Thinking Once, Thinking Twice

Posted on Tue Jul 25th, 2023 @ 6:54am by Commander Shannon McKenna & Captain Elena Navarra

1,494 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Rescue
Location: Transporter 1, USS Samurai
Timeline: MD 4, 0830 hours

Aboard USS Durham, Ten Forward:

Grandma McKenna had a saying. "You only pass this way once."

Shannon had spent a lot of time in the days since she'd talked with Captain Navarra, thinking about those words ... thinking about situations where her grandmother had said them. The elderly woman had called it "folk wisdom", and the younger McKenna had looked up what that meant. In hundreds of years, lots had been said and written about the topic, but the best definition Shannon had found was "the ability to use your knowledge and experience to make good decisions". She didn't know if really was the best meaning, but it was the one which satisfied her the most.

Given that definition, and her current situation, sitting alone in a distant corner of Ten Forward on Durham, Shannon had realized her thinking was one-dimensional. She had limited herself to only pursuing one path. What if Captain Navarra was right? She hadn't stopped to think about advantages she might bring to the diplomatic table of her boss, only of the disadvantages.

For two days, the new commander had mulled over what Captain Navarra had said. "... you will always wonder how it would have worked out with a captain who hand picked you over all other Starfleet commanders to be her right hand at the tip of the sword." The more she reflected, the more she knew the woman was right. She still didn't understand why, but she knew she had only one way to find out, and that was to give in gracefully to the transfer, and be Navarra's 'tip of the sword'.

Standing, she left her cup on the table and picked up the bag at her feet. Transporter Room 1 was just around the corner, and she had only enough time to take it to her new duty station.

***

Aboard USS Samurai, Transporter Room One:

As soon as the deck of Samurai solidified under her feet, McKenna stepped off the transporter disk. "Commander Shannon McKenna, reporting for duty," she announced.

A smile appeared on Captain Navarra's face as she stepped toward the transporter pad with her hand extended. "Welcome aboard, Commander McKenna! Let's get you up to speed with our mission. We got a lot of work to do."

Shannon, surprised to see the captain waiting for her, automatically shook hands. "How did you know I'd be here?" she asked. "Do you have spies on Durham?" she smiled slightly, not doubting for a moment that if Navarra wanted to know anything, she would get it out of someone. "I didn't even tell anyone, other than the captain, who was not happy that I was leaving."

"I know that you are an intelligent woman who takes the time to analyze her situation and make the smart decision," Navarra said while gladly welcoming her new XO down from the transporter pad. "And don't worry about Captain Edwards. He owed me a big favor from a few years back. He will cash in that chip with this, I'm sure."

The two commanding officers of the U.S.S. Samurai walked down the corridor toward one of the turbolifts in the area. "So, may I ask?" Elena asked, looking over at Shannon. "Was it the tip of the sword comment that won you over?"

"Not exactly that. It was the idea that I'd never know if I could do it until I do. Being the tip of the sword is a part of that, but it was more the thought of leaving something undone that should have been done." She paused a moment, stepping into the lift. "And maybe you can credit my grandmother with supplying the ultimate motivation of folk wisdom."

"Well thank you Grandmother for her pearls of wisdom," Navarra said lightheartedly. "Next question. What do you want from this?"

"From this position? I hardly understand it well enough to know, truthfully. I certainly don't have any demands or ideas of how I could profit from it, but I hope to gain experience and maybe learn something from you ... and from others on board," McKenna said thoughtfully. "I know there's an awesome Chief of Engineering - legendary, really, and I'd like to have a good working relationship with him, and bend his ear a little now and then."

She sat comfortably in front of Navarra's desk, after glancing out the screen which seemed to be more like a window on the outside world. In fact, she was pretty sure it was showing what was actually out there. "Nice view," the XO said, and then looked back at the woman in command. "Why? Is there something I should be asking for that I'm too ignorant and inexperienced to realize?"

Behind her desk, Navarra sat studying, analyzing, McKenna even more closely. She wanted to be able to anticipate her partner's next thought and action, in order to be well-tuned machines in command.

"Not necessarily," Elena responded. "Sometimes, in order to help someone achieve their goals, one needs to know exactly where that person wants to go. But your case is a bit different. Take Cowley for example. He has an idea of where he wants to be in a few years, so we are working on those specific areas to make sure he tests strongly there."

The captain stood and leaned against the wall closest to her desk and folded her arms. "With you, I guess we will see how it goes for a bit. You know, see where your interests take you." Elena paused for a moment and then continued. "O.K., let's talk expectations. What are your expectations from me as your commanding officer?"

"That's a little easier to talk about," Shannon smiled slightly. "Now the focus is on you. Basically, I want to learn everything you know. You're in charge, but I want to be considered ... a partner. I don't want secrets between us. If I've figured things out correctly, there are going to be a lot of secrets around here. I don't care about that, but I don't want to be surprised by any of them." She paused to look out the window view, watching a worker bee zoom past.

"I want to be a part of things, and learn to be the best choice you could have made." Surprising herself, she added, "I want to justify your choice of me as the tip of that sword ... and know exactly what the rest of the sword is doing behind me."

Impressed with Shannon's response, Elena took a moment and digested everything she just said. She found it interesting that McKenna mentioned nothing about honesty to her. But, when she thought about it, she did cover it when she asked for no secrets to be between them. Did McKenna intentionally do that? Elena thought to herself.

"No secrets, huh?" Navarra said as she turned her attention to the same worker bee outside of the window. "Well, I will tell you everything I know about things, as long as I am not ordered to compartmentalize. But I am in agreement with you. Secrets between the two of us will not aid us in working as a well-oiled machine. What I do want you to know is that the final decision is mine, but your input will always be invaluable to me. I have to be well informed to make the decisions that face us ahead. It will be your job to keep me informed."

Elena moved closer to the window. "How do you feel about away missions, Commander?"

"How far away?" quipped the XO. She really had no home base, though her family wanted her to consider their home as hers. She'd never been the home body they would have liked her to be. Her ship was her home.

Navarra chuckled and then looked towards her new fast growing friend. "As in away team missions. As in the Starfleet code section 12, paragraph 4."

"Are you asking me to look the other way when you want to lead an away team?" Shannon asked. "I won't say refusal would be automatic, because paragraph 4 only says it "recommends against" it. I will say it would take fancy footwork on your part to convince me to do so.

"On the other hand, especially for security, engineering or science purposes, I have no objections to leading such teams."

"I can accept that, Shannon," Elena stated. "Obviously, there would be times that I would need to go and handle certain situations as Captain. But the negotiator in me will always want to go and resolve a situation. I will expect you to ... help me keep that in check."

"I can guarantee it," Shannon said seriously.

"Good then," Navarra answered. "Why don't you go ahead and stow your gear and get settled into your quarters. I know you have a lot you would like to get started on. We can go over the mission brief tomorrow morning at breakfast with the others."

 

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