Getting up to speed with security

Posted on Mon Jan 24th, 2022 @ 7:07am by Lieutenant Commander Rin & Lieutenant JG Damien Blackford

Mission: Season 5: Episode 3: CAPETOWN
Location: Security Office
Timeline: Before mission
1024 words - 2 OF Standard Post Measure

PaDD in hand, Rin headed to Security. There were a half dozen security incidents that were, in her judgement, potential intelligence issues and not fully complete in their documentation. She didn't blame Security. They didn't always know what to look for. Her department should have reached out sooner. But that's why they assigned her here, now wasn't it?

Rin never broke stride as she moved to enter the office, which was unfortunate because the door failed to open in a timely manner, and she walked face first into it.

She reached up to check her nose. Bleeding a bit, but not broken.

The doors mockingly opened for her.

Damien let out a soft sigh as he leaned back in his chair. How just how, had he managed to pull report duty again. Not that he minded, mind you, but right now, it seemed like the majority of reports all amounted to the same thing: ’ Everything’s in order. Everyone’s behaving themselves.’ But, to be fair, after the recent attack, that was exactly what was wanted. They’d had enough excitement in that last couple of days to last them long enough.

Standing up, he headed over to the replicator. “Coffee. Two sugars. Just a splash of milk.” There was a whir and a beep before the mug replicated in front of him. Spirits. He needed this. He was still having difficulty sleeping and had only gotten a couple of hours the night before.

As he walked back to the desk, he jumped slightly as there was a slight thud on the doors. Raising an eyebrow, he reached across and pressed a button on the desk, allowing the doors to open. Looking up, his eyes widened for a second, before he smiled at the woman standing in the doorway. “Good afternoon. Lieutenant Junior Grade Damien Blackford. How Can I help?”

"Lieutenant Rin, Intelligence, can I have a washcloth please?" she says, her voice kind of funny because she was pinching her nose.

Damien nodded, hurrying over to the replicator, asking quickly for what she required, before hurrying over to her. “Here.” He said, handing it to her. “Would you like to take a seat?”

"Thank you." She took a seat, now pinching her nose with the washcloth. "Well, that was an introduction. I had actually come down to do follow up on a few of your department's incident reports."

He chuckled slightly as he moved back round to the other side of the desk, taking a seat once more. “At least you made a memorable first impression.” He joked, grinning slightly at her, before nodding. “Of course Lieutenant. Anything I can do to help, I will.”

Rin was, at first, embarrassed at the suggestion that this would be his first impression of her: clumsy and unprofessional, in her mind. Then again, she did have to admit it was kind of funny. And it wasn't nearly the worst impression he could have formed.

She managed a genuine smile as she handed over a PaDD with case file numbers on it so Blackford could bring them up. Were the reports complete? Had they followed up on certain matters? Should they be concerned about certain patterns of behavior? All routine stuff, which she ran through dispassionately and thoroughly.

"Your department appears well organized," she commented in her best attempt at small talk. "What's your impression of it? You're relatively new to Elysium."

Damien took the PaDD and quickly brought up the first report, turning his computer screen so she could view it. "I hope everything is to your satisfaction." He said, smiling at her. A quick glance at the other case numbers revealed a few of his own reports. He certainly hoped there wasn't anything wrong with those.

"Thank you." He said, nodding at her. "Commander Taylor runs a tight department. And Lieutenant Commander S'hib keeps things running nicely in her absence. The Elysium is a fine vessel for a first posting. Aside from the recent... problems, there have been no major issues on board."

"Recent problems?"

He nodded. "The recent incursion from James Green and the Cananite soldiers." He cleared his throat. "They invaded the ship, and caused a lot of casualties, including the Captain." He ran a hand through his hair, sighing shakily trying to stop the memories flooding back into his mind.

Rin chuckled. "Ah. Yes, that 'problem.' Bit of an understatement. So where do you think things failed? Or what could be improved to avoid a repeat in the future?"

Damien chuckled, nodding. "A small understatement, yes." Biting his lip, leaning back in his chair, Damien sighed. "From what I understand, Green and his men used some sort of bio-agent to give them their enhanced speed and strength. Perhaps if they'd been searched before leaving the transporter room..." He trailed off, his mind flooding once more with the images of the recent battles.

"Were they invited on board as guests or something else? We don't generally search guests, unless the situation demands it. Was there reason to be suspicious? Was there concern about them beforehand, and, if not, should there have been?"

Damien nodded. "They were guests." He confirmed. "They were descended from people who left Earth many years ago. They appeared to be mistrustful of aliens, and our people in general. They also seemed to be using eugenics." He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Well, since they *did* attack the ship, one can hardly call your opinions paranoid," she assured him as she made notations on her PaDD. "I think that's all I have at the moment. Do you have anything?"

"I suppose one could say that." Damien agreed, nodding, chuckling softly, before looking back at the terminal display in front of him, shaking his head. "I don't think I've got anything else." He said, smiling, looking back at her, his eyes glancing over the implants. "Is there anything else you need?"

"No, that's everything on my list. Feel free to bring anything to my attention should you have concerns. You're the department I most commonly work with. Have a good day, Lieutenant."