Meeting Operations

Posted on Sat Aug 16th, 2025 @ 3:28am by Lieutenant Rynna Csira & Chief Petty Officer Jemimah Weatherly

1,475 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: A Day In The Life
Location: Operations Department

Having had a good time meeting Elijah's family, JK thought it would be useful to meet the other senior officers.

She chose Operations for her first visit as she had some familiarity in the subject, having made her way through the enlisted ranks in both it and engineering.

She looked around for the Chief, a Lieutenant Rynna Csira. Csira, sounds like a Hungarian name. She thought. That brought to mind the wonderful weekend she spent with a young couple, in their home in the countryside, just outside Bucharest.

A redheaded woman was looking at the large MSD on the wall with marks indicating issues found during the last diagnostic. There were only a few, and none were priorities. It was what she expected as the previous chief had a good reputation.

She turned when she heard the doors open. "Hi. Can I help you?"

"I hope so." JK said with a smile. "I'm J.K. Weatherly, the new CoB." She introduced herself. "I'm just getting to know my new ship mates."

"Hi! I'm Rynna Csira, the new head of ops. Nice to meet you. Where are you from?"

"Earth originally, but my parents were El-Auran." JK said. "They died during WW3."

"I'm sorry. War is a tough way to lose family. Especially when you expect them to be around for a while." Rynn paused. "If I may ask, what would you like from me as the new COB?"

"Thank you, Lieutenant." JK said. "As CoB I'd like to see the weekly reports for your enlisted staff." She smiled. As a former operations specialist, I'd like take a look around, if I may?"

"You're welcome to look around." She waved her arm out. "But which reports are you referring to?"

"Performance reviews." JK replied with a smile. Walking over to a console, she removed the maintenance hatch. "Bio-gel packs." She said with glee. "I love those little buggers." She added.

"So do I. They make quite a difference. But there's still some charm with the older ships." Then she nodded. "I can send you a copy of the performance reviews. There will be formal reviews every six months, but I keep an eye on the work being done."

"The tech bridges the gap between biology and engineering." JK said. "Have you ever been aboard a J'Lien vessel? They grow them rather than build them and their pilots interface directly with the ship through a psychic link, so the ship responds to their thoughts."

"No, I haven't. That could be interesting--or terrifying if it gets corrupted."

"luckily for us the J'Lien are peaceful explorers, and have safeguards in place to prevent such corruption." JK said.

"That's good--as long as a corrupt group doesn't get their hands on them." Rynn shrugged. "But nothing stays a secret for long. Eventually someone will get a hold on the tech. We'll figure out how to counter it if and when it happens. As an El Aurian, I'm sure you've seen plenty of that over time."

"Yes, but I like to stay optimistic." JK said.

"That's not a bad thing." Rynn smiled. "You get farther on optimism than pessimism. What's the saying? You catch more flies with honey than vinegar?"

"I've always wondered why you would want to catch flies? They are of little nutritional value."

"It's something I heard a lot in the Academy. It means you get more from being nice than you do from being snarky. I wonder if it started because people used honey to get flies out of their house?"

"Maybe." JK said. "Idioms have always confused me."

Rynn shrugged. "I may have to look it up some time. There are a lot of idioms that have a historic reference. So, what departments have you been to so far?"

"This is the first, though I'm an old friend of the Captain's family." JK said.

"That's nice. At least you know people. That helps when you come to a new ship." Not everyone was comfortable going around to different departments to meet senior staff, or even other people in their own department, but JK clearly wasn't one of those.

"It is, I just met Elijah's wife and children, they are lovely." JK said with a smile.

"I met them, too. I ran into them on Bajor before I officially came aboard. The kids are quite a handful."

JK laughed. "You could say that." She said.

"One of them ran into me. She was running after her brother." Rynn shook her head and grinned. "I don't remember ever having that much energy."

"Me, neither." JK said with a smile.

Rynn chuckled. "It must be something in their genes." She shook her head. "It was definitely an experience. But enough of that. I like to know the people I work with; so, tell me something else about you."

"What would you like to know, I'm reading, especially from actual books. I enjoy a good glass of wine. I like music, though I'm not much of a singer, and my flute playing only attracts stray dogs." JK said.

"If you're going to be hanging out here, I'd like to know more about you. I like to know all those who work in my department. Especially if you're over some of my people." Rynn smiled. "I'm fairly hands-on."

"If you like we could play 'Never have I ever'." JK said.

"That sounds...interesting. How is it played?" Rynn asked.

"Each player raises both hands." JK said raising both hands. "Then one player asks a question. For instance, 'Never have I ever, been to Mars.' If the other player has been to Mars, they drop one finger." Demonstrating by putting down her little finger. "The winner is the one who has at least one finger up."

"Easy enough. What is the purpose of the game?" Rynn asked.

"Fun and to get to know each other better." JK replied.

"Okay." Rynna would play the game--unless it came to something she couldn't or wouldn't admit to. But that was because of her job--and her past.

"Do you want to start?" JK asked.

"All right." She paused for a moment, raising both hands. "Never have I ever been to Risa."

JK dropped her finger.

As Rynn figured. Most people had. "Your turn?"

"Never have I ever punched a Klingon." JK said.

Rynn had never punched a Klingon. She hadn't kissed one, either. Which made her say, "Never have I ever kissed a Klingon."

JK put down a finger. "I blame the blood wine and the dress she was wearing." She said. "Never have I ever been convicted of a crime."

"Not yet, anyway," Rynna said, grinning. "Never have I ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight." It was a quote from an old Earth movie one of her roommates had her watch in the Academy, but it seemed appropriate.

"No, but I have seen the movie, Batman." JK said.

"Your turn. Or should we just call it? I think you've done far more things than I have."

"Yeah, I keep forgetting it’s not a very fun game for anyone else." JK.

"Oh, I'm learning a lot about you, but I'm not sure it's the best way to get to know someone." Rynn definitely didn't want to play this game with Cade. She'd probably end up hitting him with something.

"Yeah, I've experienced a lot." JK said. "But sometimes, I get lonely, life can be a b*tch when you know you're likely to outlive almost anyone you meet."

"That would be difficult. Do you stay in one place, or does moving around make it easier?"

"Moving around used to make it easier, but for now, I want to be around family, and Captain Rutherford, is that as far as I'm concerned." JK said.

"That's good. I don't see my family much, either. But I can talk to them. I'm glad you have that connection with the captain and his family."

"Me too, I also hope to become like a mother hen to the enlisted aboard." JK said.

"That sounds great. I'm sure some of the non-coms would appreciate that." Rynna would have liked someone like JK when she was younger as a mentor or mother hen.

JK smiled.

"You've got the list of enlisted, and you know what to expect here," Rynna said. "Is there anything else you need from me or should I let you move on to another department? You've definitely got a big job as COB."

"I'll check in with Engineering, thanks for your time, Rynna, we should get together for a drink."

"Definitely. I hear the lounge is an interesting place." Rynna smiled. "Thanks for stopping by, JK."

JK smiled and left.

A post by

Chief Petty Officer J.K. Weatherly
Chief of Boat
USS Orcrist

Lieutenant Rynna Czira
Chief Operations Officer
USS Orcrist

 

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