Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Checking In w/ the Boss

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Zachary James Hartley (Chief Tactical Officer) in Checking In w/ the Boss

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Checking In w/ the Boss
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
****>Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Checking In w/ the Boss
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Hartley was relieved to be finally aboard and ready to get started after years away. Riding the Turbolift from his quarters up a few decks to the Bridge, Hartley walked smartly to the Captain’s Ready Room door… tugged his tunic straight and hit the chime.

Hartley, CTO

“Come,” Kelly stated in a highly frustrated tone. The doors opened at his command but Hartley did not walk into an empty space. “I don’t have time for this right now Jessa. I need more than five minutes to figure it out.”

Hartley stepped through the door, advancing precisely one pace before halting in his tracks. Seeing the exchange he had inadvertently walked into, Zachary zipped his lips and seriously considered retreating.

“So the answer is no then,” Jessa looked at Kelly with that smug expression mastered by teenagers too young to understand the world and too dumb to know when to take a step back.

“No,” Kelly turned her by the shoulders and started to move her towards the door Hartley was entering.

“So then it is yes,” Jessa countered with far too happy a tone.

“Go,” Kelly stated in an exasperated tone. “I promise we will talk at dinner but I have to work and you are going to be late for Ms. Kent’s English class and I don’t want her calling me again. So go,” she made a shoeing motion with her hands.

Jessa stopped at the door giving Hartley the once over with her eyes. “Hello,” she said sticking out her hand. “I’m Jessa.”

At six feet tall, with a lean build, short-cropped dark blonde hair, and hazel eyes, Zachary Hartley was still schoolboy-handsome in sharp contrast to his chronological age of 42 and biological age in his late 30s. The man looked no older than 30, and thanks to the rather obscene amount of press the man had gotten since his ‘return from the dead’, he silently prayed as he smiled and shook the girl’s hand that the teen wouldn’t recognize him from the various magazines that had carried his story… and that damn picture in his dress uniform… throughout the Federation. “I’m Zachary.” He said with a charming smile. “Nice to meet you Jessa.” Then added quickly. “You might wanna get moving. Don’t wanna be late for class.”

Jessa ignored him and stared at him intently bending her head from side to side. “I will just tell them I went to sick bay,” she waved off his concern. “You look really familiar. Not like I have seen you in the halls but like…clipchat,” she said excitedly.

“You are Snackery Zachary,” Jessa said grinning broadly. “Zachary’s hotter than a fresh bag of Takis at 3AM.” She wasn’t sure if he had heard the teen dream slogan running about social media but that probably would be because he was old. Every tween and teen girl knew the man’s face and the slogan celebrating how handsome he was. They were too young to worry about why he was in the news but old enough to day dream about him.

Hartley looked like the man wanted to crawl under the deck soles. Christ! That stupid freaking nickname! Having been tagged enough with that over the past year, Zachary… outwardly… blew it off. “So I’ve been called.” Hartley said with a smile and a wink at Jessa. Then turned back to the Captain as the girl vanished down the hall.

Kelly let out an deep exhalation finally seeing Jessa moving down the corridor. “I am sorry about that. Give her ten more years and she might be coming for your job. Tactically she is a master at the surprise attack and she always has her finger on the launch button. She often forgets who is an ally and who is the enemy. Come on in. Can I get you something to drink Hartley. Coffee, tea, a stiff shot of whiskey?” The look she gave him indicated that the last option wasn’t a joke but a real option.

Kelly Bordeaux

With a nod, the CTO followed his new CO into her office. He was taken aback by the offer of a drink, but after all he’d been through… thought what the hell and smiled. “Whiskey is always in fashion, Captain. Thanks”.

Zachary Hartley

“So Snackery Zachary am I going to have to assign you a security detail,” Kelly teased him. “We do have a decent number of civilians on this ship and apparently your reputation is proceeding you.” Setting the glasses down on the table she filled a measure in each and indicated for him to take one and a seat.

The man laughed. “God no! Aside from that stupid nickname, I promise that I’m probably the most boring guy around. How the hell I ended up in the same teen mag as Erin Cooper, I’ll never know. But ever since that article ran, I have rarely had any peace! To be honest, it’s why I returned to the service. Access control on a ship is ideal… compared to what felt like every girl over 18 was trying to figure out how to get my attention.” Hartley rolled his eyes. “My little sister thought it was hysterical… meanwhile, I just wanted to hide.”

“Well when you do amazing things it is hard to keep that off the radar especially when Starfleet sees it as the perfect PR moment.” Kelly could not help but let out a chuckle. While Starfleet was all about space exploration, it didn’t hurt to get good publicity to counter the other side of Starfleet which sometimes came into play. Heroism, such as Zach displayed was truly worthy of recognition but his easy on the eyes looks and lop sided smile made it the perfect presentation of Starfleet.

“I am sorry again about that intro with Jessa but I have to say. I am intrigued by the official report of your Lazarus return to Starfleet.”

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Leaning back, Hartley took a sip and shrugged. “It was… weird. No doubt. The hardest part was the missing years.” Taking another sip, he added. “My little sister graduated, got married, and had two kids while I was gone. Like a whole part of my life happened… and everyone that I loved thought I was dead.”

Hartley, CTO

“That had to be brutal,” Kelly empathized. It was all she could really do. Hartley’s experience was one a person struggled to wrap their head around. One could understand all the fact but not the emotions and repercussions. “I am not sure I honestly would be holding up as well as you.” Kelly took a large swig of her drink. “I want you to know I want you here. I also want you to know that I have an open door policy always. This is not a loaded question. I requested you and will stand by you but how are you doing with that.” Her question did not carry the weight of one officer talking to another. It was more a question between two friends. She hoped the offered drink instead of traditional coffee or tea would indicate it. Kelly had zero doubts the man before he was ready for his position on her ship. If she doubted his ability, he would not be on the ship; and yet, there were two sides to everyone. Officers were trained to dig deep and push through but sometimes one just needed someone to listen that was a stranger. She did not know the man yet. He had only recently been assigned to her ship. This was an off the record conversation and whatever answer he gave would be accepted.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

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Had an out-of-state work conference and a major Exhibition open at work. Then the wife and I got terribly sick. I hope to be back posting tomorrow.

Condor

No problem. It is going around. 1/4 of our school is down with whatever this is. Feel better soon. ~ Kate

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