Star Trek: Eventide 777 - ╰sfhq-gardens

The woman had made her through the gardens towards the meeting place that had been set up by the pair of them, finding a seat on one of the many benches in the garden and peacefully watching the passers-by as she waited for the commodore to arrive.

It was a busy day as always at Command – even with it being at this time of year when people generally headed off on leave, it was still as busy as ever. People bustled around both inside of the different buildings and outside in the courtyard, heading from place to place. Here and there were people who had opted to take advantage of the good weather with the sun beating down; a handful of officers seemed to have taken their work outside with them today, sat in the grass with PADDs balanced upon their knees as they multitasked to enjoy the good weather and get their work done at the same time. So many people here acted as though they were chained to their desk at all times, so it was nice to see these hard-working officers actually go outside for once. It wasn’t the good weather that had resulted in Treville herself heading out here, however, even though she was appreciative of the sun seeing how the past few days until now had been filled with continuous storms. Today as she headed through the courtyard area she was doing so with a purpose, eyes flitting over the groups of officers bustling about in order to try to pick out the blue of Science or Medical shoulder stripes – not that the method was working considering how she couldn’t pick out the colours from this far away. Who did you need to petition to bring back the old uniforms that were bold in colour instead of so monochrome? 777_divider

16:07

It was after a moment of scanning the crowds that she managed to find who she was looking for: you didn’t need to pick out the uniform colour when the woman in question had her hair done up in the same fashion as always, the messy ponytail being the only distinguishing feature you needed. Treville almost felt apprehensive as she approached – it had been months since she had spoken with Dreaxa, the two of them not even speaking over a comms link, and it wasn’t as though they had even managed a proper goodbye. That typical formal Admiralty persona of hers outweighed her apprehensiveness, though, and it was as such that the Commodore strode over; coming to a halt directly behind the bench and placing a hand upon the back of it. “A fact for you, Commander Dreaxa, in case you missed the plaque. This bench is dedicated to the tale of Ajhassa Zh'chekros, the first – and only, as far as I’m aware – person to be promoted directly from the rank of MCPO to the rank of Captain. She was assisting with what was supposed to be a very brief Cadet cruise ran mostly by enlisted officers and only a handful of commissioned staff. There was some sort of issue with the warp core and engineering systems, all of those commissioned staff ended up incapacitated, and she was left as the highest rank. Despite never having taken command she stepped up to the role, guided those Cadets in repairing the systems, and got them home to safety. After going through the Command Training Programme she was promoted straight to Captain, given command of a Reliant-class vessel; and once those Cadets graduated from SFA, they were all placed back under her command too.” Who needed introductions when you could provide fleet-related facts? What a terribly admiralty-style thing of her to do.

The woman turned around rather suddenly, a little startled by the woman appearing behind her, before she gave the woman a large smile. "Was the need to sneak up behind me really all that necessary, Commodore? I feel a standard greeting would have done just fine." She said with a chuckle, turning side on so she could face the woman more easily. "And no, I'm afraid I never bothered to read the plaque. Perhaps I should have, the story sounds quite interesting if I do say so myself." She stated, standing up to face the woman now. "It's good to see you again, Commodore. It's been too long. I'm sorry we never got a chance to say goodbye or that we've not caught up with one another since. Life has been rather hectic since you left, I've not exactly had much time to have a sit down and chat with you." The smile on the woman's lips faded slighly before she looked back up at the woman. "Anyway, how have you been?"

Treville raised an eyebrow at the way Dreaxa jumped ever so slightly – but then there was the slightest hint of a smile from herself, finding amusement in the reaction. It hadn’t been her intention to scare the woman, of course, it was just… Some sort of friendly patter, of course. And it seemed as though Dreaxa had acknowledge that too, considering her grin. When the Betazoid stood, Treville took a slight step back – placing one hand atop the other still held upon the back of the bench, but now at arm’s length away. It was all down to personal space – something she valued for the most part, something that Dreaxa had been one of few to break during their dance at the winter ball – and the bench remained there in the middle, separating the two. “I assure you, Commander, I had no intention of sneaking up on you – just providing you with some miscellaneous Starfleet facts should you ever find the opportunity to use them.” You found it with everyone who had done work in recruitment; they ended up with all the enticing facts about the fleet, stories of heroism and bravery and commendations and promotions. “And please; you have no need to apologise. With my transport having been delayed I had opted to delay saying goodbye to people – so the fault is mine. And speaking of things being rather hectic…” She paused briefly to pace around to the other side of the bench and take a seat; one leg crossed over the other as usual, taking a moment to smooth down her uniform as she did. “…I don’t think it should be me asking how things have been. Scuttlebutt has it that things have been very busy aboard 777. I considered grilling Captain Clarke for details, but I figured I should let him off. He’d be busy, of course.”

She nodded and sat down again next to the woman, now that she had moved from behind the bench to sit beside her. * "I suppose he must be, it's got to be hard work running the station, you must know from experience how little time he must have to himself. I know I've certainly been busy." *She was aprehensive to talk to Aleto about all the events that had occurred over the recent months that had elapsed since she had left the station. I wasn't really the sort of stuff you would admit to a member of the admiralty, whether you considered that person to be a friend of yours or not. "How's life on earth treating you? Please tell me you're not stuck in an office most of the time? I hope you get out and about fairly often." She said with a smile. "I suppose you must do, you'd be off meeting new people and doing diplomatic talks all the time, surely? That must be fun, no? Meeting new folk?" She asked with a rather upbeat tone, trying to keep up the pretence that everything was alright with her, and that she was not in fact in the middle of a terrible breakdown at the fact she might lose her medical licence and her job she's worked her entire life for...

”Busy with all good things, I hope,” Treville replied in turn while looking out over the courtyard. That eagle-eyed gaze of hers had already caught a trio of Cadets sneaking into the gardens and were currently trying to creep up on a couple of officers – older friends or family members, she could presume. With Command and the Academy both residing in San Francisco it meant that there was no getting away from the Cadets even if you tried your hardest to avoid SFA. She didn’t mind them… Until they started causing trouble. “The station’s sickbay is still state of the art compared to that of some other starbases out there. I hope that you’ve managed to find good use for it aside from just physicals – putting 777’s name on the map for Medical would give the station a nice reputation boost, you know.” Once a station commander, always a station commander; there wasn’t going to be a day where she wasn’t trying to promote 777 over another starbase. Every admiral was biased in their own way after all. “As for myself – truth be told, I’m rarely on Earth. There’s barely any time to be cooped up in an office. This is the Federation, Commander Dreaxa; even with political stability between us and major powers there is always some sort of crisis to resolve somewhere. First contact, scientific exchange, coming to cultural understanding, trying to have new species join the Federation as members, stopping other species from trying to declare war on us when we’re well aware that they wouldn’t win… There’s always something to do. And it is fun, really – just very busy. A lot of travel as well, going back and forth between starship to starship depending on who’s dealing with what. I like my own space, so I admit that I wouldn’t mind the office work now and again just so I could be comfortable and at home.”

The woman nodded in response to the woman's conversation. Waiting for her to finish before speaking up again. "Sickbay is going well, with our recent change to a more cultural starbase we have quite a diverse group of people coming in. Of course, with the number of people we have on board we do have a fair amount of physicals come in and out. Only natural with the amount of staff, there's going to be a reasonable turnover of people moving on to do new things and people to come in to replace them. But I do think we're coping." "As for you, I'm glad that you get out and about! Its being stuck in an office, I feel like I'm never out of the place. If I knew being a CMO would involve so much paperwork I'd have stuck with assistant Chief. Not that I had much say in the decision anyway. But again, being too busy is also a negative thing. It's good to get the chance to sit down and have a break from the rush, especially if it's busy." She said with a light chuckle. "Are you back on earth in general or are you back for this wedding we've been invited to? I am glad to see Hanna and Marcus finally get married, they're so cute together."

"The high turnover of staff is to be expected, unfortunately" she replied while not looking to Dreaxa. It was very clear that she was multitasking here: despite not looking to the woman she was listening to every word while simultaneously watching the group of cadets get closer and closer to the officers that she had mentioned before. "The fleet are well aware of the importance of starbases and that they're required to accommodate the likes of people with families, but filling postings aboard ships will always be their first priority. I had hoped Eventide would assist in that matter, but considering how for the most part it sits dormant in dock... There isn't much reason for them to keep staff on the station when they can be sent towards an active starship instead. At least 777 will never be on the list of based to be closed: its position in the Xarantine Sector is far too important for that." "In regards to being back on Earth: no, that's not in general. I was supposed to be travelling to a conference over in the Rotanev Sector, but then I got the invite to this wedding... As much as I don't know the Lieutenant Commanders very well, Commander Stone always seemed quite pleasant. It wouldn't make for a good impression should I decline an invitation - especially considering how that conference has been postponed, so it isn't as if I'm required elsewhere." Her eyes narrowed as she watched over to the other side of the grassy area as the three Cadets seemed to pounce towards, holding something over the heads of the officers... And even from here you could make out what they had immediately been showered in: traditional lime replicator slime. "And what about yourself? Aside from this wedding do you have plans for your shore leave? If office work aboard 777 is too dire for your liking then you could always pick up a shift at the Medical Academy here - and when you're ran off of your feet, you'll remember why you like the CMO post."

She laughed at the woman's most recent comment as she leaned back on the bench, with a smile. "Well that is true, at least I don't have to do anymore boring physicals. Well, at least not that often. It's better than running around all the time." She said with a smile. "I'd like to get a surgery once in a while. Not anything life or death, obviously. It was stressful enough with my most recent one." She said, looking over at the woman with a chuckle. "But it'd be nice to do one, It is what I'm best at." She watched the cadets in the distance, having finally picked up on what the woman was looking over at as she spoke. "Medical is doing fine though, I've got a good team going. Finally enough staff, although I could do with a handful more experienced members of the team. Hsarr has been a fantastic help, I can't fault them for their work. Ever since I took them on as ACMO, the place has run really smoothly. They've been a great help."

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"I'd have wagered that the physicals are one of the more simplistic things to do," she mused, glancing sideways to the Betazoid very briefly - while evidently still attentive in how she picked up on every word, she was still watching the carnage go down across the gardens. She couldn't remember a time when she had ever seen three Cadets be so swiftly tripped up and wrangled down into the slime, complete karma for their actions. "But I remember one of the main complaints being that they were very repetitive - and when they weren't it generally meant something had bad come up. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news if you find something untoward: it's necessary, but you're effectively telling someone that their position in the fleet may be in danger. ...I could speak to a couple of people and see if they'd be willing to start sending more interesting cases your way, however. With your medical bay being incredibly up to date surely they would see we - I mean you-" bad habit, referring to 777 as if it was still hers, "-have the facilities for it... And as you've mentioned, you certainly have skilled enough staff." 777_divider

13:11

As she spoke she idly brushed down her uniform, finding specs of lint that no one else would have ever noticed: ever the perfectionist. "I'm glad to hear that the staff team has expanded somewhat - but on the other hand, apologies that it's still not up to perfect standard. Starfleet will always send people to starships first considering how they're on the front line. Recruitment itself is still one of those tricky things. People still continue to pick Tactical as they feel it's the easiest route into Command - and Command is the aspiration for so many. There's also the issue of the medical courses, I'm afraid. It's difficult to get people to invest in six years at the Academy and years of training afterwards when in any other division you can do four and be done with it if you'd like. There's a reason why even among those who do go into Medical, you get more graduates in nursing than those who end up being a fully qualified doctor."

The woman nodded with a smile. "More cases would be nice, I know we might be slightly out of the way, but I would appreciate something else to do." She said with a chuckle as she spoke. "And don't be concerned about us, we're fine for staff. We get by, as always. " She looked over at the woman, and spoke up again after a few moments. "Do you want to go get a coffee or something? Not that I'm not enjoying sitting here, it is quite lovely here."