Age Over Wisdom

Posted on Wed Jan 18th, 2023 @ 1:49am by Lieutenant JG Ace Tidebreaker & Captain Iy'dan Brell & Addison Talbert MD

1,795 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Station Operations

ON

It was early morning, coffee of a human blend sitting at the edge of the Ops table as Iy'dan started to look over the duty reports from the night shift. A cursory glance over showed nothing of note. A few power interruptions as systems and stations were being restored which had taken some time given the gargantuan se of the station. A lost child and three lost pets, stella-cartography requesting more time on the main sensor array and a few other things equally lacking any excitement.

One thing on it did catch his attention, and once again given the sheer size of the station it was no wonder he had missed it up until this point, a new Chief of Flight Operations had arrived. Ace Tidebreaker, the name sounding more Terran to him so the fact the officer was Caitian caught him a little off guard. No matter that though, it was still remiss of him not having spoken to the officer to welcome them on board.
"Lieutenant Tidebreaker" he called after opening a internal comm channel, "When you have a moment, please could you report to Station Ops".

Ace had just finished working out and was picking up her bag when she got the call. "On my way, Sir," Ace acknowledged as she pulled her uniform over her sports bra and shorts, taking a moment to adjust her tail. Ace reached Ops in short order, having found several short-cuts in her exploration of the station. "Lt. Tidebreaker reporting as ordered, Sir," Ace stood straight, but not in a military stance, her tail twitching slightly.

"Lieutenant, thank you for coming up so quickly. I hope I'm not interrupting your day?"
He picked up his mug, savouring the Boquete of the liquid before taking a sip. "I thought we should meet before we are thrust into a senior staff briefing together. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Iy'dan Brell, stations first officer!"

"Nice to meet you, Commander Brell. Na, you weren't interrupting anything, I just finished my workout when you called," Ace wasn't going to insubordinate, but she wasn't much for stiff conversations either.

"Welcome to the station. Are you up to speed on the situation within the region?"
Brell continued to work, his eyes cast down for the most part focusing on his maintenance reports, occasionally flashing his glance to the younger officer.

Ace suppressed a snicker. "[Yesh, workaholic much?] Yes, Sir. I'm getting there," Ace walked around to stand behind the Commander and craned her neck to get a better look at the screen. "Whatcha working on?" Ace asked curiously.

"Reports concerning the refit of the station which is now entering its third year... the joys of running such a fast station. Glancing over the reports for the geopolitical makeup of the region since Starfleet withdrew from the area and what little information we have on our lost colony worlds in the area... Not to mention the inbound and outbound flight schedule and docking request forms... The sooner we get a complete Ops crew the better!"
He had started in a chipper mood but having run through the days tasks he could tell this would be a long day.

"Snore! Er...I mean, sigh. I know this is all important stuff, and to a degree you sound like you like your job...but you sound both stiff and tired. You're gonna burn out in a week if you keep going at this pace! If I may...you should put these files here, that set of memos there, and add a few calming musical numbers of your choice in this corner to play every fifteen to twenty minutes for about five minutes," Ace leaned over Brell's shoulder and tapped several keys, rearranged the screen into a less cluttered format.

"You sound like my Husband!" The Trill chuckled as he spotted a new batch of incoming intelligence reports from Starfleet, his mirth quickly giving way to a mild disgruntlement.

Ace saw the flicker of life in the Commander's eye's at the mention of his husband, then watched it disappear as more work came in. "Oh boy...looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Listen...with all do respect, you need to stop working HARDER, and start working SMARTER. That way, not only will you live longer, but you and your husband will be happier too!" Ace smirked, leaning against a desk while folding her arms as her tail twitched.

Iy'dan couldn't help but chuckle at Ace's comment about him living longer. Perhaps she was unaware of Trill and Symbiont physiology, or perhaps she wasn't aware he was a joined Trill.
"I'm already over a one hundred and nintey five years old Lieutenant!"

Despite being a Catian, Ace was so flabbergasted that she lost both her slightly cocky attitude and her balance, ending up on the floor in shock. After a stunned minute, Ace scrambled to her feet, thankful that Catians didn't show a blush like other species. "You...that is...wait...what are you again?" Ace wanted to melt into the floor! Just because she was a bit lax in SOME of her conduct, THIS wasn't the time for it! [Great, I'm not gonna see daylight for a solid MONTH for this stunt!] Ace thought miserably, waiting for the punishment she knew was coming.

"I'm a Trill Lieutenant. The host, Iy'dan, the man you see is thirty five. The Symbiont he has been joined with, I have been joined with, he is one hundred and nintey five years old. When a Trill and a Symbiont are joined their very beings blend and merge into a new person so I am both thirty five and one hundred and nintey five years old!" He was trying to explain but he could hear the voices of all five of his previous hosts screaming at him as he wasn't making any sense.

The door whooshed open and a blonde woman walked inside, her hair in two braids that had two blue ribbons and she not wearing a uniform, except for the smock of a doctor. Beneath the smock she was wearing a pair of bluejeans long sleeve tee shirt and boots on her feet. "Oh pardon me, hope I am not interrupting anything. I was taking up the offer of an open door policy."

She took a look at the catian that was there, "Hello I'm Doctor Talbert." Addison deciding to introduce herself right away, holding out her hand towards the Lieutenant.

Ace took the offered hand, thankful for a few minutes to absorb what the Commander had told her. "The pleasure's mine, Doc. Name's Ace Tidebreaker, Lieutenant JG. Commander, that is phenomenal! While I didn't understand a big chunk of what you said, I think I got the gist of it," Ace's grin was a bit lopsided, but her eyes sparkled in genuine wonder and appreciation of the Commander's willingness to teach her.

"Doctor, I'm sorry I wasn't there to greet you when you arrived. Commander Iy'dan Brell, stations first officer!" The Trill moved around the Ops table to shake the new Chief of the Medical Division's hand, noting that she was a civilian.

Addison took his hands in a firm, strong but gentle hand shake. "A pleasure. Well, when I arrived it was during the changing of the guard. I figured I'd wait for a more appropriate time to do so and here I am. From the first moment I saw you I could tell you are healthy. Probably due to a good marriage, aye?" a teasing twinkle in her eyes. She knew he was married and Addison had looked up who she'd be working with, before she accepted the offer of being here.

Ace watched the duo with a soft smile. [That's what I hope to see on this station...friendship and community,] Ace thought.

"Now that is out of the way, what is the agenda or is this my being sneaky and getting a point of view with newly met people." Addison taking a glance towards Ace.

"Not that I'm aware of. If nothing comes up, I'm gonna keep exploring until I go on shift, then after that, hit the sack," Ace yawned as she mentioned sleep.

"We have a meeting of the senior staff planned for morning and until then we have just one agenda... Get this station back to a complete functional capacity!"
The Trill ignoring the chimes from his console as another three reports landed for his review.

"Oh I do not envy your position." Addison cheerily responded. "And it looks like you are getting beseiged by others needing your attention. And I am liking the set up here on the station. It is wonderful, and maybe slightly daunting. After all I've been used to small ship sickbays." Addison quipped.

"We don't do little here Doctor. Our smallest Hospital still has over seven hundred Doctor and Nurses assigned to it... As for you Lieutenant... Take a seat. I could use the help shifting through the Intel reports Starfleet have just downloaded into her database!"

"No problem, Commander! I could use a little practice in paperwork," Ace giggled, figuring this was her 'punishment' for her earlier stunt...plus, she honestly DID want to help the Commander get some of his work done so he and the Symbiont could have some fun with their husband. [I still can't make head or tail of that crazy logic...but then again, I haven't had a chance to adventure very far from home yet] Ace thought as she set to work.

"Just as long as they are easier to get organized than trying to herd a gaggle of cat then its all good." she gave a bit of a smile and a light laugh. "All in all I am sure they know their jobs, and can do them well." Addison added. "I am not one to go shake a tree just to see how many apples could fall to the ground. Most times it is going and observing and reading reports, getting in on the dirty work as well."

"Herd a gaggle of cats? Now why in the cosmos would anyone WANT to herd cats in the first place?" Ace sputtered through her giggles.

Iy'dan shared a look with Doctor Talbert, squashing his own smile seeing the irony in the fact that he had just started to herd cats... even if his cat was humanoid.
"Just think of it as one step towards being as old and wise as I am Lieutenant!"

Addison chuckled and gave the commander a wink. "I am glad to hear that, Commander."

Ace just nodded and giggled, knowing she'd missed something somewhere...but not really caring because she was just happy that she was starting to feel like she truly belonged.

END

 

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