Sorry to Bother You

Posted on 30 Oct 2012 @ 9:27am by Lieutenant Kiri Cho

2,843 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 4; Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: MD3, 1230 hours

[ON]

Maenad was sitting behind her desk and was now sifting through the department's crew manifest. By the looks of things, she was lucky to be the head of such a varied group of people. It was better to have a diversity of subjects in which her people specialised than a bunch of like-minded officers. She smiled, sitting back in her chair and looking out the window toward the colony in the distance; she would meet the section heads this afternoon, in fact - putting real faces to the names she was reading.

She reached for the glass of ice-water she'd been sipping and took a drink, holding the glass in her lap as she stared outside. Ensign Cho had sent her the report she had asked for about an hour ago, and Maenad had just finishing going through it. There were a lot of problems and a lot of things wrong with the department, but none were unrepairable. Cho's report made her confident that by the time the ship lifted off again, things would be back or close to normal.

Maenad tapped her commbadge. "Ensign Cho, this is Lieutenant Panne; when you have a moment, come by my office please. I'd like to talk to you about your report and our meeting this afternoon. We need a chance to properly acquaint ourselves beforehand, I think."

Kiri had gotten suck into programming, it took several seconds for her to work out what time it was. Progress was good, the interruption unexpected, looking to Quinn still deep in his work she pressed her combadge, "Right away sir." Saving her work and locking down her panel she made sure to take a copy of what they had so far on a pad. Promptly walking three doors down to the Chief Science Officer's Office and pressing the door chime. Waiting with her fingers tapping on the back of the pad, not really sure what the request for her presence was about.

Maenad barely had time to drink another sip of her water before Kiri was at her door. "Come," she said. At the sight of her she stood, gesturing for a chair in front of the desk. "That was fast."

Nerves starting to show a little the Ensign headed towards the seat rather gingerly, "I was in the Conference Room Sir," It really wasn't that far away, not that anywhere on the ship was. At a guess Kiri would say the longest it would take her to get anywhere using the turbolifts would be forty seconds. Dark hair in a neat low pony tail she took the seat and placed the pad in her lap and remained silent.

"Ah," Maenad inclined her head. "What were you doing?"

"Designing an improved sensor system for the ship, to update it to the highest possible standard," Kiri looked to the pad for a moment, "Master Chief Petty Officer Quinn is assisting me."

Maenad nodded. It was beginning to seem like Kiri never sat down. "I went over your report, thank you," she said. "It is a relief to know that we should be back to normal within the next week. I was going over the department manifest a few minutes ago and saw that we have some new people," She lifted her PADD to read from it. "A new stellar cartographer, biologist, and sociologist. Trisant Myrddin, Bal Kenyal, and Athlen. Have you met any of them?"

"Not in person, but I have reviewed their personnel files," Sitting up a little straighter she added, "I invited them to the meeting, even if they weren't required." Unless something had changed Kiri didn't think they were required to do anything other than report in until the ship was operational again.

"Yes, I was hoping you did," Maenad replied. "The meeting is just going to be an introductory one; I'd like to be able to put some faces to the names I've been reading. I'll introduce myself, say who I am, what I do - then get the same from everybody else. I'm also going to ask them of their progress since the ship had its little accident, see if there's anything I can do."

"I see," Kiri wanted to point out everyone that had skills involved with the repairs things so far was included in her report, that would be redundant though. Everyone that didn't have any useful skills was assigned over to basic operations, checking systems, cleaning. There wasn't really anything else for her to add, the report was quite comprehensive.

"You submitted that report quite early," Maenad went on. "Is there anything you've done since then that's not included?" Maenad clenched her jaw, then quickly added. "Also, if you could tell me the of the precise condition of the astrometrics lab?"

Trying to work the situation Kiri answered, "I've been working on the sensors and staff placement since then, mostly the sensors." Taking a deeper, slightly shaky breath, "The, Astrometrics Lab is functional, holographic projectors are off line, so is our uplink to Starfleet Cartography. Backups on the main computer are still functional and we can request use of the Colony uplink if we need it." Why the status of of the lab was important Kiri didn't know, it was on her list but not that high yet.

"Hm," Maenad breathed. She was thinking of a personal project to get started on in lieu of her research, which would probably have to take a back seat for the time being. She crossed her legs in under the desk and leaned back in her chair somewhat.

Kiri's mentioning of the sensors perked her interest. "While I was going over the personnel files, I discovered that just two weeks ago you came aboard as a sensor analyst?"

"That is my secondary assignment, after being a science officer," She placed her hands together in her lap, "I took extra course modules towards that and my training placement was on the Radusha Deep Space Array, maintaining sensor systems." It had only been four weeks on a mostly aquatic station but it was a chance with advanced technology with a real use to her training.

"That sounds interesting," Maenad inclined her head, implying for Kiri to tell her more about the Radusha Array.

"It was different," Kiri wasn't quite sure if this was meant to be a social chat or a sort of interrogation, "Most of the station was filled with water, there were only ten crew out of a hundred that were in the dry section. Operating sections that the other crew couldn't." Feeling that she had already said too much Kiri paused before adding, "I didn't see that much, I can't swim very well."

Maenad's face puzzled. "Filled with water?" She narrowed her eyes. "You can't swim very well?" She had no idea what the young ensign was talking about.

Kiri didn't really understand the confusion, starting again with more details, "The Radusha Array is designed to be run by aquatic races, so most of the station was filled with water. I worked in the parts where this wasn't possible, I couldn't move through the water sections very well." Did she do it right this time, or where the questions about something else?

Maenad had never heard of such a thing. She knew there were intelligent aquatic species, though very few, from O-class worlds - she always thought of the Pacificans. Maenad had never invested a lot of thought into how they travelled through space or what they did out there; she supposed it made sense, once she'd thought about it. "That must have been incredible," she reflected.

Returning to the purpose of she had called Miss Cho to her office in the first place, Maenad tapped the PADD with Kiri's report. "I'll say again that I was impressed with the detail of your report; I would, though, like to know more about you." She raised her eyes with Kiri's. "I understand that your speciality is with the sensors and that you do very well with them, but I mean more than that. You're literally just out of the academy, I doubt that anybody could have predicted that within two weeks you would have become an assistant chief; it took me several years to rise where you are now. What sort of goals do you have for yourself, where would you like to see yourself in a few months, a few years, from now?"

Talking about it with Kohl was one thing, to do so with her commanding officer was another. The goal she had set herself was a good one, a respectable one, "I plan to be a captain of a Science vessel, I do my best to work towards that. In the next months I will try to learn more about command, ship piloting, developing a wider scientific understanding and basic security procedures."

Maenad widened her eyes, nodding slowly. "You'll have to overcome your reservedness for that," she said slowly, as though she were giving her a clear instruction. That was the last thing she had expected to hear from Ensign Cho, but it intrigued her. Without realising that she might have sounded condescending, hearing this impressed her; to know that beneath Kiri's nervousness there was something much greater, something aspirational about her. She wasn't just a busybody trying to do the right things for everybody else, she was working for herself and that, to Maenad, was the most important thing a person could ever do.

Ever since she started going to the academy Kiri had started to slowly remove her shyness, her awkwardness. Already she was easily able to function within the structure of Starfleet and when she knew what was required it was almost easy. It was all the times that weren't in the book and didn't have a right answer that she was struggling with. Nodding she spoke softly, "Yes sir, I'm attempting to do so." Maybe she should invite her out for when they were on shore leave, was it right to socialise with your superior officer though?

"That was just an observation, not an order, Miss Cho," Maenad replied as warmly as she could. "If you continue the way you are now only good will come of it," she tilted her head thoughtfully. "With your work ethic, I'm surprised that you're here. Have you ever considered going back to school, getting a master's degree, even a PhD?"

Kiri had the option but, "I chose to train as an Officer, I think I will take a PhD one day but it didn't seem necessary," Spending more time studying would have been fun, but she wanted to go and see the stars. Not going to university was the choice she made for that, to back out after three years would mean it was pointless to make that choice. That was something private though.

Maenad nodded in agreement. "It's true that it's not necessary. Sometimes I find there is a stigma attached to a PhD, too, that's hard to explain. It's also not for everybody; there are easier ways to rise through the ranks, or get to where you want to be, that will get you more relevant experience. If you want to command a science vessel some day, I wouldn't recommend pursuing academics."

Kiri knew she could do a PhD in her fields, several of her tutors at the academy were impressed with what she could do in theory. Right now she had to catch up with what was expected of her, what in her mind everyone else wanted and expected of her. What Maenad said couldn't be entirely true though, she was her superior officer, even with her credentials. It was also a proof of ability, "I would still like to, one day."

Maenad watched her, uncertain whether Kiri understood what she was saying. She was often misunderstood by her tone and the unconscious way she worded things. By the time Kiri reached her thirties, Maenad could see that she would be an eligible candidate for command if she were to overcome some alleged personality flaws. She wanted to argue with her to convince her that the pursuit of a master's degree and then PhD takes years and years to complete, that she only went for one herself so she could teach at a university. There was a reason so many Starfleet personnel with PhDs held relatively low ranks.

"I was wondering," Maenad abruptly changed the subject. She had a problem of saying whatever was on her mind, regardless of whatever topic was being discussed. She had not the slightest inclination that she might have seemed confrontational or absentminded. As she switched one crossed leg for the other beneath the desk, she touched her nose with the tip of her index finger. "When you became the acting department head--" she decided to reword the question. "Tell me about how you were chosen to be acting department head, and what sort of challenges it brought you."

Kiri paused, taking the time to think of her answer, even given that she didn't really know. Seeming somewhat guilty she spoke softly, "Lieutenant Barel announced I was Assistant Department Head at the first weekly department meeting I took part in. I was one of two commissioned officer, she'd read my reports but I'm not really sure why she picked me," While Kiri was confident in her abilities, she was her own first choice, her experience was lacking. Gaining a little of that confidence as she spoke, "When she wasn't able to cope, after the first fight I just became Acting Department Head. Everyone was so busy no one questioned it, and I didn't make too many mistakes." Kiri had to wonder if what had happened in the conference room had come up, that rather large mistake was a big blow to her. That confidence evaporated. Then there was the second part of the question, "Leading people, is rather unnatural to me."

Talking about her own flaws and problems in the context of work Kiri didn't like and generally didn't do. Socially she was a mess, inside her own head, not always the best. At work, at least in her own eyes she was good, great, something she could excel at. Being a person that hated any sort of failure, it was a mix that made her fidget as she spoke, "But, I think it worked, disciplining crew members is hard, and during a battle, department resource allowances are lower than most others so everything was limited." That was the part of her job that had changed, the rest, "Working on Project Sienna was also hard but, I would have done that regardless of my position." Most of the job, the day to day things, were easy. All her life Kiri had organised herself ruthlessly and now it paid off. Running the department felt like it could be done entirely with spreadsheets, juggling numbers around and talking to crew members in a professional capacity. In that context, it was even fun.

"Mhm," Maenad breathed out her nostrils, listening to Kiri. "It seems to me that the department has taken to you, then, without any problems?" If Kiri was having difficulties with any of her staff, she wanted to know about it.

Kiri had her own understanding of the situation but yes, so far, "No one has brought anything up, but we haven't been in much of a position to allow for such things to become important. The chain of command is at its most important when under pressure, the department has respected that." Now she was repeating things she'd been told at the Academy, to her almost all of that was still true.

"Supposedly," she agreed nonchalantly, appreciating the ensign's untainted views. "If you ever get resistance on account of your age, or because somebody does not feel that you are entitled to what you have earned, do not put up with it and tell me right away."

"Yes sir," Kiri nodded, it was nice to know there wasn't a problem right now. That if there was then there was someone looking out for her, it was nice. No one had really offered themselves to her in that respect, "Thank you."

Maenad didn't say anything, but she did give her a reassuring glance with her eyes. "I had better prepare for the briefing in a few hours; make sure you have an updated report as well, so the section heads are up to speed with us."

"Yes sir," Taking the hint Kiri stood up and smiled, bowing her head slightly. It had gone well again, even if she was slightly more confused about their relationship than when she had entered. Leaving she could feel good, the other things right now, didn't seem quite so oppressive.

"I'll see you in a few hours, Miss Cho," she gave Kiri, a dismissive nod and returned to the report she had been giving over.

[OFF]

Lieutenant (JG) Maenad Panne
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant (JG) Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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