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Dorothy A. Mozart
Commanding Officer
Stardate 49901.26
"In the Ready Room"
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The Captain sat down behind her desk and motioned for her Executive Officer
to have a seat as well. Crossing her legs, she leaned back and took in a
deep breath. For a fraction of a second it had seemed as if an expression
of nervousness had tried to seize control of LtCmdr. Stevens' face, but the
expression faded away as quickly as it had appeared. 

A slight smile crept over her face as she realized that she had been
expecting this. Although the adrenaline rush of the overall excitement and
anticipation had drowned out most of her other feelings, a slight twinge of
nervousness still flashed through her body once in a while.

Forcing her mind to stop wandering, she accepted the PADD she was handed by
Stevens. In a way, it was a good thing for a commanding officer to feel a
little nervous once in a while. It was just imperative that she never let
this nervousness show in front of anyone. Apparently her First Officer had
mastered that art as well as she had over the years.

"Is there anything else, Captain?" Stevens' voice was all professional.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Mozart's smile widened. "Relax." She could
almost feel the tension in the room building up as both women tried to
evaluate each other, trying to read each others thoughts.

At first, Mozart had her doubts about accepting Stevens as her Executive
Officer, not because she lacked qualifications or anything. Quite in the
contrary, she exhibited all the traits she valued in herself. The problem
was that the two of them were so much alike.

For some reason, Mozart had always expected her First Officer to be the
exact opposite of what she was.  To be a calm and thoughtful pole against
her stubbornness and "shoot first, think later" mentality.

But once she had met Stevens in person, she had immediately made up her
mind. In this situation, faced with the possibility of enemies hiding
behind each and every corner, she needed someone whose actions she was able
to predict completely, whose thoughts were unique while still appearing to
be her own.

"Once everybody has settled down a bit and the ship's operations are back
to normal, we need to get together for a longer time... Oh no, not one of
those 'ready room meetings'." She laughed as she remembered how much she
had dreaded those meetings during her own time as Executive Officer. "There
are loads of little details for us to go over, but that can wait until
tomorrow."

She slowly rose from her chair. "Now is the time to mingle with the crew
and learn some names."

Looking down at her gray uniform, she wondered how long it would take her
to find her dress uniform as she hadn't even started to unpack yet. "I'll
meet you at the reception in a few minutes. Dismissed."



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Capt. Dorothy A. Mozart --- CO U.S.S. Darwin
Cmdr. Deis Leah, M.D. --- AMO U.S.S. Lexington
k'Taris, Liaison to Romulus --- Empok Nor
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allegretto@gmx.net --- leah@startrekmail.com
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http://members.xoom.com/ussdarwin
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        "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."