Meeting the Chief Engineer

Posted on Tue Oct 29, 2013 @ 9:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Miguel Torres

908 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Whole New World: Part 1 - Precipice
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: 62511.657 || 25NOV2384

Adjusting to the Chief of the Boat position had gone very well so far for Thomas. Over the past few days, he had made himself very available to the non-commissioned officers and other enlisted personnel on board, but aside for his direct supervisors, he hadn't yet met others in the senior staff who he'd have to check in with once in a while.

He felt no other better way to start than to head first to Engineering. He found a young crewman who quickly pointed Thomas in the director of Commander Torres, overlooking the warp core. He straightened his uniform jacket before walking up to the senior officer. "Excuse me, Commander," he said, hoping he wasn't distracting the engineer. "Chief Thomas Barnes, sir." Poor Thomas wasn't quite sure what else to say besides that, at least, not yet.

Miguel had been standing listening quietly to the hum of the warp core. He still didn't know all of this engines quirks yet, but in the last few months he had learned enough about it to give him a hints when the core wasn't happy. Right now she seemed to be very happy and was purring like a kitten. He turned when he had heard someone call him "How are you doing Chief?" he said with a wide smile as he extended his hand as he tried to figure out who this crewman was.

"Good, sir," Thomas replied, giving the officer a firm handshake. He could tell from the blank look in the engineer's eyes that he had no idea who Tom was. "I just came on board a few days ago as Transporter Chief, and have agreed to take on responsibility as Chief of the Boat," he explained. "I've already met many of your enlisted staff, but I wanted to make sure that I had met you, Commander."

"Sounds like a solid plan Chief."Miguel said as he was finally able to figure out where he had heard that name before. It was always good to put a face to a name. "So besides meeting me was there anything else I could do for you?" Miguel asked as one of his junior officers walked up to him and handed him a PADD.

"Yes, actually," Thomas replied. "I understand there was an incident last evening regarding Ensign Froman and Crewman D'Kar." He had read the report earlier that morning at the beginning of the shift. It was more of a complaint really, coming from the Andorian female D'Kar concerning the rough handling of her supervising officer. Had the Commander and Chief been alone, he would have gone further into the details.

Miguel handed the report back to the officer and his full attention once again returned to the COB. Miguel didn't know about the incident as yet. But then again he was a bit behind on his reports. Most of his time had been spent on getting the engine into top of the line shape and in just a few months he thought he had accomplished that, now he needed to take care of his other responsibilities it seemed. "Let's talk about this further in my office Chief." he suggested.

Tom nodded and followed the Commander inside. As soon as the door closed, Thomas outlined the situation. "Sir, Crewman D'Kar believes that Ensign Froman is discriminating on behalf of her gender. She's observed him treat other enlisted crewmen, regardless of rank and species, in what she considers to be a normal fashion. When it comes to her, he's stricter with protocol and inspections. According to the complaint."

"That's interesting, since all I've seen from Froman is that she is an excellent shipmate. Every review he's ever written of her shows her at ready to be promoted."

Thomas was surprised at the comment. He hadn't the opportunity to observe their interaction, so he had very little to go upon than just the report, and he wondered if the Commander had such an opportunity. "With respect, Commander, perhaps Ensign Froman expresses things differently between personal interaction and impersonal reports." He waved a hand, hoping he didn't upset the Commander. "Commander, I have nothing more to base this on than a single complaint, and from what I can tell, no one else has observed any such interaction between the two. It's entirely possible she simply doesn't see what is right in front of her, but I would be amiss not to look into the issue."

"It could also be that the Ensign is being tougher on her to see how much she can excel. It's an old school of thought, not one I particularly agree to however. I'll be keeping my eyes open on this issue now however just in case it turns out to be something else. I you hear anything on your end I'd appreciate you let me know about it." Miguel requested.

"Of course, Commander," Thomas replied. "I really have nothing else to review, sir. I'll be maintaining a weekly check-in with you, sir, and I'll be keeping a regular schedule with your enlisted heads. If you need anything, sir, I'm at your service."

"Same goes for you Chief, my door is always open." Miguel said with a smile as he reached out to shake the man's hand again.

"Thank you, Commander," Thomas replied, smiling, graciously shaking the engineer's hand. With the meeting now done, Thomas left the office to check in with the enlisted heads in the another department.

 

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