Ebb and Flow

Posted on Wed Jan 31st, 2018 @ 3:54pm by Fleet Admiral Donatella Figueroa & Lieutenant Caleb Garcia PhD

Mission: S01E02 D-8 With the Devil
Location: USS Musashi | Deck 4 | Main Engineering

Captain Donatella Figueroa had the support and backing of her command staff; her First Officer and Second Officer ensured that the crew were well informed within reason and that personnel matters were taken care of. She had a Yeoman who did a fine job at sorting through the PaDDs and reorganizing them as necessary to ensure that priority messages and instructions were received before those of lesser importance. Commander Samuels would undoubtedly be meeting with Lieutenant Caleb Garcia to inform the man of the changes in leadership of his department. The Chief Engineer was staying behind on the Orbital Transit Facility and would oversee the repair efforts pending the arrival of the Federation repair ship that was supposedly on its way. Though those things were not the fastest starships in the fleet. Nevertheless, the USS Musashi was out a Chief Engineer once again. Though Fig was personally relieved she had lost a Chief Engineer in this manner rather than the previous two. Two Chiefs ago was only a handful of months in the past, but she remembered their fight over her command decisions and ultimately her Chief Engineer resigned. Then came the Rigelian whom she had appointed her First Officer in a dual capacity as Chief Engineer in order to speed up repairs and the re-launch of the starship Musashi.

That was an embarrassment to say the least. He was of questionable character and his history caught up to him as Fig was forced to strip him of his positions aboard her starship, have him placed into custody, and upon arrival back at a station, he was removed from the starship. She did not know what happened to him from thereafter nor did she particularly care to read up on the status of the man. Lastly, was the young lass who filled the Rigelian's Engineering boots. Lieutenant JG McGowan had done a fine job and Fig was going to miss her personally. However, the Captain understood the decision that was made and believed McGowan was right in staying behind to oversee repairs.

Fig was not going to break the news to Lieutenant Garcia that he would be the Acting Chief Engineer. He was, however, next in line for the position of Chief Engineer and Captain Figueroa was adamant about 'in house' promotions over outsourcing to new applicants and transfer requests. The fact of the matter was that Garcia had been aboard the past few months since the re-launching of the USS Musashi. He was a brilliant engineer with advanced degrees in his field. He was Chief Engineer material the moment he stepped aboard the Musashi. He had been in consideration for the position at the time, but Fig ultimately requested him for the Assistant Chief position. This of course was all unknown to Garcia. Fig had her reasons.

She wanted to avoid the topic of Chief Engineer and save that matter for Commander Samuels to address. All she was willing to confirm was that the Chief Engineer would not be returning and for the interim time being, Garcia was in charge of everything in the Engineering Department until a suitable replacement was named. Her visiting Engineering now was more of a heads up warning discussion about one of the newest arrivals aboard. The USS Musashi had been through a lot. She was a starship that endured many of conflicts and skirmishes as well as several significant battles with the Klingons. She was a fine vessel with history, but one thing she was not was an Academy Training Vessel. The men and women aboard her were a mix of experienced and a bit green, but none were greener than their new seedling destined for the Engineering Department.

"Doctor Garcia" Fig called out as she walked into Musashi's engineering room. She addressed him by his academic title as a sign of respect. Calling his by his rank would have been well within regulations, but she felt that referring to him as Doctor would help ease the load she was about to drop upon him. When she saw the man approaching her, she proceeded to meet him near the nearest work station. "How are things running down here with the Chief gone?" she asked as a bit of an ice-breaker and partially a means to discuss the department in general.

Though the Musashi was not Caleb Garcia's first starship posting; it did take him some time to get used to the small size of the ship and even smaller compartment of engineering. However, there was something calming about the steady thrum of the warp core, and the hustle and bustle of the department. Engineers were productive, they had to be, it prepared them for emergency situations where cool heads had to prevail. He also liked productive people in general and that was the engineer and the project manager in him. Basically, he liked to be busy.

At the sight of the Captain, he smiled. He had known Donatella Figueroa since the Musashi had undergone her refit. He and the Captain didn't always see eye to eye and at times she seemed impatient, but she understood the importance of the refit. The Musashi desperately needed one, and the upgrades fit nicely with the Ares-class starship. "Things are running smoothly," Caleb replied. That was the one thing about engineers, they knew their job and were rarely affected by changes in department heads.

She nodded at his response. "Good. That's really good to hear, Doctor. I knew things would run smoothly down here with you overseeing everything in the Chief's absence" she added. It was a true statement. She knew Garcia's work and his personality well enough to know that he could manage the department's day to day operations with or without the Chief's presence. Garcia had the 'it' factor needed for leadership.

Fig looked around. Engineering on the Ares class was small compared to that of the newer larger Constitution class starships, though the general layout was the same. Still, she noticed that there were not too many people on the shift. "It has not gone unnoticed that you are stretched a bit thin down here with personnel. We have been waiting for some replacements to help bolster the department. The USS Perry has sent over someone in particular that I wanted to speak with you about before he comes down here to report for duty" commented the Captain. "There's no real ginger way of putting this, but you are getting an academy cadet" she added shaking her head.

Caleb considered this for a moment as he crossed his arms over his chest. Why they were being sent a cadet instead of a trained engineer was beyond him. An Ares-class ship needed trained personnel who had at least gone through the Academy. But he also didn't see this as a bad thing. "Alright," was the simple reply. He was just a lieutenant, he didn't have that much say in these things. "That's okay, maybe this will provide an excellent learning opportunity for them." At heart, Caleb loved being an engineer, but he loved academia just as much. He loved to teach and to manage to make things run smoothly. It was a personality quirk he had supposed. "I look forward to meeting this cadet."

"I am glad to hear that" she replied simply, but she did not conceal her own dislike for the decision. "It was not something I requested nor would I have approved of if I had known. This is rather piss poor timing and attaching a cadet to our personnel is awkward to say the least, Lieutenant. We are not an Academy training vessel and you are not an instructor, but I would appreciate it if you did your best to train him and to keep an eye on him... just to make sure he doesn't give himself third degree plasma burns or anything" she explained.

Caleb in a way wanted to smile at that. "No, third-degree plasma burns would make us look bad," he said, trying to lighten the mood a little. Again, he had come to know the Captain, but he would fully admit he didn't really know her, or her quirks. He then nodded. "I'll be sure to watch out for him, and I'll make sure he learns a thing or two along the way." The Captain was correct in that the Musashi was not a training vessel nor was he an instructor, but in hindsight the cadet did need experience. He had wondered why the cadet was being transferred over, but he had supposed that didn't matter at this point. "How long will he be here for?"

"Until he annoys me to the point I beam him out into the cold darkness of space" she replied with a bit macabre sense of humor. She followed it with a small smirk and the warmth of her gaze to reassure Caleb that she was just making a bit of a joke. "The best thing for the cadet right now is to remain in one place until he graduates. I think they dropped him off onto us because I was an Academy instructor. Ultimately, they are going to let me decide if he graduates or not" she explained. There's just something about deciding someone's career fate she thought to herself. "If you are pleased with his performance and I concqur, I may put in the request to keep him here as an Ensign" she added.

The Captain gave a curt nod to the man. "Regardless, you have a cadet to look after and I have a mission to plan for, Lieutenant" she said all business like. "The Second Officer is giving the cadet the grand tour. I expect you will be seeing them soon. If you need anything further, Lieutenant Garcia, you know where to find me" said the Captain as she made her way towards the exit. Maybe it was a bit rude of her to just dump all this information on the lieutenant and basically make a run for the nearest exit, but she really did not want to get into a discussion about academics right now. She knew Garcia would take care of things.