Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Ready Room - Recognizing Expertise

Posted by Lieutenant Kaia (Chief Engineer) in Ready Room - Recognizing Expertise

Posted by Fleet Captain Alexander Cochrane (Commanding Officer) in Ready Room - Recognizing Expertise
Posted by… suppressed (12) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Cochrane smiled as the approval came through the comms. He had been waiting for the Fleet bureaucracy to move its behemoth backside so he could do something he had wanted to do for months. The sudden departure of the former Chief Engineer seemed to grease the proverbial wheels, and Cochrane smiled as FINALLY a departure of a key component of his staff was not entirely negative.

He tapped the comms and said =/\= Ensign Kaia, report to the Ready Room immediately. =/\= Oddly, the summons was broadcast through the entire ship… not just to the diminutive Enginner’s location.

Cochrane, CO

Kaia heard the announcement, and her keen ears picked up on the sterio nature of the sound That wasn’t just coming from her Commbadge.

The engineer was waist-deep in a regulator casing, just her legs sticking out, but extracted herself from the machine to tap on her comm. =/\=Ensign Kaia reporting, sir. I’ll be there as quick as I can.=/\= “NE Grant, can you tighten up these bolts and make sure the regulator is back in business? I’ve got–“

“A call from the big guy upstairs, yeah. We heard,” the human woman replied with a chuckle, stepping over and grabbing one of the tools, Nohl wandering after her and grabbing one of the diagnosis tools. “We’ll take care of it.”

Kaia nodded her thanks and rubbed her hands on her shirt. “Clean up, or be there quick… eh… Captain said immediately. He should know what to expect when it comes to–“

She was interrupted again by the sight of Johnson holding a clean uniform shirt in her size. “What the Va’al?”

“We’ve got some idea what’s going on,” the human male said, helping Kaia tug her shirt off and assisting in the donning of the clean one. He handed her some wipes. “You’ve got a little engine grease… everywhere.”

“Thanks,” Kaia started to wipe her metal arm, cleaning off some of the engine grease.

“For the Turbolift, Boss,” Johnson started pushing her towards the door, shaking his head in amusement.

“Boss?”

“GO!” Nohl shouted from the regulator, and Kaia shook her head, just as confused, as she scampered out of engineering and towards the Turbolifts.

–

It was just a few minutes later that she finally arrived in the ready room. A small pile of greasy wipes were deposited in a nearby recycler, and her face and both her natural and metal arms were clean.

“Reporting as ordered, Captain.”

Kaia, Engineer

Cochrane smiled and said “Take a seat, Ensign. We have a matter to discuss.” His voice was congenial but serious. “And I will be honest.. I am not exactly happy with the way things are going in Engineering right now. Especially when it comes to you. You have been… well… there is no other way to say it, I’m afraid. Your performance has been lacking, Ensign. Not at all what I expect from someone in your position.”

Cochrane, CO

Kaia hopped up into her seat and smoothed her pants, looking up and freezing in confusion at Cochrane’s words. Her thoughts stopped for a moment before she began to process again, eyes wide and tail bristling slightly. “I… I’m sorry sir,” she stammered, confused. At her last performance review, she’d been given a glowing review. Why would he notify the entire ship that he wanted her in the Ready Room, only to state outright that she wasn’t performing adequately in her job? Her confusion broadcast out through her Empathic Organ, even if there was no one to receive it.

Kaia, Eng

Cochrane shook his head slowly. “Yes… lacking indeed. I mean, first you show up here out of uniform. Then I have to actually tell you that your department reports are late. And you completely missed the latest Command Staff meeting. Honestly… how do you think I should proceed here? I mean, how would you handle one of your Engineers in your department walking around with the wrong rank insignia on… Lieutenant?” As he stressed the last word, he slid a small gold box towards Kaia and opened it. Inside sat Lieutenant pips.

Cochrane, CO

Out of uniform? Department reports? What in the world was he talking about?? Kaia’s confusion got more and more pronounced, her ears pulling back, her tail lashing back and forth…

Lieutenant.

Kaia froze, staring at the gold box and its contents. Her eyes flicked up at Cochrane, then down to the box, then up at the man again. Her fur bristled as she began to make the connections between what he’d said, and she was too upset about what appeared to be some kind of sick joke to fully process the implications of the pips. She stood up on her chair, starting soft and getting louder as she spoke. “I’ve been a model Engineer. More than that. I do my job, I even do more than my job because others can’t seem to manage to stay in the Chief position, and this is how you treat me? You call me in and you… you berate me for not doing something that’s not even in my job description when I’m already doing far more than is expected of me? You… you scold me for being in the wrong uniform?? I got changed into a clean uniform just for this meeting, because of how much I respect you and don’t want to get reactor lubricant on your clean chair! How are you scolding me for not doing a Department Head’s job when I’m NOT a Department Head?”

Kaia, Engineer

Cochrane grinned at her. He looked at her, cocked his head to the side,gave her a look that clearly said Really? You aren’t picking up what I’m laying down here? and then he chuckled and said “Lieutenant?” and he picked up the box and shook it slightly before her eyes.

Cochrane, CO

Kaia snatched the box and glared at him, a little bit of the fire gone now that she’d said her piece. “This is a very cruel way to promote someone, Captain.”

She pulled one of the pips out of the box and clicked it into place next to her existing ensign pip. “Very cruel indeed.”

There was almost a sulking expression on her face for a moment before she finally sat down again. “You can’t expect a woman to do a Department Head’s entire job before you’ve told her that she’s been promoted. Even if she’s already doing half of it.”

Kaia, CE

Cochrane chuckled good naturedly and held his hands up in mock-surrender. “I do apologize, Lieutenant. But a little hazing is kind of a tradition when you get promoted… unless, of course, you would prefer I called everyone on the ship to fill the shuttle bays and gave a very long, very boring speech and made all your new fellow Command Staff put on their dress uniforms and stand there for an hour or so with everyone looking at you?” and he grinned again.

“Now. In all seriousness.” and the joviality was replaced by sincerity. “You have earned every bit of this. And I have had your record in front of the Brass for a while now. You are an exemplary Engineer, Lieutenant Kaia. The Engineering team respects you, they follow your lead, and they trust you. So does the XO. And so do I. Making you the head of Engineering isn’t a choice I made out of convenience. It is a choice I made because I believe that you are the best fit for the job. You have proven yourself… and it is high time you received the authority and leeway to do the job you are already doing in actuality. Consider this my thanks… thanks for going above and beyond and making sure your team was never left without a leader.” He stood up and held out his hand to her. “Congratulations, Lieutenant Kaia. Welcome to the Command Staff of the USS Manhattan.”

Cochrane, CO

Kaia shook her head with amusement at the comment about a boring speech in the shuttle bays, and listened as Cochrane continued. “Thank you, Captain. I do appreciate the acknowledgement of how much work I put into the ship. She’s a good ship, and I feel proud to be part of her crew. It’ll be nice to have the authority to delegate to the whole engineering team instead of just my little squad. Maybe I’ll actually have time in my day for all those reports and meetings you want me to handle,” she chuckled.

Kaia stood up on her chair again and tapped the back of Cochrane’s hand with a bit of a grin, then touched her hand to her chest and bowed her head slightly. “Thank you for entrusting me with this position, sir.” In a quieter voice with levity in it, she added. “You know I don’t do handshakes.”

Kaia, CE

Cochrane shrugged slightly and said “Sometimes it behooves us to accommodate the gestures of other cultures, Lieutenant. Keep that in mind as we meet new civilizations out here.” and he took a seat. “Now. Is there anything you need before we adjourn? Oh! And here…” Cochrane opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a medium sized black box. “A present to commemorate your promotion.”

The lid lifted to reveal the blue silk lined interior. Set in the middle of the box was a very old tricorder. And on a small bronze plaque at the front, an inscription:

‘Engineering Tricorder circa 2271. Former Property of Star Fleet Chief Engineer Capt. M. Scott’

Cochrane, CO

“I could say the same to you, Captain. My people don’t touch our palms to those of other individuals. Vulcans don’t do it either,” Kaia said with a shrug.

“I think you would be surprised at what Vulcans do outside the view of the public.” Cochrane said with a chuckle.

She saw the gift and took it, carefully opening it. Her eyes widened as she read the inscription. “I can’t…” she stared at it. “There’s no way I deserve an honour like this.”

Kaia had heard about the man. Of course she had. Scott was a legendary Engineer. Part of the Flagship of his era, the Enterprise. To own something that had once been his… it was incredible.

Kaia, CE

“Of course you do.” Cochrane said matter-of-factly. “Besides… we are a long way from home. We need every bit of good fortune we can get. Maybe if you ever feel stuck, this will… ‘inspire’ you.”

Cochrane, CO

Kaia held the box reverently, then carefully closed it and hugged it to herself. “Thank you, Captain. I… don’t know what to say.. Thank you.”

Kaia, CE

Cochrane smiled. “No thanks needed, Lieutenant. It is well earned and well suited. Now, then.” and he tapped a few icons on his desk interface. “You can have forry-eight standard hours to get settled into your office and make all the necessary announcements to your department. At that time, I need a full department report. Personnel, inventory, outstanding issues and a timeline for getting them resolved… all of it. It’s a lot, but I have no doubt you can manage. But I will give you a piece of advice: Delegation is your friend. Make sure you aren’t trying to do it all yourself, or you will burnout faster than a overloaded relay. Understood?”

Cochrane, CO

“Of course, that’s what my team is for,” Kaia said with a grin, thinking of how she could utilise her now-greater resources and authority to make sure the Manhattan ran like a well-oiled machine. Maybe she could finally get rid of that odd rattle in section 13. Eh… maybe not, there were more important things to focus on and there wasn’t anything important in that section. Probably just a loose panel.

A thought occurred to her and she lifted a hand to touch the single gold earring on her right ear. While Rank earrings were technically a Laleri tradition within the homeworld fleet, she’d taken it on as part of her attempt to connect a little better with the planet her people had originated on before settling on Oba. One of her friends in the Academy had introduced her to the tradition, and she’d adopted it as her own. “I’ll need to find someone to pierce my ear…” she commented softly, mostly to herself. “Hm..”

Kaia, CE