First Impressions

Posted on 04 Jan 2013 @ 1:03pm by Lieutenant Jared Nicholas & Captain Jonathan Holliday

1,021 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: MD13 0758

[ON]

Jared had reported in to his DH, met the assistant, and had gotten his physical, the latter with a bit of an unpleasant surprise, and had just one more official meeting before he could take advantage of shore leave.

It was his most important meeting to date and he he wanted to make a good impression. He had finished cleaning his cabin, taken a sonic shower, replicated and put on a new uniform, and had gone over in his mind every conceivable question the XO might ask him, but he was still nervous.

This was after all his first Star Fleet assignment and he didn't want to end his career before it started by saying or doing something stupid.

Normally a punctual person anyway he had been especially careful to arrive early. He quickly finger combed through his hair and rang the chime.

"Enter." John replied with his usual punctuality. There had been a steady stream of new crew members onto Galileo in the last few days, and the repeated knocks at his door had become yet again a part of his daily routine.

Jared took a deep breath to center himself and stepped into the office. He gave his superior officer a sharp salute,"Ensign Jared Nicholas, reporting in sir. I am the new language specialist."

Without looking up from his desk, Holliday changed the display he was currently examining from an overview of the weapons systems repair schedule to the new crew intake, flipping through alphabetically until he came across the officer in front of him.

"Mr Nicholas. Welcome aboard, I'm Commander Holliday. I trust your transfer went smoothly?"

"Yes sir, thank you it did. No real issues to speak of and I made it here without incident. I was glad to hear that I was going to be assigned to a science ship. Not to sound like a brown noser, but that was the reason that Star Fleet came about in the first place, for exploration."

"Excellent. That's what I like to hear. Have you reported into your department head yet? The last thing I need is one of my officers placing a report that their newly assigned language specialist hasn't arrived!"

John chuckled as he thought of the times that this had happened in the past and the confusion that it had caused - although usually he was on the receiving end of not meeting new officers until they were halfway through a mission.

"Yes sir, first thing. I've met with my DH, her assistant, and gotten my medical, the only thing I haven't done yet is my psych evaluation.

With a smile and a wave of a hand to offer the young Ensign a chair, John nodded in approval as he received the report. Psych evaluations were far from his own personal favourite part of the transfer to a new vessel, and as a result the XO was a little more lax than he might normally have been to force his crew to attend.

"Excellent. Well I'm sure Dr Carlisle will be able to fit you in at some point. She's going to be kept rather busy with the influx of new crewmembers aboard Galileo. Is this your first posting or have you been transferred to us? You'll have to forgive me, I've not had time to read through all the new personnel files in any great depth."

Jared reached behind his ear with his left hand then brought it forward to show the Commander. "Well sir, you might find a little moisture there. This is my first posting, at least my first posting with Star Fleet.

However I have been in space almost my whole life. I was born on my parents freighter and...and spent some time on a um merchant vessel after that.

Except for my time at the Academy I have been in space."

"Ahh a merchant vessel - I had had my fair share of such ships recently...a very...different way of operating."

The XO tried not to think too much on the matter of freighter captains given his less than enjoyable social engagement with his CO and Captain Moore earlier on during shore leave, and how awkward he had felt having to socialise with an individual from her rather extravagant style of command.

"What made you make the change to Starfleet then? I was under the opinion that merchant ships operated in a more relaxed frame of mind?"

"Relaxed, I think would be a rather politically correct way of putting it. I guess there are three reasons. The first is rather personal, but let's just say that I don't exactly get along with Orion pirates and merchant vessels usually make a practice of avoiding confrontation. I'm grateful for Starfleet's main focus of exploration, yet at the same time they are also a military organiation. Second, while having a more relaxed atmosphere is nice and can be beneficial, it also has its drawbacks and I just decided I wanted to grow up. finally, I was, for a lot of reasons, falling in love with the Captain and he saw me more like a child than a potential... well let's just say I was looking for a change of scenery."

"Well, Starfleet will certainly offer you that possibility. Very well Ensign I expect you have some desire to settle in and acquaint yourself with Galileo's lay out? If there's nothing more you require then you are dismissed."

With a nod John turned his attention back down at the data panel in front of him and began looking back over the recent upgrades to Galileo's security and tactical systems. Whilst he had been more than happy to meet with new officers, there was still plenty of work to do before they could leave Vega.

Jared nodded, turned on his heel and started to depart. This hadn't been as bad as it could have been. He hadn't made a total fool of himself and the XO seemed to have tolerated him. That was always a good sign.

[OFF]

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ensgin Jared Nicholas
Language Specialist
USS Galileo

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