With A Little Help

Posted on Tue Jul 11th, 2023 @ 8:11am by Captain Elena Navarra & Lieutenant JG Matthew Cowley

1,033 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Rescue
Location: Starbase 109, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1, 1730

Ensign Cowley was not thrilled to hold the post of Yeoman. He didn't mind it, but without an XO or other assistant, he wound up doing a lot of things that weren't really a Yeoman's job. The captain wound up doing a lot that weren't hers either! He wondered if there were some way to speed up the process of getting her some help. It was a bit on the ridiculous side to have to go to her with reports on Marine fights, difficulties in Brown Sector, and even issues that occurred among the enlisted on the lower decks. But here he went, picking up the PADD with its list of minor grumbles which had to be brought to her attention yet again. He sent the chime.

"Come!" Elena said into the open air, waiting for her Ensign to enter.

"Daily report, Captain Navarra," Matthew said, handing over a PADD, trying not to sigh with a feeling of failing again to have protected her position from petty matters. Taking the bull by the horns, he added hopefully, "Do you think we can get some help for you anytime soon? A new first officer, perhaps?"

Navarra looked up at her young Ensign and gave an exasperated look. "Well, Matthew, that is a good question. Hopefully Starfleet will see how busy we are and send some relief soon. Did we send off that official request for a CO?"

"Yes, Ma'am, we did. Immediately, and the answer is immediately ... nothing. One might almost think there were a glitch in the system. Perhaps a ... a gremlin, Ma'am? Is that the right term for something that gets inside a machine and plays havoc with it working correctly?" Matthew thought it was an old term, but the Captain might know it. It was little short of amazing what she knew.

"Ha ha ha!" Navarra responded with a hearty laugh. "If that's the case, the whole station is about to fall apart." Navarra stood, taking the PADD from Cowley with her. "You know, I don't understand how Starfleet could even comprehend the running of a Starbase with one commanding officer. They wouldn't let a starship operate like this."

And with her own comment, Elena felt frozen in place as her mind wandered back to being on the bridge of Samurai. Remembering the feeling of standing on the bridge, the longing for being on a starship calling to her more loudly.

Her Yeoman considered her words. "I believe they haven't caught up with the mess the last one made. Perhaps that's why you're still waiting." It didn't matter if it was fair or not, it was the way Starfleet worked.

"Pull up the personnel file for Commander McKenna again, Yeoman," Elena said as she placed the PADD behind her back and turned to face the wall-sized view screen."

Matthew did as ordered. "No mess in her file, but not a lot of command experience, either," he commented in the way of give and take he and the Captain had developed in the months they'd worked together and learned to trust each other. "Lot of engineering background - could be a good liaison with the Perry fellow ... if one were the captain there, I mean." He almost sounded regretful, as if he saw his job slipping away.

"But what she lacks in command experience, she makes up for in knowledge." Navarra walked closer to the screen with the image of the Commander. "And she has command training. Everyone has to start somewhere ..." Navarra trailed off with her train of thought and directed her attention at Cowley.

"Matthew, why did you make the comment about the Commander being a liaison with Commander Perry?" She asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"He's currently captain. He won't want his ... alterations to fall into the hands of someone who doesn't understand their importance." Cowley shrugged. "If it were my ship, and I'd invented or helped invent all the secrets it holds, I'd rather be the engineer than the captain. Maybe not everyone would feel that way, but ... you would. You'd want to be in charge of what you did best."

"I think you are making a big assumption about Samurai." Navarra said to her most trusted ally. "We are looking for a Commander for this station, not Samurai."

"Are we?" Cowley asked boldly. "Don't you already have both slots filled?"

Elena walked to her desk and placed the PADD on top. "And what exactly do you mean by that Yeoman? And, please, speak freely?"

Taking a moment to gather his thoughts of the afternoon, he finally did. "This afternoon, the minute you touched the command chair ... I felt something in you stir ... change ... as if the chair exerted some ... not control, you'd never let that happen, but some influence over you. You want to sit in that chair, and that means someone else has to sit in this one. I doubt that it's the McKenna woman, but she'd make a good XO for the person who did sit in the command position, wouldn't she?"

Elena opened her mouth to give a rebuttal, but she was interrupted by an incoming message alert on her wall screen.

"Who could this be?" she wondered as she reached to press the accept button on her terminal. Admiral Nechayev's face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, excellent, I've reached you right away. There's more to be done on this business with Perry and McCord," the admiral spoke hurriedly. "Is your office secure?"

Instinctively, Elena looked over to Cowley. "My Yeoman is here, and is not read in on that. But if you approve, I would like for him to be. I trust him implicitly."

The admiral took a long look at the young ensign, knowing he had no idea how much maneuvering it had taken to get the right person ... him ... exactly where she'd wanted him. Even she was amazed at her success.

Matthew stared back steadfastly at the admiral, ready to do whatever would help his captain the most.

Finally, Nechayev nodded abruptly. "Fine, I suppose even you need a support person. You'll rise and fall by such judgments. Might as well begin as you mean to go on."

 

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