Fiction Fragment Friday
Well, well, well here we are again back aboard the Starship Oddity. I debated when I ended last week’s story where I wanted to start with this week. I knew I didn’t want to write or make you read an entire job interview, but I also felt like jumping too far ahead was not the right answer either. I named the character of Marha Burton in last week’s story, but I didn’t introduce her. I told you about her, but I didn’t let her show who she was because she wasn’t present in it.
As it turned out I needed this scene not just to let her have a voice but also to help further develop the themes I am working towards. This story that continues to develop has a few key ideas I am exploring through these characters. I’m not going to share what those are just yet, but I hope they are coming through clearly enough in the writing that some of you could guess them.
“Well that certainly is quite the list. Tell me Miss Burton, how is this list prioritized?” I assessed the woman sitting across from me looking for any signs of nervousness. Most of the candidates I interviewed for the chief engineer role have exhibited at least one. She was not sweating, there were no noticeable nervous ticks, and eye contact was not broken unless she needed to check something on her tablet. There was a combination of confidence and competence I had not yet seen in my short time as captain of the Odyssey. Plenty of my crew had one or the other, but no one had thus far exhibited this degree of both.
“Well sir I actually have multiple criteria and filters available for prioritization. The view you’re currently looking at is the one I’ve had the section working from. Anything that requires expenditures for parts we don’t have in stock is filtered out. Then it is sorted in order of risk. We didn’t have any criticals and the only high requires a purchase. After that it is sorted by time required and date of first report. The view is named ‘Low Hanging Fruit’. I wanted to have the biggest impact we could as quickly as possible before a new chief came in.”
“In case they didn’t allow you to keep fixing it?”
For the first time in the interview, she hesitated before answering to think about her words. “Yes sir. It’s not that I don’t trust you to find a good candidate, but I know how difficult it is to find one before the company assigns you one.”
“Nice save there Miss Burton.”
“I try sir.”
“You mentioned a high-risk issue that does require a purchase. Have you reported that previously?” I suspected I knew the answer but wanted to see how she would address it.
“Chief Lumsdon was well aware of it, but the moment his leaving the ship was announced I filed a new report with a quote for the needed parts. Unfortunately, it got routed to the Chief of Engineering’s queue for approval and is waiting for someone to review it.”
“Give me one moment Miss Burton.” She nodded and I brought up my tablet. Pablo had given me access to the chief’s mailbox and work queues that morning, but I had not yet had time to look at them. When I saw the number of unviewed items, I found myself regretting that oversight. It only took me a few moments to find the work request submitted by First Engineer Marsha Burton. I was extremely impressed by the thoroughness of the report but taken aback by the price. It was within my budget, but we would need to start making some serious profit before long after taking this hit.
“Well Miss Burton I believe you will find that your request has been approved, the purchase forwarded to Cargo Chief Louise for logistics, and that you have been granted access to the work queue.”
“Captain? That fast just on my word?”
“That fast. I have it on good authority that you are…” I looked down at my tablet and read, “sharp, reliable, and the best damn engineer in this sector. That is if the seven recommendations that have come into my inbox since you joined me in here are to be believed. “
With that comment she actually looked flustered. I could tell that praise was not something she had experienced in far too long. I suspected the same could be said of most everyone in the section. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Your former chief chose to point out that everyone onboard this ship was here because they are a burnout, incompetent, or you are being punished. You, Miss Burton are not a burn out based on your work ethic and I have seen enough to confidently say that you are not incompetent. Why you got sent here is none of my business, but it is my intention to turn this ship’s reputation around and I’m going to need some strong partners in my senior staff to do it. Will you help me stick a thumb in the company’s eye by making this a ship people want to be assigned to?”
“I’m not a member of senior staff sir?”
I smiled. “Let me rephrase my question and make this a bit more official.” I hit the button on my tablet to record the conversation and set it down so she could that was the case. “First Engineer Marsha Burton as Captain of the Starship Odyssey I Jacob Moss officially offer you the position of Chief Engineer. Do you accept this offer provided that we can reach a mutual agreement on compensation and benefits?” I pointed to the tablet before she started speaking to ensure that she spoke into the microphone.
“I do.” I held up a finger to signal for her to pause while I hit the button to stop the recording.
“There now that the official part is done is there anything off the record you would like to say?”
“You are not at all what I expected sir. Despite what Chief Lumsdon had told us about you I think it’s safe to say you’re not here because of burnout or incompetence either. Can I share a piece of advice though?”
“Please do Chief Burton. I expect my senior staff to help keep me in check.”
She smiled so widely I was taken aback. “Chief Burton. It has been a lifelong dream to hear someone call me that. Captain, I have heard from multiple sources that you are less than pleased with the ship’s nickname of Oddity.”
“That is correct. I am finding that the crew is far more capable than their reputation would indicate and the nickname is just one more way to dismiss them.”
“Well, that is true for how it started. We like the name Oddity. It has become an identity we can rally around. While outsiders and the former chief used it to insult us, we embrace it. Sir, I am proud to be an Oddity, and I think you will find that sentiment shared by most of the crew. I will do everything I can to make this ship physically something to be proud of, but please do not take that identity away from my team.”
I sat there stunned for a moment unsure how I felt about her impassioned speech. “Here I thought I had a lot to think about before. Ok Chief Burton, you have given me an idea, but I need to speak to my legal counsel to see if it is possible before sharing.”
“You have legal counsel sir?”
“Of course. She may not be legally certified, but I think you will find that out pilot Miss Southerland has forgotten more about regulations and loopholes than they teach in those expensive legal schools.”
Once again, she smiled at me. “If you don’t mind my saying so sir you are going to make a fine Oddity.”