Meeting A Firey First Officer

Posted on Thu May 9th, 2024 @ 2:01pm by Commander Anastasia Aventnova & Lieutenant Cassian Massy

4,773 words; about a 24 minute read

Mission: Ethics, Morals & The Prime Directive.
Location: Promenade.

Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea to go to the Promenade out of uniform before going to get whatever quarters she was going to be assigned and settled in, but it was far too late at this point. Her travel bag hadn't had a set of civilian clothes, but she did have the settings she'd saved for a couple of that go-to for all woman: The little black dress. Even with that, this one was much more demure than the one her brother Alexei had recommended based on the one his girlfriend had. This one was well fitted, yes, but everything was covered, even her shoulders. In fact, the only skin she was showing was her arms and her legs below the knees.

And if they weren't careful, she was going to take off these two-inch heels and start stabbing people in the eyes with them. She'd been walking down the sidewalk to find some good Italian food and though she'd gone only about a hundred feet or so, she'd already been hit on five times by random men and even one woman. She'd brushed them off one at a time, but there was another one coming and she debated turning around and going back to the rented room with this as a bad idea. Or she could just kick his ass and move on.

Cassian was browsing the various establishments and the wares they had on offer, some were appealing enough but not enough to clinch the deal of a sale but it was good to know what was available. The perk of appearing civilian is that he was treated no different to anyone else on the ship because they didn't know better, there was a comfort to it. There were many people on board he knew but also he knew families had come with serving officers and ratings which given the ship's size it could easily accommodate.

There was something that most serving officers knew, they could generally tell a fellow officer by the way they held themselves, how they walked, general appearance and such. So while Cassian was walking towards another store with goods lined in window displays he could see a woman walking that seemed paced, frustrated, even at first glance there was difficulty in telling if she was fleet by the look on her face. Part of him wondered if she'd had a falling out with a loved one, maybe stood up at meal, purchased goods lost but it was obvious that something was amiss.

This next one came up to her, suave look on his face as he approached his unwary victim. "Hey sweetheart, you look lost. Where are you headed, because it's going to be the way I'm going as well."

"How many times am I going to have to tell people today, I'm not interested." Anastasia growled at him, brushing off the hand he'd placed on her shoulder, then trying to duck around him, but he grabbed her bicep and turned her around throwing her a little off balance.

"You don't get me, honey, I'm the best guy here and trust me, you're going to want me to show you around." He gave her a look from the same height. still holding her arm and starting to squeeze.

"No, I don't think so." She said, face frozen in shock. Anastasia had never had someone do this, but this wasn't your ordinary starship and the colonies and starbases were usually rather tame, even the major cities of Earth. "Let me go, this is your first, last and only warning."
Phill
There were just some things that Cassian couldn't tolerate and it was treatment like that, not only in general but especially when directed towards females. Even with the wonders of technology, racing through the stars, medical, scientific and engineering marvels coupled with social improvements there seemed to be some lingering issues with people not accepting 'No' for an answer.

The trigger for him was when the man grabbed hold of the woman, which was clearly unwanted. Regardless of any kind of relationship there was no need for that kind of action that words alone couldn't achieve if used properly. With a sigh Cassian left the window and walked over to the scene that for the most part was ignored, mostly because the people around them had things to do and places to be.

"Might I ask that you unhand her?" Cassian spoke. "She clearly doesn't want to be touched."

"Buzz off." The man barked, but when the presence of Cassian didn't move away, he finally released her and turned to face him, "I said, go away, can't you see me and my girl are having a talk?" Her reaction to that statement was obvious as she glared at the back of the man's head. If her eyes had been able to shoot lasers, his head would have been blown off.

"Well, your girl there looks like she's above to cave the back of your skull in. Given how you just treated her so disrespectfully, I'm thinking that if we both smack you at the same time, could we hold hands inside what's left of your skull?" Cassian answered, gearing himself up for a fight since this wasn't his first rodeo throwdown.

The man gave him a look over, then glanced back over his shoulder and saw the smoldering look she was giving him before he had a second thought and stepped to the side, raising his hands in admission of defeat, "Fine, fine, all right." He took a step back, "I'll catch you later sweetheart." He said to her, blowing her a kiss.

"Son of a-" That was more than enough to put her over the edge and even as he started to walk away she started to move towards him, hands balling into fists.

Cassian interjected swiftly placing himself between the lady and the fleeing male. "Ah ah, he's not worth it. He's lost, as tempting as it would be, stooping to his level will only provoke him further." As tempting as it would be to watch her go to town on the man, valour and decency shouldn't be sacrificed for making a point.

Her eyes blazed at the man's back before she closed them for a moment and relaxed her hands, then glared over the two or so feet at Cassian, "And I didn't need your help, either. I could have put him down in two seconds with a lesson he'd have listened to. Just not used to someone doing THAT to me." Her accent was slightly clipped, clearly with some Scandanavian hint to it.

"Really?" Cassian spoke. "By the way you hold yourself I'm guessing fleet. The initial restraint tells me officer. Your lashing at me tells me confident, capable, to that level hints at 2 pips or above...How am I doing?" Cassian spoke looking down at the obviously frustrated woman that now had him in her sights.

"You're doing just fine." Anastasia responded, her voice less biting at this point, "Everything you've said is absolutely correct, so let me try next." She glanced over his outfit, "Because I'd bet my pips that you're also an officer in the Fleet, used to being in charge of a situation, used to negotiating with people to get them settled down. But you're not a counselor. Engineer, perhaps? Not high strung enough to be a pilot, that's for sure."

"So even if you didn't need my help, I helped the uniform. Good luck explaining it to the Captain if you had struck him." Cassian finished making his point. "Lieutenant, Chief of Operations. Cassian Massy."

"If he didn't let go of his own accord, it would have been justifiable self-defense. It wouldn't have hurt... Much." She sighed and looked away for a heartbeat. She couldn't be mad with this one, he was just trying to be helpful and so far was much better than the civilians who had been all but propositioning her, "Commander Anastasia Aventnova, Executive Officer." She introduced herself.

First Officer, Cassian wasn't aware the ship had one yet, least of all mid mission. "A good thing you didn't then, don't want that report on the Captain's desk for a first impression huh?" He added before a brief paused. "I wasn't aware we had a First Officer, Captain mentioned we'd get one after the mission on the way back to Earth."

Anastasia's eyes spotted a bar and made a head gesture to him to follow her as she started to move slowly towards it, "I think he'd understand, I've already been tasked to getting to meet the senior officers, so he's gotten that first impression already. Still, I wasn't the intended first choice of a First Officer. Until a couple days ago I was the Staff Tactical Officer for Vice Admiral Foraker on Ark Royal when she decided I was the better option and changed the orders. Now I'm here and Commander Woodrow is going to take my spot on the Admiral's staff, lucky for me, isn't it?"

Cassian followed. "I guess that would depend on your view on luck. This ship is hardly the norm, she breaks all kinds of norm in fact but personally I think adds to the dynamic of the assignment. Sure, she could be teaming with Commanders, Captains or Flag officers but she's not."

“If you can tell me anything that’s normal about Dreadnought, I’ll buy the first round.” Anastasia chuckled as the stress continued to bleed off, “But you’re right, should be an Admiral in command because she’s overkill. It would take a fleet group to overwhelm her, though the Dominion Battleships would only need three plus some escorts if I gather right, but then we have the Defiants and an overlarge fighter group. Captain as XO, minimum full Commanders as department heads, would probably want a full fledged Captain in Engineering and Medical, though. Running Task Force 42’s tactical net will definitely give me a boost in tackling this job, though.”

"It's true she faired really well in combat trials, standing up very well to a fleet and sustained firepower, but I guess that's what you get for starbase grade phasers, over 100 defence emplacements, pulse phasers and micro torpedo launchers, plus the fighters and Defiants hiding in the stern." Cassian replied. "I guess that's why they class her as a Carrier/Command Ship, in her official designation."

“Ark Royal was technically one as well, but a lot smaller. Like, a lot smaller.” She walked in the front door and scanned the bar for a spot large enough, “It’s sort of refreshing to not be at the beck and call of an Admiral anymore, not that Foraker was a bad one.”

"Now you have departments of hundreds of officers and ratings to oversee." He smirked. "Then compiling that for the Captain." There was a moments pause before he continued. "It's a first for me commanding a department this size, but I welcome the challenge, I've stayed afloat so far." He figured he'd let the Commander read about the reports from the Hanger deck and the damage sustained there from the combat retrievals.

“You mean that all of you have departments of hundreds of officers and ratings to oversee while I compile everything for the Captain.” Anastasia flashed a malicious smile filled with humor, then turned to the person at the bar, “Screwdriver, virgin.” Then raised an eyebrow at Cassian, “But I’m sure I can be conned into helping out here and there.”

"Kanar Sazerac please." Cassian asked. "Conned is a strong word there, no con ever comes without a price and frequently one the conner can't pay if caught." He joked but having looked around the venue seemed pleasant enough. It had yet to catch him that he was having a drink with the First Officer, perhaps that was because he just saw the woman...not the uniform or rank.

“I’ve been found out, perhaps I should get drunk and try again?” Anastasia accepted her plain orange juice(the virgin screwdriver) and took a sip of it, “But thank you, Cassian, it probably was better that you stepped in back there, I really may have hit that guy, he just didn’t know when ‘no’ means ‘no.’”

"You are most welcome." Cassian spoke with a smile. "You'd think, with all the advancements humanity has made, some...just stick to the past and how things were done." It bothered him a little that he'd witnessed it, he could only hope that individual wasn't fleet otherwise he'd have a rude awakening when he discovered just who he accosted.

“The past is all well and good if it’s brought up to modern standards.” Ana mentioned, “You can look at my home world as an example. My grandparents immigrated to Roma Nueva oh… Eighty years ago, but there is a prime example of where the past does work. ‘New Rome’ was founded on the basic principles of the Roman Empire at the apex of her influence, minus the rampant expansionism that is. Public service is the norm at home, whether civilian service, military service or even once they were found by the Federation, service in Starfleet. We’re not actual members of the UFOP, only a Protectorate, yet you’ll find almost a hundred-fifty thousand Roma Nuevans serving on starships or bases or in the Marines. Our military strength back home, both active and reserve, stands at about eighteen million, this is out of a total population of 60 million, mind you. It’s common for people to serve five years and maintain their reserve status for thirty more while in their civilian jobs.”

"And here you are, here, on board the largest ship in the fleet prepared to knock down a peg or two a rather egotistical and determined bloke." Cassian spoke. "I'd hate to see you at a game of cards or something." He grinned as he sipped his drink.

"I'm rather tame at cards, especially poker." Anastasia looked at Cassian over her drink as she gauged his reaction, "My tell is a twitch in my right eyebrow when I'm bluffing. Can't control it worth a damn." It was a lie, but would he be able to tell? In fact, would he bite on it?

"Truth be told, I can't play. Closest I came to cards was making a card dispenser for a group that played. I'm good with my hands and always tinkering with something so....yeah. I still have the coffee machine I made during my Acadamy days, a graduation gift to myself." Something that he still used even today.

"Homemade coffee machine?" That got Anastasia's attention pretty quick as coffee was the thing of life, especially in the mornings, "How strong does it make it? Caffeine, of course, is important in this life, sometimes I'd want an IV of it."

"Depends on how strong you want it really. It's all manual, do yourself kind of design so how strong you make it depends on how much Coffee you use." He replied. "I didn't like replicated Coffee, so home brew is the way to go." Even if it meant annoying many of his team mates with the aroma of fresh, actual proper Coffee.

"Real coffee." Ana remarked, "I'm sure that I can find that here on the Promenade somewhere, but I'm also sure it would cost an arm and a leg." She shook her head, "I don't have the patience to make it myself, so replicated is what I always go for."

"You just never get the same experience with a replicator. The prep, the waiting, the anticipation, watching it happen before you, is like a journey. Then when you get to savor it....soo much the better." Cassian responded with a well knowing smile.

"And quite frankly, it tastes better. I know the replicators try to get it right, but they always get something wrong. Usually it tastes like they put something metallic in it rather than the little bit of vanilla I prefer in mine." Ana shook her head slowly, "And I've found that brewing it with that vanilla just makes it that much better, when I've had the real stuff, that is, which isn't often."

"I'll try and see about making you some for your first shift then." Cassian answered. "Mind you, I do have a few flavours, so if the first doesn't suit you, I have others." He spoke. He hoped that he didn't come across as overbearing.

"I'm not stuck in a rut, Cassian." Anastasia laughed softly, "I'm also always willing to try something new, within reason. Like I wouldn't put something like Matcha in with coffee, they just don't go well together. But I can be bribed with real coffee, pretty successfully if it's done right."

"Bribery....shock horror." Cassian replied though he knew that when it came to Coffee, much could be done with its life sustaining elixir.

Anastasia snickered as she finished her juice, "There's one more way to bribe me, but that one I keep a very careful secret. Besides, coffee bribes only work on small things, like change of duty assignment, approval of leave, that sort of thing."

"So what I'm hearing is, knowing its possible, its just down to quantity and quality of the bribe in question." Cassian smirked sipping down the rest of his beverage.

"In certain things." Ana reiterated, "It will never get you out of real trouble, not if you do something that's against the rules. But yes, I can, can be bribed. Why? Anything you're looking for?"

Cassian smiled, handy snippet of information to know. "No, not currently, but if I find anything, I'll know who to come to." The smirk hinting at a joke, he'd never use that ploy to get his way.

Anastasia chuckled and stretched, “Well, perhaps you may know where a girl can find something decent to eat? Something that might not come out of a replicator, that is.”

He had to have a think, there were many restaurants around with specialties but he wasn't all sure what she liked, which left the general option, a bit of everything to cover the bases. "I think I know of somewhere."

"Well then, lead on, Macduff." Ana smiled, slipping off the stool and back onto the heels, then holding out her arm, "And perhaps I can avoid any further undesired entanglements if it looks like I'm with you for now." She gave him a side-eyed look, "Just for show, you see, the next asshole that propositions me will be the object lesson for the rest."

"For now?" Cassian remarked with a grin, taking gentle hold of the offered limb and beginning the walk to another establishment. "What are you in the mood for? Something light, something spicy, meat, veg, mix of, soups, broths, laksa..." He rattled off a few other options hoping he'd given a wide array to consider and choose from.

“Like everyone from Roma Nueva, I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for Italian food. I highly doubt they’ve got authentic Nueva garlic, which has a sweeter flavor profile, but even Earth garlic is a wonderful thing.” Anastasia made mention, “But otherwise, something Mediterranean would work just as well. And yes, ‘For now.’ I mean, if you’d rather, I could let you go your separate way, then fend off anyone who comes after me?” She gave a very half-hearted tug of her arm, not even enough to shift his hold of it, obviously being playful about it.

"And eat alone, now that would be less enjoyable, and more inviting for anyone taking an interest." Cassian answered with a smile. "Besides, you'll find I'm far better company than your recent encounters." He mused while leading the way to a nearby Italian venue. There were some table vacant and a menu on a stand. The list was large of the available options ranging from starters to full meals, lite options too which was a nice addition. "What do you think?"

"This looks like it'll work, so long as it doesn't taste like crap." Ana nodded, "Let's go with this place, I think mozzarella discs, because those are made a fresh mozzarella rather than whatever people use for the sticks." She snorted with laughter, "Why people think that's authentic Italian, I'll never know." She tugged him along as she made for one of the empty tables, pausing as they arrived to see if he'd do the gentlemanly thing or not.

Of course Cassian would play the gentleman, manners were important and in his eyes brought up properly. With his free hand he pulled the chair out for her, making sure she had enough room to sit and adjust if needed. "Ma'am." He spoke inviting her to sit.

On Roma Nueva, all the girls were taught etiquette and Ana was no less a student than one of the best. "Thank you, sirrah." She said quietly as she settled into the chair and helped him with hiking it forward properly, then smiled up at him and it was a genuine smile, "You know? If I didn't know better, I'd say this were a date."

"I'm just doing the polite thing, I didn't want to assume but if it makes you uncomfortable, I can stop." While society had progressed leaps and bounds of such matters, he understood that some people wanted to do things themselves and while chivalry may not be dead, it's not something that can be assumed to be appropriate if the other party has a different racial or cultural perspective.

"Was I complaining?" Anastasia asked, dramatically throwing a hand to her chest, "Contra amicus meus." She said in Latin, "It's a very refreshing thing. Any true Roman wouldn't dare do anything different back on Roma, whether it was a native woman or someone visiting from beyond the stars."

There was an obvious relief at her confirmation that all was well. "A relief then." He spoke taking a seat himself. The menu's were displays that acted in part as a section of the table top. "Well this is a handy addition." Knowing full well that working desks in Starfleet came with this as standard, this however was civilian. "Care to order?"

"I wouldn't begin to suggest what you should have, but..." Ana traced a finger down the menu, "The mozzarella discs as an appetizer, and the lobster spaghetti as the main course. Seafood, Cassian, seafood is my weakness. Shellfish, squid, swordfish, ahi tuna, you name it, I like it."

Cassian ordered Beef Ravioli, a side of the disks and water to wash it down with. "Clearly a lady well versed in her own tastes." Not that he was complaining, his tastes were similar in clarity.

"I mean, I really could let you guess and guess, but that wouldn't be very sporting of me, would it?" Anastasia laughed, "Besides, it does no harm. I don't think we can get really fresh seafood unless we're in orbit somewhere, which really is the pity. Though, this ship is large enough that there may be a source."

There was a moment during the waiting for the meals to arrive that Cassian looked around at the various patrons in the venue. Everything felt like they were on a station, the chatter and laughter, not the armoured shell of a starship. It was going to take some time to get used to this strange difference but time was something he had plenty of. "I've not really gotten to explore much with all the prep we had to do and stores logistics pre launch." An ordeal that did sap him of much of his time.

"Makes me feel like I've got a bit more of an advantage then." Ana smiled at him with a sly grin, "I only arrived yesterday, spent the day doing a bit of wandering that I could do, then met with Captain De Haviland and was going to go down to your home turf to find someone that as could assign me a set of quarters fit for the second in command of this ship. Admittedly, I'd have looked for someone who wasn't the department head, so as not to disrupt your schedule, but it does appear I can kill two birds with one stone, right?"

"First Officer's quarters are ready, I just need to enable the connections. Didn't want them active and the room vacant. Security wouldn't be too thrilled. I can activate them when I get back to the office and enable door entry at the same time." He replied, two birds with one stone indeed.

"If you brought anything with you, effects and the like they will probably be in one of the storage bays until given a destination tag." Which wouldn't have happened yet because he'd not assigned her any quarters.

"That they are, I have a travel bag and my bag of essentials in that hotel room, but I did have the rest put into storage." Ana confirmed, "It's not all that much, I travelled pretty light from Ark Royal since wherever the Admiral went, I went too. But it sounds like I'll be a bit more comfortable tonight. So, Cassian, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

"I...like to tinker with things. make things, a small hobby something I picked up from my Academy days. First thing I made was a siphon coffee maker, used it this morning. I also like to read novels, though that is something time has denied me much of doing lately." He answered.

He was still trying to find his routine, an order to his life post arrival that wasn't all duty and requirement but as with the uniform most things were secondary to the requirements of wearing it.

"Oh? What sort of novels do you like?" This was always something that Ana enjoyed discussing and her eyes had lit up at the mention of reading, "I'm partial myself to fiction, like stories about the Templar Knights and some of the early twenty-first century science fiction, funny to read about what they thought technology was going to be like."

"Thriller, science fiction genres mostly." Cassian answered. "It's been a while since I got into a good book due to work, I've got plenty I want to read it's like a list I've made over the years of things I want to read but just not gotten to it yet. Sometimes the list feels like it grows longer than daily power allotment requests on board the ship."

"I know that feeling. I discovered a series by Felicia Yarbo that's already up to eight books, but I'm only midway through the first book." Ana shook her head, "'Blood Of The Stars' is what it's called, in the whole line of military sci-fi, and so far it's really good, but just like you, not that much time to read enough."

"Given your position, I suspect that wont change much given what you have transferred into." He replied. Everyone knew that being a leader of people, officers and ratings took time, and the more people meant more time. Ana had just transferred to the largest ship in the fleet, what little time she had may even be eaten by this development unless she found or made the time.

Sadly, she nodded, picking up the first of the fried cheese discs as the plate had been placed in front of her, dipping it in the marinara sauce served with it, "Worse, most likely. But I'll find some time, somehow, even if I'm just sitting a watch on the bridge when in transit. I'm definitely going to fall behind on my riding lessons, though, that takes far more time out of the day than popping a book open to read for five minutes."

"My day doesn't start without a Coffee, sure it may take 5 minutes to brew one instead of the instant replicated stuff but Coffee, real Coffee, beans and all just can't be beaten." Sure he knew that a Coffee took longer but knowing the taste that awaited him it was beyond worth it. "So, what do you think of the Promenade? Accosting males aside."

"It's a bit large for my own tastes?" Anastasia gave the waggle of a hand before consuming the rest of her last disc of cheese, "But it's going to take a while before I'm confident with knowing what is where. But I agree, coffee in the morning is life. Try to talk to me before my first coffee is in my hand? You're taking your life into your own hands."

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