Meeting the XO

Posted on 01 Apr 2016 @ 4:01am by Lieutenant Commander Alanna Wells & Commander Travis Stone

950 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Timeline: Backpost - on Alanna's arrival

On:

Another day, another pile of paperwork. Trial preparations were complete, duty rosters done, personnel evaluations....well, those always took some time, and that's what Travis was working on, hoping for an interruption. Idly while reading, his left hand was occupied by a piece of smooth forest green stone while he hummed an old tune to himself.

Alanna took a moment to straighten her uniform and become properly serious before she rang the door chime to report to her new XO.

"Enter!" Travis called out, taking a moment to straighten out his uniform and stretch while standing to greet their new Chief Science Officer. Considering their mission, she would be playing an important and critical role, and it was better for him to be on good terms now than try and salvage something later on.

Alanna walked in and smiled. "Hi," she said. "I'm Alanna Wells."

Travis extended a hand after a slight bow. "Commander Wells, come in. Have a seat. Can you I get you something to drink?" He asked while moving to the replicator in anticipation of her request.

"A hibiscus lemonade would be nice, thank you," she said, sitting down in the chair opposite the XO's desk.

Travis placed the order, and then brought the lemonade over with a container of ice on the side. For himself, he had ordered a sweet iced tea, and sat both drinks in their respective place. "So, do you prefer Commander, Ms. Wells, or Alanna when not strictly formal?" He asked, easy thing to figure out first and make the environment useful.

"Alanna," she said. Then, giving him an impish grin she added, "I am rarely strictly formal, I'm afraid."

Travis nodded and returned the grin. "Formality has it's place, not always required though. Hate to sound cliche, but I hate reading bio's over and over, so tell me a little about yourself, and what you wan to do here on the ship." He asked as he took a sip.

"I imagine you have a lot to read anyway," she said. "Well, I'm both a geek and a nerd. My specialties are history and archaeology, although I have a general understanding of science. I am fascinated with ancient cultures and their histories."

"Interesting, I suspect you'll get to use all your skillsets and then some on this mission. I'm more Marine and Engineering trained, but I can help if you find you need some. Any hiccups with your staff so far? Also, hibiscus lemonade? That's an unusual choice and indicates a background in the tropics of Earth." He grinned at the end of the question and sipped from the tea.

"No hiccups yet, fortunately. And the staff so far is good," she said. "It's been fortunate. However, I will remember that I can call on you if I need help." She took a sip of her lemonade. "I didn't discover this until I came to earth. The two flavors go well together."

"It's an unusual combination. So, considering the length of this mission, what are your overall career goals? Do you plan to go through a few stasis cycles?" He asked, trying to get a read on her.

"I'm going to play it by ear," Alanna admitted. "I want to be around when needed, but I'm hoping there will be some long spells where I can go into stasis."

"I'm sure we can accommodate you on that. Actually, as Chief Science Officer, that brings up a point I did want to discuss with you, when we have a moment to do it in a more informal setting, this would be off the clock and unofficial." He said with a hint of challenge and ambiguity to spark her interest.

"Oh? And you can't give me a hint?" she asked, curious as to why he could only mention it off the clock.

"Now now, no mixing work and play." Travis stated with a half grin, apparently it had worked. "It's a longer term challenge, but it does involve chronitons, and humanoid test subjects." He decided to relent and give her that much information, but still a wide berth. The last thing he wanted was to influence the analysis.

Alanna nodded. "Sounds interesting. I look forward to hearing more about it," she said, pleased that he'd given her a little bit of information. She could wait for a better time now. If he'd told her nothing, the curiosity would have driven her nuts.

"Great. We'll figure out a time and then get into it." He gave her an easy grin. "So, anything else on your mind Commander?" Figuring it was time to get this back on track, as they both probably had a lot to do still.

"Not at the moment. Most of my questions were answered by the Captain," she said. "Basically, I'm setting up individual projects for the scientists in my department with a science database and backup generator. That gives me a bit of autonomy and allows the scientists to work on long-term projects without having to worry about loss of power causing a catastrophic failure."

"Engineering and Ops have been included in this right?" Call him crazy, but he did have to check here and there.

"Yes, they have," she assured him.

"Great. Well, I'll send you a request for that meeting so we can look into my idea. Engineering wise I know I can make it work, just need the science end to be feasible." Travis stood, and reached out to shake her hand once again. "Welcome to the awake world of the Achilles.

"Thank you," she said, taking the proffered hand. "I look forward to it."

____
OFF

Commander Travis Stone
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Alanna Wells
Chief Science Officer

 

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