Posted by Lieutenant Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in [Pre-sim] War/Fleet Command Center - Checking in with Intelligence

Posted by Captain Molly Wright (Chief Intelligence Officer) in [Pre-sim] War/Fleet Command Center - Checking in with Intelligence

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Amelia Manning (Executive Officer) in [Pre-sim] War/Fleet Command Center - Checking in with Intelligence
She answers to me and me alone. I would advise you not to try and boss her around.

Harris’s words rang on Amelia’s mind as she tried to find her way through the ship. In the past few hours she had managed to check in with every department head she would be working with. All, except one.

Manning had left Wright for last, not because she thought it would take the longest, but mostly because she wasn’t looking forward to it. However, the young red head was still occupying what Amelia thought to be a DH position and she felt obligated to at least check in with her.

Amelia had been walking around the ship, her eyes stuck on a PaDD, trying to figure out where the Intelligence Chief was. It was almost as if she didn’t want to be found. In retrospective, that should have been a warning, but at the time Amelia didn’t know better than to ignore it.

It was clear by now that Wright was a bit of a mystery. The woman seemed to be everywhere at once and yet never in sight. It wasn’t abnormal for Amelia to notice her out of the corner of her eye, quietly observing. Her black uniform blending in with the background, her flaming red hair the only beacon signaling her presence. Wright was the only crew member whose file Manning could not access, and yet, given her relationship with the Dresden’s CO, Amelia was sure the Intelligence Chief knew a lot more about the ship’s command and operations than anybody else on board, including her, the second in command.

After a long afternoon, Amelia finally wondered into Deck 2.

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

The Fleet Command Center, or the War Room, as it was most known, had been built with the sole intent of giving the Dresden the capability for an embarked flag officer to control fleet movements. Without such officer on board, the room sat empty most of the time. As such, Molly had put in a request with Cal for her to use it, as she had no assigned office on board and the small office the War Room carried was just right for her. Not to mention she would have access to the panels and holographic displays on the deck as well as privacy from the rest of the ship. There were only four officers that had clearance to walk in the room as it stood: the CO, the XO, herself and the Chief of Security.

Molly glanced at her screen as the console she was using beeped softly indicating that someone had just entered the Deck. Expecting to see Cal’s commbadge signature, she sighed in annoyance when she saw that the interruption was in fact the new Executive Officer.

Turning the display off, Wright turned just in time to see the young woman walking in with her face inches away from her PaDD.

“Can I help you?”

The tone was dry and uninviting. It was clear that she hadn’t enjoyed being disturbed.

Capt. Wright, CIO

The sound startled Manning, who scrambled to keep her PaDD from falling off her hands. Her eyes wide in surprise as she found herself staring right at the officer she had been looking for. Not only that, but Amelia had not expected the room she had just walked into.

It was clearly a command center of sorts, the panels that adorned the walls and the ship system’s and maps displays left no doubt about that. Amelia shivered ever so slightly, realizing that the officer in front of her had access to all of them. Not only that… that was her ‘working station’. Wright clearly had more knowledge and resources than Manning had ever dreamed of. She wondered how much of it came with the job, and how much of it was a prerogative of sleeping with the Captain.

Clearing her throat, Amelia stepped forward. “Yes… er… Ms. Wright, uh, Captain.” Manning felt her heart sink. Harris might not think that she had screwed up hard enough with him yet, but she knew fully well that, if there was someone that could destroy her career, it was the woman standing right in front of her.

Lifting an inquisitive eyebrow, Molly waited for the woman to speak.

“I… er… I was wondering if you had a moment… I have spoken to all the Department Heads and the only person left is you…” Amelia smiled politely, but her smile was visibly not steady. “I am trying to get to know the people I will be working with a little better…”

Lt. Cmdr. Manning, XO

The expression in Wright’s face was similar to the one she would have shot Manning if she had been trying to decide whether or not the Executive Officer was drunk, or whether she understood what an Intelligence Officer really was.

In the end, she settled for a flat “Sure.” To be honest, she felt sorry for the girl. Molly knew Cal well enough to know that he would not make her life easy. But she also knew him well enough to know that, if she survived that, he would make sure that she had her career laid down in front of her. There would be no door closed to her, if Calvin Harris thought she had done a good job.

Motioning to the door in the port side of the deck, Molly added. “Please, follow me.”

The small office Wright inhabited was just enough for her. It was small, hidden, gave her access to anything she needed, and most of all, it was small enough that she didn’t have to worry about decorating. It was a small room bearing a desk and a chair, and that was it. There was no chair for visitors.

Walking behind her desk, Molly didn’t sit. Instead, the leaned her back against the bulkhead. It had been more out of respect for Manning than anything else, since her visitor didn’t have a place to sit.

Capt. Wright, CIO