Reporting for Duty

Posted on 14 Nov 2017 @ 5:54am by Lieutenant Junior Grade Gidassa Thomas (Dec-Jan 2389 - TRNSFR to Bre'el Dip. Msn.) & Captain Akio Tachibana

Mission: He ho'omaka hou 'ana - A New Beginning
Location: Commander's Ready Room
Timeline: 22 December 2388

After inquiring of the computer as to the commander's location, Gidassa headed for the bridge, and the commander's ready room. She tried to to think through answers for any and all questions or arguments the Commander might have regarding having her aboard.

Feeling a little frayed, and wishing she'd had an opportunity to talk to Em first, she headed across the bridge. A few curious glances, since she hadn't been seen there before, but little else from those currently working on the bridge. They were too busy, putting the final touches on the ship to worry much about her.

She unconsciously straightened her uniform, then pressed the button to alert Commander Tachibana that someone was there. She was ready, she was a well-trained engineer, and she wasn't about to let this opportunity get away without a fight!

Akio had been hanging a painting of feudal Japan behind his desk and was adjusting it, making sure it was level when the door chimed.

"Enter!" Akio commanded as he turned.

"Commander? Lieutenant Thomas - Junior Grade, reporting for duty sir."

Akio knew that the Hawaii had a newer crew but he started to wonder if most of them were going to literally be green.

"It is nice to meet you. I am Akio Tachibana. Please, have a seat. I do not recognize you from the dossier, so it seems you were just assigned," Akio said as he started searching for her record at his terminal, "Which department?"

Akio knew only his senior staff was meeting him. If he had to meet all 700 or so crew, they would be in spacedock for at least a few more weeks.

Lt Thomas took a seat, sitting very stiffly on the edge of it.

"That, ah, was my concern sir. I had expected an assignment to Engineering, but what the yeoman showed me had no assigned duty, and said to report to you." Gee breathed a little easier, since it appeared the Commander was as surprised by this as she was. An oversight in personnel she could handle a lot easier than being rejected for things she had little control over.

"Please, sit at ease," Akio interjected with a raised eyebrow as he was sifting through the multitude of Starfleet officers named Thomas. It didn't help he had no idea what her first name was.

"What is your experience?" Akio inquired.

"My previous assignments have been as an engineering generalist. My previous chief said I adapt better than some to different tasks, so he preferred me in that position than something specialized. My highest marks came in investigating problems and finding the root cause." She looked a little distant, with a smile on her green face as she thought back. "He said I was like 'a pit bull on a pork chop'." She chuckled, then went on "he was surprised when he found I'd looked up pit bulls. I thought it was some sort of herd animal. The analogy made a lot more sense when I found it was a canine from earth" she said, concluding with a laugh.

Akio smirked, more at the fact he found her file finally than at her joke he was only half-paying attention to out of necessity.

"Would you... like me to report to Engineering sir?" she ventured cautiously. "Unless you have questions I can answer?" she offered.

"Well, we already have a Chief Engineering Officer; however, we could certainly use your skills elsewhere. What do you think about Intelligence?" Akio countered.

The Orion's green face showed she was surprised, but also intrigued. Particularly since he hadn't said Engineering was full, but that the Chief Engineer position was. Was he thinking...? Thinking quickly, she formed an answer.

"Well, while I hadn't thought about it much, I think I'd do well in that department. Analyzing problems and filling in what's missing is what you do in math and science. Intelligence work is similar; it just has more variables, and sometimes ones that you don't necessarily ever have all answers to input." An answer like that probably would have given away her background, if he hadn't already known it.

Akio's goal was to fill in the gaps of the department heads. He knew he could requisition additional personnel, but they'd be very green and even then, there would still be vacancies in subordinate positions. Here was an intelligent Starfleet officer by most accounts (as long as it wasn't in a social context, it seemed) and Akio needed an intelligence chief.

Even though he was slightly concerned about Kosu, he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Without an experienced Starfleet officer in intelligence, Akio was concerned the Hawaii would not just be going to the Gorn theater blind, but also deaf.

"I think you will make a good fit," Akio smirked. Hell, even flirting in intelligence work yielded advantages in the field, so her cons could be plusses in this department.

Gee nodded slowly, still thinking. She'd come here expecting a fight, and gotten quite the opposite. It had thrown her off her game a little, to say the least.

Akio saw the junior officer thinking.

"If there are issues, I will make transfers to a better position," Akio hedged, hoping to convince the Orion. "At the end of the day it is your career though, and if you are more comfortable in a different department as an Assistant Chief, I will by all means support you."

Gee looked up, regarding the commander with her blue eyes and the hint of a smile. Her "poker smile" it had come to be called at Academy. She'd picked up the game quite readily, including several of its variations. Which, was one of those events she didn't always like to talk about.

"No sir, this was just somewhat unexpected. I would be honored to take the lead in Intelligence. I think it's the right move, and a shift in my career I've needed, but wasn't looking for. We engineers can get a little hyper-focused sometimes. Occasionally," she said with a straight face. Understatement? Hardly. Yes, there were Engineers that weren't geeks and didn't hyper-focus. But they were the exceptions, not the rule.

Hook, line, and sinker, or so Akio thought. It was not really clear who had the upper hand. This was definitely one of the more tense initial crew meetings Akio had, yet that only reaffirmed his suspicions.

"I think that's precisely why you'd make a good Intelligence Chief. Too often, intelligence officers are too close to the case at hand to see the bigger picture or get too wrapped up in ancillary threads. Engineers keep their eye on the ship as a whole and know when an ancillary thread will not lead to the objective," Akio explained.

Plus, she was the best choice he had at this point barring a fresh Ensign or just keeping the position vacant. They were heading into a warzone and an Engineer in Intel would pay dividends.

Akio concluded: "Based on our particular mission-set coming up, I am also hoping your expertise will shed light onto how a minor Beta Quadrant power was able to attack a Federation fleet yard by surprise."

"I"ll get my things into my quarters, and get to work on it sir" Gee promised, as she stood. She was smiling now, a guinuine 'I can't believe it, this is great!' smile. She began to leave, then paused to look back at her new commander.
"Oh, and...thank you sir. For the vote of confidence." With that, she headed out the door into the bridge.


OFF:

Akio Tachibana, LCDR, SF
Commanding Officer, USS Hawaii

Gidassa "Gee" Thomas, LTJG, SF
Chief Intelligence Officer, USS Hawaii