The new Officer

Posted on 27 Apr 2019 @ 2:49pm by Lieutenant Harry Stevens & Lieutenant Junior Grade Steven Bernard, Ph.D.

Mission: Ka Hakaka Maikaʻi - The Good Fight
Location: Security Office- USS Hawaii
Timeline: before away mission

After T'Lara had left both him and Lady Sif, Harry had noticed that what with all the paperwork left over from the previos chief, Harry had not met any of his team, but now he decided to put that right as he knew Sif was asleep at the moment, he tapped his combadge and spoke =/\=Ensign Barnard, Please report to the Security Office,=/\= as he closed the channel, Harry knew that he had to make a list of things to do before he picked up T'Lara, that was after his meeting with the Ensign.

Bernard jumped up from his chair and tapped his collar, About time he thought. =/\= On my way, Sir =/\= Bernard tossed his coffee cup into the disposal and ran to the entrance of Security, but did not go in. He stood out of anyone's line of sight in the corridor, caught his breath, and straightened his uniform. He turned the corner and went to LJG. Stevens' desk, making sure he didn't trip over the sleeping dog. He saluted and stood in an intense attention. "Ensign Bernard, reporting for duty."

"Ah, Welcome Ensign, sorry for not seeing you earlier but have been busy," replied Harry as he waved the young man to a unoccupied seat, He continued as Sif's tail thumped upon the floor as she was no doubt dreaming of catching some Gorn, "So Ensign, Please tell me about yourself?" as he leaned back in his chair.


Bernard tried to relax and sat down. This should be a simple question to answer, but he was having problems just knowing where to start. "Well," he started, "I was raised on star bases and space stations by my scientist parents. I was trained to know and fight the Dominion. When I was old enough, I was place on a..." his voice trailed off "I'm sorry, Sir. My record has been recently classified, so I can't tell you which ships I served on, but I was connected to a Mortuary Affairs Division and we were ambushed several times. But we never lost anyone, we just got blown to bits--that's how they know we were the best. My jaw and a few of my ribs have been replaced. I have a PhD from Starfleet--Xenobiology--but don't let that put you off. The organisms I've focused on are mostly cybernetic or have neurological networks similar to machines, which has made me tremendously good with weapons systems. I know how almost all of them work--" he stopped himself--"I'm sorry, Sir. Is there something specific you would like to know?"

"And Why not Ensign?" responded Harry as he needed to know for his crew evaluations and why he hasn't been promoted? this started to bother him, he knew that he would have to speak to the captain about this, as he looked back at the Ensign and asked, "Am I allowed to see your weapons scores or is that classified as well?" as he needed every bit of information on this officer so he could make judgement calls on when to put him on away team duties.

"I was demoted when I attacked my CO. I--I don't make that a habit. He insulted me and my division deeply and disrespectfully. I left it up to Starfleet to promote me or not. I'm sure that when the Captain sees fit, he will. My phaser scores are well above Starfleet's average. My flight scores are well below. Those, I don't know why they would classify. Surely you have a subordinate who could take the two hours to test me on a holodeck, correct?"

"You did what Ensign?" Harry looked back at him with some distrust that someone under him had been known to strike a senior officer, he thought oO How would he be on an away mission? Oo as now he had to think about his teams. Harry said to him, "You will be given a chance as a section head on probationary status, any trouble and you will be moved to enlisted as fast as you can say Lady Sif,", just as he said the dogs name , Sif woke up and looked up at Harry.

Bernard was unmoved. He had hoped that his relationship with his new boss would be better than his old one, but this one hadn't even read his file. He was threatening him with demotion and decommission already. Bernard straightened. Force calmed him. Violence calmed him. If Stevens wanted a fight, he'd get one. Bernard was no longer afraid. Stevens had uncorked the fountain.

"With all do respect, Sir, the Captain took me on and set me in this position. If you have any questions as to my record, which he is privy to, I suggest you ask him. I beat my Captain and the ship's chief counselor unconscious for breaking Starfleet's judicial rulings about information shared in sessions, and for dereliction of duty. We were a warship where wall-to-wall counseling was the norm. They thought they were above the law. I showed them they were not. Now, again, with all do respect I came here to say that I will submit to and carry out immediately all Lawful orders. Therefore, this will be last time you see me this way. I submit myself to the probationary status you stated. I will protect everyone on this ship with my life; I swear it. Now that I have said very too much. Do you have instruction for me or must I consult the ships security handbook on my new job? My old job was assembling dead men and killing Jem Hadar." Bernard had delivered his entire speech with a straight face and without raising his voice. If one wasn't listening to the content of his speech, one might think he was talking about star charts or the specs of a Romulan vessel. So much for being friendly with the boss. Here's to a night in the brig. Goodbye, single pip. He thought.

"Ensign, Calm down," Replied Harry looking back at the officer," The reason I have given you probationary Status is a challenge to prove to me that you can be a great officer," Harry continued as he knew that from what he had read in his file, He wanted to see how this officer handled himself.


The black and white man, sat back a little and covered his eyes with his white hand and exhaled slowly. He removed his hand, trying not to smile at his own ridiculousness.

"Of course, Sir. I apologize. Any task you want me to take on right now?"

"Right now, I want you to go to the target range and get me some scores," replied Harry as he knew that he might be needed as they were heading to a dangerours area, "he continued, "and your partner is chief Kelly, so go meet her," as he wanted him to get to know others in the department.


"Splendid," Bernard said, "Is she in the office or can I meet her in the target range?"

"you will find her in the target range in about 2 hours time Ensign, Dismissed," replied Harry as he had a lot of work to catch up on as he looked back at Ensign Bernard.


Bernard stood, took a step back and saluted. "Very good, sir" he said, and left the room.

As Harry watched the young man leave his office, he knew that he would have to have him evaluated on how he handled himself and the best way he knew how was to select him for the next away mission, as he picked up his drink and took a short break from his paperwork.

Off


ENS Bernard, Steven J. Phd, SF
TAO

LT JG Harry Stevens SF
Chief Security/Tactical