Admittance

Posted on Wed Mar 10th, 2021 @ 10:56pm by Captain Xavier Carey

Mission: The Mentarin Effect
Location: Captains ready room
Timeline: Current after sicbay

Cameron walked into the ready room, Kane in tow, this would be the first actually one on one that the two had since the fight in his office. One that he feels maybe should have been used a lot more, than what he has been using. Although to his defence he was usually on the bridge, or scheduled to be on the bridge when he conducted those meetings.

Kane followed him in to the Captain's ready room. His inner sanctum. She'd been in the ready room many times during her years with the Resolution, and never without the Captain. This was his space. This felt almost like an invasion of his privacy. Why were they here, specifically, and not in Cameron's office. Or anywhere else. She bit her tongue for now. He had to have a reason for bringing her here. They certainly didn't get a long, but for now, with the Captain out of commission, they'd have to.

Cameron sat behind the desk. "I know you don't like me Commander, and you have every right to." He replied as he sat at the seat. "This isn't my office, I know, this is his office, and I am not taking it from him... not... willingly taking his spot."

'You could have fooled me,' Eve thought, although she kept that to herself. She crossed the ready room, to the Captain's bookshelf. He had a good collection, mostly classics from Earth's history, many of which she'd read. She'd often wanted to engage the Captain about the ones that were her favourites, but it was clear now that he hadn't read any of these for a long time.

"Look I have a confession to make, our last conversation... I was purposely pushing all your buttons.... I wanted to know how much this ship, this position, this life means to you."

She turned then, now facing him. "And?" she asked, somewhat bluntly. It was a moment or two before she followed that up. "You did a pretty good job of pushing them." She hated that he'd so easily gotten to her before the launch.

"What I learned is that I should not be here Commander, the one that got the raw end of the stick here is you. It wasn't my decision, wasn't the Captains. You should be in my position, there are plenty of other ships requesting experienced XO's." He sat back. "In 18 months I am out of here, this is an extended temporary position until the Bismarck if built. Then you are hassle free of me."

"I know all of that, Commander," Kane simply said. "And you're damn right that I should be in that position. I've worked damn hard for my whole life to get to where I am. I know the lay of the land, and I know this ship."

He sighed. "But if things remain the same, and you aren't made XO of the Captains of this ship, I will fight for you to be mine. You deserve the second in command position. I'm just a rock standing in your way."

"I have to sit down," she muttered, shaking her head, taking a seat on the couch opposite the Captain's desk. And it was the Captain's. His injuries hadn't been fully assessed, so until she knew otherwise, he was very much alive. "You want me to be your Ex-Oh? After everything?"

"After everything... You fought for your right to be in my position, your belief in your abilities. Thats the kind of officer I want when I take command. I believe its what leonard also needs to hear when he comes around. This isn't really about why I am here, but more why your not. You have the right attitude, the confidence. Although jumping from one place can show one thing... I believe it to be an asset, even if it took longer to get where you want to go" he paused "I know what its like to have an XO always agreeing with the Captain, I seen it before on my last posting, and you know what, Its not what I want, nor expect. You have the drive and the determination that I would be looking for. Yes I know what I am looking for my previous CO made it clear on how to choose people to serve directly under you. Who you would trust, but not always agree with."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Greyson," Kane replied, "right now, I can't imagine being your Ex-Oh." They had clashed instantly. He'd deliberately pushed her buttons, without even taking the chance to get to know her properly. And, when she thought about it, she had to be fair and honest, she'd taken out her frustrations at not making Ex-Oh on him as well. "How do we make this work, while the Captain's out of commission?"

"Not the way I ever imagined making CO, lets just focus on the mission with the outcome that we prefer, work on getting these people help, the reason we are here." Cameron replied as he looked around. "Perhaps coming in here has been wrong, I have used the Ready room for my dealings on the Wellington far too often than not, I guess I failed to realize that this ship is run differently." Thinking about it. "Well, keep it professional, we have issues we deal with them. We don't have to like each other, in order to work well with each other." This was going to be a longer meeting than he had thought... he paused ordered them a meal each... god knows when they would eat next.