Post 9

Posted on Sun Aug 17th, 2014 @ 7:27am by Lieutenant Luís Anziano

Mission: Begin with a Bang
Location: Discovery NX-04, Earth Orbit Drydock
Timeline: May 13th, 2155 - 0630 hours

Admiral Gardner made an unannounced visit to Discovery in the morning following his less than courteous conversation with Captain Curtis, perhaps only to punctuate his argument with some sort of leadership role on his part. He hurried from the transporter receiving pad to the nearest turboshaft connecting to A Deck.

The Admiral lead the charge to the bridge, with his aide trying to follow behind. When he walked onto the bridge, which was still draped with plastic and dust covers, he became all the more incensed. When he demanded to see the ship's Chief Engineer no one seemed to know what was going on or where precisely Anziano was, and no one knew why he seemed to be in such a bad mood, they only knew he was very upset. The lieutenant (who had already been demoted so far as he was concerned) was in the observation gallery forward of the main bridge. His aide, a Captain Park, had never seen him so mad and did not want to miss a front row seat to some fireworks in his rather hum-drum existence.

Gardner stormed into the observation gallery, which was just a narrow corridor with sloping ceiling, lined with windows, as Park yelled, "Admiral on deck. Attention!"

Now, the entire ship was a work area and it was not considered necessary to come to the position of attention whenever a stray officer happened by. It interfered with the work going on. So Lieutenant Luís Anziano finished the welding rod he was using and slowly lifted his welding hood like he was trying to see what was going on. He still had his smoking stinger in hand. When he lifted his hood, the Admiral was standing there fuming, madder than a wet hen.

After questioning his genetics, mental aptitude, and various other facets of Starfleet life in his best butt-chewing tone the Admiral asked if the Lieutenant had anything to say for himself, expecting that at the conclusion of some sorry excuse he could at last demote him and replace him on the spot.

Anziano wasn't exactly shy. Previous experiences had lead him to believe that if he played the game right he'd be in a better position than if he simply took a beating. He was surprised to be seeing the brass, but more surprised at the speed at which the Admiral came aboard and found him, and he correctly assumed that the Captain knew nothing about his visit. Anziano had already decided that the very first thing he would do would be to respond on a significantly calmer level of energy than the Admiral, and not try to match it. He proceeded to explain, verbatim, what the book had to say about the work they were doing and the hazard it posed to the personnel. He succinctly defined the processes required to complete the fitting out of Discovery, and also added rather reluctantly that he could not ask his people to work inside the ship without certain resources, such as proper exhaust equipment with a specified airflow.

What could Gardner say? From the look on his face, the brass had not done his homework and checked the book to see what it said about the matter. He certainly wanted to check it when he got back to his office, even though with his many years of service he should know what it said. He also knew that the book had been signed by Admiral Forrest and written by Captain Jefferies, which he could not hope to excel for depth and breadth of experience. Garder had simply flown off the handle and reacted; being so involved in the bigger picture to see that for the want of a nail the entire kingdom was in jeopardy.

Anziano stood there with his welding hood on and stinger in hand waiting to hear what the Admiral would say. "Admiral, with all due respect, we have this. We will deliver the ship on time if given the resources we've requested."

Gardner felt a rather odd pain in his backside as he fell off his high horse. The damned kid was probably right. Something about his eyes, his posture,...the way the lieutenant carried himself very matter-of-factly even under his worst brow beating. "I see. And if I get you the ventilation equipment you can finish the fitting out? And what else do you need," the Admiral said rhetorically, "because I need this ship to get its bow wet."

"We'll deliver your ship up. Your best minds and best muscles are on this. We've got this." Anziano gave his welding hood a little pat, almost as though he were saluting . . . no . . . as though he was dismissing the Admiral.

Gardner raised his voice one more time, "Lieutenant, if you pull this off there's a promotion in your future. If you don't . . . I . . . I know where to find you."

Anziano resisted his natural, cocksure smile and lowered his welding hood slowly. "Thank you, Sir."