Lt Cmdr. Avander Promontory: Long New Path Forward
Avander Promontory
(( Hydroponics, Deck 10 Saucer, USS Octavia E. Butler ))
Avander Promontory was to be the new first officer of the OEB as Commander Etan went on to his own command. Aine Sherlock would be the second officer. The overwhelming responsibilities facing them were mitigated by the fact that their first order of business would be to read training manuals. A veritable plethora of manuals.
Commander Rouiancet tried to keep the mood light with what might have been a joke, but as this was his first time becoming an XO, Avander couldn’t be sure she wasn’t serious when she suggested that the ship harbored a number of quite dangerous anomalies in storage.
Promontory: OK. (beat) OK… We’ll be sure to be sensitive to that.
Rouiancet: Joking. Probably.
Even that deadpan delivery was enough to put Avander off his groove. V’Airu’s jokes (had there been any) were much more subtle.
Sherlock: Well, Captain, thank you for your confidence in us. (nudging Avander with her elbow)
As Aine spoke, Avander found himself getting lost in his own thoughts—figuring out how to modulate his own interactions to best mesh with Rouiancet’s particular sensibilities—until he caught an elbow to the gut.
Promontory: Oh! Yes. Thank you, Captain, much obliged. (beat) I was considering our next steps. (beat) I mean, once we’re done here.
Protocol still suggested that the lower ranked officers wait to be dismissed and perhaps the CO wanted to have a whole staff meeting in the Hydroponics Bay.
Rouiancet: (holding up her hands) No, no, I don't mean to keep you. I'm sure you have a million things on your mind now, if you didn't before. Just, again, thank you.
Sherlock: Anytime I was given a promotion or more responsibility, I've promised to do my best. Maybe (beat) just as much for myself as them. And I make the same promise to you, Captain.
Rouiancet: I'll do my damnedest to honor that promise, Aine.
Avander did a double-take. Was Lia vowing that Aine would do her best? Maybe it was another joke.
Promontory: Um… Me too!
That was probably a safe response, at any rate. Avander tried to project a confidence with those words. A confidence he didn’t entirely feel.
Rouiancet: (another small smile) And I appreciate that. Now (shooing with her hands) a million things, I'm sure. But remember to enjoy yourselves, too. Now, more than ever, that downtime's important.
OK, if that was his first assignment, he could follow those orders.
Promontory: Yes sir!
He gave the others a nod and pivoted towards the door. The boss was right—he had more thoughts than he could keep track of. He would wait until he made the turbolift before asking the computer to open up a memo to himself. And he had to prioritize. There was calling his mom, of course. Maybe his dad (although his enlisted father might not appreciate his son becoming “the brass”). And he needed to contact Iljor. Oh, and there were the manuals!
Despite Rouiancet’s encouragement, this was not shaping up to be a shore leave with a lot of “down time.”
[End Scene]