The Fiefdom

Posted on Fri Mar 16, 2018 @ 3:04pm by Lieutenant Venus Quinnell

Mission: Falling Star
Location: Main Engineering
Timeline: MD 33 II 1343 hrs

Thirty minutes after speaking with the XO, Venus arrived in her own personal fiefdom. As the doors swooshed open, her eyes gazed around the expansive engine room and the towering triple warp core. She had seen many things of beauty, but those cores were perhaps above and beyond. So many engineers throughout the Fleet would give their left arm to be where she was, to run this engine room...Well she did give her left arm literally so the others be damned.

As expected, her subordinates took note of yet another chief engineer in their mist, the sixth so far in a series since the vessel was commissioned. They would all be curious or dreading what style of leadership she would bare upon them or how long till there was a seventh chief engineer to walk into their lives.

Some of the brave introduced themselves and offered their services to get her up to speed with the revolutionary propulsion systems that the Odyssey Class was coveting. Others simply observed her presence a moment before returning to their duties for no one wanted to be seen as tardy and punished to latrine duty by perhaps an overzealous chief.

For Venus, she walked around the cores, emerald eyes fixated on them as if a Ferengi was given all the latinum in the galaxy. The effect of being so close gave her goosebumps.

She paused and turned to face her staff. "I am Lieutenant Quinnell, your new boss." She waited a moment as all eyes turned to her. "Some of you have been here since the beginning under Chief Engineer Smyth, some of you, like myself, are the latest rotation from Deep Space Ten. Regardless of time served or how you remember things were done here, it is going to change."

Venus stood, not unlike in the XO's Office, hands laced behind her back. "I will be evaluating each and everyone of you. Shift supervisors will present reports on current status for the past 33 days including diagnostics on the triple warp core, sublight, auxillary and batteries. I will be going over the daily service logs that include maintenance and damage control functions as well. Any dereliction or incompetence will not be tolerated. Any such charged and you will see yourself transferred off this ship or court martialled. Do not take this lightly. I run a tight department and there will be no deviation from regulations or protocol. I do not reward flattery or stupidity."

She remained silent and the only sound in the room came from the core. "That is all." Venus ordered, her expression had been stern, lacking any warmth or familiarity.

When she retired to her office, spartan of personal effects, she sat behind her desk and brought up the staff roster. Barrows caught her attention and for a moment, her grim exterior softened ever so slightly as she appreciated the Petty officer's beauty. A longing for normalcy soon departed as Devereaux's file and image graced her screen. One thing that she noticed immediately was that this junior Lieutenant had a very non-regulation hairstyle...As an officer of her department, part of her command team, she was not impressed. Gefel, her second, was around her age so she naturally assumed he was just as ambitious and probably expected to have been assigned the position she now had. Her insecurity made her suspicious but none of these people had yet proven themselves unworthy of serving aboard the Triumphant as per regulations.

She continued down the roster, making notations as she went.