06-14-2024, 11:45 AM
As she picked up her second coffee and leant back, Mara thought over what she’d heard of Ramius. If this was a few hundred years earlier, she would have known him mostly as a human meme. Unsuccessful and ill-advised romantic encounters. Standing and watching as Command officers took showers. Extremely persistent rumours of a place called Pomn and some Olympic-standard shenanigans that had landed him and Elias in the hottest of water. There were some kind words in amongst all that, but competence was very rarely the subject of gossip. Everyone seemed to much prefer talking about the screw-ups to make themselves feel better about their own decision-making. And given Ramius had left before Calleja arrived, for them to still be talking about him spoke for itself.
But the more Tyra talked, the more Mara was kicking herself for bottling it. It certainly seemed like the Bandaran had been right in her guess and she was being sounded out for the Chief job. That in itself was enough to rattle her that bit more but she was doing a decent job at keeping that particular feeling disguised. And there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she wanted the job. Lately it had been something of a poisoned chalice but that wasn’t enough to put Mara off. She wanted to stick around on Artemis, not just to build on the relationships she was starting to form with the crew but because she was invested enough to want to keep them all safe.
"So any suggestions for not accidentally bullying someone into the Chief position?"
Crawford laid it out there again and this time Calleja took a deep breath and went for it.
I’m gonna have to break the habit of a lifetime and put myself out there. No choice. I gotta go for it and if I wind up lookin’ like an arsehole, so be it.
“Yeah. Give it me,” she said with a completely straight face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be cryptic just now. But I know all too well that you got your pick of officers. So for us to be havin’ this conversation, or at least for me to think we’re havin’ this conversation, is pretty mind-blowin’ to tell you the truth. And I’d kill for the chance. I probably already have.”
There was a trail of dead Cardassians that would attest to the truth of that particular statement.
“Admin work sucks. But it’s the price of admission,” the Amazonian officer added. “It has to be done to put people in the best place to succeed. Get them the equipment they need, the cross-trainin’, the experience in the right job. I get a real kick outta watchin’ crew that I’ve trained go on to do well, much like you do. You got your Ramius, the guy who you knocked the rough edges off and is now flyin’ high. I got some of my own success stories but I want more. And to be able to do that whilst keepin’ Artemis crew, my friends and frankly the closest I’ve had to family in a while, safe from themselves and the rest of the universe… Yeah. That’s what I wanna do with my life.”
Mara paused.
“I know I’m not the perfect candidate,” she said. “And I’m not sayin’ I’m gonna do a perfect job because we know that ain’t possible. But I’m ready to give it my best shot. And hell, maybe in a couple of years you’ll be tellin’ people about how that big bitch who derailed a briefin’ in front of 2 crews turned out OK in the end.”
There was a ghost of a smile on her lips as Calleja finished.
Well. There it is. I did it. Now to see if I’ve read this right, or if this is gonna be replicator gossip fodder for the next however many years of my life…
But the more Tyra talked, the more Mara was kicking herself for bottling it. It certainly seemed like the Bandaran had been right in her guess and she was being sounded out for the Chief job. That in itself was enough to rattle her that bit more but she was doing a decent job at keeping that particular feeling disguised. And there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she wanted the job. Lately it had been something of a poisoned chalice but that wasn’t enough to put Mara off. She wanted to stick around on Artemis, not just to build on the relationships she was starting to form with the crew but because she was invested enough to want to keep them all safe.
"So any suggestions for not accidentally bullying someone into the Chief position?"
Crawford laid it out there again and this time Calleja took a deep breath and went for it.
I’m gonna have to break the habit of a lifetime and put myself out there. No choice. I gotta go for it and if I wind up lookin’ like an arsehole, so be it.
“Yeah. Give it me,” she said with a completely straight face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be cryptic just now. But I know all too well that you got your pick of officers. So for us to be havin’ this conversation, or at least for me to think we’re havin’ this conversation, is pretty mind-blowin’ to tell you the truth. And I’d kill for the chance. I probably already have.”
There was a trail of dead Cardassians that would attest to the truth of that particular statement.
“Admin work sucks. But it’s the price of admission,” the Amazonian officer added. “It has to be done to put people in the best place to succeed. Get them the equipment they need, the cross-trainin’, the experience in the right job. I get a real kick outta watchin’ crew that I’ve trained go on to do well, much like you do. You got your Ramius, the guy who you knocked the rough edges off and is now flyin’ high. I got some of my own success stories but I want more. And to be able to do that whilst keepin’ Artemis crew, my friends and frankly the closest I’ve had to family in a while, safe from themselves and the rest of the universe… Yeah. That’s what I wanna do with my life.”
Mara paused.
“I know I’m not the perfect candidate,” she said. “And I’m not sayin’ I’m gonna do a perfect job because we know that ain’t possible. But I’m ready to give it my best shot. And hell, maybe in a couple of years you’ll be tellin’ people about how that big bitch who derailed a briefin’ in front of 2 crews turned out OK in the end.”
There was a ghost of a smile on her lips as Calleja finished.
Well. There it is. I did it. Now to see if I’ve read this right, or if this is gonna be replicator gossip fodder for the next however many years of my life…