The New Guy Comes Aboard

Posted on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 @ 12:34am by Lieutenant Commander Jaal Jaxom & Commodore Finchley Kerr
Edited on on Tue Apr 11th, 2023 @ 12:36am

940 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Investigate the Chintoka Shipyard Buildup
Location: USS Blackeagle, Bridge/Captains Ready Room
Timeline: Current.

Per protocol, Jaal headed for the Captain's ready room. He was largely unfamiliar with the Akira class he was thankful the ship's computer could give him directions.

He approached the ready room door feeling some trepidation and tapped the chime as lightly as he could.

Inside, Finchley was deep in concentration, going over the communication messages that Isabelle had downloaded. Suddenly the chime to his Ready Room sounded.

Banging his fist on the desk he shouted "I swear to God, unless this is an end of the universe interruption or you're an Orion girl come to give me my birthday present...FUCK OFF!!!!!!!"

Jaal's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Got a live one here do I? he thought to himself. He'd been told to follow the rules, all the rules. He steeled himself for what he suspected would come next. "Lieutenant junior grade Jaal Jaxom reporting for duty, Sir! Starfleet protocol dictates that an incoming officer reports to the commanding officer first, Sir! And as an aside, I happen to know an Orion that would be happy to give you a birthday present Sir!"

I hope I just didn't flush this assignment down the shitter,' the Trill thought quietly.

"Suffering Saints" Finchley moaned as he covered his face with his hands. All he wanted was peace to go over the communications they'd brought back, was that so much to ask?

"ENTER!" he bellowed, removing his hands from his face and placing them on the desk in front of him.

Jaal inhaled sharply and walked in. He stood at attention in front of Captain Kerr's desk. "Sorry to interrupt, sir, Lieutenant Junior Grade Jaxom reporting for duty."

Watching as Jaal entered the room, Finchley drew a deep breath and said "One moment", then checked his console messages.

"Jaal Jaxom, yes. You're not as sorry as I am, I told the Officer at Operations that I wasn't to be dis...ahh, now I see why," he continued.

Looking back at Jaal he said "Well, you'll be just as surprised as I am sonny, you're the new Chief Operations Officer according to Starfleet HQ, congratulations. Oh, something else, they've promoted you to Lieutenant."

Jaal's mouth dropped open. When remembered to close it a half a second later he was at a loss for words. He managed to stammer out, "All right then." He nodded a exhaled sharply. "I think I'm a little more surprised than you... Sir."

"Right now, we have to park surprised, we have to focus," Finchley said, "This is your first Senior position on a Starship, tell me, how do you propose to build your team, and more so, how do you plan to integrate yourself into this team?"

Nothing like getting put on the spot, Jaal thought. He took a short moment to compose himself and gave his best answer. He hoped it didn't sound too 'academyish' but he had little experience running an entire department.

"I need to assess the the strengths and weakness of those in my department. Then bring up the skill level of those that are lacking. I would like to institute a program of continuous improvement to bring everyone up to the same standards. As for integrating into your senior staff, I believe I need to make sure my department operates at peak efficiency and can aid other departments as needed. Also, getting to know my fellow officers while earning their respect and trust while they earn mine. I know I have a lot to learn, I'm ready to do it... Sir."

"I see you have demerits in your record Mr. Jaxom," Finchley replied, "A warning, don't piss me or any of my staff off. Let me be blunt with you, you start with a clean slate here, everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves, but one fuck up, and you'll regret it... am I perfectly clear?"

"Perfectly Sir," Jaal replied with every bit of seriousness he could muster.

"Why did you feel the need to be the joker and get the demerits Mr Jaxom?" Finchley asked.

"Well," Jaal began sucking on his tongue inside his cheek as he thought of how to explain this, "It started out as just some pranks between me and a few friends... and it expanded to other groups... things, as you can imagine, escalated and... as it turned out, somehow, after all was said and done, the powers that be managed to trace these... antics back to me even though I wasn't always the guilty party. I have a suspicion that my pranking competition either bribed the authorities or falsely ratted out on some of the pranks." There it was, the whole tough tale. There were many more details but Jaal wasn't sure Captain Kerr wanted to, or had the time, to hear everything.

Finchley nodded in understanding, it wasn't like he'd been a complete angel during his Academy days. "Well, the pranks stop here and now, we have a duty to do and I need everyone focusing on that, not on who can outdo who in the high jinx stakes. I have a lot of work to do Lieutenant, so, welcome to the ship and I look forward to seeing how you get on as a responsible Head of Department, dismissed."

"Aye Sir!" Jaal exclaimed. He turned and left with a renewed purpose. He hadn't felt this way since he entered Starfleet Academy. He was being given a chance to start over despite his checkered reputation and he intended to make the best of it.

 

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