The Weight Of Command

Posted on 02 Feb 2014 @ 5:01am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake
Edited on on 02 Feb 2014 @ 5:01am

2,182 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1 - Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD21 - 1400hrs

[ON]

Scarlet cleared her throat as she pressed the chime to the Ready Room. It seemed the new Captain was getting acclimatised to his new office. It was an opportune moment to meet with him, so they could discuss their new positions. They'd be working much closer together than they had in the past afterall. She knew that he was close to Lirha, and she couldn't help but wonder if that would make things between Holliday and herself a little more - distant or awkward.

John meanwhile had indeed started to settle into the Ready Room. As much as it had pained him to remove Lirha's personal effects from the office, it was now his property, and as such he had the right to decorate it as he had seen fit. The old desk had been replaced with a much larger one akin to the desk he had left behind in the XO's office. Curved, with a black finish edged with dark wood, the multiple display screens gave him access to multiple data feeds at once.

On the walls he had replaced the Orion artworks with more appropriate images for the new CO, documents from ancient Earth cultures that he had collected during his studies of the old world. On the far wall above the sofa he had mounted two Kendo sabres, a reminder of the martial art he had studied for many years and used as a fitness routine.

There was still work to be done, but for now he felt comfortable. As the chime sang out into the room, he cleared his throat and looked up to the door.

"Come."

Scarlet moved in, pausing a moment as she looked around, taking in the new decor with a smile. She motioned to the sabres with mild surprise. "Kendo..." she moved to the stylish desk, clasping her hands behind her back. "So that is your secret, Sir."

"Since I was a teenager Commander. Something I try to keep in my repertoire." John replied in response to his new XO's interest in his choice of decoration. Extending an arm to invite her to take a seat in front of him, John realised that this was the first time that he had met with his own First Officer.

"I'm going to have to get used to being on this side of the desk I feel. How is my old office suiting you?"

A smile of amusement played across Scarlet's lips. "It's an improvement," she assured, shaking her head. "Although, there is no big sofa like in the counselling offices. Shame that," she shook her head lightly. "I would ask if it were a shock to you too, but you seemed in a similar state as I was in the Admiral's office.

"I certainly wasn't expecting to move offices quite this large and quite this quickly. Certainly the view into space is an improvement."

John looked out on the view of San Francisco mournfully for a moment, observing the hubbub of the docks as the Galileo continued her repairs and refit program to an ever tightening schedule.

"I'm sure we can squeeze a couch in my old office if you need it?"

Scarlet gave a half smile and a wave of a hand. "We shall wait and see. I suppose it will depend how many people will feel the need to lie down on it and recover after a dressing down," she said lightly. "Speaking of which, I thought you could tell me about what you need from me as your First Officer," she shook her head lightly at the words. It still felt surreal.

John hadn't gotten as far as to think about what he would require from a First Officer. Up until today he had never had the need for an XO, let alone actually have to choose one.

"Well, I need an XO that keeps in contact with the crew - the Captain commands, and the XO executes those orders....does that make any sense at all?"

John chose not to bombard her with all his requirements straight off the bat but rather work through them in some sort of order, at least that way he could get his rambling thoughts into some semblance of order before continuing.

"Yes, Sir," she nodded with a slight frown of concentration, crossing her legs to lean forward on her knee. "A link between the crew and Captain. I'll also make sure to keep you in the loop of anything brought to my attention by the crew, of course."

"Furthermore - I need someone to take some of the weight of shipboard Admin off of my hands - when I served Commodore Saalm I absorbed a portion of her paperwork to free her up for higher level tasks - I presume an extra bonus in your workload is acceptable if need be? This...is going a learning curve for us both I feel."

Scarlet gave a slight laugh at the way he put it, arching an eyebrow as she nodded. "Understood, Sir. Frankly, the work load I had before as both Second Officer and Department Chief was steep; I was essentially pulling two duties and then going home to take care of my daughter. Sleep became a myth," she gave him a small, wry smile. "Paperwork, I can deal with."

John could not help but laugh at the Commander's comments. He himself had no experience of parenting with no family of his own to speak of. Not being married or having his own children, coupled with being an only child meant his knowledge of child rearing was about equal to a Ferengi's knowledge of charity.

"It sounds like you're going to be the most valuable asset on this ship in that case Commander Blake. My real issue is knowing whether or not the crew are settling into the new structure - a lot of them are young, or have served with Commodore Saalm for a long time - I have concerns about how they are going to adapt to my leadership style. I'm sure you know it isn't quite as....fluid..as our previous CO. A personal request - if I start to look like an ass, please tell me?"

"That's not going to happen," Scarlet assured with a soft laugh all the same, shaking her head as she motioned to him. "You have a different style, that's definitely true, but sometimes a hardarse is needed, no offence, Sir," it was oddly clear in the way she said it that it was a compliment and that she admired it in him. "The crew will adapt. You won't look like an ass; I've seen enough officers like that to know what they look like. They're not like you."

John smiled at the reassurance his XO was giving him - already stepping up to her new job role to keep him out of trouble as best she could.

"Thank you Commander - I will take your word on the matter. Other than that, I feel we are going to have to figure this out as we go along - I feel like a new parent being handed their firstborn - not entirely sure what I should exactly be doing with it."

"Yeah, I remember that feeling," Scarlet chuckled softly, shaking her head at the memory. "I thought it could make sense, considering our small counselling staff, if I were to still do some counselling sessions with the crew. Obviously, not the management of the department, just literally one on one therapy sessions when needed and it would no doubt only take a small proportion of my time. It would be useful when the annual psych reports roll round, when we get a number of new crew at the same time and it would mean I can still treat the patients I've built up a relationship with."

"I believe your counselling background is likely to be useful in smoothing over some of the rough edges of this transition. Between you and me I doubt my command style is particularly popular with some of our crew."

John signed and leant back in his chair, allowing the padding to take his body weight as he thought on the matter. Lirha had always ran a little more of a relaxed command style than Holliday was used to, and he knew as soon as he started trying to put his stamp on the Galileo, there was going to be some degree of resistance.

"I wouldn't be so sure. People often respect authority," she pointed out with honest eyes. "It can make people feel - safe, that things are in hand. And even if they don't? Well, they shouldn't have signed up to serve, Starfleet's core relies on rank and authority," she shrugged. Yeah, she'd had to deal with a few bastard officers in her time, mostly on the Marine side though. There was a difference between running a tight ship and just being a hard arse without the correct instinct and so ended up making the wrong decision. The first got things done and kept things together, the second was just a bad officer that ended up getting people killed. It was clear John was the first. "But I will do my best to - ease tensions that might pull, should they develop. Of course, I'll have your back. Meaning..." she hesitated, unsure if he'd considered the next, or how pleased he would be, "that I will ensure you don't endanger yourself, especially in terms of Away Missions," she watched him carefully. She just had a feeling that Holliday would be drawn to the action of leading Away Missions. And part of her job was to try and pull him away from it.

"Ah yes....it will be you undoubtedly leading our teams in the field next time we step into space. I envy you Commander."

John had not thought overly on the changes coming in as far as his duties were concerned. He had become so used to taking the lead at every opportunity for an away mission that he had forgotten it would no longer be his responsibility.

"Can't have captains wandering about aimlessly on desolate planets now can we?"

"Yes, I doubt I'd keep my job long either, if I let you perish," she tilted her head with a small, playful smile. "The bridge though? She's all yours now," she said gently, mentioning the part that most people would crave for at some point in the career.

"Still doesn't feel like it though. I keep waiting to see Commodore Saalm waltz in and take her seat...I mean my seat."

John had to laugh at the ridiculousness of his thought, but still it felt right. Every time he had stepped foot on the Bridge recently his instinct had been to take the XO's chair rather than his latest position. That chair, even though about to be replaced with the rest of the Bridge module during Galileo's refit, still felt like it belonged to her.

"I guess old habits die hard."

"I bet after a month or two of being back out on mission, you won't even remember what it was like not having that seat," she assured with a small, knowing smile.

"I'm sure you are right Commander. You have a chair of your own to get used to. That XO position looks like it is going to suit you."

The Captain replied with his own smile, he knew that before he realised it, the CO chair would become like a second skin, and he would be as part of the Galileo as the bulkheads and the warp core itself.

"You're right there," Scarlet laughed, shaking her head and looking down with awe. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled. I can't hide it, I'm a career driven woman. But...I hadn't expected it so quickly. I'm sort of thrilled by the challenge, but feeling the weight of the responsibility too."

"Well at least I'm not on my own." John replied appreciatively. Knowing that he was not the only one aboard the ship struggling with his new duties, or at least coming to terms with them, was a great weight off his shoulders.

"Don't let the ramblings of your CO keep you here Commander - I'm sure you have plenty of things to be getting on with. Unless there was anything else you needed?"

"No, I think we've hammered it out," she smiled, getting to her feet before offering her hand across to him. "I look forward to getting this ship underway."

Taking her hand in his, the Captain felt as if as weight had lifted from his shoulders as a result of their conversation. With a smile, he released his grip.

"As do I Commander. Carry on."

"Thank you, Sir," Scarlet nodded briskly to him, but offered a small, knowing smile as she let herself out. Without knowing it, she was sharing the same sense of weight lifting as he had.


[OFF]

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

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