Rants and Promotions

Posted on Wed 21st Nov, 2012 @ 8:40pm by Colonel Horatio Drake & Lieutenant JG Xavier Lee

887 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Drake's Office
Timeline: Current

ON:

Xavier was happy that Lt Col Drake had summoned him to his office, it saved Xavier the time pondering when was the best time to interrupt the busy commanding officer. It had been days now since Lt LeStrat had been seen or heard from by anyone in the Operations department and no one seemed to know what her situation was or when she was likely to show up again. This frustrated Xavier, him and LeStrat were meant to be a team, working together for the benefit of the station, this wasn't team work, this was the complete opposite. Xavier shouldn't have been too surprised, considering the way their first meeting had gone, this was probably just a big set up to show just how incompetent Xavier was at his job. Well two could play at that game.

He reached the door of Drake's office and pressed the chime several times before he was able to get his anger in check, there was no point making LeStrat's case for her. He would need to be calm and collected, or at least appear to be.

===

The nature of a CO's work, on any Starfleet posting, was primarily administration. It hadn't always been... but as time had progressed and systems and procedures became more complex, so did the paper work.

Despite always knowing this, Drake felt that the amount of paper work he had on Protector was, literally, never ending. No sooner had he ended one report, two more would spring up from no where.

A well deserved rest was in order and that was exactly why he had called the Lee to his Ready Room - the chime on the door informed him that his rest had begun.

"Please, come in" he cheerfully said.

Xavier entered the office and stood in front of Drake. He had never met the man before, which wasn't too surprising since he hadn't been on the huge station that long. He was a little taken back by how young the man appeared to be, whether he just looked young or actually was, Xavier couldn't be sure. His second thought was of Drake's charming looks, but he quickly pushed that to the back of his mind.

"Ensign Lee reporting as ordered Sir," he said rather formally.

Drake looked up smiling and was first struck by the black eyes the Operations Officer sported. Certainly unusual, but not unheard of. "Please, sit down" He gestured to the chair opposite his desk and stretched. A glance at his coffee cup told him that more caffeine was required, he headed to replicator.

"Can I get you anything?" He asked.

"A glass of water will be fine," Xavier answered as he sat down.

He complied with the request of the Operations Officer and returned to behind his desk. "So how goes things in Ops? Apart from the obvious struggles!" He smiled.

"Well that's one of the things I wanted to speak to you about," Xavier said. His words seemed to be coming out in a mad rush, knowing that if he stopped he would lose his nerve. "It's kind of hard being the Assistant of a department when the person you're meant to be assisting is never around. With all due respect Sir, LeStratt hasn't shown her face in days and to be perfectly honest I feel like I'm doing her job and mine in a department that's seriously undermanned."

Drake tempted a sip of his fresh coffee... it was still a little too hot. "Well, that's probably because you are doing her job, Ensign. Lieutenant LeStratt transferred out of Protector a few days ago... I don't know the details, all I know is that is was for personal reasons."

He paused for a second, for effect. "Of course, that means that we'll be needing a new Chief Operations Officer for Protector... someone who can get the job done. It'll be months before Starfleet send us one." He retrieved the small black box from one of his desk draws and slid it across the table.

"Don't think that you're getting this because there's no one else for the job. Both your service record and your colleague's reports tell me that you deserve this, absolutely."

Drake's words knocked the wind out of Xavier's sails. He sat there, dumbfounded, staring at his commanding officer as though he had forgotten how to use his mouth. Xavier pulled the black box closer to him and flipped it open. Inside was a small pin. The rim was solid gold and the indented middle matched the black of Xavier's eyes. Xavier knew what this pin meant but it was taking his brain a long time to make the connection and join the dots.

"Do you have a stash of these there?" Xavier asked Drake, referring to the black box. He knew this wasn't the response most people gave but curiosity got the better of him.

"I've got a few knocking about for special occasions" He joked. "Congratulations, Lieutenant" He said, standing and offering his hand.

Xavier rose in a daze and took Drake's hand. "Thank you Colonel, I won't let you down." Xavier grabbed the box and left the office a lot happier than when he had entered it.

OFF:

Written by:
Lieutenant (JG) Xavier Lee
Chief Operations Officer
&
Lieutenant Colonel Ashton Drake
Commanding Officer

 

RSS Feed