Similar Men, Yet Different

Posted on 10 Jul 2012 @ 4:51am by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 11 Jul 2012 @ 4:05am

1,006 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: MD07 1330hrs

[ON]


Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver knew he had to report to his Chief, and the Command staff. As it stood, the CO was busy and he did not wish to bother her. The XO, however, had some time. And he had heard about Lieutenant Commander Holliday. In fact, he had taken the time to ask around about the crew of the Galileo before his transfer took place. Holliday had an impressive record, rising in Security and Tactical. He had been unfortunate enough to encounter Jem'Hadar...something that Olly knew far too well everything about.

He pushed all his conceptions of the man he was about to meet out of his head and rang the chime, straightening his back before entering. "Sir," he said, watching the man before him. In his mind, he quickly spotted a few things about him. Olly had some height on him, but he wasn't as physically fit as Holliday. Different types, he supposed. The man wore his hair short and his eyes were very serious. The scar on his cheek surprised Olly but he didn't show it. Sometimes, people needed reminders of their experiences, even if medical advances allowed you to remove them.

This took less than two seconds and Olly offered the PADD over, the one with his transfer orders. "Warrant Officer Oliver Sylver reporting in, Sir. Here are my transfer orders."

The deluge of new officers was something that by now, the XO was pretty much used to. In fact, it was now so expected, that he had taken to adding additional time to the period he spent in his office just as a backup in case of an unexpected influx that even he had not had time to adapt to. Today it seemed, was not going to be any different to that.

Meeting crew at the door however, was a new experience for John. Usually he liked to be able to settle in behind his desk and take a few seconds to look the new member of the crew up and down, taking a visual note of their stance, appearance, attitude, but this time he wasn't going to get that option having been ambushed virtually as soon as the door opened. Taking the offered PADD, John quickly reviewed the orders before pressing his thumb against the scanner and authorising the transfer, before offering it back to Sylver.

"Welcome aboard Warrant Officer....you would be our new...flight controller, correct?"

"Yes Sir," he nodded as he met his eyes, giving him a small nod. "Although I have previously been more used as a specialist in regards to training. Or even paperwork." He finally lowered his eyes, letting the man's gaze go. He had been told by officers he was too much...in people's faces.

"Paperwork....the bane of my life unfortunately! If you turn out to be pretty good at it I might have to rig the rota to get you free to do half of mine for me....that's if Commander Saalm doesn't get to you first!"

He replied with a laugh, giving the warrant officer a pat on the back as he headed back towards his desk, longing for the position of comfort and authority that the chair usually gave him, before pointing with an open palm to offer a chair to the young man in front of him.

Olly chuckled as he moved to sit down, watching him. "Well, Sir, I will do whatever duties are assigned to me," he said smoothly, but there was clearly something almost playful about the statement. "Warrant Officers usually end up doing whatever needs to be done, regardless, Sir."

"You'll find on this ship, that's more true than anywhere else on the fleet" John replied with a chuckle, remembering how with such a small crew, it seemed that almost everyone had to muck in and help out with everyday maintenance tasks, standard shipboard operations, and sometimes, if it was busy, even with the cooking in the Mess Hall!

"It's a small ship, so we all have to work closely together"

"Yes Sir," Olly nodded as he held his eyes with a warm smile. "Happy to working together. And I can even cook...not that you need that, I mean..." he chuckled as he looked down, breaking eye contact. "But yes, happy doing whatever keeps the ship afloat."

"Good to know Mr Sylver, I appreciate the gesture. Are you settling in well enough on Galileo? Is there anything else you require?"

"It is a lot smaller than I am used to, Sir," he confessed and let out a breath. "And I understand I will also be bunking with someone, Sir. Haven't done that since I was a petty officer."

"Indeed, small ships call for small crews that don't mind sharing spaces...apart from the captain and I, pretty much everyone else has to bunkshare....I admit I haven't done it myself in many years either...one of the perks of the job I guess. Will there be a problem with you sharing Mr Sylver?"

"Not a problem, no," he said softly and held his eyes for a long moment. "Not thrilled about it, I have to admit. I am...not that good with someone that close. But I am sure I will survive."


"Well if there are any issues, my door is always open....can't command a vessel without a happy crew as far as I know anyway. If there's nothing else, I'll let you get on with your duties?"

"Thank you, Sir," he smiled as he stood, almost getting into attention. "Have a good day." He held his eyes briefly, his own warm before he turned and left to let the XO get on with his work.

Nodding to the young officer, John watched as they headed towards the exit, and his office once again became his own private sanctum. Smiling for a moment, he picked up a PADD, and returned to his duties.

[OFF]


Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

&

Warrant Officer Oliver Sylvar
Flight Control
USS Galileo

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