To Refelian, Love Mint

Posted on Tue Jul 24th, 2018 @ 12:42am by Commander Abigail Prescott & Captain Horatio Refelian
Edited on on Mon Sep 3rd, 2018 @ 3:43pm

1,749 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 1: The Return to Faltan
Location: Faltan Station Landing Pad
Timeline: MD02 - 0930

Mint fluctuated between excited, nervous, and scared as the Minotaur slowly came to land on the planet's surface near the station. She flexed her hands against her thighs as she watched the crew around her work to land. It wasn't an every day occurrence, which made the situation that much more nerve wracking for her.

Thirty minutes later, Mint was trying to stop making fists as she disembarked. In the distance, she could see a group of people walking toward her, led by an older man. She couldn't make out more than he was tall, with greying hair, and wearing a Command uniform. Probably Refelian, she thought as she made her way toward him, the crew that had helped bring the Minotaur to Faltan coming up behind her.

Harry glanced up and down at the new Wallace Class vessel Starfleet had assigned Faltan Station. She wasn’t the biggest or the strongest but she was beautiful. He then noticed the crew starting to disembark. He saw a slightly green toned skinned woman disembark, “Excuse me, is Commander Prescott still on board?” He asked the young lady.

A smirk crossed Mint's face as she came to attention and saluted him. "Commander Abigail Prescott, at your service," she could barely contain a chuckle as she spoke. It was always amusing to see the reaction when meeting new people now that she made full Commander at 29. "As you can see, I have delivered your fine vessel in perfect condition."

Refelian smirked, “Nice try, I think you're younger than my daughter. So, where is she?”

Mint shook her head. He'd obviously not read her file before coming to meet her. Lieutenant Commander O'Connor stepped forward, holding out a PADD to Refelian. "Sir," he intoned, "She really is Commander Prescott."

Harry quickly wiped the smirk off of his face. “My apologies, Commander. Your file hasn’t reached me yet, only a rank and name and how you were getting here.”

Mint chuckled. "It is alright, Captain," Mint shrugged. "You're not the first to assume I was joking. I'm probably not as young as you think I am, but I am young for the rank, or so I've been told."

She turned to look at the Minotaur, then smirked at Refelian. "But now, I present you with your new baby, the USS Minotaur. She is a fine ship, and it was smooth sailing all the way here," she gestured to the crew gathered in front of the ship. "And I couldn't have done it without these fine folks helping."

“I won’t ask a lady her age, I’m not that silly.” Harry said with a smile. “I’m glad she’s ship shape, it’ll be the only thing here that is.” He said as looked at the starship before turning his attention to his new first officer. “Captain Horatio Refelian, a pleasure to meet you, Commander.” He said offering his hand.

Another laugh escaped Mint. He had a good sense of humour, a definite bonus to their working relationship. When he offered his hand, she took it and gave it a firm shake. "Likewise," she responded before giving a cursory look around. "So, I didn't get much of a briefing. What's the story with this station?"

Refelian sighed as he released the Commander’s hand. “To be frank with you, the Station is disarray. The list of repairs and maintenance is as long as my arm and at the moment we are completely under staffed to get the job done.” He glanced around to see who was about. “Walk with me, Commander.” He said as he began to walk away from the station.

Mint fell into step with Refelian as the rest of the crew from the Minotaur began to disperse going back to their duties. "Well, as an engineer, I have no problem getting my hands dirty to assist in the repairs and upkeep, but your sigh has me worried," she admitted.

The Captain didn’t know about the Prescott’s Engineering past, “That would be useful, Commander.” He said before pausing allowing them to walk further away from prying ears. “Have you been told of our mission here?”

"In a nut shell?" Mint turned the statement into a question, though she didn't leave room for him to give an answer. "Starfleet pulled out of Faltan, left an administrative team here to maintain," she looked around with faint disgust at the state of the station. "Then decided that due to current events, Faltan Station needed to reopen as a full station."

“That’s the general mission of Faltan Station. About six weeks ago, Starfleet lost contact with the Administrative team. They have no leads as to why. Commander M’Mira was the first senior officer to arrive, she reported that no one was here. I’ve tasked her with looking into this, but our number are small at the moment. I’m not sure who is responsible, but the Faltans and the Mining Colony on luna are our prime suspects but there is little evidence or motive. There is also the possibility that the Romulans or Klingons might be involved.”

'Missing?' Mint thought curiously. A station to repair and a mysteriously vanishing admin team to find. No wonder Refelian hadn't read her file yet. "Has anyone else arrived since? Or am I the third to arrive?" Many more questions swam in her head, but she didn't want to bombard him with too many. A slight fear crept up her spine as she realized that whomever caused the team to disappear was likely still close by. Would they try to make the new team disappear as well? Her mind spun with the possibilities and she was temporarily distracted. She gave her head a slight shake and looked sidelong at Refelian. He didn't seem to be waiting for a response, so she hoped she hadn't missed anything he'd said.

“The Chief Medical Officer has arrived as well. I’m waiting for the Marine Commander to arrive as well but other than that, no other senior officers have been assigned to Faltan Station yet.” Refelian said.

"So I'm the last to arrive," she looked toward the Minotaur. "Fashionably late, with a stylin' ride," she grinned, hoping her joke would ease the tension some.

“Last but by no means least. Hopefully, Starfleet will assign more when they become available.” Harry said with a smile. “She’s definitely easy on the eye. I approve.” The Captain said with a chuckle.

"I'm glad. Cuz I wasn't intending on taking it back if you didn't," Mint grinned cheekily. "Now, about this missing team. You said you have the Chief of Ops investigating. What are our next steps? What would you like for me to do? I know I just got here, but I am eager to get started."

“I tasked Commander M’Mira with investigating the Station. See if anything is a foot, I’m still waiting on her report but I’m guessing as I’ve not heard anything yet, the Commander hasn’t found anything of value. Which means we need to look further afield. The Faltan’s, which I doubt are involved but we shall investigate them and the mining colony on Luna. If both check out the we’ll need to look at Romulan or Klingon involvement.” Refelian explained.

Mint nodded in agreement. Investigating the two groups that had easy access to the station would be the most logical move. 'Ugh, now I'm thinking like a Vulcan,' she thought in amusement. "Right, so do we have any indication on where they were last seen, or when even?"

“They last reported in to Starfleet about 6 weeks ago then nothing. As for seen, I’m guessing when they were last resupplied, but I don’t know when that was. I’ve sent a message to the Faltan Government inviting them here, we’ll see if they accept the offer. Once we’ve spoken to them I’ll contact the mining colony. We’ll need to tread carefully as to not upset the locals.” The Captain explained as they came to a stop at the far corner of the landing pad.

"Agreed," Mint looked around. The station was huge and quite unlike anything she'd ever seen, well, since the Academy anyway. It wasn't often she found herself on a planetary station, but now she was going to make a home here. "I suggest we simply introduce ourselves and what we've been tasked with doing, then inquire when they'd last interacted with the previous administrative team," she tilted her head to one side as she looked at Refelian. "It would be more inquisitive than accusatory."

“I concur.” Harry replied with a smile. “I’m glad we’re on the same wave length.” He said before pausing for a moment. “I hate to do this to you, but as you're an Engineer you’ll have to take over as Department Head Of Engineering until one is assigned. If you don’t mind, of course?”

Mint's eyes widened in excitement. "Of course I don't mind! As I said before, I don't mind getting my hands dirty!" She rubbed her hands together as though to prove her point. "Though, if you don't mind, I'd like to get to know the station today and start with the Chief Engineering duties tomorrow?"

“Of course. The ever growing list of jobs to do will still be there tomorrow.” Harry said with a chuckle. “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss with me?”

Mint thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No sir," she said after a beat. "I don't believe I do. If there's anything you'd like to know about me, I'm open to answering questions, well, most questions anyway."

“I’m sure any questions I have will be answered once your file finally arrives on my desk.” Harry said with a smile. “Enjoy settling in.” He said before walking off.

Mint watched Refelian walk off with a devilish grin. Not bad for an older guy. Movement to her right caught her attention and she noticed several crew standing there looking between her and Refelian. She rolled her eyes at them, motioned them back to work and started walking away before she opened her mouth and got herself in trouble on her first day.

 

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