Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Alex Winters (Chief Engineer) in Winters reporting for duty

Posted by Captain Dira Myqian (Commanding Officer) in Winters reporting for duty

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Alex Winters (Chief Engineer) in Winters reporting for duty
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

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Dira chuckled. “Well, we don’t know each other enough yet for me to know if that is a good thing or not, but I’ve been in Starfleet over twenty years, most of that spent in a therapeutic role. When I made the switch to Command, I told myself that I wanted to find a balance between the roles. And the thing I do know for sure is that the faster people get to see and understand each other as people with feelings and motivations and aspirations, the better we can figure out how we all work together. And the why I see it, how can I ask all of you to show me who you are and give me the best of yourselves so we can accomplish our missions if I’m not willing to do the same.” She shrugged. “I loathe hypocrisy.”

Captain Myqian, CO

Alex nodded. “Many would not call that ‘hypocrisy’ so much as ‘the professional distance a CO position requires’, Captain”, she said, doing her best impression of an Admiral with a stick up his butt on that last bit. Then, with a smile, she added: “Apparently, you aren’t one of them. And yes, that’s a good thing, in my book.”

~ Alex Winters, CE

The irony was not lost on Dira. “I understand that many are used to the idea of the mythical captain, but…” Dira paused, her face shifted through uncertainty and then to resolve. “There’s a pretty good rumour mill on the ship, like most medical facilities, and so if you aren’t aware, you’ll hear about it soon enough. A little while ago I was abducted by a former patient and shipmate of mine from my last posting. He held me here on the ship while he tried to effect an escape. His efforts caused injuries to others and myself. Suffice to say that any image of Captain Myqian as an impervious force was shattered, and I for one am somewhat glad. It’s bene hard to get to know people here since I came aboard as first officer. That distance you speak of can be difficult for someone like me who is telepathically aware of the crew at all times. I’m usually an extrovert. I like people. So to have people hold me at arm’s length out of professional courtesy has bene hard. Since the incident though I figure I have nothing to lose to be myself as I am and let it all work itself out. It might make some uncomfortable, but I’d be a crappy commanding officer if I tried to be someone I was not. So… consider this a little experiment,” she said, a tiny grin slipping back onto her face.

Captain Myqian, CO

Alex blinked, then swallowed. “And now here you are, living and working at the scene of the crime, but turning even that into an exercise in exploration. That’s … impressive, Captain. My guess is I will love working for you.”

Then she stopped, considered what she’d just said, and added: “Especially if I get to have more coffee like that.” Her way of hopefully preventing the awkwardness that sometimes comes with praise like that. She made a ‘toasting’ gesture in the Captain’s general direction, then finished her cup with one more gulp, and put it on the table.

Dira chuckled. “Well, I do hope no one ever hates working with me and there can always be more coffee,” she said with a wink. Something about the events surrounding their new scientist on board had really made her feel settled into herself as a captain. She still wasn’t sure exactly what the trigger was for this shift but she was immensely grateful for it.

“Is there anything in particular you would like the Engineering department to be focused on in the next few days, Captain? I understand we’re between missions, so our first priority is probably to take care of routine maintenance and non-urgent repairs that may have fallen by the wayside in the heat of past events. I’m sure either my predecessor left a hit list, or I can ask one of the seasoned hands in the department about their immediate priorities. But other than that?”

~ Alex Winters, CE

“All the damage that my abductor had caused in Shuttlebay 1 has been fixed, but you may want to go over the exact details yourself, for your own peace of mind,” Myqian said easily. It wasn’t easy to talk about those events still, but all she had to do was pull out her compartmentalization skills and stick to the facts.

“Other than that, I think you’ll find your department in order. Outside of Engineering though, I would try to get to know the rest of the senior staff as you settle in. Being a medical ship, you’ll find your department’s focus slightly different than other ships and it’s always good to make sure everyone is on the same page.”

Captain Myqian, CO