Gamma Waves (Hello)

Posted on 19 Mar 2015 @ 11:42pm by Commander Norvi Stace & Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones

1,790 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: Main Engineering, USS Galileo
Timeline: MD -03 1610 hours

ON:

As Stace left the bridge from talking with Allyndra, she took the short turbolft down to Main Engineering and then the short walk around the corner of deck seven to the primary level of the department. She paused as the heavy doors rolled back to reveal the room as she then walked in to find Lieutenant Grayson Jones, the acting department head. She looked about her and then suddenly realised that she hadn't actually been down to engineering during her service on the Galileo and had only made the trip twice to the deck when visiting its sole lab. She looked about her from the Human/Trill hybrid before having to ask where he was.

As usual, Grayson was staying on a little after his shift ended, being his first day in charge of the department he wanted to make sure it ran smoothly. He did not, however, expect his day to be finished off with writing reports and completing lots of paper work. This wasn't what he signed up for. He wanted to be elbow deep in the core, tuning it up, cleaning it out, just getting his hands involved...not typing at a PADD. These, oh so pressing reports, forced him to hold up in a corner of Main Engineering. Grayson had yet to feel he had earned the right to use the Chief's Office.

Popping her head around the corner, Stace spied the engineer huddled over a glowing data padd. She smiled to herself and casually sauntered over, taking in the view of the small warp core as she passed. Stace was used to the grander, much laser engineering sections of the Galaxy or Sovereign classes, but this was something else. Beautifully designed and compact, every component in that space had a purpose and reason for being there. And it was glorious to the Trill's mind. "Lieutenant," she greeted him, a beaming toothy smile cracking her chin. "How are you doing down here? Using Kita's office as storage?"

"Getting through Ma'am. I don't feel I've earned the right to use an office like that yet," Grayson gave his own, slightly nervous and mildly stressed grin. The kind that makes your neck muscles strain and pop a little more than usual.

"Well," she replied, widening her eyes in a concerned expression, "that's probably for the best." She lowered herself to the same level of him and then with a nod of the head indicated towards the closed doors. "But for the sake of ceremony could we have a chat in there? You on the far side of the desk and me as the guest? Just to humour me?"

Smiling, Grayson got up, gathered in his work and with his free hand, motioned towards the door, "After you Ma'am."

Stace walked over to the office and then crossed the threshold standing behind the chair as she pulled it out to sit on it. She didn't wait to be formally offered but quickly pulled herself under then desk and watched Grayson do the same. "This is your office, Lieutenant. As Chief Engineering Officer, I need you to assume that title. I need to be able to rely on the fact that every engineer out there knows that. Being chief means that you can't always get your hands dirty, but that you are what guides the hands and to where. Without you out there can turn into chaos. This is your ship now. Your engine house. I don't want to see you tucked up in some little corner again. But surveying the kingdom that you rule."

She paused for a beat and then took in a breath. "Are you able to fulfil that role, Lieutenant?"

"Yes Ma'am. It is just a little adjustment I think I need to settle into. I wasn't expecting this so soon, and knowing it is only going to last for so long makes me think I can't blaze in like I want to, to only go back after so long. I apologise," Grayson said humbly. He never considered it that way, in his mind, he was still one of the team, not the one responsible for them. Now was his time to step up.

"That's exactly what you must do, Mr. Jones: 'Blaze in' and take grasp of what it is to be a leader in this department. And therein lies what I've really come here to discuss with you." She narrowed her eyes onto the man before her and then considered, only momentarily, whether to continue with her decision. But she saw a glimmer in the Trill before her, something that she wanted to explore. And his previous answer had just convinced her of its need.

"I need a Second Officer. And someone to take over the Gamma shift on the bridge. I'll pull a double on one of the nights, but I want to offer this opportunity to you for you to grow. If you can't assume Kita's office, you'll struggle with the big chair. But that's what I've had to do. And now I'm asking for you to do the same."

"I'd be honoured to," Grayson said with all sincerity, the weight of the positions starting to rest upon his shoulders. They weren't heavy though, nor cumbersome. If at most, they felt slightly...natural. It was an odd sensation that he would find very difficult to articulate. "Thank you for asking me and for giving me the chance...something that I think I needed to step up, take the positions as my own."

"Good," Stace replied sincerely. "I'll have your command authorisations changed to reflect your new position. And congratulations." She paused for a moment and then allowed her face to settle with a smile. "So, really, how have you found the transition taking up this engineering house? How are your crew?"

"They are a good crew, best in the fleet or close to it," Grayson beamed with pride, "The transition has been a little rough. I was technically still the new guy around here, suddenly put up the ranks. I'm sure over the next few days, there will be a few cross words, but nothing I can't handle, or haven't already."

"'Haven't already?'" Stace parroted. "Has anything been said, or is that just your unsupported paranoia playing tricks with you?" Stace understood the emotional perils of forging forth through the ranks. She had now done it twice over, and her previous incarnation's reputation tended to lend itself to more trouble than not. It was rare for Stace to encounter previous subordinates from her command, but when she did, an echo of inferiority always resounded in the back of her mind. And now here she was again, not only the Galileo's Second Officer but her acting captain. In control and in charge once again. And she liked it. More than she cared to admit. But she understood the journey.

"Just some tension from some of the crew when I first boarded the ship. It was dealt with though and things have gone smoothly...well, relatively smoothly ever since," Grayson smiled, the growing pains of rising through the ranks would have been blatantly spread across his face to those who had experienced it before.

"Then that's good then," Stace replied with a smile. "You'll always experience opposition and resistance when pulling yourself up the rungs of command, but that's 'human' nature. And there's no getting around that."

"True, true," Grayson let his words die off, realising that heading up the ranks wasn't the rosy picture he once dreamed it to be. The human element was beginning to poison it, taint and twist his dream slowly into an unpleasant subconscious experience . He would refuse to call it a nightmare as he still loved what he did too much. His eyes would have betrayed his emotions at that moment.

"Not at all what it's cracked up to be, huh?" Stace queried with a knowing glance. "But it gets easier. And the more familiar you are with the role, the better you wear the pips. I promise you that."

"More 'paperwork' than I had imagined," Grayson gave a short laugh, as he allowed his face to lighten up once again.

"And sometimes you'll find that you'll be pulling double shifts just to get the paperwork in on time. But that leads me to another aspect of command." She paused and then started to smile. "You need to rely on your subordinates. Which is why we're having this little chat. I can't do everything. And I'm not expected to. And you won't be able to when you're sat on the bridge. You have to delegate and not worry about who to. As long as the job gets done."

"There are a good few here I can trust that too, maybe with a bit more teaching and training to get things just right," Grayson continued his smile, his confidence was beginning to grow in the idea of taking all this on board. "I get very OCD about things. Once I establish myself, how I like things done and let it settle, it will be a very well oiled machine. I don't put up with no rust," he joked.

"That's a particularly admirable sentiment to have in the engine house of any ship, Lieutenant," Stace replied with a smile. "But you sometimes have to let people figure out your way just by allowing them to do so. Giving them room to make mistakes so they can learn for themselves."

"As long as they aren't near the warp core when they do it," Grayson laughed. The weight on his shoulders was beginning to lift...ever so slightly.

"Then that is what you must police, Lieutenant." She stood to her feet and then smiled widely. "I've taken too much of your time. But should you need any more advice of what it's like to grasp command by the horns, then come and find me. I have a lot of experience in different guises. And I like to help."

"Thank you Sir...Ma'am...," Grayson blundered over himself for a second. "I appreciate the opportunities you are giving me. I hope to live up to them, You certainly know how to bestow confidence on someone." He now stood to his own feet, his shoulders held that little bit higher, his presence a little more like a department head.

"It's not my opportunities I'm asking you to live up to, Mr. Jones," she said, heading for the door. "Merely your own." And with that, she smiled and exited his office.


OFF:

Lieutenant JG Grayson Jones
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Galileo

AND

Lieutenant Commander Norvi Stace
Commanding Officer / Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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