New Additions
Posted on Thu Jun 20th, 2019 @ 10:09am by Ensign Dana Wakefield
Edited on on Thu Aug 8th, 2019 @ 9:03am
1,199 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 7 - Home Again
Location: Operations, Main Bridge, Deck 1
Timeline: MD004 1530 hrs
Location: Main Bridge
Even after the reassuring ear of her friend, Dana was still unsettled, her mind racing, full of thoughts. She definitely wasn't going to be sleeping tonight, so she thought she would head to the bridge and check in with whoever was on duty at operations, no doubt she would give them a fright and they would probably think what the hell was the Chief of Operations doing checking in on them on the graveyard shift, but at least it would kill sometime.
Jayden was at the Operations station, Lt. JG O’Flannigain has come over to ask him how he was settling in. He found the executive officer’s wife nice. Not at all what he had expected, he didn’t even know what to expect he guessed he thought she would tell him who she was or something.
The doors to the turbolift opened and Dana gracefully walked out onto the bridge, instinctively she turned left and headed towards the operations station, she glanced at the young Ensign manning it and forced a smile, after all, she had to maintain the facade that she was fine. She crept up on the unsuspecting Ensign before barking "Ensign, Report."
Jayden’s eyes widened as Ameri headed back to her station. “All systems are running normal.” He spoke quickly, knowing his speech was rushed. “I ran a routine diagnostics ten minutes ago and all is well, Lieutenant.” Of all times to show up it had to be the one time he wasn’t looking busy.
Dana stood behind the Ensign, peering over his shoulder glancing down at the information on the consoles. "You have a zero point six percent deviation on the power distribution grid, I like nothing more than zero point one Ensign."
“Yes Lieutenant,” Jayden went to work to correct the issue. He made note of that mentally. “It won’t happen again.”
She watched as the Ensign squirmed a little, his voice rushed. She didn't know if he was nervous or the fact the Department Head was bugging him in the middle of the graveyard shift. "Which also begs the question, if the diagnostic was done ten minutes ago, what have you been doing for the past ten minutes Ensign?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Jayden wasn’t going to lie, he didn’t have it in him. “I kept an eye on the systems, contacted engineering over what seems to be a small hiccup with the engines and then Lieutenant JG O’Flannigain stopped to introduce herself as she came on duty.”
"I'll assign some additional work, there are several power distribution requests that need actioning and several diagnostic reports that require looking at, that should keep you busy at least. After all, you are here to work not chit chat" she said, glancing over at Ameri, before returning her gaze back to the young Ensign, who looked petrified.
“Yes...yes... Lieutenant,” Jayden knew he was going to have a heart attack. Was she demanding or had she taken a dislike to him? “I’ll get right on it.” Even though he didn’t want to look at her, embarrassed by his own mistakes he refused to look away. He knew he was good at the job but he also had things to learn.
Dana's stared at the young man, his gaze fixed on her "So, this minor problem with the engines, anything I need to be aware of?" she asked, bringing his attention back to the console.
“The duty officer informed me it was caused by their repairs they are currently doing.” Jayden informed her. “It hasn’t happened again but if It does I am to inform them immediately.”
"Are you sure?" she asked like she was testing him and his abilities.
“Yes Lieutenant,” Jayden replied. “I would contact you immediately if I knew it was a continuing issue.”
She simply nodded to show her approval, the young Ensign was right, and she was impressed, he did clearly have a grasp of Operations, but she leaves him squirming for now. "I notice you were in the holodeck earlier Ensign, do you feel the need to brush on on some basic skills? not confident in your abilities? Questioning if operations is for you?" she said, bombarding him with several questions at once.
“I was ordered there by Lieutenant Michael,” Jayden informed her.
Dana pondered for a moment, why had Paul assigned a new Ensign to the Holodeck for training, she believed on learning on the job, which is why she had switched him to bridge duty that night. "Well, don't be wasting your time in the holodeck, you have much to learn and I want to see what you can do on a real ship." she said, giving him a little encouragement "But if you do feel like it is too much, or prefer to be idle and settle for chit chat, I'm sure the sciences may have room for an Ensign," she said again glaring at Ameria. "After all, they don't seem too busy."
“I can do the job Lieutenant,” Jayden replied. “It won’t happen again.”
Ameri opened her mouth and shut it. She was pissed off but she couldn’t say a word. She would get her chance off the record at some point and tell the Operations Chief what she thought.
"Ensure it does not," she said walking from behind him, finally giving him a chance to breathe. "I'll have that extra work assigned momentarily, I expect it to be done by the end of your shift."
“Yes Lieutenant,” Jayden replied.
"Very well, carry on. Oh...and there is a full departmental meeting scheduled for zero eight thirty hundred hours, your attendance is required."
Jayden moaned internally. What more could happen? “Understood, Lieutenant.”
Dana again nodded, before locking eyes with Ameria as she headed for the turbolift. The doors opened and Dana clearly stated her destination loudly "Engineering." finally smiling when no one was to see, just to give the Ensign the impression she was going to check on that minor engine problem.
“I am so sorry,” Ameri spoke the minute the doors closed and she waited to make certain she was gone.
“It isn’t your fault,” Jayden replied. “It is my first bridge shift I should have known better.” He looked at his console. “I need to get to work.”
Ameri looked around at the others who were giving Jayden looks of sympathy. “She needs an attitude adjustment and I am going to give her one.” She growled to herself. “Just wait and see, Cruella Deville, we will meet again on my terms.”
Jayden heard her muttering but he chose to ignore it. All he needed was a second surprise visit. He had learned his lesson. No talking on the bridge.
A joint post by:
Lieutenant Dana Wakefield
Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Ameri Ó Flannagáin
Assistant Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Jayden Robertson
Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
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