Work - Day I

Posted on Mon Nov 29th, 2010 @ 12:09pm by

1,115 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: On Typhon Station
Location: Engineering

Skylar entered Engineering. A pompous sounding British man stood there, berating a young man, who was, at the oldest, 17.

"And if you ever, ever, reprogram the replicators in my office to decaffeinate my coffee again, I will turn you into raw protein." The British sounding man, apparently a Lieutenant, finished.

"Precisely what activity involving Starbase maintenance is going on here?" Skylar asked.

The younger man looked over at Skylar.

"I am not done talking with you, Chief Warrant Officer." The British Lieutenant addressed the younger man.

Skylar cleared his throat, and spoke up. "I DO NOT REPEAT MYSELF. YOU WILL PAY ATTENTION WHEN YOUR SECTION CHIEF ADDRESSES YOU."

The British Lieutenant paled, and turned. "Sir, I was unaware we had one. I am acting Chief Engineer Lieutenant Beaureguard."

"No. You are restricted from active duty Lieutenant Beaureguard." Skylar clarified. "Matters of discipline are to be done in private quarters, so as to restrict humiliation, and I will not tolerate having a member of this crew on staff who does not listen to, and answer, questions, when asked. In addition, now that I am here, you are no longer acting Chief Engineer. And precisely what method would you use to turn a living, breathing, sentient being into raw protein? I am certain not one is legal, and should you make such an attempt, I will be forced to restrain you in the brig, as per various regulations, and criminal laws."

Beaureguard's face turned red. "Now listen here, chap, I don't know who you think you are but nobody talks to me that way!"

The younger man stifled a laugh, as did several other Engineers. They were clearly enjoying the berating of the office bully.

"My hearing is quite up to par, I assure you, though I do not know what a 'chap' is. I will tell you this, however. I am Lieutenant Commander Skylar, and I am the Chief Engineer of Starbase Typhon." He handed Beaureguard his PADD complete with his assignment orders. "And should I find you acting beyond the confines of regulations, or your job description, I will address you in any means I see fit to get the point across. Any further argument will be considered court martial offence insubordination, and treated as such. You are restricted to quarters for 1 Federation standard day, and restricted from active duty for 1 Federation standard week after that day is over, as per insubordination regulations 1.1 through 4.9-A. Should you wish to file an objection of these orders, I will be happy to pass them on to Commodore Fannin, along with a transfer request, with your name written on it, to the nearest available Fleet Rubbish Removal vessel. Do you understand?"

Beaureguard was clearly not equipped for a battle of wits at this level, as he just scowled, and stocked off, in the direction of the door.

Skylar nodded to another Lieutenant. "Make sure he is going to his quarters. Should he deviate, inform security."

"At once, sir." The Lieutenant said with a nod.

Skylar turned back to the young man. "You strike me as rather young to be in active duty, Chief Warrant Officer."

"Yeah, I'm not very popular among a few of the staff. Forced enlistment, for computer related... misdemeanors." The young man said.

"I was not aware Starfleet was a popularity contest." Skylar noted. "And if memory serves, one is not forced into Fleet service, merely offered it, or a stay at a Federation Penal Colony. As to your computer related misdemeanors, I assume they are at least partially behind your being stationed in Engineering."

The man nodded. "Yes sir. I can't fix a tricorder, but they haven't come up with a firewall yet that I haven't been able to crack in under 5 minutes."

Skylar rose his eyebrow. "Fascinating. And potentially very useful. You and I will discuss this in the future, I assure you."

"Yes sir." The young man said.

"I assume you all have duties to attend to. I will deal with what I assume will be several months of overdue paperwork, and then begin examining crew rosters, to restructure working teams, and assign an Assistant Chief Engineer." Skylar noted.

"You mean you aren't going to assign Beaureguard?" The young man asked.

"Chief Warrant Officer, that man does not have leadership qualities, merely a bullying skill set. I refuse to allow staff members to feel bullied, or intimidated, at their place of work, as we are tasked with keeping this ship well maintained, and a lot of lives are placed at risk if our job is not completed properly. Bullied, or intimidated staff are more nervous, and prone to making mistakes. This is not acceptable, and it would be an oversight, in my position as Chief Engineer, to permit such an individual to retain a position of authority." Skylar said.

"You could have just said 'no'." The young man noted. "No need to explain. there might be, at the most, two people in Engineering, including Beaureguard himself, who would be opposed to another Assistant chief being assigned."

"This is not a democracy, either." Skylar noted. "Though I will listen to suggestions as to valid choices, from any staff member, starting tomorrow. In fact, I request that anyone who wishes to either volunteer for the position, or suggest another for the position, to leave a formal, written request, in tomorrow's paperwork. I will review the offered choices, and make my decision then."

"And Beaureguard?" The man noted.

"What about him?" Skylar asked.

"What do you intend to do, should he decide to be offended by this, and write a formal complaint?" The Chief Warrant Officer clarified.

"I have already stated this." Skylar said. "Transfer him."

"Oh. Right." The man noted.

"If you will pardon me, I have paperwork to attend to." Skylar noted.

The man nodded.

"Hey, Sirgei." One of the Ensigns said, as the doors to the Chief Engineer's Office closed. "You think this guy is for real?"

"He might be long winded, but at least he's taking his job seriously. I am not that worried, Johnson." The Chief Warrant Officer noted.

"Well, I've got a transporter array to re-align. Don't want to make the new chief think the entire staff is full of slackers." The Ensign said.

The Chief Warrant Officer smiled. "Yeah. I've got some uh... work... to do as well."

"Don't cause any trouble, Bobgdonovich." One of the Lieutenant Junior Grades noted.

"Me? Never." The Chief Warrant Officer said with a laugh, and with that, he left Main Engineering.

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Lieutenant Commander Skylar
Chief Engineering Officer

Lieutenant Chester P. Beaureguard
Engineering Officer

Ensign Alexander Johnson
Engineering Officer

Chief Warrant Officer Sirgei Bobgdonovich
Computer Systems Specialist

Various Engineering Officers

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