Fleet Captain Addison MacKenzie - Rumors of Airlockings-Past
Addison MacKenzie
(( Captain’s Ready Room – Deck 1, USS Artemis-A ))
In front of her desk stood one of the
newest officers assigned to the Artemis – a J’naii by the name of Meris,
who was to serve as their new pilot. So far, the officer wasn’t making a
particularly glowing impression on the commanding officer – shocking – having offered
her a PADD covered in some kind of sticky substance. Her face, upon the
realization that her hands were no longer clean, contorted into a version of a
snarl.
MacKenzie: It’s. Sticky.
Meris: That would be the gelato. Did you know there's a gelato vendor on
Starbase 224's third promenade? I'd never had gelato before...
Addison felt her head start to droop, yet the ensign persisted…
Meris: The vendor has over 32 flavors of gelato. I especially liked
the Tubor Root and Salt Grass variant. You could really taste the tubor’s and,
according to the vendor, that makes all the difference...
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: I-I-I’m sorry, ma’am. I’d never had gelato before. I
didn’t realize how messy it could get...
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: Yes, ma’am, it
did.
She blinked at them. Several times. In the silence, she’d hoped that the ensign
might be able to have reached their own conclusion about a particular course of
action, but her silence was only met with more.
MacKenzie: And your choice was to… hope I wouldn’t notice? ::looking down at the PADD:: …that it’s sticky?
Meris held their hands out to explain.
Meris: There’s this professor
at the Academy. Commander Veris. Vulcan. He’s a real... ::narrowing their eyes
and bobbing their head up and down:: ...stickler for punctuality, if you know
what I mean.
Her eyes widened slightly and she nodded slowly, precisely, and definitively.
MacKenzie: I know exactly what you mean.
Meris: Anyway, I don’t have the
best track record for being very timely. Veris used to tell me that timeliness
is a reflection of discipline, and that circumstantial adversity does not
excuse tardiness. He said that arriving punctually, even under suboptimal conditions,
demonstrates control and preparedness, ma’am. To be late, despite ideal
conditions, reflects a failure in prioritization.
She nodded, amused.
MacKenzie: Ensign, I couldn’t agree more.
Meris: I wanted to be controlled and prepared ... for you, ma'am.
The J’naii then lowered their arms to their sides again. Her smile spread widely, akin to that of the Cheshire Cat.
MacKenzie: And how do you think
that’s gone so far.
Meris: Response
She closed her eyes and nodded. Now they were getting somewhere.
MacKenzie: I think that could possibly have been a better choice.
Meris: Response
MacKenzie shrugged, more amused than anything else. The ensign was… trying…
after all. In honesty, that was more than she could say for some of the other
disasters that had crossed her path in recent memory. Fortunately, that officer
fell victim to an airlock accident that didn’t seem to aid in dispelling rumors
that the commanding officer routinely disposed of underperforming crewmen…
MacKenzie: So, tell me a little about yourself. Why become a pilot? And
why in Starfleet?
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