Star Trek: Eventide 777 - lt-cdrs-corvus﹢mittle

Casper entered his quarters, putting down his bag and taking a look around. This was quite an upgrade compared to most other quarters he'd used on ships: usually he either shared them or had been serving somewhere which simply didn't have the room to give even high-ranking officers much luxury. He'd certainly do well here; all he needed was a bed, and maybe a sonic shower. The room provided far more than that, even offering a desk for him to work. Luxury!

And there was Georgia, quite literally a few seconds after she sent out the PADD. She pressed the doorchime and waited outside.

"Come in!" Casper called, the door subsequently unlocking and sliding open in front of Georgia. Casper stood up from his desk a few meters away, walking towards the Lieutenant to greet her. He'd quickly read her file while he was waiting those few seconds for her to arrive - it was a bit awkward that she was a good bit older than he was, and he hoped that wouldn't really be an issue for her. Smiling warmly, Cas extended his hand as a greeting. "Lieutenant Hill. Pleasure to meet you, thank you for coming over so quickly."

Georgia gently shook the hand of Casper, a soft smile on her face. She had just finished making lunch for her daughter - lucky enough - so now she had all the time in the world to get to know Casper a little better. "It's no problem! I'm glad I finally get a chance to talk to you, Commander." She gave a quick grin before letting go of his hand.

Casper chuckled, gesturing towards the couch with his left hand. "Likewise. Please, sit if you'd like to. I arrived on the station about an hour ago, just wanted to have a little chat. Figured you'd be the best person to talk to, seeing prior to my arrival you were the closest in function to my current role."

"I suppose I am that person, yes." She said with a slight chuckle, sitting down on the couch and letting out a content sigh. "So, want to start with some introductionary chit-chat or get straight to the point?"

Cas sat down a few meters away, turned a bit to comfortably be able to face Georgia with a slight smile. Direct. He could definitely appreciate not milling about for too long. "As far as I'm concerned, the two aren't mutually exclusive. By all means, if you need to know anything: I'm an open book. Ask away!"

"Well, you look like a fine young man. How about you tell me a little about yourself? Place of origin? Age?" She layed her hands in her lap, laying back in the couch. Damn, this thing was comfy.

"I'm nothing special, really. Earth-born boy who decided he wanted to see the stars, so I did just that. I've gotten lucky a few times, I've gotten really unlucky a few times. Took a little over a year off, got bored, and now I'm here. Hoping to turn thirty-one in June as per Earth's calendar." Casper chuckled. For someone who should technically be his subordinate, Lieutenant Hill sure seemed rather comfortable with making herself at home. Not that he minded, obviously, but it amused him a bit. Of course, it was surely a bit strange for her.

"Hold the phone, dear. You are thirty? I did not expect that to be completely honest with you. I'm forty years old and already have two children, yet I'm a lieutenant. I'm surprised you made it this far in such a short time." She said with a warm smile on her face. "I tip my hat to you, dear sir." When she said that, she made the "tipping hat" gesture with her hand, her smile only growing.

"Like I said: I got lucky a few times, and I got unlucky a few times. Certain trade required, I suppose. Believe me, sometimes I also wonder if I really did enough to get here - and if it was all worth it. I'll try not to disappoint you." Casper shrugged. He didn't choose who got promoted and who didn't in Starfleet, but he was sure Georgia was every bit as capable the officer as he was.

"Trust me when I tell you that you won't disappoint me. You'll have to do something really stupid for me to become disappointed." She laughed softly, covering her mouth with her hand in quite a gentle manner. "You'll be fine around me, kid."

"Doesn't sound all too difficult. Moving on: anything I should know? Obviously, I read everything that I'm cleared to know - PACT and all that. Have you encountered certain struggles that I should account for, or personnel worth taking a bit of interest in?" Cas furrowed his brow ever so slightly. He wasn't sure if he should roll with being called "kid", but for now it was alright. It was just strange.

"The commodore is a bit stubborn, the chief tactical is a Jem'hadar and we have a Vorta liaison officer. Other than that, not too much of interest going around here. I'll let you know if I find anything of interest however." She smiled a warmly and placed her hands back in her lap, folding them together as she looked at Casper. He really was one Interesting young man. Who knew what else he had in store?

"Interesting. I've never really dealt with Jem'hadar before. I quite literally bumped into the Vorta liaison officer a few hours ago, she seemed like a kind enough person. Nothing out of the ordinary, I suppose. Seems that I signed up for yet another boring posting, my unwilling addiction to adrenaline will never be fueled." The young man chuckled. As much as he'd hate to admit it, he really did have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with adrenaline - and he'd kind of hoped that there would be something interesting going on around Starbase 777. To no avail, apparently.

"Well, she has a perfection complex. Or had. It's confusing. A few days ago she called a few people out for being imperfect, when I confronted her about that she eventually broke down in saying that she was the one who was imperfect- well somewhat. I guess she's just projecting her own issues." She gave a slight shrug, leaning back in the chair. It seemed she had quite a lot of ties around the station.

"How strange, she seemed perfectly fine to me. Then again, we only spoke for a moment and it was simply exchanging pleasantries. Did she bring a delegation along or is she the only Dominion we have on the station? Just out of curiosity, obviously." He tilted his head, as if thinking for a few seconds. It seemed that this station did have some issues after all, though none of it had to do with his area of expertise. Perhaps he'd seek out the Vorta again some time, though.

"No, she's alone out here. No idea why. I'm genuinely surprised she didn't have any soldiers to guide her, especially seeing where she's at; at a place that borders with three factions that despise the Dominion. She can't even defend herself from an Andorian Iceworm. And those things are all bark no bite!"

"That wasn't necessarily what I was getting at; I'm sure we're more than capable of protecting her if necessary. More so that it would've interested me to see how Jem'Hadar that are aligned to the Dominion operate in groups - just out of curiosity. I used to work in Tactical, too." Casper laughed. Georgia had a way with words, to put it mildly. That metaphor was certainly a strange one.

"I've you've witnessed the war, you'd know. My parents never stopped talking about it. I was born in the last stages of the Betazoid occupation, not a good time to get raised in." She sighed a little and rubbed her head lightly before looking back up at Casper with a soft smile. "Anyways. Anything you want to know about me, seeing we've talked about you for a moment."

"Not quite old enough for that, but I've seen similar things - thus the curiosity. I don't know what exactly sets them apart from Klingons and the likes." Casper shrugged. Lieutenant Hill had already more or less told him most things he needed to know indirectly or directly; he had a feeling he could count on her, and hopefully vice-versa. "Those children of yours you mentioned. I hope they've passed the stage at which they make a whole lot of noise at night? I value a good night's sleep quite a bit these days."

"Well, the first is a fourteen year old girl, the second is a twelve year old boy. Jasmine and Jordan. Jasmine actually lives here with me on the station, Jordan is living with my husband back in London." She grinned softly, quite happy she was able to talk about her children. They were her everything after all.

"I keep forgetting there are civilians on the station as well. Does Jasmine enjoy life around here? At her age, I imagine it can get a little bit boring sometimes - not many kids around her age around to keep her entertained, are there?" He chuckled. Georgia seemed quite fond of her children. It was difficult for Casper to imagine - having kids was a stage of life that was just too far away for him.

"Well, Jasmine spends a lot of time in the science labs under supervision of other officers. She's functioning as an intern there, basically goes around helping where she's able to. Combine that with me, who's always home when she's home, and she has all the entertainment she wants. She's not a needy kid - lucky enough for me." She laughed softly and shook her head for a brief moment before looking back at Casper. "Besides, she's learning how to control her telepathic and empathic abilities at the moment, she couldn't be more entertained."

"Smart kid. I wouldn't be able to stomache a station at her age, that's for sure. Doesn't she miss her brother and father a lot? Especially if she's home alot, it seems like it could feel empty rather quickly - although I suppose that she has the means to stay in contact somewhat." Casper had forgotten that Georgia was a betazoid, and that they could read emotions. Not that it bothered him, he had nothing to hide. He mostly wondered if a teenager that could read emotions was harder to deal with, or easier.

"We keep daily contact between ourselves. Trust me, I wouldn't dare keep my children away from one another. Besides, she enjoys it here. Lots of equipment, lots of parts for her arm, lots of friends to make. Sometimes I have the feeling she's enjoying it more than I do." She let out a small chuckle, leaning back in her seat. "She's an curve ball sometimes."

Casper shrugged. The war veteran inside him found it very strange to be on a station with Civilians on it, he needed to get used to Starfleet's usual casual approach to their stationing again. "Seems like she'll be making a very fine Starfleet officer herself one day. If she's lucky, that curiosity will bring her damn far. I'm sure she has you to thank for a large part of it."

"Oh, don't thank me for that curiosity, thank her father. She got my spirit and temper, but definitely her father's curiosity and determination." She let out a small laugh. "You don't want to know how caught up those two can get in their little mysteries."

"It sounds like those two never have had much issues with getting proper bonding time. Does your husband also work for Starfleet, or is he doing something completely different on Earth?" Curiosity was something that Casper personally felt defined Starfleet, even for Tactical grunts like the two of them. During his time teaching at the Academy, he'd seen just how important it was to keep that alive - hopefully Lieutenant Hill's daughter would enroll too, one day.

"He's a detective in the London Police Department, he mainly does homicide and theft cases." She smiled softly at Casper. This was becoming quite a nice conversation. She was really enjoying this, she was hoping he was enjoying this chat as well.

"Quite a fun job he has. Do we have enough homicide cases on Earth to have someone assigned to them? I wouldn't know, I barely keep up with the planetside news." Obviously, people would always do bad things- but Casper wasn't aware of homicide as a crime still being around in any noteworthy degree on earth.

"Accidental murders most of the time, but there are the occasional deliberate murders." She gave a slight shrug, folding her hands together and resting them on her knee, crossing her legs in the process.

"Ah, manslaughter. Don't suppose that should've surprised me quite as much. You know, as a Starfleet Tactical officer, you're supposed to know the difference - the two are very different." Casper smirked slightly, indicating he was just joking. Everyone forgot their terminology now and then.

"It gets confusing after a while." She laughed softly. "I mean, you humans have a word for the killing of foxes outside of the hunt. By this point I'm just wondering what you people don't have a word for."

"We do have a knack for bureaucracy, yes. Its one of the driving forces that keeps the Federation functioning so well. Not that I don't find it a bit tedious myself every now and then, but that's why you and I both don't do legislative work; it tends to lose relevance when you're on the ground fighting for your life." As almost a decade of field experience had taught Casper, angry murderous Klingons tended not to care about legal definitions - and as such, neither did he.

"Well, fun thing, I bet some of the techniques you used down there are of my making. I had to create a lot of strategies during the war. Some less conventional than others." She said with a slight chuckle, rubbing the back of her head.

"Never really heard the name, but I didn't really operate on a scale that required a lot of planning. I tend to be more of a boots-to-the-ground, shoot the people who shoot us kind of guy." Casper furrowed his brow for a second, trying to think of anything in which Lieutenant Hill was mentioned. He simply didn't remember though - most of his operations had been planned a few hours in advance at most, if not on the spot.

"Well, you never hear the name of the person who created the strategy, only those of the people who actually preform it." She said with a shrug, leaning back in her seat with a sigh. "I'm the definition of working behind the lines. You'll never hear my name. Hell, I haven't even been consulted yet my entire time here, and that's quite literally my job."

"Well aware of that one, working behind the lines has its own pros and cons." Casper shrugged as well. From what he could tell, there just hadn't been much Tactical work to be done on the station anyway. "If you're lucky, you won't be consulted at all because nobody will be trying to attack us, and you'll have a very boring job."

"Nobody will be trying to-- What?" She looked at Casper with her eyebrows raised. Was his this naive? "Hello? Earth to Mittle? I got on this station and the first thing I saw was the spoils of battle. A fierce one at that. Few weeks later during PACT, a planned bombing. We are bordering against both Klingon and Romulan space and have Dominion species here on the station. We are under constant threat, kid." She said quite clearly, looking at Casper with a certain look in her eyes. "Tactical and security have been quite busy these last few weeks."

"Forgive me, perhaps you're unaware of what a hypothetical is; a statement that usually is based on hypothesis. I'm well aware of what has happened in recent weeks and months on board this station, yet at the moment there doesn't seem to be any active threat that I've been made aware of - bearing in mind we've been at peace with the Klingons and most Romulans for a over a year, as well as the Dominion as per the Khitomer Alliance. Your current largest threat is a band of pirates, of which the leader was recently apprehended." Casper was all but naive: he'd read up on the disastrous losses the station had received, but could also perceive that at the moment it seemed relatively safe. Granted, that wasn't his decision to make; nor did he claim it was. But he was well familiar with war and what real constant threat meant, and this station certainly wasn't feeling it.

"I'm damned aware as to what it is, but these aren't things one gets hypothetical about. A fight, how small it may be, is not something you speculate about. You analyse and respond. That bombing? That was planned. Middle of the promenade, many victims, an outsider was used to plant it. This was but the start of our problems. No doubt they'll be back." She sighed and rubbed her face a bit. "I'm sorry. That was a bit harsh." She looked back up to Casper. "I have a daughter here, one I would protect at all costs. Chances and hypotheses are the last thing I think of nowadays."

"I understand. You've got a lot more to lose on this station than I do. Just make sure not to get paranoid - you can only prepare so much for an invisible attacker." He paused for a second, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sure station command knows what they're doing somehow - there are still civilians on board after all, so that means they've probably mitigated most of the threat."

"I hope so. I haven't had word from anyone about it." She sighed and leaned back in her seat, thinking for a moment. This was a lot more stressing than she thought it would be.

"Neither have I, so I assume the best as long as I know I'm ready for the worst. Its a bit stressful at times, but you can get used to it eventually. Don't let the paranoia get to your head." As much as he wished he were sometimes, Casper wasn't the best at consoling people nor was he very eloquent when it came to advice. He did want the best for Georgia - he just didn't know how to help.

"I'll be fine, Mittle. I've been in Starfleet for quite some time now, I know when I should I shouldn't worry." She smiled softly at the Commander, crossing her legs the other way around.

"Don't doubt that for a second. Anything else of importance to note, or do you reckon we've covered most of the basics?" Casper straightened his back a little, folding his hands together as he leaned forward somewhat.