SD241907.13 || Reporting-in Log || "Coffee in that...Ready Room"

Posted on 13 Jul 2019 @ 5:14pm by Captain Mallory Thorne & Lieutenant Anthony Shaw

826 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Thought & Memory
Location: Ready Room, Deck 1

=/\= Begin Log =/\=

Having straighten up his combadge, Anthony barely got to complete the full motion of smoothing out his tunic before the doors to the Captain's ready room slid open with their signature swish. He managed to look up just in time to awkwardly make eye contact with his new Commanding Officer. With a silent movement the CO ordered him to enter the room.

As ordered, he walked into the room, stopping short of the desk and snapping to attention. "Lieutenant Anthony Shaw, reporting for duty, Ma'am!"

I didn't know I'd gotten Marines on my ship, Mal thought with amusement. She waved a hand. "Relax, Lieutenant, before you hurt something," she said with a polite smile. "Welcome aboard the Odin. Have a seat, if you like." The wave came again to indicate the chairs in front of her desk.

"Uh, sorry, Ma'am. Thank you for the opportunity." Anthony slipped into the chair to the the Captain's right. "I wasn't expecting to get posted to such a large ship, Ma'am." Anthony, tugged on his sleeves a little. An action that in hindsight he realised would make him look uncomfortable, when he was actually more concerned with making a good impression.

"Well, we needed a tactical officer and the office of personnel obviously thought you were suited to the role," Mal said easily. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself and your history before coming here, then?"

"Absolutely Ma'am," Shaw paused for a moment, before continuing, "I had my graduation tour on the USS Crimson as a DTO, before transferring to the Toronto as A.C.T.O. Having spent the best part of 3/4 years there, I felt it was time to challenge myself and I put myself forward for a same grade promotion. I had been expecting to get assigned to a science or freight vessel. I certainly wasn't expecting an assignment to a one of the fleet's state of the art tactical cruisers."

He coughed to clear phlegm from building up in his throat, "I am honoured to be given the opportunity."

Mallory offered another smile as she got up to use the replicator. "Just remember to point and shoot, Mister Shaw, and I'm sure you'll do fine. Can I get you anything?"

"A black coffee Ma'am?" She smiles a lot... is that a good or a bad thing, , Shaw pondered between sentences. "Point and shoot, yes, Ma'am. I noticed in my briefing document, that the majority of the crew haven't worked together before. With your permission, I'd like to begin running some tactical drills, to see how the duty officers mesh. Do you operate on a 3 or 4 shift rotation, Ma'am? and also, do you prefer a standard 26 hour day?"

"Two Earth standard coffee, black," she ordered, then brought one to him before sitting down again herself. She leaned back in her seat and took a sip. "Standard day, and three-shift rotation," she answered. "You are free to run drills as you see fit. It is your department. But operations and engineering will be running some drills and simulations as well, so you may want to coordinate with them just to make sure nothing overlaps in negative ways."

"Grand, Ma'am, of course. I am yet to meet my counterparts in Ops or Engineering yet, so I will make myself known to them. I will preload some drills into the computer system and begin with Charlie shift once they've completed their rotation tomorrow." he took a slurp from his coffee between lines, "Do we have word on our first assignment Ma'am?"

"Technically, our second assignment," Mal corrected politely. "And really, it will be the same as the first. We are commissioned as a border patrol vessel, so we will soon be heading out to patrol the border. What happens once we're out there will always be a question mark."

Shaw nodded between swipe from the cup of coffee, "Well, I suppose I should check that all my luggage has been stowed in my quarters. If I recall, we are to depart within the next 3 hours, if you don't have an objection, I'll join beta shift for our departure." Shaw finished his sentence with a large gulp emptying the remainder of the coffee into his body.

"No objection, Lieutenant. I'd advise taking all the time you can to get to know the ship and your department. Better to be prepared well in advance of necessity."

"Fantastic Ma'am." Shaw set his cup down on the edge of the Captain's desk, before standing, brushing the palms of his hands down the front of his tunic. "I better get a move on, not a lot of time to unpack before departure. Ma'am, if I may, do you recommend the onboard lounge?"

"I do," Mal said easily. "Just not on duty... Although they make an excellent coffee there."

=/\= End Log =/\=

Captain Mallory Thorne
Commanding Officer, USS Odin


&

Lt. Anthony Shaw
Chief Tactical Officer
USS Odin

 

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