Light at the End of the Tunnel

Posted on Thu Aug 13th, 2020 @ 9:41pm by Lieutenant Avery Paxton III & Commander Brig Sito

Mission: The Avenger
Location: USS Wayfarer - XO's Office
Timeline: Approx 2hrs prior @ 1000hrs

Avery marched up to the XO’s office at 1000hrs with a stack of reports. She was pretty sure that her first encounter with him hadn’t left a very positive impression, but she hoped to change that. The engineering upgrade reports were due on his desk at 1200hrs and maybe delivering them early would improve her standing.

As she arrived at the door, she straightened her uniform and pressed the chime. A moment later, the doors opened and Avery stepped forward. “The upgrade reports as ordered Commander”, she stated as she placed them in front of the XO.

Sito tapped his console, darkening the screen and removing what he was looking at. Whatever it was, he either didn't want the CEO to see it, or it was none of her concern.

"Good morning Lt. Paxton. I hope you are well rested today and are able to fulfill your role as CEO?".

“Yes sir, I was cleared for active duty. I’m sure you read the report.” She stated plainly.

"Oh I did indeed. Dr.Hayes states in this report that you are pushing yourself to near exhaustion levels and sooner rather than later your body is going to quit on you. If that happens you are of no use here". He let the words sink in and continued. "You have several options available to you. You either keep doing what you're doing and become a permanent patient of Dr.Hayes for this mission. You disagree with both mine, and the doctor’s medical opinion that you are pushing yourself too hard and ask for a transfer from the Wayfarer. Or, you finally let go of wanting everything done right to your standards and learn to delegate. There are some fine men and women under your command who would love the chance to learn from someone with an impressive career in Starfleet."

Avery bit her lip. She knew how to take a verbal beating and how to maintain military bearing, it came with the territory of being a Marine’s kid. However, she also had a rebellious streak and it was becoming difficult for her to bite her tongue.

"I spoke to your former CO before we left Star Base 10. They had nothing but praise for you and the work you’d done at your last post BUT expressed the same concerns I do now. This is a team game Lt. Paxton.”

That was it, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Permission to speak freely, sir?!”

Sito leaned back in his chair and prepared for the coming storm. He nodded, granting her request.

“The Captain accepted me as the CEO because he knows that I’m good at what I do. I know how to delegate and if you come down to engineering you’ll see that everyone is busily working. I’ve even paired up experienced engineers with the younger staff so that everyone’s learning and improving. That said, yeah, I did work a lot yesterday and the day before. Maybe a large majority of that is because I do have high standards and I wanted all of those upgrades done before we got to the nebula. But do you know why I have high standards? Because I care about this ship and about my crew down in engineering. Without those upgrades we’d be risking widespread system failures or even a warp core breach due to high levels of electromagnetic interference screwing around with my systems and I could be looking at sending half of my crew to sickbay.”

She paused and looked directly at the XO, “Maybe I’m mistaken, but aren’t we supposed to trust each other here? I don’t second guess your command decisions because you’re the XO and from what I’ve read you’re damn good at your job. Can’t you trust me to do the right thing in engineering, or at least give me a little bit of leeway here? The only time I ever tend to seriously over work is when it concerns the safety of this crew and even then, I know my limits.”

"Have you finished?" He asked, his tone sounding more serious and with authority. The XO did not look thrilled with her statement but had listened to her side of the argument. Avery knew she was seriously walking the line of insubordination and wasn’t entirely sure she would make it out of his office after her outburst. At the very least, she was fairly certain that she’d be walking out as an ensign instead of a lieutenant. But then, to Avery’s surprise, he sat back in his chair and his expression softened, slightly.

“I know you’re a good engineer, one of the best, but what would’ve happened if we were attacked before you had been forced to get some sleep? Would your department have been able to handle it on their own? No, because they depend on you, you’re their chief. I understand that you want to look out for your people, but that means being ready when a crisis comes along too. Do you follow?” He raised an eyebrow and looked to make sure she was catching on.

“Next time you feel like you have to do something so important that you have to put in two straight days of work you either re-evaluate that decision or come and discuss the risks with me. You will not pull this stunt under my watch again, do you understand?” He said sternly as he locked eyes with her.

“Yes sir” she said, snapping to attention.

Sito picked up one of the reports she had dropped off and began scrolling before dismissing her. Avery about faced and then headed towards the door.

"Oh and lieutenant," she stopped and turned her head. "Nice work on the reports".

Sito returned his attention to the console. Paxton left the room and let out a sigh of relief. Maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel after all.