Mission 2: "Getting Acquainted" - Challenger

[evoran]

It had been 6 days since Challenger's eventful maiden voyage and since then they hadn't found anything of interest. Contrasted with the excitement of their first encounter, this was positively boring, but Shawn Adams hadn't found it so. It was tough work being Captain, and having just been promoted, he had had to get to know all the crew and all the system and, of course, all his duties. There were reports and analyses to write, things to be calculated, decisions to be made. Shawn, however was enjoying it all.

After a week in space, Adams realised that his senior staff hadn't really had a chance to get to know each other, well, not properly. He decided that the perfect opportunity would be to invite them all to dinner at the Captain's table. It would be a chance for them all to get to know each other in a casual environment.

He strode out of his ready room onto the bridge. All of his senior staff were working away at their stations.

Jack Logan was at communications, wearing an earpiece, working away at something. Shawn liked him. The young man was certainly a good linguist and was good at his job. He idolised Hoshi Sato, communications officer aboard Enterprise, Adams knew her from his time on that ship and, although he wasn't an expert by any means, he thought that Jack would be at least as good as Hoshi as he matured as an officer.

Andrew Kirk was at the engineering station, carefully maintaining the systems. Shawn hadn't had much time with him, he spent most of his time in engineering, but from what Shawn had seen, he was a hard working young man who was passionate about his engines.

Then there was Richard Benzin at tactical, his first officer. He had spent more time with Benzin than the others, him being first officer. Adams liked him, he admired the way that he had held up when thrown into command with no notice. He only hoped that Benzin had a similar opinion of him.

At the back of the bridge, deep in discussion with one of his men was Wolfgang Rickman, chief MACO. He was tough to handle, he thought he knew better than Starfleet personnel in military situations, and, he was probably right, but he underestimated Starfleet ability. He and Adams had come to blows more than once on their previous encounter, Adams hoped that the relationship would improve.

"Report." said Adams as he entered the bridge.

<Tag Everybody>

"Sir," said the ensign who was manning Adams' former post, science, "we have detected a class M world at the edge of long range sensors."

"Lifesigns?" asked Adams.

"We can't tell at this range sir." replied the ensign.

"What's our ETA at Warp 4?" asked Adams.

"2 days, 6 hours."

"Helm, set a course and engage at Warp 4." Ordered Adams.

Perhaps there would be something of interest and, even if there wasn't, it'd be nice to get off the ship and walk around on an alien world.

"Your attention please," said Adams and they all looked up at him, "you're all invited to dinner tonight at the Captain's table. I'd like it if you could all come; it'll give us all a chance to, get acquainted."

<Tag Everybody>

[Deleted]

The ship had been at warp for the last couple of days and Jack noticed that people were getting restless and moody. All they did was work and work and maybe a bit of sleep. There was no excitement anywhere, but you couldn't tell that to Jack Logan, communication's officer of the NX-03 Challenger.

After getting some tips and recommendations from his good friend and idol Hoshi Sato, Jack once again began working on the M'Tok language. He had his earpiece in his ear and his fingers on the console. Jack had already decided to be the first human to master the language which pushed him to work even more.

A doctor would call his work on the language an obsession and Jack really wouldn't argue. During his shift he worked on trying to figure our all the vowels and consonants, during meal time he tried verbs, and while he was working out in the gym he tried out the adjectives. In the last few days the most sleep he had gotten was no more than three hours.

"Report."

Without even looking Jack gave his report.

"All systems are running within parameters, hull plating, communications, and deflector control will go through full system analysis starting at 1500 hours."

Jack for the first time stopped working and listened to the reports from the rest of the senior staff. When he heard that there was a Class M planet on the edge of their sensors. He automatically stopped working on the translations and started scanning for any technological advancements or ships with a 10 light year radius.

Jack also checked the ships star charts. Five years ago when the Enterprise had started out on its mission they only had the Vulcan star charts, but today with the help of Captain Archer, Starfleet and Earth had the starcharts of the Andorians, Telleraites, Rigellians, and Denobulans. The charts covered about five hundred light years, but after checking and rechecking them Jack found that there were no evidence of a planet being in this system. In fact it seemed that none of Earth's friends had been here before.

"Captain Adams, the planet in question is not on our star charts," Jack said sounding a bit excited," if were lucky we will have a chance for a First Contact mission."

<Tag Adams>

Jack knew that he sounded like an over eager child, but he didn't care. If there was a chance of learning a new language he would gladly beg for it. After the initial chatter began to slow down, everyone went back to work. The silence was broken when Captain Adams spoke again.

"Your attention please," said Adams and they all looked up at him, "you're all invited to dinner tonight at the Captain's table. I'd like it if you could all come; it'll give us all a chance to, get acquainted."

Jack of course had heard of this tradition on board starships. It was a great honor to be chosen by the Captain to accompany him at the Captain's table. Yet Jack felt a bit uncomfortable, he was the most junior bridge and senior officer, worse he was the leased experienced. How would talk to these people who had years under there belts in service.

"Stop fretting," Jack said out loud in M'Tok without realizing it.

"Did you say something Ensign?" Captain Adams asked. It took Jack a second to realize what the captain was talking about and he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

"Nothing sir, just practicing," Jack said as he went back to work on his project.

[rickman]

'But if you see, where we were in the valley was the wrong place entirely. If we had allowed them to penetrate further then we could have taken them from three sides instead of two. It would have been riskier in the opening part, but the later part would have been easier.'
'Yes, but it would still have ended with the same numbers down. We wanted to force them back before they realised who they were fighting'

At that point, Adams appeared on the bridge.
'Report' he ordered
Atkins handed Rickman the report he had been holding.
'MACOs ready to go. We also have a new piece of heavy equipment to try out next time we're planetside'
In all truth, Rickman was as unsure of this new weapons as Adams was probably going to be. Yes, in theory it was good and since preceeding versions had been used to good effect it had the right pedigree, but it fell right in with Murphy's law about tracers. Still, if it could be used once with good effect then it would be worth it. After all, it didn't cost Rickman anything to make it.
What Rickman wanted to see was if a shuttle could be painted in camoflage and fitted with a phase turret to be used as a tank by moving it along a few inches above the ground. If the planet they first met didn't have anything lethal on it then it might be worth asking to try the manoeuvre.

When Logan told Adams that the planet wasn't yet charted, Rickman wasn't half as keen as Logan for the possible first contact. Admittedly, it was rare for a civilised people on their first contact to become hostile, but it was still possible that the planet belonged to someone already hostile to humans. In many ways, Rickman had already seen too much of war. The strife that had afflicted Earth was still not gone. Even humans were still enemies of humans and Rickman couldn't think anything but that so long as intelligence existed then there would be war.
Of course, the Vulcans tried to tell everyone that it's just emotion that causes war, but being like the Vulcans wasn't something Rickman wanted to be and he disgreed anyway. If Rickman's group were starving and another had enough good for one group, the logical thing would be to take what the others had.

'Your attention please,' said Adams 'you're all invited to dinner tonight at the Captain's table. I'd like it if you could all come; it'll give us all a chance to, get acquainted.'
Rickman was unsure if this applied to him or not. He looked to Atkins, who shrugged.
Damn, why isn't Smith here? he thought. As it is, he assumed it was since a scientist would know better than to say something like that where it could cause offence. Rickman could also see Logan look from side to side in what looked like a worried manner. In all possibility, Logan was going to feel as out of place as Rickman was.



As Rickman entered the dinner room, he noticed all the Starfleeters were wearing dress uniforms. As a MACO, Rickman had no such uniform. He was dimly aware that he was supposed to, but it had never come up. He had been whisked from Earth to Challenger too quickly for many things to have been adequately sorted out. The same had happened for all the MACO's and so fortunately they had been able to return to Earth for some much needed equipment like the sniper rifles.

Rickman looked towards Adams. 'Captain' he said with a nod towards him.

<Adams>

[sevik]

OOC:

If I understand correctly, I am now the Challenger's new Chief Helm Officer. Now as to my rank and other such things, I've no idea, so please excuse any mistakes I make. But I think I can post now. As I said before, I was told to pretend I have been aboard this vessel the whole time, as we've yet to get back to earth. It's just that my character has not interacted with others that much and hasn't figured prominitely in the crew until now. So here I begin...

P.S. Also, this is my first time potraying a Vulcan, so please excuse any mistakes I make there as I get "into character."

IC:

Sevik sat at his station, making slight course corrections as necessary. They were going nowhere in particular. Just, "out there," as some would say. Most Vulcans didn't quite understand the human drive to explore. Not that they didn't explore themselves, just not for the same reasons. Sevik, however, at times felt the same way as humans when it came to exploring. And what better way to do so than to be the one taking them to their new destinations?

He contemplated his decided lack of interaction with the rest of the Senior Staff, and in some ways regretted it. Even though his Vulcan training prevented him from having a relationship with as much depth as humans have with each other (though it had been rumored that T'Pol was able to "loosen up" around her human comrades), he knew that they could better function as a team if they knew each other better. The problem was that there is still prejudice against the Vulcans, and any alien for that matter. So he knew he would have some obstacles to get through, even if some of them claimed to be tolerant and without prejudice.

He noticed a comet flying withing sensor range, a strange happening for beig in deep space. He sent a notice to the science station (using a text message, so as to not disturb the rest of the bridge crew) and continued his thinking. One of his favorite...well, "hobbies" if he was forced to admit it, was to think and contemplate and meditate on issues and similar items. He also was abnormally open to new views on such things, whereas many Vulcans weren't. Of course, his parents had known from his youth that he was going to be different than most Vulcans. It nearly led to them disowning him when they discovered his decision to enter Starfleet. If it weren't for their...well, love wasn't a common word in the Vulcan vocabulary, but it was the best way to describe it at times; as well as their respect for such pioneering Vulcans in Starfleet, like T'Pol, they would have disowned him. As it was, the relationship they had taken on a strictly proffesional air to it. More so than normal.

Sevik was thinking further and further into this line of thought, one he took often, when the Captain, Shawn Adams, stepped onto the bridge and asked for the different station's reports.

When it came his turn, he turned and spoke, his Vulcan memory allowing him to not have to reffer to his console: "Sir, we are an course and on time. No problems encountered. Currently operating at 90.7985% efficiency." When his report was acknowledged, he turned back to his console and made sure everything was still as he had reported. 90% efficiency was not as much as he would like to have, but it was expected with a new ship, new crew, and new mission.

Sevik continued to think, while listening to the exchange between the Captain and the Ensign at the Science Station. He expected the orders to change course for the new and unknown planet, and set the course and speed, ready to put them into action when told. As expected, the Captain turned to Sevik and said, "Helm, set a course and engage at Warp 4."

"Aye sir." He refrained from correcting the Ensign's ETA of 2 days, 6 hours to the more accurate time of 2 days, 6 hours, 3 minutes, and 39 seconds. Rounded up of course.

Then a moment later, the Captain spoke again: "Your attention please," Sevik turned to look at him. "You're all invited to dinner tonight at the Captain's table. I'd like it if you could all come; it'll give us all a chance to, get acquainted."

With only a slight pause, the Vulcan replied: "Yes sir." He turned back to his station, giving only those two words for a reply. In his mind, however, he was...almost happy at this new development. This would be a chance for him to get acquainted with his fellow officers. And, he knew it was no small honor to be allowed to eat at the Captain's table, something that only a chosen few could do. He allowed himself to admit he appreciated the Captain's generosity, though he would never tell a soul of this. The only place he would dare record such things were in his mind, and in his journal. His only possession that he couldn't afford to lose.

Sevik continued these thoughts, while monitering the ship's progress towards the planet. He noticed they were now out of range of the comet he had noticed earlier. He wondered if the Science Department had gotten what they wanted out of it.

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk slid out from under the bottom of a single station, his face covered with insulator grease and dust. Holding out his hand his assistant chief engineer, Crewman Nixon grabbed Kirk's hand and helped pull him up from the cold deck of the Challenger.

"Ship builders have no idea what goes on with a working starship." Kirk mumbled to himself.

"I thought you had praised the designers." Nixon said trying to keep a smile from cracking on his face.

"The designers yes, the builders no!" Kirk snapped back, "Those idiots always take short cuts to keep production 'costs' down and it..." Kirk stopped to look at Nixon who could not help but laugh, "Whats so funny?" Kirk asked.

"You." Nixon replied.

"Me, and what do you find so damn funny about me." Kirk said getting more upset.

"You get so damn angry over so many little things. Your a projectionist who hates to work." Nixon said backing off a bit.

"I don't hate to work Nix, I hate to fix the short cuts taken by other engineers who...ah nevermind." Kirk said storming off.

Kirk picked up a spare red rag from the top of a console and began to wipe his face clean as he made his way to the lift. It had come time for him to report to the bridge for his daily performance reports to the Captain. Although he much preferred to send the reports up to the Captain's office, he understood the need for the Captain to speak directly to his senior officers.

Stepping onto the bridge Kirk saw this post was less interesting as the zoo he called a work area. Spotting Jack Logan mouthing words to himself fully engaged with his work station brought a smile to Kirk's face. The man was an island and he seemed to not mind it at all.

Sneaking up on Logan, Kirk pushed the officer getting his attention.

"What?" Logan asked.

"The last time we were at Earth I brought up several cases of beer, thought you might want to throw back a few when you get off later."

Before Logan could reply Captain Adams stepped onto the bridge, he took care of a his captain duties before inviting all the senior staff members to dine with him.

Looking back at Logan, Kirk shrugged his shoulders, "Nevermind, the Captain is bringing the beers tonight." Kirk said with a smile.

[sevik]

Sevik entered the Captain's dinning room, dressed perfectly in his dress uniform. Not a crease was to be found, a product of his Vulcan up-bringing. He saw he was one of the first to arrive, as only Captain Adams and Captain Rickman were there. He never understood why different services had to use different ranking systems. It would be much more efficient to do otherwise.

He walked to sit in such a place that there was one seat between him and Rickman, who was sitting a seat away from the Captain. He looked to the Captain for permission to sit, and when it was granted, he did so.

After observing the dinnerware in front of him, he turned to Adams and asked, "What is for dinner?" He asked merely out of curiosity, more than hunger. He didn't want the cook to make something with meat. Or, at the very least, to make sure he was served something that was more along the lines of Vulcan tastes.

<Tag Captain Adams>

[Deleted]

The one person who Jack seemed to get along most of all was the Challenger's chief engineer, Andrew Kirk. They had met on the shuttle ride over the Challenger and had hit if off. Maybe it was the fact that they were two most junior officers on the senior staff or that they graduated from the same Academy class. Jack had never seen him at the Academy, but then again he was usually wrapped in his work.

The major differenece between both of them was the fact that Andrew liked to play and when he played he did it in a way that everyone knew. Jack wasn't much of a drinking person, but he would not deny himself some real Earth beer.

"So what have you been doing, Kirk?" Jack said hoping to annoy him. Jack already knew what Kirk had been doing and he of course had heard of his hate of fixing other peoples mistakes.

<Tag Kirk>

The conversation ended after Kirk reported to the Captain and left again for the engine room. Jack was all alone once again, but he wanted to work anyways.

------------------------

Jack was in his dress uniform the one thing that he really hated wearing. It seemed so much more confining than the jumpers that they were on regualar days. Jack knew that he was running a bit late, so he quickened his pace as he left his quarters.

"Wait up for me, Logan!" Kirk said stopping him.

"Well hurry up, I'm not going to be late for you lazy [word deleted]," Jack said as he kept on walking. He got the turbolift and pretended to activate it.

"You wouldn't dare," Kirk said.

"Well not today," Jack said laughing. The lift ride was quick and they were soon outside the Captain dinning room. Jack quickly made sure that his uniform was in good shape and walked in. He saw that Captain Rickman, Ensign Sevik, and the Captain had already arrived.

"Sorry that we are late, Captain," Jack said as he sat down.

<Tag All>

[sevik]

Ensigns Logan and Kirk entered the room. Logan (Sevik recalled his first name as Jack) said,
"Sorry that we are late, Captain," and sat down. As did Kirk.

Sevik looked at Comm Officer and replied, "You are only two minutes and 43 seconds late. I believe that is...socially acceptable." He again had to control his thoughts, as they lingered towards the worry of what would be to eat. Then he spoke up once more: "I do not believe I have introduced myself to any of you, not even the Captain" he glanced at Adams, "except for when I reported in. I think I will do that now." He looked to each in the room in turn and, as he spoke, he nodded, ever-so slightly, to them, "My name is Sevik, the Chief Helm Officer, and an Ensign. I do not know much of human customs, beyond those taught in Vulcan Schooling, and the knowledge gained in my last few years of interaction with them. But I think I should apologize for not doing this before." He stopped then, in case he had shown too much emotion, and to prevent further show of it. He then sat and waited to see if any introduced themselves back to him.

<Tag: any who wish to respond>

[Deleted]

"You are only two minutes and 43 seconds late. I believe that is...socially acceptable." He again had to control his thoughts, as they lingered towards the worry of what would be to eat. Then he spoke up once more: "I do not believe I have introduced myself to any of you, not even the Captain" he glanced at Adams, "except for when I reported in. I think I will do that now." He looked to each in the room in turn and, as he spoke, he nodded, ever-so slightly, to them, "My name is Sevik, the Chief Helm Officer, and an Ensign. I do not know much of human customs, beyond those taught in Vulcan Schooling, and the knowledge gained in my last few years of interaction with them. But I think I should apologize for not doing this before."

Jack couldn't help but get a big smile on his face. For the first time, well second time he met a Vulcan who he liked. Maybe it was the fact that even he was nervous, Jack knew that he would never admit to anyone, but they all had something in common and Jack would make it his mission to make him feel welcomed and accepted, none of the Terra Prime crap that was going on Earth. Vulcan's were our allies even though they could be pompous and arrogant, they were still our allies.

~Sevik of Vulcan, I am Jack Logan of Earth, the communications officer of this ship~ Jack said in Vulcan," may you experience peace and long life."

<Tag Sevik>

At first Jack thought that he had made a mistake in introducing himself first, but he saw that Captain Adams was just smiling at him and then began his introduction. Once he finished everyone else introduced themselves to the resident Vulcan.

"Well everyone I hope that you are hungry, Chef tells me that he has made something very special for us," Captain Adams said," don't worry about your meal Mr. Sevik he knows that Vulcans don't eat meat."

To be honest Jack was very hungry and he was very much hoping that Chef had made them a really big steak with all the fixings.

<Tag All>

[sevik]

There was a moment's pause after he had spoken, and Sevik wondered if they were not going to respond. He doubted that the prejudice against Vulcans was that strong out here.

Then, with a large smile on his face, a startling contrast against the Vulcan he spoke, Ensign Logan spoke: "Sevik of Vulcan, I am Jack Logan of Earth, the communications officer of this ship. May you experience peace and long life."

A little suprised by Jack's choice of language, Sevik replied in Vulcan as well: "And my you live long and prosper." And then, switching back to English, "I commend you on your mastery of the Vulcan language. I hear it is a very hard one for humans to learn."

<Tag Jack?>

After that, everyone else introduced themselves to Sevik, for which he was appreciative, though only in such a way as Vulcans can be.

Then Captain Adams added, "Well everyone I hope that you are hungry, Chef tells me that he has made something very special for us. Don't worry about your meal Mr. Sevik he knows that Vulcans don't eat meat."

Sevik nodded, his...curiosity satisfied. Then he asked, "Captain, do we have our next assignment yet?"

<Tag Captain Adams>

[evoran]

Adams was seated at the table awaiting his guests and they began to arrive, one by one, all, he was surprised to see were wearing dress uniforms, apart from Rickman.

Once they were all gathered, he said, smiling, "You know, this isn't a formal occaision, dress uniform wasn't required."

He inwardly chuckled as he saw the expressions on the faces of the officers who clearly weren't fond of their dress uniforms.

Once all the pleasantries were over, Sevik introduced himself to the crew. Logan said something to him in Vulcan. Adams' Vulcan was a little rusty but he knew that it was some sort of greeting. It was nice of Jack to greet Sevik in Vulcan.

Everybody else made their introductions and finally Adams said, "Well, Mr Sevik, no doubt you know that I'm Shawn Adams, welcome onboard."

Then he added, "Well everyone I hope you're hungry, Chef tells me that he has made something very special for us. Don't worry about your meal Mr. Sevik; he knows that Vulcans don't eat meat."

"Well," said Adams, "While we're waiting for the food, why don't we go around the table and swap stories. Tell us something about yourself, your family, where you came from, your interests, why you joined Starfleet, that sort of thing."

He turned to the officer on his left, Logan, "So, Jack, you go."

<Logan>

Adams then turned his attention to the man next to Logan, Kirk, "Andrew, or do you prefer Andy? Tell us about yourself."

<Kirk>

Next in line was Sevik, "Sevik, what about you?"

<Sevik>

Next was Wolfgang Rickman, "Wolfgang, or Wolf?"

<Rickman>

Next along, on the other side of Adams was Richard Benzin, "Richard, or Rick?"

<Benzin>

Almost on cue, the food arrived, juicy steaks and fries, it looked delicious, and of course, there was the vegetarian option, a huge salad.

"Well, tuck in everyone!" said Adams.

As they began to eat, Sevik asked, "Captain, do we have our next assignment yet?"

Adams noticed the effort that Sevik was making to adapt to the human lifestyle; he knew it was not customary among Vulcans to speak during meals.

"Well, we've been given pretty much freedom to explore at our leisure, unless Starfleet sends us any specific orders, we will simply continue to chart the unknown" said Adams.

<Anyone, continue>

[Deleted]

"And my you live long and prosper." And then, switching back to English, "I commend you on your mastery of the Vulcan language. I hear it is a very hard one for humans to learn."

"Well I have a huge advantage that most humans don't," Jack said referring to his ear," if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here. Jack was not exsaggerating when he said he owed everything to his ears. He could pinpoint any human dialect in seconds and he could comprehen basic alien languages in mere minutes.

"Well," said Adams, "While we're waiting for the food, why don't we go around the table and swap stories. Tell us something about yourself, your family, where you came from, your interests, why you joined Starfleet, that sort of thing."

He turned to the officer on his left, Logan, "So, Jack, you go."

"Well most of you could never tell because I have no accent, but I'm a Texan farmer from Austin," Jack said loving the fact that he would go first. He would not be expected to say everything in his life.

"I think that only Captain Adams knows this, but my hero is Hoshi Sato, the comms officer on the Enterprise," Jack said smiling," I attended her school in Brazil because I knew it was the best."

Jack didn't really have anything else to say and took a drink of his juice signifying that he was done speaking. He was glad that the conversation was quickly picked up by Andrew.

[sevik]

"Well," said Adams, "While we're waiting for the food, why don't we go around the table and swap stories. Tell us something about yourself, your family, where you came from, your interests, why you joined Starfleet, that sort of thing."

He turned to the officer on his left, Logan, "So, Jack, you go."

Sevik waited for both Logan and Kirk to tell something about themselves. Logan was said little about himself. But Sevik could understand him having Hoshi Sato as his hero. T'Pol, being the first Vulcan in Starfleet, was not someone Sevik thought of as his hero, but was a person whom he greatly respected.

Then the Captain turned to Sevik and said, "Sevik, what about you?"

Without any hesitation, he spoke: "I was born on Earth, at San Fransico, and have been to Vulcan only a handful of times. My parents served, and still serve, at the Vulcan Consulate on Earth. When it came time for me to decide what I was going to do in my life, it seemed quite logical to me to join Starfleet. Though my parents would disagree. And I pursued the position of a Helm Officer, as that was the area I scored highest in. I passed and that is how, and why, I am here today." Sevik stopped, both because he did not wish to be wordy, and because he knew the others would want to introduce themselves.

After they had, the food was served. "Well, tuck in everyone!" said Adams. Sevik took a large serving of salad. It was made with different types of lettuce and herbs, and Sevik didn't mind trying different foods. He found it better than most.

As they began to eat, Sevik asked, "Captain, do we have our next assignment yet?"

"Well, we've been given pretty much freedom to explore at our leisure, unless Starfleet sends us any specific orders, we will simply continue to chart the unknown," said Adams.

Sevik decided to let someone else speak this time around, as he was still not used to talking during a meal.

<Anyone, continue>

[Andrew Kirk]

Kirk had walked in only seconds behind Jack and overheard the precise time in which they were late to dinner.

“Vulcans…” Kirk mumbled under his breath.

It had been no secret that Kirk had never been a fan of other alien races, it was not that he didn’t like the other races that Earth had encountered, he just simply never trusted them. Mankind had only been sailing the heavens for under one hundred years, not enough time to really build strong relations at least not in Andrew Kirk’s book.

Sitting down next to Jack, Kirk watched as the two had a brief encounter in Vulcan. Kirk rolled his eyes and waited until the conversation changed back to English. Spending the better part of a day trying to decipher a language from a foreign computer core almost sent Kirk mad, the last thing he wanted to hear was the same language being spoken around him.

"You know, this isn't a formal occasion, dress uniform wasn't required." Captain Adams said.

“Thank the stars.” Kirk blurted out as he began to unbutton his dress shirt making himself instantly more comfortable.

Kirk watched as the group started the formal introductions, to his surprise Captain Adams asked Jack to lead off. It seemed the Captain was a rather informal man underneath it all, either that or he was not used to being the man sitting in the big chair buy the way he addressed Jack by his first name and not rank. Jack had finished up rather quickly, setting the tone for the introductions.

“Andrew, or do you prefer Andy?” Captain Adams asked.

“Ya know, I have to be honest I have never been asked that question before,” Kirk said rubbing his chin as if he was trying to think of an answer, “Either would be fine.” Kirk finished bobbing his head, as he was pleased with his brief answer.

“Tell us about yourself.” Captain Adams added.

“Well, where to begin…I am a Southern California man, born and raised in San Diego. Typically I have a laid back attitude on most things, but I hate having go back and fix things that have already been worked on by lazy or careless engineers.” Kirk said sounding clearly annoyed, “ If I was to select somebody as a ‘hero’ figure it would have to be Commander Tucker, his work on the Enterprise will be historic one day. I can only dream to end up to be as good of an engineer as he was. I like playing Poker and enjoy a fine Earth beer, so if anybody is up for a game and a few brews you know where to fine me.” He finished up with a smile.

The introductions went around the room until the food had been brought out. Kirk’s long day in Engineering was cause for an empty stomach and the second his nose caught a whiff of the food as it was being brought out his stomach grumbled loudly. Kirk noticed both Jack and Sevik had noticed the sound.

“What?” Kirk said first looking at Jack then at Sevik before turning his attention to the plate full of food in front of him.

[sevik]

Sevik sat, eating, considering the people sitting around him. Logan seemed decent enough. And his knowing Vulcan made him a surprising human. Sevik concluded they would have no problems working together. However, Kirk's quiet "Vulcans..." comment upon entering the room, as well as his roling his eyes during the conversation in Vulcan that Logan and Sevik had was not lost on the Vulcan. Something told him the two of them might have some sort of problems. Sevik knew he was going to come across at least some light form of prejudice against aliens, but a small part of him...hoped (a conclusion he did not like) that none of the senior crew would be part of it. It seems it was not to be.

He then heard a loud rumbling noise, and identified it as Kirk's stomach growling. It brought him out of his thoughts for a moment, but that was fine, as he needed to pay attention to the rest of those in the room. Sevik may not have been used to "small talk," but he wanted to be attentive in case he was called on to speak.

<Come on, people, Sevik is a bit shy. Other people need to talk, about something at least.>

[evoran]

“Well, where to begin…I am a Southern California man, born and raised in San Diego. Typically I have a laid back attitude on most things, but I hate having go back and fix things that have already been worked on by lazy or careless engineers.” Kirk said sounding clearly annoyed, “ If I was to select somebody as a ‘hero’ figure it would have to be Commander Tucker, his work on the Enterprise will be historic one day. I can only dream to end up to be as good of an engineer as he was. I like playing Poker and enjoy a fine Earth beer, so if anybody is up for a game and a few brews you know where to fine me.” said Kirk.

"So you aspire to be like Commander Tucker?" said Adams, "I served on Enterprise with him. He's a nice guy, and you're right, he is a great engineer. Whenever our departments crossed paths, I was always impressed with the way he did things."

The rest of the introductions went around and the food came. They ate for a while in silence then Adams decided to try and induce a bit more conversation.

"So, what do you all think to the ship so far?"

<Everyone>

"You know, we were speaking of Enterprise and it reminded me of something." Said Adams, "Back on Enterprise, we used to have a movie night every week, we'd show a movie in the mess hall every week and lots of people would go and watch, I thought it'd be good to start that kinda thing here on Challenger. Does anyone wanna take up the task of arranging these?"

<Anyone?>

[Deleted]

Everyone finished introducing themselves and Jack was glad that the Captain had thought of this. He was glad to know his fellow officers a bit better. Then out of nowhere Jack heard a strange growling and realized that it was coming from Andrew's direction. Jack just smiled at him knowing that he must be really hungry.

“What?” Kirk said first looking at Jack then at Sevik before turning his attention to the plate full of food in front of him.

"No nothing its just that you are a pig," Jack said as he took his fork and started eating. The conversation died down as the group enjoyed their meal. Jack especially enjoyed the steak, something that he hadn't had since his last visit to his parents in Austin. The silence of forks and knives was broken when Captain Adams asked them.

"So, what do you all think to the ship so far?"

"Well I like it here, especially since I get to do what I love," Jack said referring to the work that was awaiting for him in his quarters. "but I think it would be fun for us to do something cause it gets kind of boring."

Everyone nodded in agreement, it wasn't that they wanted to get in trouble, but when they were they were never bored like most of them seemed to be. Jack yesterday was sure that he had heard someone snoring on the bridge.

"Back on Enterprise, we used to have a movie night every week, we'd show a movie in the mess hall every week and lots of people would go and watch, I thought it'd be good to start that kinda thing here on Challenger. Does anyone wanna take up the task of arranging these?"

"Sevik, Andrew and I would like to volunteer for the job Captain," Jack said quickly. He had heard from Hoshi about their movie nights and Jack thought that it was a great idea. He loved watching movies when he was a kid and he still loved them now. It seemed that Sevik was a bit perplexed when Jack volunteered him, but Jack would always include him. Even though he would most likely say ~What is the logic in this activity~

"Why did you volunteer me?" Andrew said grinning.

"Cause if I don't all you will do is drink and work on the engines," Jack said taking the last bite out of his steak."Captain I was thinking of keeping the same tradition on Enterprise and make movie night on Tuesday's 2000 hours."

<Tag Shawn>

"How about we show The Godfather for our first movie?" Jack asked the group.

"Who is the Godfather?" Sevik asked.

"He is the protagonist of a mobster film," Jack answered trying to be as scientific as possible.

<Tag Sevik>

"What do you say Andrew, should The Godfather be our first movie?" Jack asked trying to get his friend's attention.

<Tag Andrew>

"Captain Rickman, Commander Benzin I haven't forgotten about y'all either," Jack said letting his accent come through.

<Tag Wolfgamg, Richard>

OCC: Okay I didn't miss anyone did I By the way I have never seen the entire Godfather movie, lol.

[sevik]

OOC:

OCC: Okay I didn't miss anyone did I By the way I have never seen the entire Godfather movie, lol.

Don't worry: I've seen none of it at all.

IC:

"So, what do you all think to the ship so far?"

Sevik spoke first, "It is a well built vessel, and seems as if it will be able to do its mission without too many problems. Even though I am the Helm Officer and not a scientist, I am waiting to see what things we discover."

Then Jack spoke up as soon as he was done. "Well I like it here, especially since I get to do what I love," Jack said referring to the work that was awaiting for him in his quarters. "But I think it would be fun for us to do something cause it gets kind of boring."

Everyone but Sevik nodded in agreement. He found enough to keep him busy.

"You know, we were speaking of Enterprise and it reminded me of something," Adams said. "Back on Enterprise, we used to have a movie night every week, we'd show a movie in the mess hall every week and lots of people would go and watch, I thought it'd be good to start that kinda thing here on Challenger. Does anyone wanna take up the task of arranging these?"

"Sevik, Andrew and I would like to volunteer for the job Captain," Jack said quickly. Sevik sharply turned his head to look at his fellow officer. He was more than a bit perplexed when Jack volunteered him. He was about to protest when Andrew beat him too it, though in a more lighthearted manner:

"Why did you volunteer me?" Andrew said grinning.

"Cause if I don't all you will do is drink and work on the engines," Jack said taking the last bite out of his steak.

Then they began hashing out the time and place for movie night. Sevik considered protesting now, but decided to wait and see what this would end up turning into. Though he doubted it would be something to his liking.

"How about we show The Godfather for our first movie?" Jack asked the group.

"Who is the Godfather?" Sevik asked, not knowing anything about movies.

"He is the protagonist of a mobster film," Jack answered trying to be as scientific as possible.

Sevik could tell by Jack's tone that he was having his fun with the Vulcan. Sevik didn't mind: he had found that humans often did that, but meant nothing by it. "As in the 1920's and 30's gangsters? Wouldn't that be a...violent film?"

Jack replied with a "Yes" and a big smile. Sevik had his doubts about this, but didn't want to offend this person by turning down his invitation. He then began finishing the last of his salad, along with a few gulps of water, while the rest of the group planned the movie night.

[rickman]

OOC: sorry about not posing; disappeared off the radar for a bit over the weekend. Also, I've taken the assumption based on the statement by one of the writers that the NX class has two more shuttlepods spare.

After asking others about their heroes and past, Adams came to Rickman.
'Wolfgang, or Wolf?' he asked
'Either one does fine' Rickman shrugged 'I was born in England to an English father and German mother, hence my first name. The way she saw it, since the father gives the son the last name, the mother should give the first name. They moved to Canada to avoid the problems of the world soon after I was born and eventually I joined the US Marines when they were desperate for men.
As for why I'm here, then I'm probably the only person at the table who never wanted to be here. My last assignment on Earth was defending the Khyber pass against northern insurgents and training local Indian soldiers. Atkins and I were recalled from India and assigned to Challenger but I was allowed to choose my own Marines as a form of compensation.
Unlike Mr Logan, I have no heroes. The way I see it, we must all do what we think is right and follow only in our own footsteps.'


'So, what do you all think to the ship so far?' Adams asked later
Rickman's reply was typically militarily inclined.
'It would be a nightmare to defend against a boarding party and the shuttlepods aren't large enough to take more than one fire team at a time. If we want to deploy every Marine at once then we'll need to send both spare shuttles too. I can't say how much I like it compared to other ships because I'm not a space man. It seems to be crewed well enough though.'


'Captain Rickman, Commander Benzin I haven't forgotten about y'all either'
'It's a good movie. And Sevik, it's not just about violence. It's about how one man goes from the innocent life to the one of crime because he lives in a world of violence and corruption. It's about defence against an unjust world going too far, about self-destructiveness and in the end, there are two possible men to play the title role. You have to choose for yourself who the Godfather really is.'
Rickman wondered if the Vulcan was at all surprised by his knowledge of the finer points of the film. But then Rickman wasn't just a soldier, he was a person as well.

<Sevik>

[sevik]

Sevik had just put the last bite of his salad in his mouth when Wolfgang Rickman, the Marine, addressed him: "It's a good movie. And Sevik, it's not just about violence. It's about how one man goes from the innocent life to the one of crime because he lives in a world of violence and corruption. It's about defence against an unjust world going too far, about self-destructiveness and in the end, there are two possible men to play the title role. You have to choose for yourself who the Godfather really is."

Sevik was not at all expecting him to say this. He searched himself to find why, and realized that, even for all his hope that there would be a minimum of prejudice against himself as a Vulcan, he had prejudice against humans. And even more for ones who specialized in violence. He didn't let on to anyone what he was thinking of course, but decided to work on changing this. He had a...he didn't know what to call it, but something told him that these humans weren't as he had been raised and told (by both parents and other Vulcans) they were like.

He came to this conclusion in matter of seconds and then replied. "It seems there is more to this movie than there seems." He cocked his head to the slightest degree. "I will watch it. If there is this more intelectual side you seem to indicate, it might be worth viewing." Then he turned to Jack, "But, next time, can you warn me before you volunteer me?"

<Tag Jack>

[evoran]

Adams heard Rickman's take on The Godfather and it surprised him a little bit. He realised that he had subconsciously tagged Rickman as a bone-headed army man, just as Rickman had him marked as a scanner man. It intrigued Shawn at how easily preconceptions could creep in.

"Well," he said, "That takes care of that, it's up to you three. I look forward to it. I hope to see you all there on Tuesday."

Just then, the desert arrived.

"Home made apple pie," said Adams, "nothing like it!"

As they began to eat again, Adams decided to commence a bit more conversation.

"So, tell us some more about yourselves, your past, your families, your girlfriends? Anything."

<Tag All>

[sevik]

"Well," the Captain said to the 3 movie people, "That takes care of that, it's up to you three. I look forward to it. I hope to see you all there on Tuesday."

Sevik nodded his head. He might as well go along with it for now.

Just then, the desert arrived. "Home made apple pie," Adams said, "nothing like it!"

Sevik stared at the pie, trying to decide whether or not to try it. He could tell it had no meat or animal products, and so he went ahead and took a small forkfull. He found it to be quite a pleasent desert, and ate a bit more.

As they began to eat again, Adams decided to commence a bit more conversation: "So, tell us some more about yourselves, your past, your families, your girlfriends? Anything."

There was some pie on his lips, so Sevik wiped it off before speaking. He had never spoke so much during a meal before, and it was quite strange to him. "There is really nothing more to say about myself. I quite easily summed it up before." He then went into silence, allowing others to speak about themselves. Knowing humans, they would talk a lot, and he would learn about them. He knew there was plenty more he could say about himself, but most of the rest were things he wanted to keep to himself.

<tag someone else who is willing to talk a lot!>

[Andrew Kirk]

"Sevik, Andrew and I would like to volunteer for the job Captain," Jack said quickly.

What! Kirk thought to himself, dammit, I hate it when people volunteer me to do things.

When Jack mentioned the Godfather Kirk seemed to not mind the selection, although he had never seen it himself he was always told it was an early Earth classic.

The conversations went around the room again, more of the senior staff members spoke up about themselves, home or what ever the topic was about at the time. Captain Adams began to pass around apple pie, Kirk began to feel the old family feelings when everybody was digging into the pie except for him.

"You want a big slice?" Jack said holding the saucer close to Kirk.

"No thanks, I don't like pie."

The room went silent.

"Did you just say, you don't like pie?" Jack asked looking at him with an odd look on his face.

Kirk looked around the room at the other officers and letting his eyes stop on Captain Adams who looked just as shocked as the rest of his senior staff.

"You heard me, I don't like pie." Kirk said in a grumbling tone of voice.

Jack couldn't help but crack a smile on his face, it seemed to Kirk that Jack's every interest in life was to poke at Kirk with every chance he got. Kirk could tell it was all in good fun and was not ment to be personal, but no matter how much fun it was Kirk always seemed to take it much too personally.

"So, tell us some more about yourselves, your past, your families, your girlfriends? Anything." Captain Adams asked trying to clear up the silence in the room.

"I had a girlfriend once, prettiest girl I ever saw," Kirk said with his arms crossed looking almost upset, "We had a good thing going for a long time until one day she came up to me while I was working in the garage with my grandfather. She began telling me how I was not listening to her and I was always working on my grandfathers cars, or something like that. I wasn't really listening to her, I had my hands full trying to rewire a 2067 Mustang. After she left she refused to talk to me...you could say I learned my lesson with that one. On the good side my grandfather and I got that Stang wired up in no time." Kirk finished letting a small smirk crack on his face.

<Tag anyone>

[sevik]

Sevik kept his face blank, but still felt confusion at the way humans interacted. When everyone was silent at Kirk's saying he didn't like pie, Sevik thought maybe Kirk had broken some tradition, and was glad he had some. Then it turned out to be some sort of joke, though there didn't seem to be any humor in it.

Then Kirk's telling about his girlfriend. He seemed to show more interest in the car (for that must be what the mechanical equine named object must be) then in the girl. If she was so pretty, which he knew to be a desirable trait among humans, than why did he pay so little attention to her? He felt some doubt when he said he had learned his lesson, but decided to reserve judgement until he had more evidence on that point.

But he couldn't help commenting on his smirk at the end: "I fail to see any humor here, and yet you are smiling? I still don't have a working knowledge of humor." He said it without thinking, one of those things he did that most Vulcans never would. One of those things he had to work on. He waited to see if his question would bring an adverse reaction, as he had often seen happen when other Vulcans had said similar things. He would rather it wouldn't repeat history here.

<Tag whoever wishes to respond>

[richardbenzin]

"So, tell us some more about yourselves, your past, your families, your girlfriends? Anything."

Benzin: As you all know, I am First Officer and Chief Tactical Officer of dis vessel. Um... My name is Richard, my close friends call me Reesch, which is of course, how the name "Rich" sounds in German. I was born in Nuremberg, Germany, and grew up there fur most of my life. My mother was a Farmer/gardener and my father ran an antique automobile shop, restoration etc. They're both since retired. Pretty normal life for me. I did have a former flame, and her name was Jennifer. To make a long story short, it didn't last...

Benzin was lost in thought for a moment, but then continued.

Benzin: After that, I enlisted in the Bundeswehr, or military as some call it... I was in the field of strategic operations and was also involved in weapon research. Ironically, some of dat same technology that I worked on has been integrated into the NX-Class ships. Eventually, decided it was time fur a change and wanted to see just how these star ships vurked...Worked. Ahem, I apologize...my speech has been called thick. Even my friends back home can't understand me sometimes. So, I enlisted in Starfleet, majoring, not surprisingly, in tactical operations. And now I am here... I like reading Johann Wolfgang von Goethe poetry, and I also like film. I think the Godfather is quite a good film. As well as Scarface. Though I think that particular film would not sit well with most people.

Benzin then cracked a small smile and sat down.