Meeting the boss

Posted on 05 Jun 2016 @ 5:54pm by Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin & Commander Terry Walsh

1,946 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Flight Deck
Timeline: Backpost, Outbreak MD-11

A good nights sleep had been something Sunbeam had needed for several days and despite his late night run in with the ships resident Flight Control Cadet, Kilmartin had got six hours uninterrupted sleep for the first time in more than a week. He had begun the day with a mug of warm tea and some buttered toast before arriving back on the Flight Deck. Since coming aboard, the Terran hadn't put in nearly enough hours on the flight deck - understandable since he had been in sickbay for most of his time aboard, but he wanted to make up for lost time. Now, he was stood overseeing the maintenance of his Valkyrie as the Knuckledraggers poured over the newest fighter to the ships compliment.

Terry hadn’t completely gotten back to his old self. Somber was what the Flight Operations Officer had said when he met with him after his release from Sickbay. Irritated and hard to please was what the Flight Deck Commander said was coming from the personnel down there. Now, he was walking along the deck where everyone thought he was irritated and hard to please along with Petty Officer Mori. She was catching him up to date on things.

“This is a request from the Flight Deck Commander, Sir,” said Amaya. “He says that he needs additional personnel. Unfortunately, I cannot authorize that, Commander.” The petite young woman handed him the PADD.

Terry sighed. “And why, I wonder, does he need additional personnel?” He scanned the request. “What the? Additional maintenance personnel! We don’t have any! All the personnel transferred aboard ship when the 325th came on back at the Starbase. Aw hell.” He looked down at Amaya, “Does he know that I’m going to have to go to the Engineering Chief now to requisition her personnel? I don’t look forward to that.”

Amaya smiled kindly, trying to calm her boss down. “I don’t believe so, Sir.” She looked up and noticed that they were approaching what could very well be the reason that the Flight Deck Commander had requested the additional personnel. Mentally, she braced for impact.

The two had been far enough way when Terry was handed the PADD that no one at a distance could hear them. But now they were getting into the thick of the maintenance crews. And they could easily hear Commander Walsh as he read the reason for more people.

“An extra…where did we pick-up an extra fighter?!” he exclaimed. “The 325th only has twenty Valkyrie fighters, which is the maximum amount authorized by the Fleet for an Akira-class starship.” Terry sighed and wiped his hand over his face before running it over his bald head.

Kilmartin was stood in front of the extra Starfighter that had seemingly taken the Squadron Leader by surprise. He had heard the rumors about the senior officer, how he was someone that was hard to please or get on the good side of and clearly, the Lieutenant's surprise arrival had not endeared him to his new superior. Choosing to take this opportunity to deal with the situation his arrival had caused, the Lieutenant stepped over to the Commander. "Sir, Lieutenant Jonathan Kilmartin reporting."

Terry looked at the young man standing in front of him, to the fighter, and then back to the Lieutenant. “Lieutenant Kilmartin…well, good to have you aboard. We could always use the help,” said Terry. “I haven’t had a chance to review any transfer files, yet…being released from Sickbay recently and all. So what position are you reporting in for?”

Kilmartin relaxed a little as the Squadron Leaders demeanor softened. He glanced at his Starfighter and then back to the Commander. "I'm the new Squadron Deputy Leader," he revealed.

Terry exhaled. “Finally,” he said, “the new Deputy Squadron Commander. I’m Lieutenant Commander Terry Walsh, the 325th Squadron Commander. This is my Aide, Petty Officer First Class Mori. Normally, we’d be meeting in my office, but since I’ve been back to work, Miss Mori has been bringing me up to speed on things as we perform a walk-through. And now that you’re here, I expect you to shoulder some of this administrative work. It’s part and parcel of no longer being just a fighter jockey. As much as I like to be in the cockpit, there are additional things that must be done. Responsibilities increase. Walk with us, Lieutenant.”

Kilmartin nodded and fell into step alongside his new superior officer. "Commander, I think it only fair to tell you now that I have experience as Commander of a Marine Fighter Air Group. I transferred from the Marine ranks to be here," the pilot told as he clasped his hands behind his back. It was only fair that the Commander had all of the information required.

Terry looked over at him, a quizzical, yet pleased look on his face. “Well that’s good to know. It’s also good to know that I’m not the only former Marine in the crowd anymore. But I guess everything I just said fell on experienced ears. As a former Commander of a Marine Fighter Air Group, you’re already familiar with the administrative side of the house, aren’t you?”

"The tedious, boring side of the house you mean? The side where you want to send the annoying children, or the irritating grandparents?" The Lieutenant smirked as he nodded slowly, "yes sir, I am all too familiar with the admin side," he confirmed as they continued to walk. It was good for him to know that his new superior officer was a former Marine. "Forgive me if I muck up. It's my first official day in the red," he smiled as he pulled at his collar.

Terry chuckled a little. “Yes, that side. And that’s where you’re going to start off,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll do just fine. But just to ease you, you have my forgiveness in advance. I remember what it was like switching from the Corp to Starfleet. It’s a different way of life, but you’ll get used to it. If you need anything, my door is always open.”

"Have I done something to offend you?" Kilmartin spoke in mock offense as he contemplated being stuck with the admin side of his new job. "Can't I just delegate that stuff to, say, the Petty Officer here?" he grinned as he looked at the woman walking with them.

“No, you haven’t done anything to offend me. And yes, you can delegate if you wish. But not to Petty Officer Mori.” He stopped again and looked at Lieutenant Kilmartin. “But don’t let me find any administrative duty that I’ve assigned to you all jacked up because you delegated it. Follow-up, with it; don’t micromanage it, but simply follow-up. Remember, being a leader means doing the crap jobs along with the glorious ones.”

"You get plenty of glory when your callsign is Sunbeam," Kilmartin joked, but he had taken the message in, loud and clear. He would not be about to frak anything up just to delegate the task and avoid doing it. He'd been a Squadron commander, he knew the drill. He also knew the importance of getting tasks done to the best of ones ability.

Terry nodded and made a mental note to have Amaya pull everything she could on Kilmartin in addition to his Starfleet personnel file. “Alright…‘Sunbeam’…here’s your chance to shine.” He handed the Lieutenant the PADD in his hand. “This is your priority, find out where this extra fighter came from and if the Executive Officer was aware of it. So long as we’ve got it, we’re going to need to take care of it and try to fix it. So next, you’ll need to request extra maintenance personnel from the Engineering Chief. The 325th came aboard with the personnel needed to maintain twenty fighters, not twenty-one. She will probably not like it, but I’m not forcing my people to work double shifts on a rotation if I can help it. Oh, and if that does happen, you’re going to set it up. After that, you’ll need to inform the Operations Chief that we will need more power for the industrial replicators on the Flight Deck so that we can properly repair and maintain this fighter. If they give you any problems, tell them I’ll bring it up to the XO and see what I can do when we get back to Unity.” Terry then turned to Amaya. “Duty roster and pilot flight training schedule, Miss Mori.”

“I have them right here, Sir,” she said, handing him the two PADD’s. Amaya wasn’t sure how the new Deputy would handle all of this piled onto him at once, especially with his comment of delegating it to her. She was not very pleased with that, but did not let it show. She was, glad, however, that Commander Walsh had taken up for her.

“Thank you,” said Terry. He handed them to Kilmartin. “Duty roster and pilot flight training schedule. You’ll be in charge of them as well. Update ‘em, rotate ‘em, and keep ‘em going. The Black Knights need to keep their senses sharp. Any questions, Lieutenant?”

"It's been a while since I handled duty rosters but it wont take long to get back into the swing of things," Kilmartin confirmed with a shake of the head at the offer of a chance to ask any questions. It would take some getting used to for him not being the one giving the orders, but he would soon adjust... he hoped. So his first stop would be Engineering to request the support for the maintenance of the extra craft, an issue no doubt caused by his sudden arrival. He'd keep that suspicion to himself and simply do what was required to make sure the craft was maintained and serviceable. "Well, if you'll both excuse me. I have two senior officers to track down," he gave a slight bow and nod in the direction of each person individually before setting off to carry out the first of his tasks.

"Hey, Lieutenant," Terry called out. He ran up to his new Deputy. "Hold up. You'll have time for that soon enough. I wanted you to tell me a bit more about yourself. I could easily read it later, but I'd like to hear it from you."

Sunbeam always hated this part of any new assignment, the part where he had to give someone new the lowdown on himself, his past assignments and what he liked to do in life. "Not much to tell really..." he began. "Got my first taste of combat in the months leading up to the Dominion War as a Cadet. Our Squadron Leader at the time was given permission to pass us all early to make up the losses in the unit. I flew several dozen combat missions during the war based out of the Kensington and Kearsarge, both Akira's so as you can imagine, being here is like coming home."

"I can imagine," said Terry. He started to continue, but Amaya walked up and reminded him that he had a meeting with the Flight Operations Officer. "Oh yeah, thank you, Petty Officer." He turned back to Kilmartin. "The work never ends, especially when you've been out of commission for a few days. I'll let you tend to your duties, Lieutenant."

Kilmartin nodded and made a swift exit from the Hangar. Next stop, Engineering.

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