LCDR Nolen Hobart — Water Shortage at Midway
Nolen Hobart
((Bridge, Deck 1, USS Khitomer, Deep Space 33))
Being the Executive Officer of a ship, Lieutenant Commander Hobart quickly discovered, was a hectic job. There were always three things to do, and only ever time enough to do two of them. By comparison, being XO of another ship was decidedly less boring. He had to invent things to do, in order not to feel useless and in the way. Greeting Ensigns was one way.
Hobart: I'll let Commander MacKenna and Lieutenant Jacin fill you in. ::handing her orders back to her:: Campbell? You're here on the bridge. ::turning around, searching:: Ops is... ::pointing:: Second seat on the right, and straight on 'til morning.
Campbell: Response
With a nod, he handed Campbell's PADD back to him, too.
Campbell: Aye, sir. ::getting his PADD back::
With any luck, they'd soon have a heading, and a reason to request clearance to depart. For now, it was a question of learning their new space, however temporary it might be. His eyes landed on the vacant XO seat, just starboard of the center chair. He considered helping himself, but thought better of it. They were guests, after all. So instead he stood in the center of the compartment and rocked on his heels, awkwardly.
He stopped when the ship's internal comms chirped.
Dewitt: =/\= Dewitt to Hobart, I've arrived in engineering. =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Alright, just… keep a low profile. Try not to step on any toes. =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= There's no officer down here, I took command for the time being - I hope that is in Captain Hayley's best interests. Engines are up and running - I am waiting for more precise reports on the warp systems and tactical systems. We're currently preparing everything for departure. =/\=
Nolen winced and pinched the bridge of his nose hard enough to be surely heard over comms. Commandeering the warp core was more than just stepping on toes, it was amputating them and gluing chess pieces in their place.
When all this was over, he was going to have to find a nice heist-themed holonovel for Connor to acquaint himself with.
Hobart: =/\= All right. Any theories yet on how the Arrow was taken? =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= I have not yet been able to work on the how... Once I've coordinated down here and Ensign Senak has arrived, I am sure Miss Sparks is eager to help us with that. =/\=
Sparks: =/\= Yessir Mister Ho-bart! I'm right on deck to help out any of y'all, on acountta that missin' ship and all....::grimacing:: Real sorry to hear 'bout that, ::brightening:: Oh! There's some cake down here in the break room, I can save ya some if you'd like! =/\=
Cake made no sense to Nolen, but it also sounded delightful. The dissonance of the two facts were enough to cause Hobart some hesitation. With that piled upon the delay required to decipher the heaping helping of twang that had just been shoved down his ear-holes, the Arrow’s XO downright paused.
Hobart: =/\= Thank you, Miss Sparks. If you think of any way to steal a starship locked down on CO’s authorization only, be sure to tell Commander Dewitt. And save me a slice. Hobart out. =/\=
Dewitt: =/\= Response? =/\=
Lieutenant Commander Hobart nodded to himself and reflected on where they were.
Hobart: Ensign Campbell, contact DS33 operations on a secure channel, ensure that we have clearance to depart as soon as we have a heading and an order. ::sigh:: There's a lot of traffic out there they have to manage.
Campbell: Response
A realization hit Hobart like a freight train. Not just a realization: a better idea. He snapped his fingers as if to sharpen it into a weapon.
Hobart: Belay that!
Campbell: Response
He held up an instructive index finger and tapped his combadge with his other hand.
Hobart: =/\= Bridge to Astrometrics. =/\=
Holtz / Jacin / MacKenna / Ohnari: =/\= Response =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Nevermind the who or why for now, I've got an idea about the where. Given the Arrow’s departure vector, identify the ten nearest places to hide a starship. Natural inference, or whatnot, beyond the reach of long range sensors. =/\=
Holtz / Jacin / MacKenna / Ohnari: =/\= Response =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Right, long or short doesn't matter. As long as it's a list. =/\=
Holtz / Jacin / MacKenna / Ohnari: =/\= Response =/\=
Hobart: =/\= Soon as you can, send it to the Ops station on the Bridge. Hobart out. =/\=
Nolen nodded to himself. If his gambit worked, they wouldn't need to know where the Arrow was taken. Because they'd be told.
Campbell: Response
Hobart: If I stole a starship, I'd want to know when the Fuzz was onto us. Best way to do that? Keep a lookout. There are a lot of unaffiliated starships around here.
Campbell: Response
Hobart: For now coordinate clearance, on an open channel. Once you have MacKenna's list, we're going to request to switch to secure, but we're going to ::finger quotes:: “forget” to switch. That's when we bluff and see where the transmissions go. Maybe Security will have a bead on which transport to monitor by then.
Campbell / Bridge: Response
TAGS/TBC
———
Lt. Commander Nolen Hobart
Executive Officer
USS Khitomer (NCC-62400)
A240001NH3