Making Things Official

Posted on Thu Feb 28, 2019 @ 1:12pm by Lieutenant JG Camille Lévesque PhD

1,692 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: XO Office

Lieutenant jg Camille Lévesque was nervous. In her head, she knew she had no reason to be. The most difficult conversations had already happened. This was just a formality. But she'd barely interacted with the XO, outside of in the context of duty on the main bridge. And this was such a personal subject. She didn't know how he'd react; how pleasant or unpleasant he might be about it.

The two of them had decided that Camille would be the one to talk to him, as she was unburdened by any history with him. She was learning all of the things she was willing to do for her new partner, and so she swallowed her nervousness and chimed the door of Commander Alec Hunter's office.

Inside, Alec was half heartedly going over some PaDDs and thinking on a past discussion he had with Crowe on the training of Mr. Tanaka he hoped the young security officer was up to the intense training he was going to be subjected to when his door chime sounded. Wondering who could want to see him he and about what he replied with "Enter." and waited to see who came through the door.

The door slid open and Camille, as calmly as possible, stepped inside and moved to the front of Alec's desk. He was quite a bit taller than she was, but fortunately he was sitting down, and thus not nearly as intimidating. Merely a Commander doing his job. She could do this. "Pardon, Commander, but do you have a moment?" she asked.

As the door slid open Alec looked up to see Camille entering. He knew who she was, that she was the chief science officer of the Victory but beyond a few brief exchanges on the bridge, he knew nothing about her. As she came to his desk and asked her question he nodded, "Of course Lieutenant, please have a seat would you like something from the replicator?"

Camille smiled and took a seat. "Some ice water, s'il-vous-plaît," she said as she sat.

"Certainly." Alec replied as he made his way to the replicator, got a glass of ice water and returned to Camille, handing her the glass as he sat back down. "Here you are."

"Merci," she said, taking the glass. "Commander..." Camille began tentatively, pausing to take a sip from her water glass. The nervousness will subside once she spoke, so she needed to put it all on the table quickly. "I'm here to, per regulations, notify you that I've entered into a romantic relationship with Dr. Nicole Anderson."

"Your welcome." Alec answered and then grew quiet as Camille revealed the purpose of her visit. His face was a mask, no reaction to her announcement except for the blinking of his eyes. Whatever he was thinking he kept to himself.Finally he spoke. "Excuse me? Did you say Dr. Anderson?"

Camille saw his reaction and didn't fully understand it. "Oui," she replied. "Nicole Anderson. Chief Medical Officer."

He nodded, "That's what I thought you said." As a grin appeared on his face. "Congratulations. I wish you and Dr. Anderson nothing but happiness." He answered though in all honesty he couldn't believe Camille knew what she was getting with Nicole and her prickly personality. *Oh well.* He thought, *She'll find out soon enough.*

Camille smiled back, oblivious to anything else that might be going on inside Alec's head. "Merci, Commander. I've heard you and her have some kind of history, which isn't my business, but I appreciate your kind wishes. Is there anything specific you need to know under the procedures? I don't want to do this wrong."

Alec smiled, "Some kind of history?" He mused, "I suppose we do." He admitted. His mind briefly going to his and Nicole's turbulent past which didn't mean bad, they just had a lot of history. Then got back to Camille's question. "No nothing. Your both adults, over eighteen. This is yours and Nicole's business. I'm not about to pry. I just expect you both to act accordingly."

She nodded. It made sense. It was practical for command to be aware of such relationships, but she was glad that her superior officer didn’t feel the need to pry. “Understood, Commander. We’ll both continue being the exemplary officers we both are!” She smiled at her over-the-top reply.

Alec nodded. "I'll settle for not calling attention to yourselves over actions that are inappropriate. Though I appreciate your enthusiasm and confidence."

“Yes, sir,” Camille said. “And thank you, sir. I was nervous coming in here, but you’ve made this very easy.”

"Your welcome. Nervous? Why? I don't bite." He bantered. It was followed a nanosecond later by the thought. *Nicole is the one that bites* but again his inner thoughts were his alone.

Camille giggled. “Well, we’ve never really interacted before. The XO on my last assignment was a jerk. I had this conversation with him and he cussed us out for wasting his time. So I didn’t know what to expect.”

"Not going to cuss you out or turn you away Lieutenant. If you have something you wish or need to discuss, my door is open." Alec replied. "Oh and on behalf of XOs everywhere I apologize for your last one being a jerk."

“Thank you, sir,” Camille said. “I’m sure I’ll take you up on that. And apology accepted!” She took another sip of her water. “While I’m here, I wanted to ask you about the battle the other day. It was my first time in combat. I’d be grateful for your input and advice for next time we’re in battle.”

Alec didn't rush a reply. He thought on it before he replied. "Well, after reading the after action reports and hearing other comments. I'd have to say you handled yourself very well for the first time in action. The biggest and hardest thing to do is control your fear. So many officers and crew become so lost in their fear, they are incapable of any action and then they become a liability to both themselves, the rest of the crew and ship. Fear can be a great motivator if you can handle and control it."

"I read once, in a fiction book, that fear is the mind-killer. The little death that brings total obliteration." She thought a bit more on his advice. "I don't like confrontations. But in the moment, I knew my job and I knew how other stations needed my input. When we won, I had a bit of a retroactive reaction, but I'm glad to know you think I handled myself well." She laughed a bit. "I guess I should get used to it. I did accept an assignment on an attack cruiser."

"Very true." Alec agreed. "It can paralyze you so your incapable of thought or movement." He paused as he thought a little more. "You can be proud of how you handled yourself." He assured her "And yes it would make your life easier if you got use to but not comfortable with the idea. For if your comfortable you become complacent and that can lead to mistakes that can get you or your shipmates killed."

“Bien compris,” Camille said, nodding. “Have you seen much combat, sir? Have you found good ways to deal with the fear?”

Alec didn't answer right away. He looked at Camille so wide eye an innocent not yet fully exposed to the horrors that lay out here. Hadn't had time to toughen up. But she would. He nodded slowly, "Yes. I've seen my share of combat." He admitted without going into detail. He thought on the second part of her question. "A good way? I don't know about that but I have a way. I look at combat as a test. A test of myself to prove I won't give into fear and let my Captain, my shipmates and ship down. Right before any action, I say to myself, I hope I pass, I hope I pass." He smiled at her. "It seems to work as I concentrate on what I've been trained to do."

Camille thought about this advice. It made sense to her. "Merci, Commander," she said. "That sounds like good advice. And the best part? I've always been very good at tests!" She giggled and pushed her glasses up her nose. She finished her water and stood from her seat. "Thank you for your time, Commander. And for your advice, and your kind words. You may be assured that my relationship with Nicole will affect neither of our performances nor our professional conduct."

Alec stood. "You are most welcome Lieutenant. I know you will do fine. I'm glad you found my advice worth while. I have no doubts you and Nicole will be professional in both your conduct and duty. I congratulate you both and wish you both nothing but happiness. Please pass my best wishes on to Nicole as well."

"Will do," Camille said. She was in a much happier mood now, and it showed in her eyes as much as her smile. She pointed to the door behind her with her thumb. "I should get back to my lab, Commander. We took some readings of a nebula we passed a few days ago and the data is finally ready to be examined."

Alec wasn't blind. He saw and heard Camille's happiness and he was happy for her... and Nicole though he couldn't quite believe the feisty CMO had been corralled. "Then by all means don't let me keep you from your work. I hope the data was worth the wait in examining it."

"Thank you, sir," she replied. She spun on her heel and walked out the door, a little spring in her step from a meeting gone very well. She found the turbolift and went back to the main science lab.

Alec watched Camille walk out the door. A smile crept across his face as he thought of Nicole being in a relationship. Who would have thought the CMO would be a kept woman. Would wonders never cease?

 

RSS Feed