First Impressions Are Overrated...

Posted on Wed Sep 3rd, 2025 @ 7:06pm by Captain Johnathon Hayter & Lieutenant Commander T'Par & Lieutenant Jasmine Rutherford

1,752 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mini Mission-Adjustments [USS Orcrist]
Location: Deck 4

Elijah was busy, and the kids were with their grandparents for the day. Jasmine was wanting to explore the new ship without escort and without having to corral her kids, A nice relaxing stroll through the corridors. Jasmine came to a point, standing in front of the turbo lift debating on where she'd like to go.

The dark haired counselor tapped her chin as she contemplated her choices.

The turbolift doors parted with a soft hiss, and Hayter stepped out, his boots landing with the kind of deliberate weight that made it sound like he hadn’t had a day off in years. Duffel over one shoulder, sleeves rolled up, and expression neutral but not unfriendly.

He came to a stop when he spotted the lone officer standing just outside the lift. She was in medical blue, rank of lieutenant. Civilian calm but Starfleet posture.

“Well,” he said, voice low and gravel-wor. “Either you’re lost or debating something way more interesting than deck assignments.”

He let his eyes linger, not inappropriately, but with the easy confidence of someone who’d long since stopped pretending not to notice her attractiveness.

“Let me guess. Sickbay’s too clean, Mess Hall smells like rehydrated cardboard, so what else could it be?.” He gave a lopsided smirk, shifting the weight of his bag. “Name’s Hayter. Just transferred in. And unless you're actually waiting on someone important, I’d say fate just did me a favor.”

Jasmine pulled out her PADD, and went to check the manifest. "Ah I see you are on the manifest." having an amused smile. "I was trying to decide as to where I wanted to go to on the ship. I love the scent of a brand new ship." having a twinkle in her eyes. "I'm Lieutenant Jasmine Rutherford."

Hayter raised a brow as the name registered.

“Rutherford, huh? Didn’t know the captain had a sister.”

He said it with a smirk, but behind his eyes, Please be his sister… not something more.

He adjusted the duffel on his shoulder, posture relaxing just enough to stay charming without pressing his luck.

A deep throated chuckle from Jasmine. "Nah, I am not his sister, I'm his wife. Pleasure to meet you. I am thinking of heading towards Science, to see how it looks, care to come along? Well maybe after you stow your gear. What do you think?"

Hayter froze for half a second, just enough for it to register, before covering with a dry, tight-lipped smile.

“Well… damn,” he muttered with a short laugh. “Guess I owe myself twenty credits.”

He gave a small nod, shifting the duffel on his shoulder. “Wife, huh? That explains the look he gave me the last time I mouthed off. Pleasure’s mine, Lieutenant.”

T'Par came out of her office as the two entered her department. She glanced at them briefly. "Captain, lieutenant, how may I help you?"

"Hello, Commander T'par, This is Captain Hayter, I figured we'd both come to see the new science department." motioning, to the Hayter.

"You are always welcome, lieutenant," T'Par said, falling easily back into formality although she considered Jasmine a friend. Vulcans were like that. At least she was. "And it is nice to meet you, captain. How do you find the Orcrist?"

Hayter blinked once at the Vulcan, then slowly turned his head to Jasmine with a look that landed somewhere between disbelief and annoyance.

“Science,” he repeated flatly. “Out of all the departments on a brand new warship, I’m standing in Science. Don’t get me wrong, Commander,” he added, glancing back at T’Par with a half-respectful nod. “Sure it’s all very… sterile. And efficient. I’m just not used to being surrounded by anything that doesn’t explode, shoot back, or bleed.”

Jasmine raised up an eyebrow at Hayter's comment, "Well science is actually something that isn't always what you had just stated, Captain. It can get dirty, and messy, besides it took science to create things that explode."

She gave a half shrug after her own comment. "Something brand new, a fresh start for some of us." Jasmine added.

"Very impressive, I'm sure," T'Par said indifferently. "You came to visit the department. If you would prefer to be elsewhere, do not let me detain you."

Jasmine had heard a little bit about Hayter from her husband, and it seemed that Jonathan was testing the waters here.

"Yes I dragged you here with me,and this is part of the tour of the ship,Captain Hayter." Jasmine giving Hayter a little bit of an scrutinizing look

"Even if this isn't the place you usually wish to go to. Always a good thing to see the whole layout of the ship, and to meet the others. Agreed?"Jasmine making a mental note. "Besides with your training isn't it always a good thing to scope out the surroundings and area?"

Jasmine kept her attention on Hayter, one dark eyebrow raising slightly, seeing if he would answer.

Hayter gave her a flat look, then let out a short, humorless laugh.

“Scope out my surroundings? Sure. Normally that means checking choke points, blind corners, and figuring out where to put a squad if things go south, where to get the nearest beer, or where not to allow new troops to go. Not poking around a lab that smells like disinfectant.” He let his eyes sweep the spotless consoles. “Only thing dangerous here is if someone hands me a microscope and expects me to care what microorganism they found. Wow...”

He gave T’Par the barest nod before focusing on Jasmine again. “I get it, fresh start, new ship, big smiles. But for me? That means finding who’s worth trusting and what corridors don’t lead me into a headache.” With a shrug, he smirked. “But hey, if you dragged me here just to tell me how much I should love it? Save the speech. If you have found a made some whiskey... Hey now that is exciting,”

There was a beat of silence before it registered that he’d probably crossed a line, not that he was the type to lose sleep over it. Still, he could already hear the inevitable lecture from the counselor at his next required session… or worse, a word from the Captain himself. And of course, the Captain’s wife was standing right there.

“Well, enjoy dinner with the hubby,” he said dryly to Jasmine before shifting his gaze to T’Par, giving her a deliberate once-over before a curt nod. “And you, Supreme Commander Beauty Buzzkill, I’ll see you around.”

He gave them both a final nod, then pivoted on his heel. Yeah, this was going to come back to bite him, no question. But after being knocked down two ranks and parked behind a console, Hayter wasn’t exactly in the mood to play nice.

I need to find some more alcohol, he thought grimly. This is going to be a long assignment.

"Captain, wait," T'Par said calmly but without give. "Counselor, give us a minute."

"Ha... go figure..." John shook his head as he rub his temple. As he turned. "... Counselor... zero for two."

Jasmine raised an eyebrow at Hayter's comment, then gave a nod.

"I will be seeing you later." Not being specific as to who she was referring to. Jasmine made her exit, pondering over what had taken place.

"Captain, I have very little interest in convincing you to love science and even less in big smiles. However, I take you at your word on what you said just now. You want to know the dangers and you want to know who to trust. This lab is not a civilian lab on Earth or Vulcan. Perhaps not everything on this ship or every aspect of is mission might be of personal interest to you, but it all part of what you might be called upon to defend. You should know the entire layout. Sometimes what we work with is potentially dangerous. Sometimes the threats the ship faces do not come from enemies with disruptors and torpedoes but from unknown spatial and even temporal phenomena. Sometimes, the mission of this ship will require members of this department will be serving with you on potentially dangerous away missions where you experience and expertise will doubtless be invaluable. In fact, if you would be willing, some of them could likely use some additional combat and hazard training. On a starship, we are all dependent on one another, after all," T'Par said.

Hayter stood there. He looked over his shoulder, not really turning fully her way, but letting the Vulcan’s words hang in the air. Part of him knew that if he still had the silver oak leaves of a lieutenant colonel, his reply would land differently, considered, weighed, maybe even respected. But stripped down two grades, all it sounded like was a captain giving lip back to a commander. Then again, when was the last time he cared what anyone thought of him?

He adjusted the duffel on his shoulder, expression unreadable, before answering in that blunt, gravel-edged tone of his.

“Noted, Commander. And just like your ears, you’ve got a point, this ship’s full of things that don’t bleed but can still kill us if we don’t respect them.”

He paused, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth, voice dipping a shade drier.

“And if your people want hazard training, they’ll get it. But this ship doesn't have a marine detachment, and from what I hear, the ship has a Chief Security officer. But if they need a me to do anything, I may for the right price. Just don’t expect me to hold their hands while I do it.”

With that, he gave a short, respectful two finger salute, then stepped back, professional enough to acknowledge her authority, but clipped enough to make it clear he wasn’t here to win hearts.

"We do and I have no intent to create departmental issues. However, you do have a perspective from which they might benefit." She had also taken his point, though she had no illusions he wanted to win hearts. He seemed unusually averse to doing so, actually, but that she would leave to the counselor. T'Par was no expert on human reactions. "The lack of, hand holding, as you put it, is the point. Welcome aboard Orcrist, captain."

 

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