Congratulations

Posted on Thu Feb 19th, 2026 @ 12:55am by 1st Lieutenant Kayleigh London & Lieutenant Commander Etan tar-Lexros

Mission: Those who are left behind
Location: Resolution, Deck 2, Etan's Quarters
Timeline: After "What Did You Find?"

Kay hit the chime to Etan's quarters hiding a bottle of champagne behind her back but she could not hide the huge smile on her face about Etan's promotion. Of course scuttlebut had made sure that the whole ship knew an hour later. But she had waited until coming off shift to congratulate him.

Etan opened the door, and smiled as Kay walked in. He was dressed more casually than usual, but she could see that every panel in his room was working on a single dataset. He was obviously crunching years of data together. While he wasn't a 'spreadsheet guy', that was a part of his job. As often as not, he made it harder on himself through his earnest effort, bolstered by his (admitted) ignorance in that area. "Hi, Kay. I have some wonderful news. How was your day?"

She had wanted to shout surprise but now Kay could see how much he wanted to tell her himself so she came in and continued to hide the bottle. "My day was boring, just the same old, but tell me about yours."

Etan smiled and looked at her, seeing the way she was hiding something behind her back. He turned away from the work, saving what he'd done and closing the files out. He picked up the box with his new rank pips and smiled. "Well, my request to see Ensign Milton brevetted to J-Grade was, uh... enthusiastically approved." He made a soft chuckle looked at Kay. "The Captain decided to give us both our half-step. Ensign Milton is now Lieutenant Milton, and I'm Lieutenant Commander, now. We've also been given basic Intelligence clearances, but that is a brevet."

Kay felt a tiny pang of being left out in the promotions but that was only a split second and then smiled brightly. "That is awesome... sir. Wow that and intel. You will be intel officer as well now than?"

Etan smiled and shook his head. "Thank you. And the intel isn't a promotion. It's just so that what we're working with doesn't need to get turned over to the Intel department, and it lets Larissa work without being worried about finding something above our clearance levels." He shrugged lightly. "It just makes sure we get to do our job without Starfleet Intel taking over before we're ready."

"That's brilliant." Kay sang out. She felt like kissing him but of course she held herself back. "Erm, would you be open to talking to a.... friend of mine off ship about intel... he could give you some tips on how to sneak under starfleet intel's nose."

Etan nodded with a smile at her suggestion. "Of course, most friends of yours should be friends of mine too. No matter what their other skills are."

He shrugged lightly, leaning in slightly. "I'll admit, I don't feel a need to 'sneak around' right now. I just want to make sure that even though we're working with classified enemy data, we can keep records and Ensign - I mean, Lieutenant Milton - can work without fear. She's one of the best forensic data miners I've ever seen. It would be upsetting if the project was cut short due to clearances. I believe her findings will help save lives, if she's allowed to complete the work."

Kay was a little dissapointed that he did not go for her idea but hoped she hid it well. She knew he was not always the best at picking up those cues. "That sounds brilliant. And I am sure you will find Melor a big help on board. He is really a sweetheart for a half klingon."


Etan nodded, though he was a little surprised at the 'half-Klingon' comment. For everywhere that he'd been in Starfleet, his experience with Klingons was mostly through a viewscreen on the border of their space in the Cannonball. It wasn't so much that he had the opinion that some Federation people did that they were just brutes - rather, he just saw them as fine people, but best to keep at arms'-length. His idea of the world and theirs differed significantly. Still, he was a Starfleet officer, and therefore, could be trusted. "I'm sure I will. Is he a Marine too, or regular Fleet?"

His question was asked innocently enough, and without judgment. Compared to a lot of the Fleet folks on the ship, Etan mostly seemed to take an attitude of earnest curiosity about the Marine detachment and the Fighter Wing.

"Regular, he's been on board for a while now and I gathered he had a hard time under commander Price. Not that Melor would blab you know, but little sisters can wheedle information out of people."

Etan nodded at her comment, his voice quieter than usual - he didn't like speaking ill of people. On the other hand, the interim Intelligence chief had been little more than a misery to him. "He's hardly the only one to have had issues with Commander Price. More to the point, they were issues with the fact that he was not Commander Doctrine. She was highly competent on both hard skills and soft skills, and had experience outside her official purview. Commander Price, frankly, didn't. Given the expectations of the Intelligence role here, he was doomed to fail. His section looked to him for leadership he couldn't give, and others looked to him for information or guidance he couldn't provide. He refused Ops support on multiple occasions, too. Johnson moving in from Strategic Operations will probably have a much easier time." He looked down at Kay's hands for a moment, just to recenter himself. "He won't keep potentially dangerous secrets from the Ops department that might have seriously affected shipboard operations. And I'm certain that he'll be respectful about the power draw of the semi-isolated computer core maintained in the Intel department under clearances - the only computer on the ship that my team doesn't maintain beyond a parts inventory."

There was something to what Etan said that really felt like Price had given him a sting, professionally. While the Efrosian was friendly and kind to a fault, everyone had a limit. Obviously, his was that his offer of assistance had been so thoroughly rebutted. And for all that he wasn't a counselor, and wasn't the most perceptive person about emotions, he had his finger more closely on the pulse of the ship and her crew than most people would have expected. "I'm sure that Melor will be able to support Johnson well. They have a smaller division currently thanks to the transfers after Commander Doctrine left, so they need to be able to trust each other."

"You did not like him much either did you." Kay said softly. She liked him all the more for it. The man had been beastly to Toni and had threatened her family.

Etan shook his head and looked at Kay with an expression that bordered frustration. "In addition to believing that he could harm you, Commander Stoffels, and others I care about, he had a very different style of Intelligence in mind to Commander Doctrine. She was cooperative, and worked to support the rest of the ship. There is, and will always be, information best kept to a limited audience of actors, and I respect that. That doesn't change that the Intelligence division is part of Starfleet, their personnel are bound to regulations, and their divisional operation is the responsibility of the Operations department. His opinion differed, and seemed to have more in common with fictional spy media than a department aboard a starship. He believed he was above the rules, and outside the command structure of the vessel. Even Marshal Sorrel came to understand the value of submitting regular reports of the Marine division and the Fighter Wing to the Operations department while aboard ship before the full secondment of the Marine division's staff to Fleet authority."

He looked down to the table again. "Price's behavior was pure disrespect. Not just personally to me, but the ship, the Captain, and Starfleet."

He took a breath and looked up at her. "Oh, and I apologize for the impropriety. I was very glad to see the commendation for you in the Marshal's report."

"What, he is doing reports? I thought he was completely retired." Kay mumbled. "The old bastard." Secretly she was pleased that granddad Sorrel had mentioned her favorably. He seemed to be the only one who thought so.

Etan nodded with a smile. He couldn't help but be mildly amused at her comments about her grandfather. The old man had his rough edges that made it best for him to stay retired on the sidelines, but Etan could certainly respect the man's advice in areas he lacked experience. "Unfortunately, yes - retired or not, he's still acting as a liaison between the Resolution and Marine Command. Ever since I sent him those sections of the regulations a while back, he's been submitting regular progress reports on you, the Fighter Wing staff, and all of the other Marine staff who were seconded to the Fleet command. He could probably submit them directly to the Captain or XO, but he's been going through Ops." He shrugged lightly. "I suppose it's his way of showing respect without directly saying anything. All I know is that it makes the Personnel files easier to manage. When he isn't expressing outdated views, he has insights that I never would about some of the staff."

"That means he likes and respects you." Kay said with a happy smile. "I would never have thought that Toni's granddad would be the only one who would be on my side. We kind of had a hate/love relationship when we grew up. He called me a little pest more than once."

Etan blinked slowly at Kay's comment, his eyes focused on Kay. "He's not the only one on your side. I'm here."

She looked sad for a moment but then broke out in a smile again. "Hey we are celebrating your promotion here. Today is not about me. You are doing so great! I bet you will make captain before you know it."

Etan shifted uncomfortably in the chair at her comment, then shrugged. "I'd rather not, really, unless Captain Carey gets promoted to Rear Admiral and the crew can maintain our positions. I think I would turn down any promotion that came with an expectation of shipwide command at this point. I'm happy where I am." He smiled and actually had a light chuckle. "That's not something I'm accustomed to saying. But, I am. I'm happy to be here with you, and here doing a job I'm confident in when things go smoothly."