Diplomatic Pause

Posted on Thu Jun 25th, 2020 @ 1:27pm by Lieutenant Elijah Mitchell & Commander Temperance Zachary

Mission: Episode 04: "Tempest"
Location: Diplomatic Office | Deck 07
Timeline: Day 1 at 0920

Temp hit the chime to the door of the office of the Chief Diplomatic Officer and then took a step back, straightening her jacket while she waited. The CDO was someone she hadn't had the opportunity to meet yet, but with the crew returning from leave and getting ready for departure, she was making a point of meeting all the senior staff in person before departure to make sure that she was both familiar the crew, and making sure everyone had what they needed.

Lieutenant Mitchell had arrived onboard an hour earlier via shuttlecraft, per Lieutenant Sheridan's suggestion. Upon arrival, he'd discovered that his staff consisted of himself and the Diplomatic Yeoman. That was less than ideal but there was little point complaining about it. He would submit a request for additional staff through the proper channels but there was little hope of receiving anyone else prior to departure from Starbase 11, though his conversation with Lieutenant Sheridan may have provided a glimmer of hope.

The CDO was standing behind his desk quickly sorting through a pile of PADDs on his new desk when the door chime sounded. "Yeah! What?!" He called already feeling stressed and frustrated.

The frustration in his voice was evident the moment he spoke. Stepping through the doors, Temperance glanced around quickly before her gaze settled on him. "Lieutenant Mitchell, is this a bad time?" she asked softly.

"Depends on what you want." Mitchell shot back as he continued to sort through the PADDs. It was only when he looked up at the woman who'd just entered his office and caught sight of the provisional rank insignia that adorned her collar that his frustration turned to panic mixed with embarrassment. He set the PADD he was holding to one side and straightened up. "I'm sorry, Commander." Letting out a sigh he explained, "Your diplomatic department isn't in the shape that I thought it would be."

"In that case, I guess what I want is to see what I can do to help," Temperance smiled warmly as she walked further into the room. "You have my apologies for the state of the department." She clasped her hands behind her back and glanced around. "Now, what can I do to help set things right?"

Elijah would appreciate any help the XO could provide but Starfleet wasn't good at moving quickly on personnel issues and she would struggle just like Eli. "I appreciate any help you could provide, Commander. Diplomatic departments aren't usually mission critical so when there's no CDO in post, no-one really notices when they fall into disrepair. At the moment it's just myself and the Yeoman. If we could find a Diplomatic Chief, I could make do for the time being." Diplomatic Chief's were skilled in many areas but first and foremost, they were protocol experts and invaluable to any CDO. "I also have an idea of how to fill the Public Affairs Officer billet but that's a discussion for another time and involving more people."

"I'll contact Command and see what I can do," Temperance said with a smile. "As you're probably aware things don't often work quickly, but maybe we'll get lucky. Now, what else can I help with?"

Eli nodded appreciatively. "Right now, I'm afraid there's not much you can do. I need to go through everything, get myself up to speed and I'm sure I'll be asking for more help in the coming days." He glanced down at the PADDs on his desk. He had a lot of work ahead of him. "Do you have any idea what Starfleet has in mind for us?"

"Captain Drell will be arranging a staff briefing as soon as we've departed the Starbase and bring everyone up to speed. Honestly even I am not fully across everything right now, but our orders have come straight from Command." Temperance glanced around the office curiously. "I do know our initial direction takes us toward Tholian space."

Mitchell could already feel his stomach tying itself in knots at the mention of the Tholians. He was hoping his first assignment as CDO would be something easy, instead the Vesta was due to head towards Tholian space. The Tholians were incredibly xenophobic and fiercely protective of their borders. "I'll start reviewing everything the Diplomatic Corps has on the Tholians, just in case."

"I don't anticipate we'll be finding too much in the way of drama," Temperance said with a reassuring smile. "More details will be available soon, but have you ever heard of a Cardassian named Breloc Tejar?"

Mitchell nodded hesitantly. He was certain that Tejar's name was on several wanted lists but he didn't want to put voice to that belief only to be wrong and look like an idiot. Hedging his bets he replied, "The name rings a bell but I can't quite place it."

"More information will be provided by the Captain I'm sure, but it seems he's the target of our next mission. The Cardassian Government has requested assistance from The Federation to locate him so he can be held accountable for war crimes," Temperance explained quietly. "Intelligence has given key places of interest that he's either been spotted or provides a likely hiding place for him. We're investigating one of those places. If we do locate him, well, we have no idea what to expect."

Eli nodded. "I'll get some research done and prepare a briefing packet for the senior officers." He told her as he began putting together a mental todo list and prioritising the tasks on it. "I appreciate the heads up, ma'am."

"The Captain will call a briefing as soon as he's ready, but I figured it'll be good to have a bit more information to arm ourselves with from the outset. I don't know about you, but I don't relish the prospect of finding myself on the wrong side of a Cardassian war criminal." Temperance shook her head momentarily. "If you need anything else though, please let me know and I'll do what I can to assist."

Elijah wasn't sure which option he found worse; coming face to face with the Tholians or with a Cardassian war criminal. 'Tholians.' He told himself. Definitely Tholians. "I appreciate that ma'am. I may come to you later with a few requests. I just need to get to grips with things down here first."

"Very well, I'll leave you to it," Temperance said as she rose gracefully from her chair. "My door is always open..." she paused before walking out of his office, turning back to face him. "Oh, and Lieutenant? Welcome to the Vesta," she said with a smile before disappearing.

Eli had already returned to sorting through the PADDs on his desk. When the XO spoke again, he looked up and smiled as he watched her leave. That smile quickly disappeared as the enormity of his situation hit him. This was Eli's first department head billet. He would have preferred a fully staffed and resourced department that would allow him to gain some experience in the role. Instead he was being thrown in at the deep end and expected to swim. The fear that he would instead sink was very present in his mind. He tried to banish that thought and focus on the task at hand.