A New Number One
Posted on Mon Dec 23rd, 2024 @ 9:18pm by Captain Daegan Baas & Lieutenant Commander Ridge Maguire
2,388 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
A New Beginning
Location: Bridge
Everything was still so new. During his morning workout the gym smelled...almost too new. After changing over Daegan grabbed a coffee and walked through the Quantum Drive area, followed by the Arboretum, then the bridge. Almost everywhere he went there were maintenance crews from Utopia Planitia finalizing their wrap up work and heading out.
Daegan had spent most of the morning going from station to station, personally examining the station configurations spending most of his time at the Tactical console; having been a security and tactical officer at the beginning of his career. The bridge had a spacious ready room separate conference room and observation lounge, as well as a small break room/lounge at the rear.
His senior officer selections were proceeding, but a lot still remained to be reviewed. Upon entering the, his, ready room he was met by the every growing stack of data padds. "I really need to pick a Yeoman..." Taking his seat he set his cup aside and started reading.
[Elsewhere on Utopia Planitia]
Captains might make the selection but First Officers made the final call or so it seemed. Twice already this morning, Ridge had been called to Ready Rooms, on ships in varying stages of construction, to interview for the position of First Officer. Having spoke with both of them, Ridge had taken temporary quarters and was using the workstation there to read up on their records. Not that that would tell him all that he wanted to know since personnel records often restricted the most sensitive data. Combine that with the interview, the Captain checking him out while he checked the Captain out, it gave him an idea. He put in a call to a friend of his, from his security days, and spent the next little bit talking about reputations and scuttlebutt.
[USS Valkyrie - Ready Room]
Daegan had reduced his pile of first officer candidates to three. According to their files good officer all which was probably why he was having such a hard time. He decided he wanted to actually speak with them so he started the process. One of his selectees was at Stabace 310 serving as the station's XO. The conversation was cordial but she did not strike him as a good fit. Her personality, or lack there of was cold and she repeated mention how she kept the station "running like clockwork". He thanked her for her interest in the assignment and that he would be in touch. As the channel closed he moved her to his no pile. The last thing he wanted was some cold rigid, micromanager. The other two officers were local and he sent a summons to them both. He knew it was unprofessional but he still chuckled at the name.
As he re-read their files he was leaning more and more in one direction, but would wait to see how they had to say before making a final decision.
[Observation Lounge]
Ridge was just finishing up his conversation with his old friend (and putting the last Captain he'd "interviewed" on his mental "no chance in hell" list), he received an almost immediate summons to another interview. He looked longingly at the replicator, and the cup of coffee he envisioned sitting there, but instead, headed out to the Valkyrie to meet a Captain ... Baas. When he arrived, humming a tune under his breath, there was another individual waiting as well and as his luck would have it, a Vulcan. The two exchanged polite nods but it was there and Ridge didn't miss it. The head to toe examination, the shuttering of the man's gaze, the way he turned ever so slightly away. Subtle. Easily mistakable unless you'd spent what felt like centuries on Vulcan.
The opaque partition between the lounge and the ready room opened and a Yeoman appeared, padd in hand. "Commander Skidiss the Captain will see you now".
She remained behind as the partition closed. "Afternoon Sir. You must be Lieutenant Commander Maguire."
"Yes, I am," Ridge said with a slight incline of his head. "Do you have any idea how long this will be," he asked with a slight smile. "I"m overdue for my coffee fix. Hopelessly addicted and proud of it."
She chuckled, "Well we don't want you all sweaty and jittery from withdrawal when you go in to see the Captain so let's get you that fix." Speaking as she crossed the lounge to the other partition as she motioned for him to follow, "They put replicators practically everywhere except for this lounge." Crossing into the conference room, she stopped, gesturing to the replicator, "How do you take it sir?"
"Grew up on a working horse ranch," Ridge said as he followed her into the conference room. "I was told early on that I'd lose all respect if I put anything into my mug but straight coffee, the stronger the better. I was twelve and I swear, I couldn't stop shuddering whenever I took a sip but a month later, I was good to go as they say. Never looked back." He stepped up to the replicator and said, "Coffee, dark roast, mug, not cup and saucer." The system responded and Ridge pulled his mug out. "Anything for you? I can make anything in a kitchen as long as there's a working replicator."
Deciding to toy with the his response...just to see how he reacted. Cocking her head slightly she look at him devilishly, "Dinner already?? You don't even have the job yet and already hitting on the subordinates....tsk tsk. We're gonna have to keep an eye on you."
"Please do," he said as he winked over the rim of his coffee mug. "Oughta be someone keeping me on the up-and-up." He arched an eyebrow. "But, teasing or not, to be clear, I was just talking about something to drink ... here ... in the conference ... while I wait out my meeting summons."
With mock disappointment she frowned, "Ahhh... Just get a girls hopes up and bash them." She laughed. "No problem Sir. You left just enough of an opening and you looked like you could use a little distraction. If it means anything I hope you get the job, so far none of the people I've seen had much of a sense of humor."
"None of the captains I've interviewed with this morning had either," Ridge said. "But I think it's got to be hard. Looking for someone you can trust, work with, when so much is at stake if it goes wrong. I get that part. It's just ... one of them actually quizzed me on Starfleet Regulations. All the time I've been in Starfleet, I actually got a pop quiz from a potential captain. Can you imagine that?"
"Ouch. Tha....", she was interrupted by the opening of the partition and she quickly returned to the lounge where the Commander was waiting. "I have completed my interview Yeoman."
"Yes Commander. One moment and I will take you to the transporter room."
She disappeared into the ready room speaking with the Captain momentarily before returning. Lt. Commander Maguire, Captain Baas is waiting." She motioned for the Vulcan to go first and she followed him through the conference room. As she passed Maguire she gave him a thumbs up.
Ridge winked at her and then headed into the Ready Room. Once inside, he ignored the surroundings and headed straight to where the Captain sat behind his desk. "Captain," he said quietly though not without a bit of sparkle in the depths of his light blue eyes.. "I assume you already know who I am so let's get straight to the point, shall we? I understand you're interviewing for a First Officer. Just so happens, I'm looking for a captain as well."
Normally he would have offered his interviewee a seat but in this case he cocked his head slightly to the side with a stoic 'did he really just say that' gaze, then slowly leaned his chair back as he laced his fingers together as he laid his hands over his abs. The silence continued for another moment then he played the card his Yeoman had mentioned., "What's Starfleet's 24th General Order?" The slight bit of a grin began to show.
He either listened, Ridge thought, or the yeoman told him about his last interview. A Vulcan, the one his home world wanted him to be, would have answered with the text of the general order and while Ridge knew the answer, honesty was so deeply embedded into who he was and how he dealt with the universe, he said, "Pop quiz, really?"
He smile widened, gesturing to the empty seat. "Well my Yeoman told me to quiz you on regs at some point to break the ice, and after the bold opening of yours I couldn't resist. So since we are both 'looking', as you said, you can go first. What are you looking for in a Captain?"
Ridge dropped lightly into his seat, smiling and relaxed, as he considered his answer. "Do I have a checklist? No. Not really. But there are some things, I guess. There are some captains old who believe their place is on the front lines. First one in and all that. And I do believe they gave their First Officers gray hair doing it. I see that as my job. Not that I want to chain my captain to a desk or anything but, a captain that puts himself into danger all the time? That's a problem. Distracting for the crew, because they're worrying about the captain, and dangerous for the execution of the mission."
Beginning included in that older generation he raised a brow, but that had been an issue for some time...even before he had been an XO himself. "Well that's actually nothing new. There have always been Captain's that went on or wanted to go with away teams when the probably shouldn't have. Hell you'll find that going on in the earliest days of Starfleet. Think about...you spend the majority of your career in the thick of it and the you find yourself in the big chair having to let go....not always an easy thing to do.
"Some day you'll be in the same situation. Having a career's worth of experience and habit of being were the action is and having to step back. You are right in that a Captain shouldn't put his or her life at risk unnecessarily, but on the other side of that coin is a Captain's experience."
"True," Ridge said, nodding thoughtfully, "and on my last ship, the captain kept open comms for just that reason." One corner of his mouth quirked up. "And of course, there was the period where I was wearing a camera so he could watch real-time. Hard for him to let go as well."
Daegan had to laugh at that. "That's pretty bad. Had you wear a camera so he could at least watch, damn. Anything else?"
"The second part is harder to explain," Ridge said quietly. "Practically speaking, I'm your second in command and while part of my job is ensuring that your orders are followed, I think there also needs to be a ... dare I say it ... good working relationship between us? No one's perfect, right? We all have flaws and I think part of it is making sure that our flaws don't bump up against each other. For example, one of my interviews this morning, the captain preferred polite to honest. I can't be anything but honest so, that presented a problem. And .." he held up a hand, "because I suspect I know what your next question is, my other flaw is that Vulcans tend to see me as a lower life form. Sort of like a feral Vulcan in their estimation. And sometimes, that causes problems."
"Honest is commendable, though on rare occasions too much honest can comeback to bite you, as the saying goes. You are absolutely right in that a good working relationship between Captain and First Officer is vital, it sets the tone for the crew. If there are problems, it only creates division. Nor do I expect perfection, I expect those under my command to give me the best, but perfection is not realistic. I had a commanding officer put it this way, 'if you aren't making mistakes...you aren't learning'. That is a concept I wholeheartedly agree with.
"About the Vulcan thing..." Daegan cocked his head and shrugged disappointedly. " For all their contributions to the Federation, Vulcans have a major flaw with their cultural rigidity. Their inflexibility to accept individuals who chose a different path, such as yourself, contradicts one of their core tenants, Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations."
"Now see, that's what I thought," Ridge said. "Embrace the differences. I've studied on Vulcan, speak the language as well as someone born there, and I understand the choices they've made. Respect them to a degree." He shrugged, a bare lift of one shoulder, "but I am not feral and I do not regret my choices. I know that I'm different, and for some, that's a problem. The round peg in a square hole thing. But I see that as the fault of those who need everyone and everything to fit into neat little preconceived notions about 'how things should be'."
Ridge paused a moment, letting that thought settle in the captain's mind, and then continued on. "And now, Captain, if you will. What are you looking for in a First Officer?"
Daegan had pushed his chair back and had an ankle over one knee, his hand at his chin as he recapped the conversation, "Well from what I've heard so far, you. The job is yours," adding with a smile, "that is if I've made YOUR cut."
Ridge grinned. "As my grandfather used to say, so far so good, Captain. It would be an honor to serve aboard the Valkryie."
"Excellent! Then lets make this official. Computer, senior officer appointment. Lieutenant Commander Ridge Maguire is hear by designated Executive Officer of the USS Valkyrie. Authorization Baas, Gamma-91735-Echo."
"Acknowledged. All secondary command authorization are assigned the Lieutenant Commander Ridge Maguire."
"Well, now that that's over with, tell me about yourself..."
Captain Daegan Baas
CO
Lt. Commander Ridge Maguire
XO
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