Posted by Lieutenant Commander Mathys Ducote (Chief Engineer) in Captain’s Office- New Beginnings

Posted by Captain Johann Dvorak (CO) in Captain’s Office- New Beginnings

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Mathys Ducote (Chief Engineer) in Captain’s Office- New Beginnings
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻

SNIP

After the door shut behind Mathys, the Captain’s voice softened quite a bit. “You don’t mind if I take a minute here, do you? I try to create some space in my calendar when I know I have to… deal with certain unpleasantness.”

– Johann Dvorak, CO

Mathys’s gaze followed the retreating individual until the turbolift’s doors shut.

A question stirred his brain into thoughts before the CO’s voice interrupted him. Impulsively, his hand rose and raked across his wavy brown hair. With a deep breath, the man stepped into office. He easily slipped into the chair while listening to the rest.

“Take your time. I doubt the Europa minds waiting a little bit longer.” His lips curled into a boyish smile as his genuine kindness rolled off him.

-CE, Mathys Ducote

“Thanks,” the Captain said simply. Johann got up from his desk and walked over to the replicator. As he stood, it seemed like he was carrying something on his back that was invisible. A burden.

The replicator produced a glass of water as he stood next to it. “You’re right, she’s actually nice and accommodating like that,” Johann said again, this time referring to the Europa just as Mathys did. “I mean at least with little things, like this glass of water I didn’t actually have to ask for.” It was something that the computer seemed to be doing for years - anticipating what his order was from the replicator. It had puzzled Johann the first few times but then he just got used to it. He knew it wasn’t a standard feature of the Discovery-class computer system.

“Do you want anything from here?” he asked politely enough.

– Johann Dvorak, CO

Mathys’ grin widened as he shook his head.

“Appreciate the offer, but no thank you. I’m currently drinking in the atmosphere.” He chuckled at his comment, realizing how corny it sounded.

The tip of Johann’s right eyebrow seemed to raise by a few millimeters, and maybe the corner of his mouth seemed to curl imperceptibly.

“That was a terrible reply,” owning up to his own mistake, “It’s the wonderful thing about ships. They always surprise you. From the looks of it, you’re not doing very well. Anything I can do to help, sensitive issues aside?”

It was a simple offer as Mathys’ kind heart showed through.

-CE, Mathys Ducote

“No, it’s not that big of a deal,” Johann said as he sat down at his desk. “Just that it’s sad to see someone young… umm… let’s say, realize the limits of their potential. More I should not say. I’ll be over it in a minute or two.”

“Limitations are important because we can’t rise without acknowledging them first. And some are more challenging than others.” Mathys’ thoughts drifted to his son still on Earth and within his ex-wife’s custody. The fight seemed endless and being in Starfleet didn’t help his case.

Pretty philosophical young guy, Johann thought.

He shrugged off the negative thoughts when the CO spoke again.

“The ship itself is actually doing rather well,” the Captain said, as he changed the topic to something directly relevant to his new Chief Engineer’s responsibilities. “Probably because we haven’t collided with anything recently. But you’ll probably need to make your own assessment. We haven’t had a permanent chief engineer for a while. I’m sure you’ve heard of the staffing issues back at fleet.”

Johann took a sip from his water glass as he let that particular statement hang in the air slightly.

– Johann Dvorak, CO

“Oh yes. Also heard rumors you eat any CE that you hate. If you do, I would taste best in a gumbo. Do not forget the holy trilogy. Unless you want my spirit to come back to haunt you.” Mathys managed to keep a cheeky straight face during his request. It was clear he knew about the issues, but took the chance to lighten the topic. Mainly the more outrageous rumors.

The Captain couldn’t help himself but burst out laughing. It was a pretty good joke. It wasn’t true. Well… there was that one time… but that was like… 8 years ago? And the guy was a traitor…

He leaned deeper in the chair as he doubled back on an earlier subject. “From what I’ve heard and seen, the ship seems to be working fine. If your past Engineer heads have done their job, there is very little for me to do aside from shake up the routine.”

-CE, Mathys Ducote

“Yeah, pretty much.” It was self evident.

“You came to us by way of the Dresden, right? Captain Holloway still there?” Dresden and Europa had a joint-operation with Memorial shortly after Dvorak took command of Europa. Though it was highly classified. And that was also 10 years ago.

– Johann Dvorak, CO