"Impress the skipper"

Posted on Thu Oct 29th, 2020 @ 4:12pm by

Mission: Welcome Aboard
Location: Captain's Ready Room, Main Bridge, Deck 1 USS Resolution

"Impress the skipper"
Captain Matthew Leonard, Commanding Officer
Lieutenant Bliss Hawkins, Chief Flight Controller

*****
Now, 2372
Captain's Ready Room, Main Bridge
Deck 1, USS Resolution

Matt stood in the Ready Room, pleased that they hadn't changed too much about his personal sanctuary. It had received a coat of paint, and they had replaced the carpet, as they had also done on the bridge, but aside from that, it was still pretty much the same. There were still the small models of the Kielce, and the Argentina - his first two Commands - and the small bookshelf containing his own small library of books in the corner. He probably wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, but he was a little disappointed in himself that none of them had moved since he'd put them there shortly after taking Command.

His thoughts drifted back to that first day again, and the first meeting that he'd had in this ready room. He didn't know why he was feeling so nostalgic lately. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had now Commanded the Resolution for eight years. Indeed, that particular anniversary passed just over 6 weeks earlier. Perhaps it was also because both the Kielce and the Argentina had recently been decommissioned, a clear sign of the passage of time since he'd first become a Captain, some 19 years earlier...

*****
Then, 2364
Captain's Ready Room, Main Bridge
Deck 1, USS Resolution

Whilst waiting for his appointment with Counsellor Stoffels, the Captain had been reviewing crew orders issued by the ships previous Commander. He didn't want his early actions to be countermanding crew orders, or issuing the crew with orders that they had already received. It seemed to him, that most of the crew knew what they were doing, and he was happy to leave them at that. Sat inside his office, he was also studying personnel files, hoping to get the chance to familiarise himself with his Crew, at least until he had the chance to meet them all properly.

Meanwhile, outside the ready room, a tall blonde human woman contemplated the keypad as if it were a three dimensional tactical formula. She tapped her thigh with the padd in her hand nervously. This was another new captain, and she wanted to make a good impression. After a long moment of hesitation and a deep calming breath, she stabbed the button to seek entry.

"Enter," the Captain called out, looking up at the door. Was this the Counsellor he had been waiting for. When the officer entered wearing the red uniform, he had to admit to being a little relieved at not having to rush into a Counselling session. He'd barely been aboard for half an hour. No one in the history of Starfleet had been to counselling that quickly. "Come in Lieutenant, have a seat." He offered the seat opposite.

"Thank you, sir..." The tall blonde strode into the room with a confidence she didn't truly feel. One misstep here, and she could be booted off the ship and jockeying shuttles between Utopia Planitia and Titan. She nearly shivered at the very thought. She sat down gracefully and folded her legs next to her.

Matt couldn't miss the discomfort in her body language. Clearly, she was uneasy at meeting him. "What can I do for you?" the Captain asked, straight to the point. Hopefully, his straight to business attitude would help to settle her down. The last thing he needed was for his staff to be uneasy around him.

"I'm Bliss Hawkins, Chief Flight Controller. I wanted to get you up to speed on what my team has been doing to prepare for action." She slid the padd over to him from her side of the desk. "Here's my report, but the bullet point is we're making strides to reach our goals."

Without looking at the PADD, the Captain asked, "and what are your goals Lieutenant? What targets have you set for your department?"

Bliss smiled with a little more warmth despite the direct look from the captain. "Primary goal is to have our department fully integrated with tactical for any and all scenarios... at least ones we can devise. That is admittedly a tall order given our time frame, but I'm an ambitious sort."

"Which plays into my secondary goal... to impress the new skipper and eventually get his job... or at least, a command of my own."

The Captain nodded, not showing his amusement. He had to admit, to himself at least, that he liked this one. "And how do you believe that's going Lieutenant?" Matt finally asked, after a few moments, leaning back in the chair...

*****

Indeed, Matt had to admit, Hawkins had developed into one of his best people of the past 8 years. Her confidence and her desire to be better, and to strive for excellence in all of her endeavours had led to her becoming a strong command level officer, a role that she had sunk her teeth into when he'd appointed her as Second Officer last year. She had been amongst the candidates to become his Executive Officer, but she had accepted Commander Reeves' offer to follow him to his new Command, and become his new Exec. It had been a pleasure to watch her, and the others as well, grow into their roles, and move on to better things after they left. He had been glad to have been a part of their successes. He hoped for the same over the coming years with this new crew.