Cold Feet

Posted on Thu Oct 12th, 2023 @ 1:41am by Cadet Senior Grade Naltar Jerane & Cadet Sophomore Grade Aenardha Sh'vastarth

2,203 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: 1 - Cruising through the galaxy
Location: Operations Office
Timeline: Current

Aenardha used public vision of the people around her as she made her way from her quarters to the Operations office. She had yet to meet with her supervising officer. As she approached the door leading to the office area she felt the consciousness of an individual inside. She did not need the mental tags emanating forth to know that her boss was Cardassian. That did not bother her at all. Aenardha simply had not worked with any Cardassians. This one, however, had grown up on Earth. Perhaps he was not as Cardassian as she had been lead to believe about them.

She held her specialized PADD against her chest, arms crossed over it, her antenna standing erect, taking in a breath of air for strength, then took a step forward for the doors to the Operation office to spread open before her. Another few steps and she was fully inside, doors closed behind her. Though she felt varying consciences outside, she did not tap into their sight or hearing. The Starfleet regulation regarding public telepathic uses within proximity forbade her from doing so. She was in the proximity of but one conscience, one set of eyes and ears. This one was determined and was goal oriented. Aenardha tried to present herself as such.

"Cadet Sophomore Grade Aenardha Sh'vastarth, reporting for duty, sir?" She stood half way between the doors and his desk, looking in his direction.

Considering the ship didn't initially have an office for OPS, Naltar had decided they needed a place and managed to convert a small parts storage closet into a halfway decent office. It would serve well enough for him or his future Assistant Chief to utilize when needed. He managed to have a desk with a working console in there, a couch across the way, and on the far wall of the room he did install a display screen in case he needed to review things with whomever was in there, but the room wasn't much bigger than about 10 x 12 feet. But you had to do what you had to do.

When the doors opened they drew his attention and he made note of whom it was walking in. He did in fact review all of the personnel files for his team before assigning shifts and the Aenar stood out to him. Since he'd been in the room by himself he'd cranked up the temperature to relax. Upon seeing the other cadet however he tapped his desk to return reset the temperature to about 24 degrees Celsius. He was aware that her race preferred the cold and settled for a middle ground.

He stood up to greet her "Sir is...correct." Truth be told it made him feel a bit awkward to be called that but given he was senior due to his grade year in the academy as well as by virtue of position, he hesitantly confirmed her statement. "At ease, take a seat if you like. How have you been settling in?"

"Quite well, sir. Thank you." Aenardha took a seat. "I have already met some of the crew; an engineer as well as our Morale Officer. My gear is already secured in my quarters. I know my assignment to this cruise was last minute, but I can catch up and I catch on quickly. I will not let you down, sir."

"I read through your profile, towards the top of your class currently. It's part of the reason you're here, and I am glad to hear that you have settled in. Ideally the assistant chief and I are the only ones that should be working anything beyond a shift and a half when necessary. Otherwise all teams have their work schedules and are to adhere to them. One of us will always be on shift so you have leadership at your disposal at all times." Next the Cardassian turned towards the screen before activating it and bringing up the current shift schedule as well as her assignment to Alpha shift.

He then continued "I only have a couple of things that I require. The first obviously is to fulfill your duties and if you are having trouble with them, to ask for help. The second thing, but more important, is safety. Be safe in everything you do and ensure others are around you as well. This is a cadet cruise, not parrises squares. Granted we are going into a dangerous situation however we should always do our best to mitigate it. No one should be dying or gravely injured on our watch. On top of that we've been replacing several conduits and lines throughout the ship which as far as I'm concerned belongs in a museum. So make sure you're conducting your maintenance checks daily."

"I will, sir. Um..." she held her PADD away from her slightly as though about to present it to him, before pressing back into her lap again. She could see, through his vision, that he was maybe the least bit curious. And it dawned on her that this was the third or fourth time she had done thus. In her issued footwear, she could feel her feet becoming especially cold, feeling it was too soon but she wanted to get it out. "Sir, I...uh...I have a request. Well, two requests really." She paused. "Actually three. The third being Starfleet mandated."

He raised an eyebrow in curiosity but gave a nod "Of course."

Aenardha placed her PADD upon the desk for him to see. The screen was black as though placed on standby. Little raised dots, however were spread about the screen and Naltar could clearly identify them as braille.

Taking a look at what was placed before him the Cardassian knew he couldn't interpret the braille and was confused for a moment, his feelings likely quite evident to the woman in front of him.

"Oh," she said, "allow me." Aenardha put her hand upon the screen, feeling the braille dots, reading the screen...upside down no less. "Here we are," she swiped up on the screen and the dots all moved in unison. Her fingers quickly found a line of dots that she tapped upon. The braille dots sunk into the screen and it lit up for Naltar to see and peruse easily.

"I can see it now, this makes more sense to me" he teased. He knew disabilities were no laughing matter and even to this day was aware of the struggles individuals that had them faced when bringing them up so he knew this couldn't be the easiest thing for her, so his goal was to keep it as light as possible while remaining professional.

"First is a request for my own quarters," she said. "No roommate. The second is the reason for the first."

Eyeing the second request, Naltar saw an excerpt from the SF Handbook regarding "Accommodations for Cold Weathered Species, Animals, Plants and Other Lifeforms." The list included replication matrices for a ship's industrial replicators to build specialized air handlers, thermal hull plating to include a door as well as other items in said quarters to replace existing furnishings that would otherwise structurally succumb to low temperatures. There was a work agenda for boxing in said quarters with the hull plating, attaching the air handler and specialized programming for super-cooling air as it entered the quarters and warming it back up as it left. All in all, Naltar was looking at a how-to instruction guide for engineering to use to create a thermal controlled living space approved by Starfleet for anyone in need of such climate for a duration expecting to include more than 6 months. Operations specifications allowed for reprogramming of the computer to allow such accommodations to accept a temperature setting as low as -18 degrees centigrade.

The third request was a Starfleet mandate for the accommodation of blind individuals or individuals with limited sight and provided all the instruction needed to produce touchpad consoles with a flow-braille screen.

Aenardha sat in silence, worried this was too much too soon to be asking. "I do not need all this right now...sir," she said. "I only ask that you push this up the chain of command."

He took a moment to read through what she had presented. He was a bit annoyed at the fact that a pre request hadn't come from the chief that was responsible for roster assignments so he could preemptively have things ready for her, but he knew they could get it done. He already knew what teams he could assign to handle this. "The console we can have in by your next shift as well as any other wall panels you utilize in your work and personal areas.... as for your room, you certainly will be provided your own quarters on deck 2 because only senior and junior officer quarters are individual billets. Although if you can manage to give us a couple days, we should be able to have everything replicated and in place by then. 48 hours at the most I would figure, Aenardha." He was quite aware of the regulations that prioritized special accommodations and as far as he was concerned, all of his staff would be properly accommodated for this cruise regardless of the level of their needs.

She was taken somewhat aback by his use of her first name. First time meeting the boss and he was already on a first name basis with her. She was unsure if she could find it in herself to replicate the act. "Thank you, sir," she said. "I thought to submit this to Engineering myself. I met the Chief as I boarded. But I knew you would want to be kept in the loop. Please tell Mr. Holloway, thank you for me and...I do not mean to be a bother to him and his team."

He took notice of her shift and caught himself as well. "Apologies if I overstepped any bounds, Cadet Sh'vas...Sh'vassstarth...I'm sorry. I've never been very good at your last names. I can appreciate you submitting your accommodations ahead of time, if he needs anyone in Operations to assist I'll make sure we assign whomever is needed. No one here should be seen as a bother, we all bring different talents and abilities. I'm sure you'll do quite well here."

"No apologies needed, sir." In fact, overstepping bounds was what got her into Starfleet to begin with. To be more factual, it was her intent and it was recommended that she overstep bounds, 'to get it out of her system' as it was told to her. "I do not mind being on a first name basis. I have no problem with being called..." but there was one bound she was strictly ordered not to overstep, "...Aenardha."

He appreciated her flexibility but also knew it wouldn't be proper to be seen showing a more personal familiarity in front of their peers. "I appreciate that however I really should work on my pronunciations. I'm sure I can find a tutor or a program to assist me further. All part of being a leader I suppose, making one's self better. But better to learn and make mistakes on our cadet cruise before getting into the main fleet." Truth be told he was at a loss for anymore words, but thankful for his newest transporter chief reporting in. "Is there anything else you might like to discuss?" he asked. "Any other concerns at all?"

"No, sir," she said. "Just...one more thing," Aenardha almost stood as something came to her. "Starfleet Regulations include an Aenar's telepathic ability to freely tap into the occipital lobes of others. That is the part of the brain that processes real time vision. You know, before it becomes memory. Within proximity and as long as mental tags...private, confidential, sensitive...things like that are not present then we are able to utilize the public vision of others. That is unless someone specifically refuses permission for use of their vision. If someone comes to you about that, do let me know please...sir. I have nothing at the moment."

It was something that in truth he had no clue about and while it did make him a little uneasy, he also understood why. And while it was someone tapping into another being's physical body versus a device designed to augment a perceived disability, he could only acknowledge her statement. "Of course, if any concerns come up I'll review them accordingly and make you aware at the very least. Everyone's safety is my top concern. If there's nothing else then, you are dismissed. Welcome to Operations."

"Thank you, sir. I will review the work schedule and ship schematics and will report for duty in the morning."

Aenardha stood erect in the attentive position. Her antennae even stood erect. She gave a nod, and about face and started for the exit.

Naltar watched as the other cadet made her way out of the closet he called an office, his mind returning to the fact he needed an assistant chief, someone that could help out with the additional needs and workload he was finding himself run across. He was only one man after all....

 

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