Jesa squinted her eyes, starting to hear a rustling. Quickly she grabbed for a stack of padds a good eight inches high, preventing the pile from falling, but upending them all over herself. The console before her beeped, demanding attention for what had to be a hundred administrative requests. The music in the background which was supposed to be soothing started to become annoying, and then started playing something from what they used to call 'heavy metal', a very untimely computer error.

She was about to scream, holding a fistful of padds in both hands. And it was in that moment the door beeped. "COME!" Jesa fairly yelped. There was never a more disorganized and frazzled looking commander than her at that moment, as the tall form of Ensign Drake entered the room. Jesa just dropped the padds, looking disgustedly at the mess on the floor.

"COMPUTER SHUT THAT RACKET OFF!" she yelled, the 'music' ceasing immediately. Silence settled for a moment as she just sat there, then looked up at Drake.

"Sir, you asked to see me, urgently if I remember correctly." said Drake. His eyes darted about her desk and floor, seeing the complete mess. He had heard the din of noise before he entered the room, and at least now the question of what it was, was answered, if nothing else. The thought that he might want to make himself useful occurred to him, and knelt down to start picking up the padds.

"I did?" she said, running back through the millions of things she had just completed. "OH! Yes, of course, I did. Sorry... I'm wonderful at multitasking, but I'm not that...." she spread her arms wide, indicating the mess "...wonderful..." Jesa sighed, and followed his example, starting to gather the padds up again.

As Drake gathered up some of the padds he looks over in Callen's direction. This is the chance; he thinks to himself, finally the correct situation. "You know there is something I've been meaning to speak to you about.... I'm still waiting for a well... an actual something to do apart from act as cabin boy. So if you're drowning in paperwork, well, basically I'm free." He stood, putting the padds on the desk in a rough pile. "In any case, I'm sure some of this work could be passed down the chain of command at least a step or two."

Jesa's eyes lit up, as if that hadn't even occurred to her. "Oh YES!" She fairly yelled "Thank you very much!" She said, looking at him with genuine happiness at the prospect of handing some of this work to someone else. "Y'know, I hadn't even thought about that? I was always the deligatee, not the deligator... I need to learn." She set the padds down on the desk and looked up at him. "But... before we discuss that, something else needs handling."

To Drake's puzzled expression Jesa fished around in a inner pocket for a minute, drawing out a little silver disk that had a plastic finish on one side. "This, I was told... was yours."

"Yeah that is. You can keep that if you like. Just remember, never buy intelligence devices from Ferengi who claim 'It's only been used once'. Usually means it's broken. Certainly it does in this case; I only got static from it. So who noticed, that JAG woman or you?" replied Drake, suddenly looking more than casually uneasy.

Jesa turned it over in her fingers for a moment, and then placed it on the desk. "Actually, she did..." Jesa said, seating herself and gesturing that he may take the other seat. "You know, it is a chargeable offence to be bugging an official JAG inquiry."

"Well strictly speaking, I didn't. I placed a useless metal disc under a desk. Of course, attempting to bug an official enquiry is a crime." Drake stood still for a few seconds in silence. "Although she didn't strike me as the JAG officer type. If she was, being the Betazoid that she was, she would have asked further questions after I lied, rather than dismissing me."

"Well, you'd be correct in that assumption, Mr. Drake... she was not a JAG officer, at least not one functioning under current active capacity here." Jesa said, studying Drake's reactions carefully. This was giving her a great deal of insight into just who this man was... a very valuable piece of information.

"That and the fact she carried a rather unorthodox briefcase. Not exactly standard issue if you know what I mean." Drake reached down and dusted off his knees after picking up the padds. Standing back up straight; he continued, "Of course the lie was just a test, it was less of a lie and more of a stab in the dark, I simply stated something that I didn't know anything about. Although usually I try to keep that to a minimum."

Jesa smirked slightly. "Don't we all... what did she ask about? Did anything seem peculiar to you? I mean, besides the whole situation."

"Well, yes it was quite peculiar. She didn't ask me about what happened, as obviously I don't know about since I wasn't there, but the entire questioning was in fact, about you." Drake shrugged slightly. "She didn't say why though."

"Hm... odd. Naturally she didn't give information; it would surprise me if she dropped any into. What aspect of myself was under questioning?" Jesa questioned, resting her folded hands on the edge of the desk and leaning forward slightly.

"Basically she wanted to know what you were like. I think she wanted to know what sort of person you were. And for that matter how I was being treated aboard the ship." Drake rested his hand on the back of a chair. "More of a questioning someone would get from a counselor rather than a JAG officer. But then again she was a Betazoid."

"Assuming she wanted to know about me, and wasn't interested in some aspect concerning you, this makes it even stranger. It's odd in my mind that she would ask you, as, and no offense, you've just met me. I'd think if she wanted 'dirty little secrets', she'd head to someone like Lysander, or even Rich, whom I've served with longer." Jesa mused; her mind being intrigued on this little mystery.

"Probably." Drake said as he sat down. "As it's true. Although I'd like to speak to you on a more... well personal note. You see... well..." Drake well... blushed slightly. "It's erm... okay, I'm just going to say it. Has your sister mentioned me... at all?"

Jesa made a mental note right then and there to ask Terah about Drake's reaction. In her experience it was quite rare to have a full-grown man standing there before her blushing over nothing. While Jesa didn't suspect anything, Terah was an interesting person, and prone to rather... interesting situations. "No... I haven't seen her yet today. I assume she's probably down helping them work on moving the contents of hydroponics, or poking about the science labs..." Her eyebrow raised slightly. "Should she have?"

Drake's back visibly straightened as he tried to regain composure. "No... probably not... at least the engineering crew won't try to string me up I guess." He looked a little bit lost in thought for a second. "Although if you see her tell her I've got a perch for her in my quarters. Don't want her budgie messing up her room."

Jesa tilted her head. "Budgie? A bird?"

Drake nodded. "Yeah she had this big bird on her shoulder. Looked kinda like a raven that someone hit with a big stick. She said that she found it in the lower decks. Although please note, I've had security teams search all decks, and they didn't find any bird colonies, so she probably got the only one."

Jesa burst out laughing. "Sure you don't mean a red bird? With a crest on top? And purple-ish iridescent feathers, a big black beak, and the tendency to mumble and chortle to herself?"

"Aren't ravens red? They were on Omega in any case." Drake grinned slightly during the next part, "And I didn't notice the bird mumbling, or are you talking about Terah?"

Jesa just smiled. "Unless my sister managed to find another large bird, that's Peeko... who she kindly was taking care of for me, though I didn't know it until now." Jesa laughed "The results of my 'chicken hunting days'."

Drake raised his eyebrow at this. "What sort of chicken is it supposed to be? Because I've never seen a chicken that even closely resembles it." Jesa just grinned, and shook her head, then looked at him. "No... it's not literal. When I was an ensign... and had your job, we were stranded on this planet. Jolon, the captain at the time, sent me to see what kind of people were inhabiting it, so we could avoid them... I saw something moving in the bushes, it had been following us. I tackled it and..." Jesa laughed "there was Peeko. Later, Jolon accused me of wasting time 'chicken hunting' when I should have been minding my orders..."

Drake smiled, "Well at least there was no harm done and you gained a rather unique friend. Although personally I would have gone for the tricorder scan rather than the full blown rugby tackle."

Jesa restrained a smile. "Call it... working off frustration."

"Usually when I get frustrated I go shoot something. In the holodeck, naturally. Which I've been doing a lot recently." Drake leant forward towards the desk. "Are you sure you can't give me say, a dozen of these padds to work through, I really haven't got a lot to do and I do prefer to keep busy."

She nodded solemnly, "Yes, though I'm not sure if you have the means for a few of these... which are my more regular duties... with the refit, and..." She looked down a moment, gathering composure "the memorial service... I have... one hundred, and thirty-seven letters to draft in a timely manner..." she shrugged, standing up and moving to look out the window. "I... could shrug them off to someone else, but... some part of me tells me I need to do them."

"You can't be seriously considering penning one hundred and thirty-seven letters. With the memorial ones alone, that will take a heavy toll on your emotional state, if you deal with those, either myself, Lysander or Rich will take care of the refit and the other essential, yet not CO-essential letters."

"I know." She said softly, crossing her arms across her chest, and rubbing up one arm gently. "But... I *owe* them that."

"You may well owe them, but at least give yourself time to pay off whatever debt it is, rather then working yourself into an early grave." Drake stood slowly and carefully.

Jesa didn't turn around, but looked at him in the reflection. "One hundred, and thirty seven people lost their lives... all with good reason to think they'd live at least another twenty, thirty, forty years... how can ten minutes of my time, to write a letter to those who loved them... even compare?" She shook her head. "It doesn't do justice."

"Justice isn't in the writing of the letter. It's the fact that for the rest of your life, you will remember them all, and their deaths will impact the way you look at life, the way everyone around here looks at life. You are not serving justice by writing the letter, you are serving it, simply by surviving." Drake's features took on a serious tone. "They died, you didn't, that you cannot change, but if you simply remember them, then they won't ever truly die. And that you can make happen."

Jesa remained silent for a long moment, her features serious. "And that is where the story turns tragic... I didn't even know them. I knew about a handful by their name, and a few more by their face..." she shook her head.

"Everyone of them will know someone else who survived, and each of those someone's will remember that person and pass on who they were to someone else. The story never ends, it's the closest thing to immortality, no one can die, because everyone makes an impact in some way, some more than others, but everyone, all the same."

Drake's features turned distinctively sour. "I've known many people who have died, and some of their faces will forever be etched into my soul, I will never forget them, but even I can't remember everyone who died whilst I ran away. I don't even know the number of people who died, let alone exactly who they were. I was simply there, I couldn't stop what happened, and I didn't cause it."

Jesa nodded slightly. "I know..." She turned around and forced a smile. "Well, I guess I've just failed at the first great law of captains."

Drake smirked at her, "What, never pretend to be human?"

She chuckled softly at the unintentional double meaning in his words. "Or, restated... be strong, always!"

"Well of course you could look at it another way, you don't appear weak, so therefore you must appear strong. Either that or you could just say you haven't received the official reassignment yet. In either case, I don't particularly mind."

Jesa shrugged slightly. "Well... I have two jobs for you, if you're interested, Ensign." She smiled slightly.

"Sure, its not like I can go sit at my post... seeing as they still haven't put the new console back in yet."

The commander arched her eyebrow. "You mean they ripped the old one out already? Geez, not wasting any time..." she commented to herself, then turned her attention back to him. "Unofficially, how good are you at finding out information you're not supposed to know?"

"I have my ways, and one of them usually works, if not, then well, I know people." Drake's eyebrow now arched too, at this rather unusual question.

Jesa nodded. "That'll do. I need you to dig up information on two people. To go as far as you can before I pick up on the trail."

"Well I think I can guess who the first one is at least, but I'm stuck when it comes to the second." Drake looked seriously interested.

"Well, I'm assuming that you're assuming that I'm referring to our dear quazi-JAG officer, Lieutenant Niederst... and the second is a man currently sitting in the brig, a Victor Tyne. The brass have been stingy about information regarding him, though I know he last came from the USS Hammond... some charges have been filed, but other than that, I haven't a clue. I'd like to see what you can pick up." Jesa said, leaning forward and pressing her fingertips into the top of the desk.

"Yes, I'd guessed Niederst. But I don't know the first thing about this Victor Tyne." Drake rubbed at his chin. "But I'll give it a go. I'll need shoreleave to go aboard the starbase in order to meet with some contacts, but I'll give you regular daily updates in order to keep you informed."

Jesa nodded. "Yes, which brings me to your second task..."

"Second task?" Drake raised his eyebrow again... especially since he thought that Tyne was the second task.

The Commander stifled a grin, she knew exactly what this felt like, she had been on the other side. Unfortunately, she had sworn not to inflict this upon another, but... well, many things change with command. "Yes... it requires you to be on the base somewhat anyway. I need you to serve as an intermediary between the crew of the Isannah working on the refit, and the base refit team. I hear that we already had one shouting match over this subject. Lieutenant Johnson has done an admirable job of drawing up requirements and a schedule, but as I had already guessed, the base team has their own idea. It shouldn't require much time... but it does require..." Jesa paused a moment, the grin seeping into her face. "Diplomacy."

Drake's features relaxed slightly. "Ah, the great unused skill. Okay, I'll do my best at it, and that's the best I can offer. I'll make sure there aren't any brawls over the placement of the new plasma manifolds." Drake smirked slightly.

Jesa chuckled slightly and rose. "Please insure that after all the arguments are completed that the Isannah is still in one piece. I shall be very..." she paused, letting her gaze wander in the space above his head, and crossing her arms. "...how shall we say... put out, if it is not."

"Okay, will do. Just don't be surprised if suddenly the Deck Officer's quarters become the largest on the ship. " Drake smiled at Jesa in an effort to cheer her up a little.

She looked completely serious "Oh, that's alright, if that particular accident should occur, I'll just pull rank and requisition them for official use."

Drake made a mental note to himself... make quarters exactly the same size as the Commanders... and hope she doesn't mention his over large quarters to Lysander. And then he nodded at Callen. "If there isn't anything else, sir, I'll go get started straight away."

She tilted her head slightly and nodded to him, somehow guessing just what he was thinking. "Only one other thing." She mumbled slightly and then started riffling through the padds on her desk, scanning the surface quickly, then gathering about six on one hand. She held the padds to him. "Just a little paperwork. " She said with a slight smile that she could not hide. "Dismissed, Ensign."

Grabbing the 'paperwork', he turned to walk out the door, before turning back to get one final quip in. "Fair enough, I guess I did ask to do them after all." And with that, Drake left the room. Jesa chose not to reply, after all, she couldn't go awakening her entire naive crew to the rigors of command in the first day.

After all... she still considered herself a bit naive...

Loaded: 03.10.2004