The Need For Assistance

Posted on Wed Nov 9th, 2016 @ 7:15am by Captain Charybdis MacGregor & Commander Yuna Raza
Edited on on Wed Nov 9th, 2016 @ 7:15am

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Operation: Risa!
Location: USS Bonne Chance, Deck Three, Security chief's office
Timeline: 2265

The rosters had come in from a number of departments, some early,and some were beginning to arrive only now, as the announcement had been put forth across the great ship. Lieutenant Commander Charybdis had assumed there would be some stragglers- leave was actually not scheduled to begin until 2100 hours in reality, but she figured that a three hour buffer might just get some of the late bloomers working overtime.

Sure enough, by 1800 she only had two departments that she had not heard from, and that was Communications and Security. She swivelled the command chair about to consider Ensign Rondborstig. "Duty rosters, Ensign?"

The comely communications officer shrugged seismically. "That's a bit of an issue, ma'am. Y'see, we don't have a formalized department head... apparently no one ever confirmed Lieutenant Andurean, and so no one is actually responsible. We came up with one between us, but neither of us has the formal power to stamp it and turn it over to you."

The frustrated first officer shook her head. "And that is entirely my fault, Ensign. The Captain will make a formal declaration when he comes back aboard, but in the meanwhile let me have that roster to check over and I will bear the responsibility for it. I should have recognized the situation and anticipated the problem in advance... my apologies for leaving your department in the lurch like this."

A few seconds of scanning led to a few superficial changes, and the curvaceous commander copied the roster onto a datacard, then handed the PDD back to Ensign Rondborstig. "That should do it, Ensign... thank you and Lieutenant Andurean for your initiative, and we will resolve this situation shortly. In the meanwhile, do enjoy your leave."

Twenty-two minutes past the projected deadline a beefy red-shirted security officer... one who had dragged her out of Engineering at the behest of Suval, as she recalled... handed her a PDD, looking mildly embarrassed. Better late than never... she thought to herself, then she looked over the submitted roster, and came to a number of realizations at once.

"Thank you Ensign... dismissed," she expressed calmly, trying to let no emotion show on her face as she did so, but she still spotted the look in the man's eye. He knew. She waited a few moments, jotting notes until sufficient time had passed, and then she debated- call Yuna to the bridge or go to her office? Which would have less negative impact?

The Captain's Ready Room was just that- the Captain's. While it would be ideal it was a territory and respect thing, and she knew better than to abuse his largesse. She really did not want to do it in Yuna's office, but there really were not many options in this case... thus the burden of command, she sighed internally.

"Ensign Riviera, you have the conn. I will return shortly," she said in an emotionless tone. She hated when that rose up and she sounded like the stereotype, but she did not want to be too soft and empathetic about this. She had to stand for the office, not for herself, and this needed to be done. The turbolift hissed open at her approach, and she took the handle and ordered it to Deck Eight.

Meanwhile LT Celes was buried elbow deep in paperwork, trying to get as much done as she could before her scheduled leave was due to begin. From her previous position as a lowly security officer she was unaccustomed to the amount of sheer paperwork being the head of a department required.

Normally the blue-clad officer was quite animated... a smile was always playing at her lips and her body language itself was animated and lively. But not today... today she seemed stiff and formal, and... Vulcan, Yuna realized for the first time. She really had not thought of her that way before, but today she could see it clearly in her companion.

"I need to speak with you Lieutenant. In private, if you please." Emotionless tone... flat delivery. This couldn't be good- particularly not with the PDD she had sent to the bridge that represented hours of frustrating work in the normally cheerful commander's hand.

Yuna's head snapped up from her desk, and the colour almost drained from her spots.

" Of course Commander" She answered formally, standing and locking the door behind the XO.

"This roster is insufficient, Lieutenant. There are officers scheduled concurrently, some scheduled for duty and shore patrol at the same time, and some who simply will not have leave, yourself included. In short, this is work that will need to be corrected before it will pass muster."

Yuna gulped, turned bridge red, then exhaled a shaky breath. She knew something hadn't been right about the rosters. 'That's what happens when you rush things' the little voice in her head reminded her with an evil snicker.

" I'm sorry Commander, I guess I'm a little new to all of this still - I'll redo them for you immediately" She apologized, hoping that a little ass-kissing would get her out of trouble.

"Siddown, Yuna," Charybdis sighed as she herself flopped down into a chair. "You have no idea how these reports are supposed to work, how they are supposed to be filed, how to create duty rosters or how to recreate them for specific circumstances. No, don't tell me, I've been watching the reports. I can see all of this for myself."

"It doesn't bother me that you are ignorant of the procedures or that you are misfiling the paperwork or that you are causing your men headaches with their duty shifts. What bothers me the most is that you wouldn't turn to anyone for help." She stood and leaned across the desk.

"What do you think my job is on this ship, Yuna? One of them is coordinating the senior staff and helping them to perform their duties correctly. I've offered my help. I've asked you to let me help. And. You. Are. Too. Stubborn. To. Let. Me." The alien emphasized her point by thudding her finger into Yuna's desk after each word.

"Well it SEEMS your job at the moment is to kick my arse for not doing my job..." Yuna started. "I've never done this crap before and if you don't recall, I don't have any 'on the job' training." Her anger started to rise.

"And apparently allowing anyone to help you or having the common sense to, heavens forbid, ask for help or direction or any sort of assistance would just plain ruin that image of yours that exists in your head, wouldn't it? Yuna Celes, the lonely island. So this is your plan? Just screw it up until someone calls you on the carpet for it?" The emotional executive officer's voice was also beginning to rise.

"What then? Maybe have a shouting match with whoever comes to talk with you about it and hold you accountable? That the next step in your master plan?"

Yuna went silent, humiliated. She stared at her desk and the offending paperwork now once again in front of her.

"Sometimes you seem too busy, and I don't want to interrupt you to ask stupid questions," She admitted quietly. "I should be able to do this without help."

"But that isn't happening, is it?" Char paused and sat down on the edge of the desk, and her voice softened. "Yuna, you aren't a bureaucrat. You aren't a rocket scientist. You're a security officer, and a damned fine one, from all reports. No one expects you to just magically know how to do these things."

"It doesn't matter if I am busy. It doesn't matter if I am bored. What matters is that you need someone to help walk you through this, and show you how it is supposed to work, and help you get the hang of it. And when I took on this job, I took on that job too." She smiled hopefully at the Trill. "Let me show you how it works, huh? And I will help you along with it in the weeks to come. If not for you, then for your men... because I know the last thing you want to do is let them down."

"They kinda hate me right now cos I haven't got this approved yet. I dunno how anyone has the time to do the paperwork this kinda role entails" Yuna grumbled, rubbing the spots on her forehead " My brain wasn't wired to do this."

"Simple... there are tricks to it. And nobody showed you... til now. If you have the time...?" The comely commander gestured to the desk overflowing with paperwork.

"Well if I don't get these done, the team are gonna come in here and belt me to smithereens, or at least try to" Yuna said with a small smile. She did want the best for her team but had always hated asking for help.

"Then let's get this shore leave duty roster finished first. See, the issue here is actually that for shore leave, shifts become twelve hour shifts. The reason for that is..."

The two women worked for a few hours uninterrupted, and the shore leave for Security started on time. Over the course of those hours Charybdis explained in rather easy to grasp terms all of the tricks, angles and dodges to doing the paperwork that Yuna had been frustrated by for weeks. Not all of it made sense, and it certainly wasn't simple. But it was achievable.


Several hours later Yuna's brain was fried. Completely and utterly. "I need a drink..." she grumbled, rubbing her brow spots as the headache blossomed behind them. "How do normal people do this?"

"Lots of practice I'm guessing. Or they get to work under someone who teaches it to them slowly over the course of time, bit by bit. But for now, we're done here. That mountain of paperwork is officially a molehill, your men are already enjoying shore leave, and as of twenty-four hundred hours, so are you. The Captain insisted that senior staff spend at least a week off... while we were working out your security schedule I took the liberty of assigning you the next forty-eight off. Go enjoy yourself, then you are back on for a day then we're all going out- you, me Fiona and Selune."

The scientist smiled hopefully at the security chief. "Next time call me sooner, huh? I know you hate asking for help or needing anyone or... wow, you and Patrick have a lot in common, really. But I'm your shipmate, and XO, and your friend. Pick whichever one works for you and run with it... but call me, okay?"

Yuna blushed again, hating the admit the fact that she needed the help. "I'll try, but no promises ok?" She said finally " Thanks though - I guess I really stuffed this up..."

The gentle smile changed surprisingly quickly, and those eyebrows that could seem somehow so cheerful despite their angle knotted at their bases as she looked out from underneath them, the ridge they sat upon flaring somewhat. "Try...?" she snarled through gritted teeth. The arms of the science officer were both palms flat on the desk but the elbows jutted out, making her seem larger somehow as she loomed over the desk.

"TRY... Us Trills are notoriously independent" Yuna admitted shyly. "Besides, how the hell am I supposed to learn if you keep spoon feeding me all the time?" She raised an eyebrow at Char.

As quickly as the anger came, it passed... mostly. "I'm not spoon feeding you, I am teaching you. I'll expect you to get better, and I will expect you to take the initiative to bring problems to me before they reach this level of epic magnitude. Be as independent as you like, so long as it doesn't mean you sticking your head in the sand to try to ignore reality and hope it fixes itself or that somehow knowledge will miraculously occur."

"Now, lecture over. Go beam down, check in and go get that drink. And that's an order." At that the Vulcan vixen unlocked and strode out the door, determined to get the last word.

"That's not fair!" Yuna called after her. "Your ass is grass next time we spar, Char... you can bet your boobs on that one!" Happy with HER last word, Yuna logged off and prepared to enjoy her leave time.

 

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