Arrival of a young chief tactical officer

As the shuttle approached the airlock the new Lieutenant readied her bags. As she had been appointed as the new chief tactical officer onboard the Uss Horizon a new lotus class starship, she couldnt help but feel her pride surge.
Passing through the airlock into the arrival bay she approached the Deck officer;

" Excuse me chief"

"Yes lieutenant what can i help you with?"

"I was hoping you could direct me to the office of......."

She looks at her assignment padd

"Captain Kheren!"

"Of course ma`am would you follow me"

As the lieutenant followed the chief out and across a large atrium she couldnt help but notice the large amount of activity and personnel about.

The duty officer led the arriving young woman to the nearest computer panel on the wall.

" Computer; activate DOH. "

Instantly, the figure of a meidum height blonde woman appeared before them.

" Please state the nature of the task required. "

The deck officer smiled at Sarah as she spoke.

" With your permission, Lieutenant, I will now resume my duties. There is still a lot of work to be done before this ship is ready for launch. This Duty Officer Hologram will bring you to any person or place aboard as soon as you ask her." Then turning to the hologram; "please guide the Lieutenant to the Captain. "

" My pleasure; if you will please follow me, Lieutenant, Captain Kheren is on the Aquadeck. "

As the deck officier returned to her duties, the holographic woman waited for the arriving officer to regain her composure and indicate that she would indeed follow and they both started to walk towards the neares turbolift. The cabin whisked them swiftly towards the dictated destination and, once arrived at one of the lowest decks of the immense starship, the artificial yeoman guided the young lieutenant to a double door that slid open to reveal an awesome sight.

The entire deck was filled with water. As far as the eye could see, there was a vast liquid expanse that seemed nothing less than an actual sea, complete with tide and waves cresting plumes of white foam on a rocky shore doted with small sandy beaches. The entire artificial lake was ringed by a catwalk above and a lower passageway below, where lighting playing on the walls hinted at the large trenscparencies that encircled the whole titanic basin.

The holographic yeoman allowed time for the newly arrived officer to assimilate the astonishing reality of an entire starship deck filled with water before leading her once more, this time down into the lower passageway. There indeed could be seen gigantic transparencies that allowed to look under the water, where a fantastic underwater vista offered itself to the eye.

Leaning on both elbows on a railing bordering the huge windows, a tall, athletic Andorian with singularly dark blue skin was alone, looking intently at the underwater depths, seemingly mesmerized by the play of light and waves over the sand, rock, vegetation and colored wildlife of this artificially constructed seabed. He wore the standard black, grey-shouldered uniform with the red collar of command adorned with four golden pips.

" Captain... "

The Andorian rose up to his full height and turned towards them a startling pair of silvery eyes and two antennae that seemed to have al life of their own on the top sides of his white thick-haired, earless head. Sarah noticed immediately the scars on the high forehead, her professional experience recognizing those left by bladed weapons.

" May I present Lieutenant Junior grade Sarah Corcoran, the ship's tactical and Security Chief. Lieutenant, this is your commanding officer, Captain Kheren. "

Kheren looked over the tall, young, athletic human woman before him, assessing with his duelling eye the way she moved with controled precision and relaxed balance on well-toned limbs while her blue eyes darted like sensors on every surrounding detail and person present in the vicinity. Her auburn hair was straight and cut to her nape so as to free her field of vision without sacrificing to her feminity, a sure sign of a healthy sense of selfworth. As a former security officer himself, Kheren had experience in evaluating how good someone could be at such a stressful and demanding job; what he saw was already promising, if not already satisfying.

They were almost eye to eye as she was almost as tall as he was; and so, he looked intently into hers as he asked:

" Do you swim, lieutenant? "

Retaining the her composure and suppressing the urge to dive into the crystal clear waters, the lieutenant stated clearly:

" Actually, Sir, I havent had much chance to enjoy a good swim since being back home."

The captain looked into the depths of the half a kilometer expanse of artificial ocean with a strange far away look.

" I am terrified by the very prospect of diving in there. You might not know this, Lieutenant, but this is exactly how Andorians picture Hell. Maybe I will ask you to teach me one day. At one point, every Starfleet officer has to look the Devil in the eye. "

There was some kind of a message in there, the young woman could feel it. But for now, she could not really fathom it.

As she surveyed the deck around here she could see that it had been configured into a larger swimming area with what looked like dolphins and other aquatic creatures which she hope were all peaceful. The walls had been made to resemble a distant endless ocean and at the far wall was a crop of trees and a small beach;

Upon seeing this she stated with a sly smile.

" What a lovely sight! Not many ships have there own beach side resorts."

" Not real ones to be sure, " agreed Kheren, still looking far away into the depths. " Only Galaxy class starships ever did; other ships of sufficient size made afterwards were all too much battle-oriented to bother with such... luxuries. "

Again, there was the distinct feeling that there was something more hidden in those few words. Sarah was already starting to get in synch with the cryptic speech pattern of her new commanding officer.

" Fact is, Lieutenant, " now said the Andorian, " this is not just a recreational area. Beside being a source of water, oxygen and hydrogen and helping with temperature and humidity levels, there is plankton in here to provide a natural source of breathable air. Also, there are more than a few sentient species that are aquatic in nature; even Bolians are much in need of water as they descend from aquatic mammals. And where this ship might go, we might find a lot more of those other lifeforms. This area is therefore also a residential and diplomatic area, complete with lodging facilities, communication systems and water equipement to facilitate relations with those other forms of life. It can even be compartimentalized to create different liquid environements for the specific needs of such people. "

He then turned to face the tall woman squarely.

" That will be the purpose of this ship under my command, Lieutenant; to explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations where no one has gone before. Do not get fooled by the size and power of this vessel or  the fact that we carry an auxillary escort starship and a Maco detachment; this is not a ship of war. This is a ship of peace. What I expect from you as much as from myself is to enforce that peace and prevent war, or, if facing war, find the best, most peaceful way possible to end it. Feel you are up to it, Lieutenant? "

Nodding at the Captain Sarah couldnt help thinking of her own home on earth. Smirking matter of factly she responds to the Captains comments.

" Well sir it is a really nice thought to provide these facilities for races we don`t or may never encounter, unfortunately I would hate to think that this deck may present a significant threat to combat operations or during, god forbid, boarding actions. I`m not sure any of my security teams are fully conversed with standard underwater procedures"

" Neither will most boarders, Lieutenant, " retorted the Captain, " and unless they have gills and fins, they will certainly avoid this level... and if they do not, they will find themselves quite effectively confined by the same forcefields that allow to divide it into separate liquid environements. The same antiboarding forcefield grid is implemented on every deck of the ship, as you will find once you settle in. "

Saying while looking the Tall andorian before her

" So may i ask Captain does the Chief of tactical and security have an office aboard the horizon?"

Kheren tapped his combadge.

" Lieutenant Tyvya, please report to the aquadeck."

" On my way, Sir," immediately came the reply from a strong-sounding yet soft and clear feminine voice.

" Lieutenant Tyvya has been with me since I entered service in Starfleet, on the first flagship of Lotus Fleet, " then explained the commanding officer of the Horizon. " You are free of course to name anyone as your assistant, but I recommend her to you. You will be hard put to find a better one in all of Starfleet. "

Sarah Corcoran then heard the sound of a long stride behind her and turned around to have her gaze sweep upward, craning her neck to keep eye contact with the towering Andorian shen that joined them. She was almost two and a half meters tall, with a muscle tone that showed even through her gold-collared, black and grey uniform. She was not as dark of skin as the captain but her left antenna wore a ring identical to the one on his left hand.

" Please show our new chief of Security and tactical where her office is, Lieutenant, and answer any specific question she may have about her posting on board and our security protocols... including any question about me. "

" Aye, Sir... with pleasure, " answered the giantess, her antennae curving inward in the peculiar Andorian smile.

" Welcome aboard, Lieutenant Corcoran. " the captain said, ending their meeting.

" If you would come with me, Chief," Tyvya then said to the smaller woman. " Your office is on deck 16, near the brig. "

As the two Lieutenants made there way to deck 16, lieutenant Corcoran couldnt help but be curious about the composition of the crew noticing there were alot of andorians aboard.

"So Lieutenant Tyvya how long have you been aboard,"

"Not that long really i came across with the captain from his last command,"

"Ah yes i heard about your last ship during my last posting, its a same about the outcome of her last mission,"

After the short conversation the two lieutenants approached a rather wide glass door flanked by two security officer of crewman first class rank.

"Well  Chief welcome to the security complex, as you can see its a little more unconventional compared to standard ships of the fleet"

As sarah chuckles she cant help but state

"Not as unconventional as having a deck of water."

As the enter the main section Lieutenant Corcoran looks around the room and takes in the 30 plus officers and crew station at the terminals and alcoves, two her right she notices a heavy reinforced entrance

Noticing the Lieutenants gaze resting on the door Tyvya starts to head over,

"this is the security main armory it houses most of our equipment but we do have multiple auxilaries scattered around the ship two mostly near the remote stations"

"so what do we keep in her exactly?"

"alot of highly sensitive equipment, but at the moment it is mostly used as storage until the arms and supplies come aboard."

"Ah"

As the Lieutenant moved away she heads to a rear door at the back of the main room,

"Ah i presume this would be my private office"

As she taps the door open she notices the multitude of boxes and storage cases,

"i see my personal effects are here already. So any other rooms i should see lieutenant"

At the comment the lieutenant leads the way to what appears to a be a breifing room of a scale usually only seen onboard a starbase. Immediatly next to this entrance to this area was a glass door leading into what looked like the brig area.

" so Lieutenant what are the other 3 doors for?"

"one of them leads to the security holo-deck, which is placed mainly to be used for training and possible security replay and reconstructions, the other 2 are empty rooms that can be configured for multiple purposes."

"i have to say this is all rather impressive, but maybe we should have a few of the crew to unpack the boxes and start to get things in order ready for launch and any inspection. Im not very comfortable knowing that our armory is full of tissues and cups."

As both of the lieutenants smiled, the Human woman with her lips and the Andorian giantess with her antennae, a rough looking officer with the rank of chief warrant officer approached them and handed Lieutenant Tyvya a small status report.

"Hmm it would seem our brig might be seeing its first inhabitant, small fight between some cargo jocks and a flight officer."

"well despatch a security team and lets get it sorted."

"aye chief"

Lieutenant corcoran made her way to her office and took her seat and looked at the commanding view fo the security complex her office provided and thinking to herself

"ah this will do, i best think about finding my quarters aboard this thing."

She tapped up her computer and brought up the deck listings...................................