Promotion at Navigation

Posted on Thu Jan 11th, 2018 @ 11:05am by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Musashi | Captain's Quarters

Donatella retreated to her quarters after getting into a bit of a pissing match with an Admiral in Starfleet Security. The damn Vulcan was stubborn and unrelenting. Fig could not get the man to cut her any breaks. She was given the news as though it was to be expected and accepted without any questions asked. Of course Fig did not play that game and she let the Admiral experience her 'uncontrolled emotional outbursts' which she knew was just going to come back around and bite her in the rear someday soon. Maybe I did go a bit too far by calling him a pointed eared green blooded bastard she thought with a heavy sigh.

Ensign Feth D'Darrah had only been her Security Chief for the past couple of months, not even. Several weeks. However, they had started to form a working relationship, and Fig was even getting used to having a Vulcan on her crew. Yes, she had detested Starfleet Command for assigning her a Vulcan initially, but the more she came to see and understand that Feth was not the average everyday Vulcan, the more Fig opened up to her and trusted the young Vulcan woman with her life and the lives of the crew.

Now? Now, everything was up in the air in the middle of a mission albeit one that was not officially declared by Starfleet Command and as far as they are concerned, Fig was taking personal time while her First Officer took over for a week or two conducting routine scans of nebulae and stellar bodies. So, from their side, it probably was not vital that they pull Fig's Security Chief away from the Musashi and decide on a replacement. Fig fought tooth and nail to keep Feth, but it was a lost cause the moment she was greeted with a stone faced Vulcan Admiral. There was nothing Feth could do and nothing Fig could do. Ensign D'Darrah was being reassigned to somewhere.... all they told Fig was 'a special assignment' and there was no telling what that meant other than you may never see Feth again.

It was a heated discussion and several mini battles were fought. Fig lost the war with Starfleet Brass, but she managed a decent victory in one battle: replacement. There was no way she was going to allow Starfleet to rip a member of her senior staff away and replace them with whomever they wanted to. Fig put her foot down. She told them she had someone already aboard who would make a good head for the Department and that she would handle everything internally. She pointed out the logic in crew effectiveness if she promoted internally. The Vulcan Admiral saw her logic sound.

She had yet to break the news to the Andorian, but she did not think the man would refuse. However, this meant that she'd be down a Chief Navigator. But not for much longer she thought as she took a seat on her sofa and looked over a PaDD containing the young man's personnel file. Fig waited for her 'appointment' to arrive.

Ensign Arturo Marquez was perplexed. That was really the only thought he had as he made his way down the corridor toward the captain's quarters. In all the weeks he had served, he hadn't once really spoken to the captain, let alone get invited to her quarters. Typically, junior officers like himself had to deal with the department head and then the XO--never the CO, unless... unless something was wrong. Maybe something was wrong? Maybe he was going to be getting bad news. Did something happen to someone in his family? Was the captain going to deliver bad news? Arturo stopped for a moment and exhaled to steady the rising anxiety. A hundred 'bad scenarios' went through his mind, but then just as quickly realized that he was worrying for nothing. He had no clue why he got summoned by the captain, and it was stupid to work himself up over something that may or may not happen. The rational side, the side that dealt with numbers, equations, and algorithms took over and his feet once again started to move down the curved corridor of the saucer section.

A few moments later, he was standing in front the captain's door, his dark brown eyes staring at it. He swallowed hard, his adam's apple felt like a real apple in his throat. All of a sudden those worries came rushing back and he tried with all his might to push them away. It's going to be just fine, whatever the news, I can handle it, he thought to himself. He ran his hands down the front of his uniform jacket and then followed it up by reaching out to press the chime.

The Captain answered the door personally, having gotten up and opened the door. She hit the control panel and the doors parted ways in a bit of a whoosh. "Ensign Marquez" she said with a professional tone of voice, but it was not as sterile nor stale as one would expect from a Captain. She had some gentleness sprinkled atop the professionalism like a sweetened garnish. "Thank you for stopping by to see me, Ensign. Please come in and have a seat. Help yourself to a drink" she said gesturing to the food and beverage slot.

Arturo's eyebrows raised at that, it seemed a little out of character for the Captain to just offer up her personal food slot so easily. If he wanted food, he had to either go to the mess hall or lounge, a food slot in his quarters was not a luxury he had. In fact, he didn't have the luxury of a couch either, or a room to himself. "Thank you for offering, but I'm good, sir.... ma'am... I mean sir... I mean... oy..." he shook his head and quickly took the offered seat. It was only once he was sitting and beginning to recite all the numbers in PI in his head, that he felt some of the tension between his shoulder blades loosen.

Fig smirked in response to the young navigator's fumbling around with word choses and how to address her. "When in doubt, the gender neutral of Captain will serve you just fine, Ensign" she said trying to reassure him. "Take a deep breath there Ensign and gather your thoughts and emotions. You don't want them getting the best of you. You look more tense and wound up than the Cadet that just came aboard" she added a bit teasingly.

Arturo looked up and met the gaze of the captain. There was a new cadet on board? He then pushed that thought away for now, that wasn't what he needed to focus on right now. He took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He had his own little tricks to get himself calm and taking pi to the three-hundredth digit helped immensely.

The Captain brought her hands together, laced her fingers, and leaned forward. "All Captains...all officers...all people have their own quirks and ways of doing things. A lot of women in Starfleet do not mind being adressed as ma'am by subordinates. This is all well and fine. I'm just a little different, Ensign. I guess you could say that I'm not like the other girls. I do not believe any Captain or Ensign for that matter should be singled out as being the female Captain or female Ensign. So, I have to prefer that my crew address me as Captain or Sir just as they would if Captain Pike had been their Commanding Officer" she explained.

Well that all certainly made sense, right. He either got called Ensign or sir (depending on who was addressing him), no one ever referred to him as ma'am. In fact, the word 'ma'am' seemed to be an outdated concept, at least in the military it seemed. "I understand, Captain," Arturo replied. His voice was much more level and his body language suggested that he was much more relaxed. Reciting equations or long digits like pi, helped in that regard.

She smiled ever so slightly. It was just something about young crew and that look that came over their eyes. “I am glad to hear that. It will serve you well getting used to more people addressing you as Sir” she said tactically setting him up. “You may notice the change of uniform for the Chief Navigator. He’s taking over the Security matters aboard. This means we are without a Chief Navigator.”

Some people already did call him sir, like Jakku, or others who were non-com ranks. Though now Arturo was wondering what the captain was getting at. He did notice the lieutenant's change in uniform, but didn't give it a second thought beyond that. But the Chief Navigator position was open, but why tell him this? It wasn't like he was up for it... was he? He felt a surge of excitement start to in the pit of his belly, but kept it down for fear he would get antsy and jump up and down and start saying happy things in Spanish. However, the flip side was that she could just be asking his opinion on who might be best suited for the job: Me he thought to himself. Or maybe this meeting was to personally tell him that he wouldn't be promoted to the Chief Navigator position and she would let him down easy. But which one was it? "Okay," he said, nodding, "Are you going to want me to fill in until you find such person to be your new chief?"

"That will not be necessary, Ensign. We already found a new Chief Navigator" she said as she observed his reaction. String him along a little...pull it away...and catch of the day she thought with a smirk. "You have proven yourself an effective navigator already. I do not think we need to look very far for a Chief Navigator. What do you think, Ensign? Are you capable of taking over as Chief Navigator on the Bridge?"

Arturo sat there, using every ounce of will power to keep his mouth from falling open in surprise. He had the privilege of sitting in on the very first briefing of the senior staff, he was the acting chief at the time.... and then he was replaced. He had felt jilted and it stung, but then reason and logic prevailed--as they so often did for Arturo--and he knew that he was too young and still too inexperienced to get the honor of such a position. Now fast forward, and here he was again, but this time the captain was asking if he could take over permanently. I don't know, he thought to himself. He knew he was up for it, at least his mind was, but his maturity level he wasn't so sure. Would people even listen to what he had to say? Would he be taken seriously? Did any of that matter. "Yes," he said, and nodded, "I'm capable." He tried to relay confidence in his answer, but he wasn't so sure it came off as such.

This is the right decision. He has a good head on his shoulder. He is a fine young officer...give him the opportunity and he will grow and mature into an phenomenal Chief Navigator she thought to herself. She could see the hesitance, the confidence, yet the subtle self-scrutiny in his gaze. "I know you are capable, Mister Marquez. You would not be on the USS Musashi if you were not. I make sure that this crew remains one of the best in the fleet. I was once Chief Navigator aboard a starship myself. I see a lot of potential in you" she said encouragingly. "Do you have any concerns about taking the postion on?" she asked.

A hundred of them... but... nothing readily came out of is mouth. Part of him was hesitant only because he didn't want to seem like he didn't know what he was doing. He had sat at navigation on the bridge, he had also did hours in the astronavigation lab, plotting courses, checking and double checking work. Arturo trusted what the captain was saying, but did he trust himself? "I... I guess..." he began, his gaze drifted down to the hands that were folded in his lap. "I guess one of my main concerns is what people will think. I tend to go unnoticed by most people, I just sort of blend in I suppose. I guess I just hope I'm taken seriously."

“You will be a regular face on the Bridge, Ensign” she said with a commanding tone. “As Chief Navigator you will be permitted to attend senior staff meetings and be privy to more information than most of the crew. If people aren’t taking you seriously as the Chief if navigation, then you let one of us know” she said referring to her command staff and herself. “You earned this position and the respect that comes with it. So long as you take it seriously, the others will take you seriously.”

That made sense, or at least logically it made sense. You take it seriously, they will take it seriously, you command respect and they will give respect. That was how it worked right? Well... technically that was how it was supposed to work. Arturo wasn't sure if he would be that lucky, but he would give it a good go. He had enjoyed his time on the bridge, though it was only a short time, and he did enjoy interacting with Ensign O'Donoghue. "I understand," Arturo said, his meek voice was now confident, "and thank you, captain." He wasn't used to receiving compliments, though he had suppose he had been recruited by Starfleet when he was 16 years old, that was a rather large compliment.

She held her joy and everything else in. She was quite proud of him like a mother would be of a son. That was oddly how she was begining to feel about most of the crew. It was partially unsettling to think of them as more than just a crew and to see them as friends and even as family, but the past few months had been especially hard. Ever since the starship had 'relaunched' with all of its upgrades, they had been a crew baptised by fire. Even her most youngest of crew members had been battled hardened and prematurely aged a bit. "Ensign, if that is everything...you should prepare for your next shift. Please see Commander Samuels about duty and shift rotations. There may be some changes ahead as I prefer to have my Chief Navigator present when I have watch" commented the Captain of the starship Musashi. Fig knew that she was making the right decision.

Arturo couldn't think of anything at the moment, though the captain seemed amiable enough to answer questions when she had a free moment, so instead he just shook his head. "I'll be sure to meet with the commander," he said, his mind was now spinning. There was so much to do, and he was sure the CO and XO would want things done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Right up my alley, he thought to himself as he stood, as he did so, he extended a hand. "Thank you again, captain, thank you for your confidence and trust in me. It means a lot to me." Now, he managed a small smile, he couldn't wait to compose the letter that would go to his parents. "I'll see you on the bridge."

“I will see you on the Bridge” she replied with a smile. Stars willing, I’d love to live long enough to see you Captain a starship of your own she thought to herself. “You’re dismissed, Ensign” she added as she picked up a tablet to go about her everyday work required of her.