Checking In

Posted on Mon Mar 23rd, 2020 @ 2:05am by Lieutenant Commander Yang Li & Ensign Elleth Astrun

Mission: Before The Story Begins
Location: XO's Office
Timeline: MD-1

Elleth carried a large, wedge-shaped PADD with stylus in one hand. Her boots clicked lightly on the corridor as she headed for the exec's office. There was nervousness in those deep black eyes but she came to attention as she stopped outside the door, sounding the chime.

Yang had one hand on her knife and another on a phaser inside a desk drawer as she replied to the person sounding the chime, "Come." The voice was firm but had a mezzo-soprano pitch to it.

The door slid open and the heels of her boots clicked as Elleth entered. Those alien black irises focused in on the commander. She came to attention, tucking the PADD under one arm. "I was told to report to you, sir."

"And you are?" Yang asked skeptically, not trusting anything this new uniformed person was saying at this juncture.

"Yeoman Elleth Astrun, sir," she answered.

Do I have a yeoman? Or is this the Captain's? Yang wondered. Either way, it would make a lovely spy, she decided. With a much more friendly voice, Yang replied, "Come in, Yeoman!"

Elleth stepped inside.

"Have a seat, Yeoman. Make yourself at home. Tell me about yourself." Yang smiled like the cat that ate the canary.

Elleth took a seat, feeling a bit like the canary. She crossed her booted legs and offered a smile, shy smile. "I'm from Betazed, Commander. I was briefly an archivist at Stasrbase 34 but this is my first starship assignment. I'm excited to see the universe, sir." She offers a grin.

"Betazoid?" Yang tried to recall everything that she knew about Betazoids. Empathic and telepathic. Non martial. No wonder they were so easy to conquer. I will have to tread lightly with this naive one. "I am most surprised to see you on this ship," she replied honestly. "I did not think that Betazoids had any desire to be part of a martial organization."

"I'm only Half-Betazoid," Elleth said. "I am a..." Although this can't have been the first time she'd been asked, she still paused to consider her word choice. "I am a subject of the empire, sir. I wanted a chance to prove my worth and to see the stars."

Yang noted the hesitation. Why? Best to test it. Let's see how we can make her ours. "You hesitated, Yeoman. That does not make it seem that you are committed to the Empire's purposes. Do you not believe that the strongest should survive? Do you believe that the weak Betazoids should not have been subjugated, as was our right?"

Elleth, of course, sensed that she was being tested, though she couldn't quite figure out what the Commander wanted. "Betazed is a part of the empire, sir. I hope to prove it a worthy one."

"A rather diplomatic answer," Yang replied with some approval. So, she can be somewhat discreet. There may be promise in this one. "However, that did not answer my question. You may answer freely without fear of reprisal."

"I don't have a place in this galaxy, sir. On Betazed, it is my Terran half they see, a reminder of conquest and humiliation. Anywhere else in the empire, it's my Betazoid half and, as a civilian, I would be little more than a slave. In Starfleet, there is a chance to earn a place, even for the subject races of the Empire. I have even heard of some Vulcan officers becoming quite feared, sir," she confided. "I don't necessarily aspire to that. I did prepare for a technical services role. But I do hope to be useful and find a place here."

Yang gave Elleth a calculated sympathetic look. "You definitely have a difficult position to overcome. Perhaps I can be of assistance. Perhaps I cannot. However, I can guarantee that I will work you hard. Tell me of your technical abilities."

"Yes, sir," Elleth said. The empath, of course, was not easily taken with calculated looks. She still had a healthy fear of the executive officer. "I'm proficient with with the computer systems, especially clerical systems, as well as PADDs and tricorders. I'm familiar with the crew and the ship's specifications as well as with pertinent imperial regulations. I'm fully trained to keep you informed and to assist you with all your administrative tasks."

The executive officer nodded several times, making particular notes of Elleth's self proclaimed skill sets. She definitely had uses. She already was familiar with the crew, she said. "Tell me what you think about the crew."

"It's a solid crew, sir," she says. "Most are proficient in their areas. Good services records. Many from multiple generations of service. Lieutenant Kehoe's father was a noncom and so he's made it as an officer." She must know, but doesn't mention, that the senior Kehoe had served overseeing slave labor. If she has feelings about that, she doesn't show them. "Ensign Edwards comes from many generations of starship service. A long line of warriors."

"You tell me their pedigrees," Yang replied with a crocodile grin. "But you tell me not what you think of them. Or me, for that matter."

"All I know of them so far is what's in their records, sir," Elleth said. "What to make of it..." She shrugs and keeps with the same two examples. "A man with a prominent pedigree may be driven with a strong tradition of service and the highest ambitions. He might also be entitled, feeling he can always rely on his family to pave the way. A man who's family served in the ranks might be especially appreciative of the role of enlisted personnel or he might be especially prone to lord it over them because he made it. The only person on the ship I've spent more than a minute with so far is you, sir."

Yang's smile grew wider. The yeoman may be enlisted, but she had a gift for dancing around a topic and trying to make another person speak. Definitely a useful quality. "And still, you avoid telling me what you think of me."

"I think you are brilliant, ambitious, and unrelenting, sir," Elleth answered. "I think that very little gets past you. I think you are subtle and a keen observer of the workings of other minds."

Looking for any signs of deception in the yeoman's demeanor, Yang let the statement sit for awhile. Concluding that there was no deception and pleased with the yeoman's answer, Yang replied, "I like you. I think that if you stick with me, you have a grand opportunity to realize your desires."

"Thank you, sir," Elleth answered, visibly relieved.

"You're welcome, Ensign. I look forward to our future meetings. Dismissed."

Ensign Elleth Astrun
Yeoman

and

Commander Yang Li
Executive Officer/Chief Science Officer