=/\= Starfleet Headquarters, Earth =/\=
Vice Admiral Zacharias "Zeke" Travers, Chief of Starfleet Operations these
past several months, walked down the hallways of the large administrative
building, catching a glimpse of the fog-covered bay as he passed one of the
large observation areas. He could almost make out the silhouette of the
Golden Gate Bridge, but it was early morning yet and the fog would not lift
for another hour yet at least. Until then, the morning light cast a gray
pall over the grounds save for the well-lit corridors in the buildings
themselves.
Approaching the office of Rear Admiral CJ Talar, Travers made sure he had
all the PADDs he needed for the meeting. Though they could just look the
information up on Talar's desk computer, it was easier to have on hand with
separate displays, and Zeke liked being prepared. He greeted the young
lieutenant who served as the Chief of Staff's aide, who announced his
arrival as he walked through the open doors to the office where Talar
herself sat. "Don't you ever go home?" Zeke asked half-jokingly as he set
the PADDs down on her desk, noting that she looked like she'd been at work
for several hours already.
CJ chuckled and waved him in to sit down and help himself to the fresh
coffee and pastries sitting on her desk. "I think I went home some time last
week." She winked, "though my dog has moved into the office he says he never
sees me any more." With that animal sixth sense for when they are being
talked about about the dog in questions a brown/grey Weimaraner named Max
sat up woofed once then settled back down. "I had to be in early to catch
starbase 99 and break the news of his temporary assignment to General
Liconie."
Travers nodded and walked over to the replicator and ordered a mug of
coffee, black. Picking it up, he returned to the desk and sat down in the
chair opposite to Talar. "I imagine he took it well?" Zeke inquired
casually before taking a sip. The warmth was a good feeling after braving
the brisk San Francisco morning air.
"He seemed to have, though he is yet to break the news to his fiance." she
sipped her own coffee, "he even asked to notify Admiral Cerywyn of the news.
I do not envy him that job, she won't be happy about it no matter how good a
face she puts on it." She leant back in her chair and looked out the window.
"It is nice to have the fresh air and sunshine of a planet but sometimes I
miss being on the front line as it were, I almost envy the General."
Travers shrugged. "I spent near a decade in transit out there doing
formation and fleet reviews. I'll admit, I rather enjoy the thought of
staying in one place for a while." Taking another sip, he set the mug on
the desk and reached for the top PADD in the stack he had brought.
"Speaking of settling in, you'll be happy to know that Rear Admiral Douglas
has finished moving into General Conway's old offices. He'll be coming by
later to give you a preliminary status report on the Intelligence Division
as a whole."
"Perhaps he will do something about Conway's taste in interior design," CJ
smiled a little, "I look forward to hearing what he has to say," she was
also interested to see how much he knew about the activities of Agent Silver
and the section that was only spoken of in whispers in dark corridors. With
a smirk she shook her head, the President and the Commander in Chiefs need
for plausible deniability left her and Conway in an interesting position of
how exactly to try and keeps Silver and his cohorts in check.
"I have scheduled a meeting between Judge Advocate Romano and Captain
Refelian from Internal Affairs for later in the week there has been a rather
sharp spike in the number of high level court martials and I would like to
know exactly what is going on there."
"Historically, it's not unusual for postwar personnel to exhibit a
certain... cavalier mentality when it comes to the regulations, as there's
little need for them during war," Travers commented academically. "I'll
send a memo to the sector commanders to not go overboard on the charges for
a while, but to reinforce the importance of those regulations." He picked
up another PADD. "When does Commodore Drayson get back?" he asked, scanning
the info on the head of Starfleet's Diplomatic Corps' latest meeting with
several member world ambassadors on Vulcan.
"He should be back this week assuming nothing comes of the recent tensions
with the Klingon's we might have to divert him to Versailles or Qo'Nos." She
picked up another PADD. "We should organise some time with Admiral Blokpoel
to see what is coming through the various stream of R&D and talk about
candidates for the head of Science and Engineering."
"Be sure to include Commodore Evans in that meeting," Zeke commented,
rubbing his eye. "There was a report about an epidemic on a colony out on
the Federation-Klingon border, and we should get the Director of Medical's
take on the situation." He stopped a moment and furrowed his brow. "Have
you heard from Admiral Roberts lately?" he asked, remembering the Commander
of Starfleet's First Force operations, even from his far away post with the
Enterprise Task Force in the Delta Quadrant.
She added a note to the file for her yeoman to adjust the invitation, "Oh
that reminds me we will need to look into the situation at Quantico too we
need to get some stability into the Marines top end without giving Liconie
too many hats to wear at once." she finished her coffee and poured herself
another mug picking up an apple and cherry danish. "Anything else we need to
do?"
"Just one last thing," Zeke said, a little more solemly. He gestured to the
PADD at the bottom, waiting until she picked it up to continue. "We've been
asked to the President's office in Paris. Just you and I. Couldn't find
out why, though, but it worries me."
CJ arched an eyebrow and finished her danish thoughtfully, "I see, well
there is no rest for the wicked shall we?" She smiled again as she stood
straightening her unifrom jacket. "I am sure there will be nothing to worry
about. Worst comes to worst I can retire to Risa." She winked.
"Ah, good, I've had my eye on your office for a month," Travers chirped back
at her with a wry grin. "Anyway, they're expecting us at 0800, their time,
so find some time to get some sleep today. I expect we'll be up late."
She laughed, "so noted," then looked over at her dog, "you hear that Max I'm
ordered home early, I'll even take you for an extra long run." She turned
back to Zeke, "I'll get caught up on these she indicated the PADDs then see
you at lunch for the Fed council briefing." While Max for him part sat up
and wagged his tail enthusiastically, he really did like to run.
Travers finished his coffee and nodded as he got up, returning the empty
mug to the replicator. "Until then," he said in farewell as he headed out
of the door.
= End Log =
Rear Admiral CJ Talar (NPC)
Starfleet Chief of Staff
Starfleet Headquarters
Vice Admiral Zacharias Travers (NPC)
Chief of Starfleet Operations
Starfleet Headquarters
