[G] JP: Capt. C. Egan Manno & Lt. JG Raissa Moonsong: Promotions (Part 2)
Tony
((Bridge/Captain’s Ready Room))
::Raissa stood at the door of the captain’s ready room and tried the suppress the nervous knots that were twisting in her stomach. She knew why she was here. She had screwed up during the last mission and failed to instill confidence in a terran flea. She knew she would hear about about, but part of her wished it hadn’t been so soon. She rang the chime quickly before she started to look foolish staring at a closed door::
Egan Manno: Please come in.
Moonsong: ::She entered the room and stood in front of the captain at attention.:: Ensign Moonsong reporting as ordered, sir.
Egan Manno: Ensign, thank you. Please, have a seat.
:: To be honest, and especially after her experiences in admin and engineering -- engineers never stood much on formality, and admin was small and comradely -- Cassie was uncomfortable with a number of command niceties, including standing at attention (as well as certain forms of address and the ever-annoying “Captain on the bridge!” -- couldn’t she ever want to enter quietly). It was proper decorum, she knew, and she couldn’t fault Moonsong for observing it. She just would’ve preferred that it wasn’t the norm. ::
Moonsong: ::she perched on the edge of the chair:: You… you.. uh… wanted to see me, ma’am… sir… uh...
Egan Manno: I did. Please, if you’ll open that plasma condenser…?
:: There was a small, cuboidal piece of equipment on the desk between them. As with Dr. Skyfire, Ensign Moonsong seemed momentarily stymied -- if by the unusualness of the thing if nothing else -- but she found the hatch readily enough and opened it to find the black pip waiting there. ::
Moonsong: ::she stared at it as if it was a lobster waving it’s pincers at her:: But… but…but...
Egan Manno: Congratulations, Lieutenant.
:: And, as Moonsong put the condenser back down, she offered a rare smile. ::
Egan Manno: You did a superb job in the last mission, not the least of which was due to your ease and familiarity with posts beyond your own. I couldn’t have asked for a better communications officer, for one. You certainly deserve this.
Moonsong: But… but… but… ::she was starting to sound like a motor boat:: Captain… I screwed up… I didn’t know what I was doing…. I was scared out of my mind…. I froze….
:: To her own surprise as much as to Moonsong’s, Cassie laughed. ::
Egan Manno: Counselor, you just described me during the previous mission, too.
Moonsong: But… but… Captain, I’m not a strong empath, but I never sensed anything like that from you. You were in complete control…. ::of course she had been so overwhelmed with her own fear, she wouldn’t have felt a broadcasting assassin sneaking up behind her::
:: Cassie shook her head, but gently. ::
Egan Manno: Not entirely. Experience helps, certainly, but just as important is your ability to combat your uncertainties and your anxieties. Which you did, Counselor. Believe me. I was there, and I saw it happen.
Moonsong: :: she looked down at pip staring up at her. :: I… I suppose...
Egan Manno: I should also mention that this promotion means that you are a part of the senior staff. You need not be uncertain about that any longer!
Moonsong: ::She blanched. Senior staff? oO Ancestors save me… Oo:: Uh…..
Egan Manno: Even your own chair on the bridge. The counselor’s chair is just to my left, after all, and I’ll feel better having you present in it.
Moonsong: ::swallows hard:: Uh… yes, sir…. if you say so…. ::she’d have it reupholstered yellow to match her spine. Then she looked up at Cassie:: I sound like an idiot, don’t I? I was expecting to be shipped back to the Academy for re-training….
:: Cassie’s immediate response was to tell Moonsong not to be ridiculous, but she had a flash of Carys’s face as the words formed. Carys wouldn’t tell one of her officers that she was being ridiculous for expressing her doubts, so Cassie decided to follow her example (or, rather, what she thought her example might be). ::
Egan Manno: Why did you expect that?
Moonsong: ::She hesitated. How do you tell your captain you wanted to burst into tears on the bridge during a crisis:: I… um...
Egan Manno: I would really like to know, Raissa.
:: It was the first time she’d called the counselor by her first name, and Cassie found that the name sounded uncertain. She would have to work to rectify that. ::
Egan Manno: I was not at all displeased with your performance during this mission. If I gave you the impression that I was, then I want to do better.
Moonsong: ::she shook her head.:: It wasn’t you, sir…. it’s just…. ::She hesitated again, unaware that she was running her fingers nervously around the little box. Finally she looked up, her brown eyes candid:: I was scared…. I’ve never been so scared and I don’t really know any of you… Trust…. isn’t always…. immediate… ::she stared at her hands:: I felt alone….
Egan Manno: Do you still feel that way?
Moonsong: ::she shook her head slightly:: Not… not as much...
Egan Manno: Then you’ve proved to yourself that it can get better. Even the worst thoughts won’t follow you forever.
:: How much easier it was, Cassie found, to speak from experience. If she said the same words eight or nine months before, they would have been hollow, platitudinous. Now, having faced some of her worst fears and strongest anxieties -- her constant dealings with other officers, the need to make decisions with terrible consequences, the neverending nature of it all -- she spoke of true things. ::
Egan Manno: You know that you can speak to me whenever you need to.
Moonsong: ::she paused a moment, but then she felt something from the captain. The desire was sincere and she was reassured.:: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
Egan Manno: You aren’t alone here, Raissa. Believe me. Now--
:: Cassie stood up, clapped her hands once. ::
Egan Manno: I’ve been stuck for too long in this office. What say you we take our leave? Spend some time on the station as the leave intended?
Moonsong: I… I really hadn’t thought about it….
Egan Manno: Oh? And what are your plans?
Moonsong: ::rising to her feet:: I hadn’t made any plans, but…. ::she found her mouth relaxing into a smile:: I really need to go shopping….
Egan Manno: Well, perhaps I can show you around a little?
Moonsong: I’d really like that. I don’t know my way around the station at all. I haven’t been there since I arrived.
Egan Manno: I haven’t been over nearly as often as I would’ve liked, given that I’ve been assigned here for the better part of the year. Yes, let’s make it so! I’ll be pulled in half a dozen directions, I’m sure, but still -- we’ll do it.
:: And she nodded decisively. She had made the decision to Have Fun, and that meant -- yes, she would. ::
======
Captain Cassandra Egan Manno
Commanding Officer
USS Garuda
and
Lt. jg. Raissa Moonsong
Counselor
USS Garuda