Episode Two: Pre-Mission Rendevouz

OOC:

I have locked the old mission forum, go ahead gentlemen and post up here!

ON:

*USS Starfire*
*Captain's Ready Room*

Richard entered the Ready Room, the asteriod field still fresh in his mind as he walked around the side of his desk and sat down. His display console had the image of Starfleet Command on it with a small 'incoming transmission' icon to the top right of the emblem. Richard reached over and clicked the console, instantly bringing to life an image of Rear Admiral Gregory, Commanding Officer of the Bravo Fleet's Counter-Terrorism Task Force in the Raeyan Sector.

"Commander Marks, I have just recieved a report via your Operations Officer that you have just lost the enemy pirate vessels to an asteriod field, is this correct, Commander?" The Rear Admiral looked very stern, with his salt and pepper eyebrows furrowed together with a deepening frown on his face.

"Aye, sir, we tried our best to tail the enemy scout vessel, to no avail, sir. We just now lost the pirates to the asteriod field as you no likely saw in your report, sir," Richard tried to clear his throat, but only made his throat even harsher to manage.

"Very well, Commander, you and your crew did your very best, I am sure. I will end this transmission now to go and brief the Fleet commander. I hope that mission in the future will run a bit smoother for you, Commander, that is all," and before Commander Marks could say another word in edge-wise, the image of Starfleet Command returned with a blank black background with it.

Richard slumped back in his chair and contemplated for a second what just took place. Richard god back up and walked back onto the Bridge. "Conn, back to the Starbase, warp five, it's time to return back from our shakedown and get a little bit of rest before our first official mission," Richard sat back into his command chair as the ship went into warp.

OFF:

OOC: Go ahead Knoxx and North and post up something if you would like, us getting to the Starbase and you all do some training together on the holo deck or something of that nature, im currently doing some recruitment on the BF forums, if you know anyone interested in joining let me know. thanks guys

*USS Starfire*
*Engineering*

Being Chief Engineer was the fulfillment of a dream for . His engines had performed admirably, even if they had lost the pirates. That could not be laid at the door of the engines.

Lying on his back under one of the connections for the warp engine, Bluehouse contemplated Quantum Slipstream technology. There were those who held that it worked through the skill of the pilot and the frequency of passage over a particular path. If that were true, there was nothing he could do to make Starfire safer. He had no way to judge the competence of any of the pilots on board. The path they had followed after the pirates was definitely not well traveled.

So for the moment, David tended to go with the alternative theory of how warp drive worked. Quantum Slipstream being an area in subspace that is already moving at warp speeds, when Starfire jumped on, it would automatically be at a high warp velocity. Then more warp speed could be added to the ships's normal high warp velocity.

He liked this theory because, mostly, it didn't depend on a pilot's skill at laying in a course. It also was independent of how often anyone else had traveled the path to the unknown point of origin for the pirates. Had SI been able to determine anything from plotting their flight? If they had, had they bothered to tell the captain?

Bluehouse was not a big fan of the Intelligence corps. He'd seen them in action too often. They doled out bits of information as if it were latinum, and didn't seem to bother with figuring out that the people who were 'boots down,' as his Marine friends called it, might need other bits to be successful ... and to survive, of course. But he didn't think Intelligence ever considered the survival of those performing the mission.

He gave a final twist with the ion wrench. "Okay, Stankowski, try that and see what we have," he called to his current assistant. He waited while the man's hands danced across the computer keyboard. He could almost feel the humming of the engine in his bones. It felt right, and he slid out from under the machine even as Stankowski was reporting.

"Sir, that seems to have taken care of the uneven wave. I don't know how you do that. It's like you tap into the engine's core somehow," the ensign said, clearly impressed.

David patted the engine. "Stan, an engine is a living thing. A warp core may or may not be sentient, but she's sure got her moods and can have quite a temper. Being kind to her and showing her respect can't hurt. Just treat her like the lady she is." As he walked away, whistling and thinking about the evening he had planned with his date, whom he thought of as very similar to a warp engine, he left a bemused assistant behind him.

Quantum Slipstream posted by:

*USS Starfire*
*Captain's Ready Room*

Heading up toward the bridge, using the Jeffries tubes and checking on a variety of connections in the conduits as he went, Lt. David Bluehouse eventually arrived outside the door of Commander Marks' Ready Room. He buzzed for entrance.

Richard had just finished his report for the Rear Admiral on the previous mission against the Pirates when he heard the humm of the doors to his ready room. It had been awhile since Richard had taken a break from his reports and reviews. "Enter," Richard exclaimed as he turned his console off, he probably had a feeling that this was one of his new crew members.

Bluehouse heard the welcome and entered the commander's space. "Sir, you wanted a report on the engine performance during our shakedown cruise. I thought I'd take the opportunity to present it personally rather than send a file. Of course, I'll send the file, too." The engineer stood in front of his captain's desk, at attention because he was unsure how formal a man Marks was.

"Very well, Lieutenant, at ease, you don't have to be so formal around here, just as long as you are performing your tasks to standard, we are good," Richard reached over the desk and took the PADD from the younger Engineer officer.

Richard started glancing over the texts, engineering physics was far from his strong point in Starfleet Academy, so Marks halfway acted as if he knew a little about it, when in fact he was partially clueless. "So what do you think, Lieutenant?" Richard asked the chief engineer as he placed the PADD down on the desk.

"Sir, the engines are great," Bluehouse said enthusiastically. "This is my first time on a brand new ship, and of course there were the expected minor breakdowns, all of which are fixed so things are running smoothly, but the engines are so sweet, Commander! They -" David broke off and blushed. "Sorry, Sir, I tend to get carried away about my engines. Everything looks good, though. We could go out into space tomorrow if all you worried about were engines."

Richard's eyebrows rose up as he listened to the fanatical voice of his Chief Engineer. Well at least he is very happy with the engines, that is all that matters. Richard shook away his thoughts and nodded to the Lieutenant. "Very well, Bluehouse, that's all that I needed," Richard reached down and handed the PADD back to the Engineer, "And by the way, Lieutenant our counselor is apparently holding some pre-mission psych-exams. It would be good if you went, just as a precursor to our next mission," Richard turned back on his console display.

"Oh ... uh, yes, Sir. I'll see about that ... right away." Was that an order? David wondered. With a sigh, he decided it was. He'd have to make the time away from his engines.

"That is all, Lieutenant, you are dismissed," Richard looked back to his display where various other deparmental reports where now coming across the screen.

JP by Commander Marks
Captain, USS Starfire

and

He stepped on the bridge. It didn't take as long to ride the turbolift, as it did on the Canada. The bridge was smaller, more efficiant. He studied the few that were on 'Bridge Watch', Chief Petty Officer Michael Dryland was sitting in the Captain's seat.

"where is Lieutenant Knoxx, Chief Dryland?" James Inquired.

The chief gave him a startled look. "He's on the Starbase doing something with the Marines."

"Ah, yes.' James said. "Security is training with the Marines...Good, it with help the both of them." Hopefully it would stop the rivalry between them, that had existed on the other ships he had served on. This rivalry was illogical. Part of it had to do with the mystic of the Corps. When he was a Marine, on the odd occasion that a Star Fleet person had to venture down to Marine Country, and it was often someone below Petty Officer, they would show up with wide eyes and clear nervousness, like they were entering the Valley of the Shadow of Death...Obviously, Grandfather's imagination had rubbed off on him...But, it was correct, though the Corps training was different, and the main difference was their 'can do' attitude and the fact it was drilled in to them through tails and stories of Marines past, they, the Marines , and the people in Security were much alike. Maybe the curtain that separated the Marine Corps from Star Fleet would be opened, at least with the Starfire's Marines and Security Detachment.

Chief Dryland stareted to eye Lt. Palfrey, "Ah, sir. May I ask who you are...and how you know my name?"

"Yes" Jame answered. "I am Lt. Palfrey, your new First Officer, Lt. Baker's replacement."

"Baker's gone?"

Palfrey looked down on the CPO. "Yes she has been given a command elsewhere."

"Good! She deserved it." The Chief seemed happy.

"Yes" James said, "I now relieve you from the con. And please inform the Captain, I am on station. "

"Aye, sir."

Lt. James Palfrey took the seat...It meant nothing to him.

*USS Starfire
*Chief Counselor's Office, Deck 5

Humming under her breath, Kirsten McLeod spritzed the leaves of her office tree and wiped the leaves. The ionic properties of the room would keep it dust free, but it had been through quite a transition since her last duty station, and she wanted to give it a little extra TLC.

Finished, she tossed the cloth into the recycler and looked around the office. It seemed welcoming with the old fashioned quilt hanging on the wall, the tree in the corner, and the soothing colors of baby blue, light gray and forest green.

The counselor sat down at her desk. She'd put it off long enough, and no one had knocked on her door. Time to start calling in the crew members on the list the captain had given her, men and women in sensitive positions, or positions of responsibility were first. The other crew members could be handled by the staff, but these she would see herself.

She pulled up the list she had transferred from her PADD to the main computer. Running her eyes down the names, she halted at the Chief Engineer. "Bluehouse," she mused. "Interesting name. But what are the chances it's the same man I knew?"

Opening the file, Kirsten saw the man's whole name and the Starfleet file picture. "Son of a prophet," she said. "It's the same Bluehouse or his doppleganger from a parallel universe!" Examining her feelings, she decided she would be glad to see him. They'd been good friends before, and there was no reason they couldn't be now.

She looked up as the door chime rang. "Come in!" she called.

Posted by:

*USS Starfire
*Counselor's Office, Deck 5

Chief Engineer Bluehouse took the 'lift to Deck 5. The Captain had ordered him to find the time for a psych eval, and he was on his way. He wasn't uncomfortable with the idea of psych - he figured he was as sane as anyone - but finding the time, that was the rub. There were a lot of things left to be checked in engineering. Sure, he'd told the captain the ship was ready for a new mission, and it was. That didn't mean there wasn't a long list of things he wanted to test before they came into contact with pirates again.

Still, an order was an order, so he stepped out onto Deck 5 and moved down the corridor toward the Chief Counselor's Office. He stopped for a moment to pull down his vest before pressing the anunciator.

Doctor McLeod looked up from the report she was dictating. "Come in," she called. A tall good-looking man entered her office, dressed in Engineering gold.

Noting his rank pips, she said, "Oh, you must be Lt. Bluehouse. Welcome! Have a seat. Could I get you something to drink?" She pushed a plate of cranberry-orange oatmeal cookies toward him. "Care for a cookie?"

Bluehouse took a quick glance around the office. It was neat and attractive, with a plant in the corner. He took the seat in front of the counselor's desk and reached for a cookie. "Sure, I'm not dumb. I never turn down free food. A glass of milk would go good with cookies," he grinned.

McLeod couldn't help smiling back at him. His cheer was infectious. She stood and replicated a glass of milk, which she set in front of him before sitting back down. "What can I do for you today?" she asked.

Bluehouse washed the first cookie down with half the glass of milk. "I came for the psych eval the captain wanted," he said. Taking another cookie, he added, "I came to let you see that I'm a fully functioning nut job."

Kirsten laughed. "Yeah? Well, let me ask a few questions and we'll see if I agree with the fully functioning part or the nut job part, shall we?"

Bluehouse finished off the second cookie, realizing he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. "Ask away, Lieutenant Doctor. I'm yours for the next ... well, however long it takes."

Psych Eval JP by:

Dr. Kirsten McLeod
Great cookie maker

and

First Officer, Lt. Palfrey
Bridge, USS Starfire

The Chief Strategic Operations Officer stepped on to the bridge.

"Ahh, Mister Frelj." Palfrey coolly looked at the CSOO. "You may have the con."

"And you are?" the Trill looked confused.

"Your new First Officer." Palfrey replied, without elaboration. "I must report to the Captain."

Palfrey used the computer to locate Commander Marks.

OFF: Sorry for such a short one.

A joint post by
Commander Richard Marks, CO
and
Lieutenant James Palfrey, XO
USS Starfire, TF-58, Bravo Fleet

ON:

[USS Starfire]
[Captain's Ready Room]

Richard took another sip of his hot tea, it had been awhile since the last time he took a break from all the reports that just seemed to keep piling up on his console. The days kept getting longer and longer it seemed for him, he was about ready to go into a manic state if he didn't get the ship going on some kind of mission. He decided that first thing in the morning he would contact his higher ups and see about getting the Starfire and her crew a good mission of some kind.

Marks thoughts where interrupted by the low chirp of the door buzzer as someone requested entrance into the ready room. "Enter," Marks let out, setting his tea to the side and shutting off his console, as he knew that this must be yet another new crew arrival, it just had to be. Marks was definitely hoping that it would be Lieutenant Baker's replacement, she had been reassigned to a new starship and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and given another position as Executive Officer, it seemed she was destined for command soon.

A Lieutenant wearing the red collar of the command department, entered. He was a Vulcan. He came to a halt in front of the Commander's desk, came to attention, almost like a Marine. "Lieutenant Palfrey reporting for duty, Sir. My service record and command certification have been entered into the ship's computer and I am ready for duty. Mister Frelj needs to be relieved from the con, Sir."

"Very well, Lieutenant. It is good to meet you, I hope that the two of us can work well together in our many voyages across the Raeyan Sector," Marks extended his hand to shake the Vulcan's hand.

"Yes, Sir. By your leave, Sir." Palfrey requested.

"Dismissed," Richard responded after shaking the Vulcan's hand. But before the Lieutenant could get to the door, "Oh and Lieutenant, make sure that we get another update from the Engine Room and an updated systems check from Ops, our ship might be deploying fairly soon," Richard clicked on his console and picked back up his cup of hot tea, now cold.

OFF:

A joint post by
Lt. Bluehouse and Lt. Palfrey

*USS Starfire
*Engineering

Things in Engineering had quieted down in the last day or so. The few systems which hadn't worked as Bluehouse wanted had been examined for cause and computer diagnostics had turned up some small things which needed tightening up. Not tightening in the sense of using a wrench, which was David's favorite method of fixing things, but in the sense of modified programming. He could do that with the best of them, but it wasn't nearly as satisfying as getting his hands into things. He thought about that a moment. Maybe that's what's wrong with some of these engineers. They rely too heavily on the computer and don't know enough about the physical system they're messing with.

=^= Incoming call from Lt. Palfrey, =^= his PADD informed him.

"I'll take it in the Engineering Office," Bluehouse said, heading that way.

The Chief Engineer entered his office, and tapped the console. A very serious looking Vulcan appeared on the screen. "Yes, Lieutenant," Bluehouse said.

"I'm calling for a status report from Engineering." The First Officer said.

"Ah, it's a report you need, is it then? Most systems are running at peak efficiency. I still have to realign the tractor beam generators to dissipate the nucleogenic decay in the singularity. However, that shouldn't take too long." David looked at the list he'd made on his PADD. "Next in order of importance is re-calibrating the emission of gravitons to the shield generators to stop a chain reaction in the nucleocentric containment matrix."

Palfrey was standing at the engineering console, as Lt. Bluehouse gave his report, the First Officer was looking at it on the console. Not to recheck Bluehouse's work, he knew the type of engineer that Bluehouse was, an eccentric generous, the type that often thought out side of parameters. Like, V'chatar, and, his counterpart Einstein and a few others. He knew as long as he could make sure that the Lt. did not do anything experimental with out his 'advice', the Chief Engineer could do great things for this ship.

Bluehouse laughed, "That's a lot worse sounding than it is. One of the things about engineering that I love is how awful the simplest tasks can sound. That's just a simple adjustment of the Plasma Interference Coil, really. Other than that, the only important thing on the list is the Axial Polarization Matrix. A little tweaking, and it will be fine. None of that is going to keep the ship from moving from point A to point B, so we're good to move this hulk out among the stars whenever you executive types declare it's time."

"Yes." Palfrey said, dryly. "Though, you might want to re-calibrate the graviton emissions to .00000079 instead of .00000078. I believe it will set the shield generators to, how do you say it?...Dead on."

ON:

Lucian Knoxx walked down the hall and stopped and the counsolers door. After talking to Commander Marks Lucian was ordered to do a pre-mission psych evaluation. He knocked on the door and sighed. He hated shrinks.

"Come in," called Dr. McLeod, looking up from her perusal of crew medical files. From the look on the man's face, he was anything but happy to be standing in her office.

"Have a seat," she said, leaning back in her chair. "I get that look a lot. Would you like a cookie?" she pushed a plate of cranberry orange oatmeal cookies toward him. "I made them myself this morning."

"Now, tell me where the pain is, let me see if I can help you get rid of it," she said, looking amused.

Lucian gave the doctor a cold hard stare, "No thank you. I'm not a fan of oatmeal. Any way I'm here for the exam, not to trade pleasantries and pastries. Just get on with the exam so I can get back to work."

Lucian walked across the room and sat in the chair. "Where do we begin?"

"You already began," Kirsten said, all business now. "I have a good idea of your mental acuity and your personality score. Tell me about the work you are so anxious to do that you have no time to be pleasant to another member of your crew."

Lucian sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Sorry for being irritable. Since we lost the pirates, I've been on edge. I don't do well with failure. And as for work I'm heading to a training exercise with Commander North." Lucian looked at the doctor awaiting her response.

"Apology accepted," she said promptly. "Are you saying that you think it's your fault the pirates got away?" the doctor asked, leaning back and turning a stylus between her fingers. It was a mindless habit and after a moment, she put the stylus down and waited for the 2XO's answer.

"I'm not saying it was anyone in particular's fault. As a whole, the ship failed Her first mission. To the rest of Bravo fleet, we are nothing more than a laughing stock," Lucian said with no emotion. "I do not enjoy failure."

"Hmmm," Kirsten said noncommittally. Mentally, she thought perhaps it was Knoxx who thought the mission was a failure and he admitted he didn't like failure. "What made it a failure in your eyes? The ship came home in one piece, didn't it?" She hadn't been there for the first mission, but she hadn't heard any negative comments about the ship as she prepared to join the crew.

"Well," Lucian started. "We did not manage to catch the pirates, or find where their hide out was. Yes, we did manage to complete our primary objective of protecting the Raeyons, but we failed the secondary objective. One ship managed to get away." Lucian gave a blank stare at the doctor awaiting any response.

"So you're saying that you are a total failure because you weren't a total success?" the doctor asked.

Lucian sighed, "I wasn't aware I said it was a total failure. I'm saying we, as a whole, could do better. Which is why I intend to put my men through some additional training. So no one goes soft."

"Alright, let's leave that for the moment," Dr. McLeod said. "Tell me a little about what you do to relax, in your spare time."

"What spare time? what time I have off I use to catch up on sleep or spend training in the holo deck alone. Most of the time it's fencing. My adopted father trained me when I was younger and I took hold and ran with it. I've won quite a few championships."

"Alright, that sounds healthy enough." Kirsten sat up straight in her chair. "I'll send my report to the captain, but I imagine you can keep your job. Thank you for coming in."

Lucian stood up and shook the doctors hand, "Thanks for making this quick and painless. It was a pleasure meeting you." Lucian walked out into the hall, checked his watch, then left for his office

A JP by Lieutenant McLeod and Lieutenant Knoxx

A Joint Post by
Lieutenant Kirsten McLeod
and
Lieutenant James Palfrey

ON:

There were many sayings and cliches when it came to the concept of time.
'Oh, how time flies',
'a stitch in time',
'short on time.'
In Palfrey's case the later seem to fit. Though the Captain made the decisions on where the ship went and what ship's goals were, it was the First Officer that had to find the way that the Captain's orders would be fulfilled. Though each department could operate their own, and they were good at it, the pieces still had to be coordinated into a whole. It was like an orchestra. Each section sounded good by itself, but, to have a symphony, you had to have a conductor. James was that conductor.

As it was, it had taken almost two days of near constant work getting things prepared for the Starfire's departure before Palfrey could find the time to visit the ship's Counselor. He tapped his badge. "Lt. Palfrey to Counselor McLeod."

"This is Dr. McLeod. How can I help you today, Lieutenant?" Kirsten answered, pausing in her dictation to answer the call.

"Would you have time in the next eighteen minutes to do my evaluation?' James asked. "Also, I could then get a report on you're progress so far, with the crew."

"You want all of that in eighteen minutes, Sir?" she asked. "I'm sure we can do it and have time left over."

Six minutes later, after she let him in, Palfrey stepped through the Doctor's door.

"I had meant," James said, "Would you be prepared in eighteen minutes? I had set aside that, and an hour to accomplish our goals. As it is, we now have one hour and sixteen point four minutes."

The doctor smiled slightly at the Executive Officer. "Ah, a man of precision. I should have known. You are, after all, Vulcan, and that species is well known for precision." Kirsten had spent some time examining the crew files, particularly the officers she was expected to evaluate, so she had expected a Vulcan to walk through the door. However, the Lieutenant was not completely what she'd imagined.

"Have a seat, Sir, and if Vulcans enjoy such things, help yourself to a cookie or two. There is sugar in them, and I'm afraid I don't know exactly how Vulcans feel about sugar," she said. The offer of cookies received a variety of responses from people, and it was usually predictive of other behaviors. "Shall I report first, or do your evaluation first?"

The First Officer took one of the one of the disks, took a bit. "Humm, interesting. Though, I have had Earth food in Marine field rations before, I don't believe they ever came with this type of cookie. An intriguing flavor."

Palfrey didn't take another bite of the cookie...he didn't give it up either. "I believe we should do the evaluation first."

They talked quite a bit about his past.

What effects did the Kaleb incident have on Palfrey. Though most people in Star Fleet did not know about what happened on Kaleb, it only seemed logical, that the subject came up. Counselor McLeod then asked the question that came up during the inquiry. Why didn't he lodge a protest? And the answer was the same. It was the logical thing to do at the time.

She asked a few more questions, writing on her padd at a furious rate.

Why did he resign from the Star Fleet Marine Corps?

Why did he, later, rejoin? This time in Star Fleet?

Palfrey had never gone through the Kolinahr ritual. Though a follower of Surak, James had become a member of a small, but growing, group of Vulcans, who believed that an important part, of a Vulcans personal growth, lay in the study of Human emotion. Spock had, through example, proven this.

Soon, the session was over.

"Well Lt., I believe your fit for duty." McLoud stated.

"Thank you, Counselor." Palfrey replied. "Now, about that report..." He had finished the cookie.

*USS Starfire
*Counselor's Office

"Oh, the report. That would be a report on how the psych evaluations are going?" Kirsten stalled a little, just to organize her thoughts. Her hand was sore from writing on the PADD. Usually she let it record the sessions, but for some reason it didn't seem to be working correctly today. Have to have the engineer take a look at it for her. No doubt there was some gizmo or other which was not function properly, needed a tweak, whatever that mean in engineering-speak.

"Most of the officers are coming by with no difficulty, Sir. I've had to round up a few wherever I could find them. I'd say about half the evaluations are finished. So far, no one appears to be unfit for duty, or in danger of becoming so.

"The incident with the pirates has damaged quite a few egos, of course, but egos heal ... and pretty quickly generally. A successful mission would certainly help things along, naturally, but they'll be fine. For now, working the officers hard would probably go a long way toward getting things back on track," she smiled at the XO. "Work has a way of doing that.

"As for the rest of the crew, my team tells me that the petty officers are almost finished, and probably around half of the enlisted personnel have been through. The smallest percentage to come in is from the Marines, but that's normal. The tough ones fall the hardest."

Kirsten took a moment to think about the evaluations she'd completed. "I do see high stress levels among most of the officers. I think it might be a good idea to have some sort of relaxation scheduled soon - nothing like a party, that's not relaxing for a lot of folks. Perhaps an officers' movie night or some sort of sports thing - basketball in the holodeck. I leave the details to you, but your crew is stressed."

"I think that's all for now, but I'll have a formal written report for you when the evals are finished, of course," Lt. McLeod finished.

A JP by CPT North and LT McLeod

ON:

*USS Starfire, Deck 5
*Chief Counselor's Office
*late morning

Kirsten had just finished replenishing the plate of cookies when there was a chime at the office door. "Enter!" she called, turning to set the plate of chocolate chunk cookies on the desk. She alternated between orange-cranberry oatmeal and chocolate chunk.

As the doctor took a seat behind her desk, she looked toward the door and saw a medium-sized Marine captain with a particularly bland expression enter. Ah, someone who isn't sure if I bite the heads off my victims or not.

The message on his LCARS had made it clear to North that the eval needed to be done sooner or later; it might as well be sooner, when it wouldn't interfere with something important. Malcolm entered once the lieutenant called and took a seat. Psych evals were not something he particularly looked forward to; they always seemed to come down to some fleetie non-com trying to decide whether or not he was capable of doing his job.

"Welcome. Have a seat. Here for your psych evaluation?" she asked with a cheerful smile. "It doesn't hurt a bit, I promise. Have a cookie," she pushed the plate closer to the other side of the desk.

"No thank you lieutenant, I already ate. Shall we begin?"

Right down to it. "Of course," the doctor said, all business now. "Tell me about your stress levels, Captain. How are things going in your command?"

North had to hide a smirk. He'd had minimal time to stand-up a marine detachment, for a new ship, and from stratch. The detachment was understrength, under-equipped, and composed almost entirely of troops who had never seen combat. He would be expected to take this unit into Hell and bring them all back. What SHOULD his stress levels be?

"My stress level is managable." he said, not really answering the question.

Dr. McLeod made a note on her PADD. "Evasive on stress."

"You think you can pull the unit together from the disparate groups coming onboard?" she asked. She didn't know a lot about the Marines, just noticed that they came from all over, as she looked through the groups of crew. She did know leadership qualities, and this man screamed 'responsibility' and 'accountability' from every angle.

"My men are marines; they're professionals; they're taught from day zero to forget their differences and work together. I'm pushing the MarDet hard, giving them training that will build camaraderie and espirit de corp. The MarDet is pulling together well, and I believe my marines will perform above most people's expectations." he replied, although he put an inflection on the word 'most', as if he wasn't included in 'most'.

Kirsten nodded, hearing in his voice both the pride in his Marines and the determination to make them the best. He would be a hard task master, but she had a feeling the men would find it worth the effort. "And what about you? Are you taking time for yourself, time to relax now and then, or simply pushing hard until you fall down?"

"I'll relax when op tempo permits, lieutenant, but for now I have responsibilities. But I know what I need to keep myself from becoming combat ineffective. I keep myself functional."

The doctor made another note on her PADD and nodded. She looked up at North and half-smiled. "Another time, I'd like to discuss with you exactly how you do that, Captain. For now, I'll mark you fit for duty and you can return to your responsibilities. Thank you for coming in so promptly."

Malcolm nodded and stood.

"Maybe Lieutenant. Maybe."

OFF: