Time to meet the boss...lady

Posted on 29 Jan 2013 @ 12:50am by Lieutenant Aria Rice & Chief Warrant Officer 4 Cyrus Kiwosk

2,342 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3 - Security Offices
Timeline: MD 01 1700 HRS

ON:

Cyrus glanced up at the Chrono. He much rather be out doing rounds, but he had already finished three, on top of talking to Kiri, the poor woman really needed to harden up and soon. Cyrus shuddered to think what would happen to her had she had gone through the torture endured by both the Captain and Stone.

It was his turn for office work. Which made Kiwosk laugh considering he had been poking fun at Rhodes about PADDS. Now he wished he hadn't.

Letting out a more-than-frustrated sigh. He rubbed his eyes as he read the latest reports that had come in.

"Somebody shoot me..." He muttered a little too loud.

"No...if I shoot you, then how can you shoot me and put me out of my bloody misery?" Aria Rice said as she moved to him. She leant forward against his desk, reaching for a PADD. "You know, this is a punishment. It's the gods punishing us against having fun on shoreleave, Chief. All those days of drinking and spending time with new friends as well as old ones...this is what we get. 12 hour shifts and paperwork to drown in. Why do they call it paperwork anymore anyway? I mean...it's not on paper anymore. It's all computers, all tech. Can be hacked easily too..." she stopped and met his eyes, her lips curling into a smile. "Sorry. I'm on my tenth cup of coffee."

"I call it crap Aria, that's what I call it." He chuckled and stood up. "At least your Shoreleave was enjoyable, mine ended up with me possibly being fired before I even got a board." He glanced at another PADD and tossed onto his desk in disgust. "Don't we have that crewman to look over who slapped who in a bathroom. " He sighed again, massive shoulders visbly moving.

"Coffee?" He asked sarcastically as he poured himself another one. "I'm only on six myself. "

She chuckled and nodded, her eyes warm. "Sure, another one. And who cares about who slapped who? Let them kiss and make up over a drink...or maybe not, might get arrested for shagging nowadays."

As he poured her another cup of the blackish brown liquid he sighed. "So why exactly don't we have a full security team? The lieutenant said something about taking away security teams for added science personnel?" It seems odd to the former Marine. He had served on a couple of ships, but they were both fully manned war ships, A galaxy and an Intrepid. He had never dealt with a simple Science vessel before.

"I have no idea," she said, frowning. "We are fully staffed as far as I can tell...and on a alpha, beta and gamma shift we would be fine. I don't understand what he wants. Maybe he is testing us?"

He shook his head, Stone didn't seem like the type. "No, I don't think so." He looked at Rice and sighed. "It's no secret that Stone isn't a people person, a lot of his actions that we've seen as unjustified and 'psychotic' are reactions from a long period of torture caused by the Cardassians. " He sighed. "When I had my clearance revoked I had to do some digging, so I read his file. The man has had it rough...I mean rough . I think it was like five years under Cardassian torture, and when he finally got free, he was accused and charged when he returned back to Starfleet because of a ' failure to follow regulations.' " Cyrus brought his fingers up for to make quotation signs. "It's no surprise when you look at it like that why he does the things he does."

He sighed. "He is a hard man to like and a harder man to work for, but I think that he will need to learn to accept you all, and myself just as much as we are going to learn to accept him. " Kiwosk took a sip of the coffee. "If that means we have meetins with the XO and the CO in order to get comprises made, then that's what it will take." It was simple to Kiwosk, but Kiwosk had needed to deal with Stone more than than everyone else barring Theron.

Aria watched him for a long moment before sighing. "I'm sorry, but if he is that messed up, the Fleet should have sent him somewhere to work it out. Therapy, support...not here. And you know he won't accept us. Or respect us," she searched his eyes before biting her lip. "He thinks we are lost cause. Or else, he wouldn't try to break us. And that is what he is trying to do. Break us, drive us away. I am considering it, you know...the transfer."

Cyrus stared at her hard, he understood where she was coming from, but Cyrus wish he could explain better than he was. "you really think? Are you considering the transfer because of what he said, or what you won't admit to yourself?" He replied calmly. The studied her reaction, knowing full well how she was going to react. She wasn't much older than he was, but it was obvious that she had never needed to deal with a mission the magnitude that Galileo had survived.

Aria watched him for a moment, her eyes dark as she arched an eyebrow.

"If he thought you were a lost cause Aria he would have fired you the moment you opened your mouth." Cyrus wasn't going to play around with it. It was true. "If he thought any of us were unfit to work, he would have us removed without thinking twice." He took a sip of his coffee and leaned back. " I can't speak on his behalf, but if he thought we were all lost causes , he wouldn't keep us on duty, he would have revoked your clearances and be done with it, but he knows exactly. Just because he doesn't show us the respect that a typical officer might, that doesn't mean it's not there." Cyrus sighed.

She sighed as she looked at him. "You can't convince me," she said softly, but her eyes were gentler now as she watched him...more for his heart than anything else. "I'm sorry...but if he wants to show those things, he has to do it. Because I don't think anyone, not even my father should he have returned, can change my mind except if our new Chief...shows that to us. And he can't fire me. You know that it is all in the Captain's hands. He can threaten us, he can lock us up...but she is in charge on the Galileo. Not him."


"You're right, he should have waited...you'll find no arguement here." He nodded. "But you're asking for something he can't give because the Cardassians took it from him. That stuff comes back in time. Hopefully Sidi will do him wonders." He sighed. "But anyways, we all have our misgivings about the Lieutenant, but as a friend, I'll be honest." He leaned over to pour another mug of coffee, having finished the rest.

"You would be the biggest idiot I know if you transferred just to get away from him. If there is one thing that this department has more than anything it's that we work... as a team . " He pointed a finger from the hand holding his coffee mug before bringing it to his mouth for a sip. "Can't be a team and talk smack about him behind his back if you're not here, now can we?"

She laughed and gave him a lazy salute. "Resident moaner and whiner reporting for duty," she said and smiled weakly, shaking her head. "I don't know. I'm not...you know...I'm not the best at my job. You know this."

"If you weren't good at your job, why'd you get a promotion?" He asked simply. "If you weren't good at your job, why did you stand there and take it from Stone when Gabriel up and left?" He set his mug down. " You have problems when it comes from keeping professional and personal conversations and actions apart from each other? " He chuckled. "Aria, welcome to Starfleet. I could turn around and say ' you're an officer, act like one ', but that wouldn't get me anywhere....you're in your twenties, you're only an Lieutenant Junior Grade, you're not going to act like a Lieutenant right from the start, that takes time and discipline." He sighed. "Discipline, you learn from missions...look at Quinn." He chuckled. "Do you think he has always been the following orders to the letter type?"

"I don't know," she said and shrugged, her eyes gentle. "I just can't shut myself up, you know."


"You are too hard on yourself and you're not letting yourself have the fun someone at your age should. It's hard for any Stafleet Personnel to distance Professional from Personal, but it's something that you learn to do over time." He sighed. "I'm 25 Aria, my entire career has been in a marine corps hunting down Dominion Resistance..." His eyes glazed back as if remembering something before refocusing. "You think I didn't have my own problems when I first came aboard? You know I did. The only thing I can tell you is that learn how to act, from the people that have done it, but allow yourself the ability to have fun. There is always a time and place for it, it's a matter of know when "

She chuckled at his words, shaking her head as she considered it. "You know, I am not exactly brilliant. And I am having fun. Or was. Nowadays, it's more like...it feels like pressure. And you act older than you are. And you have more experience too. I just know I will never be as strong as you lot. And maybe not as hard either. Maybe that is why I couldn't shut myself up in the meeting."

"more lines of Bull, Lieutenant." Cyrus chuckled. " You may never be as strong physically as myself, or Theron or that random russian guy we got from Science...Peetriv? I duuno, the point is there is different kinds of strength. To become good at something, you learn to adapt your strengths to what you do, you turn your disadvantages to your advantage. " He downed another coffee. "I'm surprised I don't have an ulcer yet..."

" Aria, you mentionned pressure. Hell woman, I'm surprised you didn't feel it earlier. Security is one of the most important positions, we need to be professional and we need to look the part. It took me a little bit to learn that one. If you don't feel at least a little bit of pressure from that, well then that kind of brings me back to my other points. You're a good officer, rough around the edges, but those edges get polished through practice, time and paitence . " He studied her hard. "You don't give yourself enough credit when credit is due.

"And what's this about being hard? You think we're hard " He shook his head. "I have nightmares every single night that have kept me awake since my time on the Fitzgerald." He traced a line across his chest and along side his abdomen. "I took a grenade, here." He pointed to his side. "I should have died...I can't sleep or go near bright lights because anything of the sort reminds me of the flash." He shuddered visibly. "We all have our issues, for you, it's that you wear your heart on your sleeve...that is a great trait, but it can get you in trouble. That doesn't make you any less intelligent than anyone else. Your young, your allowed mistakes, whatever Stone says. It's a fact of life. It's knowing how to make the decisions, right the mistakes and have the willingness " He stopped and emphasized the word with stresses. "To make the changes. I see you being a great officer with a long career ahead of you, but that means needing to sit back and think before acting, which is possibly the hardest thing to learn."

She sighed as she rubbed her forehead, shaking her head. "I didn't mean hard in that sense. I meant in the tough sense," she said, knowing she wouldn't get anywhere. She wasn't ready to hear this and he wasn't ready to see it from her side. Which...was true, she was just a girl compared to him. "I'm sorry. I'm not exactly...in a great mindset lately."

"Take your time, I'm in no rush. You don't need to apologize to me." He smiled. "It boils down to this. You're a good officer and it would be a shame for you to leave." He stated as clean and precise as he could. "You don't need to be tough to this job. Only to have a big heart, the rest will sort itself out. That's what I really want you to take away from this."

He sighed, debating whether or not he should pour another cup, finally refusing. "If you need to talk, not professionally I mean. my door's always open. I can see I've spoken too much too soon." He smiled. "Give it time, you'll figure it all out."

She met his eyes, her own softening before she reached out, to touch his arm. "Thank you," she said softly, her voice quiet. "I...might very well take you up on that. When I am ready."

He met her eyes and saw the pain. "I've been where you are...it's not easy. don't mention it." He gave her a soft pat on the arm and poured her another coffee. "Now what the hell are we going to do with this bathroom slap-fest?"

OFF:

CWO Kiwosk
Security/ Tactical Officer
Master-at-Arms, TRT Squad Leader
USS Galileo

Lt. jg Aria Rice
Security Officer
USS Galileo

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