Getting Used to the New Boss

Posted on Tue Mar 23rd, 2010 @ 4:56pm by Vice Admiral Iluvar & Lieutenant Samuel Bishop

Mission: Episode 1.2 - "A House Divided"
Location: Main Engineering, USS Pandora
Timeline: MD12, 1243

ON: [[Main Engineering, USS Pandora, MD12, 1243]]

Bishop walked through Engineering, reading from a PADD as he did so. The 'active shakedown' work was proceeding well, though he still had concerns about the intermix coolant levels. Pausing in front of his office, he saw Ensign Bymir, his Assistant Chief Engineer, speaking with another crewman. Suddenly Bishop guiltily realized that he had barely spoken to the young man since coming aboard. Sighing heavily, the Chief caught Bymir's eye and gestured him over.

Noticing that the lieutenant was beckoning to him, Svon (NPC) decided to wrap up his explanation quickly. "Just make sure that the diagnostic is complete before we reach the Neutral Zone," he told the crewman before handing over the PADD he had been referring to. As the crewman headed off to carry out the order, Svon turned toward the chief engineer and gave a mental sigh. In the short time that he'd been working with the lieutenant, the man had made quite the reputation for being rather gruff. Part of him wondered what it was that the lieutenant wanted done now.

"Something I can do for you, sir," Svon asked somewhat casually, hoping that he didn't sound too lax in his form.

Bishop eyed the young man carefully. "It's come to my attention that we haven't had the chance to... uhh... communicate much since I came aboard. I wanted to touch base with you about the Engineering staff. You know many of them better than I do, and I... value your opinion," he said. This kind of talk wasn't his style at all, and it was quite difficult for the pragmatic Engineer. Bishop's sincerity was real, but he was the type who assumed others could see that he valued them. Since becoming an officer, he had had to adjust to the new dynamic.

The idea that the lieutenant simply wanted to talk was a little strange for Svon as well. Certainly, it wasn't unwelcome, but based on what he had seen so far, Svon wondered if the chief wasn't stepping a little outside his element by approaching the assistant chief in this way.

"So... what's your call on the crew?" he asked carefully. "Any issues I should be aware of?"

Realizing that the lieutenant was waiting for an answer, Svon pushed aside his thoughts and focused his attention on the matter at hand. "No...no issues, really," he replied, looking around the room as he spoke, "I think we've been doing a pretty good job integrating the personnel who transferred over from the Tethys with those who were already assigned to the Pandora."

The Chief nodded absently. "Good, good." Bishop sighed heavily and finally broached a subject he had hoped to avoid. "Ensign, I am aware that many of the crew are not accustomed to my... style." With pursed lips, he collected his thoughts. "I've never been the most diplomatic person... ah hell, the truth is I'm a useless diplomat, but I want you to know that I expect the same frankness from my crew as well. If you have an issue about anything, bring it to me. It might not be the prettiest system, but I prefer people be honest with me."

The truth was, Bishop's honesty had been gained from his training as an Engineer. Machinery was always honest, never diplomatic, and he found it a refreshing way to be.

"Understood, sir," Svon replied crisply with a slight nod of his head. He was going to have to make sure that the lieutenant's instructions were made clear to the other members of the engineering staff. It was, in some small way, comforting to know that the lieutenant was aware of how some might perceive him and was at least trying to do something about it.

Bishop nodded, giving the young man a look. "One thing. Don't call me sir," he said with a smirk. "Makes me feel too damn old. Chief will do fine." He was about to add something when a shout from another part of Engineering followed by a loud crash made Bishop wince slightly. He didn't have to turn to know it was the brilliant but accident-prone Ensign Hrr'ix. He sighed heavily and looked at Svon. "You think anyone would notice if I shot him?" the Chief asked with a sardonic smile.

For a moment, believing the man to be serious, Svon opened his mouth to protest. Noticing the smile on the chief's face, the young man realized that the lieutenant had only been joking. Svon chuckled slightly as he tried to come up with a quick, witty reply. Wit had never been his strong suit, however, and he was forced to settle for an awkward smile to mirror Bishop's.

The Chief shrugged. "Yeah, having him flogged would probably be more fun." Shaking his head as if to clear it, he held up his PADD. "This is the duty roster I set up for Engineering last night. I figure we can keep Harrison and Donelly where they are. We'll need a few extra hands while we work the bugs out of the main drive. What do you think?"

Svon took the PADD from the chief and glanced over it for a moment, scrolling through the list of names and assignments. Everything seemed to be in order, from what he could see. It looked like the chief was trying to rotate personnel through as best as he could to see what the best fit was for each shift. "I don't see anything that looks out of place," Svon said, handing the PADD back, "I think it should work out well."

The Engineer nodded with satisfaction. "Fair enough. Do me a favour and keep an eye on Donelly will you? Its only been a month since his Dad's accident, and I'm afraid he's gonna try to work himself to exhaustion." He shook his head, thoughts of the young man's terrible pain running through his mind. "What are you workin' on now?"

Taking a moment to glance in the direction of the man the chief had identified, Svon turned back at the lieutenant's question. "Well, Andrews (NPC) and I were just going over the latest diagnostic simulations," Svon explained, "So far, we haven't found anything out of the ordinary, but we've only gone over about sixty percent of the data. Things are looking promising though."

"Glad to hear it. Well, I'll let you get back to what you were doing. I'd better go make sure Hrr'ix hasn't destroyed the warp core," Bishop said, jerking a thumb toward the rear of the massive Engineering deck.

Svon nodded in understanding and stepped to one side so that the chief could walk past. The young man turned and approached the large situation table, affectionately referred to as the "pool table" by many of the personnel, where he and Andrews had been working. "What was that about," Andrews asked, watching the chief head off towards the source of the noise.

"Nothing much," Svon replied, glancing over his shoulder as he stepped up to the table. He watched the chief disappear from view and heard the man's voice echo from the far end of the room, addressing Hrr'ix. Shaking his head slightly, he turned his attention back to the display on the table. "Where were we," he asked, tapping in a command sequence.

"Simulation 12-Beta," Andrews replied, bringing up the computer data on the terminal. The two engineers didn't speak a word as they began to watch the information scroll across the screen. In the back of his mind, Svon realized that it wasn't going to be as difficult as he had originally thought to get used to this new chief.

OFF

A JP by

Lieutenant Samuel Bishop
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Pandora

Ensign Svon Bymir (NPC)
Assistant Chief Engineering Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar

and

Petty Officer Andrews (NPC)
Engineering Officer
USS Pandora
Played by: RAdm Iluvar