Sharing the Load

Posted on Fri Aug 6th, 2010 @ 8:13am by Chief Petty Officer Shalie Montgomery & Lieutenant Commander Delon Tovan

2,108 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Main Engineering > Chief OPS Office
Timeline: Current

Shalie returned to Main Engineering after her little meeting with her Commanding Officer. She was a bit in shock by the result of that meeting but felt a sense of pride at the new ranks on her collar. She couldn't help but smile as she walked into her office. Whether this was going to be temporary or not she was going to make the best of it. She sank down into the chair, for the first time on the business side of it all. She let out a sigh as she smiled to herself, twisting her chair slightly as she did so.

Deciding it was time to set to work, Shalie began shuffling though the PADDs on her desk. Some had already been addressed by the Lieutenant and she would go back over them when she had time. Her first order of duty was to speak to the Chief of Operations. She pushed off from her desk holding the specific padd in her hand she headed for Delon's office. This was going to be interesting.

[Outside the Chief Operations Office]

Shalie took a deep breath as she straightened her uniform before tapping the chime. She waited for permission to enter. She fully intended to keep this meeting professional, despite the complications caused by the other night. A smile crossed her face as she waited.

Tovan had been told that he would be going on the away team so he took this time to learn as much as he could about the planet and people that lived on it. His attention from the computer screen broke when the chime echoed in his office. He wasn't expecting anyone to come knocking on his door but he had learned that being the chief that these things happened when you least expected them. He leaned back in his chair, turning off his screen he looked at the door. "Come in."

The smile on Shalie's face faded slightly as she entered Delon's office. She wasn't sure how this was going to work. She wasn't exactly prepared for the situation of all of a sudden being a coworker with a man you slept with, but she was good at adapting and this situation wouldn't be any different. She stopped short of his desk casting him a smile as she searched for what to say. "Lieutenant..." she started. "I was hoping you would have time to talk."

Tovan had heard about the sudden transfer that the Chief of Engineering had received. He had also heard that Shalie had taken over the engineering. He didn't know her well enough to judge her abilities or skills but he had full confidence that she could handle the position. He looked at her pleased to see her he motioned for her to have a seat. "Please sit down, would you like anything to drink?"

"Uh no" Shalie said simply as she sat down. "I am hoping this won't take long." She smiled as she watched him for a moment longer. "Anyways...I was looking though the miles of paperwork on my desk and noticed nothing has been set up between our two departments...as far as coordination is concerned."

Tovan simply nodded and watched the woman take a seat across from him. She wanted to get right down to business and he wasn't going to complain about it. He waited for her to begin and when she did he listened to what she had to say. "This is true, the previous Chief and I hadn't had a chance to meet and discuss it."

"Well..." Shalie grinned. "That is why I am here..." She paused while she looked at the PADD before looking back up at Delon. She flashed a coy smile, "Since I am new at this...I am open to suggestions."

"Well, there are a couple of different ways we can go about this." Tovan leaned forward grabbing a PADD off the desk and turned it on. He looked down at it scanning the information that was displayed and looked back to her. "One way, we can set it up where we have mixed teams. Of course, there will be areas where only engineering or operations is needed but for most part we can have teams that have members from each department. This allows people to get to know each other and get comfortable with one another and overall it should improve the relationship between the two departments."

He placed the PADD back on the desk and looked to her. "Now, the other way is that we can simply stay out of each other's way. Each will be responsible for their areas."

"Ugh..." Shalie said with a roll of her eyes. "Hate the second option....Everyone I have ever worked with has hated Operations or Engineer respectively." She looked over the man sitting behind the desk across from her. "Well my vote is for Ops Engineering cooperation...mixed teams would go along way towards getting along."
She gave him a small wink. "It sure seemed to work for us last time."

"I also vote for the first opinion. Like I said there will be areas where only engineering or operations can get the job done but for most part we should be able to come up with something type of rotation in which both departments can help out each other. I have people with various skills and talents so the more we can place them in situation where they can use those the better we will be as a crew." Tovan added his opinion. He titled his head to the side looking at her. "Now, please clarify something for me are you discussing the situation with the lift or the aftermath?"

Shalie made some quick notes in her PADD. She cocked her head to the side and feigned a confused look. "I am talking about our cooperative work to escape the peril of the out of control lift...what is this aftermath you speak of?" she couldn't stop the small grin from crossing her lips.

"I was referring to what took place after we managed to stop the lift and get on top of it. The journey which took us up the ladder and through the maze of Jeffries tubes." Tovan watched her from across the desk with a grin of his own.

"Ah yes..." Shalie said with a tap of a single finger on her chin. "It is all coming back to me now...I must have blocked out most of the events that evening." She said with a fake sigh.

"That's understandable, that was a rather eventful evening. Now, our first order of business should be to assign a team to take a look at the lift system to ensure that such things don't happen again." Tovan suggested. This was going to be rather interesting. He didn't imagine that he would be working so closely with her as he was about to.

"That is as good as a starting point as any." Shalie said with a nod as she continued to make more notations in her PADD. "I think if we should be able to set up the teams fairly easily...I know some of my older staff are not going to like this arrangement, but they will live." Shalie had no intention of giving into the tantrums of the engineers in her department. She had dealt with them before as an underling and almost always resented them for getting their way. She looked back across at Delon as she waited for him to add anything, this situation was amusing to say the least.

"You are in charge now. Where you lead they should follow, but do remember that sometimes you do have to give your people the freedom to make their own decisions. They are all professionals and know their job well, don't stand over their shoulder. But also don't be afraid to pull back on their leash to remind them who is in charge." Tovan nodded to her. "I have full confidence in you and your abilities."

"Well to be honest..." Shalie started with a laugh. "That makes one of us." She smiled for a moment before she continued. "I am a damn good engineer and some how I managed to make an impression on Commander York, but this is not something I thought would happen....but now that it has I will roll with the punches." She let out a deep breath. "Well with that out of the way...what are your plans for dinner?"

"Well, you do know that if you ever need anything my door is always open. After all, we are on the same team here." Tovan said with a gentle smile. He meant what he said. He would be there for her when she needed someone. It wasn't because of what happened between the two of them, but simply because he wanted too. "Well, I didn't have anyone at the moment. Do you have something in mind?"

Shalie let out an excited laugh as she clapped her hands together slightly. "For the first time in my career, I have my own quarters...this calls for a celebratory dinner." She smiled with a little wink, remembering there conversation from the night before. "If you aren't interested I can always celebrate on my own." she finished with a slightly deflated tone.

"What time should I come by?" Tovan asked with a grin on his face. The universe worked in funny ways, they had gone from discussing to how she didn't have her own quarters and had to share them to now being in charge of one of the more critical departments aboard the vessel.

"Any time after 1900 hours...Casual dress of course." Shalie said. She couldn't help but smile. For the first time should would have her own space. "If you want anything special to drink...I would suggest bringing it with you." One of the first things she had learned about him was his like for Romulan Ale.

"I will be there." Tovan said with a smile. He was actually looking forward to this. He didn't expect to make friends with her as quickly as he has when she stepped into the transporter room. It was definitely a change of pace for him. "Don't worry; I plan on leaving the ale at home. I have an away mission tomorrow I must go on."

Shalie laughed. "That is one thing I am going to have to get used too." She said as she rose from her chair. "Away missions...as a petty officer you don't tend to get sent on many unless you have a specialization they need....which transporter systems aren't usually needed off the ship." She was looking forward to tomorrow despite not being used to it.

"Now that you are the chief there will be a lot of things you get to do that you weren't able to do before." Tovan said as he rose from his chair. He walked around the desk and in front of her. "So, I will see you in a few hours than"

"Yep..." Shalie watched him as he moved around his desk. "I have enough time for some paperwork and with luck a...shower." She said with a smile. She was excited for tonight. Not just because of her company, but for having gotten to move into new quarters. She wasn't going to take them for granted.

"Ah yes, the paper work. We both know how much you enjoy that." Tovan smiled at her. "Well, don't let me keep you any longer." He said as he moved over to where he was leaning on his desk looking at her. He was looking forward to the evening as well. It would be nice to be able to work so closely with someone that you get along with as well.

"Back to the grind..." Shalie replied with a smile. "See you tonight." She cast him once last glance before she turned and headed of out his office. The smile on her face threatened to be semi permanent as she headed back to engineering.

Tovan watched as Shalie walked out. He chuckled to himself and shook his head. He wondered what he was getting himself into but there wasn't any time to wonder about that. Sometimes you just had to go with the flow. He walked behind his desk and took a seat going back to the research he was doing before she came by.

=/= End of Transmission =/=

Lieutenant Delon Tovan
Chief of Operations
USS Calypso

Chief Petty Officer Shalie Montgomery
Engineering Officer
USS Calypso

 

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