Far Over, The Highland Mountains, Cold - Part Eight

Posted on Wed Mar 18th, 2020 @ 4:06am by Fleet Admiral Heather Duval & Division Admiral Thomas Lasky & Commander Ethan "Hardcase" Duval & Lieutenant Melody McKnight-Yamaguchi & Petty Officer 1st Class Braelynn 'Lady' Naz'jar & 1st Lieutenant T'Kera "Demolitions" Duval

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard / USS Valeria
Timeline: 1000Hrs - June 19th, 2393

Fleet Admiral Heather Duval was seated in a chair in the main lounge of the USS Valeria, a Century class starship that was delivering personnel to Starbase Vanguard, her niece in the chair on her left with Ethan Duval being seated on the right side of her, the three were sharing a drink as they watched the starlines fade, with the starbase suddenly appearing before them. "So aunt Heather, what now for you?"

"Now I'm gonna go back to work, starting tomorrow. The break I had was nice." Duval answered with a smile. "But I got a lot of work to do," she added. "What of you?"

"I need to help my new unit commander sort out her marines. Ouros Yamaguchi is different but she is fair."

"Ahh. Ouros was one of my finest students. You'll get along with her, she's not very social but she knows her craft." Ethan smiled at his niece. Suddenly the com system beeped. "Attention all personnel, we will be docking at Starbase Vanguard in five minutes, all personnel who are going to the base, please assemble at the port side airlock. That is all."

Heather Duval finished her drink. "That's us, come on guys." she then rose to her feet before she made her way to the replicator, where she recycled her drink, she also had turned over her quarters to the ships Operations personnel this morning as T'Kera and Ethan had as well, the three had spent most of the morning here in the lounge. Ethan rose to his feet as he likewise recycled his own drink, he had brought T'Kera's with him as well, the three them made their way towards their destination.

A few minutes later, the three of them ran into a small group of personnel already assembled at the airlock, they waited for the airlocks to connect as the ship docked with the starbase. the hatch opened and the personnel started making their way through and it was on a first come, first serve basis. Heather Duval went through as one of her aides was waiting for her. "Good morning Admiral, did you have a good time?"

Once everyone present found out who the only person among them was, wearing civilian clothing, they began to show her a lot more respect.

"It was productive," Duval answered, with a smile. "Thanks. Braelynn, meet Commander Ethan Duval."

"Welcome aboard Commander." Petty Officer 1st Class Braelynn 'Lady' Naz'jar smiled as she nodded at him. "So your effort was a success ma'am, very nice." she smiled as she received a PADD. "I will process this right away." she paused. "Admiral Yamaguchi needs to see you as soon as you can get there, it seems that Starfleet personnel is giving him a hard time as he's requesting more skippers for Admiral Lasky and they are being unhelpful on the matter."

"Thanks for letting me know. I'll be along in an hour to report in and head back to work." she turned to T'Kera. "I'd gotta dash and deal with drama. What of you?"

"I can find my way around from here guys, thanks." Ethan suddenly commented. "I'll head to the quartermaster's office first. get my quarters assignment and request some uniforms," he explained. "Then I'll go find Admiral Lasky and report in."

"I need to head on back planetside anyway," T'Kera commented. "You sure you're gonna be okay?" she inquired of Ethan Duval, he nodded his head sagely. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he answered before he turned and walked away, down the hallway, intending to reach his next destination.

A few minutes later, Ethan Duval walked into the quartermaster's offices, he approached the young lady seated at the desk as she was working on paperwork. "Hello." he addressed her.

Lieutenant Melody McKnight-Yamaguchi looked up. "Good morning, what can I do for you?" she inquired.

Duval regarded her. "I'm looking for my quarter's assignment. My name is Ethan Duval."

"Duval eh," McKnight-Yamaguchi responded as she went through the half dozen PADD's on her desk. "Ahh, I was expecting you, sir. Welcome back to the service," she commented as she handed him the PADD in her hands. "You'll be quartered on level sixty-two, section El-Ninty four, officers quarters." she smiled as she explained where his new home would be.

Duval accepted the new PADD with a nod. "Thank you El-Tee." and with that done, he turned and departed before making his way towards his new home.

A few minutes later, he entered his new quarters, which opened once he opened the door with his new authorization code. The first thing he noticed was the size of his new home, the quarters were open floor planned with a large sitting area with three sofas. One was a two-person love seat, one was a one person chair and the last was a three-person sofa. he also had a large kitchenette with a dining table with six chairs around it. He also had a fully equipped kitchen with two replicators. Duval decided to explore as he went through his new home, he found two bedrooms and a third room that was presently set up as a study, he also had two bathrooms and one of them was just a commode and a sink while the other had a bathtub large enough for three if they were on intimate terms and there was a full shower as well. Duval smiled. "I see now that you guys live really well," he said aloud.

Duval didn't need to change clothing but he went over to the replicator before he replicated himself a dozen sets of clothing for his own needs, socks, underwear and off duty clothing. All of which he quickly put away before he replicated himself some toiletries and the like, for his personal grooming and the like, all of which he placed into the master bathroom. "Yeah, these people live very very well. I would expect a room assignment a third of this size and be told to make do," he added aloud.

Duval then replicated himself a half-dozen uniforms with his new command code, they appeared as he proceeded to hang them up in his closet. Duval smiled as he decided that now he needed to go and report in. He departed his new home after asking the computer for the location of Admiral Tom Lasky. The Admiral was in his office so Duval decided to go and pay his respects.

A few minutes went by as Duval made his way to his next destination. He came to rest in the Admirals office as he regarded Lasky's yeoman. "Hello. I am here to see Admiral Lasky, is he available?"

"Can I ask what it's in regards to?" the young man inquired.

"I'm here to report for duty."

"Your Commander Duval?" he responded. "The Admiral is free, go on in."

"Thank you." and with that Duval walked into Lasky's domain. Lasky was seated behind his desk working on a PADD in his hands when he put it down upon seeing Duval. "Ethan, come on in," he commented.

"Thank you, Admiral. Commander Ethan Duval, reporting for duty sir."

"Welcome aboard Commander. I think you'll fit in very well with my command, I was hoping you'd come back to the fleet at some point, I think my command will be an excellent fit for you. Also, Lei Shen sends his greetings and his regards."

"You knew I was coming?" Duval inquired. "Did Lei Shen contact you?"

"No," Lasky answered evenly. "Yes he did but your name was not mentioned. He asked me how I was and how the family was doing," he responded with a smile.

"Well. I was told the USS Gaarni is my assignment," Duval answered with some hesitancy in his tone of voice.

"Yes she is, Admiral Duval specifically requested I hold onto assignment of that ship pending what she called a special case, she didn't tell me she wanted to try and bring you back into the service, I wish she had told me," Lasky answered with a smile. "In any event, it matters not as the Gaarni is brand new, straight off the assembly lines and she's about to start the second set of her trial runs. You'll be shaking her down and if you approve, you'll also be her permanent commander."

"I've not seen a Century class starship before," Duval admitted.

"Oh, well then, let me take you over to her," Lasky answered as he rose to his feet. "I'm not going to expect you to start work right away. I'll take you over tomorrow morning and we'll do the command changeover then, around Oh eight hundred and then you can command her as you see fit, her crew is already assigned and your first officer was the shakedown Captain so please try to get along with Commander Maxwell." Lasky then smiled. "You'll need a dress uniform for the occasion."

"Thank you, Admiral. I look forward to commanding the Gaarni."

"Welcome back to Starfleet Ethan. Its good to see you again." he paused. "I prefer to have a certain informality with my commanders, I am on a first name basis with all of them, that includes you and if it helps, you can call me by name and that is an order, Ethan." Lasky then smiled. "If it'll help you."

"Thank you... Tom." Duval answered.

"Alright then. I'll see you at oh eight hundred tomorrow, in this office. We can go over to the Gaarni then and handle matters." Lasky responded.

"Sounds good Admiral. I will see you then."

"Take the rest of today, learn the Starbase and settle in and handle what needs handling okay?" Lasky answered. "Alright, on your way. I'll seeya bright and early." and with that, the meeting was concluded, as Duval departed Lasky's office.