Meeting the XO

Posted on 11 Jul 2012 @ 9:34am by Commander Scarlet Blake & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 11 Jul 2012 @ 9:37am

1,676 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: MD07 - 1500

ON:

Scarlet had to catch her breath as she pressed the chime to the XO's office. She'd rushed down the corridor to get there, as if the few minutes it saved would somehow make up for the wait of half an hour since she'd come aboard. In truth, it had taken that long to get her daughter settled and the basics of their things sorted out so she could be comfortable. She batted away a dark whisp of hair that had escaped from the clip in her speed down the corridor as she waited to be allowed in.

By now the arrival of new crewmembers had become almost a daily occurrance to Holliday, in fact it seemed that ever since they had left spacedock only a few days ago, he had found himself coming face to face with more and more new members of his crew. Some days it seemed that the ship held far more people than it was ever supposed to, and others it would seem as if the decks were completely empty.

"Come in" he called out in reply to the chime, eager to see what this encounter would bring.

Scarlet moved in to the room, but stopped a few steps in. She wore the counselling uniform and her dark, long hair was clipped back as she always wore it when in uniform. She also had a smile when she saw him, straightening up to attention, but more of a military stance than perhaps some Starfleet were used to. "Ensign Scarlet Blake reporting in, Sir. Counsellor."

"At ease Ensign" John acknowledged, moving his hand to a flat open palm to indicate the availability of a nearby chair if she would rather continue this introduction seated. Her stance had almost instantly gotten his attention as one he had seen the Starfleet marines use on a daily basis during his training with them before leaving to teach at the Academy - indicating something more than just counselling training to him.

"That stance...isn't what most Counsellors would use....were you always in the science division or is this a change of pace for you?"

"This isn't my first posting as a counsellor, Sir," Scarlet assured with a half smile as she moved to take the seat with a grateful nod. "But I was previously a psych officer in the Marines. Virtual cousins though."

"Ahh...that would explain it" John mentioned, nodding with approval at her posture as the answer finally came through. Psych officer or not, she would still hopefully have the discipline expected of a marine, and that, hopefully at least, would transfer along with her aboard Galileo.

"I trust your trip over here was uneventful Miss Blake? We seem to be receiving a lot of new crew at the moment - it'll keep me busy for a while learning the faces and names"

"Yes, thank you, Sir," she assured quickly, watching him with a small smile of amusement as she thought to the singing her daughter had done along the way. "This is my first posting to a science ship," she informed him, unsure if it was important to him or not, but preferring to let him decide.

"Mine too" John replied with a smile, glad to see that he wasn't the only one who had a more militarised background before being assigned to the Galileo. It was certainly a different atmosphere to the one he was used to on larger vessels, but certainly no less rewarding.

"Things seem to run a little differently here to in the rest of the fleet - I'm sure you'll find out for yourself on a ship this small though - news travels fast when there's less than a hundred crew on board"

"Yes, I can imagine the rumour mill works hard some days," she chuckled softly at that. "I'm here with my daughter, Sir, but I'm here to work, and to work hard."


"That's just what I like to hear Ensign - with the amount of work coming up in the next few days to complete our mission, I think everyone is going to have their share of hard night's sleep."

Taking a moment to recount his previous statement, John jumped back to the last thing that the young Ensign sat opposite him had mentioned. Children on a starship? That was something John had never felt as a particularly good idea...especially considering the relatively difficult political situations in some areas, the risk of a starship coming under attack was too great to warrant risking innocent lives.

"Your daughter? I wasn't aware we had any children on Galileo?"

"Then she must be the first," Scarlet replied with a soft smile, looking down fondly. "Her name is Lily, she's 4, although many days she seems to think she's 20," she glanced back up to watch him, her eyes taking in the reaction on his features. It was her job afterall. "I can assure you, Sir, she won't cause any trouble for the crew or functioning of this ship. She's used to life in starfleet."

A four year old was a rather different kettle of fish to the age of the people he usually saw wandering the hallways, in fact, he had never before encountered children on a starship. Although in the past he had served on Galaxy class vessels, during and immediately after the war most people didn't want to keep their families on board what would essentially have been a battleship.

"I'm sure she won't....just as long as she doesn't decide to go and play near the warp core or the armoury I'm sure there will be no problem. Can I ask...what made you want to bring a child on board with you? A starship isn't exactly the perfect environment?"

Scarlet held his eyes for a long moment, but gave a half smile as she considered what to say. She knew that she owed him an honest answer. "It's just us, Sir. Me and Lily. There's no father, I don't have any other family. She has to be with me, and honestly? I'd want her by my side wherever I was, so I could watch over her. Be there. I quit the Marines so we could have some kind of normality. The regular 'Fleet was a more realistic option. I want to provide for us, and I want her to know that it's good to work, and to be a part of something important."

Listening closely to her words, John saw that she was indeed a devoted parent as well as a devoted officer, a useful combination, rather than leaning to one side over the other. Granted with a military background himself he was not overly keen on having civillians on board, much less children, but he agreed silently that in certain situations it was unavoidable.

Part of him wanted to start trying to uncover exactly who and where the father of this child was, but for now, he was content to not turn an informal meet and greet into an interrogation.

"Very well, you obviously have your priorities laid out straight...just...make sure to let me know if you need any special arrangements...being the XO gives me a pretty good swing over most things on board anyway"

Scarlet smiled, laughing softly at that as she nodded. "Indeed, Sir. I shall remember that, it could be rather useful," and despite her professional nature, there was a hint of playfulness that was allowed to breath through at that. "For now, I'm just glad that we've been able to get a room for ourselves and don't have to share with anyone else."

"You're one of the few crewmembers with that perk - I remember coming aboard myself, the first thing I checked was that the CO and I weren't somehow assigned to the same quarters. There's such a thing as a close working relationship, but that would just be too much for anyone's liking!"

Scarlet couldn't help but laugh at that, briefly imagining what that had to be like. However, the Captain was an attractive woman, she would imagine that a lot of men wouldn't be particularly upset with having to share with her, in fact, many would be the opposite of upset. She cut that line of thinking off before it got her into trouble and she cleared her throat with a smile instead. "Command has perks of its own, I see."

Trying not to laugh himself, John took a second to compose himself before replying. The number of times he had seen that some officers were a little less than accustomed to having a bunkmate since coming aboard Galileo was starting to become a bit of a running joke, at least in his mind any way.

"A couple - although if you had to sit in a room with a bunch of Starfleet Admirals questioning your every move, I imagine you'd come to expect at least your own quarters on a starship....there'd be hell to pay otherwise!"

"Yes, if nothing else, I can imagine it to be more than a little stressful sharing with a command level officer, knowing that they would know everything you get up to," she pointed with a small smile of amusement, her eyes shining.

"Well it's good know that our new officers are as devoted as the old ones manning the Bridge. If there's nothing else I can do for you Ensign I'm sure you have other duties to be attending to?"

John returned her smile for a moment, glad to know that the latest generation of officers assigned to Galileo seemed to have the same resolve and determination as the skeleton crew that had left spacedock with him only a short while ago.

"No, that's all, thank you, Sir," Scarlet said quickly as she jumped lightly to her feet, nodding to him as she pulled herself to attention in respect. "For seeing me so quickly."

"My door's always open Ensign. carry on"

OFF


Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Scarlet Blake
Counsellor
USS Galileo

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