Welcome to Chief-ness
Posted on Sat Jan 30th, 2021 @ 2:43pm by Captain Christine Applegate & Lieutenant Jennifer Matthews
Edited on on Sat Jan 30th, 2021 @ 2:44pm
Mission:
Mission 5: Research Team - Missing in Action
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: 2389 227 at 1145
This had been a decision that had taken some time. After all, there were many on board that could fit this. They'd only been gone just over a month and a half, and Christine hadn't expected to move so many crew around so quickly.
She'd already gone through one first officer, a chief engineer, still needed a chief science officer, and also a chief ops officer.
However, the captain, in working with her first officer, had finally found the perfect person. Laying the PADD on her desk, she tapped on the comm that was there. "Captain to Lieutenant Matthews."
Jenni jumped inside the Jeffries Tube, ramming her head into the metal grating that served as a ceiling. For the last hour, she'd been trying to track down an errant replicator glitch. Her journey had taken her across three decks, five Jeffries tubes, and a through a very messy science experiment. The search had been fruitless thus far, and now she was being contacted by the Captain?
Had the replicator issue widened? Had the Captain ordered a cup of coffee and received a salami sandwich in return? Jenni groaned and continued to fear the worst. She rubbed her head, sat cross-legged in the tube and sighed. Finally, she tapped her badge. "This is Lieutenant Matthews. Go ahead, Captain."
"Could you please report to my Ready Room, Lieutenant? We have something to discuss."
Jenni closed her eyes and mouthed an expletive or two. This was not what she needed today, being summoned to the Captain's office over a problem. "Be right there, Captain," she replied. "Matthews out."
She tapped her badge to close the channel. Jenni sighed and quickly picked up her tools and placed them back in her kit. Just before she started to crawl, Jenni wondered what she should do with the kit. Should she take it with her? Could she leave it here? It wouldn't be the first time she set aside her tool kit for a meeting, and it definitely didn't seem appropriate to take it to the ready room.
Jenni decided to leave it in the closest junction in one of the spare equipment lockers. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do, at least for this moment. She could always pick it back up later.
Before long, Jenni arrived at the ready room door, having taken the access corridor from deck two. She tapped the announcement chime and waited.
Looking up as the chime ran throughout her ready room, Christine sat back, "Come in," she stated a moment later, awaiting the person on the other side.
The door panels slid apart and Jenni entered the Captain's office. "Lieutenant Matthews reporting as ordered, Captain."
"Have a seat, Jennifer. I think the crew knows I'm not to formal with ranks and such. Besides, you and I need to have a conversation."
Jenni was still growing accustomed to life aboard the Medea, especially with its chain of command. Despite the Captain's statement, Jenni would still stick with as much formality as necessary. Besides, the moment she heard the word conversation, her heart skipped a beat. Was she in trouble? "Is something wrong... Captain?" she asked as she timidly took a seat.
Somehow expecting that reaction, mostly because of the way she'd made her statement, Christine waited a moment and then shook her head. "No, absolutely nothing wrong actually. Though, have noticed we are currently lacking some positions filled on the chief roster?"
Jenni would have been lying if she said she hadn't noticed. In fact, she had no idea who'd been setting the duty roster in the last few days. The Operations crew was small, but they continued to focus on what they did best, which was deal with problems as they arose. "Are you looking for my recommendations, ma'am?"
"Actually, I'd done some of my own research. Nice to be the captain sometimes." She slid a PADD towards Jenni. "Your name came up a lot, and not in a bad way. If you're up for it, I'd like you to take over the chief operations position."
"Me?" Jenni asked, almost stammering in her reply. She'd transferred to the Medea to get a different view of the universe than the Klingon and Romulan borders. A chief position was indeed her goal, but she didn't think it would happen like this. "I'd... I'd be honored, Captain."
Christine smiled, honestly glad the surprise went the way it did. "I was hoping you'd say that. You're the best choice by far, Jenni. You should already have all of the access that you need, as I put it in earlier this morning. You don't have to take the bridge post this shift, as I think Commander Ryan got all of that already setup for today and tomorrow I believe. But, up to you on the rest of it. And you can setup a meeting with your team whenever you want to."
Jenni blinked twice, both in a rapid frequency. She was surprised that it was all happening so fast. Not that she couldn't take it, because she could. Still, that did not stop her surprise from flooding her face. Most of it manifested in a wide grin. "Thank you, Captain. I, uh... I am somewhat unfamiliar with the bridge station, but that won't be a problem. Is there anything special you presently need of the department, or anything my predecessor knew about the ship and your policies that I need to be aware of?"
"Nope, you make it your own. The bridge station is customizable so you can put things where they work for you for the most part. Have an opinion on something, you can speak up. We tend to be chatty about random things on the bridge."
Jenni had heard rumor of the random conversations the bridge crew would have. In fact, she did remember a certain conversation about Tellarite back hair the last time she'd manned the bridge station more than a few weeks ago. She nodded her head, taking note of the Captain's general directives. "Then it sounds like my goal for the next couple of days is to get the department organized accordingly and get myself into rotation on the bridge."
Tine nodded, "Sounds like exactly the right thing to do. You know where the first officer and I are if you run into any issues. Welcome to the land of the Chiefs, Jenni."
Her wide smile still in place, Jenni nodded excitedly. "Thank you, Captain. I won't let you, or Commander Ryan, down."
The newly minted Chief Operations Officer rose to her feet, nodded once more, and departed the ready room the same way she came in. There was much to accomplish.