Fiction Fragment Friday
First off yes this is another part in the story of the Spaceship Oddity and with it there is almost 6,000 words written in this universe. I have enough planned that these little scene snippets will likely go on for a few months and at this point I suspect they will be incorportated into chapters of a novel. I have actually taken time to sit down and outline out where I want this story to go though every time I sit down to write a scene I never end up where I thought I would. That is why I keep my outlines loose because I am very much a discovery writer.
I had just finished my third chief engineer interview of the day, and I was starting to feel discouraged. Two of the candidates had been completely unqualified and the third had personality issues that made Chief Lumsdon seem reasonable. Based on company regulations I had five days to hire a new chief engineer, or the company would step in and assign one. I wasn’t sure how they could find someone worse than Victor Lumsdon, but I did know that anyone Austin Van Eisenburg decided to assign to the ship I would not like. I was coming to accept the reality that anyone who would be a good candidate was unlikely to be unemployed at a random space station in the outer systems.
I checked my tablet and saw that I had one more interview for the day and no other candidates. I hit the button to message my cargo chief. “Chief Louise I’m heading down to engineering. When the last candidate arrives can you bring them down there?”
“Sure, thing captain.”
“Not even going to ask why I’m having you take them there instead of my office?” I was surprised by her complete acceptance instead of questioning why after three office interviews I switched to engineering.
“To be honest sir I was kind of wondering why you did any of the interviews in your office instead of getting their firsthand reaction to our patchwork systems.”
“Next time feel free to ask. The Oddi…” I stopped and corrected myself. “The Odyssey takes a bit of getting used to and I would appreciate having my assumptions challenged.
“In that case Captain can I ask why you haven’t had the engineering section interview the candidates before you meet with them? No disrespect intended sir, but I don’t see anything in your record to indicate that you have firsthand knowledge of these types of systems to judge their technical prowess.”
“No offense taken and you are correct. I guess I just hesitated because I don’t know the engineering crew well enough yet to know if their opinions could be counted on. I’m also not sure how they feel about me getting rid of Lumsdon. I’m adding that to the long list of things I need to do around here.”
“Glad to hear it sir. Anything else I can do for you?”
“No, I think you have given me enough to think about. Thank you for your candor. Captain Moss out.” I hit the button to end the communication and thought about what she had said. The decision to move the next interview to engineering had been one of frustration more than strategy. What I was doing wasn’t working so I wanted to try something else.
As I walked to engineering, I thought about my first few weeks aboard. I had gone over every bit of documentation I could find and had meetings with all my senior staff. Other than the bridge crew I couldn’t really say that I had gotten to know anyone else onboard the ship though. I thought about the engineering team and realized I hadn’t even memorized any of their names. Knowing what kind of crew were assigned to the Oddity I had subconsciously made assumptions about them. These people were used to being underestimated and they didn’t deserve for their captain to do so as well.
“Captain in engineering,” I heard someone announce as I walked into the section. Even seeing the person, I had no idea what his name was, and I felt shame about that.
“If I called an all-division meeting how many people would have to be left out to watch the systems?”
“None sir. When we’re docked and running on station power everything we’re doing is just maintenance. He stood very rigid with a tone as flat as he could make it.
“At ease. I have one more interview to conduct today and after that I would like to meet with the division. A chance to get to know each other and for me to apologize.”
“Apologize? For what sir?”
I looked at his ship suit and focused on the name. “Well Mr. Choice first off to you for not knowing your name and having to stare at your chest to find out. Second, for not properly meeting any of you before now. I should have done so after coming on board. Failing that you all deserved to hear from me personally after I had Chief Lumsdon removed. I can only imagine the concerns you must have.”
“Less than we did two days ago.” His face turned a bright shade of red after realizing what he had just said out loud. “I’m sorry sir. That was inappropriate of me.”
“Please Mr. Choice speak your mind for a moment. I promise no repercussions. You’re not upset about Chief Lumsdon’s departure?”
He looked at me for a moment and I could tell he was trying to decide if he could trust me. Finally, he spoke. “Well sir, my mom used to have a phrase she liked to say. Addition through subtraction. We’ve gotten more done in the last day than we did the previous month.”
“Is this a group effort or is there a ringleader for this surge in productivity?”
“Mostly it’s just having the blocker removed, but without him holding her back First Engineer Marsha Burton has been keeping us running smoothly. We’ve worked through forty items from our repair backlog already.”
I brought up my tablet and started looking through her career record. I knew there were things not included, or she wouldn’t have been on this ship because at first glance there was nothing wrong. I found she even had the certifications that Chief Lumsdon had been missing. A communication notification popped up over the record. “Sorry Mr. Choice I need to take this.” I stepped back into the hall and hit the button. “Captain Moss here.”
“Captain this is Cargo Chief Louise. I regret to inform you that your interview candidate decided to withdraw their application after seeing the ship.”
“That’s okay I think I just found a better candidate anyway. Moss out.” I stepped back into engineering. “Mr. Choice would you please be so kind as to find Miss Burton and have her meet me in what used to be Chief Lumsdon’s office?”
“Yes sir. I hope I haven’t gotten her in any trouble.”
“The worst kind of trouble. The kind that comes with more pay and responsibilities. Let her know that I intend to interview her for the position of Chief Engineer of the Odyssey and I would like to discuss the repair backlog as well.”