In Plain Sight
Posted on Wed May 6th, 2026 @ 8:29am by Petty Officer 2nd Class Rhihannon O'Connell & Senior Chief Petty Officer Dex Ravaro
Edited on on Wed May 6th, 2026 @ 8:34am
2,189 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 3 - The One Who Got Away
Location: Outside the Ready Room - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD003 1000 hrs
The corridor outside the ready room was quieter than most places on the ship ever really got.
Not silent. A starship was never silent. There was always the muted pulse of the engines through the deck, the hush of air through environmental systems, the occasional set of footsteps passing at the far end before fading again. But command spaces carried a different sort of atmosphere. More measured. More careful. Even the people moving through them seemed to lower their voices without being told.
Dex came around the bend at an easy pace, a PADD in one hand and no particular urgency in his stride.
There was nothing remarkable about his reason for being there. The sort of routine matter that passed through his hands every day as Chief of the Boat. An enlisted rota adjustment. A minor personnel query. Something that would go up the chain, come back down again, and be forgotten by most people the moment it was done.
Dex rarely forgot anything.
As he approached the ready room, his attention settled on the woman stationed outside it.
Rhihannon O’Connell.
Petty Officer Second Class. The Captain’s yeoman.
He knew who she was, of course. Dex made a point of knowing the crew, or at least appearing to. It was part of the job. Part of the image. But knowing a name and actually noticing a person were two different things, and until now she had been little more than another piece of the machinery around command. Useful in the abstract. Worth clocking. No more than that.
That shifted the moment he saw her there.
Not idle. Not distracted. Simply present in that quiet, efficient way some people managed when they understood exactly where they were meant to be and why. The sort who didn’t fill stillness just to prove they belonged in it.
Dex slowed fractionally as he came within speaking distance, his expression easy, approachable, exactly what the crew expected of him.
'O’Connell.'
'Captain’s shadow.'
'Observant.'
He let his gaze rest on her for just a beat, long enough to take in posture, focus, the way she held herself in command space.
'You’d notice what others miss.'
Dex lifted the PADD slightly in one hand and offered the sort of relaxed smile that had opened far more doors for him over the years than force ever had.
“Afternoon, O’Connell,” he said, voice warm and unhurried. “I’ve got something for the Captain whenever he’s got a spare minute.”
"Afternoon Chief." Rhi began with a broad smile and a lilt in her voice. She tried to be as cheerful as possible whenever someone came knocking for the Captain. Very often the news that the person brought was somber and a little cheerfulness was needed. "The Captain is not in at the moment. If it is urgent I can summon him."
Dex’s smile held easily, warm without becoming overfamiliar. He shifted the PADD in one hand, posture loose and unthreatening, the sort of calm presence the crew had come to expect from him.
“No need,” he said. “It can wait until he’s free.”
He lifted the PADD slightly, enough to mark it as routine without making anything of it.
“Minor personnel matter. Nothing that needs dragging him out of whatever he’s doing.”
His gaze stayed on her as he spoke, steady but unremarkable, the attention of a senior chief used to reading the people around him.
'Cheerful, but deliberate. You use it well too. Not thrown around carelessly, not there to fill space. Something measured. Something chosen. That usually means you understand exactly what your role is in a corridor like this.'
Dex let the silence settle for a beat instead of rushing to fill it. Most people, left with even a moment of quiet, started offering extra. Excuses. Details. Something to smooth their own nerves.
He wanted to see if she would.
'Let’s see how much you give away for free.'
His eyes flicked once towards the ready room doors, then back to her.
“Captain keeping you busy?” he asked lightly. “Or have you managed to train him into respecting his own schedule?”
Rhi smiled and let out a laugh. "A little of both Chief. You know the old saying a Captain's life is busy. But, a Yeoman's life is busier. But I have to say that it is educational. I am learning about command, and law enforcement. So, I guess you take the good with the bad."
Dex’s mouth curved slightly at that, the expression easy and genuine enough to pass without question.
“That sounds about right,” he said. “Most people only ever see the polished version from the outside. They don’t usually notice how much work it takes to keep the day moving.”
He shifted the PADD lightly in one hand, still in no particular hurry to hand it over.
“Educational’s a good word for it,” he added. “Command’ll teach you plenty if you’re paying attention. Usually faster than you’d like.”
He let that sit for a moment, watching her with the same calm attentiveness he gave most people when he wanted them comfortable enough to keep talking.
“Law enforcement too?” he asked, tone still light. “That’s not the part most yeomen usually lead with.”
He eased one shoulder against the bulkhead beside the ready room, posture relaxed, conversation casual on the surface.
“Planning ahead?” he asked. “Or have you just found yourself interested once you got a closer look at how all this works?
"It's the latter. I found an interest once here. Now, perhaps I will go to the Academy and become a Security Officer. I mean dealing with the seedy underside of a civilization keeps life interesting." Rhihannon smiled. She did not understand why the Chief took a sudden interest. The attention was not unwelcome. Chief Ravaro was quite handsome, and sought after by a lot of the female crew.
Dex’s expression softened into something that looked almost genuinely pleased for her. Not exaggerated, not performative enough to draw attention to itself. Just warm enough to read as encouragement from a senior chief taking an interest in one of the crew.
“Security, eh?” he said, shifting the PADD from one hand to the other. “That’d keep you busy.”
He stayed where he was, one shoulder angled loosely towards the bulkhead beside the ready room, posture easy and unthreatening. There was no pressure in it. No sense that he was crowding the space or trying to force the conversation along. If anything, he looked perfectly content to stand there and let her talk for as long as she felt like it.
“That’s not a bad direction to look in,” he went on. “You’d see a very different side of ship life from there.”
His eyes stayed on her, steady and attentive, not in a way that would feel uncomfortable, but in the way of someone who was actually listening rather than simply waiting for his turn to speak. That alone tended to put people at ease more quickly than charm ever did.
“Any part of it in particular appeal?” he asked after a moment. “Investigations, response work, evidence handling… that sort of thing?”
The question was casual on the surface, asked in the same tone he might have used with any enlisted crewman thinking about where they wanted to go next. Still, there was something measured in the way he asked it, as though he was less interested in the ambition itself than in what sat underneath it.
Dex glanced once towards the ready room doors, then back to her.
“Or is it just that once you start working this close to command,” he said, “you start seeing how much goes on around the edges and want a closer look at it?”
He let the question sit after that instead of rushing to fill the silence himself, his grip on the PADD shifting slightly against his palm.
"I guess you would say evidence handling. The idea of solving a crime from simply what was left behind is, in my head the greatest of mysteries. The whole CSI work is amazing. But, that will wait until the time is right. For the time being I am content just sitting here making sure the Captain is not going crazy." Rhi beamed with pride. "I mean these officers would go nowhere fast if it were not for us. Am I right Chief?" She answered the questions with ease, and made sure that on the outside it seemed that she enjoyed the exchange. But, the fact was she thought something was up with the Chief. Rhi was not sure what, but a Senior Chief did not suddenly take an interest in the Captain's Yeoman unless they had a plan of some sort.
Dex’s smile held, easy and unforced, but something in his gaze sharpened for a moment before softening again. Not visibly enough to mean anything to anyone watching. Just the quiet adjustment of a man who had spent a very long time learning when to ease off and when to lean in.
“Evidence, hm?” he said, shifting the PADD lightly in his hand. “That makes sense.”
There was a faint note of approval in his voice, nothing heavier than that.
“Plenty of people like the idea of Security. Fewer care about the paperwork and what gets left behind.”
'You notice patterns. And you noticed me noticing. Good.'
At her comment about officers getting nowhere without enlisted crew, Dex let out a low, amused breath.
“You’re not wrong there,” he said. “Ship would fall apart in about six hours if the enlisted stopped doing the real work.”
The line came easier, more natural, and he let it settle before glancing briefly towards the ready room doors.
“Sounds like you’ve got a decent head for it anyway,” he added. “Evidence handling, investigations… that sort of thing suits people who actually pay attention.”
He paused then, not pushing any further for the moment.
“Captain’s lucky to have you.”
"Thanks Chief. Coming from someone senior such as you it means something." Rhi smiled. She prided herself on getting a good feel for people and yet this Dex was a conundrum. One moment he was genial and the next he seemed cold and aloof. "I will make sure to let the Captain know that you stopped by." It was her way of giving him an out, as he seemed to have needed one. Especially with the glance toward the Ready Room. He would either take the out or ask another question.
Dex kept the smile in place, but something in his eyes shifted for a second before it was gone again.
She had noticed.
Not enough to know anything. Not enough to put shape to it. But enough to feel that something about him did not sit quite where it should.
That was worth remembering.
“Appreciate it, O’Connell,” he said, offering the PADD over properly. “No rush on it. Whenever the Captain has a minute.”
He let his hand fall back to his side once she had taken it, the conversation settling neatly back into ordinary ship business.
“Good luck with the Security idea as well,” he added. “Evidence handling’s not a bad path if you’ve got the patience for it.”
He gave her a small nod, relaxed and professional.
“Have a good shift.”
Dex stepped away from the ready room at the same easy pace he had arrived with, not hurried, not lingering. Just the Chief of the Boat moving on to the next item on his day.
Only once he had turned the corner did the thought settle properly.
'You felt something off and gave me a way to leave. Not bad.'
His mouth twitched faintly as he continued down the corridor.
'I’ll remember that.'
Rhi watched the Chief leave and she was of two minds as to the kind of person he was. On the one hand she found him attractive and thought a date may be in order. On the other hand there was something about him that just didn't sit right with her. He seemed a bit too predatory. She would have to keep an eye on him from this point on.
A Joint Post By:
Senior Chief Petty Officer Dex Ravaro
Chief of the Boat, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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