A New Operations Officer Part 1

Posted on 03 Oct 2026 @ 1:48am by Ensign Tevik & Lieutenant Karyn Somers

1,872 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Orientation Posts
Location: Starbase 51/Various
Timeline: Current - After Tomcat has docked.

[ON]

- Security Office -

Karyn was currently in the Chief's office behind her desk. Sam was out doing her rounds when an alert came up. She pulled up the report and sighed.

"A Vulcan... This should be interesting!" She exclaimed to herself. She called up his file "Hmm, Ensign Tevik, she said, stood and left the office, entered the nearest turbolift and entered.

"Arrivals and Departures," she said when the doors closed. The lift whooshed to its destination, and as it approached, it slowed down.

- Arrivals & Departures - SB51 -

The lift opened out onto a busy area of the Starbase. Karyn, whose Red hair was in a soft ponytail with bangs straightened out, adjusted her Crossbelt and headed forward. She was quick to spot a Vulcan standing like an immovable stone in the middle of a raging river; she approached him.

"Ensign Tevik, I presume! Greetings, I am Lieutenant Karyn Somers, Security Officer on this Starbase, and I will take you through your orientation for your tour of duty aboard the Tomcat," she said. She did not hold her hand out, as she knew it was not the Vulcan way; instead, she held up her palm and did the Vulcan sign.

Tevik nodded crisply as the female security officer approached him. "I am Tevik." He confirmed and went on. "Greetings. Peace and long life to you, Lieutenant Somers." His hand rose in the traditional Vulcan salute. All while his eyes took in her appearance, body language and greeting.

Lowering her hand, she looked at him and raised an eyebrow "You are studying me, Ensign, so what are you finding from your assessment?" She asked in a neutral tone.

"Correction, Lieutenant Somers, I am appraising you. I have noticed that you are confident in your ability to handle the duties of your job no matter what those duties may be. Also, you take a friendly approach but maintain a professional distance. You also take great pride in your appearance and that of your uniform. Your boots have also been recently shined. Shall I go on?" Tevik asked.

She raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. "Thank you, Ensign. I am a former Marine of the 95th Rifles. You look... appropriate, too, considering your long journey here." *pause* "Welcome to Starbase 51. We are situated on what I like to call the ass-end of the Federation. This is the Mira Sector, a sparsely colonised region. There are other Starfleet ships out here, but your new assignment, the highly modified Akira-class USS Tomcat, is the Sector Flagship." *pause* "If you will follow me, we will first go to Security, then to the holodeck for a tour of the Tomcat, as she is currently on her way back from her last mission. I can only give you a cursory tour and a short update on her systems. You would need to speak to the CEO about what the ship is currently capable of and what her specifications are." Karyn said, leading the way to the turbo lift.

When they had entered and the doors had closed, "Security level," she said, then fell silent, allowing for Tevik to respond.

Tevik listened in silence as Somers spoke. When she had finished, he replied. "A tour of the Tomcat would be quite informative as well as beneficial. Please lead the way to the holodeck so we can begin my tour. As for speaking to the CEO on the specifications and what the ship is capable of, I will hold that conversation for another day. My current goal is to learn and be familiar with the Tomcat's various systems and departments." He replied as the pair entered the turbolift to proceed to the station's "Security level."

"The most I can do is show you the key important areas and speak of some new systems. I am a former Marine Ensign; I did not train to be technically minded, so please hold back on the deep Tech questions. I can answer such, but only in layman's terms; for now we are security-bound," Karyn said.

A moment later, the lift opened out onto a busy Security level.

- Security -

"This activity is normally like this," she said, leading the young Ensign to the Security Chief's office "Have a seat, Ensign," she said, indicating the chair in front of the desk after they entered, and she closed the door.

As Karyn sat behind the desk, she pulled up the Ensign's file and started the process. The built-in machine in the wall next to her started up: "Okay, before we properly start, you will need to secure your starbase-side quarters. Also, unlike other ships, there will be more security codes assigned to you; as we are so far out, it is a requirement. Before I continue, do you have any questions?" Karyn asked.

Tevik did as Somers directed, sitting in the chair, his arms at his sides as he waited for whatever was to come next. "Not at this time, Lieutenant. You have explained the process quite well, and I understand the purpose for more security codes. It is a wise and logical requirement."

*Looks at him, a little perplexed* She sighed for other reasons. "Okay, the reason for the extra codes is, as I have said, we are out in the sticks, and support is not so quick if the Tomcat gets into trouble," Karyn said and looked to her right as the first of three items dropped into the dispenser tray.

She picked the Item up and held it out to him "This Ensign is your ship ID Card, yes its a little old-fashioned, but it is required when on the Tomcat. On or off duty, it has to be worn; only engineering can put it in a pocket for obvious reasons, but for all other departments it has to be worn. *pauses* The ID has a Chip in it that allows your extra ship codes to work. Should you be assigned to an away team, your ID is to be left on the ship," she said, holding the ID out to the Ensign.

Taking the ID card, Tevik checked to make sure all the information was correct before attaching it to his tunic. "I understand, Lieutenant." He replied simply as he waited for the rest of the items to be presented to him.

"If you have any questions, I encourage you to ask now," she said, then picked up a data Crystal and held it out to him "This is the data crystal with your extra codes on it; it is coded to your DNA. You can use that in each port, or you can memorise the codes. Any questions so far?" She ended with a question.

Taking the crystal examined it. " Coded to my DNA? Most logical and efficient. I will keep the crystal with me to begin with until I have memorised the additional codes. No questions so far, Lieutenant."

"Indeed!" Karyn said oO why do they never have questions? Oo She asked herself, but continued, "It is ideal that you secure some quarters on the Starbase, as while Officer quarters are small, there will not be enough for a massive amount of personal decorations or personal items larger than an ornamental vase," she said as the last item printed out; it was one of the three items that could easily be seen: a long red strip of paper, very old-fashioned. As she waited to see if the Vulcan had anything to say, she grabbed the strip of paper.

"I shall secure quarters as you have recommended. Do you have any suggestions as to which part of the station I procure quarters? I would ideally like to be close to where the Tomcat docks, but I realise this may not be obtainable." Tevik replied as he watched a long red strip of paper print out. An eyebrow arched as Somers grabbed the paper.

"Currently the station is still being populated, so there are plenty of vacant quarters you could claim. I think some are even close to where the Tomcat docks, so after we finish with your orientation, you will need to speak to the station's quartermaster and secure some quarters," Karyn said, and the Vulcan's raised eyebrow did not go unnoticed when he looked at the red strip of paper in her hand.

"Oh, this! Another quirk of serving on the Tomcat, and again it is down to the Tomcat being the Flagship of the Sector and containing some sensitive codes," she said and held the strip of paper out to him. "This is a one-time use security code, only to be used in an extreme emergency. It is an alphanumeric code, one you will need to memorise and then destroy the strip of paper" She paused "Should you be the last ranking officer conscious or alive, this code will lock out the ship's computer to any hostile forces that could board and try to capture the ship. IF they then tried to unblock the ship's computer, the code's second function kicks in, and it wipes the entire system of everything and disables the ship's warp, impulse and thrusters," she paused.

"This is a last resort, but to date it has worked, and none of the crew has needed to use the code, but read it, memorise it, and then destroy the strip of paper. Each number is allotted to the specific individual. Any questions so far?" She asked, holding the strip of paper closer to the Vulcan.

"I will indeed speak to the quartermaster in an effort to procure quarters close to where the Tomcat is docked." He replied as he took the strip of paper, glanced at the number on it and then looked at it again, committing it to memory, along with the alphanumeric code printed on it. "There is no other copy of this number? Or any of the other numbers assigned to the crew? Nothing stored deep within the computer core?" He questioned Somers.

"No, it is one of those rare codes that, when used, does exactly as mentioned; there is, however, a sequence in the code that will tell the Tomcat computer the code is meant for it. You have your only copy, Ensign; no one else and no other storage device. Any further questions before I take you on a brief tour of the Tomcat? It will be holodeck-based, as the Tomcat is just returning from duty, so seeing the real thing will have to come when you actually board it, but the holodeck does an exact duplicate, right from the gangway from the Starbase to the docked ship," Somers asked.

"It is good Vulcans have excellent memories," Tevik replied as he studied the code and then folded the paper strip and stuffed it in his pocket. "No other questions at this time, Lieutenant. I am ready to begin my holographic tour of the Tomcat as well as becoming familiar with the deck layout of the ship."

"Excellent," she said and finalised the data on the computer before standing up.

TBC...


[OFF]



Ensign Tevik
Operations Officer
USS Tomcat

 

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