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Cobb's Ready Room - Durheim is summoned

Posted April 11, 2021, 3:26 p.m. by Warrant Officer Jonathan Durheim (Chief Engineering Officer (Incoming)) (William Deaton)

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Cobb’s Ready Room - Durheim is summoned

Posted by Warrant Officer Jonathan Durheim (Chief Engineering Officer (Incoming)) in Cobb’s Ready Room - Durheim is summoned

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Cobb’s Ready Room - Durheim is summoned
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Engineering. As a former yellow-tunic himself, Cobb new better than anyone the importance of a functioning and efficient engineering department. And on the Leviathan he had been gifted with many highly-skilled and accomplished officers to help keep the ship in the air.

And then there was Durheim. The man was an enigma and no mistake. Cobb could almost feel unnerved by his unique cybernetic enhancements, were he not, in truth, so impressed by their technicalities. But still…the time had come. He and Raauhl needed to have a serious talk with Mr Jonathan Durheim.

=^= Mr Durheim =^= he finally issued the summons, =^= Please report to my ready room at your earliest convenience. =^=

After a brief pause, a reply was sent - though Durheim sounded a bit absent. =/\=Ah, yes Mr. Cobb; I understand.=/\=

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Raauhl entered as the Captains communication aired. “I take it I’m not late yet?” He’d been in his quarters playing with Genesis while Casela was away he found himself a full-time dad, not that was a bad thing but he sometimes found if he left her to cure her own boredom it usually meant taking walks on the hull or gliding through the ship’s decks scaring half the crew to death, not to mention get all the anomalies riled up.

  • Commander Raauhl, XO

Augmetic limbs had advantages and disadvantages; in Durheim’s mind, the positive outweighed the negative. Especially now. Hard-wired neural connections made remote work trivial - something that was a massive advantage when dealing with either sensitive technology or dangerous anomalies. Currently, he was seated at a workbench; arms discarded to one side with thin wires embedded in the otherwise-empty sockets, and face (figuratively) glued to a viewscreen. Working within a cleanroom was inherently troublesome; add unstable materials to the mix, and mistakes become expensive. Sure, Redshirts may be a dime a dozen, but skilled labor wasn’t…

Roughly an hour or so later
Durheim relaxed as the remote mechandrites pulled back from the small box. Everything appeared to have gone as planned.... but testing would have to wait. The chemical reaction took time; longer in a vacuum. Hopefully after a week or so, results could be obtained.

Rising from the workbench, he awkwardly maneuvered about until one of his limbs ‘clicked’ into place; reconnecting it’s twin was significantly easier. Smiling in satisfaction to himself, he left the small lab and made for the Ready room. Mr. Cobb had said “earliest convenience”, after all… And Jonathan could be a very literal person when it suited him. Not that disrespect was intended, of course.

A polite voice broke into the conversation (or silence, as the case may be) “Mr Cobb; Oh! And Mr. Raauhl; how may I be of assistance?” Durheim had entered the room quietly; with no mention or indication towards the vast intervening time between the summons his arrival.

Durheim; at his earliest convenience

The captain had selected a fine bottle of aged Romulan whiskey for Durheim’s arrival. But patience was limited, even in one so indolent as Zachariah Cobb, and so upon his arrival, the engineer would find the bottle already half-drank.
“Ah, Mr Durheim,” he turned his acute attention to the engineer. “Did you get lost amongst the jefferies tubes on the way to this meeting?”

Jonathan smiled brightly at the Captain. “Ah, no, Mr. Cobb - I know the jefferies tubes quite well! I’ve made a point of learning them even when blindfolded. You hadn’t appeared to indicate this meeting was time-sensitive, and so I did not rush my work.” He frowned; briefly tilting his head in thought. “Was I incorrect in that interpretation, Mr Cobb?”

Zachariah frowned, momentarily unbalanced by Durheim’s response. Nobody had ever admitted to such a literal interpretation before. But even so, the man was technically correct.
“Your interpretation is…logical,” he shrugged through the deliberate selection of words. “If perhaps a little…misguided considering your audience.”

Durheim shrugged; filing it away for future reference.

A glancing nod to Raauhl before continuing, then Zachariah spoke again. “Mr Durheim, please have a seat. You were recently involved in a mission that saw us faced with a mirror of our own ship and crew. And that the conclusion of that mission had a dreadful toll on William Hampton.”
A pause, the details too painful to bring fully into the light.
“Well…so we now have a vacancy for an engineering chief and…I have been watching you for some time, Mr Durheim. As you are no doubt aware, I have served my own years as an engineering chief, which puts me in good stead to evaluate another. And while there is no doubt that your methods are, at times…unique, I have been almost universally impressed by your results.”

“As I am sure the Commander here would agree,” he nodded once again to Raauhl, allowing his First Officer opportunity to share his own opinions of Durheim.

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Durheim’s posture changed subtly; and sharp, narrow eyes settled on Cobb. He remembered - all to well, as it were, the events that Cobb spoke of. But that wasn’t what drew his ire - he could see few possibilities for this line of thinking. One: Cobb was seeking a recommendation from the engineer. Two: Cobb was recommending Durheim for the role of Chief Engineer - but he was only a Crewman; much less a commissioned officer. And so a third possibility loomed - cruelty. While he had quietly suffered needless abuse in the past, it had not been without consequence to the narrow-minded individuals. But the Leviathan was different… he had been accepted here - or had he? Memories flashed through his head; and he frowned as reality re-asserted itself against his less-than stellar past. He had been accepted here. For the first time, he felt as though others cared about him and his well-being; as opposed to merely tolerating him and his eccentricities. As this thought settled at the front of his brain; he relaxed, and his eyes lost much of their sharpness. He was still on edge, perhaps noticeably so. But the intense flash of anger was just that - a thing only briefly shown.

Not being sure of what to say; and atypically considering that what he said could matter, he moved away from the entrance of the ready room and took a seat at the table, settling for a polite nod.

-Durheim the Cautious

Cobb could sense the unease in Durheim, so with rapid precision he refilled three glasses and slid one towards the engineer.
“Here, you look like you could use a drink,” he commented, sipping eagerly at his own. “Look, lad, I know that you’ve been working towards a warrant officer track. I’ve read your assignments and also the results back from Starfleet. In fact, only yesterday I was contacted by Admiral Roebuck himself, asking for a personal review of your performance.”
Blue eyes descended onto thick goggles, the potential for connection somewhat removed by the heavy glass. “And I was happy to recommend you fully for the promotion.”

Jonathan’s head cocked in surprise; what little remained of his eyebrows rising above the perimeter of his goggles. Rank was not something that he paid much attention to; especially regarding his own.

Reaching into his desk drawer, the captain extracted a telltale black box, placing it on the table between them and allowing Durheim, for the moment, to draw his own conclusion.
“But first I must ask you, Mr Durheim, your thoughts on our engineering chief vacancy. Has the position ever appealed to you?”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

As expected, bright eyes flashed quickly to the small black case; with a small shake of his head, Durheim’s attention returned to Cobb. A contemplative frown crossed his face as he considered a possibility posed by the question. “Is this… Conditional, Mr. Cobb?” Jonathan’s tone was curious; all traces of hostility or defensiveness gone.

“Absolutely not,” the captain was quick to clarify. “But the situation with Mr Hampton has left our engineering team without a leader.”
Reaching out, Cobb once more took hold of the box.
“What this box holds, Mr Durheim, is not merely a promotion in rank. But also a great measure of my faith in your ability to command. To lead.”

“I have not previously thought much at all regarding rank or position; frankly I had assumed that my role was to be… static, as it were; and I am content with that. I believe that my personnel file recommended I not… ‘be placed in anything resembling a position of authority’; if I remember the passage correctly.” Despite the fact that that note was (supposedly) not accessible to Durheim, he had indeed quoted it correctly.

Zachariah chuckled. “Aye, that it did indeed. But if I have learned anything on the Leviathan, it is that the best results are oft obtained when ignoring official recommendations and instead forging our own path.”

“In short, I had not considered the role, Mr. Cobb. But… I am not opposed to it. I can’t say how I will, or will not as the case may be, meet your expectations, but I believe that I do have the best interests of the ship and crew in mind. I do not foresee that changing outside of.... extreme circumstances.”

Durheim, Engineering

“And that is also my belief, Mr Durheim,” the captain nodded. “Now, I make no claim that the crew will accept your elevated position from the very first command. There are several officers on the engineering team who would have been expecting this role to fall in alongside their own names. But we have all witnessed your containment solutions and know how accomplished, even gifted, of an engineer that you are. So the rest, the managerial side of things, that will all come to you in time. And while it still evades, then myself and Commander Raauhl are here to offer whatever assistance we can.”

Raising his glass, Zachariah enjoyed a long sip, before adding, “so what do you say, lad? Are you game?”

  • Captain Zachariah Cobb

Durheim was silent for a long moment; nearly motionless as he considered the offer and its implications; new privileges and increased responsibilities - neither something that he wanted to take lightly. His gaze had landed on the small, black box; and as he delved into his own thoughts his eyes unfocused; seemingly seeing through to and past the contents and all they represented.
Chief Engineer.... This seems to be a genuine offer, but is this something that I want? I do like the… anonymity that I can have as a crewman; though admittedly, I am not one to be lost in a crowd. And the added responsibility is no small matter! But then, I am not one to run from my failures, nor shirk my duties; regardless of what they are. And unlike the… last few places I found myself, I do truly care about the Leviathan and its crew. Yes, perhaps I could do well in this role…

“Yes Mr. Cobb; I am ‘game’, so to speak. Or more plainly, I accept both the promotion, and the offer of the position of Chief Engineer of the Leviathan.” Having made his declaration, he nodded firmly to the two officers; before reaching for the previously offered glass of Romulan whiskey. A small exploratory sip found it not unpleasant; much smoother than the chilled ethanol that was his drink of choice; on the rare occasions that the small engineer chose to indulge.

-Durheim; CE to-be


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