===Mess hall=== Keylor walked in to the mess hall. It was the first time he had been down here since the replicators having been fully functional. He looked about and noticed several of the crew enjoying the highly eatable food the replicators were producing. He spotted Shane off in a corner going over a PADD and headed straight towards him. Keylor hand not seen his XO all day, and figured it would be best if he at least talked to him face to face once a day. Staring at the PADD in his right hand, Shane began to realize how little he knew about engineering. The PADD, he was staring at was Redding's status report and prioritizing of the remaining repairs. Scratching his chin Shane thought: "Geez ... I don't understand a third to the terms in this freaking report ... am i that silly?}. Deciding that a sip from his hot geylon green tea could only help, he leaned the PADD aside and took the cup. Keylor approached the table and stopped. "Mind if I join you Lieutenant?" Keylor said pointing to a chair across from Shane. Shane jerked a bit and looked up. Only with effort he gulped the remaining fluid in his mouth and replied: "Sure sir. Please take a seat ..." As Bretam was taking the seat, the familiar 'odd' feeling filled Shane's body ... like always in Keylors presence. {Grr ... I have to get rid of THAT!} he thought. Looking at the PADD on the table Shane reminded himself to the report he send Keylor few hours ago. Lifting his sight from the table to Keylor he asked: "Have you received my report, Sir? Keylor noticed the young officer jump at his presence. It could have been that Shane was really engrossed in what he was reading from the padd on the table. It could have also been that he was young and this was his first post as an XO. Either way Keylor had him and would have to find a way to get him to be less jumpy. Keylor took a seat and started light conversation. "So lieutenant, how are you settling in on the ship? I hope you have found the crew an interesting bunch." HE grinned knowing that Rangi Summers was the CMO and she was the first person he sent Shane to see. Keylor did not fully understand what was going on between Shane and Rangi, only that it was obvious they were a couple. Beyond that, Keylor did not want to intrude as long at his officers did their job and behaved, their personal life was their own. Shane looked at Keylor and for a moment remained quiet. It was obvious that Keylor was trying to establish some sort of informal relationship with him, some sort of basic trust. Shane was long enough a bridge officer to know that is was almost 'crucial' for the high quality cooperation between the CO and XO. Often the fate of the whole ship and its crew depended on a perfect understanding between the two Commanders. It should be relatively easy to found such a relationship ... with something like feeding the Captain's fishes, drinking regulary tea in the afternoon or taking part of some Shakespeare dramas on the holodeck ... but Shane still felt that he had not much common with Keylor. To be honest, Shane thought that they are two very different man ... and only the reason that they were now CO and XO don't made anything lighter ... Finally Shane nodded. "Aye, Sir. As I have seen, we have a quite merry band here. Making fun about the XO, suggesting that he is too fat ... yeah ... your crew is more then an interesting bunch. I saw many familiar faces from Aurora here and I am looking forward to work with officers i know" Allowing himself to grin a bit he continued: "Especially with certain CMO I am very happy to see after such a long time." Feeling that it was somehow awaited from him, Shane asked back: "What about you sir, what are you're feeling about the 'merry band' and the 'shiny new ship' you have?" Keylor nodded. "Well it is always goods to have people you know and can work with around you. Makes starting off much easier. But there are still many people on the ship that I don't know." He shrugged his shoulders. "But either way, they wouldn't be here if they were not good at what they do, in one way or another." he paused for a second. "And don't forget, they are your crew two. I might be the captain, but they look to both of us for leadership. I might be the typical father figure, but you are the big brother, always watching out for them." HE smiled. He then gestured to the ceiling and walls. "As for the ship. I would have preferred less problems and have been long on our way by now. But it is better than a 50 year of freighter." He smiled again. Shane nodded and smiled lightly. "Thank you sir. Its nice to hear that. Well, I have to admit that I am still not used to the Executive officer ... all my career till now I was just an tactical officer, but I will try my best not to disappoint you or " he paused as well, "our crew". He smiled at Keylor in apology: "I have to get used to that ...". Looking out the window for a moment he continued: "One thing I noticed is that 'our' crew is quite young ... what means little bit less experienced on one side but VERY eager to prove itself on the other. Keylor nodded. "Yes young they might be, and you elf are no old dog yourself. But like you many have had some experience, and they would not be here if they had not passed the recruiting process." Taking a sip from his tea he said: "Speaking about a big brother watching over his siblings ... I noticed that many of the crew are eager to leave the base as soon as possible. I would call it the 'need for fresh air' ...and to be honest, I feel that way too. Keylor nodded again. "I think we are all itching to get going. I know I would like to take this ship out and see what it can do myself." Keylor placed a serious look on his face. "But I will not compromise crew or ship safety at the whim of wanting to race around the galaxy. But we will be on our way soon. The latest reports from the repair teams are encouraging." He smiled. Shane began to relax in the presence of Keylor. He nodded: "I have to agree ... we have two most important things online again. Turbolifts and replicators ..." Thinking about the adventure in the turbolift with the three ladies, Shane smiled a bit. Looking at Keylor, Shane went serious again: "The majority of the ships systems are online, inclusive shields and partially phasers." Shane glared at the PADD from Lt. Redding and pointed with his finger on it. "That's Reddings latest report, Captain. I have heard that you are quite an engineer, so it will sure tell you more then it did to me, but the basic is clear. We have main power at 87%, impulse engines and warp drive" He watched Keylor taking the PADD and continued: "Other departments report about the same ... primary systems are on line and they are reequipping and adjusting. That applies to Rangi for medical, Storok for tactical, Okrin for Security and ODA. Just Science and Operations have some problems cause we still don't have the respective department heads there. Keylor glanced at the pad handed to him. It was encouraging to see that things were coming together. Although they were missing a few crew, it could have been a lot worse. Keylor thumbed through the information, making low guttural noises every once and a while. "uhm.. ah.er." was the barely audible noised. Hepointed to the pad and looked at Shane. " I see that the ODA/ security department is just about stocked. They seem short a few tr-116 and a few type IIIb rifles. Have Major Nejor go over to the base and secure them by 14:00 tomorrow some how." Shane smiled at Keylor, took the other PADD on the table and started to type his schedule. After a second of typing he chuckled a bit and said: "Well, he is in charge of the ODA, maybe he could consider this as his first intel mission." Shane mimicked an officers briefing: "Stealthy approach behind enemy lines, localizing the primary target ... being the Bragg's chief logistic officer, persuading the target to cooperate, gain the stuff and make a fast retreat before the enemy notices the action." Keylor chuckled as well and continued by pointing on the pad. " Have Redding fix the environmental in the sickbay. Then have the counselor help Dr Summers restock the sickbay. They have my permission to grab any one but engineers to help them complete the task immediately. They took a heavy loss of supplies after the environmental controls went wacky." Shane nodded. "Understood, I'll take care about that. We will arrange an extra shift from security and science personnel." Shane nested himself a bit in his chair. {Quite some tasks, and Keylor seems still not to be finished !} he thought. Shane was not the happy 'bunny' about that, but he understood the need for it to be done. No one wanted to compromise the health or the lives of the crew ... and if it would mean some extra work ... so be it. Keylor looked back at the pad and then tapped on it and pulled up a crew roster. "Take Ltjg Simmons and place them in temporary command of operations. Have them make sure everyone has quarters, and everything they need. Simmons has my authority to contact the base directly to acquire any thing crew needs to get settled in." Fast tapping on his PADD and Shane nodded again. "Sometimes I think Bragg operations is slowly fed up with our requests. I will speak with Simmons about that. I think he will handle it smoothly, I know he learned from the best ... from Allissa. You should see her when she dealt with Angry ships captains who wanted to dock or leave Aurora when it was not allowed ..." He then looked back at Shane. "That will get those items completed immediately. I want the tactical calibrations done by 14:00 hours tomorrow as well. With all of that completed the ship will be 79% ready for departure." He placed the pad down on the table. " At 17:00 hours I want all senior officers to assemble in the briefing room. We will go over the latest accomplishments then. I want full reports from each officer and estimated times of repair completions remaining." Shane's head ached slightly as he nodded again. "Ill inform Operations about contacting the senior staff as well. As this will be our first meeting, I will have my last 'ship sweep' done till 16:00 tomorrow to ensure all will be there, sir. Tactical reported the calibrations to be finished at 18:00 tomorrow, so I will heat Storok a bit up for that. Keylor leaned back a bit. "I can see us pulling out of the dock in a few days and shake the ship down with a quick trip around the system." Shane smiled this time. "I am glad to hear that sir. I think that all of the crew put much effort into this ship and they would be very pleased to see it slip out the bay .... Shane frowned a bit as he remembered the maiden cruise of the USS Falcon ... and how it almost ended with a disaster. "Sir, when I can recommend a thing for the cruise ... please don't let us chase some asteroids or comets ... Keylor looked puzzled , he was not sure what Shane was referring to . He let the comment pass, "Well for starters Lets just see if she flies, but unless there is a secret alien weapon on an asteroid, I don't see us chasing any , any time soon." "One last thing sir", Shane said, "The arboretum on deck 13 is open for public. You worked long hours in the last few days and I would be happy if you would take some rest their sir for today. I have tested it yesterday with Lieutenant Summers and its really nice" Keylor nodded, "Thank you lieutenant, but there is a lot of work to be done. I will rest when the time comes. For now we all need to chip in and buckle down and get this ship on its way. " He said with a firm but gentle voice. Keylor stood up form the chair. "OK lieutenant get those things done, and we will be in good shape. I will be expecting everyone at the briefing tomorrow." Shane rose from his seat as well. "Understood, sir" he replied. "I will finish the reading of Redding's report and make myself on the way." ===== End of log ===== LTCol Bretam Keylor Commanding Officer USS Chimera & LT Shane Guzman Executive Officer USS Chimera