Yes, Another Review

Posted on Fri Jul 26, 2019 @ 2:53pm by Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Commodore Michael Aravan

Mission: Refits and Reviews
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 7 || 1300 Hours

The Commodore had just taken a break from doing interviews for lunch and was once more back in his ready room, a cup of coffee in his hand while he studied the personnel files at his LCARS conference table. He smiled when he saw the young blonde Chief of Tactical, Lieutenant Martha Cusack and tapped his combadge.

=^=Lieutenant Cusack to the ready room.=^=

Martha was in her office at the time she was unexpectedly summoned to Michael's ready room. She'd just put the finishing touches to her department's rota for the next couple of weeks and finished a department-wide audit the day before.

=/\="On my way Commodore"=/\= Martha replied.

After making her way to the Triumphant's main bridge Martha headed over to Michael's ready room and pressed the chime - waiting patiently for permission to enter.

"Enter," came the Commodore's voice.

Martha entered the ready room and stood in just behind the two chairs in front of Michael's desk. By now she'd learned to relax a bit more instead of fearing the worst each time she was called to the office of her senior officers.

"Have a seat, Lieutenant," Michael said. "Would you care for a tea?"

Martha took the seat she'd been offered and gratefully accepted the offer of a cup of tea.

Martha replied. "Yes please Commodore"

He headed to the replicator, then looked over his shoulder at her. "Do you have any preference?"

Martha relaxed in her chair and looked over at Michael when he asked her what type of tea she wanted.

"A cup of breakfast tea please" Martha responded.

Michael got her the breakfast blend tea and returned with cream and sugar if she desired on a tray before he took a seat at the head of the table. "How have you found your experience on Triumphant?" He asked her.

Martha accepted the tea and thanked Michael before taking a sip of it. She then put the cup on the desk in front of her and wrapped her hands around it to savour its warmth.

Martha replied. "In the time I've been here so far I've enjoyed it"

"What aspect in particular?" he asked her as he looked at her personnel file.

"I feel the challenging nature of the Triumphant's assignments - which have at times required me to think on my feet - have helped me to improve as an officer. I've also enjoyed working with a larger department as it's helped to improve my social skills too - something I use to struggle with" Martha replied.

"Has any assignment in particular which affected you the most?" Michael asked as the computer recorded her responses and analyzed them while he did the same.

Martha nodded. "In the Orion slave market - we were faced with a situation where if we tried to take out the guards they would have harmed the people we were there to rescue. We stunned both parties with stun grenades - and doing that helped me to realise that to do good sometimes you have to make decisions you don't want to make"

"That's very true," the Commodore said. "Is that where you feel the most personal growth came in?"

Martha had another sip of her tea before replying.

"I think I'd say there's two points - the one I've just mentioned - and also having a larger department has necessitated me being able to talk to a lot more people who I don't know or see very often. Before coming here I was used to working with or as a part of smaller teams - and looking back - I feel it was something that I'd become too used to and wasn't really encouraging me to step outside my comfort zone" Martha replied.

Michael listened and pulled up a part of her file. "I see here that your assistant chief rates you very highly in leadership, cooperation and detail. Along with your improving social skills, what area do you feel you need to work on next?"

Martha smiled - she was pleased to hear what her deputy had to say about her - but knew she couldn't rest on her laurels. There was always room for improvement and Martha knew exactly what she wanted to improve on next. Before replying she had another sip of her tea.

Martha responded. "This might sound daft Commodore - but I want to be less formal about everything. I know as Starfleet officers there's a level of professionalism we have to maintain - but I think I need to be a bit more 'at ease' where appropriate"

"Less formal in what way?" he asked.

"I feel that sometimes me being more formal and serious than I need to be - particularly amongst my less experienced colleagues - could come across as me judging or looking down upon them. I really don't want them to feel like that" Martha replied.

"Yes, but that doesn't answer my question," Michael pointed out.

Martha responded. "Oh - sorry. Well I want to be more relaxed about things but obviously maintain a high standard at the same time. I feel that I can strike a balance between the two without compromising being professional at all times"

"Then make it happen, Lieutenant," he said. "You could sign up for the Command course that the subspace Academy on the ship offers and use it to see how we in the center seats handle the crew."

Martha had thought about doing a command course but she'd never really found the time or inspiration to do so. However after her commanding officer had suggested it to her Martha decided that it was high time that she got around to it - and nodded in agreement.

"I have been thinking about doing a command course - and now you mention it - I think it's about time that I got around to it. If I want my own command one day then then I can't keep putting it off all the time" Martha replied.

The Commodore chuckled. "Don't be in a rush to take the center seat, Lieutenant," he cautioned. "It's not all it's cracked up to be, but the experience of Command School can be educational."

Martha smiled and had another sip of her tea before replying. It was the nicest cup of tea that she'd had so far that day.

"Oh I'm not planning to take the centre chair until I'm at least in my mid-thirties - or maybe a bit later than that. When does the next course start?" Martha replied.

The Commodore pulled up another screen and checked. "As luck would have it, a week from today and I can refer you to it if you wish."

Martha nodded in response. She was grateful to Michael for suggesting that she took the course and then offering to refer her to it too. Martha knew that it would be several years before she took command of a starship - but this was the first step in her journey towards achieving her dream in the future.

"I'd like that Commodore - thank you" Martha replied.

Michael entered a few items on the LCARS and her date came up for entrance to the subspace Academy. "Next week, beta shift, Lieutenant," he said. "Be there."

Martha nodded and made a mental note of the date Michael had just given her. She was feeling slightly nervous - however this was eclipsed by the excitement Martha felt about the new challenge which lay ahead of her. She knew it wasn't going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination - but if Martha put the hard work in - she knew she'd get the outcome she wanted.

"Thank you Commodore - I'm looking forward to it already" Martha replied.

"You're welcome," Michael said as he came to his feet. "If there's nothing else, you're free to go."

Martha smiled and finished her cup of tea before standing up and leaving Michael's ready room. She was looking forward to telling Lucia and Elsie about her command course later - for now however it was back to work for a few hours before the end of her shift.