BACKLOG - JDL | Ens Barnes & Com Ivanova | "You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello"

Posted on Sun Feb 15th, 2015 @ 8:18am by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Ensign

1,862 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: A Spot To Kill
Location: Location Here

Rocky felt like she was skulking as she headed towards Flag Country, better known as the Bridge. What right do I have to do a meet and greet with the head honcho? she asked herself. For that matter, what makes me think she'll even agree to see me? I'm a new Ensign and I don't even have a reason for going to see her. Checking her uniform to make sure it was utterly spotless and perfect in every way, she stepped off the turbolift and approached a yeoman. "Ensign Barnes to see Commodore Ivanova."

Cecil eyed the Ensign for a moment, considering the steel grey uniform as he did and nodded, "Go ahead in. She isn't busy at the moment." He nodded, deciding that the Ensign had just as much right as any to enter the lair of the Phoenix. Besides... Archer could have sent her as a messenger, and who was he to get in the way of Archer?

Rochelle, on the other hand, was busily eyeing the a branch on a small tea plant she'd had potted in a shallow ceramic pot. It had become her next attempt at finding peace and tranquility while dealing with the near constant stress of command, but there was something not quite right with the presence of one small branch -- yet she couldn't quite convince herself to take the leap necessary to prune it from the young bonsai. Bending over her desk, shears in hand, the young Commodore's nose crinkled in a mix of irritation and apprehension as the door to her ready room slid open and caught her off momentarily off guard.

Giving the yeoman a smile, she headed across the bridge and into the ready room. "Commodore Ivanova?" She asked tentatively when she saw the Commodore bent over a plant.

Straightening up, Ivanova set the shears down on her desk and eyed the Ensign that had stepped within her domain. "What can I do for you, Ensign?" She asked, pushing the plant to a far corner.

Swallowing at meeting someone of such a high rank, Rocky stepped forward. "I know it isn't standard policy, Commodore, and I know your time is very valuable, but I wanted to introduce myself to you personally. I'm Ensign Catalina Barnes, the new Encryption Specialist."

"Pleasure to meet you. I signed your orders personally." The diminutive redhead replied and gestured to one of the empty seats that sat in front of her desk, "Take a seat, Ensign Barnes. Could I offer you a drink?" She asked, an eyebrow raised ever so slightly as she considered Archer's latest canon fodder and made the short trip to her replicator.

"You did?" Rocky asked, caught off guard and surprised. "I mean, thank you, Commodore Ivanova. I'll do my best to serve you well." She moved and took the offered seat. "A Chocolate Dalmatian would be nice. Thank you." She looked around the office, noting the bonsai trees and the general layout of it, feeling that the Commodore had made it hers in every way

"I'm sure you will." Rochelle hummed and ordered up the drink as well as a raktajino for herself before returning to her desk and setting the other woman's choice in front of her. The desk was an expanse of high polished petrified wood, the edges raw with no tapering or shaping done to them and the color of the agatized wood only seemed to be enhanced by the lacquer that had sealed the piece. Sat on the shelving unit on the back wall, a shining Colt .45 sat in an acrylic base, surrounded by various fossils and trophy mineral and gem pieces she'd accumulated over the years. Arizona had yielded many treasures during the time she'd spent living and hiking its bountiful deserts and mountains, and she could name them all by species or type. The bonsais, few in number and young in age, were a new addition to her home away from home. "Tell me, Ensign, what was it that made you turn to Starfleet?" She asked.

Accepting the drink with a smile, Rocky took a sip as she let her eyes roam over the Commodore's desk, taking a mental inventory to better help get an understanding and try to find a way to relate to her better. "Honestly, I love puzzles of all kinds. My first year in the Academy, I hadn't chosen my major yet and found a PADD that had a anagram puzzle on it. I solved it and then I found out it was for fourth year students. I also learned it was a test to see what any Cadet that found it would do with it. After that, Intelligence was the obvious choice and I stayed with it."

The Commodore nodded, "Good on you." She admonished gently. Having an encryption specialist aboard was a rare gem, not unlike some of the pieces she had collected during her many walkabouts. Archer, however, was responsible for her and that was enough to leave the woman calm and collected when dealing with her -- that innate knowledge that the Commander was more than capable of wrangling his own posse and that her work would be near minimal. Of course... Intel officers were known for sticking their noses where they didn't belong and Rochelle wasn't exactly fond of having the nitty gritty details of her life exposed. "And before Academy?" She asked with the tilt of her head, her fingers encircling the warm ceramic of her mug. Putting them on edge, making them talk, it was her own quiet warning that she didn't appreciate being put under the microscope any more than they did.

Taking a sip of her coffee, Rocky smiled. "I did a lot of parkour, boxing, playing chess and solving every puzzle I could get my hands on. That, and boys, but now that I'm in Starfleet, my career has to come first. You may have noticed on my file that I was born deaf, but I assure you that I can hear sounds as low as five hertz due to artificial tympanic membranes in my ears."

"I see." The smaller woman nodded, taking in everything the nervous creature in front of her offered up to the plate. It was a lot like questioning a Highschool cheerleader, she decided, one found out in the hollers of Arkansas or somewhere else where the only hobbies were watching paint dry and grass grow. However, the woman didn't quite seem to fit the salt of the Earth routine that was trying its damnedest to be painted. "Well I'm glad that you were given the chance to receive those implants and glad you've chosen your career over... Boys."

"So am I, Commodore," Rocky responded. "As for boys, there'll be time enough for them later. What got you interested in Starfleet, if I may ask?"

A slender sanguine brow arched high at the sudden turning of the tables. The warning hadn't been heeded and now the game of show and tell had suddenly included her. Bemused, Rochelle drew another sip of the sweet caffeinated nectar in her mug and shrugged, "My mother was the Captain of the USS Sirenian and when she died I was sent to a military academy and from there was offered a shot at Starfleet Academy. You could say that I was bred into it." She finally replied, her words far from terseness she'd thought would come.

"She must be proud of you, Commodore," Rocky said with a smile, relaxing and taking another drink of her coffee. The Commodore wasn't a bite-your-head-off type and she figured she'd learn all she could. "I'm the only member of my family to enter Starfleet. What's your favorite part of serving?"

"I'm sure she is." Rochelle's reply, this time, was dry. Playing twenty questions with an Intel officer never sat high on her list of favorite ways to pass her time. The Phoenix's bright crystalline eyes honed in on her new quarry, their unfathomable depth working to try and pick the other woman apart bit by bit and piece by piece. The questions, so far, were harmless enough. "Protecting the Federation's way of life. Expanding our horizons. There's a fair bit I appreciate." She answered, "What about you, Ensign? What makes you tick up here?"

Noting the Commodore's tone, Rocky decided to tread more lightly. "The opportunity to discover new puzzles and break the code. Seeing new planets, of course, but the main reason is to see if I can improve myself and be someone that I've never been before. Someone who can make a real difference."

With a blink and a slow nod, the Phoenix accepted the Intel officer's answer at face value. While on edge in front of the new blood, and a spook at that, she hadn't yet found a reason to fling any form of gruff animosity. If anything, she hoped that the Ensign could continue to glide under the her ever suspicious radar and be contained, easily, by the smart mouthed Archer. "Fair enough."

Rocky studied the Commodore for a moment before finishing her coffee. "Do you have any other questions, points of protocol, or suggestions for me, Commodore?"

Watching the Ensign watch her, Rochelle slowly brought her mug back to her lips, "Only the recommendation that you keep your nose clean, Ensign Barnes. Many an Intel agent has met an untimely end in penal colony for sticking their proboscis where it doesn't belong."

Rocky's eyebrow slowly crept up at the Commodore's statement. "Isn't it the job of Intel to find all the dirt, Commodore? We aren't exactly the clean department in Starfleet."

"There are limits to everything and lines you simply don't cross. Commander Archer is a loose canon and even he won't cross those lines." The redhead drawled and tipped her chair forward, setting her mug on her desk with a gentle thud. "Being a Spook doesn't give you carte blanche access to everything about everyone. Know the difference and you'll be alright."

"Understood, Commodore," Rocky said. "There's a fine line between stupid and duty. I have yet to meet Commander Archer."

"Oh you will." Rochelle chuckled, "He'll be back from whatever trouble he's found for himself soon enough. Just keep sane until then."

"That won't be a problem, Commodore," Rocky said. "It's a pleasure that I take, and I want to thank you for taking time out of your schedule to meet with me."

The diminutive redhead smiled brightly and nodded in admonishment of the spook's understanding and willingness to do as asked, no matter how cryptic the request may have been. It was refreshing. A dramatic change from the likes of Black. Maybe there was hope for Archer's ravenous pack of shadow dogs after all. "Any time, Ensign, enjoy the rest of your day."

"You, too, Commodore," Rocky said with a rare smile before she turned and headed out. Now that she had met the two highest people in command of the Vindicator, she felt that she would be able to handle anyone.

---

Commodore Rochelle Ivanova
Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR, NCC 78213-E


&

Ensign Catalina "Rocky" Barnes
Encryption Specialist
USS Vindicator

 

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