Shireikan Ni Au

Posted on Fri 12th Sep, 2025 @ 9:07am by Commander Heriah Rex & Lieutenant Commander Azusa Nakano

1,587 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: From The Ashes
Location: Commander's Office
Timeline: Current

After meeting up with the Captain, Azusa had a few stops to make. Her next stop was that of the bases Executive Officer. She had to get herself put onto the duty roster, and find out the location of her quarters. She also needed to ensure that her quarters came with a cot for when her unborn baby arrives. She had put down for family quarters so she hoped that there were some spare.

She made her way towards the office that the Computer told her was the location of the base's executive officer. Upon reaching the door she rang the chime waiting to be allowed entry.

"Enter," came a voice from within. Heriah was standing behind her desk with a PADD in hand as the door slid open invitingly. She saw the newcomer and recognized her immediately from the roster of new arrivals. Still, she eyed the pips on the collar. "LT Commander Nakano," she said, "Please come in. I've been expecting you. Though Heriah almost seemed as though she had expected to leave her office, she sat down, placing her PADD on the desk, face down.

The doors opened and the young engineer entered the spacious office. The one thing she had already noticed was that rooms on the starbase were huge compared to those on starships.

Nakano could not help but to notice the vase upon the commander's desk. From out the neck stood a pair of lilacs, one red and one black. Them combined smell of them was strangely aromatic; a bit sweet and a bit bitter at the same time.

The smell assaulted her senses immediately. "Yes Commander that's me. I'm reporting in to you as the new Chief of Operations. I've already met the Captain, however I understand you manage the duty roster and crew quarter assignments" Azusa said with a polite bow.

Heriah returned the bow as symbiontic memory, from Refkin Rex, reminded her. "An honor Commander," Heriah said and extended a hand inviting Azusa to sit. She took her seat as Azusa did the same. "Duty Roster, yes I am over that. But not billeting. Aboard a starship, yes, but not a starbase. However," she paused as she was looking at her computer terminal, at Azusa's request for more family-oriented quarters. So far, she had been assigned the standard size as. She quickly looked back at the LT Commander's profile to reaffirm what her eyes had already told her, this one was pregnant.

"However, quarter re-assignment does need to be approved by me. For the two of you," she said with a bit of Joined Trill humor thrown in, "I see no reason to decline this request. Done," Heriah announced as she tapped at her console. "You are but a few doors down from me. Complete with a separate bedroom. Engineering can easily help you convert that to a nursery. Should we be expecting Mr. Nakano?"

"Thank you..." Azusa said. "And no, there is no Mister Nakano. I'm not married or with anyone romantically." She explained. "The father of this one is 'not in the picture' so to speak."

Heriah looked at her. She did not frown, just gave a look of understanding.

'Another deadbeat dad. Sounds familiar.'

"I understand," Heriah said. "He does not know what he is missing I wager. Well, you will certainly see that this place is accommodating and we will work with your schedule as needed when the time comes. Operations-wise, 109 is always busy. Thankfully you have a team working beneath you and you have plenty of people to rely on."

Azusa nodded. "It was a matter of circumstance." She explained. "He wanted to be here for us, however he was forced not to be so. You see he's Betazoid, and his family have a strict 'Betazoid Only' rule. He was forced to leave us."

'Betazoid,' the thought came from Rex, 'the last thing we need is another telepath.'

"You will have family aplenty here I assure you," Heriah said. "We do not let things like culture and family attitude get in the way of doing what is right. I do have an assignment for you, for Operations that is, but for you to oversee and perhaps take part in as well."

Azusa nodded. "Of course. If I remember rightly the Operations on starbases like this also handle most of the Engineering issues as well. That's why I decided on this posting, it's a better environment for my child to be in over a starship and it's a new challenge for myself." She gave her a small smile.

"You may have heard rumors of a Firth Contact scenario we had recently. It appears that an incorporeal sentient lifeform has inhabited the computer core of the USS Thunderchild. That is one of our permanent starships docked here at 109. I expressed my reservations over an AI being given a field commission and such a thing having complete control over a starship to include the entire computer database." Heriah leaned forward. "It has the ability to peruse personal logs at will. It has done exactly that, but after learning a few things, this AI has said it will not do that again. The Captain has ordered weekly reports, updates on the progress of this AI calling itself Alidade, how it functions as a Starfleet officer, its growth as a lifeform in this universe. It apparently crossed a universal boundary to get here. What I would like from you and your department is this. Speak to it, get to know Alidade, give it some assignments, see how it reacts, responds and performs when the Thunderchild goes out on missions, just report any and all back to me and the Captain."

Azusa nodded. "I can do that. How did this AI come around in the first place."

"Well the Thunderchild was involved in a mission and was targeted by a subspace mine. According to sensor logs that is. The crew had to abandon ship and...Alidade..."

'...the AI you mean...'

"...well this AI says it travelled out of a single dimension universe into ours. Since the crew had abandoned ship, it had no guidance but had only the computer core to learn from. You can find it all in the logs from...oh what stardate was it?" Heriah looked at the logs and started scrolling back. "Well, someone entitled the log 'Holy Thundering Thunderchild'. Start there. LT Sufai Kell, in your department, has also been working with it, so you should get more information out of her."

Azusa nodded again. "Sounds like I'll have quite a bit of bedtime reading." She smiled. "What is the current status of the Operations Department? Is there anything I need to be made aware of?"

'Does the term Charlie Foxtrot sound familiar?'

"Um..." Heriah had to withold herself from vocalizing that thought, "Situation is normal, though that does lean on what your definition of 'normal' is. We deal with a lot of non-Federation races here. Allies, just not Federation. And we deal with those opposed to the Federation. We are on fair terms at the moment. We also have a great deal of civilians and refugees aboard 109. Truth be told, we have to massage the regulations from time to time; have to think outside the box. We also deal with non-Federation types seeing as how we are on the fringe of Federation Space and therefore not always able to rely on resupply runs. So, throw much of what you are used to, aboard a starship, out the airlock and take the time you need to adjust to this melting pot of a starbase. Operations is oftentimes a rotating door. Officers and Enlisted alike come and go though we do have many permanent party. So, many faces you will get used to while some you will see a few times then perhaps never again. The department has operated well enough without a department head for some time now. Your team is able to take care of itself. With you here, now, perhaps it could run a bit smoother. Reports and job requests in the queue have been building up lately, but that is nothing new. Aside from that...there not much else I think you need to know."

The young engineer nodded. "Got it. I'm here for a new challenge and to make a fresh start. I can't wait to get stuck into it all."

'100 holodeck credits says she gets overworked in the first week. Works herself into a miscarr...'

"Do not overwork yourself," Heriah broke in on Rex's thought. "You are working for 2 at the moment. Your child is priority, and will have a wonderful home once with us."

"Thankyou sir. It's a big change for me, but I'm looking forward to it."

"If there is nothing else," Heriah said and stood from her desk, "you are dismissed. Do take the rest of the day off. You are already on the work rotation for Central Ops, but we understand if you do not show until next week. Take care of yourself first. Then your team. Central Ops will always be there."

Nodding Azusa pushed herself out of the chair. "Yes sir. Once again thankyou sir." She gave the Trill a small bow, her Japanese custom leaking through before making her way out of the door and onto her new adventure.

 

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