Meeting the Boss

Posted on Fri Oct 9th, 2009 @ 7:01pm by Lieutenant Commander Mark Anderson & Captain Benjamin Byrne

Mission: They Arrive on Tuesday...
Location: Observation Lounge, USS Endeavour
Timeline: MD04, 1045

Mark emerged from the turbolift onto the bridge. He was not surprised to find it nearly as busy as the rest of the ship. Things were wrapping up and preparations were underway for departure. After a brief look around the bridge for the commanding officer, Mark decided to try the ready room.

He crossed over to the door and pressed the door chime, waiting for a possible response. Partly out of habit, he brushed off his uniform. It didn't do to be out of form when making a first impression.

No response came from within the door - no voices, and no computer beeps. Instead, the door simply remained closed.

"Computer, locate Commander Byrne," Mark requested, surprised that the commander was not in his ready room.

Computer: Commander Benjamin Byrne is in the Observation Lounge, Deck 1.

"Ahh," Mark replied, crossing the bridge again toward the Observation Lounge. The fact that the commanding officer was out and about may signify good things, but it might also mean it would be harder to keep him down, especially when it came to away teams. Mark approached the door to the observation lounge, which hissed open to admit him.

Benjamin turned as the doors on the starboard side of the observation lounge hissed open, and watched the Starfleet officer responsible for it enter. He had been standing in front of one of the seven angled panes of transparent aluminium which served as the room's viewports with his hand on the back of his young son's shoulders, watching the various space traffic around the docked ship. The room behind them was equipped as it would be for launch, with the exception of the conference table, which wasn't arriving until Tuesday.

Turning his head down to the 8-year-old, he gave him a slight nudge towards the doors, saying, "Go on, go find your mother. I'll see you later."

As the boy silently left, his father watched him fondly with a smile on his face, before turning towards the Lieutenant Commander. "You must be Mark," he said. It wasn't just the face he recognized from the service record he had reviewed when choosing his candidate for first officer that gave him away - he was the only member of the crew so far to have the triple pips of a Lieutenant Commander. "I would offer you a seat, but..." he swept his hand across the room, indicating the lack of table and chairs.

"Let me guess," Mark said with a smile, "Tuesday?" The odd joke had circulated just about every crew in Starfleet for as long as anyone could remember.

Benjamin chuckled. "So they tell me."

"Your son," Mark asked, nodding the direction the boy had disappeared in. The new first officer had done his homework before coming aboard, as he wanted to be fully prepared. In one hand, he held a PADD, which he tapped against his leg absently.

Ben nodded, "Yes - Jacob. Eight years old, last month," he grinned at some memory from early in his child's life. "Born nine months after I took command of the New York. I guess he's got a bit of a bigger play area now." He snapped his attention back to the here and now. "I understand that you've brought a son of your own on board?"

"Yes," Mark said, remembering the PADD in his hand, "Speaking of which, I was supposed to remember to pass this on to you when I reported in." He held out the PADD for the commander. It seemed like the best time to bring it up, since this introduction wasn't going in the usual order anyway. That didn't seem to bother either of them in the slightest...which was a good sign, Mark thought.

Ben walked over towards his first officer and took the proffered PADD, and scanned it quickly. "Have another young Starfleet officer on our hands, have we?" he asked, a smile on his face. He'd always enjoyed seeing the young, eager souls who wanted to reach to the heights of Starfleet service, becoming the best pilots, captains, admirals, or any of the other professions the organization offered.

"He'd like to think so, sir," Mark said. It was his hope that James (NPC) would be taking all opportunities into account, but he wasn't going to stand in the way if the boy had made a decision, as long as he thought it through. "Actually, he's the one who wrote the proposal," Mark admitted, "I had nothing to do with it."

Ben raised an eyebrow, impressed. The proposal was well-written, and he had no doubt that if he forwarded it to the academy commandant with his recommendation that it would be accepted. "Well, I'll certainly forward it along to San Francisco while we're here. It shouldn't take long to get a reply, and in the mean time, he can make use of the library we've got on board. I was just looking at it this morning, in fact; quite an impressive facility."

"I have no doubt he will find it soon, if he hasn't already," Mark replied, "James is quite a dedicated learner."

"I hope Jacob grows to take after him in a few years, then." Benjamin responded. "Anyway, let's get onto business, shall we?" He stepped over towards the display showing a series of five ships, all seemingly solid gold models, 'floating' above a pedestal which formed out of the wall, at about thigh height, upon which was engraved the name 'Endeavour'. Ben had designed the display himself personally. In the New York's much smaller briefing room, he'd had a shining display of the city's skyline taking up the entire wall opposite the briefing console.

Tapping a control set into the wall behind the display, it vanished with a fizz, to be replaced by an overly large wall-mounted LCARs terminal, currently in standby mode. Tapping a few controls on its surface, Ben brought up a few programs he'd bookmarked over the last few days.

"So far, we're still waiting for pretty much all of the senior staff. I have a few candidates picked out for certain positions, but others are completely open," he began, his voice more business-like than before, but only just. He was fairly casual as he explained the situation to his right hand man. "We're also still taking on various bits of equipment. Most of the quarters are ready for the crew to move in, but some are still undergoing work. We have one room on deck 8, for instance currently being refitted to accommodate one of our crew members from Pacifica. We're also missing a few systems, but nothing major. We should be able to leave spacedock by next week, if all goes well."

Mark nodded as he took in the information. Preparing for departure was always an exciting, if hectic, time aboard a starship. No doubt, many of the crew had already been at work for some time making the preparations the commander had described.

"Have any of the other senior staff arrived," Mark asked. He hadn't had time to check the manifest since coming aboard and was genuinely curious. Given the proximity of the Houston, he may have been earlier than expected.

"Only me and you, so far. I arrived three days ago, the handing over command ceremony hasn't even officially taken place yet, though I'm not sure if I really want one. Lieutenant Commander S'Task transferred over the command codes the day I arrived, and I can't be fussed with fancy do's just for me," Ben replied. He honestly didn't see the point in handing over command ceremonies - in almost all circumstances, the outgoing (or shipyard staff) and incoming COs of ships transferred over command in private before-hand anyway.

"So I should be sure to have the lounge decked out in full attire then," Mark asked, a twinkle of mischief in his eye.

"Only if you're planning on having a party down there. If I do get forced into one of those ceremonies, it'll be quick and quiet, on the bridge." Ben remembered the handing over ceremony on the New York. When he'd been told he had to have one, he'd insisted it be done over the comm. channel, just before the ship departed spacedock.

Mark quickly gave a look of complete seriousness. "Understood sir," he said, clearing his throat, "There will be no fancy ceremony...got it."

Ben chuckled at the man's serious expression. "All right, all right I think we can leave that issue there. Anyway, since you're on board now, you can help me with searching through service records for likely officers later. I swear that Starfleet has it in their heads somewhere that paperwork is the most important thing a captain can do, they give us enough of the bloody stuff."

Paperwork was indeed the burden of all command level officers. The higher one got, the more of it there seemed to be. It was a surprising thing that commanding officers got anything done with all the paperwork they were expected to file. Mark knew how the man felt, he'd had enough of paperwork and he was only the XO. "I can have a look," he said, honoured that the commander wanted his input on the manifest.

Ben nodded. "Well, we'll get onto that later then. For now, I've told my son I'd show him around the captain's yacht," he grinned at the thought of how excited Jacob got whenever he got to go inside a shuttle, or watch someone at the helm.

The commander's enthusiasm was pervasive. Mark had been just as excited to see his own son pilot the Rayleigh on approach to Earth, so he could easily relate. "Something tells me that he and James would get along," Mark said, business briefly crossing his mind again, "Anything you'd like me to get started on today?"

"You could always try and get the stationmaster to get us our supplies quicker," Ben half-joked. "Tell him we're leaving early, or something."

"Something tells me that won't do us much good," Mark replied. Shipyards had a tendency to keep to their own schedules, no matter what. "Maybe I'll take James to visit his uncle," he mused aloud, "It's been some time since we've been to Earth."

Benjamin nodded. "Just so long as you're back by Tuesday," he joked, as he himself walked out the opening lounge doors. "I don't want to have to send a search party after you as well as my table."

------------------
Commander Benjamin Byrne
Commanding Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105

&

Lieutenant Commander Mark Anderson
Executive Officer
USS Endeavour NCC-86105