FNG

Posted on Sat Dec 3rd, 2022 @ 3:52pm by Lieutenant JG Fox Jasper & Lieutenant Commander Javiylah MacArthur

1,263 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Song Of Silver Wings
Location: Starbase 14, Alpha Tucanne System
Timeline: After the SAR-1 Briefing

So, this was it then. He'd made it.

From nowhere through somewhere to right here and now. Qualified, signed off and released back into the wild, fancy uniform, tiny quarters and a whole shipful of people he had yet to get to know. Not that newness bothered the young man, he'd found his way through far worse places for much dumber reasons. This time, though. This time it was definitely personal. He wasn't supposed to mention it, and so far no one had asked because, well why would they? Captain Maddox knew the Jasper connection, and it had been agreed that Fox would keep it that way for now.

Right now meeting the leader of the SAR-1 team was priority number one, while they all waited to be allowed onto the USS Daedalus. Briefly, with confidence, Fox knocked on the briefing room door and waited to be told to enter.

A knock, translated to the chime for permission to enter, interrupted Javi’s concentrated stare at the holographic personnel roster of the team that would likely be embarking on the rescue mission. She shifted her gaze from the roster to the hatch, wondering who wanted her attention now. “Admit,” Javi ordered the computer, standing up straight as she waited for whoever wanted in, hopefully not another FELINE. She shut down the roster, leaving the holographic icon of Starfleet to whirl in the center of the table slowly.

Fox took a quick inhale/exhale and strolled into the room. Standing, it was immediately obvious to him that the commander was a couple of inches taller than he was, which he found oddly satisfying. It gave MacArthur gravitas, and the young man had learned to trust that more than words.

"Commander," said Fox and stood to attention. While it wasn't his nature, he'd been taught (repeatedly) to wait for a superior to speak first, and he didn't want to fuck this up.

"Lieutenant," Javi recognized the young officer from the training, one Fox Jasper, approving his adherence to etiquette thus far. Relatively new to the Fleet which made his assignment to her team odd. "Stand easy. How might I be of assistance?" Javi was assuming that he, like so many others, had sought her out for something they needed from her.

Jasper's stance relaxed accordingly, and he nodded his thanks, then took a second to gather his thoughts before speaking. "Actually," he said. "I was hoping I could be of assistance to you." Fox flashed a bright smile. "I've found on my last two postings that my short service means people make certain assumptions about my skillset." And each personality was different in pushing back at him regards said first impressions. "Since the Captain fast-tracked me onto your team, I wanted to give you the opportunity to ask any pertinent questions before we boarded. Y'know, in case you had any."

"I see," Javi recalled what his personnel jacket had stated, very new to the Fleet but seemingly-solid. "Captain Maddox seems to think that you will be." After all, the man had been the one to pull the lieutenant, along with several others, to fill the holes in her established team.

He wasn't sure exactly what to do with that, having expected some form of grilling - polite or otherwise - so Fox paused before speaking. They'd drummed that into his brain during those four Academy years too. Stop. Think. Speak. "Yes, Commander," he confirmed, simply, after a moment of mutual silence. "Captain Maddox interviewed me before I was posted here." He wanted to say more than that, but didn't. MacArthur was going to have to take him on his own merits, not his father's, for the moment. "I didn't learn to fly with Starfleet, Commander. They just taught me some new tricks."

Javi just waited to see what else the man would say, not seeing any need to reply so far. She wasn't exactly pleased that the captain had pulled in unknown officers for the team but also understood why he did so. If the captain thought he could cut it, she would see if he could in the planned drills before they launched on the rescue mission.

Ah okay, figured Fox, we're playing it this way. He straightened his shoulders and took a brief, conscious breath. If he had to choose between flying out into the unknown with a talker or a listener for a team leader he'd definitely pick the latter, so now he just needed to consider those words carefully, knowing that MacArthur was all ears. There was a moment of polite standing-at-ease though before he spoke again, his voice earnest and clear.

"What you won't see on my official sheet," he said then. "Is that I learnt to fly when I was twelve. Shuttles. Graduated to freighters two years later. After that there was a mess of frontier time flying whatever needed flying. Cargo, long haul, search and rescue. Nothing I can show you certs for." Fox caught himself in a small smile and squashed it swiftly. Details here weren't needed and wouldn't help. He'd need to prove himself in real time, in real gear, where the Lt Cmdr could see for herself. Dark brown eyes met black and held as Fox added. "Starfleet buffed some of the rough edges, Commander, but they're all still in here if we need to call on them out there."

The mix of experiences wasn’t surprising to Javi, it was quite similar to a background that a few other personnel who originated from the edges of the Federation had shared, several times that she had served with them. All of them had a certain,” By the seat of our pants,” mentality which had been helpful at times. “Not being completely reliant on technology can be an asset,” she finally commented.

Despite the lack of anything much to go on in his new CO, at this comment, Fox relaxed. "Exactly!" he said, enthusiasm colouring his tone now. "Technology is gonna be an unfaithful ally out there. It'll tease, lie and trick, not intentionally, but still..." He studied MacArthur's features for a moment and nodded in quiet respect of her implied experience. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, I'm not perfect, but I'm also not a rookie. Not sure if that helps, but I figured in your shoes... and with all expensive new tech.... well, I might be a little apprehensive. I know I have to prove myself, so whatever you need from me, I'll do." A silent second or two of direct eye contact. "Anything. Sir."

Javi was quite impressed with the younger officer’s self-awareness of his own shortcomings, not just his strengths, and that he had the maturity to admit such. She always preferred to have new personnel who were humbler rather than those who felt that they knew all and didn’t need any guidance from others. “So noted, Lieutenant,” was given with a slight nod. “Anything else?”

He stood up straight, proud and confident and still very much intrigued by this quiet, experienced older officer. "No, Commander," Fox noted. "That's all I needed to say." He waited then, to be dismissed.

"Dismissed," Javi replied as a notification started to flash for her attention, wondering what was next.

With a smart about-face, Fox strode out and let the door close behind him before he grinned the stupid grin. This. This was going to be both fun and interesting. Stakes were higher than he'd ever had before, admittedly, but MacArthur seemed like she'd be an integral part of the solution.

--------------

 

RSS Feed