Remy's on First, Vila's on Second, but Where's the Captain?

Posted on Sun Jan 7th, 2024 @ 2:58am by Captain Remy Johansen

1,065 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 0: Where do we go from here?
Location: Jupiter Station, USS Imperator, Deck 36
Timeline: MD -7 days to anticipated launch.

First Officer Remy Johansen stepped around a set of legs hanging out from underneath a console in main engineering as she and Commander Lorut were finishing a walk through of the department. A few workers were still adding final touches, but most of the officers they had talked to were running diagnostics, and claimed that the heavy lifting was done and that the Imperator was space worthy, complete with its upgrades.

"Now if we could just get word on who our new commanding officer is going to be," Remy commented as she dusted off her pant legs as they neared the exit. "I've already not answered that question dozens of times with new officers checking in, and we're about to get slammed with the bulk of new arrivals."

Lorut looked around at each person as she and the XO made their way through the departments, doing final checks on each one for launch. "Right? That would be helpful," she said. "I dislike being without a leader," she said. "I have heard there is a short list, but no one I recognize," she said. "I even asked my ex-husband when we spoke the other day about our son, and he didn't recognize them, either. If Ben doesn't know someone, that's rare," she said. She may dislike that man, but she had to admit that he was gregarious, and both of them had been around the Fleet for twenty-five years. You learn who most people are over time.

"When does the Station open today for new arrivals? I need to get a roster together," she said.

"Opening the gangway at 1300," Remy said dryly. "Chief Engineer and Chief of Security are coming in today, maybe we should dump some of the onboarding onto McEntyre, give ourselves a break," Remy chided.

"Fantastic," Vila replied. "That would be nice. Don't suppose they're sending us a Quartermaster," she said, wryly. "It's the Fleet, why should they??" It was rhetorical, of course. "But that sounds like a plan. I, for one, could use an hour or two of quiet in my labs-or the training Holodeck. I don't know why Admiral what's-his-name assigned ME to Second Officer," she said. Of all the people in the Fleet, the Bajoran woman wasn't-or rather, shouldn't-be on anyone's short list for that type of thing. She wasn't command material-she was happiest behind her microscopes.

"Speaking of labs, the life specimens you requested for both the botany and bio labs are coming tomorrow. The schedule says 1100, but they are coming in with other cargo, so if you want to keep your eyes on them, I'd get to Cargo Bay 2 early," Remy reminded her. "And don't kill yourself in the holodeck. You've passed all the tests, you wouldn't have the job if you weren't ready."

Vila smiled lightly. "Thanks for that vote of confidence," she said. "Great, I am excited to get my team together. My botanist is one of the best in the Fleet-I asked for her personally, and I am glad she was able to take the position," she said. "And I hope that my assistant is Chief material. I know I will be required to spend more time on the Bridge, and I need to be able to leave the labs in their hands...I haven't heard yet who they chose, but the short list looked promising," she said. She was, frankly, a bit nervous. She had only been a department head for two tours so far-a further Command spot was excellent, but nerve-wracking.

"I think we're going to be getting a lot of answers to our many questions after we've already left spacedock. It's not how I prefer to operate, but hey it's Starfleet and we don't even have our CO here yet," Remy said. "All that unassigned space in the Stardrive section is up for grabs. I know you and McEntyre both have your eyes on it for your departments and I doubt you'll be the only ones. I haven't met many Captains who actually enjoy being confronted with those types of decisions yet either. I just hope he doesn't tell me to flip a coin."

Vila nodded. "Yeah, that's Starfleet," she said. "The same song and dance for twenty-five years," she said. "Oh, well. I guess we will find out," she said. "There were some good names on the list I saw," she said. "With my luck, though, it'll be my ex-husband," she joked. "I know he's on the short list for the Endeavor," she said.

"I wish I could promise it would never happen, but Starfleet doesn't have the best track record for not assigning exes into awkward positions where they would have to serve with one another," Remy said pointedly. "Still it is probably a long shot."

Vila laughed. "They sure do," she said. "But yeah, it is. He is very certain that he'll get the command he wants at the Endeavor, according to my son. I am not sure why a science research vessel wants a man who was an Engineer, but he WOULD be good at it," she said. "I just couldn't do it...I can't be a Captain's wife. I don't have the constitution to play that kind of role. I like to be down and dirty in my work, I don't like to sit and be a stay-home mom and wife. I did that a few years and nearly lost my mind, let me tell you," she said. "Where ARE we going?"

"I was going to do a walk through of Decks 11 and 10 on my way up to the Bridge. The last thing we need is for families to start boarding and not have at least some of the civilian facilities ready to go," Remy said. "You not coming along for the ride?"

Vila nodded. "Of course," she said, stepping into a Turbolift. "Just asking," she said. "And yeah. It's definitely a zoo with kids-Benny was always pretty good with it, but it helped that he was an only child, and we tried to get to an assignment within the first few days of boarding," she said. "Even if one of us had to stay behind a day or so," she said. "Deck ten, please," she said to the computer.

>> To First and Second's Civilian Facilities Walk-Through >>

Commander Remy Johansen
First Officer
USS Imperator

Commander Lorut Vila
Second Officer, Chief Science Officer
USS Imperator

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