Here For You Too
Posted on Sun Jul 25th, 2021 @ 2:56pm by Petty Officer 2nd Class Sofia Cipriani
Edited on on Tue Jul 27th, 2021 @ 5:28am
2,057 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Episode 11 - Family Matters
Location: Ready Room - Deck 1 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1000 hrs
As Captain Malbrooke had left on private business Commander O'Flannagain had been left in command of the Pioneer. Sofia had not had much dealings with the XO apart from the occasional passing of messages, quick chats in the corridors and such so he was more of an unknown to her than Tyler was.
Her relationship with Tyler was open and comfortable, with O'Flannagain a mystery.
Pressing the chime she waited, he may have been busy and if he was then she would be sure to leave him in what he was doing unless her help was wanted.
"Enter." Quinn called out. He was not expecting anyone. So he wondered who was at the door. He had forgotten about the Captain's Yeoman. It was not intentional. He looked towards the door, assuming maybe the COB or his Acting First Officer, wanted to address something to him.
Sofia entered the room with a confident walk and stood before the Commanders desk. "Commander." she said standing to attention. "As Captain Malbrooke is away he had said that I am to be here to offer myself to you. I am at your service."
"My service?" Quinn said, with a confused look on his face. "Have a seat please, I must admit, I am not use to having a a yeoman." Quinn suggested to her, trying to be honest. He was really at a loss for words.
Sofia moved to sit and smiled at Quinn as she understood the look on his face. "I can run errands for you, do you administrative work, be here to be a buffer between yourself and visitors, I get Captain Malbrooke coffee and listen to him, offer advice if I can." She replied trying to give him a general idea of what she could be used for. "To be honest Commander, I can do what ever you need me to do to make your life a little easier."
"I appreciate your honesty and now I understand a little more what you do on this ship. I must say, that must be a very thankless job. So let me be the first to say thank you for handling all of those tasks." Quinn said to her, being a little patronizing, but in a sincere way.
"It's okay sir. I enjoy doing the little things that others don't know get done by us. Someone needs to file, organize and protect you higher ups from the annoyances of every officer who wants to see you." she smiled.
"I prefer my open door policy, but I see your point. I need to remember for the time being I am the acting captain, and not the first officer." Quinn told her, but in reality he was telling himself that. He was still trying to adapt to his new temporary role.
"Yes sir. An open door policy is fine for an XO, but for a Captain there needs to be a certain invisible line. There are important things you need to take care of and if your door was open so to speak then you'd never have time to get them done." Sofia said knowing the experiences she'd had with persistent crew members who MUST see the Captain.
"Everything will be fine sir. Captain Malbrooke would not have left the ship if he was not sure you would do a great job." she added with confidence.
"I see your point, and I see why the Captain choose you. I have to admit, you are very good at persuasion. Tell me, have you ever considered getting your commission?" Quinn asked, with a big grin on his face.
"Thank you sir." Sofia beamed. "I pride myself on being the reassuring hand on my superiors shoulders. There are times where even you need picked up and I like to think I bring a little sunshine to light the way." she added as she only just realized what he'd said at the end.
"My commission? I can honestly say sir it has never crossed my mind at all." She said with a shrug. "I am only 18, wanted to see the stars after meeting a boy that was a cadet. I had the grades for the Academy as I graduated high school at 16 but took the enlisted route because I wanted to be out here now."
"Being a Starfleet Officer, has a lot of perks. And I am not asking you to give up what you already have. But if I may, you are hidden gem that needs to shine. I can tell that you have the mentality of a leader." Quinn started to say. "For some reason, you do not utilize it to its fullest ability." Quinn pointed out to her.
Quinn then continued on. "Keeping men like myself and the captain on a schedule and managing our lives probably does have its perks. But I hope its not out of line for me to say, but I think you are capable of so much more." He truly believed that. She just seemed to have the presence of a natural born leader, most officers could become a good leader with proper training. But a few them, have it naturally. Had that feeling about her. Which was odd to him, because she was so young. She was only a few years older than Enya, his daughter.
Sofia actually blushed and for a moment had no idea what to say to a man she was a little intimidated by giving her all these compliments. "Th-thank you sir. I have never seen myself as much of a leader but if I give off that kind of impression then I am doing my job well." she smiled softly. "I am still young and am always learning so to hear that you think I can do more is nice from someone I respect. I look up to you as much as Tyler, eh I mean Captain Malbrooke." She had forgotten that Malbrooke let her call him Tyler behind closed doors.
"The Captain, let's you call him by his first name I take it. We have the same arrangement too. Given the fact, that the two of you work closely together. It makes sense." Quinn suggested to her. He was a little surprised that Tyler allowed her to do that, but it made sense non the less. He was not sure, how he would feel allowing his yeoman to call him by his first name. Already a little strange for his wife to call him sir or by his first name, when they are alone in his office.
"I try not to when I am in the company of others sir. Sometimes it just slips out, sorry sir." she admitted and then apologised for being a bit unprofessional. What happens behind closed ready room doors, private conversations and rules are just that, they are private. "To be honest I still call him Captain most of the time, even if he tells me to call him Tyler after every time."
"The Captain is a stubborn man. He has the smile, that makes you want to move mountains for him. You know what I mean?" Quinn said with a big grin. He knew exactly how she felt. He was going through it himself. Commanding the Pioneer, while Tyler went to play space cowboy.
"I do." she agreed. "The crew hold you in the highest regard as well and I believe a few mountains have quaked at the thought you getting in their way sir."
"Not sure if that was a compliment or not." Quinn said, in a teasing voice. While it sounded nice, he was not sure he liked the idea of people thinking they were in his way.
"Oh definitely a compliment Commander." Sofia said with a smile.
"I can see why the Captain likes you." Quinn said with a big grin on his face. There was something about her, that made him smile. Not in a romantic way, but in a friendship way.
"What can I say?" she smiled back softly. "I'm a very likeable person, especially when I throw compliments around to senior officers." she laughed a little and looked at the door before turning back. "If you need me for anything you will call for me?" she asked.
Quinn tried not to chuckle, at her comment about complimenting the senior officers. However, she had a point. "I will indeed, lets start with the bridge rotation schedules and gamma shift reports. Have they all been submitted for my review?" Quinn had asked.
"They have sir." she said as she returned to a more formal stance. "I took the liberty of prioritizing what needs approved first, just for quickness. There is also some miscellaneous requests at the bottom of the pile. Quarter transfers, requisition requests from some senior officers." she smiled.
"The joys of being in command." Quinn said, in a rhetorical and sarcastic tone. He meant his comment to be taken as humor, not as serious. He had his own share of paperwork to do, as first officer.
Quinn grabbed the data pad, and had a smile on his face. "I'll get this completed in no time, after I am done. I do recycle these or do you pick them up from me?" Quinn asked. He was not sure where the yeoman's duties end. And he did not want to step on her toes.
"Just because it's you, I'll come back for them." she joked before her heart jumped a bit, that was the jovial way she spoke to Captain Malbrooke and she wasn't as friendly with the XO that way yet. "Well... I mean... that I will go over them to make sure they are completed and then send replies onto the relevant people." she added sensing his unsure behaviour. "My role as Yeoman is very varied and has a lot of variables, but essentially I will do what ever you want me to do Commander." She smiled.
"Right, because that was not a sense of humor I detected in your tone, was it?" Quinn said, with a big grin on his face. He knew what he heard. And he could appreciate it. Then he went on to say. "Would not hurt for you to proof them, before sending them on." Quinn said, in a teasing tone.
"I can see why the Captain likes you, I like you too. I think we will get along just fine." Quinn told Sophia. He did not want her to think, that he was picking on her. He was trying to break the ice.
"I'm a bit of a nerd about these things sir, sorry." she joked back. "Even the smartest people can make the smallest mistake and I'm here to cover your back, even though I know you wont make one." she smiled almost bashfully. "But if you keep talking like this the Captain will get jealous."
"He should not leave me in charge of his ship then." Quinn said in a playful manner. He knew that Sofia understood that. She was pretty fun to be around, he could see why Tyler liked having her around. Keep him young, and on his toes.
"Sign of the future maybe." Sofia replied. "I can definitely see a fourth pip on your chest. Captain Ó Flannagáin has a nice ring to it I think."
"That's still a couple of years down the road." Quinn suggested to Sofia. She was the first person outside of telling his wife, that he was considering command.
"Be there before you know it sir." Sofia replied with a small nod and smile. "I'll let you get on with your work now sir. If there is nothing else?" she asked.
"No nothing, thanks again." Quinn said, as he started to walk her towards the door. He probably did not need to do that, but it felt right.
"My pleasure sir. It has been a nice talk, we should do this again." Sofia said as she thanked him for walking her to the door, it was nice. With that she strolled through and went back to her duties.
A Joint Post By
Petty Officer Third Class Sofia Cipriani
Yeoman, USS Pioneer
Commander Quinn Ó Flannagáin
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
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