CO and XO Meet

Posted on Wed Aug 15th, 2018 @ 11:22pm by Captain Cynthia Jackson & Lieutenant Commander Charlotte Hudson

1,827 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Mission 0 - Christening of Legacy and Crew Arrival
Location: USS Legacy Bridge
Timeline: 2261.182 0730

The bridge was a beautiful thing. Cindy would describe it as light, bright, and pretty. It was pure white with wood paneling on the floor and for various stations. Seeing it for the first time caused her to giggle and squeal with delight. Nobody was around to see it and if they were, she probably would not have cared.

She touched every inch of the bridge, starting with the Captain's chair. Part of her wondered which parts of the bridge were made from her former ships such as the Mayflower or the Newton. Both were gone thanks to Nero. Then again, because of Nero, because of the alternate Spock and Chief Montgomery Scott, numerous advances had been made in weaponry.

She sighed as she moved to the science station. Why was it that in human history weapons were always the first thing to be advanced. Why could it not be science for science's sake? Having been brought up through the ranks in the science field, her heart lay in exploration, not warfare. Unfortunately, she knew that right now, with the Federation's strength having been sapped by Nero, defense had to take some sort of priority.

Lovingly, she stroked the science station and started playing with all the controls. God, what I could do with these scanners!

Bec stepped out of the lift and onto the bridge and nearly shielded her eyes from the brightness of it. She looked around and crinkled her forehead in an expression of mild confusion when she spotted Captain Jackson lovingly stroking the science station. She cleared her throat as she moved toward the Captain and First Officer's chairs. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything, Captain," she said, coming to a stop in front of the Captain's chair. "I can leave and give you a few more moments, if you need it."

Cindy turned around and flung her platinum blonde hair around as she did so. It settled neatly around her shoulders. Her eyes were nearly blue as she stared at the Lieutenant Commander. She stood up to her six feet in height, her long duty boots and short sleeveless mini skirt uniform making her look even taller.

With a few quick strides she was before her Executive Officer. In an excited soprano voice that one might use when talking to a puppy or excitedly petting a dog saying, "What a good boy," Cindy addressed the Commander, "Wow! So good to see you here, Commander. And," she said with a wave of her hand that expressed the idea of something not being a huge deal, "please call me Cindy. I am SO GLAD to finally meet you. Have you gotten yourself settled in yet?"

Bec's eyes narrowed as Captain Jackson spoke to her. She bit her tongue as she thought about how much trouble she'd get in if she clocked the taller woman, but decided it wasn't worth the court marshal. "Y..." she stopped herself from saying 'yikes' aloud. "Yeah," she finally said. "Sort of. I checked to make sure my belongings had arrived before coming to check in with you. I will likely spend the rest of the day setting up my quarters and office," she added. 'And staying away from people, especially bubbly ones like you,' she thought.

"Oh, wonderful! Setting up your quarters is a good idea. There is nothing pressing to do today, just checking in, making sure that the ship is in good shape and last touches are put on it. Three days until we have to put up with the Old Fogeys and then we're free!" she exclaimed.

Cindy continued, demonstrating that it was not air that she had between her ears. "You were not my choice, as my First Officer, as I'm sure you're aware but I am very glad to have you! I see that you have a twin brother that, like me was a science officer. But you came up through security and have actually had issues in the field. I will be relying upon that heavily. How did you do in battle analytics and tactics at the Academy? And, by the way, what should I call you? Charlotte? Charlotte and Cindy! That's a great sounding team!"

Bec was about to reply when Captain Jackson continued on. She gave a small smile at the mention of her brother, but then cringed at the use of her first name. "I am aware I wasn't your choice," she said calmly. "I was the 'Old Fogeys' choice for some reason. I understand your choice was unavailable. As for my experience in the field, yes, I've had issues and I would prefer not to have them again. However, present times make it more likely that I will."

She paused and looked around the bridge. "How did I do in battle analytics and tactics? I was in the top twenty-five percent of my class," she did not show an ounce of pride at this, merely stated it as a fact and moved on. "And for what you can call me, I prefer to go by my middle name, Rebeccah, or Bec. I despise my first name."

"That sounds like a story for another day, Bec." Privately, Cindy wished that she could call the Commander "Becky" but Cindy thought that might be a bit too much for the serious Commander. In some ways, the Commander as Phil - way too serious for his, or in this case her, own good. "In any case, why the pessimistic attitude that you believe you will have issues again?"

"The galaxy has been thrown into chaos," Bec let out a soft sigh, as though resigning herself to this idea. "With chaos comes instability, with instability we get hostilities. I would love to believe that this won't be the case, but I have seen far too many signs of hostility to be optimistic."

"But uncertainty also has the greatest opportunities for peace, don't you agree? And I do hope we can keep it because there are so many undiscovered things out there and we are going to discover them." She raised her right arm as vehemently as Tony the Tiger saying that Frosted Flakes are "GGGGRRRREEEEATTT!"

"I'd love to be optimistic about peace but based on my background, I find it quite hard," Bec shook her head at Jackson's enthusiasm. "But I would rather like a peaceful exploration mission."

"Well, we can both hope for that. The more science, the better. But, I know I have you to back me up if things get wonky."

Bec barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. When it came to science, Jackson was just like Will. "My brother would love you," she muttered, somewhat amused at the thought. "But I'm keeping him away from you." A small smile flashed across her features, showing her amusement before her face went stoic again.

"Why? Is he cute?" she asked curiously. "I admit, I did not delve that far into your dociere to look at your family's holos and photos." She shrugged and her hair bobbed happily with her shoulders.

Bec did roll her eyes at this. "Not that I'm willing to admit," she shrugged. "No, if I was stuck in a room with the two of you, the conversation would only end when either of you passed out from exhaustion, and well, that's just exhausting to think about."

Cindy tossed back her hair to one side and laughed heartily. It was sickeningly cute. "Well, I guess that I will have to take a closer look at him, then. Maybe send him an intro call...."

Again, Bec rolled her eyes. "Go for it, just don't include me." She looked around the bridge, growing tired of the hair tossing. "Is there anything else you wish to talk about?" she asked, hoping that she could end this conversation and go back to her quarters.

"Why wouldn't you want to be included? You don't like your brother?" she teased. Taking a more serious tone, though, still light, "I'd love to talk about many things but without any actual orders, we have no real business to conduct. So, if you wish to get settled in...."

"I would," Bec said with a shrug. "Though not because you're teasing me about my brother. Just because I would like to explore the ship on my own."

"Fair enough," Cindy said understandingly. "I was planning the same. Well, I had already started, as you saw." She chuckled pleasantly. "I do wonder which parts of which ships made each part of ours. It truly is an honor...."

"I definitely is," Bec agreed. "And it would be interesting to see which ship's parts made up each section of Legacy."

A note of sadness entered Cindy's normally chipper voice, as she touched the Captain's chair. "Two of my former ships are here: Mayflower and Newton. They were good ships. Good people."

"I'm sorry," Bec said, casting her eyes down to the chair, wondering which ship it came from. "It's hard to comprehend... losing so many good people at once. Several people I knew were lost. I just thank whatever powers that be that my brothers are safe. I don't think I could handle losing my brothers, especially my twin. It was hard enough losing my friends..."

"I'm sorry for your losses as well." Cindy's eyes moved from a light blue to a steely blue, mirroring her resolution. "I will not allow their sacrifices to be in vain. We're going to be the best darn crew in the fleet." She gripped the Captain's chair firmly to emphasize her point.

Then she giggled. "Besides, I might want to ask your brother out for a tour. So," she said wrinkling her nose cutely, "we really need to stay in one piece, don't you think?"

Bec shook her head, but was actually close to laughing at her commanding officer. "I dunno," she said with a shrug, "from what I've heard, guys really dig a chick with prosthetics..."

Cindy did laugh. She then wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "Uh, yeah, um, no, I don't think so." She straightened herself up to her full height and said, "I'm glad we met so early. I want to meet as many people as possible and explore as much of the ship as possible before we go, so if you don't mind, I'm going to let you get back to what you intended to do...."

"I don't mind at all," Bec smiled, genuinely for once, gave Jackson a small wave, and headed for the turbolift. "Have fun exploring the rest of the ship." She winked before stepping through the now open lift doors.

That went well, Cindy concluded. We're going to get along famously! I even got a wave and and wink from her. That initial rough attitude must have been for show. After all, we both need to prove ourselves. Yep, we're going to be great together!

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