Reporting For Duty

Posted on Tue Mar 15th, 2022 @ 4:09pm by Captain Xavier Carey & Ensign Sherri Element (Carey) & Lieutenant Etan tar-Lexros

Mission: Free write
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Current
Tags: ready room,operations,command

Almost immediately upon coming aboard the Resolution, Etan noticed several facts about the ship. First, because of the lack of an Ops department leader, the beam-in was being handled by an enlisted engineer. That usually didn't bode well; they looked at the transporter as another in Starfleet's array of 'interesting gadgets', rather than a real life-and-death concern every time you energized a person. Well, that would have to change - provided that Etan had enough staff, or could poach enough staff to make up a solid department. That, and the fact that there wasn't as much traffic in the corridors as he expected aboard a ship this large - which ran in line with the fact that there wasn't some command-level officer there to confirm his orders and read him in to the ship. A simple 'welcome aboard' from the engineer and a reconfiguring of his commbadge was all he really got. Still, he wanted to make sure everything was in order, and that he was in fact assigned to the USS Resolution, and not to her sister ship, the Resolute. That error had happened before, and seemed to be more common as the Fleet was sent scrambling while the galaxy heated up around them. He recalled the snarl he'd had to have the Captain step into on the old Cannonball, because a new Science officer who'd arrived on their ship was actually listed as being assigned to the USS Belcanon, an Oberth-class rig assigned to a study of a stellar nursery. It had taken weeks to fix the mess. As far as he was aware, everything in the paperwork matched what he'd been told, and where he'd ended up. But it never hurt to check.

A quick trip up to Deck 1 in a turbolift (which needed some optimizations, he could hear the mechanism driving the car) took the young Atreonid up to the Captain's Ready Room. He touched the bell with his left hand, mindful of the duffel bag over his shoulder. In his right was the large-size PADD where his orders were displayed. He hoped that what the Captain had matched what he did, and then he could start to get settled in. One thing that had been beaten into his mind rather soundly was, as this was his first Chief-level position, it would be best to shadow other and see how the ship operated before starting to bring in his own policy and process. So the next week would probably be made up of him popping up around the ship and talking to people.

Xavier watched from the tactical console, wearing civilian clothes, as he was off duty currently. A new officer, if the report came in it was the new Ops chief, which would rightfully, mean Tal would be free of the role and she could go back to Security.

"Lt." Ensign Element inquired from behind helm. "Looking for someone?"

Etan nodded without much of a smile at the Ensign who addressed him. "Yes, I'm looking for Captain Carey. I'd like to confirm my orders. I'm assigned to be the new Operations chief for this ship. Do you know where he is, Ensign?" Etan didn't really pay much notice to the man hanging behind the Tac board in civilian clothing - he'd been told that Galaxy-class vessels often ran more loosely than other ships, and because of the overwhelming number of civilians often aboard, seeing them on the Bridge might not be as unusual as it would be aboard an Ambassador-class ship.

Ensign Element raised an eyebrow before returning to her position. "Captain, shall we say soccer match two hours from now, same team, same spot." She pressed a few buttons. "If you read up on the Command. You would know that the guy behind the tac console was the Captain Lt."

Xavier turned to the helms officer. "Relax Ensign. Give the new guy a break." He turned to the officer. "Captain Xavier Carey, I have already confirmed your orders and have instructed the officer that was temporarily the chief, that you had arrived." He walked around the rail, indicating to him to follow, and went into his ready room.

Etan nodded and followed after the Captain, heading into the Ready Room. It was well-appointed, and a place where he might be inclined to feel at ease - if it wasn't the Captain's private office, the source of all demerits and cautions. Still, he hoped that the Operations office could be made to feel this calming. He thought for a moment and considered that he should have been insulted by the Ensign's behavior, or - somehow - ashamed of his own. Still, this was a new ship to him, one whose processes he didn't yet know. He'd learn eventually, of course. He nodded when they got inside, and handed over the PADD. "Thank you, Captain. I'm sorry, I'm not always the best at recognizing people from pictures. Especially when someone is out of uniform. What pain points should I look at addressing first after I get settled, sir? Or, would you rather I have a meeting with the former interim chief on that?"

"The Interim chief had just switched over, has not been able to look it over fully, however the ship has just gotten off a six months refit. So there shouldn't be too much to worry about. If you want I can direct you to her, however she can be... odd."

Eten shrugged - he'd also been called 'odd' at times, that didn't usually bother him. "I would appreciate that introduction, yes. I've heard about the current Galaxy refit project; I served on an Ambassador - the Cannonball. She's just been put in for refit and respec after a five-year mission, hopefully to be brought up to the same standard. Have the upgraded systems been working as expected, sir?" Immediately when the merest possibility of bringing the conversation to one of a technical nature, he did. Sometimes that was positive, sometimes it meant he overlooked the personal aspect of a ship's challenges.

"Everything is up to past par, don't mention the odd part to her, shes also my wife." Xavier noted. "As far as I have heard. I have been working on the tactical systems, as it is a hobby of mine. I have a very strict parameter, I want those systems better then par." He ordered himself a drink. "Five year mission... I just got off one myself. The USS Wellington." Once things materialized, he offered the lt the replicator.

Etan nodded slowly at the Captain's comments, taking them in. He didn't know what to say about the Captain's wife being a member of the command staff. Regulations clearly frowned on it, but it certainly wasn't his place to comment - he was a newly-minted Lieutenant, this was a new ship to him, and he wanted to have a positive working association with the Captain. If anything, as Ops chief, he'd have to check in with the Counseling department to make sure the relationship was a successful one and didn't interfere with the ship's regular operation. And the tactical systems gave another opening to stay focused on the ship's systems rather than her crew. "Of course, Captain. I'll confirm with the Tactical heads and Engineering, and we'll make any adjustments needed; if we need to run drills on the Battle Bridge, I'll, uh, request permission from you and the XO, sir. As soon as I'm on duty next, I will confirm phaser energy output percentiles and torpedo cycle times compared to spec. I'll make it a priority." He considered the replicator offer briefly, and decided that refusal would be rude. So he ordered a cup of plain seltzer water, waiting for it to materialize. "The Wellington, sir? The Niagara-class vessel? I heard that her computer upgrade a decade ago still holds up in processor speed and storage compared to newer vessels."

"And I'm getting married to the Chief counsellor." He stated, "just so you ain't surprised."

Etan blinked at the Captain slowly, trying to figure out if the man was joking.

"Ever hear of open marriages, or polyamoury, or people with more than one spouse." Xavier inquired, the look on the Lts face showed disapproval, one that he was sure to get, elsewhere. "Denobulans, practice it, multiple human colonies and religions practice it. My wife, took your position as a need, and will be going back into her regular security position now that you are here. As for counselling, you can be sure there is nothing wrong with the chief counsellor, I am not on her patient list, that falls onto Commander Stoffels." He didnt feel the need to explain himself, however, being a new officer, there would be questions. Better to get them settled out of the way. "Any questions, see Commander Stoffels, your first order of business, head to the Medical bay, full physical, and head down to counselling and get a psych eval."

Etan nodded at the man's comment about polyamory. Of course he'd heard about it, but it wasn't something that had ever interested him. Frankly, the idea of a romantic relationship, let alone multiple, seemed to be just a distraction between him and whatever machines he was working on. Machines always made more sense to him than people. "Yes, some of the people from my world also practice it; I just didn't know it was a practice among humans, or in Starfleet. I will get my physical and psychological evaluations resolved as soon as possible."

He didn't move, waiting to be dismissed by the Captain.

"Tell me, about your five year mission. I recently came back from my own six months ago."

At that question, Etan shrugged. There wasn't much that he felt he could tell. "In the grand scheme it was uneventful, sir. I was assigned as an Ops officer of the Cannonball after I graduated the Academy. We were in a patrol area on our side of the Klingon Neutral Zone, with the ship's main duties being transporting medicine and food, along with close range scientific study of worlds that hadn't been visited since before the Khitomer Accords. I was lower-decks crew for the first few years, with my main duties involving the ship's ODN network and adjusting the plasma injector timings on the reactor core. Over time, I was moved into a more general role overseeing a majority of the ship's systems and auxiliary craft - we were assigned a Runabout in addition to our shuttle complement, the Nile, and I had to integrate her computer and communications into the legacy network. I was promoted to Assistant Chief of Ops about halfway through the tour due to crew departures and seniority, and instated a ticketing system to help maintain organization and transparency while also handling the workload with a limited team. A few months ago, the Captain received orders for her to be brought to Starbase 5 for a docked refit at the end of that current study." He shrugged. "We saw one combat event in the five years, against an Orion raider when we were convoying medicine to a settled planet within the KNZ, before we'd made our rendezvous with our Klingon counterpart. Our shields held, and the tactical division disabled the pirate's engine fairly efficiently. A police boat in our patrol sector took them to Starbase 7 for sentencing while we made our delivery. The most major repair from the conflict was a need to repaint the registry on the hull, as we'd suffered an EM spike along the main saucer and it scratched the paint. Otherwise, there was mostly upholstery cleaning from spilled drinks in the mess hall and ship's lounge as a result of the Red Alert call prior to the combat. I believe the overall study involved somewhere in the range of 30 planets, across several star systems, of varying planetary class. We orbited each one and fired surface probes. We had one defective probe that I was made aware of and had to collect from a planet so it could be sent back to Command for examination and repair, but few other issues."

"Sounds a lot better than mine lt."

Etan looked at the man, slightly confused. Most people had responded almost apologetically when he told him how uneventful his first mission was. "I'm sorry to hear that, Captain. I hope that this mission will be more peaceful and productive for you, sir."

"My five year ended with 2 thirds of the crew dying, ship being MIA for three years."

That certainly caused a long blink and an expression of shock for the young Atreonid man. "I'm very sorry to hear that, sir. My condolences. I sincerely hope that our mission goes better."

He didn't ask about the mission - it wasn't his place. But he was understanding enough to realize that some people had a habit of discussing their personal issues unbidden. He didn't know how much the Captain had told the counselor, but if they were getting married, it would hopefully be enough that the situation wouldn't deeply impact service aboard this vessel.

"Likewise lt." He replied, although it wasn't necessary to be said. It did shape who he was as an officer, and may come across different.

Etan stood there, somewhat awkwardly. He finished the glass of seltzer and recycled the glass in the replicator. He looked toward the door, not willing to approach it until dismissed. "I hope to serve the ship honorably, sir. And if it's possible, make this the best ship in the Fleet."

"One more thing, hand this to the ensign, tell her ill be out on the bridge in five minutes," He passed him a soccer ball. "Dismissed Lt."