Reporting for Duty

Posted on 22 Jan 2013 @ 10:57pm by Ensign Tavish Hunter & Captain Jonathan Holliday

802 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo, Executive Officer's Office, Deck 2
Timeline: MD -02 : 2200 hours

[ON]

Tav stood at the door of the executive officer's office on deck two of his new home. He was still getting used to the fact that the ship was so small, it seemed only a few strides from the port side to the starboard side on deck 2, when compared to the Excalibur, that was strange.

He took a deep breath, forgetting the appraisal of the ship for the moment, and focusing back to his current task. As he reached for the button he paused, glancing down at his uniform. Everything looked fine.

Just relax, Tav thought to himself. He let out the breath and tapped the button.

With his back to the door as the chime sounded, John almost dropped the warm coffee that he had just removed from the replicator in shock. Why exactly the sound of his door would have caused such a reaction he simply did not know, the chime built into it seemed to have been the busiest piece of equipment on the Galileo in the last few days.

"Enter." He replied as he took a deep sip from the cup and headed back round to his desk, lowering himself into his chair as the doors parted.

The doors opened and Tav entered the office. The man inside was around his height, and slightly smaller built, but still athletic.

"Ensign Tavish Hunter, reporting for duty sir," he said, standing to attention, slightly uncomfortably, just inside the door.

Finally a name had been mentioned that John had been able to take time to read the reports on before their arrival on the Galileo. His last few visitors had taken a little more guesswork on his part, but this time the XO knew exactly who it was that stood in front of him.

"Mr Hunter, welcome aboard. I'm glad to see that we'll be adding to our Engineering team before leaving Vega. We've been in need of a few more engineers ever since our last mission. How was your journey?"

"Fast," Tav replied with a smile. "I had no idea the Cardassian freighters could go at warp 8, I expected a week's travel and it took only a couple of days."

Tav glanced around the office, taking in the scenery and looking for any personal trinkets to get a feel for the XO's interests. There wasn't much, a few pieces, resembling ancient Earth items, and a couple of books were stood on a shelf.

"Those freighters can certainly be surprising from time to time. I remember having to take one back when I was a Lieutenant to get between postings...not an experience I would care to repeat."

Taking a moment to pull up the officer's file in front of him, John reached out his arm to offer the Ensign a seat.

"Please, at ease Mr Hunter. Have you had chance to settle in yet? I would assume a man of your training would be eager to get a look at the engine room?"

Tav smiled at the comment as he sat down. The commander was right, engineers often reported to the warp core before the senior staff.

"I've literally just come on board, sir," Tav explained. "As much as I want to go and see the ship, I do need to inform you of my arrival first."

"I appreciate your attention to protocol Ensign. Sometimes I wish I had a few more people with your frame of mind serving aboard the Galileo. Just make sure you don't spend too much time before heading down to meet up with Ensign Peers, she'll be wanting to meet with her new team as soon as possible I expect."

Holliday smiled at the Ensign's last comment - he seemed to have exactly the frame of mind that John appreciated in new officers; following the protocols effectively without necessarily getting too wrapped up in them.

"Once you've gotten settled in, if there's anything you need then I'm sure Peers will be able to help you get adjusted."

"Thank you, sir," Tav responded. He could think of nothing that was worth asking the XO that he couldn't take up with his new department head.

"Is there anything else you need, sir?" he asked, inquisitive, but eager to get to find his way around. "I've booked appointments for the routine medical and psych evaluations."

"Please don't let me stand in your way in that case Ensign. Carry on." John replied with a cheerful smile, energised by the fact that at least one of the new faces onboard Galileo would fit in so nicely with the XO's way of working.

"Enjoy the engine room."

"I'm sure I will," Tav replied, almost jumping to his feet to leave the room.

[OFF]

Commander Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Tav Hunter
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Galileo

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