Debriefing Briefing

Posted on Thu Sep 24th, 2020 @ 7:44am by Lieutenant Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Captain Rhenora Kaylen
Edited on on Fri Sep 25th, 2020 @ 9:43am

Mission: Welcome Aboard!

Captain Kaylen Rhenora looked up as her door chime sounded, she was expecting a briefing from Lt Durnell at any time regarding the 'unique' situation she had arrived in.

"Come in" she called, looking forlornly at the cup of herbal tea and wishing that it was something else.

Everything was coming to a close, more or less. Bonnie had passed through the bridge to see they were getting moving again with the Orion ship in tow and all stations were operating within normal parameters. Now with her hand upon the chime and the call to enter she was ready to give her deposition into the events of the day. A summary of sorts so they could move on and move beyond this day.

She entered and stood behind the one of the many chairs in the conference room, not knowing which one she was expected to sit at. Were they assigned? She wasn’t sure who all would be attending or what her role would be in this conversation, but she did know protocol meant she didn’t sit until invited to do so by those with authority, namely the Captain who coincidentally was the only one in the room and she didn’t look happy.

Bonnie was never good at reading people, their facial expressions would often confuse her, but the face the Captain made while looking forlorn at her cup of tea read like bitter disgust. In an effort to make a good impression Bonnie offered, “If you’d like Captain, I can get you something else to drink, ma’am?”

“ I only wish you could Lieutenant, sadly this is doctors’ orders” Rhenora admitted sagely, nodding towards the chair to her left. “ Take a seat, I think we have a lot to discuss” She started, putting down the padd she had been reading and regarding the new officer with an analyzing eye.

Bonnie admired doctors for their intelligence and their efficiency to diagnose issues when it came to solving problems relating to the most complex of computers, the human body. But, she could never understand why their medicine always came with a bad taste. From grape cough syrup to a simple hypo she always ended up with a tingle in her tongue which left her with a bad taste.

Bonnie did as instructed and slid into the indicated seat. As she sat down the back of the seat caught her hair just right and tousled it up and over her head. She reached up with both hands and tossed it back into place as though this sort of occurrence happens all the time. She then looked at the Captain and smiled. "I believe I have already submitted a report detailing all of the up to the minute facts, so far." She had found time somewhere between the shuttle bay and the bridge to submit a report that was 500 words more, but which read like a boring screenplay written by a robot.

The Captain looked through the report that Bonnie had already submitted, looking more for the detail that wasn’t actually in there. The facts were great, but it was more the motivation and choices that Rhenora was more interested in.

“ So tell me Lt Durnell… or do you prefer Bonnie?” She started.

At the academy the other students had told her questions like this might come up. This was a choice between professionalism and friendliness. She had to take stock of the situation, the setting and the people involved. In this case it was a one on one with the Captain of a starship and this was a profession meeting. So while her heart was screaming Bonnie, her mind was in override mode and she almost blurted out, "Lt. Durnell," then followed it up with a quieter "if you please."

“ It appears you had quite the journey in order to get here.” Rhenora continued, flicking through the pages of the report. “ I’m interested in the dynamic you uncovered between Cody and Lucy, and how that transferred onto the Orions. It’s not every day your computer specialist takes a pitstop in an Orion ship on the way to your own.”

A state of shock filled Bonnie's face, the Captain wanted more details. She wanted "The dy… dy.. dynamic?" Bonnie picked up her PADD and flipped through her report as though more details were suddenly just going to appear. Reasons like this are why she got a c+ in report writing at the academy. The professor always wanted more depth which she could not provide. She could break it down to its very core, strip the emotion away and reconstruct what she observed in words, why was that not good enough?

"Lucy was an ex, Cody said she was an ex girlfriend. Well he never actually used the word girlfriend but based on Lucy's words I deduced as much." She pondered what else she could about their short time together. "It's possible they were just ex partners based on how easily Cody was to let her go. He called her a casualty of business, but there was so much crudity in his words."

Hoping that was enough she refocused on the second part of the question, "As for the connection to the pirates all I have to go on is that Cody considered them a distraction only. They may have been more, but I am not qualified to do interrogations." She pictured herself trying to make an Orion talk only to have him laughing back at her tiny frame.

Rhenora thought carefully about Bonnie's words, mulling over the options in her mind. Her pad clipped, indicating sickbay had released Cody to the brig after his altercation with security. The Captain breathed a sigh of relief, initial reports had indicated the pilot had been shot dead.

" I plan on keeping them all in custody and letting the Intelligence and Security have some words with the lot of them" she mused aloud, not afraid of sharing her plans. " When we get back to starbase 234 they'll all be handed over to the relevant authorities."

Bonnie allowed her heart to sink. She was strangely relieved that Cody had survived but at the same time nervous about the chance for another confrontation with the man. "I truly thought he was a good person, you know aside from the times he called himself 'The Cody'. He even genuinely seemed to care about keeping me out of harm's way when we were on the starbase. Though that could have been just another manipulation."

She thought about how she allowed herself to get in a strange shuttle with a strange man who showed her nothing as far as credentials. Then he opened up to her in order to gain her trust. It had made her question many things about herself like how gullible she really was. Time and time again things would go wrong for her but most of the time they turned out right in the end. Not this time it seemed.

" I'm truly sorry for any way they may have manipulated you Lieutenant, it seems Cody was a master at that" the words were touched with compassion. " But I can recommend not one but two excellent counsellors who are more than happy to have a chat with you if you have any concerns". Kaylen continued, taking a sip of the herbal tea and grimacing. "One of those will go to any length to make sure you are rested and looking after yourself, the other is the man you brought with you, something I am indebted to you for."

This made Bonnie smile because she knew without Remal she would not be sitting there now. "Actually, Captain, I owe him. His drive to get here, to get to you was what led him to take down Lucy and then what made me realize I belonged here with my crew instead of on the Starbase trying to take down what was essentially a fall guy. I think you have a good man there, um, Captain."

The words touched Rhenora’s heart, a gentle pride blossoming at what efforts her husband took to get to the Liberty, even more so as a surprise for the Liberty’s launch.

“ He is indeed that Lieutenant” The Captain replied with a warm smile.

"So, do you have any further questions Captain?" She asked, in order to break that awkward silence. She felt pride that the report really did explain the facts quite well.

“ Not at this time, Security may have some further questions as they question all parties related to the Orions, apart from that, a belated Welcome Aboard” Rhenora rose and extended her hand towards the new officer.

Bonnie stood up, a little too quickly, the chair falling backward onto the floor. She grimaced then shook it off, reached out and shook the Captain's hand. "Thank you Captain I shall do my best not to let you down." She then turned around and calmly picked up the chair, setting back into its original position before adding, "Will that be all?" Following protocol to the letter she waited for official dismissal.

“ That is all Lieutenant, you are dismissed” The Captain replied with a quirky smile - remembering when she was a green officer eager to please. Oh to be young and green again.

Bonnie almost saluted, clicked her heels and turned before walking out the door. One chapter closed now she was here and ready to move forward with her life and this new Captain seemed easy enough to work with making life easy sailing. All she had to do was keep her nose down and do a good job and treat Lady Liberty with respect and things would turn up roses.