Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Captain’s Quarters Joe checking in.

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Joe Milligan (XO) in Captain’s Quarters Joe checking in.
Joe was grumpy. It was his natural state in times of upset. He had been moved from one truly bad posting to the post of XO on the Merrimack, but still. It was the move itself. A new cabin. Hauling your things from one spot to another across the darkness of space. It was enough to make one lose one’s mind for several days at least! Joe reached into the bottom of a knapsack. He felt around and found the bottle of Tullamore and sighed a long deep breath of relaxation that it had not been broken. He scowled and cursed at the universe and himself for a moment as he placed the bottle and a shot glass on the desk in his cabin. Well, he had to get checked in. Go and socialize a bit. He looked at himself in the mirror. Straightened his tunic, ran his fingers across his head to smooth his hair and turned to go get the check-ins done.

A few moments later after strolling through the passages nodding to one person or greeting another, he finally arrived at his first destination. The CO’s office. It was always better if you met the boss first. You never knew he may not like you and send you back. Save you from having to get a physical! In front of the CO’s quarters now Joe pressed the buzzer.

Joe Milligan XO

Glen had finally managed some downtime after the hectic previous mission. It was tiring work being friendly and putting on a show to make a good impression to alien races, but he hadn’t expected the disaster emergency or the second sleeper ship rescue. It had been a complicated mission, and then he had lost Kord too. A man who had been his XO for, what was it, about eight years, and who he had thought would be around for ever. Let’s face it, he hadn’t thought he had any place else to go to. He wondered who Starfleet would send him as a replacement, but knew that whoever it was would have big shoes to fill.

At the sound of the chime, John Glen called, “Come! Enter!”

-Glen, CO

Joe was unprepared when the door to the captain’s quarters swooshed suddenly open in front of him. He frowned, jumped back a bit and then took a deep breath. These sorts of things almost always went badly for him. Most generally as a rule a new CO had read his record and was sitting in their office wondering what they had done wrong to get Joe assigned to them. Assaulting an Admiral for instance was the last thing in his record that really stood out. Of course, it had taught him a lesson. Never play poker with an Admiral who was no good at the game, drank too much and on top of it all didn’t like to lose.
Joe had never liked being called a cheat.

Joe steeled himself for what he assumed would be the usual confrontation and strode into the CO’s cabin back ramrod straight and a hard, sharp look in his eyes. It was him trying to put his best foot forward. So, to speak. COs always seemed to appreciate the formal military look. He moved then to stand in front of the captain and stopped at attention. When his eyes fell on his new CO Joe found himself doing a re-evaluation. The man looked tired and worn down. It was then Joe remembered how he had come to be here. This man had lost his former XO of many years. And unfortunately, someone had thought it would be fun to give him Joe. The man looked to be a good sort on top of everything else.

Joe then found himself hoping he could fill the place of the former XO. He could tell by the captain’s face they must have been close friends. Joe just stared at the wall behind the captain’s head then as he gave a smart salute and said,” Sir Lieutenant Commander Joe Milligan reporting for duty sir. If it’s a bad time I could return later. “

Lt. Cmdr. Joe Milligan XO