Joint Duty Log - Cmdr Ivanova & Lt Atarah - Re-re-introduction

Posted on Sun Aug 10th, 2014 @ 8:46pm by Admiral Rochelle Ivanova & Danielle Atarah

2,134 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: In the Dark

The turbolift doors swished open onto the bridge, and Danielle Atarah took a moment to clear her throat before walking out and towards the Captain's ready room. She hated going through the bridge; she usually didn't mind being the center of attention but in this case, attention was a bad idea. Nothing good came out of being the center of attention at the bridge.

She stopped finally in front of the doors to the ready room and gave herself a quick once-over. Her uniforms weren't really tip-top, but they weren't torn or grimey, either. At least mostly.

She hit the chimes and waited.

Rochelle got up from behind her desk, startled by the sudden intrusion and immediately lifted her hand to hover at her combadge, ready to call for help as needed. It was the who that caused her to hesitate and ultimately relax. This was a face she recognized, a person she'd trusted in the past. "Dani Atarah." She said, offering a smile in spite of the fact she should be rife with irritation, "this is a step up from crashing through ceiling panels."

"Heh," Dani managed, momentarily startled. Rochelle Ivanova was one of the few -- very few -- Starfleet high-ranking officers Dani had true respect for. Entrance or no, she actually found herself a little nervous, despite herself.

"I... well," she entered, finally returning the smile with a smirk of her own, "the jeoffrey's tubes in this section are damaged," she gestured at the general direction of the ceiling. "And I thought I'd try to say hello with, well," she gestured at herself, then noticed a crinkle in her uniforms and pushed her jacket down to straighten it, revealing an oil stain, "clean uniforms," she frowned, brushing her thumb on the offending oily patch. Great.

"You'll have to be sure to tell Commander Dahe`el. He'd likely love to know." She replied, gesturing for the woman to take a seat in the chair in front of the desk. "Can I get you something to drink, Lieutenant? Tea? Cola? Coffee?" Rochelle asked, stepping around the side of Lando-- around the edge of her desk, she reminded herself as she came to settle in front of the ready room's replicator.

"A bird told me that you'd be joining us... Am I premature to be excited?"

"No one's ever premature to be excited with me," Dani blurted, then coughed, "Coke would be great, yes, uh, thanks," she smirked again and took a seat, still trying to wipe the stain. As far as reassignments go, this wasn't that bad, despite the circumstances. She could've done worse. A lot worse, in fact. She almost did.

"I am just glad you had a vacancy. With the situation out there," she gestured casually towards the window without looking, her attention still firm on her jacket, "I would've found myself in some Klingon ship, cleaning Gagh from the waste reclamation system. Or.. something."

A chuckle rolled as she ordered up the coke and a cup of tea for herself, "Lucky for you the Admiral is nicer than that. You're a valuable resource and Vindicator is a powerful ship." said Rochelle, setting the coke in front of the engineer and made her return trip back around her desk, taking her seat "And stop fretting about the uniform, Dani, we'll get you new ones. The war hasn't left us without our comforts, at least not yet." She grinned, crossing her legs and stirring honey into her cup.

Dani gave the stain one last disdainful look and flinched at the mention of the war. "I'd rather give away my comforts to those who need them," she shrugged, but then smiled mischievously, "besides, let's face it, I'll just get them all dirty again anyways."

"That's what they're for." The woman admonished, drawing her cup into her hands and taking a sip of the soothing amber liquid. Her happiness, however, waned for a moment as she set the mug back down with a gentle thud as it met the rich hard wood of the desk. "Tell me..." She started, folding her hands in front of her, "have you heard about Commodore Levine or her daughter?"

Dani's smile froze, though her eyes reflected the distress she felt. She reached for the cup on the desk and took advantage of the time to sip to gather her thoughts and reset her expressions.

"I spoke to Anne a couple of weeks ago, she was pretty excited about going to some 'young science nerd summer camp' in Honolulu while her mother was doing whatever it is professors do during summer break. You know," she looked at Ivanova with a sad smile, "when else would they be devising all those devilish exams of theirs." Her fingers traced the edge of the glass nervously, "anyways, that was the last time we talked, and then everything just happened so quickly, and we had to evacuate," she trailed off, looking at Ivanova almost apologetically.

The Commander nodded with a somber expression coming to settle over her face, "We can only hope that they're alright." She said with a soft sigh, "The first moment I get, I'll find them. Unfortunately this war means that we need to stay away from Earth as long as we can, and Zetari -- unfortunately."

"Says who?" Dani scoffed, almost instinctively, and then, realizing, buried her face in the cup again. It might be best if she shuts up. For real, hush, you idiot.

With an arched eyebrow, Rochelle looked up and studied the roughneck engineer carefully. "Because, Dani, if we go there right now we're all dead. We have to bide our time and hope for the best. They're not just going to unceremoniously kill people. Andrea's too smart to put herself in that position." She sighed and shook her head. Worry played the worst on her nerves now, the fear of losing more of her loved ones was was coming to another crescendo. Losing Andrea or Anne wouldn't be survivable.

Dani considered Rochelle for a moment, her teeth clenched. She didn't think they'd all be dead now, not if they do things properly, but even so -- wasn't this supposed to be the goal of this crazy organization? The protection of innocent civilians? How could anyone justify running away and leaving people behind was beyond her. But she had her own methods, and her own battles to fight, and she wasn't about to get Rochelle into the trouble she was willing to get into herself.

"Right," she allowed finally, smiling, "I know. I'm just frustrated, when it comes to my friends, I'm not really... thinking straight." As if, she thought to herself. It's the fleet who's lost its priorities. But she said none of that. Instead, she took a breath and took a long gulp, swallowing a burp.

"I'm sure Andrea's fine, and Anne," she couldn't help a smirk, "that girl can survive anything, especially with that rat of hers. Him and his little rat camera," she chuckled, remembering the good ol' days of Schlompi running around the Griffin with a camera attached to its back and Anne checking the feed from a PADD in the mess hall.

Allowing herself a laugh, the Commander nodded, "I remember. Those were the good days." She smiled vibrantly, reliving those moments in her mind with intricate clarity. Silent. she wished she could go back, hit replay, live those days again where everything was good and things like heartache didn't exist. At least not there, not then. And then she reminded herself that it did. Rescuing the crew from a different set of mines, violating the prime directive to do so... Whydah.

She coiled back on herself, hiding behind a sip of tea as she swallowed the knot in her throat. "We'll get them back, Dani." She said softly, "I'd go now, guns blazing, but it would be a suicide mission and the ship is still under repair. Her crew don't deserve to die just for one effort that will see us destroyed before we even get close." The woman explained, setting the mug down again. "But, believe you me, I will see to it that we get them back safely as soon as I get half a chance. You have my word."

"I know," Dani nodded. She knew Rochelle meant it -- probably more than anyone else in this fleet, in her judgment -- and she was right, of course, a full-on ship going into Earth's orbit was nothing short of suicide. But there were other ways to do things, and other means to reach a target that should have been the top priority.

That's what bugged her out of this; it wasn't what was actually done or not done, it was the priorities. The way she saw it, the fleet was more interested in getting back its assets than helping the civilians who were left behind. It could all be in the name of the purest intentions ever made, but the bottom line was right there: people -- the people who each and every member of the fleet swore to protect -- were now alone. Regrouping, perhaps. Planning, sure, but the bottom line remained, and her friends and family were right in the thick of things, in trouble, waiting for the fleet to make its move.

And she didn't trust big fleet brother to always make the right moves, even if justice was on its side in this particular conflict.

"She'd be super proud of you," Dani noted, shoving a stray strand of hair from her face. "Levine," she gestured at the room, "you know, for getting all... Captainy." She wobbled her head in a "oooh ooh big news" gesture, but smiled. It was most probably true.

Another smile, this one warm. "I would like to think so." It was no secret that the fiery little redhead thought of the Commodore as more than just another Captain or professor. She thought of the woman as a friend... as a mother. She brushed an errant hair behind her ear, whisking it away from her face. The thought of Andrea had been a vibrant one during her captivity, even if it was only a figment of her imagination and a mirage.

Dani nodded and put the half empty cup back on the table. "Oh, she definitely would be. She'll probably hide her approval behind a quiz, though," she snorted, "and maybe a paper. She'd definitely add a paper." She grinned, relaxing in the seat. "It's good to see you well, Comma-- I mean Captain," she corrected with a small 2-finger salute, "I heard that was a close call."

"She would, knowing her. Some sort of tease making me work for it as usual." Rochelle chuckled lightly and leaned back in her chair. "Acting Captain as of yet. We don't know who they're going to give this boat too." Rochelle mused.

"Acting Captain is acting like a Captain, which is, essentially," Dane leaned back and waved her arms to the sides, palms up, in a "see?" gesture, "a Captain." She was not keen -- to say the least -- about having anyone else in that role. She wasn't too happy with Captains in general, but Rochelle was someone she could live with. Even well. For a time, at least.

"I volunteer my endless talents of mischief to convince anyone who dares to replace you just how much of a bad idea that can be." Dani smiled generously. "With your approval, of course." As if.

"You may consider convincing the Admiral of that first." The redhead grinned, folding her hands in her lap, "It's ultimately his decision and we'll find out in short order what he intends to do now that Captain Neyes is no longer with us."

"I'll leave the Admiral-convincing to you," Dani smiled. "In fact, I'll leave all Admiral-interactions to you," she offered generously. "But I reserve the right to protest if I dislike the decision, nonetheless," she looked at Rochelle with a lopsided smile.

Rochelle chuckled lightly and nodded, "fair enough, I can agree with that."

It wasn't often that Rochelle was presented with old friends, Pond had been a welcomed surprise and now Dani? Lightning did indeed strike twice and the Vindicator had become an anchor for the phenomena. It was quickly agreed upon that Dani would attend the ceremony, that she'd keep from being a stranger and that all things would come to play out in order as the fate's intended, even if it meant Dani pulling something awful out of her sleeve to show her displeasure at the Vindicator being handed to someone else.

Even in darkness there is light. Rochelle had found it. For now.

---

Commander Rochelle Ivanova
acting Commanding Officer
USS VINDICATOR

Lieutenant Danielle Atarah
Assistant Engineering Officer
USS VINDICATOR

 

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