Posted Oct. 28, 2020, 9:13 a.m. by Fleet Captain Ghubari Koraia (Captain) (Lindsay B)
Posted by Commander Jennifer Wallace (Executive Officer (Incoming)) in Ready Room - Wallace meets Koraia
Posted by Fleet Captain Ghubari Koraia (Captain) in Ready Room - Wallace meets Koraia
Posted by Commander Jennifer Wallace (Executive Officer (Incoming)) in Ready Room - Wallace meets Koraia
(snip)
Jennifer had mostly gathered herself by this point, so she gave the woman a brief smile. Usually, other than short personal conversations, her duty reporting meetings didn’t go long, but she really didn’t know how Captain Koraia ran things, so she decided to ask. “Is there anything you would like to discuss with me before I go? Duties and such, responsibilities that your former XOs took care of that you would like me to cover?”
Wallace, XO
Puzzling out a new XO was something Koraia was well practised at, but it was also something that took time. Not everything would be clear right now, today. Still, that didn’t mean she had to move forward entirely in the dark. “Tell me what you expect to be doing. What do you believe a first officer’s job truly is?” A simple set of questions but their answers could be rather varied.
Fl. Captain Koraia, CO
Jennifer basically blanked, her face going wide-eyed for a moment. She hadn’t expected that question to go right back to her like that. But no. She’d been a good CMO, she knew to be in charge of things. “I suppose being a first officer is much like being a department head. But also different. I’m supposed to be your ‘rigt hand man,’ so to speak. Carry out your desires. Be in charge of away missions…” She looked at the woman, the lack of words clear.
Ghubari gazed expectantly. giving Jennifer time to figure out her answer. Was there a right one? To a point, but that wasn’t her intention in asking the question.
“Yeah, that’s all I got,” Jennifer leaned back, closing her eyes and giving up. Time to admit the truth. “I’ll be honest with you, Captain, I wasn’t expecting this promotion. I was… fairly content as CMO. Yeah, I’ve been slowly working on my command certification, but I was thinking it’d be another like, five years or more before they put me anywhere near the big chair. I didn’t know I was coming here until about 36 hours ago, and more than half of that was travel time.”
A slow nod of her head and a tiny tug at the corner of her mouth. Was Koraia amused? Yes, indeed she was.
She let out a ling breath. “I’m here now. And if I’m here I guess someone up in top thinks I’m ready. And they’re smarter than I am, so who am I to disagree, am I right?” She chuckled nervously. “What I mean to say is, I really don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m here. And I’m ready to learn.”
Cmdr. Wallace, XO
A crisp nod. “Good. That’s the right answer,” she said with a wink before taking a sip of her chai. She considered Wallace for a moment and then rose to her feet, her long dark fingers still wrapped around her mug. She gestured over to the couch that formed part of her sitting area at the expansive windows. “Come, let’s get comfy. I think we’ll be here for a bit.” Did that sound ominous? She hoped not, but the empath also knew that she read evaluate how her words landed and adjust if necessary.
Sitting in one ‘corner’ of the curved sofa, Ghubari crossed her legs at the knee and leaned back, sinking into the soft but supportive cushions. Another sip of chai. “Commanding a starship is a nonsensical thing at times. In one moment all the rules make sense and keeping order and discipline is a good thing. Then in the next we can all be in the midst of chaos and you sometimes just have to… go with it. Make it up moment by moment.” She gestured towards the door with her free hand. “I can’t tell you what it’s like for other crews, but I do know this one, and they have ben asked over and over again to do the impossible. And you know what? They do it. We do the impossible. Together.”
Fl. Captain Koraia, CO
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