Boarding the Orient Express

Posted on Fri Feb 5th, 2010 @ 4:24am by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Commander Earlond

Mission: Episode 1.1 - "Now Boarding"
Location: Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora
Timeline: MD02, 2240

ON: [[Orient Express Lounge, USS Pandora, MD02, 2240]]

The large wooden doors that marked the entrance to the Pandora's lounge, the Orient Express, slid open gracefully to reveal a comfortable atmosphere. Iluvar could see that there weren't many people in the room, probably because most of the crew were still settling in. The last time Iluvar had served aboard a starship with a lounge, he had been aboard the USS Pharos. It would be interesting to have the opportunity to patronize a lounge again.

Greg (NPC) turned at the sound of the doors opening. To his surprise, he saw a man in a flag officer's uniform standing just inside the doorway. Judging by the scuttlebutt he'd been hearing lately, he assumed that this man was Rear Admiral Iluvar, the Pandora's new commanding officer. As the admiral started toward a table near one of the large viewports, Greg grabbed his PADD from the bar and followed.

"Good evening, sir," Greg said as he approached the admiral, "Can I get you anything?"

Iluvar turned at the sound of the voice and smiled when he saw that it was one of the lounge staff. "Birch beer sounds refreshing right about now," Iluvar replied, folding his hands on the tabletop.

"One birch beer, coming right up," Greg said with a nod. He turned and headed back toward the bar, leaving the admiral to survey the room. Iluvar's gaze came to rest on the large viewport nearby, through which he could see the skeletal structure of the Pandora's drydock. Nearby, he could see the familiar form of the Tethys being eased into a slip of its own.

The doors hissed open again, and Earlond walked in. He saw Iluvar and walked over. "Evening, sir," Earlond said. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," Iluvar replied, turning his attention from the viewport and motioning to the empty chair across from him, "I welcome the company."

Earlond took a seat, glancing out at the Tethys. "Hard to see her go, sir," he said.

"She'll be out in the field again," Iluvar said with confidence, "serving another crew and another captain just as well." He glanced back out the viewport at his former command, wondering what lucky man or woman would be sitting in her center chair when she finished her first refit. "How have you been settling in," he asked, turning back to Earlond.

"Lowsy," Earlond grumbled. "My desk's too low, my chair's too comfortable, my quarters are too big..."

Iluvar quirked an eyebrow, knowing Earlond had a tendency to sound gruff and pedantic from time to time. Perhaps it was just the man's sense of humor, but it was almost as if he enjoyed grumbling about something just to get a reaction. "In other words, you're settling in just fine," Iluvar translated, leaning back slightly as Greg returned with his birch beer.

"Thank you," he said to the waiter with a smile.

"Not at all," Greg replied, pleased to make a positive impression on the new commanding officer. He noticed the man sitting across from the admiral and turned to address him. "Anything for you this evening, sir," he asked, looking directly at Earlond.

"No thank you," Earlond replied. "Sir, I was reading through the personnel reports. Is it true a certain Lieutenant Drake Lexon transfered onboard?"

Greg nodded politely and turned to approach another occupied table. Rule number one about serving patrons was to never hover or linger any longer than needed. Rule number two was to always be available when needed. It was a difficult balance, but he'd been doing pretty well keeping up with it so far.

"I haven't really had a chance to go over all the personnel reports yet," Iluvar admitted, lifting the frosted mug to his lips and taking a swig of the carbonated liquid inside, "Aris (NPC) and I spent most of the day getting settled in. If I do recall correctly, though, our shuttle pilot was named Lexon. Why do you ask?"

Earlond shook his head. "We've met," he said; he didn't seem happy about it. "How was your shoreleave, though?"

Sometimes, Iluvar had to wonder what his first officer was up to. He trusted Earlond, which was the whole reason he'd asked him to be first officer, but there were times when it seemed as if Earlond still held some secret of the past. Figuring that it was better to let sleeping dogs lie for now, Iluvar replied, "It went well. Aris and I enjoyed our camping trip. I don't think we could have asked for better weather or location. Aris certainly did his research well. How about you?"

"I had....an interesting time," Earlond replied. He neglected to mention that most of his time had been spent working on reports. "Where did you go camping, again?"

"We hiked through recreation of part of Nicolet Forest in the upper midwest region of the United States," Iluvar answered, taking another swallow of his birch beer, "I really think Aris enjoyed it, though he was a little worried when Temporal Investigations showed up. I hope they didn't give you too much trouble while we were gone."

"As a matter of fact, they did bother me," Earlond said. "I'm afraid I was quite uncooperative - they were cutting into my work time, and I had several reports to finish yet."

"Indeed," Iluvar remarked. Earlond's directness hadn't surprised him, nor the fact that his first officer had spent his shoreleave working on reports. He could only hope that Special Agents Lucsly and Dulmer hadn't been too affronted by the man's responses. Then again, it was likely that they received similar treatment from many that they worked with. Due to the nature of their work, Iluvar could assume that most officers did not enjoy a visit from Temporal Investigations.

"Do we know what our first assignment is yet?" Earlond asked. He didn't look forward to patrolling the Elyshan border without the Tethys.

"Always the man of business," Iluvar chuckled, "No. Admiral Meyer (NPC) did not have much to say on that fact. I'm sure we will be hearing quite soon what our first assignment will be. With a broader range of capabilities comes a greater scope of opportunity. For all we know, we could actually get back to exploring."

"Ah, exploring," Earlond said. "When was the last time we did that?"

Iluvar thought for a moment, but he could not immediately recall the last time they had done some good, old-fashioned exploring. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Politics and conflict were bogging down Starfleet and the Federation at every turn. Still, Iluvar wasn't one to give up. There was hope and that hope was personal in the form of the Pandora. "I think that's about to change," Iluvar replied.

"Well, you know my background as much as anyone," Earlond said. "Still, I'll do my best to help you with that."

"A doubting Thomas, eh," Iluvar observed, "We'll see, Number One. We'll see..." Draining the last remnants of his birch beer, he lowered the mug and turned his attention out the viewport again. Instead of focusing on the Tethys, however, his gaze was drawn out toward the stars and the thought of the numerous possibilities that lay among them.

OFF

A JP by

Commander Earlond
Executive Officer
USS Pandora

and

Greg Letsky (NPC)
Lounge Staff, Orient Express
USS Pandora

Played by

Rear Admiral Iluvar
Commanding Officer
USS Pandora