Setting Up Shop - Part I

Posted on Sat May 24th, 2025 @ 7:44pm by Lieutenant Sofia Gonzalez & Commander Vincent 'Vin' Salvatore

1,115 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Intelligence Suite
Timeline: MD030 0900 hours

::ON::

Vincent finally had his stuff unpacked and set up in his quarters. He got it just how he liked it, and after a length communication with his superior in Intelligence, he finally had time to himself. After a quick look at the specifications and deck listing, it was finally time to do something he was putting off since he spoke to the Captain. It was finally time to meet Lieutenant Gonzalez. The woman who had the Captain's trust in Intelligence that he was now commanding. If his brother was here, Carlo would tell him to use his silver tongue to get into her good graces. Flirt and talk his way onto her good side in order to make it quick and easy, but that wasn't who he was now. Vincent had no intention of leading her on or putting his foot down on his new position. He wasn't going to play her like Carlo would. He wanted her trust and he had to earn it. His way.

After some time wondering the corridor, Vincent finally came to a door marked the Intelligence Suite. With a deep breath and soft smile, he finally tapped on the chime by his door to announce his presence. With any luck, Gonzalez was here and already been made away of the change.

Pouring over the after combat report about the incident with the Orions, Gonzalez didn't quite register the chime at first. Hearing it a second snapped her back to where she was. Of course I have to give them permission to enter she mused to herself. Ignoring the bags under her eyes in the ghostly screen reflection, she pivoted and moved to the door, palming it open.

'Yes ... Commander?' she respectfully asked as she noted the rank strap to his uniform. Truth be told she liked having the power to decide who could come in and out of her little domain depending on their accesses. Even some admirals had been turned away from the research dig she'd been a part of. 'Can I help you?'

"I'm... uh... Commander Vincent Salvatore." He replied with an bit of a smile. "I'm the new First Officer... and... Chief Intelligence Officer." He quickly held his hands up and added. "Look, I'm not here to throw a wrench into what you got going on. Starfleet Command and Intelligence mainly wanted to toss me on because of my expertise in the area, so they thought it would come in handy. Although, I wouldn't agree to it unless the offer came from you Captain. Burke and I had a long talk and we decided it was a good move." Vincent let out a bit of a sigh before ending with. "Captain Burke has a lot of confidence and trust in you. I don't want to screw that up or change the way you work. I thought, given the circumstance, I'd come here and talk so you have a chance to put me through whatever paces you feel is necessary."

She looked at him for a moment, then nodded, 'please, come in Commander. I assume you have the clearance for the suite - you could have just walked in.' Gonzalez was uncertain for a moment, then smiled, 'so, you're my new boss then? Burke's previous first officer wasn't an intel specialist, so you're the first department head brought in.'

"I do have the clearance for it. Given my specialty, I might have clearance for a lot of places, but I am not here to have a competition with you, Lieutenant. As far as walking through the door... I don't make it a habit to walk into someone's house without permission." He walked into the suite, allowing the door to close behind them, assuming they locked again when they closed. He gave her a smile, before looking around and proceeding further in. "I would prefer you consider me a partner, not a boss. Although, I know how difficult it might be to do that when I am also the first officer. I don't expect or want you to sugar coat anything for me. If you have anything to add or you think I am wrong, I expect you to call me out on it. You have a better idea or more accurate Intel, present it. Our goals should always be to the benefit of the ship and crew. Don't you think?"

She looked at him curiously for a moment, then nodded as she took her seat in front of one of the large consoles in the room. 'Yeah, working for the benefit of ship, crew and Starfleet is why we're here,' she said with a smile. 'But you are my superior so I won't be slacking in my work. And I'll always provide an honest assessment.' Frowning, she continued, 'I spent way, way too long on Canopeia Draco at the dig to waste any more time.'

Gonzalez looked like she had come to a decision with herself. 'If you trust me, I'll trust you, Sir.'

"I didn't think you would slack off when it came to your work." He said as he crossed his arms slightly. "And call me Vincent or Vin." He smiled a bit as he placed his hands back down at his side. "And I know I am your superior. What I mean to say is that I would rather set all the formal stuff aside and do this thing as a team. We both have our niche when it comes to Intel, so that means, we have different way of looking at things. Maybe we can learn from each other or develop a short hand." He stood there for a second before asking. "Tell me about this dig?"

She thought for a moment, then said cautiously, 'that dig is classified at the highest level.' Gonzalez shrugged her shoulders slightly, clicked a tongue in frustration. 'I'm not even sure how highly. Burke came to retrieve me from there, but I'm not even sure that he knew what it was, not really. He was flown in on an SI shuttle. We flew out on one.' She paused, took a breath. 'Officially it doesn't exist, but it's part of an umbrella project. It involves five or six planets, I'm not entirely sure.' Looking at the man, she tried to gauge if he knew what she was talking about through non-verbal cues and tics.


[To be continued ...]

::OFF::

Commander Vincent Salvatore
Chief Intelligence & Executive Officer
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Sofia Gonzalez
Intelligence Officer
USS Hecate
[PNPC Captain Robert Burke]

 

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