Posted by Commander Balfor Kolar (XO/CSO) in XO meeting the CMO

Posted by Lieutenant Allison Scott (CMO) in XO meeting the CMO

Posted by Commander Balfor Kolar (XO/CSO) in XO meeting the CMO
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Allison Scott stood outside the XO’s office and waited after she rang the door chime. The new rank on her neck meant she would be seeing the man behind the door far more than the occasional cough or fever forced him to traipse into sickbay. It also meant he was going to be her point person to solve problems.

Allison Scott, CMO

“Enter,” Balfor closed off his monitor and assumed a semi-professional sitting posture at his desk. The posture was the exact midway point between relaxed informal one had with friends and the straight-backed get-ready-to-pay-the-piper when the person on the other side of the door was about to be read the riot act. It was a test of sorts for the person entering the room. It allowed Kolar to quickly ascertain how to interact with someone coming in.

Kolar XO

Hearing permission being granted to enter, Allison did not just enter but burst forth into the room as if she was running for her life. For someone so petite, her rapid strides cleared the distance between the door and the Commander’s desk before the man could even properly focus on her. “Commander Kolar,” she stated in a formal tone that somehow conveyed, “we have a very serious problem on our hands that requires your immediate attention.”

Her rapid entrance led Kolar to stand from his seated position. Seated was not a good reaction alignment and would put him at greater risk if there was a danger.

Seeing the XO rise she semi skidded to a halt. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail that swung with her sudden shift in momentum. Taking one more step forward, Allison Scott put her hand on the chair in front of her steadying herself for a heartbeat.

Dropping into the chair across from her superior officer, Ally took a far more relaxed posture based on how Kolar was sitting. She had read the basics on the man from his medical records. She had listened to the scuttlebutt around the ship as to his characters. This was however her first one-on-one interaction with the man. His ginger-colored hair, brilliant blue eyes, and ruddy complexion invoked the image of someone who spent their time outside rather than behind a desk. After making a mental note to ensure his away team preparations included applying sunscreen, Ally leaned forward and locked eyes with the XO. It was not confrontational in any capacity. It was to ensure Kolar understood how important this conversation was to her.

Looking over her shoulder for a moment he was able to confirm she was along and thus not evading some sort of threat.

“I just opened my file and saw I was being promoted to medical chief. I am only twenty-seven years old. Well, twenty-eight next month but that is beside the point,” she slipped into a side tangent momentarily. “You need to stop that promotion. I need you to cancel whatever transfer she requested and bring Nat back.” Allison Scott might be young but she has spent the past few years on the Ogawa which was a ship dedicated to medicinal needs. It was a coveted duty station for any young doctor for the experience it provided. Since the Ogawa, Ally had spent the past six months as Dr. Knight’s 2ic of sick bay. Even though she might be on the young side for the position, Dr. Allison Scott had more experience in medical procedures than someone ten years her senior. She also had the benefit of knowing the crew on the ship instead of having to create those relationships from scratch. “You can do that as an XO right? Cancel someone’s transfer?”

Lt. Scott, CMO

Kolar let a small smile pull at the corner of his lips before returning them to a neutral position. “I can do a lot of things Lt. Scott but usually I have a reason when I do them.” The officer across from him seemed to be on about something as she Auntie said when he was a kid. Instead of lobbing questions at her, Kolar decided to leave it an open question and let Ms. Scott fill in answers to her own questions. “Being ‘only twenty-seven years old. Well, twenty-eight next month,’ is not a criteria that Star-Fleet would respond positively to.”

“Well, they need to respond positively to me being number two like you instead of the big boss man. I mean can you see me sitting at whatever table you guys sit around and anyone giving Malibu Barbie’s opinion an ounce of weight?” The tone Ally used showed she was being humorous in her moniker. There was a very strong physical resemblance to herself and the doll in question.

“Malibu Barbie,” he asked rhetorically with the small smile again curling the sides of his lips. “You certainly are amusing. Most likely a strong asset to bed side manner.” Only marginally aware of the term Barbie and his understanding of that term was not particularly flattering in regard to intelligence.

“My presumption is the captain and the prior executive officer felt you were capable and worthy of respect. So both your request and my canceling the transfer would call into question both officers decision making and your competency. Is that what you are requesting?”

Kolar XO

“How did you make the jump from officer to XO,” Ally answered his question with a new question of her own. The man had a calming presence. He was also rather young. Most of the XO’s she had known were stodgy middle-aged men who had had their funny bone surgically removed. This XO intrigued her. Maybe talking to him a bit might change her mind about remaining on the Saracen as the CMO.

Ally Scott

Tapping his stylus, Balfor debating about answering her question to his rise to XO. She could easily read his command jacket detailing his upward journey but that was not truly the answer she was seeking. She was seeking the why did he want to be XO. “Are you being evasive Ms. Scott?” He didn’t wait for her to respond as he didn’t really care if she was being evasive or wanted to take a dominant position.

Balfor was going to take time to get to know. It was rare that Ally got a rhetorical question from a superior officer. His demeanor seemed to remain in a neutral position so it was hard to read if he was being humorous or serious.

“I spoke to my previous Captain about command, because I never sought it, never wanted it. What kind of arrogance must you have to want to command a ship that could vaporize a planet, kill billions, start a war, decide life and death of a single person.” He looked at her, “and he informed me that command is often granted to those who take it. He was advising me to be more aggressive about my career but that wasn’t the lesson I learned.”

“I slept on that comment. ‘It was given to those who take it’.... not always those who deserve it. I decided that it is actually incumbent on those who merit it and will treat it with the respect it deserves to take it to prevent those who want it only for powers sake do not get it.”

Ally waited for more to the statement but nothing came. She was used to long uncomfortably long pauses during discourse where she was seeking information. A paternity test with unexpected results, an unexpected medical condition, or a case of a shore leave docking maneuver which brought home an STD often resulted in a person taking a long time to respond. Ally was used to waiting for a reply so she patiently sat and waited. As the seconds continued, Ally realized Balfor was not waiting to impart more information but allowing her time to ponder his comment.

He paused, also too long so that it was uncomfortable, “Which one of those people are you? Because I’m fairly certain you are one or the other. I will get rid of you it you’re for the former and if you are the latter, you shouldn’t be asking me the why in the first place.” The was a little metal behind the soft edges of his overly polite man.

Kolar XO

“No one is one way or the other. If I have to pick one then I am the moderate in your scenario.” Ally had never had a problem with speaking her mind. Regardless of rank or position, everyone put their uniform on the same way. Balfor’s candor encouraged her own. “I would be a fool and a liar today I do not dream of being a chief medical officer. I have always dreamt of being that good at my job that I would not hesitate to know exactly what to do and when in any situation. I might not be sitting on a bridge taking on an enemy in combat but at any second someone could walk into sickbay and their life is in my hands. Some people get a God complex out of the power but I find it incredibly humbling. The weight can also be crushing. My actions or inactions have the potential to alter not just my patient’s lives but the lives of everyone they touch. Whether I am the medical chief or not is not going to alter that. I am a doctor but I have never had to send people into harm. We just rush in because that is what we do. As medical chief, I will be required to send people down. How do I even figure that out? No one teaches you that in medical training? As XO how do you decided things like that?”

Ally Scott