Captain On Board

Posted on Thu Aug 2nd, 2018 @ 8:26pm by Commodore Jane Saulitis & Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy

Mission: A Majestic Affair
Location: USS Majestic (In dock)
Timeline: MD 1 0900 Hours
1689 words - 3.4 OF Standard Post Measure

USS Majestic glimmered like a crown jewel against the backdrop of space, bright floodlights from the spaceframe around her shone on her fresh hull. The ship was staffed with a skeletal engineering, operations, and security crew, though orders had recently arrived that would ramp up the personnel back to normal levels.

Engineering was in great shape, fresh from a refit in the capable hands of Starfleet's Corp of Engineers, but it didn't make Murph's job seem any easier. He'd been on-board less than a week and he was driving the scant crew hard 24/7 to finish everything that needed done. It was a stressful time for everyone.

"Recheck the port thruster interlocks. These numbers can be better," he said curtly to a junior engineer as he pushed the PADD towards him and walked away. "I swear I asked someone to do that last night. I'm not giving orders to hear myself talk."

Murph's commbadge chirped. =^= "Ops to Murphy. Commander Saulitis' shuttle is inbound. I'm sorry, sir. We just got word. 10 minutes out." =^= The voice seemed to know the Lieutenant was going to be irritated by the unannounced arrival.

He took a deep breath and nodded, though it was unseen. "Well, I guess it's showtime. You better have someone down there to meet her."

=^= "Uh... I..." =^= The voice seemed confused for a moment. =^= You are the ranking officer on the ship. =^=

He already knew they were going to go that route. Ops was nothing if not predictable. "Fine. Gather whoever is standing around doing nothing and let's meet her in Shuttlebay One." He tapped the line closed.

"Friggin' pomp and circumstance," he muttered with a sigh as he made directly for the turbolift.

---

The shuttlebay was roomy. There were two smaller shuttles off in the wings and the entire main deck was empty and ready to receive the runabout that the captain was on; it would stay aboard as part of their auxiliary starship pool. Seven people had gathered near the entrance to watch the shuttle land and receive the Commander. It was fairly underwhelming as far as captain's receptions go.

"Attention!" someone-- the boatswain, perhaps-- called out as the captain's runabout arced around the hull and aligned itself for landing. It landed smoothly and the ramp descended to meet the deck. Murph marched forward to meet her. Game face on.

Jane had been staring at her starship for days. Hers . . . it was the crew's as well she supposed, as they were going to be the ones who kept it going, who tended to it when it needed some extra love. But she would be the one giving the orders. The thought simultaneously excited and terrified her. It had been an interesting few days. She breathed out through her nose when she felt the shuttle land. At least the flight crew had left her alone to her own thoughts, no needless chatter about her first command.

The door opened and she stood up, straightening her uniform and making sure her hair was perfectly pinned in place before attempting to disembark. She walked down the ramp and stopped just as a Lieutenant came to a halt in front of her. A quick peripheral glance around told her they weren't exactly prepared for her arrival, and that was just fine. No long speeches that either wowed or put them to sleep. Just a few people to witness that she was actually real and then they could get on with their lives.

"I hate to assume anything but you must be Lieutenant Murphy as I've already seen your service record and image." Jane hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to offer her hand or not, but she eventually did.

"Welcome aboard, Commander," Murphy reached for her hand and shook it without hesitation. "I apologize that my mug made such an indelible mark in your memory," he said wryly before letting go and turning with her to walk toward the sparse assembly. "We're a few days from being fully warp-ready. We weren't expecting you for another week." He wondered if her early arrival was meant to test them or if she just liked to see the real side of things, before all the final touches went up. He decided it was probably the latter.

"It's fine," she assured him. "I just couldn't stand to twiddle my thumbs any longer while looking at the ship from the outside." Not that there was much anyone was going to let her do but at least she could make a few people nervous by popping in unexpectedly to inspect their work. She wondered if Lieutenant Murphy would be one of those people. Jane sighed ever so slightly as he led her over to meet the others. "I know you're all very busy, I'll try to stay out of the way."

People smiled, a few nodded at her humble, pragmatic remarks. The boatswain was one of the few to step forward and introduced herself, a severe woman whose name was mostly unpronounceable.

Murphy nodded at the boatswain as she stepped back into line and then he looked to the Commander. "I can arrange for a full tour if you'd like. I think you'll find, in particular, the diplomatic module on deck 2 beyond compare." He could be warm, charming, almost diplomatic when he needed to be. Still, it seemed like a game that he was forced into playing and there was a certain amount of hidden resentment for that.

"Oh I think I can find my way around and I'm sure you have better things to do. If I get lost someone will find my body eventually and you'll get a new commanding officer and it will begin all over again." He had a smile on his face but his body language was something she was not quite sure about. He seemed stiff to her so she released him from that particular duty.

"Good," Murph grinned, genuinely. "Good, because I'm not a very good tour guide. Not good that we'd have to start all over again if you die alone and lost on deck 13, not to mention the paperwork involved in something like that," he clarified. He motioned to the shuttlebay exit and led her out into the wide corridor that still smelled of new carpet. "So, if you're up for it we can go over the status of the ship and then I can rest easy knowing my part of the grand dance of the transfer of control is done."

"Absolutely, but first can I ask you a personal question?" Jane stopped walking as soon as they were outside the double doors which had swished shut in their normal fashion.

His eyebrow quirked as she caught him slightly off guard. "Of course, commander."

"Why is my body being found on deck 13, are you superstitious or is there something on that deck I should be aware of? Now I'm going to have to do a search for starship captain's who never visited deck 13 to see if there are any." She began moving again, waiting for him to catch up.

Oh, she's quirky. Huh. Murph caught up with Saulitis in a few strides. "Well, you should know we're on Deck 13 right now, so if you were planning to not visit it, we may have ruined that for you. The second shuttle bay is a lot smaller though. If you landed there, you would have ruined seven people's day. Turn about is fair play, I suppose."

"Oh I never said anything about me not visiting it. And maybe that's why I'm still alive, seven being a lucky number, balancing out thirteen. You think? Anyway Lieutenant, I released you from your duty of a tour and now I'm keeping you from officially handing the ship over. I'm a tad anxious for her to be mine so if we could get on with it?"

"Oh, right. You're only amusing me for my command codes," Murphy muttered, but purposely loud enough that it was absolutely intended to be heard. He cleared his throat. "Computer, transfer executive command codes to Commander Sulitis. Authorization Murphy Two Beta One."

The computer chirped in acknowledgement. "Transfer complete. Change of command recorded on this stardate."

Jane smiled, "Thank you lieutenant. I'll find a way to make it up to you. How about the night off so you can have a nice dinner with someone special?"

There was a moment there where he wasn't in complete control of the expression on his face, where he felt his cheeks numb and and his jaw drop open slightly in surprise. It was as though he were stabbed in the gut or maybe he had a mini-stroke-- except it wasn't either of those things. The moment of silence, more drawn out than it shouldn't have been, was punctuated by a resounding, "No." He cleared his throat. "No, I've got too much to do." His fingers turned the wedding band on his left hand absently. "And... uh. I lost my husband about six months ago." He could talk about it now without being too emotional, but the sting was there still. He was sure it always would be.

Jane frowned, she hadn't realized that and now felt like a big idiot. "I'm sorry." She said very sincerely, a small sigh escaping her lips. So much for making friends on her first day on the ship. "Of course, carry on Lieutenant, I'll just see myself to my quarters and let you get back to work."

"It's alright, you don't have to apologize," Murphy assured her. as he waved it all off. "I do need to get back, though. Can't leave PO3 Jones alone for too long or we might never get out of dock with his sonic welds," he gave a hollow smile and a salute, "Welcome aboard, Commander."

"Thank you," she returned the salute and watched him walk off. If Jane could have gone back to her quarters smacking herself in the forehead without it looking odd, she thought she might have done so.


Lieutenant Commander Jane Saulitis
Commanding Officer
USS Majestic

Lieutenant Murphy
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Majestic

 

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