Meeting the New Boss

Posted on Wed Jun 28th, 2023 @ 4:40am by Captain Daniel Rye & 1st Lieutenant Kara Melo

1,167 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Broken Mirror
Location: Marine CO's Office

ON

As soon as Kara heard the new Marine CO was on board, she headed across the parade deck to his office to say hello. They had a hard time keeping someone in the position ever since Colonel Raine had been given his own command.

She paused at the door and rang the chime.

As much as Danny actually wished he could have called his new office a mess, the room was barren. A desk, a couple of chairs and a single box of things that Rye had decided might eventually brighten the place up was in fact all that kept the room from being entirely empty and given the sad state of the place, giving the room a few home touches was something that the Marine Captain was quite looking forward to.

Placing the box down atop the desk, he had been about to open it when the door rang, "Come in," He called, turning to greet the visitor.

Kara walked in, took a quick look at the state of his office, and saluted. "Lieutenant Kara Melo, sir. Welcome aboard." She'd obviously interrupted him in the middle of unpacking, but she wasn't going to turn around and leave now.

Dropping the lid of the box back where he had taken it, Danny returned the Lieutenant's salute with a smile,

"Lieutenant Kara Melo," Rye repeated, memorizing the name to her face. He'd spent a lot of time during his journey trying to put names to the faces of those the ship's roster had identified as key Marine personnel but nobody really looked quite like the picture in their service record, "Thank you, Lieutenant. A Platoon leader, right?"

Sitting down for the first time in the chair that had been placed on his side of the desk and gesturing for Kara to take the one opposite, it was immediately clear that some adjustments would have to be made to make it acceptable. Or maybe he was just getting old.

"Yes, sir," she said, taking a good look at the new captain as she did so. "And may I add, welcome aboard?" She was still trying to take his measure so wasn't quite sure how formal he expected her to be. At least the smile was a good start.

"Thank you," He replied, his smile remaining, "It really does feel good to be here." Shifting a little in his seat, Danny was struggling to find that sweet spot, "Just for the future, I don't plan on standing on ceremony too often. I find it all a little outdated and unconducive to the environment I'd like to create for those in our business," Pausing for a moment, the Marine Captain continued, "The organization structure has its place but I'd prefer honest opinions from my officers, positive or otherwise."

Looking around him briefly, he would have liked to offer the Lieutenant some sort of refreshment but hadn't quite gotten to the point where he could confidently ensure the room's replicator would provide anything up to his standards, "I understand the detachment has already been put to use. Were you among them?" He was curious to see how they had fared.

"I was. I've had several assignments that took a few of us off-ship. Most recently we were attached to a science team that checked out a lunar facility. Found out it was manned by Remans." She paused before adding, "I like a straight shooter. I think you'll do well here. The commodore is married to a Marine Colonel. He's in charge of a ship of his own at the moment. So, she likes to put us to use."

"I'm glad you approve," Rye chuckled to himself, "And that is all very good to know." He was curious to know more about the Remans but figured it would be a better use of both their time just to read through the filed post mission reports, "How is the day to day aboard the ship? I know there are ship commanders that struggle to involve attached Marines but it doesn't seem like that is much of an issue here?"

"We're part of most away teams, unless it's bureaucratic--and there's very little of that, fortunately," Kara replied.

"Excellent," Danny nodded, "All very good to know, thank you."

There was a moment of silence as Danny leaned back in his chair, drifting deeply into his own thoughts before his chair moved back upright and the Marine Captain leaned forward, "I'd like to hold something of a town meeting, just to introduce myself to everyone else and set out what I'm expecting of them. Nothing drastic, just the cliches - train hard to fight easy and all that. I would like a few exercises planned though, just to really see what we're working with and to hopefully work the green out of those who need it."

Kara nodded, making mental notes. "Yes, sir. That can easily be arranged. When and where would you like everyone?" It would be good to see how they responded to the new captain.

Quickly pulling up the Calypso's deck listings on the desktop screen, Danny's eyes scanned the information quickly before he found what he was looking for, "Let's go for the deck 14 assembly area at 2000." He was looking forward to getting all the formalities out of the way so he could get stuck into the real work.

Kara nodded. "Aye, aye. I can send out a message as soon as we're through here." She looked over at him. "Is there anything else you'd like?"

"No," Danny spoke a little more bluntly than he'd intended, his attention already shifting to the plethora of information he'd just opened and the potential all that space afforded them, "Thank you," He turned back to the Lieutenant, "I know this doesn't quite fall into your responsibilities and I appreciate your assistance whilst I get situated here. You're dismissed unless you had anything else you wanted to bring up."

"No. Nothing right now, but once you're settled, I'll be happy to go over the list of Marines so you'll know what you're getting--although I'm sure you'll figure that out fairly quickly on your own." She was sure Parhtz would say or do something before long.

"I look forward to it," Rye replied, raising a smile at the thought of there being enough characters about the place to need some kind of warning about, "Thank you, Kara."

"You're welcome." She smiled again. "And welcome aboard." With a nod of her head, she turned and walked out. The captain no doubt had a lot of settling in to do.

Watching the Lieutenant exit, Danny stood and reopened the box of trinkets and glanced about the currently rather clinical looking room. Sighing as he placed the container's lid to one side, the Marine Captain set about what he expected would be one of his more challenging tasks of the day. Home Decoration.

____
OFF

Marine Captain Danny Rye
Detachment Commander

1st Lieutenant Kara Melo
Platoon Leader

 

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