A Captain Encounter of the Engineer's kind

Posted on Mon Dec 10th, 2018 @ 8:57am by Ensign Kara Hoffman & Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson

Mission: Season 2: Mission 2.A: R&R
Location: U.S.S Elysium - Mess Hall
2545 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

Phoenix was just wandering the ship. She often did after shift. And with the ship at warp to their destination, she had nothing to do other than wander and let herself be seen by the crew. Even when she had been the Operations chief, she had wandered often. It helped her get to know the ship and the crew.

Kara had been spending almost all of her off duty time in Engineering lately. She had much to learn and was determined to not let herself or the crew down. She hurried out of the turbolift with her Engineering toolkit in hand jogging through the half empty corridor, taking one turn, then another turn, sidestepping a man. She recognised him but wasn't sure where from. Her mind got distracted, she turned her head slightly to look back and bang. A collision. Kara's toolkit flew from her hand to the side of the corridor, whoever she hit was underneath her at this point. It was pretty evident to her as she gathered her senses, they were now on the floor. Kara huffed heavily. "I am so so sorry, oh are you ok? Let me help you up, oh i am so sorry!" She helped the woman to her feet, but when she turned around Kara's jaw hit the floor. "C...C..Captain i... i.." Now utterly speechless, she just stood wide eyed expecting to be sent to court for assaulting the Captain of a star-ship. She could see it as her mind raced in those few seconds. The judge and jury jeering her, as the sentence was read out. "Kara you are hereby sentenced to eleven years in the mars penal colony, for grievous assault against a starship Captain. you are stripped of your rank and privileges, for life." Her daydream faded fast as she snapped back into reality. ~Silly stupid brain, stop daydreaming at a time like this...~

Phoenix shook the daze from her head. "I am fine Ensign." She dusted off her pants. "Are you ok?"

Kara calmed herself almost as fast as she had gotten worked up. Straightening back out her ponytail she smiled. "I'm glad your alright. If you are then so am i captain. I was lost in my rush to do something, it couldn't have been anything important, otherwise i'd remember. "So..." Kara lifted her shoulders into a shrug and scrunched her face up frowning. "It was probably one of my holodeck projects." Kara smiled now relaxed and back to her chipper self.

Phoenix smiled at that. "You are part of engineering is that correct?" She had seen the ensign around but had been a bit too busy with the previous mission to get the full details.


"That's right Cap'n. I'm really enjoying the work, and learning of course! My first month or so was tough, but i'm settling in well. I have a few projects going aroudn the ship to expand my skills. Things i didn't get to learn about that much during the academy training. Holo engineering was one of them. Say Captain, i feel like i could use a break, what about you join me for a relaxing cup of tea in the mess hall? I realise it's not strictly standard protocol for the Captain to mingle with the crew, however I feel I don't know you that well. Will you have time?"

"I have time now. And I do not mind mingling with the crew." Phoenix didn't really hold to the aloofness of other CO's. She knew, and had always believed that the crew were key, to a ships success and wellbeing. "Lead on Ensign."

Kara did so, as they arrived at the mess hall, only three crew members were there. All grouped together, they all wore yellow engineering uniforms. Kara recognized them as part of the night-shift duty crew. She turned quickly away to try and avoid being seen by them. "Ah over here, captain" She said quieter than usual, and quickly hurried to a free table on the opposite side of the room. "You sit and I'll get us our tea, what would you like? Oh perhaps your also a little hungry, a small snack also?" Kara was now showing her nerves, she hoped it was not too apparent. ~Those three, why of all times now. With the Captain here too, oh I hope they don't see me.~

Phoenix noted the way Kara acted and said "Tea will be fine, thank you." She took a seat.

Kara punched orders into the replicator, and a medium serving tray materialised. A pot of tea, two mugs, and a small bowl of Feran Chag Grass. A meal made from ferasian vegetation, which was rumoured to be quite addictive, however the replicator did not replicate the addictive quality of the foods, which made it much safer for eating. Kara moved back to their table and placed the tray down, pouring the two cups of tea and handing one to the Captain. "Well Captain, um." Kara took a sip of her tea, and realised she had not thought out what she would even talk about. She half smiled and giggled with nerves.

"Are you settling in ok on the Elysium?" Phoenix asked her taking the tea with a smile.

Kara nodded. "Ah yes. Thank you. It's been busy as i'm sure you already know. Engineering is always such a hive of activity, it's great! There is always something to be done. I'm so glad that Starfleet accepted my posting here. I was surprised however. In my formal interview I was told it would be unlikely that i'd be posted on-board a starship, without at least three years experience either on planet or on station. I only had one year, so it did come as a bit of a shock."

"Well, we do not normally hold to that. We here on the Elysium, believe that quality is best and if you are selected then you are definitely quality." Phoenix sipped the tea. "And don't let anyone tell you different."

Kara sighed a little, as she nursed her tea. "Well, that's just the thing Captain. I sometimes do struggle believing I am as technically proficient as i actually am. I know i'm skilled but I suppose it's something I've been struggling with, especially on the night shift." She looked past the Captain towards the three night shift crew members, who were all whispering and chatting amongst themselves, occasionally turning a little to look at her. "I have a feeling you're about to find out first hand what can happen..."

Her voice trailed off as one of the crew stood abruptly, and marched over to where they sat. He was Lieutenant Holt, who was supposed to be the next in line for assistant Chief Engineer. However Kara's arrival had prevented his promotion and he had been vocal about it, in private whenever he could. He had deep blue eyes, some brown freckles and thick bushy eyebrows that were furrowed deeply. He put his large hands onto his hips and nodded his head towards the Captain. "Ma'am" He turned to look at Kara and simply scowled. "It's good your both here at the same time. I wish to lodge an official complaint, right now to you Captain." He had a gruff but steady tone that would easily command lesser ranking officers' respect immediately. He was known to be a bit of a bully on the night shift, nobody really knew much about his personal life though. Kara sighed and looked away.

Phoenix looked at the man who had come up to them. She raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Lieutenant?" though she was technically off duty, she would hear what this man had to say. She had a feeling, Kara was about to be thrown under a bus as humans were apt to say.

He angrily pointed towards Kara. "This...this ensign" He emphasised his statement again. "This Ensign. Last night during my duty shift completely ruined our warp core maintenance schedule. I had planned everything out for the evening and upon discovering a small, minor and non troublesome computer problem, this ensign demanded that I follow her orders to put the warp core maintenance on hold to deal with a minor problem. I am a lieutenant Captain, I outrank her. I refused to do as she asked and she asked security, SECURITY! To escort me out of Engineering last night. I want justice, I want something to be done about this! I have done nothing wrong. This Ensign doesn't have any leadership qualities whatsoever, but i do! I ask that you review her performance, and make things right I'm sorry to bother you like this, but i cannot let this slide any longer..." He crossed his arms and sighed, awaiting the Captain's response.

Phoenix looked him up and down in silence for a long while. She drew it out. And she made sure her gaze did not waver as it came to rest on the man's face. The normally warm blue eyes of the CO had gone to hard silver as it was obvious she was getting rather irate. Slowly, her gaze still on the Lieutenant's face, she stood. The tension was taut, and about to break when she did so.

Now Phoenix was nearly 6 foot barefoot, tall for a woman of her race, it was true, but the boots she wore, boosted her to 6f. Her now silver gaze on the Lieutenant, she said, her tone very deceptive in its tone "Ah, Justice is it? You want to go against the orders of your department's assistant chief just because she is ranked below you? I think you misunderstand the roles you play here Lieutenant. Commander Grronkil made the best person, his assistant. Not me, not you. He made that choice and as he is my choice for Chief Engineer, I respect that. You Lieutenant obviously do not. Do you know what I see, Lieutenant? I see a man who expected something and when he did not receive it, instead of figuring out why he might have been passed over, chose to focus on the fact that he was passed over and shove the blame onto a new crew member's shoulders. Yes, you outrank her if you get down to it, but she is the Assistant Chief of Engineering and thus, she outranks you. But as rank is so important to you, lets see if we can even things up." Phoenix turned to Kara. "Ensign Hoffman, please stand."

Kara stood from her chair, she was interested to see what would happen next. Lieutenant Holt had been a thorn in most of the Engineering team's side ever since she had arrived. Constantly refusing basic tasks and his resentment toward's Kara was known throughout the entire Engineering team, although no one had yet been brave enough to stand up to him, or inform The chief about his bully-boy behaviour. She was dwarfed by the man who stood next to her. Lieutenant Holt looked down to Kara, his eyes were wide open, his mouth hung slightly open. It seemed he had not anticipated the Captain response whatsoever.

Phoenix looked at Holt. "What is your name Lieutenant?"

The lieutenant spoke slowly. "Lieutenant William Holt ma'am". His tone was shaky, he seemed off balance and in shock. His cohorts on the other side of the room were also now stood looking over with interest.

"Lieutenant Holt, you are hereby demoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade effective immediately." Phoenix held up a hand to stop his complaints. "If you need to ask why then I suggest you resign from Starfleet before you are transferred to a station where you will be shoveling ice off reactors."

Then Phoenix turned to Kara. "Ensign Kara Hoffman, I hereby promote you to Lieutenant Junior Grade effective immediately." She smiled. "Your new pip will be in your office within the hour Lieutenant. "

The lieutenant said nothing, he simply stared wide eyed at Kara, then to the Captain, Back to Kara then settled his stare on to the Captain and a small gasp escaped his lips. His cohorts at the back of the room could be seen whispering to each other then the two of them quickly left the mess hall. From outside a duo of voices could be heard shouting. "YES, FINALLY!"

Kara was also silent, she too looked to the Captain. "Captain, thank you." She turned to lieutenant Holt. "Lieutenant, I know that you are upset about some things, but your a damn fine Engineer. Everything I do is for the benefit of all of us, the entire crew. Not just for you or for me. Not only just for the Captain. We must all work together and understand the importance of working together, we have hundreds of people counting on us. As long as I am assistant chief, you WILL have a place in Engineering if you want it. Everyone on board needs all of us. I hope that perhaps in time, we may even become friends." Kara spoke with feelings straight from the heart. Her genuine sincerity, and forgiving nature towards Holt, after he had cruelly tormented her and the entire team brought his face to an embarrassed tomato-like red colour. He stammered as he spoke. "I, I'm sorry for the trouble I have caused. I, I.." With that he let out a small sigh and turned, realising he was now alone. He began to walk away from them both, his head held low. He exited the mess hall in utter shame and embarrassment.

Phoenix sat down picked up her tea, sipped then smiled at Kara. "That is why you are the Assistant chief Lieutenant. Don't forget that."

Kara took her seat and cupped her hands around her mug also taking a long sip. "I understand why he was upset, i've done things out of jealously before. Feeling as if you're talents mean nothing. If anything part of this is also my fault, had I known the reason behind his resentment, I migth have been able to do something, perhaps not...who knows. A lesson has been learned here today Captain. None of us are perfect beings, we all have flaws. However without those flaws and ups and downs, life would be pretty dull. I'll give the lieutenant a few days of light duty if that's alright. I want to use that time to work closer with him and help him to understand the nature of teamwork." She smiled. "I'm sorry that our quiet tea time meeting got heated."

Phoenix smiled at that. "Its ok. It is probably best it has been dealt with."

At that Kara took another small sip of tea, thinking on how she would deal with Lieutenant Holt over the coming weeks. She hoped she could help him understand there's alot more to being on a Starship than command chains and ranks. She also was eager to pin her new pip to her uniform. She was so glad she was here, right now with her family on the Elysium. She treasured all of her fellow crew and held them all close to her heart. Her thought drifting to Gallia and Tayalas, she had quite a story to tell them both.