The Final Shuffle

Posted on Fri Jul 15th, 2011 @ 4:50pm by Captain Nathan Cowell MD & Lieutenant Xylia Lischka

Mission: Too Close for Comfort...
Location: Commodore's Ready Room, Bridge, USS Arizona
Timeline: Following 'Tempting Fates... Again'

Commodore Nathan Cowell's day had been filled with the hustle and bustle of making changes to his crew, both major and minor. The last had come in the wake of the one just prior, leaving a vacancy that needed to be filled before the ship could really make any moves to depart the system. Specifically, Nathan needed to fill Lt. Colonel DeVries' former slot. It could have worked for him to leave the woman in both roles, but with everything happening lately, the Arizona could ill afford one bad thing taking out two critical roles in one swoop. Thankfully, Starfleet had done a decent job giving the Security department good people to move upward. This came in the form of Lieutenant Lischka, who he'd summoned to his Ready Room a few moments ago. Now, he just had to figure out how he wanted to break the news...

Lieutenant Xylia Lischka made her way through the various levels of the ship until she came to stand just outside the Commodore's Ready Room. This was the moment she had a feeling was coming. He must have noticed her behavior on the planet and wanted to put her on some of those happy pills she thought about getting herself. Nerves weren't a normal occurrence where she was concerned, but she never backed down and always took the licks when they were dealt.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered to herself as she extended a hand, hitting the chime that would alert the Commodore of her presence.

"Come!" the Commodore bellowed, prompting his Ready Room doors to part. When the woman was inside, he indicated the chair in front of his desk but said nothing else.

Xylia settled down on the chair indicated by her superior officer. She was still in civilian clothes, but kept her combadge on her person. One never knew when they were going to be summoned. Like now. "You wanted to see me, Commodore."

"Yes, I need to talk to you about your place on the ship..." Nathan said bluntly.

Sharks attacked when the scented blood in the water. In this case... Cowell was the shark. Xylia planned to stay cool, calm and collected. "Of course, Sir. Which part, exactly, was it that you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, you have no boss," the old man said flatly, "Have any idea who I might want to put in that slot."

Lischka looked taken aback by the Commodore's statement. Last time she checked, she still had a boss, considering she wasn't given the information Stace was transferred to her new position yet. "Commodore.. I'm not entirely sure I understand. The Colonel was... is... my boss. Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"She's the First Officer now," Nathan said, "Just promoted her."

The surprise on the Lieutenant's face couldn't be contained. "I'll have to congratulate her the next time I see her. As for Security, I'm your woman, Sir. That is, if you're willing to let me head up the department." She was actually relieved this wasn't about her near mental breakdown.

"You sure you can handle it? I don't want you taking the job if you aren't willing to bust in there and make shit happen for me," Nathan cautioned.

"I haven't done anything less for you in the Assistant Chief role, Commodore. I'll continue to bust my ass as I have been. It's what I do." Xylia responded.

"Fine, you're hired. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do in Security then," Nathan said bluntly, "Congratulations."

"Thank you, Sir." Xylia said, almost asking out loud if someone pissed in his Wheaties. Of course he was pissed off. He lost another man under his command. That couldn't be sitting well with the old man. She felt bad for him, as oddly as it seemed. "Perhaps if you aren't busy later, we can grab a drink." It wasn't anything like 'that'. The Lieutenant just didn't want her CO to drop dead of a heart attack.

"Maybe when we're underway," Nathan nodded, "Until then, there's work to be done. Get to it, Lieutenant."

"Yes, Sir." Xylia stated as she got to her feet. She offered her CO a smile before turning to slip out of his Ready Room.