Meet the New Boss

Posted on Thu Apr 7th, 2022 @ 1:53pm by Lieutenant Etan tar-Lexros & Lieutenant Talsi Carey

Mission: Free write
Tags: operations

It was only his second day on duty, and already Etan felt he was behind on the necessary meetings to get the Ops department up to speed. He'd never been the best at being social, and yet it seemed that being in charge of Starship Ops was made up of meeting with various department heads. He longed for something complex to break, to give him some excuse to delegate these meetings to another officer in the department. But stubbornly, the Resolution refused to fail - a testament to her Engineering department and design team. Still, he needed to meet the person he was replacing; Lieutenant Carey. He knew about the romantic entanglements; everyone did. He also knew he wanted to stay separated from it, as far as was possible - considering that the Captain and the Chief Counselor were involved, along with the person he would probably have looked to as a source of experience and advice. His focus was on the ship and his duty. Still, he'd requested this meeting for professional reasons. He approached Carey in the Security Office and gave her a slight smile.

"Lieutenant Carey, I'm Lieutenant tar-Lexros. The new Operations Chief - your replacement in that role. I was hoping we could discuss any urgent issues you're aware of, or any perennial frustrations in terms of this ship's operation? I would like to make sure we either stay within regs or exceed expectations wherever possible. I'd also like to know what your process and prioritization method was, so that I can ensure a smoother transition."

Tal looked down at the new officer. "So, I have been told you have... concerns with me and the counsellor involved with the Captain Lt." She replied, she wasn't surprised to say the least, did it bother her. Not in the least.

Etan shrugged at her comment. That wasn't something he wanted to address, but she wanted to have it out directly, so that was where they would start. He had honestly hoped to focus on the Ops transition today; and didn't see how this was relevant. "I wouldn't say that I have issues, Lieutenant; just professional concerns. I'm not interested in anyone's life off-duty except my own. Starfleet regulation does frown on romantic relationships between a commanding officer and their subordinates, for many reasons which I've been assured are valid - that's where it all stems from. However, both the Captain and Lieutenant Jansen are certain that it will not impact morale or operational performance. I take them at their word."

There was no reason to lie to this woman, especially since she was the Captain's wife. She was also part of his concern, of course, but he still accepted the Captain and the Counselor's assessments. "I apologize if any comments insulted or upset you. It was not my intention, Lieutenant. As I said, my stated concern was due to not being aware of the ship's personnel standards, and as Chief of Starship Operations, I do have a responsibility to assist in upholding morale by supporting regulatory compliance."

"My husband and I became involved before I made the choice to join the fleet. The frowning upon relationships, are not reallyas frowned upon as before, majority of starfleet officers, including their captains are married to other officers. When it comes to the counsellor, she was an unexpected addition to our relationship..." Her tail whipped briskly from side to side, quickly realizing that she wrapped it around her waist. "As for Chief Ops, there are no concerns, I tinker with things here and there, and have my work looked by with the chief engineer, who oversees all repairs and upgrades to the ship. So far output on all systems, have been increased by 0..9 percent higher than most in the fleet, with the Enterprise being just slightly higher."

Etan nodded at her comment - the 'unexpected' part caught his ear. He was sure that if he was more emotionally aware or attuned (like most people of his species in Starfleet or the Diplomatic Corps were), he'd be able to glean some subtext from that remark. As it was, he took it at face value - she hadn't expected it. "I'm glad to hear that there are no concerns regarding the Operations department. The Chief Engineer and a few other department heads still need to have meetings scheduled, just to confirm any future goals or responsibilities that they'd prefer be shifted to Operations going forward. I understand you are assigned to the Security department, Lieutenant, but I will greatly appreciate your support during this transition period. This is my first command role - it's entirely likely that I will make mistakes. I hope that I can rely on you along with Commander Stoffels to catch the most obvious ones before they become problematic. Especially if that happens to include an interpretation of regulations that differs with Captain Carey."

"Our last assignment was the USS Wellington, they were on deep space assignment, when they found me in stasis. I chose to remain onboard, and for reasons that do not need to go into detail at the moment, with great shortages I became fluent in many departments, Helm, though cramped for someone my size, tactical, Astrometrics, Science, security and operations. Though Security has been my favourite, I actually started off as assistant. When the chief left, I reassigned to operations."

Etan nodded at her comment about the Wellington. He didn't know anything about that ship's mission, though it definitely seemed to have been a lot more interesting than the one he'd been on. Of course, interesting was a bad thing when it resulted in the number of deaths he'd heard about. So he decided that light treading was the best choice. "Oh. I went into the Academy for the Operations/Engineering course, and I've been in Starship Ops ever since. You have a much wider range of experience than I do."

"Necessity, the Captain has helm experience as well, wth the area of space void of anything tactical was minimal, so it was merged with Helm when we lost the majority of the helm department."

Etan nodded again, considering what Talsi was telling him. It added up to a situation that was far more desperate and violent than he ever wanted his service to be. He wondered for a moment if he'd even have the strength to face a reality like that. "I accept that, and you have my sympathies. I'm not qualified to say anything really valuable... or all that helpful, in a case like that. However, I assure you that my efforts as Ops Chief will be directed to prevent any calamity near the level that you and Captain Carey previously experienced."

"Many don't experience such things. Lt. People adjust, people survive. Are there any other questions for me?"

Etan shook his head with a slight smile. “Nothing else at this time, Lieutenant. Thank you for meeting with me, and for having left useful transition notes. They truly have helped.”

"That is why I made them Lt." Tal replied. "Please call me Tal. Everyone does."