Departmental Visit: Security

Posted on 21 Feb 2020 @ 12:38am by Lieutenant Commander Camila Di Pasquale & Commander Terry Walsh

1,352 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Sentience
Location: Security
Timeline: MD 1 || 1500 Hours
Tags:

Three down, another one to go. And this one was in Security. It'd been a while, a long while, since he'd last talked with Camila. Off duty things hadn't brought them together and neither had ship's business. But that was about to take a turn. Ship's business was now his business and he had a reason to visit security other than SAR training. Terry activated the doors and walked into a reception area.

When the doors opened, a Type III probe rose to his face level and a quick scan of his combadge was done. "Walsh, Terry, Commander. Authentication recognized." It hovered to one side.

Terry watched the probe with anticipation but didn't move until it hovered over. "Very nice. I see at least one of the upgrades is functioning well."

"Yes, Sir," the Andorian Yeoman that sat at the desk at the entrance to the Security Complex said. "How can I help you, Commander?"

Right to point, he thought. "I'm looking for Commander Di Pasquale," he said. "I'm conducting departmental visits."

The Andorian tapped a com on her console. "Commander Walsh is here to see you, Commander," she said.

"Send him in," came the response.

Terry nodded a 'thank you' and headed on in, doors closing behind him.

Camila looked up from a stack of ever present PADDs and smiled when she saw Terry. "Congratulations, Terry," she said, more informally than she usually would with a higher ranking officer.

"Thanks," he said, glad that Camila had gone for the informal. "It's going to take a while to get used to. And congratulations to you too, Camila." He looked at the stacks of PADDs and chuckled. "I can remember my stacks getting bigger too when I was promoted to Lieutenant Commander."

"Just more weight on the collar, but thanks," she said. "Can I get you something before you toss me on the grill?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks for the offer though. And who said I was here to toss you on the grill," replied Terry. "Besides, I only grill certain animals. And you'd probably be too tough anyway." The big guy chuckled at that last bit.

"I don't know about that, but what can I do for you?" the ombre haired woman asked as she tried to relax in her chair again. "Have a seat, Terry."

Terry pulled the chair over and sat down, relaxing himself. "I've been making some rounds to the departments; seeing what I've inherited, familiarizing myself a little more with them, and seeing if there's anything I can do. Some departments, like yours, also have new technologies. So I'm checking to see how those are working. Stuff like that. So, how's it going so far?"

"The drone program that Captain Geisler approved of is going really well," Camila said with a bit of pride in her voice. "The Type I and II drones navigate the Jeffries Tubes and turbolift shafts better than expected now that we have the training down, and fortunately, no one else has been transported to the Brig other than Commander Geisler's cousin who wandered into Sensor Control by accident. One of my drone pilots got jumpy and tagged her."

Terry smiled as Camila told him about the drones while making some notes on a PADD that he'd carried under his arm. "I'm glad to hear they're exceeding expectations. And there'll always be the human element," he said in regard to the jumpy drone pilot. "They'll get accustomed to it soon enough. How about the new transfers? Settling in to this massive Security Department?"

"I haven't given them a chance to really settle in," the Security Chief said with a slightly malicious grin. "I was thrown into the fire as soon as I first came aboard, and each of them is learning how to adapt in holodecks around the clock in simulation after simulation of a few things we've lived."

"Heh, heh, that honestly sounds like a good way to brake them into whatever might come their way as a security officer on this ship," replied Terry. "Starts their training right away, too." He took another sip of his coffee. "So have you put them against the Consortium yet?"

"I ran them through that first," Camila said. "They had no idea who the enemy was and ended up slaughtered three times and fooled four times before they learned."

"Ahh, rookies," said Terry. "Accustomed to the spit and polish of utopia and then thrown in to the seething cauldron of reality. Welcome to the USS Black Hawk." He smiled widely and downed a good swallow of cooler coffee. "Other than the tech and trainees, how have things been around here?"

"Busy, which is how I like it," the Security Chief said. "The busier it is, the less time there is to think about what could go wrong. I have an entire team of personnel dedicated to doing that for me and coming up with solutions."

"Busy is good. Takes the mind off of lots of other stuff, like you said," he replied. "But with a whole team doing that job for you, doesn't it free you up to get away from the desk?"

"No, because it frees me up to come up with more protocols, more training scenarios, and various other related items," she said.

"Well, getting the job done is important. But don't forget to take some time," Terry said. "I can remember you telling me something like that once or twice. So from one friend to another, Camila, take some time. Maybe find someone to hang out with and relax."

"There's no time for that, Terry," the ombre haired woman responded. "You know the odds of something going horribly wrong as well as I do."

"I do," he said. "Those odds seem stacked against us most of the time. But odds are odds. Odds are, someone is going to end up in Sickbay with an injury by the end of the day. But just because the odds said they could end up in Sickbay didn't mean that they're going to stop enjoying themselves."

"So you'd rather come in here and see me drinking an Alderaan Whiskey?" Camila asked him.

"Now you know that's not what I mean, Camila. I'd rather come in to Talons and see you drinking an Alderann Whiskey," said Terry. "I want to come in here and see you doing what I know you're capable of doing. I also know you're capable of enjoying yourself. I was meaning to do so off duty."

"I do have fun when I'm not on duty," she said. "People just don't see me do it."

"Just so long as you have fun," Terry replied. He'd gotten some of the information he'd wanted, but now it was time for the other question. "Is there anything I can do to help you and your department?"

"Offhand, there's nothing I can think of," Camila said. "Short of armored uniforms."

"Heh, armored uniforms...security personnel clanking down the corridors. That'd certainly be a sight to see. And hear, " said Terry. "Maybe a little more substance like Klingon uniforms?"

"Eh, there's previous concepts for armored clothing from the twenty-first century, but it wasn't cost effective and wouldn't stop a phaser or disruptor," she responded. "As for Klingon uniforms, they tend to chafe."

Terry laughed at her last comment. "Chafing. I never would have guessed. Do you speak from experience then?"

"It's leather and armor," Camila said. "Neither of which are good for skin."

"You make a good point, there," he said. "They probably have tougher skin or are at least used to it. At any rate, I think I've covered just about everything I came down here for. If there's anything else you think of that I can help with, let me know."

"I'll do that and congratulations again, Terry," Camila said. "The job suits you."

He grinned and stood up. "Thanks, Camila. I appreciate it."

With a smile, she saw him on her way, then sank into her chair to submit more protocols.

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