Checking in with the Commodore

Posted on Mon Feb 3, 2020 @ 9:23pm by Lieutenant Zekori Dosan & Commodore Michael Aravan & Petty Officer 1st Class Ben Efits

Mission: The Nanjing
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1 || 0900 Hours

Lieutenant Zekori Dosan stepped off the transporter pad. The transporter technician looked from her console, "Welcome aboard the Triumphant, Lieutenant."

The incoming Bajoran Chief Operations Officer nodded his head curtly to the technician, "Thank you, crewman." He approached her console, "I'm Lieutenant Zekori, your new Operations Chief. How long have you been aboard the Triumphant?"

"Three months, sir." The crewman smiled. "Good to have you on board, sir."

"Thank you. Happy to have you on the team, Crewman?"

"Crewman Porter, sir, Crewman Janine Porter." the Transporter technician nodded her head, "Thank you sir."

"I better go report to the Commodore. Be seeing you," Dosan turned aside and left the Transporter Room.

[ Bridge ]
[ Momentarily Later ]

The Chief Operations Officer stepped off the Turbolift. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to focus on the bridge activity. He reopened and took a few steps towards the center of the bridge.

A Petty Officer First Class near the turbolift doors cleared his throat gently. "Excuse me, Lieutenant," he said. "Can I help you?"

"The Commodore," Zekori replied.

"What about him?" Ben asked.

The Lieutenant looked over at the Petty Officer with a slight annoyance, "I am Lieutenant Zekori Dosan, the incoming Chief Operations Officer."

"Ah. One moment, please," Ben requested politely as he pulled up a file on his console. "Ah, yes. You're expected. He's in the Ready Room, Lieutenant." The Petty Officer gestured to a door on the left side of the bridge.

The Lieutenant's eyes moved with the movement of Ben's hand towards the door on the left side. His eyes returned and made direct eye contact with the Petty Officer, "Thank you, Petty Officer." He walked towards the door and pressed the interface.

"Enter," came a deep male voice as the doors slid open.

The incoming Chief Operations Officer adjusted and straightened out his uniform and tunic before entering the Commodore's Ready Room.

Michael stood at the head of a long conference table that had the surface of an LCARS and the Lieutenant's personnel file was on it. He looked up and gave a nod. "Lieutenant Zekori? I'm Commodore Aravan. Have a seat, please." He indicated any of a dozen seats of deep faux leather around the table. The walls of his ready room were lined with shelves and had bonsai trees of every species discovered on them.

"Lieutenant Zekori, yes sir." Lieutenant walked towards the conference table and approached the table, "thank you sir." He stood behind one of the chairs across from the Commodore. He would wait until the Commodore took a seat himself.

"Tell me, how does one go from the Bajoran Resistance to the Bajoran Militia, to Starfleet?" Michael asked. "I'm not looking for the obvious answers, Lieutenant. I want to know what led you here."

"Atonement," Zekori replied. "I was born during the Occupation like many Bajoran. Like many Bajoran children, I saw my father murdered before my eyes, Commodore. I didn't know life existed outside of the Ratosha labor camp. I didn't know what it was like to play, and be a child. I didn't know peace until Cardassians left my homeward after they had pillaged it beyond recognition."

The incoming Chief Operations Officer took in a breathe and then continued, "When the Higa Metar resistance cell liberated the Ratosha. I saw Cardassians and Bajorans alike gunned down in fire. I was scared, I didn't know if I wanted to leave the camp for a world I was born on that was alien to me outside of that camp. Freedom felt unsafe and uneasy. My mother took an active role with the cell before her death. Orphaned by destruction, famine and oppression, I had a new family to call my own."

"There were things that I regret doing but that is between the prophets and myself. A lot of Bajorans got a second chance to join the Militia to build a stronger Bajor. I did. I was involved with several of the soil reclamation projects on Bajor and I took the first chance I got to join Starfleet."

The Commodore listened to the story he had heard so many Bajorans tell, each with a different flavor. With Bajor being so near Deep Space 10, he wondered why the man didn't stay, but knew everyone needed time away.

"Why Operations in particular?" he asked.

Zekori rose both of his hands in front of him. He glanced down, "It was a part of my atonement, Commodore. Like many Bajorans who joined the Militia, I needed to reinvent myself. I needed to do something different with these hands, I was nothing but a child when I first took my first life with these hands." Dosan looked down at them and slowly lowered them down to his sides as he relived the horrors of one of the darkest times of his life. "I found myself with a newfound appreciation for rebuilding things, tinkering with computer systems. While we reclaimed our soil the Cardassians turned toxic, I reclaimed my life like many others."

"It sounds like it's been a difficult road, but I applaud your progress, Lieutenant," Michael said. "I've known other Bajorans who are still working on the first part of that, even after all these years. How would you feel about working with a Cardassian?"

"It definitely has been, Commodore," Lieutenant Zekori nodded his head slightly, "Professionally, I wouldn't have any problems in working with a Cardassian."

"Do you have any questions for me, Lieutenant?" the Commodore asked.

The Bajoran nodded his head, "I have several questions for you, Commodore."

"Ask away," he invited.

"What is the current status of the ship?"

"In what way?" Michael asked as he moved his hand over the table interface and a three dee holographic image of the ship appeared over the table.

"Operational status?" Dosan looked at the holographic projection across the table. He studied the design of the table. He accessed the control panel next to him to see what the current version of software is, "On an unrelated side-note: have you noticed any lag of any kind in recent months while using your holographic display and live-feed events from across the ship?"

When he accessed the control panel, nothing happened at all. Michael gave him a look. "Nothing will work for you except turbolifts and basic queries until I've entered you into the computer, Lieutenant. As far as operational status goes, we're at one hundred percent. We did have some issue with the holo emitters several missions ago, and the EMH, but our last refit which finished several days ago took care of everything."

"Of course." Zekori nodded. Zekori just felt a bit restless with his hands being far from the controls. "Glad to hear that our operational status is at one hundred percent, Commodore. What is the current status of the Operations Department?"

"You'd want to talk to Master Chief Barnes in Engineering about that, but the reports say everything is one hundred percent. Barnes was the last Chief of Operations before your arrival." Michael said.

"I'll go speak with the Master Chief about the status of the Operations Department. I believe that covers all of my questions, Commodore."

Michael entered in the authorization for the Lieutenant and gave a nod. "Then I'll let you get to it," he said. "Welcome aboard."

"Thank you sir. Glad to be here." Zekori rose to his feet and took his leave of the Commodore to attend to other matters.