First Things First

Posted on 22 Dec 2015 @ 10:58pm by Ensign James Langley & Captain Jonathan Holliday

1,005 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo;Deck 1; Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD09; 0900 Hours

ON:

First things first. James Langley, the young ensign just assigned to Galileo's sparsely populated intelligence team, a man badly in need of a change in scenery who had just gotten one, decided that the first thing to do was to get down to business and report for duty to the most important of his superiors aboard: The captain.

The name Holiday certainly carried with it a very positive image. It also helped that the crew was, for all intents and purposes, going on an extended holiday. He had heard the captain was a very serious man but that didn't automatically make him a terrible person. He just had a dedication to duty and a focus required by those in constant watch over an entire ship's worth of people. It was with those thoughts that as he approached the captain's ready room James had completely thrown out all preconceptions he had of the man he was about to meet. He would learn everything he needed to know about Captain Holiday in meeting him face to face, which was exactly what was about to happen.

On the other end of the door the too familiar chime indicating someone awaiting entrance to his office played out for the captain.

"Come" was the standard reply of the man behind the desk. At least, behind his desk which was currently covered in other parts of his office which had dislodged themselves during their return to the prime universe. Engineering had more pressing matters to attend to than the state of his office, so for now Jonathan had instructed them to focus elsewhere and get around to this when the time was available. After all, he could always work in his quarters if necessary.

It became immediately obvious to James that the captain was way too busy for his own good. There was way too much on his plate to a point where even the maintenance of his office was not a priority for any foreseeable future. Fortunately for him, though, his new intelligence officer would not cause the least bit of trouble for him. Just a quick check in and then a bit of pleasantries whose length would be determined solely by how long he wished to speak to him. He gave the captain a salute and spoke "Ensign James Langley reporting for duty, sir."


"Ensign. Welcome aboard." Holliday replied, taking a moment to finish an item of paperwork before looking up to acknowledge the man across from his desk.

"You are our new Intelligence officer, correct? I'm sure the Admiral will have checked your file out already, given your shared training background."

James immediately made a mental note of the admiral's background in intelligence. Perhaps it'd be a handy icebreaker. “Indeed I am. I thought it best to acknowledge my existence to the captain of this fine vessel, lest I slip through the cracks never to be seen again by anyone. We can be a secretive lot sometimes.”

"Indeed." He replied tersely. He had been given enough experience with Intelligence over the years of his career, finalising with serving under one in the form of then-Captain Saalm and knew well enough their usual personality traits.

"Intelligence is a small department aboard Galileo you will discover - we aren't exactly focused in that area. You'll find yourself surrounded by a lot of scientists, academics, researchers, people of that nature. In short, challenging individuals. Be prepared for them."

“So I have heard. It seems it is a reputation that people of many fields pick up over time. I'd like to think it's the dedication to our work that brings this about, but I suppose it could be good old fashioned belligerence, too,” James concluded with a shrug. “We are all riddles, wrapped in mysteries, inside enigmas. Books waiting to be read. Codes waiting to be cracked. I guess, in short, you could say I'm not only prepared, but also looking forward to it.”

"I'll remind you of that once you've had a chance to meet a few of the natives." Jonathan replied with a wry smile. He had thought something similar when he came aboard but even now he found himself reaching to pull his own hair out from time to time. That said, he and the crew had been through enough over the past year of duty that he knew what they were truly capable of when push came to shove.

"I suggest checking in with your Department Head at your earliest convenience. Then it's worth getting to grips with the deck plan for the ship. She's not the biggest in the fleet, but there are plenty of opportunities to get lost if you don't know where you are heading."

“Meet the boss. Got it. Well, sub-boss, sir. You know what I mean,” James replied with a smile in kind as he listed off his to-dos for the forseeable future. “Memorize the ship like the back of my hand? That I can do. That way if I'm told to get lost I can state the impossibility of such an order. Is there anything else I should know about before letting you get back to your duties?”

"Keep your nose clean, don't piss off your superiors, and you'll get on fine." Holliday replied with a smirk. He had no better advice to offer to a new member of his crew other than to avoid having to be back in this office in a negative light.

"Other than that, you're free to go. Dismissed Ensign."

James stood at attention and saluted. He would endeavor to do all that was suggested save for perhaps a little fun here and there. But his was almost always an intellectual fun as the crew would probably find out at some point. But for now, on with the duties. Next: Meet the department head. “A pleasure, sir,” he said before ending his salute and exiting the room.


[OFF]

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign James Langley
Intelligence Officer
USS Galileo

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