The Chief Has Arrived

Posted on Tue 2nd May, 2017 @ 9:23pm by Lieutenant Thomas Maynard & Lieutenant Coco Kiralbi

1,172 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night
Location: Deck 15: Chief Intel Officer's Office

He awoke suddenly with a cold sweat. It happened often to Thomas, bad dreams always filled his head, especially since his wife's accident. But he was awake now, it was another day to try and forget everything. He quickly got up, wiping the sweat away and getting ready for the day ahead. Before he knew it, he was up and making his way to start meeting everyone. He finished with the seniority before making his way to see his office on Deck 15. He ushered into the turbolift quickly, before being met with two equally glum looking people in there. He kept his head down without saying anything to them, and listened to them mindlessly speaking to each other about topical matters that he had no interest in. He was glad when the turbolift got him to where he was supposed to be. His office finally.

He opened the door and let out a small smile. It was hard to see if he was actually smiling due to the ragged look on his face. When he let out a proper smile, he had one of the friendliest faces you would see, otherwise he was ferociously stern-faced. He glanced at a mirror in the office, noticing the wrinkles which had started taking the toll around his eyes, showing signs of his age. His hair was black with streaks of grey. Although the grey had come through fairly early, he was glad they were still only streaks. If he was grey and or bald, with those wrinkles around his eyes, he would look so much older, and he wasn't ready for that.

It had all happened so quickly for Coco. One minute she was swamped in work due to the hasty exit of the previous Chief Intel Officer, next they've got a replacement. Maybe those clowns were actually doing something. She had enjoyed the fun whilst it lasted, well, she would say that, but really she couldn't wait to have some time to herself. If she ever made it to the next step of being the Chief Intelligence Officer, then that would happen only when the department is fully staffed, otherwise she might drive herself crazy. She heard that he boarded the station yesterday and was straight to work today, so she took a walk to his office to introduce herself and see what he was like. Hopefully he was alright and fitted in well with the whole department. She had a vision for the department to be intertwined in everything they do, to create an unbreakable connection between everyone. It meant for better work ethic, productivity and efficiency. She could only hope he saw that in the same way, otherwise her hard work for the past few weeks had been for nothing. She walked up to the office, normally at this point she would be ready to press the chime, but the door was actually already open, as if inviting someone to come in. She swung her head by quickly, noticing the new Chief in his seat, head down already deep in PADDs. She let out a small cough to get his attention, "Lieutenant Maynard, I'm Lieutenant Kiralbi, assistant chief intelligence officer. I've come to make acquaintance." She smiled towards him, her right dimple glowing as she did so.

"Just because the door is open, Lieutenant, it does not mean enter without permission. A knock would be seen as courteous still," He bluntly said, looking at her.

She didn't expect the reply back and was quickly flustered, "Oh oh, oh Sir, Sorry. I-I." She stuttered.

"I will let you off this time," He stood up and smiled. His face quickly changed to show a friendly one. "Lt. Kiralbi, it's nice to finally meet you. I've heard that you've been running this department in my absence and what a fine job you've done. I've been looking over the things that would normally have to be done when you start aboard a new station, and you've kept it in hand so there is very little for me to be done. Well done, Lieutenant."

She became more flustered at how quick the change was in his demeanor. She wasn't quite sure how to take the new boss. "T-Thank you, Sir. I'm glad you're on board now. We have a great crew in this department and they're all eager to please the new boss."

"I'm sure they are. If you was to pick the weakest person in the department who would it be?" He put her on the spot to see how she would answer the question.

She was a bit gobsmacked that she had just been asked that, "I, Er-"

"Stop stuttering and answer the question, it's simple enough," Maynard said bluntly again.

Coco couldn't believe how rude he was being, "No one is the weakest Sir, they're all strong members of the crew."

"Right, Lt. Kiralbi, I apologize for the rudeness of that question. When I asked it, did anyone pop into your mind?"

"Well...," She thought, and to her surprise, someone did. "Ensign Th'Urgye"

"Perfect. Why is Ensign Th'Urgye the weakest in your professional opinion?"

"Well, he's still young and inexperienced. He can be quite complacent and forgetful. Certainly not a great fit for the intelligence department," She stated, waiting for his reaction.

Thomas sat there, still stern faced, "And what do you suggest we do with him?"

"I-I don't know Sir," She answered honestly.

Maynard smiled at Lt. Kiralbi, his face twisted to a friendly smile, "Right, I want to challenge you to this; In three months time when I ask you again who the weakest member of this team is, it's not going to be Ensign Th'Urgye. In three months time, this ensign will be among the best of the team and in line for a promotion. This is your challenge," He said, seeing how she would react.

She wasn't sure how this scenario just came about, he seemed to be testing her and she wasn't sure how to react. "Okay Sir, challenge accepted. Anything else?" She could see it was a challenge for her, and she was ready to show what she could do, after all she had been running the place, but it was another thing to improve the place.

He continued to smile at her, "No, nothing else. You are dismissed."

Coco quickly left his office, not sure how to take him. He came across friendly and rude at the same time. Thomas meanwhile sat in his office pondering his next move. If Lt. Kiralbi was his assistant, she would have to step up and show him what she can do from his eyes, rather than listening to everyone else's opinion on her. He took pride in being able to train and develop the crew under him. It was the one thing that made him happy. Everything else with work was just work, everything else with life was just life, but seeing someone flourish under him fascinated him. He wished he could have said that about his Son.

 

RSS Feed

Comments (1)