Selective Review

Posted on Sat May 11th, 2024 @ 1:54am by Chief Petty Officer Nevan Kayto & Captain Remy Johansen
Edited on on Sat May 11th, 2024 @ 1:56am

1,527 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission Interlude Starbase 76 & Serenity
Location: Captains Ready Room
Timeline: MD09 1430 Hrs

Commodore Shoros, a Trill, was sitting at his desk on Starbase 12 and had just finished up a call to the USS Wasp, an old ship of his. Next on his list was the Astrea. At least the calls he was making today were of a more joyous nature, it wasn't every day they got to hand out promotions, let alone ones for a special selections review board. But the heavy shortage in the Diplomatic CORPs had been felt all around Star Fleet and they still sat with over 40% in vacancies all around. This meant that folks had to move up and fill critical roles one way or another. Opening a channel, he sent a hail to route to the to his intended recipient.

Remy was in her ready room considering both crew rosters and furniture recommendations, as she waited for a series of calls that she was expecting regarding crew assignments. Astrea still wasn't up to full compliment, most ships weren't, but as the fleet tried to figure out who should go where, officers had their preferences, and recommendations were being passed back and forth. A message from the comms officer let her know that Commodore Shoros was ready to be patched through, and Remy accepted the call.

"Captain Remira Johansen for Commodore Shoros," Remy announced when she opened the channel from her desk.

A smile greeted her from the other end "Greetings Captain. I'm Commodore Shoros, head of promotions review for the Diplomatic Corps. I'm sure it's a bit odd to be hearing of someone at my rank making these types of calls but we all are wearing more hats these days than we typically would. And from what I hear you've also found yourself filling one of those critical needs. Congratulations on your recent assignment and promotion, Captain."

Remy narrowed her eyes a bit, "Thank you, Commodore," she said hesitantly. It was a compliment, sort of. But it definitely seemed to imply that she wouldn't be sitting here, were it not for special circumstances. Not that the commodore was wrong.

"I take it that this isn't just a call for introductions and pleasantries. Commodore Shoros, I take it the officers in my Diplomatic Corps have been under your scrutiny. It's been a few days of crew recommendations every which direction. Shall we get to the point?" Remy suggested.

"Ah yes, well I haven't directly been reviewing your staff as of late, although one of them did come up as part of a selective review board for promotion. Mr. Kayto. We have several Chief vacancies and while he's still months out of his secondary promotion zone, his prior history on assignments and work on this current one has exemplified him greatly. He was selected to be promoted to Chief Petty Officer ahead of his peers. Transmitting you his special orders now." Shoros looked down at his screen for a moment to find the proper set before transmitting.

Remy received the transmission. "I take it he won't be expecting this," Remy stated looking back up at the screen.

"I believe the term used would be, not by a long shot. There's no reason for him to expect promotion at the moment so it'll definitely be a surprise to the man. He's a solid NCO however so I'm sure he'll settle into the role just fine" the Commodore replied.

"It'll be my pleasure to hand this out. I let him take lead on one of our more important talks with the Atarans, and from my standpoint everything his team has handled has been a success. I'm glad that you think so too, Commodore."

Shoros returned a smile once more "I'm glad to hear that, it's always a pleasure to hear that one of your previous mentees has done so well coming into their own. Mr. Kayto was assigned to one of my previous commands when he was freshly out of Civil Operations School, so as a result I had a hand in helping to guide him to where he is today. It sounds like you've been pleased with his performance so far as well. I do have a recommendation I would like to make based on an observation of your crew manifest, if I may Captain. It's completely in an unofficial capacity but I would feel remiss in not at least saying something."

"I'm listening," Remy responded. "Most of us are new to one another here, so any insight is appreciated."

The Commodore took a breath before giving his statement. "I have no doubt that you have a list longer than you care of tasks and assignments to complete. I couldn't help but notice your billet for Chief of Boat is still open. Now I understand that typically someone closer to twice the age of Mr. Kayto would end up having the role by virtue of age, experience, and career development. But your ship is one I see as benefitting more from the youth that is available and energizing the missions that she'll likely find herself engaging in ahead. So I'd ask that you at least consider Chief Kayto to take the role. From what I've learned, the more you give the man to do, the better he performs at the end of the day. But all in all it is of course, your prerogative."

Remy stifled a chuckle. "I made a comment about the position to him in passing a few days ago. I couldn't tell if he was interested," Remy responded. "Running civil operations and a seat at the command table. You don't think that would be too much?"

"Speaking for myself at least, and likely him as well, is that we can all be better at delegating tasks. I believe he has a couple of younger NCO's working for him that could take on some of his work, and have room for promotion as well. No one can do it all and one way or another we have to learn to entrust others with responsibility whether they are entirely ready for it or not. As he becomes more of a leader in the field, I am certain that's an area he'll have to grow in. Just something to think about Captain."

Remy nodded. "I like him for the job. I trust him. While we're talking about my Diplomatic Department, what do you know about Ensign Amano?"

"I can't say I recognize the name off hand, being an Ensign she would've been either part of recruitment or the academies reviews for promotion. Either way I can pull her up." He took a moment and did a quick search before seeing the woman's profile on his screen. "Fresh into Star Fleet and the CORPs it seems, not remotely new to the job however. Looks like she as a direct commission, not uncommon nowadays unfortunately although it is interesting to see the negotiation she made. She could've came in with alot more on her collar. Why do you ask Captain?"

"If she could have come in with a lot more on her collar, then I am wondering why she didn't, as she seems pretty adamant about having a supervisory role in the diplomatic corps, particularly over Civil Ops," Remy responded.

"That's interesting, she was assigned to a standard billet in overseeing diplomatic policy on board, nothing specifically for Civil Ops although they would fall under that umbrella from an operational perspective, but it would really only be one element and at best a matter of paperwork to check that the team is following policy itself on their missions within the reports filed afterwards, and are keeping up on the required certifications and training. I do see she was a contractor for the Federations Civil Operations school in her last assignment, so maybe there's something she's still holding onto with that. As far as her choice in rank, I couldn't particularly answer that one for you. Best recommendation I can give would be to ask her directly. She's proven to be quite competent based on the noted accomplishments in her career." The Commodore had found it interesting that the call had shifted in such a direction. "If you feel she may be more of a problem on board you can always transfer her for re assignment but we won't be able to give you an ETA on another officer."

"I have no issues," Remy responded. "Just an interesting conversation when she boarded is all. I'm sure it will be fine. Thanks for the recommendation regarding Mr. Kayto. And the opportunity to hand out a promotion. It's one of the best parts of the job. Anything else, Commodore?"

"Nothing from me at the moment other than wanting to tell you how much we appreciate the work you've done with the Atarans. I know that having to take such a delicate approach adds to a lot more stress than we'd prefer, but any potential new members the Federation can add at the end of the day is worth the effort. I'll let you get back to your work Captain, thank you for your time."

"I appreciate that, Commodore. I assure you, it was our pleasure," Remy responded.

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