Connor's News

Posted on Wed Jan 10th, 2024 @ 6:29pm by Ensign Connor Turner & 1st Lieutenant Marjani Smith
Edited on on Wed Jan 10th, 2024 @ 9:04pm

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Connor's Quarters - Deck 3 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD002 2000 hrs

Being freed from Ops was both thrilling and slightly disappointing. He rather enjoyed working with the computers but the Ops department, especially Thex. She did not seem to know how to run a department but he was more than a little grateful for her recommendations.

What should he do with them, though? The Chief, no, Elen gave him a week to decide whether to take the Gamma lead or not. He wondered about that. A lead? What skills did he have with people? Zero, as far as he could tell. And why had he thought to ask Milly? Was it because he could partially talk to her? They had not seen each other since the Academy. He could not remember why, of course.

This was a huge decision. He could not make this alone. He had to tell Marjani. They had to do this together. They were a couple, were they not? He smiled at that thought and dialed Marjani.

She was in a small room when Connor sent his message, Marjani had just sat down to write a report when she noticed. She reached over to grab a section of sandwich when she keyed in the code to accept his call. When the viewscreen came into view, Marjani gave a wave. "You are lucky I had just sat down to write a report as well as make a journal entry. How are you doing, handsome? Sorry, sorry hope you don't mind my eating something while we talk. I just got the chance to grab a bite to eat."

"It is not morning by you?" Connor asked bewildered. "Last time that I called at this hour, you were just waking up. Did you move locations?" he wondered. "You were doing an escort.... Oh, and feel free to eat. I don't mind."

Marjani took a bite of her sandwich chewed it while she gazed at Connor, when her mouth was empty, she remarked, "Different time zone. It's nighttime here where I am at. I'm currently in a room, where I can catch some sleep. How has your day been, Connor?" Marjani then took a sip of her drink.

Currently Marjani was wearing a dark blue tee shirt, her hair looking a bit awry. A smudge of dirt was on her cheek. She caught sight of the smudge and reached out for a wipe to take care of the smudge.

Connor gave Marjani a wide smile when she wiped off the smudge from her face. "I swear, I'm going to have to put a monitor on you and hook it into my personal computer so I can keep track of your hours," he informed her half seriously. "I wouldn't want to wake you up.... But it is 2000 here. So, night for me, anyways...."

He paused and then walked in a small circle before returning to Marjani, "I've had a very odd day, Marji. I don't know what to do with it."

Marjani tilted her head to the right, curious as to his reaction. "Connor, tell me about what happened? Am I going to have to get into a throw down with someone? When we meet each other later on?" her eyes were sparkling with an inner fire at the thought that someone might be messing with Connor.

"No, no, no. Nothing like that," he told Marjani waving his hands furiously in front of him. "Well, um, I asked to come back to Engineering earlier today. Well, actually, I did that after meeting someone. Um, Milly Ambrosia? No, that's not right. Milly Ambush? No." He furrowed his brows and thought harder. "Milly Ambrose. That's it. Pink hair. I guess she remembered me from the Academy. And, oh, my, Marji, I don't know what to make of all of that. Maybe I should come back to that second," he wondered, gauging Marjani's reaction before saying anything further.

Marjani listened very carefully as to what Connor was saying. There was a expression of relief to know that she didn't need to punch someone's lights out. "Okay so, you asked to get back to engineering, how did that go? And wait, you met someone who went to academy with you? And the person is a girl? You spoke to her?" Marjani was a bit surprised at that, knowing his trouble in talking to girls, women. She wasn't upset but she was most certainly surprised.

Marjani leaned forward with great interest.

"Oh, gosh!" Connor answered. "I, well, I did. It was not easy, but, well, it was weird, Marji." His lips firmed as he tried to think of the best way to phrase things. "I thought I recognized her, well, maybe. And then I asked her about it, and she shied away. After that, she wanted to talk to me in private. I certainly did not know what to think of that, but I went." He carefully watched for Marjnani's reaction before continuing.

Marjani didn't seem to be upset; she was finding this rather interesting. "And what happened next?"

"So, well, I was worried, well, she was like me, and well, if attracted to someone...." He just let the sentence end there before continuing, "So I announced to her that I had a girlfriend, told her your name, and everything. She remembered Holly, so there was that.... I was going to get myself out of there but she asked me to stay. I really couldn't leave after that, now could I? Anyways, I think she wants to be friends. She's a bit mad but she also tried to help me out."

"In what way is she mad? And I am very proud of you to actually stay and talk to her. Maybe she want to just to be friends. It will have to be something for you to discover most definitely. Pink hair? Fully or just some touches of pink? And also, when do you get to be back in engineering?" Marjani asking quite a few questions as she was very interested in hearing what else went on.

"Oh, well, I took your suggestion and went to ask the Chief for my job back. I just ran into Milly first." He shrugged as if everyone just took thirty minutes to talk in private with a pink haired woman. "Um, I really did not notice if it was all pink or just touches," he admitted. "I, um, well, was just more concerned with all the madness. Anyways, she actually gave me, I think, a bit of a pep talk before talking to the Chief. I'm a little fuzzy on that part."

He shifted and got into a more comfortable position. "Well, after sitting a bit longer with my tea, well, I went up to the Chief and the Chief tells me that she's read good reports on what I had been doing in ops. I did not even know that reports were already being written about me." His eyes went wide from this revelation.

"So, the Chief said that she was impressed and thought I might want to lead gamma shift, if Ops no longer needed me. Then told me I should not call her Chief, but Elen. I was gobsmacked, I tell you."

"Oh, Connor that is wonderful!" Marjani gave out a squeal of excitement. "And you being lead on Gamma? That I feel is a great opportunity. And she isn't big on ranks? Even better. Are you going to take up that opportunity? I think you have the capabilities of being lead."

"You do?" Connor wondered aloud. He might be a darn good engineer, but people.... "I...I don't know. I'm thinking about it. I mean, I can do the work but talking to people? Telling them what to do...? These, well, they're not my strong suit and well, the vast majority of this engineering department seems to be female!" He buried his face in his hands. "I have a week to decide," he told Majani helplessly. "I can even choose a couple people. Small group, gamma...."

"Oh Connor, I believe in you, and I know you can do this. Who is the one who convinced me, got me over my fear and worry about us being in a relationship? That was you. I don't think you will need to be bossy, and you do know your stuff when it comes to engineering. If Elen thinks that you are capable of leading a team on Gamma, then hey, accept it. Accept the position and then get a team you know you can work with, how does that sound?" Marjani giving a thumbs up. "If I were near you, I'd give you a really tight embrace and a kiss as well."

Connor started to pinken as he unburied himself. "Well, when you put it that way.... I mean, I guess, well, I have to take the job...." He straightened up. "I wish I could have that hug and snog you to death, too." He got closer to the projector and pursed his lips in a kiss towards Marjani.

"So, I guess, um, I'm going to be a lead.... I must have already considered it, 'cause I asked if I could pick a team if I took it.... But I certainly did not want to take it without talking to you. We're a team after all," he informed her puffing proudly.

'Yes, we are, and yup you are going to be a lead. It is wonderful. I do get how you are worried about being lead. I remember my first time being a leader of a squad. At first I was nervous, thinking that I didn't have the capability of being a squad leader. It took my team to let me know that I was just right for the job. And they even told me that they wanted me as their squad leader. They said that I had what it took to be their leader." Marjani then returned the puckered up lip kiss towards Connor. She returned to eating her sandwich after moving back from the viewscreen.

Popping the last bite of her sandwich into her mouth, and washing it down with some lemonade, Marjani then asked. "Who do you plan on asking to be on your team, I think you said you'd be asking Milly? And when will you be asking those crewmembers to be on your team?"

"I really don't know anybody else," Connor replied embarrassed. "I may have to have the Chief, er, Elen, pick the rest. Is it wrong to choose Milly just because I could sort of talk to her?" he wondered aloud.

Marjani shook her head vigorously, her curls bouncing about. "No, it isn't wrong to do such. In fact, I think it a wise decision to have someone you feel somewhat comfortable in talking to on your team. See, you are already thinking like a team leader," she replied chuckling. "Told you had it in you."

"I don't know that's the best criteria," Connor's computer mind considered. "Shouldn't everything be based on ability?"

"Yes, but if someone didn't have any abilities, they wouldn't be on this ship working. Wouldn't that be true? So, you have Milly on your team, and you will also be able to see if she can do the job and do it diligently. True?" Marjani giving Connor an encouraging smile.

Connor stared off into space as he mentally calculated what Marjani was telling him. "There's a lot of engineers in Starfleet. Not all of them can do what I do." He paused, and said, "But I guess that we need engineers of all abilities or nothing would get done. And I suppose what you're telling me is that I won't know until I try, anyways, right?"

"Exactly," Marjani replied, tapping her own nose. "The best thing a lead can do is find out the strengths and the weaknesses of those serving with them. Then work on making it the best team possible. It will be a learning experience for not only you, but also whoever will be on your team. Who knows this may end up helping um... Milly was her name? From what you had sort of said, she may need a friendly face. And definitely a mystery to solve as well."

Connor shrugged. "I don't know," he told Marjani. "Milly is definitely perplexing." He then smiled warmly at Marjani and said, "I have the best girlfriend in the universe."

Marjani gave a laugh. "I don't know if I am the best girlfriend in the universe, you are a wonderful boyfriend. Talon also says to say hello to you," she finished giving a bit of a wink. She did like to think that Talon would 'talk to her' from time to time.

"I'm so glad to hear that he thought of me," Connor replied happily, not even blinking at the thought that Talon would talk to Marjani. "But I still think you're the best girlfriend in the universe. You just get me. I'm very lucky."

"Why thank you," Marjani replied giving Connor another beaming smile. "And I feel lucky as well." There was a beep coming from her padd and Marjani lifted it up to take a look. She heaved a bit of a sigh, then looked at Connor. "I've got to get going. I need some sack time before I head out in the morning 0500 sharp. I've been called upon for my familiarity with where the negotiating team will be going. Take care Connor and I wish you well with the lead position. I know you can do this." She kissed her fingertips then blew a kiss to Connor.

Connor caught the kiss and placed it on his lips. He then blew a kiss back towards Marjani. "Bye, Marji. Hope we catch each other again soon."

"I hope so too." Marjani catching his return kiss and placing it upon her lips. As the screen went dark, she gave out another sigh, she didn't want to tell Connor, but where she was going could be classified as possibly dangerous.

A Joint Post By

Ensign Connor Turner
Computer Systems Specialist, USS Pioneer

First Lieutenant Marjani Smith
Pilot

RSS Feed