, Lieutenant, keep me appraised of anything new,” Calliope said as she took her leave of the room. Seeing as she'd barely gotten up to speed as it was, hopefully there wouldn't be anything to speak of between their present coordinates and the station...