The successor

Posted on Sat Nov 6th, 2021 @ 2:49am by

Mission: A New Beginning
Location: Security Chief's office
1073 words - 2.1 OF Standard Post Measure

If the new CTSO wasn't coming to him, then Lhaes would go to the new CTSO. it gave him the perfect opportunity to see how the newcomer was treating his old office, and to see if the man was lacking any information he might yet be able to provide.

Carrying a small medical kit, the Romulan strode into the newly assigned chief's office. "Lieutenant Callaghan?" he queried, though of course he already knew who the officer he was faced with was.

Andrew knew immediately who the Officer was and frankly, he didn't have time. He had so much on his plate trying to get settled into the role, meet the staff, and get things ready for whatever. "I think he's in the brig, checking the field emitters, or something," he smiled. Andrew looked at the man and he could tell before the Doctor spoke that his lie wasn't going to work. "Let me guess," he smiled, "I missed my arrival checkup?"

"Nice try lieutenant," the Romulan chuckled, "yes you missed your checkup, and I thought I'd see if there's anything you needed since I did run this department before your arrival."

"Switched from Security to Medical," Andrew commented, "that's a bit of a jump. What brought this about?" He was genuinely curious. It was an odd move, in his opinion. "Yes, I didn't get my medical evaluation. I just jumped right into things, " he admitted.

"Oh it's far worse than that," the Romulan laughed. "From intelligence to security to medical. Honestly, though, I've always had a medical degree, it certainly helped me with undercover work in the past. Made it easier to pose as a medic when needed. And I've always wanted to help people, so when the position became vacant, I jumped at the chance." He patted his medkit. "Shall we then?"

Andrew sighed, as he sat down on the desk, "where do you wanna start this?" He knew it was coming and figured he would have to get this medical exam down sooner or later. "So, you started in Intel, then moved to Security, and now in Medical," Andrew commented, "that is rather strange, I have to admit. Rather different career path and one you don't see that often."

"Oh just sit still for a moment and I'll take all the scans I need." Lhaes pulled a medical tricorder from his kit and detached the scanning wand to start his scans. "I started in Intel but doubled with a medical degree, which I've always kept valid as I considered it useful to have. I moved to security as I wanted to broaden my horizons but I've found that security isn't really my cup of tea. Medical is something I've always loved to do, however. But I'll admit I'll always have a love for intelligence. What about you? Always wanted to be in security? Any other skills you possess?"

"Security was always my passion," Andrew replied, "I don't have the brains for Medical or Science. And frankly, I don't have the patience for Counseling. I came from a long line of Officers and not joining Starfleet wasn't an option. It was the Federation or nothing. I had to pick what made the most sense for me. Security seemed to fit the bill."

Lhaes nodded as he continued to take his scans. "Sounds like you are in the right place for you then," he commented with a smile. "You say a long line of officers, so your parents were Starfleet as well?"

"That's my life," Andrew replied, "parents, siblings, grandparents, uncles, aunts," he grinned, "it's a never-ending cycle. One doesn't have the ability to not join Starfleet in my family. It's basically a requirement for all the Callaghans. They don't ask you as a child what you wanna be when you grow up. Instead, they ask you which field."

"That sounds pretty interesting. Both my siblings are in Starfleet too... My sister is a botanist on Starbase Fifty, and my brother is attending the academy at the moment. I believe he wants to be security but I haven't seen him in a while." Lhaes smiled proudly. "My parents are farmers though, I think they would've preferred us to stay home on Betazed and take over when they're ready to retire."

Andrew was listening, as the Doctor spoke, glancing down he attempted to look on the tricorder as the Doctor, "hows the scans look," he interrupted the Doctor. "How long do I got to live?" he joked. He paused, "Starbase 50," he raised an eyebrow, "I've heard of this station, tell her to stay away from that Captain. I hear he's trouble. Betazed does have it's advantages, but all that telepath don't need anyone extra in my head."

"Oh, only years," Lhaes answered, "and I'm a telepath too. Sort of, I suppose.... touch telepath like a Vulcan more or less and I can sense emotions when they're strong enough. It's not something I utilize often but strong emotions are hard to avoid. I can't read minds like a Betazoid does, thankfully. I'm actually still surprised my ability wasn't discovered when I was a child. I didn't really learn of my ability until I was in my early twenties. A latent gift, I suppose?"

"Only years, well good that should make my wife happy," Andrew replied sarcastically. "Learned a lot of things in my twenties," he thought back to all his younger indiscretions, "rather not relive any of those."

"Oh, I agree with you there... the things I've seen and been made to do in those years, some I'd actually rather forget about." He pointed towards the computer with his tricorder. "I'm sure as security chief you have access to my file, including some of the more ah...classified items." He paused, putting the scanning device away. "So... married hm? Is she here with you? Any children?"

"Married, and speaking of I am due to meet her soon," Andrew stood up, "we are going to have to cut this short. You not what they say, happy wife happy life," he smiled. "But, I am sure you will be seeing us both sooner or later."

He didn't wait for a reply, as he slowly made his way to the door. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Doctor."

"Looking forward to meeting your wife," Lhaes smiled, following the man out, "and thank you for your time." He gave a final nod, before resuming his way back to sickbay.