New Department, New Chief
Posted on Fri Feb 16th, 2024 @ 5:50pm by Chief Petty Officer Jericho East & Lieutenant Commander Lylja Tigerlilly
884 words; about a 4 minute read
Mission:
Crossed Wires
Location: Operations Hub
Lylja sat on the edge of her desk, which she had partly cleared so as not to knock anything off with her tail. and watched as the Operations staff gathered. It was nice to have a staff, it was mostly just her when she had arrived on Leto a lifetime ago. The last one arrived, she had memorized all their names and records on the trip to Haumea.
“Welcome everyone,” she gestured to a pink box and a set of carafes. “There are pastries, coffee, tea, and milk. Help yourself.”
“As you know, I am your new Chief Ops,” Lylja said, “Addressing me as Chief is fine, Chief Tigerlilly if you want to be formal. I am not much on formalities but I expect them to be followed when other Departments are around, the chain of command is important to Starfleet, so it is important to us. Understood?”
The assembled team nodded or vocalized their agreement.
“I expect everyone to work hard and work until problems are solved, I will be right there with you, Ops is a team and I expect us to work as one,” Lylja said. “But when we are not on an emergency cal, keep up on your routine work and you can pursue your own projects as long as it does not get in the way of the smooth running of the Colony and this department. Again, understood?”
There were more verbal replies this time. That was gratifying.
Lylja smiled. “Now, I am sure that OpsNet and the rumor mill have been working overtime about me. And you are curious people or you would not be in Ops, so what questions do you have for me?”
“Chief,” said an Bolian woman with Ensign pips, “you were in stasis for years?”
“That is what they tell me,” answered Lylja. “That is the thing about being in stasis, it seemed to be only seconds and that was only because the field was breaking down at the end. But I can see that the universe has changed while I was . . . in stasis. My little sister is an Ensign now, when we last spoke, she was just applying the the Academy. But I assure you, I am fit for this post. Yes, I have some catching up to do, but my basics I solid, I promise you. And, yes, I will have to ask for help sometimes, but not for long.”
“Is it true you fought the Borg?” asked a CPO, a human, East she remembered.
“Once and once we ran away from them,” said Lylja sadly. “The running away did not work so well, that is how I ended up in stasis.”
“Ah,” the man noted somberly.
“Ah, indeed,” laughed Lylja. “The Borg should never be taken lightly. I sincerely hope never to cross paths with them again.”
“Anything else?”
She fielded a few questions about the last systems she had worked with if she was having any trouble with any of the new systems or technologies. It was a productive exchange and Lylja made notes on areas she needed to work on.
“Well, it looks like the pastries are gone, so let us call this for now,” said Lylja. “But feel free to contact me directly if you have further questions. I have some paperwork to do and then starting tomorrow, I am going to be joining various teams to get an idea of what you do and what I need to know to help out.”
“I look forward to working with all of you. So, dismissed and let us make Starfleet proud people.”
The man that had asked about the Borg hung back as others began filtering out of the room. When the opportunity seemed right for the approach, he crossed over toward the tall Caitian. "Jericho East," the man said, providing an introduction in case she hadn't learned their names yet. After all, it was early to be expecting that sort of thing. Stretching out a hand in the human custom, the man offered, "I look forward to working with you, Commander."
Of course, that wasn't the only purpose for speaking with the woman. "I'm sure you'll be speaking with Flight Ops, so I thought it worth mentioning that Lieutenant Naota is my adopted son." Pausing a moment, the man added, "I imagine you could read that sort of detail in a crew dossier, but it seemed something that you ought to hear from me rather than reading on a padd."
Lylja took the hand warmly. "Thank you, East. I had not, in fact, noticed that fact. But I have noted it now. I have not met anyone from Miri's World before, do you have any advice?"
There was a soft laugh at that question. "I wish that I did. If you come up with any, let me know," the man answered with a wry smile that flashed only a moment before the man grew serious again. "From my perspective, he's a pretty ordinary kid."
There was a pause. "Well, maybe not ordinary," Jericho amended. After all, ordinary kids couldn't out maneuver Jem'Hadar fighters.
Lylja laughed. "Well, I will do my best. Though I have not had much experience with younger people since I was young myself. It will be an interesting experience."
"That is a guarantee."
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