An Offer One Can't Refuse

Posted on Tue Mar 17th, 2020 @ 7:49am by Fleet Admiral Heather Duval & Division Admiral Sildra Vaxx-Warfield & Post Captain Plataea "Phantom" Lasky

Mission: Mission 98: Building Our New Home
Location: Various Locations - Starbase Vanguard (47)
Timeline: 0900Hrs - June 14th, 2393

Fleet Admiral Heather Duval sighed softly as she regarded the display on her wall before she turned to the shorter Bolian female who was standing next to her. "So, any luck in finding a new Chief Operations Officer?" she inquired.

"I have nobody on hand who's high enough of a rank for the job. If they are then they are not qualified for the job." the Bolian female explained with a sigh. "I mean it sucks that I have to go back to Starfleet and request someone new for the job, considering April Dragon just got promoted to Division Admiral and assigned to the command staff for the Taurus Reach." The Bolian female explained with a tired sigh before she suddenly yawned. "Sorry, Merris was demanding of me again last night, I'd forgotten how much work infants were," she added.

Duval nodded her head as she sighed. "Oh I hear you, Arlene is dealing with my grandkids and so is Laurence, Edmunds spouse is pregnant with their third child so." as she suddenly smiled widely. "I'll soon have lots of grandkids to spoil rotten." the older human female grinned. "But alright, I'll make out a request for someone and send it off to Starfleet personnel then." she sighed softly. "It's a shame we can't convince Captain Lasky to stick around. He'd do a heck of a job."

"Wait, isn't his spouse unassigned?" Vaxx-Warfield inquired suddenly. "I just remembered Lasky talking about it while he and I were having a coffee a few days ago." the Bolian woman added.

"I did not know that Captain Lasky was married," Duval answered. "Well, I feel ignorant." Duval lamented her poor luck.

"Married with two kids and a third on the way. Plataea Lasky is her name and she is a rather special case." Vaxx-Warfield explained, a smile on her lips.

Duval was intrigued. "How so?" she inquired a moment later.

"You recall Captain Torilla Yamaguchi?" Vaxx-Warfield asked while she regarded the human female before her. "the one with the Halanan medical issues.?"

Duval looked puzzled before the details of the matter suddenly hit her. "Oh wait.. She's Jake's wife. Right, of course." the older female sighed softly. "I'd forgotten that detail." she paused as she resolved to do a better job with remembering details.

"Well Jake wanted his spouse moved here for her medical care while he was on assignment here, he said something about not being parted from her and he would accept nothing less than having her at his side." Clearly, Vaxx-Warfield recalled the matter clearly while Duval clearly thought that forgetting the matter was the better part of discretion, something had to be said about the Bolian female before Duval about the matter in hand. "Well you have a better memory then I do."

"Clearly." Vaxx-Warfield agreed with a smile on her face. "Siaxx can't shut up about working with Jake or Torilla, she's overjoyed to see them." the Bolian female answered. "When she's not angry at me, that is."

"Okay, that I remember now," Duval answered. "Siaxx Dvald-Vaxx has few nice things to say about anyone but I know she has a rather deep relationship with Captain Yamaguchi, she delivered all of Torilla's children except for her eldest. She also delivered both of her daughter's children too. He son's wife and her biological daughter." Duval explained. "She explained all of this to me at length, Siaxx, I mean." the older human female added by way of explanation as she gave the Bolian female next to her a look that could have meant many things.

"Sounds like Siaxx is an experienced midwife," Vaxx-Warfield explained

"Siaxx is also a parent of her own, yes," Duval answered. "I believe she has children with your brother?."

"Five of her own. Yes, how could I forget 'that' detail?" Vaxx-Warfield answered with a sigh. "Chen does not like the fact that Siaxx and I had that falling out a year ago when I relieved her of the command of the USS Manticore."

"I read about that, that's why I wanted her to come work here. So you two could work this matter out between you." Duval answered.

"Will you provide a bodyguard for me?" Vaxx-Warfield answered.

"You're heading back out into the field soon enough anyway. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. What about Torilla?" Duval answered with a sigh.

"Ahh yes, Plataea is the copy of Torilla from another reality who was stranded in this one and has since made her home here with her children," Vaxx-Warfield explained evenly.

Duval nodded her head as she tapped the display before her. "Let's see what her service record says about her. I have the highest clearance so I can read stuff that nobody wants me to." the older human female then smiled at the item she requested came up for the perusal of both females present. Both read the file in silence as Duval smiled. "Oooh. I like this one."

"She's pragmatic and personal," Vaxx-Warfield answered before she tapped her combadge. "Vaxx-Warfield to Commander Lasky?"

"Go ahead?" came a female voice that was gentle on the ears but has a dusky overtone.

"Could you come up to the Admirals office in Operations please?, Admiral Duval and I would like a few moments of your time." The Bolian female explained.

"Of course. I'm on my way." Lasky answered

"Alright, we'll be waiting. Vaxx-Warfield out." as the Bolian tapped her combadge a second time while the two women settled in for their college to join them, the two women were not waiting long before the doorbell beeped at them.

"Enter," Duval commented, she turned to find herself face to face with a moderately pregnant human-looking female. "Commander Plataea Lasky reporting as ordered sir." she addressed Duval who nodded to Vaxx-Warfield who began speaking. "Stand easy Commander. I've been looking for a new Chief of Operations to replace Division Admiral April Dragon as she was promoted out of the posting she was assigned to handle. I'd like to offer you the posting." the Bolian female explained.

Lasky smiled, she had not been expecting this and the look on her face said as much. "I accept," she answered simply. "It'll give me something new, a real challenge that I can do."

"How so?" the Bolian inquired, a smile appearing on her face.

"I've spent most of my career in Tactical, I've broken things, I've hurt people and I've fought others. Many others have suffered at my hands and I am tired, Admiral. I am sick of war, its all I've ever dealt with until coming here." Lasky paused a moment. "To this reality I mean."

"Well, you'll be assigned to the base only but you'll be helping to coordinate with the other departments on the base and help keep everyone else's computer systems working," Vaxx-Warfield explained. "Have you ever done anything like Operations before?"

"I have, actually," Lasky answered, a gentle smile on her lips. "What I really wanted was a stable assignment that lets me raise my kids, this will grant me that as I was looking at retirement and calling it a career."

"You were?" Duval inquired. "Mind if I ask why?"

"Of course," Lasky answered. "There are not a lot of assignments that want a Commander with a young family, with several children and a husband who holds the rank of Commander or Captain. That more or less, rules out anything in the field." the tall female explained with a smile. "This little one is due in about five months time and I have two children already." she paused. "Then there are my others." Lasky then shrugged. "Ouros, Selendis, and Nebris who are Jake's children, the Jake from my home reality but the Jake here has claimed them as his children, they do not mind and neither do I." the tall female explained. "I am a grandmother who's having children."

Vaxx-Warfield smiled, she understood where the other woman was coming from as she had just had an infant daughter several months earlier, she had the itch to have another child after losing her sibling whom she was close to as a child. "I understand. I myself just had one baby girl."

Lasky smiled. "It's exhausting but it's rewarding later on."

"Yes, it is," Vaxx-Warfield responded. "So, anyway, you'll start tomorrow but there is one thing we need to address. I'm going to promote you to Captain as you're rank is frankly, an insult to your service record." the moderately sized Bolian female explained. "You are overdue for the Captain's rank and that is an oversight I will now correct."

Lasky gave the Bolian female a gentle smile. "Thank you, Admiral. I will not let you or the base down."

"I read your service record, even the parts that were blacked out," Duval spoke in a gentle tone of voice. "I think you'll be a good fit for the base and the personnel assigned here Plataea," she explained.

"Thank you, Admiral. I was not expecting this."

"We know." Duval produced a small black box before she opened it and produced a single golden pip which she gently slipped onto Lasky's collar, next to her other three golden pips that were already there.

Duval smiled as she gently shook the other woman's hand. "Congratulations and welcome to Starbase Vanguard."

"Thank you, Admiral. I'll be interesting working here." Lasky answered.

"Fair enough. Well I know you got a few things to take care of so we're gonna boot you out of here so you can tend to them, On your way Captain, we'll see you tomorrow morning around oh eight hundred." and with that. Lasky turned and went out of the office door in silence as their meeting was concluded.