Transfer to the USS Wayfarer

Posted on Sun May 29th, 2022 @ 3:08am by Lieutenant JG Patra Rommel & Captain Akeno Misaki

Mission: Arista
Location: Starbase 83 and USS Wayfarer
Tags: Capt. Akeno Misaki

Newly minted Lieutenant j.g. Patra Rommel slide on her genuine leather bombardier jacket with the motto of the SS Nostromo: "When IT ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVATELY NEEDS TO BE THERE" surrounding the image of the SS Nostromo. hefted her duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder. She had spent two weeks on Starbase 83 waiting for the USS Wayfarer to arrive in port. She was being transferred from the USS Sydney and her position as head of the Damage Control Engineering Teams to being a Structural and Environmental Specialist on the USS Wayfarer. She just shrugged at the thought, it was not like she didn't know the engineering aspects of structural and environmental systems.

She toke a stick of cherry gum out of the pocket of the jacket and began chewing. Should help with the cotton mouth she thought. Boy oh boy the engineering crew of the Sydney sure did give her a two week send off party. With a small sigh she placed her grimy, dark blue baseball cap with the symbol of the Federation Merchant Marine and the motto "To maintain the economic health and strength of the Federation and all of its members." in golden stitching on her head, picked up the PADD with her orders, and left the guest quarters she had been assigned while on Starbase 83. She quickly glided through the crowded hallways making her way to the docking bay and main gangplank leading to the USS Wayfarer.

She made her way down the gangplank to the main hatch of the Wayfarer she caught a young male human security guard by surprise. He quickly saluted "May I help you?" he inquired.
She returned the salute, "Yes you may, I am Lieutenant Patra Rommel and I am reporting for duty on the USS Wayfarer. Permission to come aboard?" she said then blew a bubble out of her gum , smacking it back in, and handing the young security ensign her PADD.

The security Ensign took the PADD and quickly scrolled through the orders "Permission granted. The Captain request you report immediately to the ready room upon arrival to the ship, Ma'am." he replied in a crisp and curt manner.

Oh boy, wonder if my new CO heard about that small tussle in the bar the other night she thought as she made her way through the ship and towards the Captain's ready room. She found a turbolift and stated curtly "Bridge" she felt the turbo lift begin to move and was mentally taking note of the feel and sound of the turbolift took her to the bridge. Suddenly the turbolift came to a halt and the doors swished open.

Before her was the bridge with the bare minimum of staffing to man it while the ship was docked. She quickly made her way to the ready room door and hit the buzzard to announce her presence.

"Come in" Akeno called from the other side of the door. With being docked and repairs underway, she was no stranger to regular visits from the crew. Plus, she had asked all new crew members to report to her on coming aboard. It wasn't necessary, but she enjoyed knowing who was on ship and everyone's strengths and weaknesses.

Lieutenant Patra entered the Ready Room stepped towards the commanding officers desk, and when three paces away slide her duffel bag down to the deck and rendered a proper Star Fleet salute. “Lieutenant junior grade Patra Jiselle Rommel reporting for duty on the USS Wayfarer.” She stood ramrod straight with her leather bombardier jacket on, with the patches of the Federation Merchant Marine Symbol, the SS Nostromo, the USS Shepard, the USS Sydney and a patch stating honorary member of Star Fleet Marine Corps Marine Raider Regiment (EOD) 2nd MSOB.

She still had the grimy dark blue baseball cap on with its symbol of the Federation Merchant Marine and the motto "To maintain the economic health and strength of the Federation and all of its members." in golden stitching on top of her head and she was slowly chewing on her gum.

It took a moment to register what she was looking at. "Okay..." she said simply. "First of all, relax a little before you strain something lieutenant. Secondly, did you just arrive? You're not in uniform..." she asked.

Patra came to a textbook parade rest, after all she still was not sure if she was in the clear with that little tussle she and the engineering crew of Sydney got into with the federation marine detachment of the Sydney. She had made amends to the owner, she even improved his replicators for him by a factor of ten. " My orders Ma'am" she handed her PADD to the Captain, knowing full well it contained her full record, with the exception of the classified stuff. It also had all the demerits one could get without being busted in rank on it, as well as the comments from the command staff stating she was an excellent, if not brilliant, engineer but had an issue of speaking her mind and an issue with chain of command.

"Yes, Ma'am, I just came off a two week leave from the Sidney and since she is in port for refurbishment my former teammates in Damage Control and I partied a little too hard. When I arrived at the airlock the young Ensign on duty stated you wished me to report immediately." Back at the position of parade rest, she began slowly chewing her gum, old habits being hard to break, she meant no disrespect to the Captain.

"I see..." Akeno replied as she took the PADD from the lieutenant and briefly skimmed it over. "Well, there's 'immediately' and then there's 'getting onto the ship first'..." she told her. "I wasn't expecting everyone turning up the moment they stepped on the ship, everyone needs to at least find their quarters first" she smiled.

"Regardless of that. Take a seatm I like to get to know the officers under my command." she said as she came from around the desk and upto the replicator. "Tea?"

Lieutenant Rommel took a seat and replied “A Heiße Schokolade, a traditional German Hot Chocolate if the replicator has it programed Ma’am.” Then Lieutenant Rommel quickly swallowed her gum. “What would you like to know about me, Ma’am?” Rommel inquired. "I have been called 'Hell on Heels' after the early twenty-first century song by the Pistol Annies. Still a close friend of mine said I was the 'Macgyver' of engineering, again a reference to a late twentieth to early twenty-first century television show."

Akeno smirked slightly as she ordered the two drinks. "I'll admit, I'm not really an expert on the twenty-first century" she admitted as she took the two beverages from the replicator. Coming back around the handrail she made her way back to the desk, handing the Lieutenant her drink as she passed by.

"Although, you seem like quite the expert..." she commented as she gently lowered herself into the cushioned chair.

Patra took a sip of her Heiße Schokolade, damn that is good she thought. She pondered what to say next, and still was waiting for the other shoe to drop. "To be honest Ma'am I had to actually look up both of those references. If you are referring to my engineering abilities I come from a very long line of talented people, military and civilian."

Akeno gave her a small smirk. "So, what do you know about the Wayfarer? We took a little bit of damage on our last mission which you should be briefed about by Lieutenant Anor"

Patra took another sip of her Heiße Schokolade savoring the fine taste. Finally, she replied "Well Ma'am I can recite to you all the technical and engineering specs of an Intrepid class starship, but if you mean the Wayfarer specifically not much, I was transferred from the USS Sidney rather abruptly and to be honest I spent my leave blowing off some steam and having a good time."

"I see" Akeno replied. "Well, Lieutenant Anor can catch you up with the misison logs. Lets just say that we've been through a rough patch, the ship took a bit of a beating and so did I... in a manner of speaking" she explained. "Regardless of that, you'll be a vital member of the engineering team, but be prepared to do general engineering work too, this is a small ship, most of the crew do multiple tasks and roles"

Patra again took another sip of her drink then replied "I worked on a Merchant Marine Freighter Ma’am. Even though I was the Second to the Chief Engineer there everyone is expected to carry out multiple duties. I was also the lead Damage Control Engineer on the USS Sydney. I am not adverse to having to working on other systems. Heck I carry multiple doctorates and masters in engineering. One of the reasons I was assigned Damage Control Lead on the Sydney. Also another reason Star Fleet seemed to throw me in with the Marines. I have learned to roll with the punches when it comes to being a Star Fleet Engineer." She shrugged "I can get just as deep in the grime as the rest, in fact when it comes to being an engineer your most likely find me crawling around fixing what needs to be fixed and improving what needs to be improved."

Akeno smirked. "I wouldn't expect anything else from the engineering staff" she replied. She picked up the PADD again and tapped it a couple of times. "Well, I accept your transfer aboard. I think you'll make a fine addition to the Engineering Department. Don't forget to check in with the Chief Engineer and get your medical records updated with sickbay" she said.

Patra downed the rest of her Heiße Schokolade, placed the cup down and stood to the position of attention and saluted. "Aye, aye Ma'am, pleasure to be aboard and thank you for the Heiße Schokolade."
With that she bent down picked up duffel bag, took a piece of cherry gum out of her pocket and popped it into her mouth. She then exited the ready room.