Just a Friendly Contest...

Posted on Sat Feb 19th, 2022 @ 5:45am by Captain Devin Hadenbeer

1,360 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Captain's Ready Room

Devin considered the movement on her PADD and frowned thoughtfully. Something about it was not quite right but she could not place her finger on it. She was finding it particularly irksome and considered starting over again but the start had been so promising. So engrossed was she in the musical puzzle she almost missed the door chime. How many times had it gone off? Blinking, she called out "Come!"

The doors swooshed open and Dare stepped in, and Devin felt a moment of trepidation. Smiling, she asked, "Ensign! How are you settling in?"

"Permission to speak to the captain, niece to aunt," Dare replied, standing stiffly.

"You inherited that disapproving tone from your Mother," Devin noted wryly as she stood and stepped out from behind the desk. She approached her niece and stood facing her. After a moment she said, "You are also annoyingly taller."

"Captain...!"

"Yes, I know, I am stalling. Permission granted."

"What the hell am I doing here?" Dare asked almost pleadingly, "You said before it was a bad idea, and then suddenly you changed your mind? You never change your mind! You are as stubborn as Dad!"

"I prefer the term 'tenacious', thank you. Dare, I have been known to change my mind. Why, even today I decided to eat a bagel instead of toast for breakfast. Marta swooned with shock."

"Aunt Devin..."

"Dare, I was feeling...painfully sentimental, all right?" Devin turned away from her niece and noted the scant items on the desk. She spotted the framed photo and picked it up, and though she felt dirty doing it she said, "It was Marta's birthday. Commander Wallan's I mean. I...suppose I was missing her and impulsively thought of having you close."

"Oh," Dare replied, her voice muted. Devin winced and felt even more like a scoundrel. Dare said, "Devin, I...I'm sorry I made such a big deal out of it. I am happy to be here, really! I suppose I was just so caught off guard, yanked out of my studies like that. Really I should be grateful; every one of my classmates were so jealous!"

Devin turned, the smile on her face felt so forced, "It will only be for a few months, and I promise your studies will not suffer. I will be sure to move you around the ship to different departments so you can make the most of the trip."

Dare nodded, she looked quite abashed, "I'm very sorry for making such a big deal out of it, sir."

"Think nothing of it. We need to make certain we see as much of each other as possible while you are here, at least one meal a day."

Dare smiled, "I would like that!"

"Good! Now before you become ensign Hadenbeer again, give me a hug."

Dare flowed into Devin's arms, the captain felt a moment's comfort as her niece hugged her tight. For a long moment she forgot that anything was wrong and lost herself in the moment.

Not noticing the doors had swooshed open...

Qetzal stood in the open door and smiled, "Aw, isn't that heartwarming?" she said, then added, "But maybe you don't want the crew finding out." She jumped into the room so the sensors would close the doors again.

Both Hadenbeers gave a start and the embrace abruptly ended. Dare found herself unconsciously coming to attention while Devin straightened her jacket. She finally said, "Commander Qetzel, this is ensign Hadenbeer. Ensign, our executive officer."

"A pleasure, Commander!" Dare replied with a jerk of her head that would have passed in some cultures as a nod.

"The ensign experienced a painful bout of homesickness and I was simply alleviating her emotional distress."

Dare's head slowly turned towards the Captain, her expression turned something akin to murderous.

"I'm sure that's what I saw," Junix answered and gave a warm smile to Dare. "I believe you were on the bridge while all the introductions were being made earlier. You're a fourth year cadet?"

"Second year, actually, sir," Dare replied as she struggled to compose her features as she turned her attention to the XO. After a pause she added, "The Captain apparently sensed my home sickness and-"

"I suggest you report to Mell before you say something you cannot walk back, ensign," the captain suggested mildly.

"...Aye, Captain," Dare replied after a moment. Her nod to Junix was more natural as she said, "A pleasure, Commander."

Devin waited until the doors swooshed behind Dare before she said to Junix, "I confess, I envy her Mother. I also expect her Mother is going to be calling me soon to complain about her child being put 'in harm's way' once more."

"If we're not headed into combat, then the promise of harm is overrated," Junix replied and headed over to take a seat near the captain's desk. "Which leads to the question, what are we tasked with?"

Devin smiled and returned to her ostentatious chair, but not before replacing Marta's photo on the desk. She settled into it and let out a sigh as the massagers kicked in.

"You see this chair?" she said, "This is from the first Lionheart. The original chair had been destroyed and I asked my new Operations officer to get me a replacement. I have no idea where she found it but wherever I go, it goes."

She caressed the arm rests, festooned with buttons, "Where were we? Oh, yes. You will have to wait until tomorrow morning before discovering our new mission. It is actually quite interesting. I called you in today because I wanted to set up some combat exercises."

Her smile was cold, "Namely, you against me. The rules are we choose teams. You get the main bridge, I get the battle bridge. We have the ship's computer set up a scenario and it acts as neutral referee. Thoughts?"

"I'm much more of a diplomat than a tactician," Junix answered, unsettled by the captain's demeanor. "Is this the best way to start out a mission?"

"And I am much more of a tactician than a diplomat," Hadenbeer replied, "But a good captain must be both and more," she paused and added, "Granted, it never hurts to have experienced people on hand to help with your shortcomings..."

Her eyes strayed to the picture on her desk, she frowned thoughtfully.

"...but depend on them too much and they become a crutch, and once someone knocks it out from under you..."

Hadenbeer shrugged and returned her attention to her new XO, "You will be fine. I am not expecting Garth of Izar or Sonya Alexander."

"I'm sure you can count a quick notch on your belt for this one. We pick teams," Qetzal asked. The one advantage she might have is that Hadenbeer hadn't worked with any of the crew previously, except the CMO, if she had read the records correctly.

"We do," Devin replied as she switched off the massager and sat up, all business, "I will give you first pick. You do not have to choose now, but by day's end tomorrow I would like you to have some idea whom your preferred bridge crew will be."

Junix nodded, "Okay." She stayed seated, watching the captain and contemplating life in general at that moment. The captain was an interesting character, to say the least. And, at this point, she couldn't even fathom to guess at what was going through the woman's head.

"So, with that out of the way," Devin said, "Is there anything else we should be discussing? Are there any potential issues you see with the ship or crew?"

A slight smile crossed her face, "Or your captain?"

"I have a number of concerns," Qetzal admitted. "Though it may be a bit early to discuss them. I might be reading the room wrong. It's been known to happen around strangers. Give me a few days to learn more about the crew. Maybe once the excitement of a new assignment wears off, they will calm down a bit?"

"Of course," Devin replied with a nod. And with a slight smile she added, "My door, it seems, is almost always open...

 

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