Meandering Details

Posted on Sun Aug 2nd, 2009 @ 2:28am by Lieutenant JG Ryan Warner

1,196 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Behind the Mask of Familiarity
Location: Corridors
Timeline: Current?

Lunch relief was a welcome break for a helmsman. Although piloting vessels often had a stark portrayal of glamour and heroics, it could certainly become a mundane task rather quickly. The CONN must always be manned, each course heading must be updated at critical points, the navigational array had to be fed sensor details and it was necessary to log each tracking waypoint. Indeed, a helmsman was always working, no matter how dreary space flight could be at times. It was only during 'crunch time', during those moments of tense manoeuvreabilty where flight patterns and structure control were the helmsman's responsibility. It could be difficult to find a challenge when piloting starships.

Ryan Warner had eaten quickly and was trying to make effective use of his free time. He was a secret workaholic, a dedicated officer who hid behind a sheer mask of quirky humour, sarcasm and small bouts of insubordination. Why? Well, even he couldn't say. He was stalking the corridors of the vessel, scanning a PADD carefully - making his way to the return turbolift for the bridge when he spotted the Archimedes' first officer a few feet ahead of him. She was hard to miss, anybody who had briefly familiarised themselves with the personnel files would recognise her instantly. With sleek, grey hair and a manner of walking that eminated that disciplined and commanding presence, the Commander was a striking individual.

Ryan made the decision there to address a problem with her. After all, she would know better than anybody how to manage personnel issues. It was better than poking into Captain Lane's office. So he quickened his pace, shifting himself to match her stride before clearing his throat and trying to gather her attention.

"Ma'am?"

Commander Rowena Arkham had been happy to finally get out of her office -- this mission had been difficult on the former Intelligence operative; it had pushed loyalties and forced her to choose sides in a way she had never anticipated. Things were stressful, and of course, her ruined features were paining her quite thoroughly now that Catherine was no longer providing regular maintenence for her prosthetic.

So naturally, interruptions were hardly welcome.

"Yes?" Arkham said coldly, turning slightly to see an officer she did not recognize. After a moment, she rezlized this must be the new Helmsman -- a man who she'd not met, but had heard of -- if only because of his disciplinary record.

"Sorry to bother you, I realise we're on an allocated break but I really just wanted to have a quick chat with you. As you know, I'm now responsible for the auxilliary craft and flight bay rota here aboard the Archimedes and I've been - " she cut him off before he could finish.

"Mr...Warner, isn't it?" Arkham rasped briskly, looking up from her PADD for a fleeting intstant. "I do hope you know I don't intend to break my stride until I reach the lounge, so you should probably get to the point, don't you think?"

He simmered inside but bit his tongue to hold back any rash comments. Okay, so the first officer liked to be blunt and too the point, well that was fine. Ryan could match that temperament with all his might and happily walked alongside her. He gave a small sniff and folded his arms, tucking his PADD beneath his arm. "Commander, the current rota is a mess. We need at least one more officer in the flight department."

Arkham snorted a little. "Oh, indeed. I also need to be unquestioned exalted ruler of all I survey and wear a shiny hat while I do it, but that's not happening either. We're a small ship, Mr. Warner. We are in no way the Fleet's priority. I'll file the request, but I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you."

Ryan merely blinked, then lowered the PADD and continued walking alongside her. She had chastised him but he had gotten what he wanted, she'd look into making the request. There could be some sane side to the command level of the ship, perhaps Arkham, despite her demeanour, truly understood the need for a personnel boost in certain departments. With a low-ranker running the CONN before he had turned up, it could have potentially been a problem in the past. He inwardly shook off his musing and, realising a mild silence had fallen between them, he simply mumbled a rather defeatist: "Aye, Ma'am."

Smirking a little, Arkham thought of what little she'd read of this man's personnel file. Rubbing her sore jaw, she asked finally, "How have you and...the female officer who accompanies you been finding your accomodations? A tad small, eh?"

"I didn't expect luxury quarters, Commander. I studied up on the R-section files on the Nova before I was assigned here, took some time to read up on the layout and schematics." He offered a mild shrug. "I suppose tight quarters were to be expected." They walked just a little further before he decided that he may try to earn some pull here, after all it was better to appeal to his new superior officer's interest rather than shun her with arrogance. Even Warner understood that. "There is an issue, though. We were promised two bunks to sleep in but the bedroom has only one double bed."

Arkham smirked a little, looking over the young officer once more. He was determined, it seemed, and from what she'd been told, a highly capable young helmsman, unlike the man who had come before him. A frown crossing her features, Arkham stopped for a moment, and replied coldly. "Young man, I am this ship's Executive Officer, and if you have even the faintest idea of what my post entails on a day-to-day basis alone, you'll know that I'm a very busy person, and I've little time for such trivial matters as your qoute-unqoute 'marital squabbles'."

Ryan merely stood there, he didn't quite know what to say in response to that. Many objective, almost insluting, witty responses crawled into his mind but he quelled them. Captain Lane could be stepped around but he sensed that Arkham was making her stand here and now.

"That being said," Arkham continued, her tone remaining cold, signing a PADD with a stylus. "Take this PADD down to the Quartermaster, and don't tell any of the other crew I found time to approve your request or they'll never leave me alone. I like my 'closed door' policy, thank you very much. But you've been forced into an...interesting situation, shall we call it? And frankly, I don't want to have to have blood cleaned out of the room when you two finally snap and kill each other."

A grin split his features, at least she understood the situation. Maybe with that little existential piece of empathy, he could twist her reliability marker up one notch. After all, it'd be handy to have someone outwith the Commanding Officer to speak to when it came to these problems. So, as a good boy should, he smiled lightly, straightened up and gave a nod. "Aye, Ma'am, thank you - I appreciate it."

 

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