Pick Me!

[MisterSmith 0]

Lieutenant Commander Brian Smith stood outside the ready room. Commander Ridire's Ready Room. That still sounded funny to Smith. Brian had never had the best of relations with Ridire, but the trust that Captain Michaels had shown him seemed to have led Ridire to give him the benefit of the doubt. But now Michaels was gone, and Ridire, and Reaent needed a first officer. And Brian Smith wanted it to be him.

 

Brian walked up to the panel, and pressed the chime.

 

"Come in." spoke the voice from inside.

 

Brian entered, slowly. He had constantly been thinking of the best way to say what he wanted to say. And frankly, he thought that the best way to get the message across would be to, simply, come out and say it.

 

Brian waited for the door to close behind him, and spoke.

 

"I want to be first officer, sir."

 

Brian paused, simply to see the reaction from the commander, and then spoke again.

 

"I know it would only be temporary, until we get back home, and the crew gets filled out again. I've been on Reaent for five years now, three as a senior officer. Anna can handle science for a few weeks."

 

At that point, Brian realized that before he resorted to begging, he should let the acting Commander voice his opinion on the issue.

 

Aidan leans back in the chair and studies Smith for a long minute. He knows that if Deb was present she'd be having trouble keeping the amusement off her expression. After all, Aidan did have a habit of seeming like he liked doing nothing more then reminding Mr. Smith of certain incidents that had happened in the past. Any animus that Aidan had actually ever felt towards Mr. Smith as a result of those incidents had long ago dissipated. Of course that didn't mean he wasn't going to occasionally provide himself some entertainment.

 

After the minute passes Aidan asks slowly "And what makes you think that you needed to come in here and ask for what you've asked? Isn't the command structure on this ship clear enough?"

 

Smith took a double take. "Wait. What?" He paused. "I know there is a command structure on this ship, but sometimes Mr. Murray takes the conn, sometimes it's me, I just wanted to make sure. Even if the method was a little...unorthodox."

 

He moved forward, aligning right with the chairs in front of Ridire's desk. "Frankly, sir, I regret leaving medical. Moving to science, as you can see, was great for my career, but I feel like I've lost something in the switch. I've enjoyed all of the away missions, and being on the bridge, with the action. I see this, even though it's just a temporary assignment, as a chance to try and get some of that magic back."

 

Brian took a seat. "So, from a First Officer to his Captain, where do we go from here?"

 

"Mr. Smith, the times that others are given the conn is to give them the experience necessary to take over if and when the time comes for it. There is a certain wisdom in the old adage "It is not wise to put all of one's eggs in one basket. And frankly, in those times the top command structure has always remained the same. The Captain then me and then on down. That isn't quite the case right now thanks to the Admiralty. You were already going to be my selection for acting first officer, I just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Because there didn't seem to be a rush on it and frankly I've had other things on my mind. My apologies for what consternation that gave you, I will attend to that piece of ship's business when we are done here."

 

Aidan sighs and leans back in the chair for a long minute. "As for "where we go from here." we are taking the Captain to the nearest Starbase for his hearing. We'll remain there for the duration of and then we will get back to doing our jobs. I fully expect that to be with him remaining as Commanding Officer and my remaining as Executive Officer. So for right now do keep in mind that while you are acting First Officer that also means that I am acting Commanding Officer. Neither one of us has been promoted and speaking purely for myself I am quite content with my current actual rank."

 

Brian rose from his chair. "As am I." He smiled. "Now someone has to get back to the Bridge," he said as he walked out the door.