Posted by Captain John Tiberius Glen (Captain) in Captain’s Ready Room - Number One reporting for duty
[snip]

The ship was still docked at the Starbase, Lt. Cmdr Sanks had gotten settled in from his temporary quarters at the base to his new quarters on the ship. He was setting up the last of his stuff, placing his grandfather’s pips contained in a glass holder. He also had one for his father’s, even though those were replicated, as his father still had his own on his uniform. After placing them, he left his quarters and headed for the Captain’s ready room. It was time to check in before the ship departed from the Starbase. He walked through the quiet ship, reaching the ready rom, the doors beeped to the Captain that the XO was on the other side.

Captain John T Glen had just returned from visiting Commodore Stone on the Starbase, both to debrief, and to brief him on the current mission. Now that he had been given his orders, he wanted to leave for the Hromi Cluster as soon as possible, and would very soon recall the remaining crew currently on leave at the Starbase, but there were also a few new Merrimack crew yet to arrive. One of them should be his new XO. He had been without an XO for some time, so he was quite looking forward to having a right-hand man to support him again.

He was busy checking up the re-arranging the physical file shelving in the Chart Room that he’d asked his Yeoman, Faith Hopkins, to organise for him. It seemed much tidier, and the star charts were easier to access now. He was in a very happy mood because his cat, Ginger, had turned up again after being missing for days. Ginger seemed to have been fed somewhere aboard and looked quite well, but where he went was always going to remain a mystery. Ginger was lying on top of a chart table purring loudly.

On his way back to the Merri Glen had passed the DS K-5 workmen returning to the Starbase. he had seen some of the external repairs from the Starbase windows. If their repairs and upgrades to the Merri had been finished and Lt. Mullins was satisfied with the work, then he could leave almost immediately, and brief the senior officers on the way to Ardan V.

He had also told Stone that he would try to contact Romulan Commander Andone for information about why the Romulans had left, though exactly how he would that, or why he had said that, he had no idea. He was bragging, most likely. Andone and Glen had felt a sexual attraction, and she was sympathetic to the Federation. In the future, her daughter will somehow become a Starfleet Captain, who Glen had actually met at Black Rock, but at this point in time, she was now married to a very dour Romulan Diplomat, and there had been no official contact between the Federation and the Romulan Star Empire for many years. Even before that, relations had been frosty. So, he really had no idea how he might contact her again without a rendezvous that would take the Merrimack well out of it’s way, or might even cause a diplomatic incident!

When he heard the door chime in the Ready Room, he was woken up from these thoughts, and he walked back through the connecting doors and called out, “Enter! Please come in!”

Lt. Cmdr Sanks walked through the doors when they opened. “Hello Captain. I am Lt. Cmdr. Sanks, reporting for duty as your new Executive Officer.” He introduced himself. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Sir.” He continued.

“And a pleasure to meet you too,” Captain Glen replied. “Please take a seat! Can I offer you coffee? Something a little stronger?”

“I apologise in advance for the Merrimack’s coffee,” Glen added. “Commodore Stone on DS K-5 seems to have a better supplier but we have to make do with Starfleet’s catering provisions.”

Once Glen had seen to Sanks’ current needs, he sat down on a sofa. “Let’s get down to business then,” the Captain said. “Your Starfleet record shows you have a solid background in tactical, security and operations posts, and that you are excellent at man management and languages. That’s exactly what I need as an XO. I’m afraid that admin tasks such as performance reviews, command scheduling, planned maintenance, and logistics are something that I will leave entirely to you. Your record also mentions that you were previously a Captain of an unspecified ship but gives no further details. That’s rather mysterious! Please tell more?”

“Are you sure you read it right? I have hopes and my sights set to captain my own ship one day, but I have yet to be Captain of any ship as of yet.” He stated. “I’m glad I’m able to fill the role so perfectly, I hope I don’t let you down.” He continued.

“There has been some discussion about not sending Starfleet Captains down on Landing Parties or in Away Teams (as they want to call them) except if it is a diplomatic situation, and to instead send down the XO, but to be honest, I haven’t listened to it, and why change something that has worked for a Century?” Glen added.

• Glen, CO

“I feel like I am supposed to state the regulations of the rules that breaks, but I agree with you, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, I think that’s what humans used to say. I’m fine with that, if you want to go on away missions, I will not stand in the way.” Lt. Cmdr Sanks replied.
Lt. Cmdr. Sanks, Number One