Lay of the Land (working)

Posted on Sat Oct 4, 2025 @ 6:19pm by Lieutenant Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Annora Tessaro

1,206 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Main Security
Timeline: MD 13 1538 hrs

Curtis considered the time scale marching onward through his day in the lower right of his HUD and decided he had time to get another meet and greet out of the way. With so many moving parts, getting all of the station's key personnel in person would take some leg work. He was gradually getting more and more of the station's footprint memorized. Mostly around the key areas like his office. The Operations area. His Officer's billet and King's McDonalds where he typically picked up his breakfast.

Security was a busy place and he stepped through the hatch, Curtis took in the feel for the place and personnel.

The doors to security opened up to reveal a Lt Commander in red. Crewman Letaq didn't recognize the man, but with all the new transfers it was hard to keep up with everyone.
"Can I help you sir?"

"I hope so, Crewman," Curtis said with a smile. "If they're available, I'd like have a moment of Lieutenant Tessaro's time. I'm the new Strategic Operations Officer."

"In that case. Welcome to the station sir. The Lieutenant is currently out of the office, but if you take a seat I can see if she's available."
He made a note to remember the face. It was good to be able to recognize the senior staff.

Curtis wasn't really surprised. He'd checked the manifest and opted to drop by rather than track the lieutenant down, even though his system link would have made it simple. "I can warm a bench for a few minutes, Crewman...?"

"Letaq sir. I'll send her message."

"Thank you, Crewman Letaq," Curtis said. "I appreciate the effort." Then he turned and found a pew, deciding not to hover.

The doors opened and closed a few times to admit various personnel before Annora finally entered the room. It wasn't hard to figure out who the person of interest was.

"Commander, hope you weren't waiting too long. I was running drills with some of the new security staff. What can I do for you?"

Standing, Curtis smiled. "No Lieutenant. Only a few minutes and Crewman Letaq took good care of me. I am just making the rounds. Introducing myself to the personnel I'll most likely be working with. I'm Curtis Thibideaux, the station's Strategic Operations officer. So, I probably should be asking you the same question. Is there anything I can do for you?"

She thought over the various items on her list.

"Happy to know you had a pleasant wait. I don't have anything specific for you. While our staffing isn't at 100%, we're far from critically low staffing levels. Been working with Ops on identifying gaps in our internal sensor grid and correcting those."

"I saw some of that in my briefings," Curtis noted. "I am working to get more system patrols to help screen traffic coming into the station ahead of them actually getting here and probably doing some customs checks both inbound and outbound to see if there's illicit trade we don't want happening going on. I'll see you're kept in the loop and may even ask you to supply those missions with a security officer or two. It won't be often, but I may need to TDY one or two of your people a week once we get that ball rolling."

Some of the civilian freighter crews were likely to balk at the increased measures, but that was price of doing business with Starfleet and the Federation.
"We do normally keep a handful of guards at the docking bays, should anyone on an inbound ship try to cause trouble. Honestly, outbound ships aren't scrutinized as much, although I'm not opposed to stricter regulations."

Curtis held up one finger and said, "Ahh. We're merely enforcing laws that are already on the books and putting in processes that will pay large dividends for the sweat and tears. We want to monitor all the traffic further out along with our own patrols. That gives us better control on the sector. Spot checking traffic in and out will get us intelligence. I don't care so much about catching a few people committing misdemeanors."

That was a whole different ball game than what she first suspected.

"You're talking about stopping and boarding ships within the station's area of responsibility for the purpose of carrying out customs checks. That's a bit more complicated than more spot checks at the docking bays. I assume Command knows of this plan?"

Eyeing the security chief, Curtis said, "Rest assured lieutenant, something like this has been cleared up and down." Smiling sightly, Curtis said, "Well up. It's now up to down to implement policies. That I happened to write the new policy is besides the point."

Making a note to add boarding procedures to the monthly training, Annora returned the smile.
"In that case. Sounds like everything is in order. Thanks for letting me know. While we obvious don't get a lot of shipboard action, the basics are the same. If you need to borrow a couple guards for mission, just run it past the Duty Officer of the Day. Barring a major station-wide emergency, we should be able to accommodate your request."

Curtis didn't let a frown touch his face but he said, "Just so we're clear, Lieutenant. This is a tasking. Not a request. My polite words before may have been deceiving and that's my fault. I know your manning situation and will attempt not to overtax your personnel, but those patrols can't be weak from the start or we'll encourage bad behavior. There's been enough bad behavior in this Sector that we don't need more, don't you agree?"

"With all due respect, Commander," Annora began. "I have no doubt the patrols would be useful. My department should have little trouble supporting your mission. However, the standing policy for joint operations is to route requests through the proper channels. This process is designed for our mutual benefit, to make sure everyone is on the same page. The tasking, as I understand it, will only require a handful of augmentees. We can certainly accommodate that without weakening the station's internal security. A short message to the Duty Officer of the Day is the most efficient way ensure a properly equipped and briefed team is ready to go at the right time and place."

Curtis eyed the security chief and decided the proof would be in the pudding, so to speak. "Lieutenant. This isn't a joint tasking so much as an additional one and I'm making courtesy rounds to meet and advise those involved." Glancing at his chrono, Curtis said, "And I'm due on the flight deck. If you have questions, let me know. It's nice to have met you."

While there was little difference in her mind, Annora wasn't going to argue the difference.
"We can lend two security crewman to support your mission. Any additional tasking with require prior clearance. I will send you their names tomorrow."

Pausing at the hatch, Curtis turned then and said, "That is most helpful. Thank you Lieutenant. Enjoy your day." Then he pushed on through the hatch and exited security.

Off

Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief Security Officer
DS5

Lt. Commander Curtis Thibideaux
Strategic Operations Officer
DS5

 

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