Ship Shape And Bristol Fashion

Posted on Tue Sep 10th, 2024 @ 8:52am by Commander Cynfor Rees & Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse
Edited on on Tue Sep 10th, 2024 @ 8:52am

812 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Interlude 1 Gamma Quadrant
Location: Operations Lab Deck 3
Timeline: Interlude

While the Firebird had some downtime Cyn thought he should do something that every XO has to do, but he had neglected. Check in with the Department Heads and see if anything was needed. He decided he would start in familiar territory with Operations. Rees was a former Ops Chief himself so this should be something that is relatively easy. He stepped into the Ops Lab and found Woodhouse hard at work. "Afternoon Lieutenant! How is the pulse of the ship going?"

Lieutenant Woodhouse's dark green eyes widened slightly at the interruption, then blinked a few times as they refocused on the jubilant greeting of the executive officer, a completely unexpected disruption. He rose to his feet immediately.

"Commander," the younger officer greeted as he clasped his hands comfortably behind his back. He cleared his throat, thinking about the 'pulse of the ship' as the executive officer had described it. "There are... several initiatives currently underway, as I submitted in the most recent status report. Did you not receive it, sir?" Though none of the initiatives that he could recall necessitated an urgent meeting nor were outside of Woodhouse's own scope. His words did not quite match the enthusiasm in Rees' tone, but were delivered in an almost flat affect.

"Yes Lieutenant I did receive the reports, I just thought I would come down and visit first hand. One of the XO's most important jobs is to make sure that the crew's needs are met. So, is there anything that you may need?" Cynfor never thought that he could be intimidating and yet a lot of the crew seemed to respond to him as if he was. He hoped this tour of the ship would change all that.

Woodhouse thought for a second, but shook his head. "Aside from more technicians, engineers, and raw materials... I don't believe so, sir. Everything on the docket that can be scheduled and allocated has been scheduled and allocated. You're welcome to review the the current schedules and charts. Would you like me to send them to your office?"

"That would be great, thank you. But, what about yourself? How is the crew and the ship treating you? Are you acclimating well to everything? I would like to make sure that everyone is melding into this well oiled machine we call a Starship." Cynfor tried to get the Lieutenant to open up a tad. This was something Rees had found hard to do with almost everyone on the ship. They clammed up when the XO walked in.

Owen frowned, almost imperceptively. "Well, for starters, we don't just call it a starship. It actually is a starship and... it's treating me well. Perhaps even outperforming expectations, really, expected given the state of our isolation here. It's a good crew, I would say also outperforming expectations under the circumstances."

"Listen, Commander, I understand what you're trying to do here," Owen said, unclasping his hands and crossing his arms across his chest. He paused, clearly weighing his words. "But I'll be frank, sir—it's hard to focus when there’s an unplanned interruption. As you certainly know, operations requires precision, constant vigilance, and... uninterrupted time. Stopping mid-task to discuss the state of things? It's not exactly conducive to maintaining that flow. I’m not saying we don’t need check-ins and I'm not saying there can't be matters that come up unexpectedly, but I hope you understand how these moments, however well-intentioned, can pull us out of a productive rhythm."

He offered a tight smile, the professional mask never fully slipping but revealing a subtle hint of the underlying frustration. "I’ll make sure the charts get to your office, Commander. Just... if there's nothing urgent, perhaps next time a heads-up would help?"

This was one of those moments where Cynfor's old life came in to contact with his new life. Cyn knew as Owen said that interruptions could be frustrating, he cam up through the ranks in Operations, being the former Operations Chief of the Firebird. "Yes you are too right, my apologies for the interruption. Perhaps if you ever need you will call on this old Operations Officer to give a hand. Unless there is anything you need to discuss, I will let you get back to it."

It was an awkward situation in those moments, but Owen was not unhappy that he'd drawn a line and somewhat internally relieved that the Commander didn't seem to take offense. "I would hardly call you old, Sir. Perhaps another time and place I would be happy to catch up with you." He nodded respectfully. "Thank you."

Commander Cynfor Rees
Executive Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298


Lieutenant Owen Woodhouse
Chief Operations Officer
USS Firebird NCC-88298

 

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