Wayne Cole

Fiction Fragment Friday

I debated for a while what part of the story to tell next in this week’s Fiction Fragment Friday.  There are a couple scenes I’m holding on to and just trying to determine when they would fit best into the story.  I could just write them at any point and then consolidate and edit them in a more reasonable order.  Instead, I sat down and wrote this part of the story.  As I’m sure you have noticed I’m titling each part of the Oddity story with the word Odd in it going forward and have been doing so for a while.  I wish I had thought of that when I started. 

               Staff meetings are an unfortunate side effect of being in command.  Filled with procedures, droning reports, and self-aggrandization, no one could possibly enjoy them.  That, however, was not the case aboard the Oddity.  My senior staff didn’t feel a need to try and make their accomplishments sound bigger than they actually were.  With all the changes I was implementing the reports were actually interesting instead of statements we had all heard hundreds of times before.  For the first time in my career, I found myself looking forward to my staff meeting. 

               “Ok, folks who would like to go first.  Pablo how about you?”  On any ship I had previously served, that would have been putting my Head of Systems in the spotlight.  If he felt that to be the case, you couldn’t tell from his demeanor.    

               “Well sir 93% of the surveys you requested have been returned.  I can say with certainty that the remainder would not be enough to sway the result. Navy blue with gold accents won ship suit design.  The crew liked the synergy with the new ship hull colors.”

               “Did the results actually include the word synergy?”

               “Only one used that particular term.”

               “Was that yours by chance?”

               “Results were anonymous Captain at your request.  However, that would be a reasonable conjecture.”  While his words were cold and flat his face held a smile on it.  “Also, Mosstermind beta version 2 is loaded into the ship’s systems and ready for your review.” 

               “Ok, I know I requested it, but does it really have to be named a pun for my last name?”

               “You had your software requirements, and I have mind.” 

               “Chief Louise what is going on in your world?”  I turned to my Cargo Chief and tried not to further acknowledge the pun.  If I cracked and laughed, it would just encourage him. 

               “Crew Services seems to be coming along nicely.  There are still duties none of them want, but I find they work together to finish them faster.  As I’m sure you have noticed, the meals have gotten substantially better, but my cooking classes are still very basic.   I really think it would be best to create a new position dedicated to galley.  Crew services could continue to assist in prep, but if we want progress we need someone to be dedicated to the work.  Finally, you will find some cargo recommendations in your inbox.  Mosstermind is a huge help in finding some potentially valuable cargo.”

               I shook my head at the name but did not verbally acknowledge it.  “I will take your recommendations into account and see what I can do numbers wise.”

               “Sir I think I can’t help with headcount.”  Chief Engineer Burton leaned forward.  “Lumsdon seemed to have a knack for getting Captain Rogers to give him people.  I have too many in environmental and with the repairs we have already done my maintenance team doesn’t have enough work for all of them.  I would like to keep the maintenance headcount for now to work on some proactive projects, but I can give up one of my Environmental Engineers.”

               “Are you suggesting we fire someone and reassign the position?”  I watched her closely knowing her response would tell me much about her as a person.  Her look of shock at my suggestion pleased me. 

               “No sir.  Jacobs hates the environment section and with all the changes he mentioned being jealous of Crew Services.  Seems he likes variety in his work.” 

               “Well then if Chief Louise approves of him then she just has to decide who is getting the head Chef position.” 

               The two of them looked at each other like they had stolen something and gotten away with it.  I turned my head between the two.  “Ok ladies what am I missing?”

               “Odd Plates,” they said in unison. 

               “The greatest cooking competition ever held aboard a starship,” Chief Louise said while spreading her arms wide in an arc to make a point.

               “A crew uniting social event to improve morale and let the crew get to know her captain.”  Chief Burton had jumped in without missing a beat.  I knew they had planned this and just needed to determine what my role in this plan was. 

               “Ok, I get the basic idea and agree it will be great for morale.  How is going to let the crew get to know me though?”

               Chief Louise jumped back in.  “Well sir every good cooking competition needs to have a host.  Someone to present the challenges and announce the winners.  A face of the show if you will.” 

               “That’s right,” added Chief Burton.  “We want three judges to be pulled from the general crew, but we want you to get first bite and give feedback as well.  In case of a three-way tie you could cast the deciding vote.” 

               “This is insane.”  I sighed.  “Ok I’m in.”

               Chief Louise hit a button on her tablet.  “Great the full proposal is in your inbox.  Since you’re hosting though we want you to punch it up and make it more you.  We gave some sample challenges but wanted to let you suggest some as well.”

               “Anyone have any other business we need to address today?”  I looked around the table at the shaking heads.  “Well in that case I have a few matters to check into on station, so I won’t keep you here any longer.” 

               As the meeting broke up, I decided to hold off on reviewing the information they had sent me.  If could wait until I was back onboard.   I had pulled in a few favors and gotten a screen procured for the galley that we could use for movie nights.  I needed to talk to the installers personally though to keep it a surprise.  After a few moments I found myself walking out of the air lock and down the ramp to the station. 

               “Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”  The voice was one I could never mistake and sent chills down my spine.  There leaning against a bulkhead was Elaine Van Eisenburg daughter of our company’s owner Austin Van Eisenburg.  The woman responsible for my assignment to the Oddity.    

               “Don’t think I was ever mighty.  That’s a description reserved for you and your father.”   I was extremely proud of myself for not letting my voice show just how unsettled I was to see her. 

               “Oh, you were well on your way to Captain of the best ship in the fleet and an eventual place on the board.  If that doesn’t count as mighty, I don’t know what does.”   

               “Why are you here Elaine?”

               “I just had to see your new ship.  Why is it blue with gold writing by the way?  It was grey when daddy assigned you to it.” 

               I stared her down and tried to put every ounce of my hatred in my eyes.  “What do you want?”

               “You know what I want, and no one gets to tell me no without penalties.  You rejected me, you embarrassed me, and you made a fool out of my father.  Even after all that though it’s not too late.  Apologize and play your role.  This can all be over or it can get so much worse.” 

               “This is pathetic even for you.” 

               “Just remember you asked for this.”  She pulled up her tablet and hit a button.  I heard my tablet beep in response.  Looking down I saw a message. 

               Anger and hopelessness warred for position on my face, and I could not keep them from showing.  For her part Elaine was not grinning.  She likewise had an expression of anger.  “If I can’t have you Jacob Moss I will destroy you.”  She turned and walked back into the station leaving me speechless on the ramp of my own ship.       

A special word from the author

I find myself sitting here shocked and reeling from the end of this week’s story. I know I wrote it, but I did not see that coming. I had started to feel that things were going too easy for Moss and his crew. They needed some adversity to come their way to bring in tension. Now that I have written it though my mind is racing about how all the future scenes I had planned now need to be completely rethought. I am over 10,000 words into this story and still feel like it is just in the first chapter or two.

Fiction Fragment Friday

Welcome back aboard the Spaceship Oddity for our next installment. This week I knew the conversation I wanted, but it didn’t flow quite as well as I had hoped when I went to write. I need to shake the story up a bit next week and get away from a converastion around a table or desk. If I want to keep going for as long as I plan to with this setting I need to keep things fresh. There is a future storyarc I want to get to, but need the characters more developed by that point.

I think I might include a bonus post sometime before or maybe with next week’s story giving the crew roster and some stats on the ship itself. World bulding things in my head and notebook but not necessarily things that need to come out in the story.

               I poked the overcooked thing on my plate masquerading as meat and found myself pining for the Paul Dillon flavorless sandwich and stale chip special.  The utility crew rotation had moved Mr. Dillon to break stander giving Miss Nia Torres control over the kitchen.  I looked up at my senior staff eagerly waiting for me to take the first bite.  “You’re all enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”

               “Only until we take our first bite,” responded Cargo Chief Marissa Louise.  For the past few days, I had been having lunch in my office with my senior staff as a kind of informal brainstorming session.  A chance to bond, share ideas, and make me aware of concerns.  I had made it clear that these meals were an open forum for speaking freely and nothing said was to ever leave the room.  By my own rules I could not comment on her heckling so instead I stabbed the thing claiming to be food and put it in my mouth.

               I was pleasantly surprised that the meal was edible though it was a close thing.  The meat was very dried out beef in a sauce that had been condensed too far.  I pulled a fake smile on my face and looked around the table.  “By all means eat up.”  The looks that met me were less than pleasant.  After a sigh I addressed the room.  “Ok food is now moving up my list of things to deal with.  Can someone please explain how it is this bad?”

               My new Chief Engineer leaned forward and took the lead.  “To be fair she is in particularly rare form today.  Nia really does try.  She has hundreds of recipes she wants to perfect and a couple of them are actually pretty good.”

               “A couple?  Out of hundreds?”

               Chief Burton just shrugged at me, so Pablo jumped in.  “If I may sir?”  I motioned for him to continue but made note that he seemed to think he needed that permission.  “Well as you know we don’t have anyone permanently assigned to the galley.  We have three utility crew that rotate duties.  None of them chose or were ever trained to work in the galley.  We got lucky that Mr. Dillon has a talent for baking.  Miss Torres however has more enthusiasm than skill.”

               “She actually likes working in the galley.  How does the crew not rip her apart when they get served something like this?”  I pushed the plate away from me, done trying to force it down.

               “Another crew member you haven’t met in person eh captain?”  The comment from my cargo chief hit me hard.  It was a lesson I should have learned and a mistake I kept making.  Seeing the point had been made she softened a bit.  “When you do you will find a young woman with an enthusiasm so infectious that no one would dare say anything negative to crush it.” 

               “Every time I think I’m making progress I find I don’t even understand the actual issue.  Bottom line I don’t know my own crew.  I’ve only been on the ship a couple weeks now, but that can’t be an excuse forever.  Part of my problem is just how flat this reporting structure is.  Most of the crew don’t report to a department head or even have an assigned department.  Even if I could trust the performance reviews, and let me be clear that I can’t, most of the crew haven’t had one in years.”  For a moment I second guessed letting them see my frustration but discarded the concern.  My senior staff was my team, and they needed to know what I was thinking.  This was the whole reason I had set these lunches up.       

               “I might be able to help with that sir.  If you will look at the proposal, I just sent you.  It might not be perfect, but I believe it will give you a starting point.”  Pablo was looking down at his tablet and not making eye contact.  This seemed to be his default position, but his work thus far had been impeccable. 

               I opened what I expected to be a document on my tablet and instead found a complete proposal with multiple documents.  There was a modified organizational chart breaking the ship into three high level divisions.  The first division under Miss Burton was Engineering which was further broken down into maintenance, environmental, and engineering itself.  The second division under Chief Louise was Logistics and Operations.  This of course covered cargo, but also a crew services department.  Finally, Pablo was in charge of a System Division that covered bridge operations and computers. 

               “Pablo what is this new crew services department?”

               “Well sir that covers the galley, laundry, and providing breaks.  Instead of rotating duties it would turn them into a team of three that can work together more often.  I have a few workday examples in the document titled Crew Services.”

               “You did not just put something with this much detail together.  How long have you been sitting on this?”

               “My first draft was a year ago.  I’ve been updating it for changes.  A lot of updates since you came onboard sir.” 

“I imagine.  Have you ever shared it with anyone before?” 

               “Oh no sir.”  He seemed shocked that I would even suggest that.

I hit a few buttons on my tablet and sent it to the rest of my senior staff.  “I’d like the three of you to review this together and give me a final recommendation that you are all comfortable will help us support our crew.  There is one glaring thing that this proposal doesn’t consider.” 

               “What’s that sir?”  There was a hint of defensiveness to his voice. 

               “The right seat for the right person.  This crew is full of people put here and put into positions.  That doesn’t mean those are the right positions.  I want to know what job people want, what job people would be good at, and how we can take advantage of their skills to grow each other. For example.”  I pointed to my plate. “Find me someone who can cook and is willing to give classes to anyone who wants to take them.”

               To my surprise Chief Louise spoke up.  “That’d be me captain.  My family owns a restaurant on Toran Station.  I practically grew up in the kitchen.”

               “See folks this is what I’m talking about.  Find these happy little surprises on the ship and let’s use them to make it better for all of us.”  I took another bite from my plate and almost spit it out.  “But in the meantime, let’s continue this conversation by going out to the station for lunch.  My treat.  We’ll call it an investment in ship morale.  Just don’t expect it to become a habit until we improve profits.”    

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.”

Fiction Fragment Friday

Well we officially have a series. Let’s see how long this can go. I am fully invested in the world of the Oddity and her crew. While writing this story I also discovered my theme for the overall tale and continued to learn more about just who Captain Moss is. It feels good to be this invested in worldbuilding again. I am three stories in, but I have plans for so many more.

               “So Chief Lumsdon, what keeps you up at night?”  My very large chief of engineering sat in my office across the desk from me.  He was leaning back with his feet up on the corner of my desk.  My instinct was to shove them off and put him in his place, however something told me that would not be the best approach in this case.  Not to start with at least. 

               “Captain?  Not sure what you mean.  I sleep just fine.” 

               “What I’m asking is what are your concerns.”

               “Do you mean about my division, the ship itself, or in general?”

               I wasn’t sure if he was seriously asking or if he was trying to control the conversation.  I decided that for the moment I would give him the benefit of the doubt.  “I would like to hear the answer for all of those, but let’s start with the ship.  Trying to use the oven and jump at the same time takes out the power systems.  What other stumbling blocks should I expect with the systems?”

               “Oh, where do I start?  The biggest issue is that the Oddity is old.  They don’t make the parts anymore, so we either retrofit from other models or have something custom printed.  We don’t have the printer files, so it never fits quite right first time.”  He thought for a moment before continuing.  “After and related to that has to be the power plant.  Our efficiency is so poor we barely have enough power to keep the important systems running.  She’s structurally solid though if you don’t count the millions of micro impact dents peppering the hull.”

               “Is that all?”  I asked hoping it would be but knowing it wouldn’t. 

               He actually laughed.  “Not even close.  Environmentals are flakey so it’s always too hot or too cold depending where you are.  Ship systems have had three viruses in the last year.  No permanent damage, but some of our displays down in engineering are in Portuguese and we can’t change them back.  There’s a half second lag to thruster controls that I haven’t been able to track down.  Oh, and some of the doors stick.  Need to be pushed the rest of the way open.”

               I had my tablet up and was making notes as he spoke.  It took me a moment to finish before looking up at his smirking face.  “What about your division?  How are your crew?”

               “Worthless bunch of burnouts.   Look Captain, I know you’ve heard this ship’s reputation.  Well, it’s deserved.  You don’t get sent here except for three reasons.”  He held up one finger at a time as he named them off.  “You’re a burnout with nowhere else to go.   They want to fire you, but your contract won’t let them, so they put you here to suffer until you quit.  Or you’re being taught a lesson with a punishment posting.  Anyone worth a damn wouldn’t be on this ship.” 

               “Which of those describes you Mr. Lumsdon?”

               I saw a look of anger come across his face before his smirk returned.  “Mix of all three if I’m being honest.  Though I didn’t burn out until I got here.”

               “Well thank you for your honesty.”  I stood up and started pacing behind my desk.  “Let me be clear about something though.  I do know of this ship’s reputation, and I don’t plan on keeping it that way.  No one wants to be here, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let things continue as they have been.  We may not be able to control what ship we’re on” I chose that moment to push his feet off the corner of my desk.  They hit the ground with a satisfying thud.  “But we can control our actions and our attitudes.   You, Mr. Lumsdon, most assuredly, have an attitude problem.  Now are you going to be able to work with me to make things a bit more palatable around here or am I going to have to find a new Chief Engineer?”

               “You don’t think you’re the first captain we’ve had that thought he could rehabilitate this ship, do you?  I’ll do what you order, but don’t expect me to your cheerleader.”

               I stopped my pacing and slammed my hands down on my desk.  “That doesn’t work for me Mr. Lumsdon.  I need my senior officers to be on the same page as me.  I need to trust that they are going to treat their subordinates with respect and be able to motivate them.  Right now, I don’t think you can do that.” 

               “What’s your angle captain?  You wanna prove yourself so you can get off the ship?  That ain’t gonna happen and you know it.”      

               “My angle Mr. Lumsdon is that I have a ship of miserable people who deserve better.  Make no mistake this is my ship now and they will have better.  My angle, Mr. Lumsdon is that the owner of this company thinks that this ship is a punishment and I am going to prove him wrong.  This ship will be successful because I am not going to let Austin Van Eisenburg win.  Now you’ve got a lot of resentment piled up inside you.  Are you going to let eat away at you or are you going to use it to give that pompous jerk the middle finger and make this a ship people want to serve on?  I will ask you one last time.  Are you going to work with me or am I going to have to find a new Chief Engineer?”

               He smirked at me, but there was no humor in it.  I could see that his hands were in fists.  “You can’t fire me.  My contract has clauses in it.  If I could be fired that easy Eisenburg would have done so a long time ago.  You’re stuck with me.” 

               It was my turn to smile.  “That Mr. Lumsdon is where you are wrong.  See this ship has resources that previous captains have failed to utilize to their potential.  Take Miss Southerland for example.  I’d wager that there is not another person in this fleet that knowns the fine details of regulations and contract clauses better than her.  Past captains have been frustrated by how she uses that knowledge against them.  I on the other hand have had a few long conversations about how she can use that knowledge to improve things around here.” 

               “What are you going on about?”

               “Well, you are correct that I can not fire you.  However, I’m not stuck with you either.   Your contract has a clause that Miss Southerland gleefully pointed out to me.  She does not like you very much.  See you are required to be certified on all classes of engines utilized by the company.  The company is required to pay for your training and certification.  It turns out that your certifications are lapsed for two models and you never held them for three others.  That means that while I cannot fire you, I can arrange for you to be removed from duty until such time that you meet those clauses.  Since the ship cannot wait for you to do so I have the opportunity to replace you.”  I reached down to my tablet and hit a waiting submit button. 

               “You think you can find someone better than me willing to work on this ship?”

               “I don’t think I could find worse.”  I looked at the tablet.  “Congratulations Mr. Lumsdon you are officially enrolled in the training program right here at Profen station.  For the next year you’re a college student again.”  I let the smile leave my face and with the most serious expression I could muster I leaned in close.  “Now get your things and get off my ship.” 

               “You think you’ve won.  I get paid to leave and you’re still stuck on this deathtrap.” 

He stormed out of my office without saying another word slamming the door on his way out.  Once alone I sat back down and let out a huge sign of relief.  Part of me was worried that he would punch me.  Another part of me was hoping he would because that was a clause that Miss Southerland had found that would have allowed me to fire him.  I couldn’t help but wonder if he was right though as I looked down at his training acceptance.  Did he get the better end of our confrontation? 

My office door buzzed, and I answered, “come in” before really thinking about it.  I looked up trying to put on a neutral face and found Miss Southerland standing across my desk.

“I just wanted to thank you Captain.”  Her head was down, and she was not making eye contact.  Her hands were crossed in front of her.

“For getting rid of Chief Lumsdon?”

“No sir.  Well yes, but not just that.  For seeing something in me and asking for my help.  No one has ever relied on me before.”  There was a tear forming in her eye.  “It was just nice to feel valued sir.” 

“Miss Southerland the fact that your previous captains didn’t see the potential in you is a crime.  Today was just the first step though.  Can I count on you to continue helping me turn this ship around?”

“Yes sir.”  She said it fiercely and added a salute as she did.  The timid crewman who was just in front of me vanished to be replaced by a confident ally.    

“Excellent.  Then let’s join Pablo on the bridge.  The three of us have some scheming to do.”