Personnel Transfer (Part Two)

Posted on Sun Dec 6th, 2009 @ 5:59am by Lieutenant JG Drew O'Connell & Lieutenant Cress Maven

911 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Balowlli System
Location: Chief Engineer's Office
Timeline: Current

Drew had just finished his meeting with Ryan Warner and Kathryn Martin when he'd realized he was close to his meeting time with Skanda Sheedy. He had planned to have more time between the meetings, but his brief with Martin and Warner had takne longer than he'd intended. Crossing the busy Engineering section, Drew made his way to the Chief Engineer's office and tapped the announce chime.

Skanda leaned back on her desk, reading over a shielding schematic one last time before going to review the modifications with Cress and Blake. When her chime rang, her thoughts raced. Was she expecting anyone? There were at least four people she could think of who might have reason to stop by, and all of them were welcome compared to the shield modifications. So she called out, "Come!" and waited to see who was on the other side.

Drew stepped into the CEO's office with as close to a friendly smile as he could muster. "Lieutenant," he said as a greeting.

The Chief looked up and offered a slight curving of her lips that could have been construed as a smile under the right circumstances. Most people didn't care too much of Intel crewmen, but Sheedy had always admired them. O'Connell always had something interesting up his sleeve, whether he conciously knew it or not. "What c'n I do y' for t'day, L'ten'nt?"

Drew looked down a moment before answering the Chief Engineer's question. He felt awkward, he had only come to Skanda Sheedy for favors before this meeting. Once again, he was here, before her, asking favors. Summoning as much humility as possible, a task not as easy as it sounds, Drew launched into his proposal. "Lieutenant, I'm afraid I've come to ask you another favor." Drew paused as he looked around the room briefly allowing that to sink in. "One of your new engineers has come to my attention and I hoped to transfer him to my department for training as an Engineering Specialist. As you know, my department has been short since I came aboard."

"Le's see." Skanda flicked her fingers over her computer monitor, bringing up the roster of engineers who worked under her. She quickly ordered them by the date they'd come into her department. There were about five that Drew might be referring to. She squinted at the screen and asked, "Which one again?"

Suddenly realizing his mistake, a habit of witholding information, Drew replied, "Petty Officer Third Class Markus Ramsey. He's new to your team, having just transfered from Utopia with the new crew. I'm hoping he hasn't hit your radar yet."

"Oh." Sheedy poked Ramsey's name, bringing up his personnel file. She glanced at the photo, then up at O'Connell. "I'm no' ve'y familia' wi' him." She skimmed the file quickly. Ramsey was qualified, everyone in her section was, but he looked no more talented than any of the other four she thought Drew might have been interested in. "Why 'im?"

"My interest is simple, Lieutenant. He seems a capable engineer for his level of training and he's impressed me. A difficult thing, as you can imagine. Captain Kerr is willing to approve the transfer should you also agree." Drew crossed his arms over his chest, a very physical indicator that he had said as much as he intended thus far. If she pushed, he would tell her how Markus had come to his attention, but only at her request.

Skanda inclined her head in acknowledgement of how much work it took to impress the Intelligence officer. She wondered precisely how her (she hadn't considered Ramsey hers up until this point, when it looked like he might be transferring) engineer had caught O'Connell's eye, but it was probably classified. That thought brought a little more curve to her lips and she didn't press him. If he wanted her to know, he'd say. "We c'n spare 'im. Lieuten'nt, 'ave y' talked t' Ramsey abou' th' transfe'? I don' wan' 'im t' be shunt'd ove' withou' 'is consen'."

"He is aware of the pending transfer, Lieutenant. I informed him of my intention before I proceeded with either you or the Captain. As you can imagine, the allure of playing spy is a bit more intriguing than scrubbing plasma conduits." Drew shrugged before leaning against the far wall of the office. "Not that he'll be doing any cloak and dagger work before he's properly trained, in my estimation, but the appeal is still there."

"O' course," Skanda agreed. She looked again at Ramsey's picture and imagined his face, eager to do something aside from random bits that no one else seemed to want to do. She mirrored Drew's shrug and made a notation in Markus Ramsey's file. "'S fine wi' me, L'ten'nt. He's all yours."

Drew smiled remembering that Sheedy prefered not to be touched, if their previous meeting was any indication. Instead, he tipped his head to her and offered a salute of sorts. "My thanks to you again, Lieutenant Sheedy. Next time we meet, I hope it's not so I can ask you for something."

Skanda tossed off a return salute casually. "'S no' a probl'm, as usu'l. P'raps nex' time I'll be th' one askin' you f'r a fav'r," she said, raising her eyebrows at him. "T'was nice talkin' t' you, Lieuten'nt," she said to him by way of dismissal.

Drew smiled at Orion/Ktarian/Human hybrid as he left her to her thoughts once again.

 

RSS Feed