EEEEYOW Man!

Posted on Friday, 12 June 2020 - 12:18pm by Captain Barret Stillwater

Mission: Operation: Iktomi
Location: USS Standing Bear |Captain's Ready Room | Deck 01
Timeline: 2393 - MD03 Morning

{ON:}

Tilian Grol walked up to the door of the ready room. His first official day. He'd met with Soral had gone through orientation this morning and now the captain...er...Commander.....whatever. The big boss. He straightened his uniform and squared his shoulders and hit the chime button.

Commander Stillwater was sitting at his desk when the man arrived outside his door. The chime immediately caused Stillwater to reach across his desk and pull up the holo display to grant access. These security features and updated technology was something he could respect. Nevertheless, old habits were difficult to demolish. "Come," he replied anyways. "Petty Officer," he said greeting the man.

"Sir, I am Tilian Grol, your and Commander Soral's Yeoman," he said by way of introduction. He gave a proper salute and stood at the required attention pose. The Captain's... dashing good looks not lost on the man. This was turning out to be a handsome crew.

"Oh?" Stillwater was a little surprised by the man's assignment, but he was not dismissive of it. "I was not expecting them to actually assign us a Yeoman. Small ship, about 100 crew aboard when fully crewed. Commander Soral and I both seem to be of a similar work habit of not letting things pile up. Needless to say, Grol, I do not anticipate you having too much to worry about."

“Indeed. I am however, here to help. I have also offered doctor Rose my assistance.”

He paused. “That being said. I do have some distressing news.”

"What is it, Petty Officer?" asked Stillwater.

"Did you know sir," he started. "The report and information submitting on this ship is only 85% of what it is on ships that have more crew? Until recently Commander Soral hadn't even submitted a change of status application to indicate his marriage and his wife still hasn't updated hers?" He shook his head. "That is why I am necessary, sir." He smiled. "I will bring the administrative sections to order.

"We have had a bit of turnover lately. So, I am not surprised, but you are here now. You are assigned here and I will leave you to do your job to the best of your abilities, Petty Officer. I am certain that Commander Soral would be willing to assist you in setting anything up that you may need."

"Indeed. He has been most generous. I do have a question. My policy is to speak with the spouses of those I work for to understand certain issues such as when they want their spouse home when possible if there are any important day they wish me to ensure they never miss. Would that be alright with you. I have already spoken with Commander Soral's wife."

"I was not aware Commander Soral even had a wife" replied Stillwater. "Not that I make it my business to get involved with the personal lives of crew" he added quickly. "If they wish to openly communicate with you, fine. If not, leave them be. So long as nothing disrupts the day to day operations of the starship."

"Perfect. Indeed. That was the change of status, to which I referred to earlier." He paused. "My understanding is that the commander participated in a bonding ceremony as per Vulcan custom, with Lieutenant Kingsley, the Chief Science Officer. As per Regulation Beta 2.5 of the Vulcan and Federation regulation charter both by Vulcan law and Federation Law they are married. I have taken the liberty of preparing the forms for your acknowledgement as per regulation." He handed A data PaDD to the CO.

"Wonderful," he muttered sarcastically. "Only aboard a couple a months and they have placed themselves into a marriage" he said shaking his head. What the crew did with their personal lives was their problem, until it became his problem which it had better not get to being his problem. "Know a good divorce attorney? You may want to get an early start on that paperwork."

Grol studied him. "I don't understand." He paused. "You yourself have a spouse aboard. The new Chief Ops and Chief Engineering officer are married."

"I have known my spouse for several years before we so much as had a date" replied Stillwater. "The Chief Engineer and his wife have seemingly been together for a while, not the case with Soral and Kingsley, but that is not my problem. I just hope it works out for them both."

"Ahhh you are one of those people."

"Those?" replied Stillwater.

"Those that do no believe in love at first sight."

He nodded and replied "Yes, I'm a realist. I actually believe in tangible evidence and empirical data. I believe in being intelligent and seeing the glass as what it is, not dwelling on whether it's half empty or half full."

"There is nothing logical about love." He sighed.

"That is very true" replied Stillwater. "It's a wonder Vulcans even find it at all."

"They have emotions just control them." He looked at Stillwater. "Now I do have a question for you. What do you want to see in the perfect Yeoman." He had this thing about being perfect. It mattered, a lot.

Stillwater was quick to answer that. "One that goes unnoticed and is very independent with their work, Petty Officer. I prefer my Yeoman to report to me when necessary of course, but to carry out matters appropriately at their discretion. I want to be made aware of any flag officers, diplomats, politicians, or journalists coming aboard well in advance."

"Indeed." His hands flew over a blank PaDD. "With respect to timing. I am able to manage my time well as to ensure I am never behind. Do you prefer a certain hourly split between yourself and Commander Soral? Doctor Rose will not be an issue as I will be assisting him in my time off."

"I do not," replied Stillwater. "Your job is all about efficiency. How about you take a few days, examine how things run and then draw up a plan with recommendations for duty rotations and such that are efficient, then submit them to Commander Soral to look over and review."

"Indeed. Now that I have unpacked and sanitized my quarters I am fully ready for work." He paused. "Permission to suggest freely sir"

"Sure," replied Stillwater. "What is it?"

"Since you are new to take over it might be worth doing a department by department tour while we are still berthed here."

"There are nine decks," replied Stillwater. "I have walked every inch of the starship en route to the station from Prairie. Believe me, I have studied the deck plans thoroughly and placed emphasis on knowing the tactical systems."

He studied the man. "It is more then that. You are the captain. You are their leader, the person they aspire to be. The king of the ship. Making nice with the staff will go a long way to you getting used to them and they to you."

"As you said, I am the 'King,' Petty Officer. I am not intended to be moved around unless absolutely necessary. Dealing with personnel matters and overseeing the crew morale is, Commander Soral's duties. He is in this context the 'Queen,' and I will leave him to those duties. I prefer to keep a professional distance from my crews."

He snorted. "I'm sure he'd love being called that. Professional distance is great but it might be nice to form a bond with the crew...unless you have no intention to stay."

"I am here until my commitment is over" replied Stillwater. "I will consider your suggestion, but it simply is not in my nature to do so. I have decades of service with various Commanding Officers above me and crews underneath me. I have always respected that professionalism of distancing."

"Indeed. But please consider it. Some great captains have maintained a distance yet have been reachable to their staff."

Stillwater nodded. "Before you go, who is on your mind as a great Captain?"

Grol took a moment to think. "Captain Pike is a personal hero. Not so much Captain Kirk...he was good but a bit of an intergalactic hussy, very handsome though and honourable...just can't get over the hussy part. But Captain Pike, Captain Picard perhaps in his hey day and Captain Archer."

"You need to get out more," he replied to the man. "There's more Captains out there then the textbook Enterprise Captains" added Stillwater, "But I will take your suggestion into consideration. I just won't be changing my ways completely nor quickly. I'm an old horse, and I don't take easily to new tricks."

"Well slow and steady wins the race"

"Do not bet on it" countered Stillwater. "Slow and steady may win in fables, but on the track, they are not going to win unless several horses trip and stumble."

"Excellent. You have a great assistant. I tend to be a real EEEEEYOW man! I shall trip the horses then." He smiled.

"I hate horse races," he said. "Unless they're holograms. There's a very bad history with the sport on Earth. Injured horses were often killed if they were no use for racing anymore. It was meat or glue factory for them."

Grol sighed. "This conversation has gone way off course."

"Sounds like you lost" replied Stillwater. "Better luck next time."

He smiled. "You are utterly frustrating. We shall work well together." He paused. "Anything else?"

"Thank you, my husband reminds me of that every morning" replied Stillwater. "No, you are dismissed."

Grol gave a nod. "Thank you sir."

{OFF:}