Old Dog, New Tricks

Posted on Wed Jan 24th, 2024 @ 9:48pm by Crewman Vakra Kor & Lieutenant Nixie Wilde

2,154 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Mission 1 - Project Concord
Location: Brig
Timeline: Before the transwarp jump

Vakra starting is shift and doing it check in. He was in the brig controls testing the force field. "Vakra to Security. Test Cell 1."

Security Responded, "Proceed."

Vakra moved up through the power levels, "Power level 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Max."

Security responded, "Power levels meeting standards."

Vakra started with Cell 2, "Test Cell 2."

Security responded, "Proceed."

Vakra moved up through the power levels, "Power level 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Max."

Security responded, "Power levels meeting standards."

Vakra shut down power, "Shutting down the cells. Moving to count down the locker." He moved to the gear locker and opened it.

Security responded, "Proceed to count."

He was counting down the gear when he heard the exterior door and he touched the knife on his belt, "I suggest you present yourself." Certain places on a ship you had to announce yourself and be cleared to enter. Engineering, Brig, Armory, etc. Most Security Personnel would reach for a phaser. He didn't. He just secured the cabinet.

"Good job I'm not someone I shouldn't be, I'd have you down by now," Nixie Wilde replied, but with a lilt of amusement in her tone as she moved in and over to the control panel. She was only joking though; truth was, the computer wouldn't have let her in if she wasn't cleared. "Lieutenant Wilde, I'm the Chief."

He turned around, "I'm sure we both would have had a bad day. I am Vorak, Son of G'torak, House of Kor." He had an Enlisted Rank. House of Kor was a very old Line, dating back to the First Emperor. His white skin was starkly different than most Klingons. He was Albino, presenting a recessive throwback gene. Most People of High Houses went into the Imperial Military, if they went into Starfleet, they went to the Academy. Since he was an Albino, he went to bootcamp instead. "Just doing the shift start up for the Brig, Ma'am." This had to get done every shift.

"Good to meet you, Vorak," she gave him a small smile as she leant forward, resting her clasped hands on the back edge of the console. "How are the systems looking? There's been a few gremlins in the machine."

"I made some adjustments. Security Control was happy during system checks." Vorak handed her a padd. "Gremlins are the Earth Variant of a Tribble. I did not see any of those in here or in the system." The adjustments he made were officer grade and textbook. The padd just showed what he did. "There was a bad relay. I had to use a tricorder to find it."

Nixie scrolled down the report on the padd, nodding at the process he'd followed. "Looks good," she glanced to a brig cell, shaking her head lightly. "Let's hope we don't need it though," she quirked an eyebrow, a slight sigh escaping. "If nothing else, no one likes brig duty..."

Vakra nodded, "I like it better when there are violent detainees, however that may be a species specific trait. Procedures say it has to be secured every shift. If you need to yank me to do deck patrols I can. I haven't met the rest of the team or my shift crew yet. I don't know how many you have that are Brig or Armory trained, but I'm both. I'm sure I will find out soon enough."

"Good to know," she nodded firmly, moving around to rest back against the console, crossing her arms and her ankles. "What else are you good at?" she asked, wanting to get to know her team better, but also genuinely curious.

Vakra pulled the knife and started flipping it and spinning it. "I'm also good with animals. My family had jackal mastiffs as a kid. We were one of the few families I know of that trained them. I have one with me on the ship." He was going fast enough it looked dangerous. He whistled and spoke, "Gr'Thor", and the beast trotted out from behind the control Panel. He named his dog Hell. With his other hand he brought down a force field around the Lt. He knew it couldn't hurt her or keep her, but that wasn't the point.

"Er....you know you shouldn't be letting them walk around the ship," Nixie pointed to them with an arched eyebrow. They looked pretty vicious, and no matter how well they were trained, they were a risk.

Vakra grinned, "He is the only one I have here. He stays with me or in my quarters. He is never alone out of my quarters and in the unlikely event he gets out of line or runs, My word. The force field I put you in was not for your safety. It was to prove I have other skills in the slight of hand arena." He undid the force field. "Gr'Thor. Sit. This is Lt Nixie Wilde. Rank." The animal sat and just looked up at her. "Give him a order."

"Er..." Nix rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to think of something people might order an animal to do. "...um...roll over...?"

Vakra laughed.

The animal looked quizzical, but laid down and rolled over on his back, belly up.

"Huh..." Nixie laughed, shaking her head with disbelief as she crouched to watch it more closely. "I used to love having dogs around. Not that they did tricks," she chuckled, shaking her head. "All the same, you should probably check this is okay with the First Officer."

Vakra nodded, "Be more confident when you give him an order. More like the confidence you showed in telling me to talk to the First Officer."

"Well, it's hard to know what orders to give to an animal," Nixie chuckled as she stood, folding her arms as she looked down at the creature. "Especially on a ship...there's no sheep to herd or fields to be ploughed here."

"One of the human females on the crew is with child. Maybe he can herd that, once it walks. Humans used to use dogs to herd children. Something called a Pitbull was called a Nanny Dog. Humans left them with children a lot."

Nixie couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion. As a woman without children, or any discernible maternal instinct, so far at least, the idea appealed to her dark sense of humour. "Perhaps leave that off the list to present to the XO..."

Looking at her, Vakra spoke, "Humans tended to start treating pitbulls differently after World War 1, but before World War 3 and the Eugenics War. They went from nannies to feared."

"They're animals," Nixie shook her head as she straightened up, sliding her hand into her pocket as she let out a soft breath, her own experience on the ranch telling. "You can train them, teach them, keep them...but they have that unpredictable streak, the animal instinct."

"Humans used to say the same thing about Klingons." Vakra took a breath. "Vulcans used to say it about Humans and Romulans still do." He grinned.

"I can't say I've ever trained or kept a Klingon," Nixie said with a straight face as she folded her arms across her chest...until a small smile came to her features, betraying the dark humour in the words. "What arrogant bastards some people can be..."

"Arrogance is part of all of our natures. It is a matter of how we Express it. I am quite good at combat, but that is expected. You did not expect dog trainer or slight of hand from me." He was referring to using the dog as a distraction to put her in a holo containment Field. The field was off now, so he didn't kidnap her, but it wasn't expected of a Klingon, especially one not an Officer.

"To be honest, I wouldn't expect 'dog trainer' from anyone onboard a ship," she admitted freely, shaking her head lightly. "Do me a favour, make sure it's kept secure. I don't want to be getting calls to chase down rogue pets."

Vakra nodded, "You notice he hasn't rolled back over yet? He is not Rogue. My Family trained Dogs since it was commonplace for Dogs to hunt beside us and go to war beside us. He is trained as a Drug Dog, Cadaver Dog, and Explosives Dog. In the age of tricorders, that doesn't seem like much. However, there are cultures, even in Federation Space that don't allow technology in certain places."

"I used to have dogs. Gotta admit, I kind of miss them," she chuckled softly, shaking her head with a gentle sigh as she moved back to the console to finish the diagnostic.

Vakra nodded, "Did I miss anything in the System, Lieutenant?"

Nixie took a moment to let it finish the cycle. She finally shook her head, patting the bottom edge of the console with approval. "No, not at all. Text book work, Kor."

He nodded, "Good. I'm going to shut it down and go count bullets." He had obviously had a Human for a Trainer. Counting Bullets was a reference to the Armory, back before phasers, there was firearms, which took ammunition traditionally called bullets. He had Secured the Brig and now he would go count down and secure the Armory. Counts like that required two people to count and both numbers match. If the brig wasn't occupied, it was logical for him to go over there after securing the brig.

"Then I'll come with you," Nixie nodded firmly, sliding her hands into her pockets as she moved to fall into step next to him. She considered it one of the worst jobs to do...or at least...the most mind numbing. But she'd always get stuck in with her team, even with the grimy jobs. It was just how she was made.

"The Armory has to be manned regardless, like most ships?" He led her to the Armory. Gr'thor fell into line behind them. "Security Officers should be reporting in deck cabinets." He stopped on the way and opened up a cabinet and entered the data on the padd. It was on the way. It would show up on this list that it was done for the shift. He just does it without thinking or questioning. It was part of his routine.

"And what action would you take, if you were to find a weapon missing from a locker?" she asked lightly. She might be testing him, but she didn't want him to feel under pressure.

"Procedure says notify you, Lt. However, I'm pretty sure Gr'Thor could lead me to the last person in there. I scan for residue so I can hand you the tricorder when you get here."

Nixie nodded as he spoke, watching him work as she folded her arms across her chest. It wasn't that she didn't trust her staff were capable, but it helped to know how they thought and functioned. What their instincts were. "We could be headed into a difficult situation," she said quietly to him, shaking her head. "It will be important for us to maintain...order."

"Policy and Procedure first. Post Orders Second. That's the way Security Works. SRT has some Leeway, but we are all Security First." SRT stood for Special Response and Tactical. There were several different types. HRT was Hostages. ERT was Emergency, IE Medical. ETC Etc. He was trained in all of them. He did as many Certifications as Possible. He was very well trained, but he did function as an NCO.

Nixie nodded lightly, clearly reassured by his response. "And you seem very well learned on those policies and procedures."

"My goal is to go to OCS.". He went to basic training, not Starfleet Academy. OCS was Officer Candidacy. "I worked hard to learn them all. Being a Brig and Armory Crew gives me the opportunity to read on the P&Ps. I work doubles and I read. Off hours, I do the holodeck training programs. Being a shift NCO on a long voyage is a good stepping stone ,"

Nixie watched him with interest at that, folding her arms as she considered the words. "Well, I'm more than happy to support you where I can with that. I'd want you to feel like you've got to where you should be."

Vakra nodded, "I'm not begging for rank. However, you need a post covered. I got you "

"I know," she assured quickly, not wanting him to see it that way. "I mean literally, if I can support your training and completing qualifications to further your remit, I'm happy to."

Vakra nodded, "I would be proud to accept your support while I work.". He grinned at her and put in this deck's weapons count.

Nix returned the grin, nodding as she folded her arms firmly with the decision made. "Besides, squeezing every drop out of you benefits me too," she teased him lightly, clearly not meaning it.

Vakra nodded, "I will be proud to sweat and bleed, ma'am."

[OFF]

 

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