To Meet the Staff

Posted on Sun Nov 9th, 2025 @ 1:05pm by Lieutenant Brendan Dernah & Petty Officer 3rd Class Nakata Akira

849 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: A marathon not a sprint

ON:

Akira paused outside the door, the soft chime of the bell on his necklace the only sound in the quiet corridor.

He smoothed a hand down the front of his uniform, not because it was creased, but because it gave his fingers something to do while he calmed himself. This wasn’t a performance review or disciplinary talk...well, he hoped...just a scheduled meet-and-greet with the new chief. Still, he couldn’t help the slight edge of nerves that fluttered in his stomach.

They'd crossed paths before, during the repair scramble. No one had known who the new chief was, and the man had arrived mid-chaos. There had been confusion. Awkwardness. At least on Akira's part. He hated not knowing things he should.

Hopefully today would be…smoother.

Akira took a breath, quieted his thoughts and pressed the chime.

Brendan rose from his seat and made his way to the door, sensed a nervous mind beyond its porthole and opened it. "Mr Akira, to what do I owe this visit?"

Akira tilted his head, blinking before looking at him with wide, confused, dark eyes. "I...thought I had a meeting with you, Sir...?" he asked hesitantly, because it was obvious that one of them had gotten something wrong...and he was concerned it was him.

"Did we? I'm sorry I must have completely forgotten all about it with all the goings on of late," he tried not to look completely flatfooted in front of the young enlisted man outside. "Please do come in, Mr. Akira and have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

Akira relaxed at the reassurance, making his way to the visitor's chair, setting himself down quickly. "Melon soda please," he asked as he glanced around curiously. He'd never grown out of his sweet tooth.

Brendan chuckled at the selection while he quickly turned to the replicator and then right back around to the Petty Officer seated behind him. "One Melon soda for you and one Peppermint Hot Chocolate for me. Now what can I do for you?" Brendan asked.

Akira sipped his drink as he settled back, the bubbles grounding him a tad. Enough to be convinced he wasn't losing his job at least. "Well, this popped up in my schedule, to meet my new Chief. I...suppose it's more about what I can do for you and the team."

Brendan laughed as he sat back "Well, the way it works is this...I would like for you to tell me what you can do for the team. If you don't mind, since you are more familiar with your talents than I."

"Well..." Akira tapped his fingertips together anxiously, not used to selling his own skillset. He was usually happy to keep to himself, somewhere at the back, maybe munching on a pastry. "I'm...good with systems. I mean...I know that's literally all of our job, but...well, I used to work in robotics. I...still do in my spare time, actually. So...I suppose I'm good at figuring out how to make the ship think and move...because I've been making smaller machines walk and talk for years."

"That sounds excellent, Petty Officer. It also says here that you like to do a little holo programming," Brendan said after quickly glancing down at his display. "It also says you're a problem solver, which is good for both of us. Anything else, Petty Officer Nakata?"

Akira glanced down with a small, almost embarrassed smile at him reading that out. He hadn't realised it had been taken note of in his file. "No...no, that's about all there is to me," he chuckled softly, shaking his head as he sipped his drink to recover. "Holoprogramming is more of a hobby, but...I like seeing how far I can take it."

"That seems to be a very well-rounded file, I would say. I'd like to see some of your programming, if you don't mind," Brendan said with a chuckle.

"Sure," a relaxed smile came back to the young petty officer, always happy to share his work with others. Well, so long as they weren't harsh critics. But he'd never met anyone unkind in the Ops teams. They were all geeks together.

"Thank you for coming by, Petty Officer Nakata. And I sincerely doubt that this is all there is to you," Brendan said as he rose from behind his desk and reached out to offer the young man his his hand.

Akira blinked at the briefness of the visit, clearing his throat. He rose to his feet though, taking the hand to give a gentle shake. "We'll see, I guess," he chuckled softly, giving him a half smile. "I'll see if I can find a holonovel you might like."

"Yes, I hope, indeed we shall," Brendan said as the Petty Officer blinked at him. Brendan merely smiled warmly at him and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "That would be most kind of you, Mr Nakata."

OFF:

PO3 Nakata Akira
Operations

&

Lieutenant Brendan Dernah
Chief Operations Officer
USS Wolff

 

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