Changes Down Below Deck

Posted on Sun Nov 26th, 2017 @ 10:00pm by Captain John Theisman & Chief Petty Officer Wendi Maberu
Edited on on Mon Nov 27th, 2017 @ 11:16am

918 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Genesis Legacy
Location: Captains Ready Room

Chief Petty Officer Wendi Maberu wandered upto the Captains Ready Room. She was still young, however with the recent events regarding the ships Chief Engineer she had come to the Captain to resolve the issue of who was running the Engine Room. So far, as she was the highest ranking Starfleet Officer at the moment in the entire department she had taken temporary command of Engineering.

She stood nervously outside the ready room playing with her hair as she waited to be let in.

"Open," John called out as he heard the door chime. He had an idea who it was, since he had been expecting CPO Maberu for a few days. There had been the usual shuffle with the wide open gap of having the only officers in engineering leaving the ship and there had been a few grumblings from below decks. John knew how he wanted engineering to be set up, but there would be a few ruffled feathers that would just have to get over it. Looking up he nodded to the young CPO that entered. "Miss Maberu, how's my engineering department?" he asked.

Wendi walked in and stood a little nervously in front of the desk. This was her first time in the Captains ready room and she had never spoken to him directly before. She had followed orders, but they usually got passed down.

"Well sir" she said. "We're all a little confused at who is meant to be doing what. With no chief we've just been working as usual, but things are getting a little shakey at times" she explained. "I thought I should come to you about it, since I'm the one with the highest rank at the moment..."

"I'm glad that you did come to me about it, Chief," John said as he leaned back in his chair with a slight cat caught the canary grin. "So, how would you fix the problem?"

Wendi thought about it for a few seconds. "Well, the best thing to do is to appoint a new Chief Engineer and rework the command structure of the department" she replied. "The only problem that I see is that we're a long way out from a nearby starbase."

"That's not a problem. As for reworking the structure of the department, how long do you think it'll take once you get back down there?" John said.

"I don't think it'll take too long" Wendi replied with a slightly nervous smile. "We still have a basic rank structure in the department, so there shouldn't be to much re-shuffling. But that would be up to the next Chief sir" she said. "I've been keeping things running for now temporarily until we get someone new or someone steps up" she explained.

"Based on your reports and by your own admission, you've already stepped up. But, I'm going to make it official. As of right now, you're the Hyperion's new chief engineer," John said.

Wendi blinked several times in disbelief. "Wait...." she paused stuttering slightly. "What? You're making me the new Chief? But I'm not even an officer sir" she said surprised. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but I thought only officers could run departments?"

"It's mostly a captain's choice. I had two entire departments run by NCOs while I was captain of the Proxima. Generally, the department head is an officer, but there's nothing that says only an officer can run a department. Preferably, department heads are to be the most qualified member of said department. And right now, you're the most qualified person on the Hyperion to run engineering. I see nothing wrong with a qualified NCO taking over engineering. So, unless you don't want the position and can give me one good reason why you shouldn't be chief, the job's yours," John said with a smile.

Wendi stood there for a few seconds in silence as she assimilated the information she had been told. She eventually straightened herself up and smiled. "I'll take the job sir. I believe that I can do it" she said a wave of confidence coming over her suddenly. "I still have a lot to learn when it comes to running a department. But I will try my best to make you proud sir!"

"Take you time as you settle in to the position," John said. "I don't expect to have to throw you off into the deep end any time soon, so it should be nice quiet and boring for a while. Plenty of time for a new chief engineer to get used to her new department."

Wendi broke her stance and nodded. "Yes sir, thank you sir" she replied. "Erm... permission to return to Engineering and inform the staff?" she asked.

"Granted. Now get out of here," John said. "Oh, and congratulations, Chief."

Wendi nodded and gave him a smile before skipping out of the door. She let out a slight squeal of excitement and delight as she passed through the doors which could only be described as 'cute'.

John chuckled as he picked up a Padd from his desk and thumbed it on. He had no doubt that his new chief engineer would be able to settle into her new position with ease. She certainly had the ability to be a great chief, in fact she was probably already much better than the previous chief engineer the Hyperion had had. Leaning back into his chair, John started reading, making a mental note to inform Commander Jayde of the appointment later on.

 

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