Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie - Welcoming Committee or Firing Squad?
Addison MacKenzie
(( Captain’s Ready Room – Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))
Welcoming new officers wasn’t one of the duties that
typically fell on the shoulders of a commanding officer – on most starships,
that task was usually delegated to a department chief or a first officer, at
most – but on the Artemis, Addison MacKenzie had made it a point to make
a personal introduction with each of the new officers to come under her
command. In her opinion, it was important to not only get to know those who
were serving on board, but to also figure out how they might get on with the
other members of the crew, and how they might respond under pressure.
She’d heard from the grapevine that several lower-deckers had come to bond over
their experiences of this shared apparent trauma.
MacKenzie rolled her eyes slightly and smirked at the thought.
The latest member to be assigned to the Artemis crew was to be their new
helmsman – a J’naii by the name Meris. Per usual, MacKenzie had received the
personnel file in addition to the scores from the Academy proctor: and it didn’t
look good. Not only had the cadet performed in the lower half of their class,
she wasn’t yet sure that the officer was capable of piloting much more than a garbage
scow let alone the flagship of the Borderlands. Why the Starfleet personnel
officer decided to post this person to the Artemis was beyond her.
But she was going to find out.
The chime rang.
MacKenzie: Come in!
The J’naii made their way into the room. So far, there was little about the officer
one might characterize as remarkable. If they were nervous at all, they didn’t
show it.
Meris: Your honor ... I mean, Captain, it’s a pleasure to meet you.
Ensign Meris, reporting for duty as your new helmsperson.
It took everything in the red-headed CO’s being to hold her face still.
MacKenzie: Your honor? I’ve been called many things in my career,
but that’s a new one. (beat) You have your official orders, Ensign?
Meris pulled the data PADD from their armpit and examined it. MacKenzie’s brow
furrowed as she watched the officer wipe it with their sleeve. After tapping a
few commands onto the device, they stepped forward and placed the PADD on her
desk before moving into some kind of pseudo-attention-like posture. She reached
for the device and picked it up, immediately regretting the decision: not only was
the device unusually warm from being tucked in their armpit, it was also
sticky. Addison grimaced and held the device up between her index finger and
thumb, trying to minimize contact with it, and proceeded to let it dangle in
front of her face. She cocked her head slightly as she looked at the Artemis’s
newest arrival.
MacKenzie: What is this?
Meris: Response
She had no control left in her. Her face contorted into a near snarl.
MacKenzie: It’s. Sticky.
Meris: Response
Her eyes narrowed before she dropped the PADD on her desk with a deafening
clink before proceeding to vigorously wipe her palm on her uniform pants with a
futility that would make the Borg envious.
MacKenzie: This is disgusting.
Meris: Response
MacKenzie sat back in her chair in near exasperation. It wasn’t difficult to
tell why this officer was in the bottom of their class.
MacKenzie: …And the thought hadn’t occurred to you to transfer it to a
new device before you brought it here?
Meris: Response
Tag, and TBC!
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Fleet Captain Addison
MacKenzie, M.D., Ph.D., FASFS
Commanding Officer
USS Artemis-A
Captains Council Member at Large
V239601AM0