Meeting the boss

Posted on Tue Oct 14th, 2025 @ 1:06pm by Lieutenant Dezkar Veen & Lieutenant Commander Steve Ryan

1,393 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Children of the Stars
Location: Engineering

"Damn I'm late" Deborah struggled to button up her uniform while pacing fast along the corridors of the vessel in order to reach main engineering and to meet her new boss.

"Deb, won't be a great start if you get there late and in a messy state" she told herself abruptly stopping in front of the engineering main entrance to fix her uniform as well as her messy hair.

Once her composure was back again, the young ensign stepped into her kingdom, engineering, quickly visually scanning the area in order to spot her new boss, lieutenant Dezkar Veen.

"There he is" she thought as she spotted the tall man with broad shoulders busy checking some readings with the duty officer.

She closed in, stood at the attention and presented herself.

"Sir, I'm ensign Deborah O'Donnel" she wore a shy smile on her face.

Dez barely noticed the woman, which for him was unusual. He finished looking over the diagnostic results with the duty officer, nodding as they parted without a word exchanged. He glanced at the Ensign and looked past her to the warp field status readout. Moving to the interface, he pecked at the controls, referencing the PADD in his hand.

"Ensign O'Donnel. What is it I can I do for you?" asked Lt. Veen.

"Oh, sir," she felt uncomfortable by his manners "I just thought it was a good thing to report to you given that I didn't have the chance to meet you since you took over from lt. Mitchell " she explained.

Dez noted the woman's discomfort, a reaction that wasn't foreign to him. "Relax, Ensign," said Veen.

He set down the PADD and looked at the officer. Squaring his shoulders, he crossed his arms over his chest. This was the one thing he expected to be an issue. The inter-personal aspect of running an Engine Room was bound to be his shortcoming, and he knew it. Giving the moment time to settle, he did his very best to appear less terse than he'd been told he could be.

"I haven't memorized the duty roster, Ensign. A lot of faces 'round here. So, Ensign Deborah O'Donnel — What's your specialty on this boat?" Veen asked, scrutinizing the Ensign with a downward stare.

Deborah relaxed her body and freed herself from the attention.
"As a matter of fact I graduated in environmental systems, but" she turned her head around to cover the entire engineering room "given the size of this ship and given the number of engineers on board we happen to be quite flexible. I often handle minor random repairs as well as work on systems and subsystems integration" she explained.

"I don't mind changin a bit from time to time, helps with keeping up to date with a number of different systems" she confessed while fixing a chunk of her hair behind her right ear.

Dez furrowed his brow. He'd been around enough ships that were understaffed to be familiar with multiple roles. He'd never liked to pigeon-hole any one person into limiting role. This was positive news.

"Enviro-tech, huh? Well bless ya for that, Ensign. Happens to be one of my least favorite topics. I do like folks to be well-rounded, so it's good you're havin' to balance yourself. I have noticed the staff is a bit on the lean side. How long ya been here anyway?"

Dez found himself doing what he hated. The small talk caught him off-guard, but it seemed to be a necessary evil in the present situation. Better with a Junior Officer than some holier-than-thou fleet blowhard, he thought.

"Around 3 years, sir. Lieutenant Mitchell did the best he could with what he had" she shrugged and decided not to disclose her small assignment and the findings she highlighted so far.
"I joined fresh from the academy" she explained "first posting and well..." she shrugged "I kind of like it. May..may I ask you what your previous posting was, sir?" she chimed.

Dez chuckled. "Ensign, you can ask me anything. Don't mean I'll be likely to answer ya, though." He turned back to the console and tapped it once before turning back to the young officer. "But I'll play nice. I was on the USS Emden. But I been all over the fleet. Seen my fair share, being a 20-year veteran and all," he said, his face still displaying the contorted grin that was common.

Deb laughed.
"That was an unexpected answer" she admitted when the CEO admitted he wouldn't have answered. She immediately nodded in awe as he mentioned the 20 years experience.
"Well, hope I can learn a lot from you then" she answered admired.

Dez looked down at her with curiosity. He wasn't accustomed to anyone wanting to learn what he thought or how he operated. Those were the things that usually put him on people's short-lists for reassignment. So far, though, he liked what he saw on this ship — and that was odd. He began to nod back at the woman.

"Well, you'll find I do things a little different. Forget the Starfleet Engineering course guide, Ensign. I've lived more than a lifetime or two by some's standards. And that was before joining the Fleet. One thing I've learned is that by-the-book don't work all the time. I've kept buckets ruinnin' that should'a'been refuse." He looked at the Officer, gauging her reaction.

She didn't flink.
"Not sure what you did expect from this vessel, sir, but we need to do with what we have. Doesn't mean we break laws or rules but we need to blend in sometimes and to use some creativity I would say". She had been like an open book to him. Being understaffed and often out of the usual inventory replenishment lines, the Montana crew grew accustomed to adapt.

The lady had spark. Dez liked that. Ever since coming aboard, his preconceptions had been challenged. And it was only day one. Just when he thought he had everything figured out, the universe decided to throw a wrench in the works.

"Alright, Ensign. Fair point. I think I'm startin' to see why I'm here after all. Maybe me and this ship ARE a good fit." He chuckled, arranging the various spanners in the rack beside the console. "Here's a thought, O'Donnel. You seem to be good with folks. Would you say most people take to you kindly?" he asked. "See, thing is...I ain't so good with folks, if that isn't obvious. I'm thinking maybe when you ain't knee deep in Environmental hooey, you can help me navigate the finer points of diplomacy. Least 'til I get my bearings."

Deb brightened up.
"Yeah I would say I'm quite good with inter-personal relationships and I go along quite well with almost all people on board" *all but the new operations officer, it seems* she thought without giving out her thought. "Well, I'll be happy to introduce you to a bunch of people on board as soon as the time allows, I'm sure you'll find yourself at home in here". she commented.

Dez laughed. "That's not quite what I meant," he said. He leaned back against the console, looking about the engine room. "I need someone that can help me from stickin' my foot in it. I don't relate to... well... most people. But if you could help me not alienate my entire staff on the first day, well, that'd be progress in my book. Kinda like a liason for the socially inept. That's me," said Veen lightheartedly.

"Oh" se seemed puzzled for a fraction of second.
"I don't think you need it, sir, but...I'll be happy to help whenever is needed" she confirmed.

Dez laughed, turning to attend the console behind him again. He input several commands before looking back to the Officer out of his periphery. He was somewhat surprised to see her still standing there. Usually people had run off in a huff by now, particularly women.

"I think we'll be just fine then, you and me," said Veen. He turned back to the console, giving it his full attention.

Deb just nodded, and noticing he was back to his business she saluted and went gathering her tool belt to start her usual maintenance run.

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End. Deborah O'Donnel
Engineer
USS Montana

Lt. Dezkar Veen
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Montana

 

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