Hotel Room 0730
ShiKahr Central District

He opened his eyes, his information source lay beside him in what met a twist of bedsheets and legs. “Leaving so soon Nico?” asked Tomaz, Nico’s information broker for the Alpha Quadrant.

“One’s gotta do what one gotta do. I mean, after all, that’s the name of the game Tomaz.” he smiled the only way he could at Tomaz. He tried not to develop feelings for Tomaz, but that was hard to do, his olive skin and brown eyes sucked him in.

“Is that all I am to you, a ‘job’?” Tomaz got out of bed to find his clothes.

“Of course not!” Nico walked over grabbed his face and gave him a deep kiss, “I just have to get to Starfleet Central here, the Denver is arriving.”

“I love it when you get all fleeter.” Tomaz smiled.

“K… bye!” Nico called out rushing out the door.

USS Denver

Riandri sat in the crew lounge and slowly nursed her morning coffee after yet another night of very little sleep where she spent too many hours running through various intelligence reports that SFI kept sending through. At least she thought she had been able to order Ensign Hsera to bed at a half-way decent hour otherwise the Caitian would likely be in the same state.

Slowly taking a sip of the coffee she watched several other ships slowly orbit the planet of Vulcan below before turning slightly to look over the lounge. She knew pretty much everyone there and exchanged a silent nod with Commander Robert Jeter while he grabbed his morning coffee (see assumed) though he rarely slept so could have been anything. She pulled out her PADD and quickly looked through her schedule for the day and smiled quickly at the first entry:

08:00 – Crew Transfer: Intelligence Officer – Ensign Nico Kalogeropoulos

“That should hopefully help things along,” she said out loud before she finished the drink. With a quick look at the time her smile widened. As she scanned through the rest of the day her combadge chimed.

“Commander Nalam, we have been contacted by Starfleet’s Vulcan HQ. An Ensgin Kalogeropoulos is ready for transport. There was a note saying you wanted to be present.”

“Thank you, I am on my way.” Riandri stood up and quickly straightened her uniform. Though she didn’t bother adjusting the messy ponytail her hair was in, “Time to go Ri..”

Five minutes later she found herself standing in the main transporter room, with a look at the crewmen meaning the console she said, “Energize.”

08:00
ShiKahr
Transporter Hub
Having enough time to grab an Iced Macchiato on the way, he stepped onto the Transporter Padd. “USS Denver.”

“Awaiting Orders Ensign.” said the crewman manning the station.

He stood there at attention, not sure what the protocol was, but his nerves were getting the better of him. They knew I was coming right?

“Everything okay over there?” Ensign Kalogeropoulos asked.

“Yes Sir, I am sorry, beaming you up now.” the crewman said.

As the blue beams surrounded the man, he blinked and clinched, he hated the transporter, and he opened his eyes, he was standing in what he assumed was the Denver’s Transporter room. Stepping off the pad he made his way to the woman standing there, as he handed her the PADD with his orders, his bag lurched forward and his Macchiato spilt on her.

“I am so sorry Ma’am,” Nico said.

Riandri started to welcome Ensign Kalogeropoulos onward the cold coffee of the Iced Macchiato caused her to inhale sharply, “Wel..ahh!” She stepped back on reflex and brushed at her top. She cursed inwardly but was thankful that the uniform fabric was water-resistant.

She looked back up at Ensign Kalogeropoulos and smiled, though her voice was stiff, “It is fine Ensign. Accidents happen.” She looked down at her top and then back at the new ensign, “Welcome aboard the Denver, I am Commander Riandri Nalam. The XO and Chief Intelligence Officer, as such I wanted to be the first to welcome you to the ship.”

He was really looking forward to drinking his Macchiato as it was something that he very seldom was able to drink. Wait… XO… CIO… DAMNIT.

“First impressions gotta love them. I am glad that our uniforms are waterproof,” he said handing the empty cup to a crewman with his personal belongings. “I am glad that I was able to meet you, I picked up some information during my stay on Vulcan, about Dominion Activity. I would like a chance to casually talk about it.”

He wasn’t sure of the protocol or if they knew that they were amassing massive amounts of materials to continue building the oversized Capital Ship. So far, according to Tomas, they had enough for four of them…

Riandro cocked her head to the side and took in the Ensign before her. Most would be mortified after what just happened but he seemed to be very nonchalant about it. “Right down to business, I see. Well first, though they are waterproof I need to go change. The crewman here will see you to your bunk. Met me in the Intelligence office in thirty minutes. I expect a full run down on this information you have uncovered.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Nico acknowledged.

He was nervous and when nervous he talked about something that was on his mind. This was… He followed the Crewman to the bunk that he was assigned. He jumped up onto the top bunk and put a pillow over his head to muffle to scream.

“OH MY GOD!” he let out a scream or two. He made a complete fool of himself with the XO and CIO. What was he going to do next? Offer irrelevant information? He was worried. He let out a loud sigh and looked at the Chronometer.

Walking towards the turbolift, he called out for the intel suite. “Deck 8…”

Intelligence Office

Riandri stepped into her office after quickly swinging by her quarters to grab a new top. As she did she let out a slow exhale and looked around, “Computer, one Raktajino.”

She picked up the drink and look a slow slip before she sat down and opened her console. Moments after she opened the latest status report the door chimed, “Enter.”

Being new to the ship, he was not sure how formal the XO was, but he made sure to stand at attention when he arrived. He was sure his decorum would make up for the Macchiato. “Hello.” he paused, waiting for instruction.

“Grab a set Ensign,” Riandri said with a nod towards the chair across her desk. “Oh, and grab a drink if you want one.”

Making his way to the replicator, he ordered his steeped tea and sat down in front of her. He paused for a moment, and presented her with a PADD of information, in it, contained information about the additional battleships being constructed at various shipyards in Cardassian and Breen Space.

“I forgot I had placed it all in a report prior to this Ma’am. here you are.” he offered.

Riandri nodded and took the PADD without a word and quickly scanned through the report. After a few moments, she looked up. “Well, you do like making an entrance Ensign and bringing gifts to boot. I will pass this report on now. As you know there is a good chance SFI has already come across this information to some degree or another. I am not surprised to see that they are stock-pilling materials but the fact your contact had locations is something for sure. At the very least it will further confirm the data SFI already has, but it could itself be actionable. Good work.”

She leaned back in her chair and took a long sip of her Raktajino, “So, let me welcome you again to the Denver. With anyone in my department I like to get to know them a bit, the stuff not on the record. Tell me a bit about yourself. You clearly have a knack for courier work, I guess my question is, why the Denver?”

That was the question of the hour, why the Denver, he was selected out of all the Candidates… “I am not sure M’am. I rather enjoy the challenge and well, I feel this was the best place with my knowledge and experience,” he said.

He took a swig from his Macchiato.

Riandri nodded in understanding. “I am glad to hear that. We can definitely put you to use here. You have the day to get yourself acclimated to the ship and your first shift starts at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Report to Ensign Hsera when you get here and she will show you the ropes. Dismissed Ensign.”