Meeting XO

Posted on Mon Aug 5th, 2019 @ 9:04pm by Commander Curtis Thibideaux & Lieutenant Day Smith
Edited on on Mon Aug 5th, 2019 @ 9:05pm

1,578 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: New Beginnings
Location: XO/2nd Officer's Cabin
Timeline: MD 002 18:00

After the launch of the vessel everyone had carried on with their regular day-to-day duties, Day hadn't officially reported into the XO yet, which she knew was protocol when joining a new vessel. After everyone went their own way she made sure to follow the XO to his office and rang the chime as soon as she arrived, which was not half a minute after the XO.

In the middle of changing his shirt, Curtis called out, "Yeah, come in."

He saw one of the latest arrivals to the Valiant step in and he pulled on a fresh shirt and smiled. " You're our new Ops officer, so welcome aboard. I'm Commander Thibideaux."

Day stepped into the room, caught a glimpse of him still changing into his shirt, didn't quite know how to respond, but stood to attention, "Lieutenant Day Smith, reporting for duty, sir."

"Right, at ease Lieutenant." Curtis said. He touched his monitor, linked his contact and gestured at the reader. A holo image of her record popped into existence and he pulled it up between them as he sat on his desk top and put one leg into the chair seat. He glanced between the image and Smith briefly. Scrolled through the record summary and nodded. "Five years in and a Lieutenant, assigned as our Operations Chief, so I'm assuming good fitness reports."

He finished the summary, then waved his hand and the holo image disappeared. "That's the official version. How are you fitting into the fleet in your past postings? Any personnel trouble or the like?"

"I've only had one posting, sir." Day stood in the at ease position, legs slightly wider apart, arms behind her back. "The USS Falcon." She looked over the service record, "After my services were no longer required on the Falcon I returned to San Fransisco and consulted on a number of projects, both civil and military, before headquarters found me this posting. No personnel trouble, as far as I'm aware my record is clean" Her cheek twitched a bit around the bruising. There was always trouble, normally not as blatant as the encounter on Starbase 1, but it was always there, in the corner of a mess hall, in passing in the corridor, or on the Falcon sitting right there in the Chief's office.

Curtis nodded, "Sure. No troubles on the record. You'r an excellent officer. But, I imagine you've had your share of issues. I tell all of my officers that it's better to bring troubles to me before I have them brought to me. The Valiants our home. Small ships like her build families out of their crews and I want to keep the disfunction to a minimum. So, my door is always open if you want to talk about anything. I'm the catch all so the Captain can concentrate on the ship."

Curtis studied her for a few beats and said, "So. What about the bruise?"

A moment of doubt flashed over Day's face, her hand shot up to touch the bruise. Not to cover it up or tend to it, but as an involuntary response to someone pointing it out, "That is not the result of an incident within the confines of the Valiant, sir." She quickly stated, she didn't want to seem weak or a liability. She wanted to make sure the man trusted her with the department.

"I'd think you a fairly precocious Lieutenant if I thought it had, Day," Curtis said quietly. "It still had to have happened and you're one of my crew now and I want to hear about it. Don't make me order you."

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Day wondered why she was so reluctant to share it with this man. It felt like a failure on her part. She was a Starfleet officer and yet within two seconds she had been face-down on the floor in the middle of a Starfleet installation. "I encountered someone on Starbase one that took offence to my existence, sir." It was stated matter of factly.

"Was this being a member of Star Fleet?" Curtis asked, shaking his head, then gestured at the desk chair next to her. "And take a seat, Day."

"This human male was not in uniform, sir. The situation did not allow me to examine him further." Day took a hesitant step forward and sat herself down in the chair. She say perfectly straight and mechanically crossed her legs, putting her hands on top of her knee, her implant infested right hand covered up with her 'clean' left hand.

"Alright. Well, that sort of thing won't happen on this ship. If it happens again while you're a member of my crew, you need to tell me immediately, Day and we'll deal with it together." He considered again and asked, "Alright. With all of that in mind, anything else you'd like to share. Concerns. Questions. That sort of thing?"

"While this particular incident was extreme it is not an isolated incident. I am sure you would not want me to inform you of all the instances when I encounter prejudice or discrimination. I feel you have other, more important, duties to attend, sir" Day calmly asserted. She needed to keep on this man's good side, he was after all her direct superior.

He waved his hand, generally at her and said "The prejudice and the like is back there. I thought maybe you had questions and the like about your posting aboard Valiant. Concerns about the crew. I hear that XO is a real pain in the posterior," he said with a smile.

Day frowned for a moment, "Are you not the executive officer, sir?"

"Why yes I am, Lieutenant. Thank you so much for noticing. And that was an attempt at humor meant to ease any tensions during our encounter and show that I'm a pretty good guy to talk to. Not that I won't ensure that your department isn't running efficiently, but there's always two sides of most things."

Nodding slowly, acknowledging that she understood what he was getting at, "I do not think efficiency would be an issue in the department, sir." She gave a confident nod, "Might I ask something to satiate my personal curiosity, sir?"

"Sure, Day. Go ahead," Curtis said, happy to stop having to drag things out of her.

"Would I be correct in assuming that you approved my assignment as the Chief Operations officer to this vessel?" Day felt it prudent to check her assumption first before following up with the more important question.

"Well, Day. You were recommended to us from Fleet. You seemed the best qualified," Curtis replied.

"Why?" Day took a moment to reflect on that question and decided to expand, "What made you decide that I was a good addition to the crew?"

He regarded her and stated, "First off, you seemed the best being for the job. The Captain and I couldn't care less what a being looks like or their past. Your record was clean, so no problems with that. And above all, Star Fleet was founded to explore...and that includes meeting new races as well as delving the depths of space. Valiant will be a diverse, tolerant crew where everyone lives and let lives, or I'll know the reason why."

"So let me ask you the same thing, Day. Why did you accept the posting to us? It's harder to be anonymous aboard a small ship."

"Truthfully," Day wondered how open she should be about her motivations, "I was eager to get out of... San Fransisco," she decided to not mention the fact she was still living in a mental hospital, "and the Valiant was the first opportunity to come by." Also the only one in the past two years, again a detail that she didn't want to bore the Commander with.

"Running from something in San Francisco or just wanting to a new start?" Curtis grinned. "Or yes to both?"

"I have nothing in San Francisco, except the facility where they rehabilitated me, sir." Day remarked, "Nothing to run from, but nothing to stay for either."

"So a fresh start," Curtis surmised. "The Val's going to be busy, so welcome to the family Lieutenant."

Day took a moment to conjure up a smile, which looked rather artificial, "Thank you, Commander." She uncrossed her legs and got up from the chair, where she stood at attention expecting to be dismissed.

Curtis met her eyes and nodded. "You're dismissed, Lieutenant. And for future reference, you don't need to be at attention when we speak or you come in to talk to me. If you're in trouble, I'll put you there. You're one of the Captain's Department Heads and one of my officers. You've earned some privileges. And I'm no marionette."

He smiled then and said, "I hope you enjoy your tour aboard the Valiant, Day."

There was a short moment where it was difficult for Day to understand the blatant disregard for protocol, it was something that had kept her feeling as if she was in control and she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to let that go, "Thank you, sir." With that she turned on her heels to the door and with two short strides, she stood outside in the corridor. First order of business now that she was officially on board and accounted for was to take stock of where the Ops department stood and where to go from there.

 

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