Mending Wounds
Posted on Wed Feb 13th, 2019 @ 3:01pm by Captain Alistar McKeon & Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Lieutenant Jera'turak Ros & Lieutenant Kev Walker
1,615 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission: Acts of Contrition
Alistar sighed as he leaned back in his chair and and stared out the observation lounge's view port. The unnamed class H planet that the Endeavour orbited reflected his mood. A planet wide desert, devoid of any hospitable amenities, and boasting a huge tornado that matched Alistar's dark mood. Carefully, he moved his shoulder and winced as pain shot down his arm. The medic that had treated his shoulder following his return from the disaster that had been the rescue mission that the Endeavour had been dispatched to had warned that it would take a few weeks to fully heal.
It had only been a week, and he was getting impatient. The Endeavour had been towed to her present location by the USS Proxima following her battlewith Brex's forces. Since then, the ship and her crew had begun the process of healing. A memorial service on the Proxima had taken place, with the crew mourning the loss of their comrades well into the night. After that, the Endeavour had begun repairs, aided by the fleet repair yard ship Freedom. The Proxima and a Defiant class, the USS Raptor, had been ordered to provide support and escort until Endeavour's battle damage was complete, something Alistar was grateful for.
Isabella had taken to helping out with the repairs as best she could. She wasn't an engineer or operations repair officer, rather she had come up through the science and medical fields. But, that hadn't stopped her from at least trying. Being one of the shortest people on the ship made it difficult, even more so when she had been asked to help with repairs that involved going into the Jefferies tubes. She had fought her claustrophobia as much as she could, but it had finally won out and she had been forced to give up for a while. Retreating to one of the mostly undamaged areas of the ship, Isabella found herself entering the forward observation lounge on Deck Nine. It was a quiet, mostly overlooked and underused room that was often dimly lit and a wonderful place for some time alone. She had made two or three steps into the room before she noticed someone else sitting in one of the chairs. Easily recognizing the captain, she offered a faint smile as she came closer.
"I certainly hope I'm not intruding at a bad time," she said.
Alistar hadn't bothered to turn and see who had walked in. It hurt too much and besides, if they were looking for him they would let him know. Hearing the soft voice of his first officer, he shook his head. "No. I'm just sitting here and thinking. Reflecting, I believe is what they call it," he said.
Sitting down beside the captain, Isabella leaned back in her chair and steeped her fingers in her lap. "Repairs are underway. But there are a few matters that we need to discuss," she said.
"I really don't want to, but I guess we need to," Alistar said as he shifted in his seat. "First item?"
"A new chief operations officer," Isabella replied. "I think I know who would be the best suited candidate for the position."
"Who?" Alistar asked.
"Lieutenant Kev Walker," Isabella answered simply.
"He's too junior, and he's Jera's only officer in engineering," Alistar countered.
"We're getting a new lieutenant in engineering, and I feel that Walker is due for a promotion. He's the best suited for the position that we currently have as well," Isabella said, pressing her momentum.
"Alright, call him and Jera here. I'll listen to what they have to say before I make a final decision," Alistar said. "It won't hurt to get an update on repairs, either."
Isabella nodded and tapped her comm-badge. "Dei`Silvisi to Lieutenants Walker and Ros, please report to the forward observation lounge on Deck Nine as soon as possible," she said.
Jera tightened her grip on the torque wrench and pulled, trying to tighten the stubborn set bolt she had been fighting with for over five minutes. Not getting anywhere, she growled and grabbed the five pound hammer from beside her and swung, hitting the wrench and successfully turning the bolt the final half turn that she needed it to go. Pulling the wrench free and tossing it and the hammer into her tool bag on the deck, Jera took a breath and leaned against the bulkhead. When the first officer's voice filtered through the commline, she hung her head and sighed. Tapping her commbadge, Jera remembered to take the bite out of her voice as she spoke. "Ros here, I'm on my way," she said before turning to the rest of her repair team. "Guys, finish up here and let ops know they can start setting this section back together." Ducking through the door, she headed to the lounge, wondering what was going on this time.
Kev was halfway between decks 8 and 9, working on repairing the relays and ODN conduits for the primary lateral sensors when the call came through. Wondering what was up, he finished repairing the line he was working on before testing it and setting the bundle to the side. There was still some work to be done, but he figured ops could finish the job. Crawling through the service tunnel and going down to deck 9, he made his way forward to the lounge and was surprised to see both the CO and XO there. Coming to a attention, he nodded to his command officers. "Sir. Ma'am."
Alistar waited until both Ros and Walker were standing before him before he stood, taking care not to move his injured arm too much. "Walker, I'm told that you're our best choice for chief ops. Before I make my decision, I want our opinion on the matter," he said.
Kev blinked, in part to hold back the sudden rush of tears at the harsh reminder that T'lon was dead. After a moment, he spoke. "Sir, I actually have been thinking about requesting the position. I'm the best suited for operations on the Endeavour, and more to the point that T'lon was my friend. I want to honor his memory and continue his work," he said.
"Sir, if I may," Jera spoke up. "Walker is a lazy, good for nothing slacker, but he's also a hard worker and he knows the systems on this ship. I know how close he and T'lon were, and I don't want to hold him back from what he feels is right. I'll approve any request he makes to move to ops. I'll push the issue if I must."
"Fortunately for everyone here, you don't have to," Alistar said. Walking closer to Walker, he reached up with one hand and pulled the black pip off of the younger man's collar before he pulled a solid gold one off of his own. "These cost about a tenth of a day's wages, so you can pay me back whenever. I'm hereby promoting you to the rank of lieutenant and naming you chief operations officer."
Kev stood motionless, surprised. He had hoped to at least be transferred to ops, but to actually be named chief operations officer and get a promotion had been the last thing he had expected. "Yes, Sir. Thank you, Captain," he managed to say.
"Now, I have this to do something with," Alistar said, holding up the black pip. Looking at Jera Ros, he grinned. "Fortunately, I have just the person to give it to. Jera, you've been here since I took command of the Endeavour, and you've kept her running and in one piece ever since. I think you've more than earned a promotion. Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Ros," he said as he set the pip on her collar. "Now, both of you, scram the hell outta here and go fix my ship."
"Yes, Sir," Kev said, excited and not afraid to show it. Turning, he walked out of the lounge, his shoulders deflating a little as he remembered that he was now in charge of repairing, well, EVERYTHING!
Jera wanted to glare at the captain, at her friend, but instead she just nodded and sighed. "Thank you, Alistar," she finally said as she reached up and let her fingers brush the new pip. "For the record, and on behalf of everyone else, I'd like to ask if you can avoid trying to destroy the ship in the future, please. If you keep this up, they're going to scrap her and put us on a freighter somewhere."
"I'll keep it in mind," Alistar said as he nodded. "Now get going. The XO needs to continue bugging me with captainy things."
"May she burden you with gloriously endless paperwork, Sir," Jera said with a faint smile before she left.
"That is a wonderful idea," Isabella said with a smile.
"Oh, no, Commander," Alistar said as he sat down. "The paperwork for this is yours. I'm still on restricted duty, with orders to avoid stress. That includes paperwork."
"The time will come, Alistar McKeon, when you can't hide behind that faulty excuse. And the very minute medical clears you, I'm coming to your ready room with as much paperwork as I can carry," Isabella said with a smile. Standing, she nodded. "Thank you for taking my recommendation into advisement. If that's all, I need to see to it that the ship's log is updated."
"Have fun," Alistar said. Watching her leave, he sighed and winced as he moved his shoulder. Leaning back in his seat, he stared out the view port and sighed. Hopefully, the future for the Endeavour would be peaceful and boring, or at least he was hoping that it would be at least.
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