Lt Commander Ava Munro - A Starfleet Promise
Luxa Lorana
((Maintenance Observation Lounge - Deck 372 - DS224))
Ava wasn't a woman known for apprehension or a lack of confidence. In fact she had been told, many times, that she had too much of both. But there was always something that got her rattled.
The meeting of a new commanding officer. It was the foundation that could make or break an officer, no matter the rank, on any Starfleet starship. Ava found that when there was no preexisting relationship, it was a measurement being taken by both. Questions were being asked and answered in real time. Often within seconds. These very things could form opinions that last for entire careers. Made doubly harder that she was being assessed for the role of First Officer of such a fine ship.
It was with that in mind that she scanned the observation lounge for her new CO. Lounge was stretching the parameters of that word when she took note of the place. It was more of a meeting area for maintenance, engineers and ops staff - there were even various workbenches scattered around. Mostly it was several clusters of officers, reviewing notes and consulting holographic systems. The comfortable seating areas had been left abandoned and she suspected that the deck hands, flight crew and maintenance engineers had no time for seating.
Her eyes were drawn immediately to the large, floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto the starships within the expansive docking area. She noticed MacKenzie’s distinctive hair almost immediately. Confirmed to be her when she spotted the pips on the collar. There weren't many Fleet Captains standing around maintenance lounges and she noticed a visible space between her new CO and the others.
After a momentary pause to fix her gold shouldered uniform, a popular habit in the fleet, Ava walked towards MacKenzie. She had a careful smile on her face.
Munro: :: hesitation :: Captain, I hope I'm not disturbing you? :: extends her arm in greeting :: Lt Commander Ava Munro.
Without thinking she held out her PADD, and she was reminded of being an ensign. Hadn’t she done the same thing then, eagerly held out the rest of her life to a senior officer like an offering to some god?
Only then she didn’t know what was ahead of her. Now, she knew all too clearly what the promise of Starfleet meant. The loss, and the pain but moreso than that: it was a promise of hope, unity and exploration.
MacKenzie: Response
Ava turned to look at the Artemis, not dissimilar to the Akira class she had served on last, but the slightly elongated saucer section gave the vessel a graceful elegance, with the sensor pod hung above it and the drive section.
Munro: She’s beautiful, Captain.
And Ava meant it. In truth she hadn't seen a starship that she didn't think was anything but. Weren't they the emblem of Starfleet's promise after all?
MacKenzie: Response
Tags/TBC