Night shift
Posted on Sat Sep 19th, 2020 @ 8:14pm by
Edited on on Sat Sep 19th, 2020 @ 11:18pm
2,208 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 10 - New Home, Same Pioneers
Location: bridge/mess hall
Timeline: MD008 0200 hrs
Ameri walked off the turbolift and onto the bridge. It was her night to be on call and she had landed the captain's chair due to an emergency. She sat down in the captain's chair, relieving Jayden who had taken the slot until she arrived. Looking around, she was surprised to see a new science officer on the bridge. It was highly unusual for new personnel, especially when they had only been there a few days to land a bridge assignment.
She took a few minutes to check the logs, it should be a pretty quiet night but as the one in charge of Bridge Command, Ameri was meticulous about doing the job.
“Report Ensign Robertson,” Ameri said as she looked over to the Operations Officer.
"I am running the diagnostics as you speak, Lieutenant," Jayden spoke up. "The systems have been running smoothly since I came on duty without any issues."
“Let me know when you are finished.” Ameri stood and headed over to science. “I am Lieutenant O’Flannagain,” she identified herself. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”
“Ensign Bryne,” Zaire replied with a smile. It wasn’t in him to be anything but himself. “I’m glad to meet you, Lieutenant.”
Ameri smiled in return. She was impressed that he made eye contact and appeared to be relaxed and sure Of himself for a first shift on the bridge.
“It should be a pretty easy shift,” Ameri said with a smile. She was surprised that he didn’t ask what just about every new officer did. Was she related to Quinn. Ameri assumes that someone already told him, it was refreshing. “Welcome aboard, we should have a pretty quiet night.”
“Isn’t that like saying piece of cake,” Zaire grinned. “That’s when the crap hits the fan.”
Ameri smiled at him, thinking he had no idea what was coming their way tonight. “Some are superstitious but I am not.”
“The Systems are all running properly,” Jayden called over. “Nothing to report at this time.”
‘Yet’ Ameri thought, but kept her face neutral. She had spoken with Captain Malbrooke as well as engineering and they were going to be testing the bridge crew this evening, mostly Ensign Robertson on his performance during some issues with the systems. The only ones out of the loop were Jayden and now, Zaire. She wondered if this was the science chiefs way of throwing the new officer into the fire or if circumstances had things just happen this way.
“Lieutenant,” Jayden spoke quickly. “Security reports their department is without power. I am rerouting the power from the unused cargo bays over to them and notifying Engineering of the issue.”
“Inform Engineering to notify me of the source of the problem the moment they have found it,” Ameri replied calmly as she sat back down in the chair. These small things were what she needed to see out of Jayden, his ability to react without the command staff having to approve every order and he wasn’t disappointing her.
And so a series of issues with the systems started off and on for the next several hours that would test both of the ensigns. Ameri observed and was quite impressed at how both Ensign Robbertson and Bryne had worked well together as well with the other bridge Officers to keep the ship operating efficiently. She had thrown in responses here and there but generally left it to the operations officer to make the call.(edited)
“Engineering reports that they have resolved the issue and we should be running at one hundred percent once more, Lieutenant,” Jayden informed her. He had never experienced or heard or so many issues and wondered what the source of the problem had been. It seemed like they got one problem fixed and then another had started.
Zaire looked over from science and sighed in relief. His station at one point had gone off line and with Jayden involved with other issues, he had had to use the knowledge he gained in the academy to look it over and fix it. Luckily it had been as simple as a loose connection. What a way to start his first shift of his career but he had stood up to the task and that had made him feel good about himself.
"I don't think I will repeat my words from earlier," Ameri said with a smile. "There may be some truth to Ensign Bryne's belief in superstitions. Like a black cat crossing your path." She took a deep breath. "I am impressed at how efficient the bridge crew and engineering handled this together. Captain Malbrooke should be pleased that I didn't have to wake him or Commander O'Flannagain up to come to the bridge." She smiled to herself, Quinn was not at his best people person mode in the morning. He needed to be left alone until he had his coffee and settled in. She looked over at Jayden. "Run a systems check as well as checking to make certain the sensor array and systems are operating at normal just to be certain. By then our shift will be done and I would like to meet with you and Ensign Bryne in my office.
"Yes Lieutenant," Jayden responded. He felt the same concern start to rise about what he could have done wrong and pushed it aside. He had handled the station as well as Lieutenant O'Flannagain and any other operations officer would have. He was letting past issues with the former chief affect him and it wasn't going to happen anymore. He had done a damn good job on this shift
Zaire caught Jayden's eye and gave him a thumbs up. Lieutenant O'Flannagain had told them all they had done a good job. He couldn't help but grin back at Jayden's wide smile. He looked back to how upset he had been when his assignment had been changed last minute to this ship and realized that fate had had a hand in putting him exactly where he should be.
Realizing the Lieutenant was staring at him, Zaire blinked. "Yes Sir...errr Ma'am." Now look who was nervous. He looked back to his station and saw a member of the bridge crew grin at him.
It was not long before the relief crew came on duty. Ameri filled in the officer taking over in the command chair in on their night and then turned to Jayden and Zaire. "Join me for breakfast in the mess hall." She said with a smile. Ameri quickly sent a message to Quinn that she wouldn't be home for a couple hours. Since it was still early, he may just be getting up when she got home.
"That was an eventful shift," Ameri said as they walked along the corridor, having just gotten off the turbolift. "Not exactly what either of you were expecting I am sure."
"Night shift is usually very quiet," Jayden said with a nod. "Like you have always said, Lieutenant, be prepared at all times for anything to happen."
"I was excited and nervous when I first got the call to fill in," Zaire confessed. He wasn't one to cover up what he was feeling with false words. "But when I got there and the shift started it all seemed natural to me. That was until our nice quiet night decided to be anything but.
"You handled yourself well," Ameri said as they got in line. "I remember my first bridge shft." She shook her head. "Some have good ones like you did and some leave believing their careers are over."
"Mine was one of those," Jayden nodded. "I worried over nothing." He wasn't digging up past issues anymore so he made his food selections and waited for them, they all sat down at a table.
Ameri waited a few minutes as they all started to eat. She took a drink of her orange juice and then spoke. "How would you each assess your performance tonight."
Zaire looked up at her and finished swallowing before he spoke "At first I was a little hesitant, it was daunting, I didn't expect to be hit with that the first time I served on the bridge but then my training and instinct took over and I did what I knew I should so I would say I did a good job."
“Thank you Ensign Bryne,” Ameri replied. Her eyes went to Jayden as she waited for him to speak.
“To be honest,” Jayden said after a moment of collecting his thoughts. “I surprised myself. In the past, I have always looked to the command officer for direction but tonight I just did the job I was trained for.” He looked at Ameri. “It has finally gotten through my head to let bad experiences go and to be the operations officer I know I can be. My assessment is that I performed the best I have tonight.”
“Ensign Bryne,” Ameri looked to the science officer. “I intend to send a report to your chief outlining what a good job you did. I know he will be impressed as well and want to push you forward so that you have the training you need to further your career.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Zaire said sincerely. It felt good to know he had done a good job but he wasn’t fooled that it would be like that every day. There were a lot of officers wanting to be promoted and he knew he would have to stick out in the crowd for quite a while to be even considered for any type of promotion. He would take this to heart though and be happy.
Ameri looked over at Jayden. “I am very impressed with you, Ensign Robertson. You showed the ability to make those decisions and coincide it with informing the command officer. In an emergency situation it is vital that you react because pausing to wait for permission could cause lives. You knew to balance when to gain my permission and when to do what you were trained for.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Jayden said with a smile. “Can I ask you a question, something that has been bothering me all night?”
“Of course,” Ameri nodded. “I prefer it in fact for you to do so. The analogy that senior staff is always correct is false, sometimes the department heads do make a wrong call.”
“When are you going to tell us that it was a series of tests you put us through,” Jayden replied with confidence. “I have served enough to know that with those kinds of issues you would have had to inform someone of the problems, you didn’t call anyone.”
Ameri looked at him for a long moment and kept a serious look on her face. She waited to see if he would retract what he had said but Jayden didn’t even blink. Jayden was confident he was right.
“Damn,” Ameri said with a grin. “I should have at least faked a call.” She saw Zaire’s eyes widen and the grin on Jayden’s face because he had nailed it. “I am the type of chief who believes in hands on testing. I can throw all the textbook and holodeck scenarios at you I want but until I see you in the situation I don’t know how to assess you.”
“Don’t feel too bad,” Jayden murmured. “I didn’t even suspect until the shift was almost over and I still reacted in kind because I could have been wrong and that wasn’t a risk I was willing to take.”
“It shows that you are aware and alert to the things going on around you,” Ameri said seriously. “Just another thing to show that you will be a good choice when the time comes for advancement.”
“Thank you again, Lieutenant,” Jayden said with a smile. He was so excited about what had happened on his shift, he couldn’t wait to see Clarissa and tell her about it. She was always a great encouragement to him.
“Since your both off shift tomorrow,” Ameri said as she stood. “I hope you have a great day off.” She smiled as they said goodbye.
Ameri hurried down the corridor. Anxious to get home to Quinn and Enya. She would take a little nap during the day when she could and then spend time with them. If she tried to sleep eight hours it would throw her off and she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.
She was quiet when she entered their home and smiled as she heard giggling coming from the kitchen and then Quinn’s voice. Ameri made her way quietly to the doorway and looked in to see Enya and her Dad making breakfast together. There was no place she would rather be.
A joint post by;
Lieutenant Ameri Ó Flannagáin
Chief Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Jayden Robertson
Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Ensign Zaire Byrne
Science Officer, USS Pioneer
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