Discussing the Cruise

Posted on Thu Jan 16th, 2025 @ 3:22pm by Commander Jonathan Grayson & Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant Commander Shoniara T’ghann-Travis MD & Lieutenant Imik S'Niohun & Lieutenant Inara Senn & Lieutenant JG Kate Kono

Mission: Training Cruise
Location: Conference Room

Deanna was the first to the conference room, making sure everything was ready to go for when the captain arrived. She loaded the information from the PaDD into the computer and readied it everyone to see as needed once the captain was ready to discuss it. She had gotten things prepared on the bridge for departure before coming in, seeing disappoint from L'Rissa when she told her that they weren't departing for another hour. She also had notified the bridge officers of note that they were needed for a briefing in 5 minutes, giving them time to have others cover their stations.

Jon was next into the room and took his customary seat to the right of Shran's at the head of the table. He sat in silence for a few seconds before saying a "Training cruise? We should be out exploring Deanna."

Inara entered the room with a cup of coffee and an actual book. The title; The Divine Comedy - Dante. She sat down and began reading it.

"The captain always likes to remind me at times like these that one should never underestimate the ignorance of Command. The brass like to do things they think are out of the ordinary. Did you take a close look at that list. We have a nepobaby coming aboard, or should I say a nepograndbaby."

The doors to the conference room opened again and Aidan strolled in. "Why are we meeting here? I got the engines primed and ready. I've got everything ready as a matter of fact. I even had them buff and polish the hull."

Jon nodded. "I saw and command is ignorant." He was about to say more when Aidan walked in complaining. "Sit down Lieutenant. All will be made clear very shortly." He told the engineer.

Aidan stopped in his tracks and looked at the two commanders sitting near the head of the table. It was obvious he was thinking of saying something, but he was fighting off the urge. Finally he simply stated, "Aye sir" and took a seat.

Deanna gave a soft chuckle. It was obvious she had picked up on the internal argument the lieutenant had. She looked at Jon, "Oh yes, this is going to go swimmingly. I will bet you that the only person that will think this something positive will be Kate. I don't think anything puts her off that constant sunny disposition. And I want to see who is more upset when they hear about these orders we have between Sam and Inara" she said with a smile, glancing over at Inara to see if she would get a reaction.

Sam took that opportunity to stroll into the room, skin deeply tanned from her time on leave and her hair lightened by the sun. It contrasted with the deep blue of her uniform.

"I'm going to assign the child to clean Xenobiology's sample containers. Not to mention Xenozoology's cages. I'm a scientist, not a babysitter " Inara flipped a page.

"And starting today, you are also a teacher and a mentor Inara." Jon replied to the science officer. Then he turned to greet Sam. "Someone looks to have had a good time on vacation. Did you enjoy yourself Sam?"

Shon entered the conference room like an avenging angel with a hypo in her hand looking for Aiden. "Lieutenant" she said nodding to the surrounding group. "Did you forget your daily visit to sickbay?"

Aiden sighed. "Must've slipped my mind with all the excitement" he replied. "I was going to come down just as soon as things were settled."

"I told you how important your daily treatments are. I could order you back to sickbay but I can see you are going to be busy." She depressed the hypo to his neck and it went off with a satisfying hiss.

Callie entered the room next having dropped off Harry at school, and the twins at the attached nursery. “Good Morning Everyone” she smiled warmly as she took her seat next to Jon.

"Morning sweetie." Jon replied to Callie, the love of his life.

Inara shook her head and flipped a page.

Aidan looked around, "Wait, did I miss a memo? Are we having cadets on this ship?"

"Not just any cadets, Red Squad cadets" Deanna said grimly.

"Really? That will be interesting. I was part of Red Squad when I was a cadet" Aidan said with a smile. "Oh course, that was after the whole lot of them got themselves killed in some sort of training mission during the early days of the war. I wonder who is coming aboard?"

"Morning Jon, Callie." Shon said. "Anything interesting going on?”

"Good morning, Shon. "Just some discussion about our 'guests' Jon replied diplomatically.

“Good morning to you too Shon” Callie smiled warmly at her friend. “I’m as much in the dark as you right now.”

"Did you just say Red Squad?" Inara put down her book. "The same Red Squad that was rumored to have joy-rided with a Federation Starship during the war and got themselves killed. The same smug group of superior punks that made everyone look up at them at the academy." Inara mentioned. "Good goddesses almighty, if they give me that smug smile, I am going to make them scrub plasma conduits." She kept as calm as she could.

The conference room door only made it about half-way open before Kate slipped through, catching the edges of each door before they fully opened which generated a rhythmic twanging sound from the impact. Kate ran straight for a chair and slammed into it like a torpedo, causing the wheels to roll her into the next chair in a domino effect of empty chairs until they were stopped by an occupied chair. She waved happily to the crew as usual.

"Hey everyone, what's up that vacation was awesome I totally got laid yeah so what's the sudden call-to-arms about today? I had the opportunity to look at the crew transfers, but I didn't because it said, 'pending the meeting' and all that jazz so I didn't take a peek, but I bet everyone else did so naturally the Intelligence officer knows the least, but vacation was totally orgasmic!" Kate nodded vigorously as she suddenly realized she needed to catch her breath.

Aidan looked over at Inara, "I think you have the wrong idea about Red Squad. They are the elite of the Academy. I'm sure you realize that not everyone that is part of a group is as bad or good as one you encounter." He then looked over at Kate, "You alright lass? You sound like you had about a dozen cups of coffee while sitting in the warpcore."

"Evidence to the contrary, Lt. O'Connor." Inara sipped. "If they were the elite of Starfleet Academy they'd be alive. I survived four deployments from Chin'toka to Cardassia Prime, so I'd say I'm the elite of Starfleet Academy."

Kate nodded to O'Connor, "Yeah I'm fine. It was just a fun vacation." She looked over to the rest of the room, "I never really heard much about Red Squad I had a specialized education so, I didn't really get the 'Starfleet Academy' experience. Either way! It'll be interesting to see what happens, I'm excited! They seem like a bunch of well educated people. I mean, it's not like they make any major mistakes or anything, right?" Kate looked around with a hopeful expression.

Aidan shook his head. "That is a fallacy lieutenant. I'd expect better logic from a science officer. No one lives forever, especially in a combat zone. You survived the war, and that is admirable, but the fact that they did not doesn't make them lesser. We know only that they were caught behind enemy lines when the war began and survived for a year before being destroyed. I consider it quite the feat they managed to survive that long behind enemy lines. No other ship or unit managed such a feat during the war."

Deanna gave a long glance towards both Inara and Aidan, "Let's not go to war with each other over differing opinions."

Sam watched the discussion ping around the table with a bemused expression. From what she understood, the cadets in Red Squad would be doing part of their on-ship training on the Washington. It would prove interesting to have young people on board and she looked forward to imparting knowledge and leadership through example.

"My job is mostly boring by comparison," Kate said. "Unless something is actually going on, all I can give them is PADD work to show them how to find interesting things in documents and how to find anomalies to help other departments." Kate spun around in her chair a few times while talking. "Ultimately, boring stuff but necessary stuff."

The door opened again and Shran walked in with Imik. The security took her seat as Shran made his way to the head of the table. "As I am sure you have all heard, and based on your faces and the overall demeanor in the room I am sure you have talked about it a bit, we are to be host to a group of cadets and take a short training cruise. We will be going to Vulcan, Andoria, Teller, and then returning to Earth. We will be doing this trip over the course of 2 weeks, while having these cadets perform tasks and be evaluated in their specific departments. It was not my idea, but orders are orders, so we will perform this job with the utmost professionalism and efficiency. These cadets will not be moving around, rather they will be working in specific departments just as they would upon graduation. I have called each of you here because you will all have cadets assigned to you. When practical, use your subordinates to assist you with these cadets."

Shran looked at Deanna and she activated the viewscreen for everyone to take a look at the files. "Now then, let's review who is coming aboard."

The first cadet file appeared on the screen. It was a Ferengi male. "This is Cadet Farek. He'll be manning the helm. Jon, I want you to work with him and have L'Rissa partner with him."

Jon nodded, "Yes sir. I'll inform L'Rissa as well that she will be mentoring, teaching this cadet."

The next cadet appeared, a Bajoran female. "Imik, this one is yours. This is Cadet Krim Leeta, and she is supposed to be the top of the class in tactical. I am certain you and Ayana can handle her." Shran then brought up the next file, a Vulcan female. "Additionally, you will have Cadet Sitak who specializes in security. Feel free to have her work with your security officers. I'd say Phoenix would be a good partner for her."

Imik had been listening quietly as people had arrived, she wasn't her normal self as the loss of the mirror Shran still rankled her. "I will inform Lieutenant Hillis of her arrival, no doubt she will arrange suitable training." As the second cadet was introduced, Imik thought of James and their mission. "Lieutenant Phoenix will be pleased to have some assistance, he has a very busy schedule so this cadet will not be idle within Security."

"Excellent. I knew you would handle this professionally Imik." Shran brought up the next file, a Bolian female. "Kate, this is your shadow, Cadet Minena Haro. I'm told she is particularly handy regarding computer infiltration."

"I'm sure she blew through her training with flying colors at the academy! Looking forward to working with her. I'll try and find some fun things for her to break into!" Kate said.

"I figured you'd be happy about having a colleague" Shran noted as he brought up the next file. "Deanna, this is Cadet Traci Kuzma. She supposedly spends 4 hours a day in holodecks working Operations for every class starship in the fleet. I'm sure you will have some interesting times together."

"Looking forward to it" Deanna said flatly.

The next file came up. "Lt. O'Connor, you pulled the short straw. This is Cadet Sergei Chekov, grandson of Admiral Pavel Chekov. You can imagine how closely his time will be scrutinized."

"Don't worry sir. I'll whip him into shape and make an engineer out of him in no time" Aiden quipped.

Shran chuckled softly. "I'm sure you will lieutenant." He brought up the next file. "Sam, you and Shon get Cadet Viviana del Rio/ She graduates upon completion of this little cruise, and a special bonus is that she will be assigned to our ship, meaning she is going to be the newest doctor in your little slice of heaven here. She is a fully trained doctor with a specialty in xenobiology. Seems she should be able to treat any patient. Admiral Fujiyama informs me that she is in contention for Dr. Zimmerman's next template for the newest version of the LMH, as if that was something we needed to know."

"Geez, sounds like she has a bigger brain than mine" Sam quipped good naturedly. "At least we'll get a look at what she can do before she gets assigned here full time"

Shon had already found a seat. "sounds good to me, we can break her in gently." As usual Shon felt left out.

Shran brought up the next file. "Callie, this next one is yours. This is Cadet Emilia Freud, top of her class. She is particularly good with criminal psychology and abhorrent behaviors."

“An interesting young woman, I’ll look forward to meeting her Sir” Callie smiled warmly.

Shran then brought up the last one and let out a long sigh. It was a Cardassian female. "Inara, this is your trainee, Cadet Iliana Belor. She holds distinctions in geology, chemistry, quantum physics, and xenobiology. You will also take note that she is the first Cardassian that will serve in Starfleet. As you can imagine, all eyes are on her, and that means while she is here, all eyes will be on you as well."

Inara steepled her hands. "Interesting. Very interesting." Inara enjoyed a challenge outside the box, and this was outside the box, and with a cadet who had a deck stacked against her."

"Very well, any questions?" Shran asked and waited to see if anyone had anything to say.

Imik now turned toward Shran, "Ojnas High Command would be interested in placing some of our cadets within this training, do you think Starfleet would allow such a thing?"

Callie looked towards Shran. “With regards our young Cardassian cadet Sir, she’s going to have a lot of pressure put upon her, not just to prove she’s good enough to serve in Starfleet, but simply because she is who she is. I suggest we all bare that in mind, even where our own cadets are concerned. A lot of cadets wash out simply because they feel the pressure to perform is too great.”

"She knows that, Counselor." Inara mentioned. "And she doesn't need anyone patronizing her because of it. What she requires from us is an opportunity to prove herself, as I've found Cardssians to be quite pragmatic. What I am concerned about is the Bajorans we have in this volatile mix. I want to team them up as much as possible and see if they fail, and what they do when they fail. Hmph, Red Squad, They should be disbanded. We needed that ship they got destroyed, and we needed them."

Callie nodded. “Don’t worry Inara she won’t be patronized; I’ll be looking out for problems with any of the cadets.”

"I believe you both make good points" Shran replied. "I do want you to keep a professional look into all of these cadets while they are here Callie, but I don't want them to know about it." He looked to Inara, "I know you don't care for Red Squad, but I won't have prejudices coloring these cadets time here. I'm not thrilled with us doing this sort of thing, but if Command wants us to have these cadets here, they will get a proper experience."

Inara sipped her coffee, wondering plainly even with thoughts Deanna could hear about what the hell, Command was doing to these kids. Twenty-year-olds with their egos so inflated about what they could do, they were not ever taught what they shouldn't be doing. Impressionable fools who would follow every order they were given. 'Dammit... Part of being in Starfleet is knowing when one should say: 'no, sir.' We just ended a war, and now command wants to throw its weight around like nothing happened. Oh, I'll give Starfleet Command a Cadet. I'll give them one that has a crystal-clear moral compass, and the willingness to stand for what's right.' Inara said to herself.

Deanna looked at Inara. She actually understood and even agreed with Inara to a point. Command had created Red Squad as a reward to top cadets, but they constantly mismanaged the group, inflating their egos and pushing aside moral compasses. That was the past though. The loss of nearly the entire team aboard the Valiant had been a sobering moment for Command and those in charge at the Academy. Red Squad had been disbanded for a period of time, nearly the entire duration of the war, and those who brought it back were different brass with little to no connection to the poor choices of the past. She could only hope that things had changed with Red Squad. They would know soon enough.

"How do you want to work this, Sam?" Shon asked.

The doors to the conference room opened and Ayana entered. She quickly walked over to Shran. "Apologies for the interruption sir, but I thought you should be made aware of this" she offered as she handed him a PaDD.

Shran looked over the information. "Thank you, Ayana." Ayana left as quickly as she had entered. Shran looked at Jon as he input information to show everyone. "Good news, we will have two more cadets joining us." He pulled up the information, the files showing a pair of Vulcan female twins. "These are cadets T'Pol and T'Pau. As I just noted, they are twins, which is quite a rarity amongst the Vulcans as you all know. T'Pau is assigned to the medical corps, another for you to handle Sam and Shon. T'Pol will be working in both Operations and Science, and I want you to pay close attention to her Deanna. I might also note, they are the great granddaughters Admiral T'Pol and the granddaughters of captain Saavik and Ambassador Spock, which makes them StarFleet royalty of sorts." Shran couldn't help but let out a small chuckle in exasperation. "Command certainly isn't trying to make this simple."

Shon felt some anxiety and some pleasure that she would be working directly with a full Vulcan. "Sam I would like to have responsibility for our Vulcan cadet?"

"Sure" Sam agrees with a nod.

Deanna looked at Jon to try to signal him about the situation she was sensing in the captain. "We'll handle it sir."

Jon caught Deanna looking at him. Obviously, she wanted to talk to him about something. He gave a subtle nod. They would talk after the meeting.

"When can we expect them?" Shon asked.

"They will be here within the hour. I will greet them when they transport up with Jon and Deanna, and I want security present as well to help escort them to where they will need to go" Shran replied. He looked around at everyone and then nodded, "Alright, let's get to work." He stood up and began to walk out and looked back to Jon and Deanna, "Ten minutes to make preparations."

"Yes sir, ten minutes." He looked over to Deanna, once Shran had left the room. "What did you want to talk to me about Deanna?"

Deanna had a look of concern on her face. She wasn't one to show such things, so it was obvious something was troubling her. "Based on a cursory review of the cadet files and the captain's reactions discussing it, I think it is clear that this is more than just a simple training cruise. Red Squad or not, it isn't every day that Command puts cadets on a Sovereign class ship, especially one with upgrades that are classified and with a captain that once worked for the head of Special Operations and Intelligence. They have cadets going to every key department as well. Either the captain knows something, or he suspects something" she replied.

"Not every day? Deanna, you have a gift for understatement. It is highly unusual to say the least Deanna, highly so." Jon agreed. "Plus, granddaughters to Spock and Saavik along with Admiral Chekov's grandson. Every single one of these cadets is cream of the crop. Why are they all collected here, is the question."

"It is concerning to the captain. I'm sure Callie sensed it as well. As you noted, cream of the crop all congregated in one place. Our new Chief Engineer comes from a multigenerational StarFleet family as well. You'd almost think we were about to have the President or the CnC of StarFleet aboard the ship" Deanna theorized in a somewhat joking fashion. Her face suddenly went white in fear. "You don't think that is it, do you? I mean, we are taking a tour of founding Federation worlds."

Jon shook his head, "Deanna, relax. I don't think the CnC or the President are coming aboard. I think it is more of putting the best cadet on the best ship with the best crew." Jon replied hoping to ease Deana's fears and concerns.

"I hope so. I wouldn't want to have Inara near the President or the CnC when she decides to go into one of her tirades" Deanna quipped. "We better get a move on. Just a few minutes before these cadets come aboard."

Jon nodded in agreement. "I completely agree Deanna. There is no telling what she would say other than the President and CnC getting an earful. Your right, we best get moving, we don't want to set a bad example for the cadets." Jon finished as he and Deanna headed for the transporter room.