Meeting the Executive Officer

Posted on Thu Nov 23rd, 2023 @ 4:21pm by Captain Peter Nixon & Commander Jacqueline Wallace-Shaw

1,292 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: S1E0 - Prologue
Location: Briefing Room, Deck 1
Timeline: 0930 HRs Ship Time - Mission Day -4 (OOC: This takes place prior to other reporting-in logs featuring Jacky.)

Nixon stood looking out over the vista from the Briefing Room's viewports. From this angle he got a pretty decent view of the Nor Class starbase, Deep Space Nine, that the Alliance was currently docked with.

As he turned back, into the dimly lit, he caught a glimpse of his reflection including the 4 gold pips that adorned his collar. It stopped him in tracks for a moment as he flashed back to the incident that resulted in his promotion to the ships main chair. He felt a pang of guilt in his chest for a moment.

Peter reached out for the backrest of the chair, that was situated at the top end of the otherwise circular briefing room table. It was the chair usually designated to the person who was leading the meetings in his room. For Nixon, the Briefing Room had become his defacto Ready Room. He had officially been Captain for 3 weeks now, and he had been assigned all the perk that came with that role. Ready Room, Captain Quarters, Private Lounge, Dining Room, the works. But it just didn't feel right using them yet. He had ascended into the role of Captain via the death of the previous Commanding Officer and Executive Officer during the final battle of the Dominion War. Two deaths that he continued to feel guilt for - he was after all the Tactical Officer during that confrontation.

With a slight squeeze of the top edge of the backrest, he pulled the chair out, sat down in it and pulled himself back in so his lower body was snuggly under the briefing room table. sat down in front of what could be a described as a mess of PADDs. He lifted one, glanced at it briefly and threw it down again with a heavy sigh. Exasperated, he grabbed the edges of the chairs arm rest before throwing his head back and rubbing his temples.

His moment of relaxation was disturbed by the sound of the door chime.

Commander Wallace-Shaw was very newly arrived to the USS Alliance, but the only stop she had made once cleared to board was to take the bag she had with her to the executive officer quarters. She knew the rest of her things would be delivered, but these were the items she had brought with her for her trip here.

Immediately after that, she asked the computer where to find her new commanding officer and followed the system's directions until she reached the briefing room. She pressed the chime, waiting for the call to enter, and then stepped inside.

"Captain Nixon?" she asked politely of the man sitting at the table. The four pips made the answer obviously, but she chose to be polite and double-check.

He rose from his chair and welcomes the newcomer with a smile. He immediately recognised her from her Starfleet service record, which he was sure was on one of the padds on the table. "Ah, Commander Wallace-Shaw. Welcome onboard. The COB had mentioned you'd arrived. I take it you found your quarters successfully?"

Jacky nodded. "Just fine, thank you," she replied with a polite smile. "I really only just came aboard. I found my quarters to drop off my things and then came immediately to report in. I prefer to announce myself."

"Consider yourself announced," he gave a genuine smile, "I'm glad you're with us."

Nixon walked from behind the table to stand close to the Commander, on his arrival his offered a hand, "Remind me, what was your last posting? The... Cairo?"

Jacky nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Have you served on an Intrepid Class before? I suppose these..." he glanced around the room and gestured in a way to demonstrate he mean the ship itself, "aren't consider state of the art anymore. But, she's held up well."

"It's a sturdy vessel, Captain," the new XO agreed with a smile. "The USS Tokyo was an Intrepid. I served there as deputy chief and chief counselor for two years."

The Captain nodded. "Well then, I don't need to give you a tour. The Alliance is pretty much the same as any other Intrepid. Maybe a few cosmetic differences. Diplomatic Suite on Deck 9. VIP quarters might be a bit more plush."

"Coffee?" he motioned to the replicator.

"Yes, please," Jacky said. "Earth standard, black, is fine." She had never been one to need to experiment with any coffee than what she had grown up with, so she kept it simple. "It's nice to serve upon familiar classes," she agreed. "Makes it easier to find your way around."

With a whine similar to a transporter cycle, and a flash of gold-blue light, the replicator produced two fresh cups of coffee. The Captain returned to his new Executive Officer and presented her with her own beverage. With a drink from his own coffee, he made moves to walk around the room and towards the passage way that led the bridge. "Shall we take a quick walk?"

Jacqueline didn't usually take walks with hot drinks in her hand, but she could be flexible. She nodded once and followed te captain.

The bridge of the USS Alliance was no different than the standard Intrepid Class bridge the Commander would have seen on the Tokyo. Along the back wall there was a large bank of consoles that followed the slight curve of the bridge. They primarily showed mission specific information that flanked a large Master Systems Display, which was effectively a real time cross section of the ship. The Captain and Commander entered the bridge from the port side of the bank of consoles, on their immediate left was the Operations Officer's console. Mirrored on the starboard side of the bridge, was an identical set of consoles assigned to the Chief Security and Tactical Officer.

Together, the they took a short walk down a slight gradient to the centre of the bridge.

She took an appraising look at everything, nodding here and there as she sipped her coffee. "Everything seems to be coming together well," she commented.

"Yes it is." he took a quick scan of the Bridge, pausing for a split second on the entrance to the Ready Room before landing his gaze on the Executive's Officer chair. "Want to try it out?"

"Certainly, Captain," she said with a small smile. "If you'll join me, of course."

He gave the Executive Officer a nod. Nixon took a beat, before turning towards his down designated Chair and proceeded to sit down. It was the first time that he'd actually sat in the Chair as the ships Commanding Officer, having opted to do most of the flight from Anatares either at his old console at the back of the bridge, or from the secondary mission console attached to the railing directly behind this Commanding Officer's seating arrangement.

As he sat, all the trepidation he'd built up in his mind about sitting in the chair seem to begin to slip away. Not immediately, but it was certainly less instance. He let out a sigh and just sat there for a few moments looking at the view screen ahead. "I'll be honest, first time I've done this since taking over." he said aloud, but quietly.

Jacky tilted her head as she considered him for a moment. "Why the delay, sir?"

He spoke quietly, "I'll be honest, I'm still not sure I've earned the right to sit here Commander. Which is illogical I know, if I hadn't earned it, Starfleet wouldn't have given it to me. But, none the less."

They chatted between themselves for a good 15 minutes, with the Executive Officer offering the recently appointed Captain some sage advice.

"Maybe it is time I moved in?" he said with a glance back to the door.

 

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