FAdm. Red & Cmdr. Merlin | "Change of Watch"

Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2019 @ 9:24am by Commander Evan Merlin & Fleet Admiral Blyx Red

Mission: Permutations
Location: Cold Station Theta

= Commanding Officer's Office =

Shiny office.

Big shiny office.

Big, very big shiny office.

He knew it was there, of course. He'd been in it a few times before. Talking with Captain DiAgessi. Once talking with Admiral Blyx, though she tended to favour her Fleet CO office.

Now this one was clean. Empty. Shiny. And above all: his.

Well, not quite empty. A stack of PADDs was adorning the desk, ready to be picked up and read. That was the one constant: PADDwork never ended. There were always more of the critters to read than there were hours in a day to read them. He was convinced they bred when he wasn't looking.

But right now, the pile could wait a few moments longer.

He walked around, from the comfy-looking couch in the corner, the coffee table and two lounge chairs for informal talks, to the replicator. From the wall with the shelves for knick-knacks to the large desk, made of authentic wood. He ran his fingers over it, felt the delicate texture, the silken-smooth finish. From there he walked over to the viewport. The stars outside seemed to rotate, the nebula swam into view as he watched.

From there to here. Fifteen years. From a foundling with no history of his past to CO of this immense station. He had to control the urge to pinch his arm to see if it was real.

He, the man without a past. Without a name. The Weirdo. The oddball who talked with turbolifts. The one with a knack for languages and a touch with machinery, the one who got fast tracked through the Academy and now stormed the ranks with a speed which totally baffled people he frequently interacted with.

Unreal. It even seemed unreal to him.

While he had done the day to day running of the station for the past few months, taking over most of the work during Admiral Blyx's maternity leave, there had always been someone to report to, someone who, when push came to shove, had the final say in all his decisions. The fact that this final say rarely came, that his reports were usually signed off without a letter's change, didn't alter the fact that in the end, he was just the jack-of-all-trades instead of honcho-in-chief.

He dropped down in a chair which felt about three sizes too big for him, for all that it had earlier held the smaller and far more slender forms of Captain DiAgessi and Admiral Blyx Red. Then he leaned back until he looked at the ceiling and ran his hands through his long hair, stroking it back. Softly, he asked the ceiling: "Is it time to panic yet?" Predictably, it didn't answer.

The conversation, earlier this morning, had been short and to the point.

---

"You're likely wondering why you're here, Mr. Merlin," Blyx's enthusiasm waned far more than it waxed in the strange man's presence and her fingers drummed across the high shined mahogany top of her desk as she regarded him from her side of it, "I have been told that a replacement for Captain DiAgessi is relatively non-existent at the moment, Starfleet is in short supply of command material able to take on an undertaking such as Cold Station Theta." She continued mirthlessly, "Sadly, I don't have the time to cater to both the station and all of Beta Fleet at the same time, not with things running precariously with the Stenellians especially."

Get to the point, a voice inside her chided and whined, and the Admiral found her feet, pushing away from the desk, "I'll be frank, Mr. Merlin. I don't trust you. Never have. You're capable and, most importantly, you're here. So long as you're in a Command capacity role, you answer directly to me and that means I have you under my thumb where you're least likely to do damage should things go pear shaped." The Shrike sighed, her lips pursing tersely as she collected her thoughts and studied the odd man in front of her, "Which means I'm selecting you to be the custodian of this station."

It should've been something to be expected. Not all that many things would change. The amount of padds, for sure, and the office to which they would be directed. But still, to have it out like this… He took a deep breath. "I'll take good care of her, I promise." That, at least, was a very easy promise to make. He loved the old station dearly, and he'd give everything to protect it and the people on her.

"You don't have much choice as far as that is concerned." The raven haired woman nearly chortled but bit her tongue, "Anyway, Commander Stacker will be paired with you. His particular talents are ones I believe will keep things on the straight and narrow. Seeing that he currently outranks you, it's been brought to my attention that you are due a promotion. The pips are in the top right drawer of the desk, I'm pretty sure you can figure it out from there. Don't fuck it up."

"Thank you, Admiral. I hope that one day, I shall be able to earn that trust." He gave a salute which was far more formal than the one he regularly used. It was clear she was not pleased with the necessity, but figured it couldn't be helped. He took the 'don't fuck it up' as a dismissal and left the office.

---

So here he was, bright shiny new pip in the place of the dulled black one and a small mountain of PADDs already waiting for him. Well, being nervous and sitting here wasn't going to get any work done.

With a jerk, he shot up again. Time to unpack that box of knick-knacks he'd brought with him from the XO's office and decorate this room. He'd be spending more time here than in his old office, most likely. If nothing else, the PADDs would see to that.

Still, before he started, he did one more thing. He placed both his hands against the outer wall of the station, next to the viewport. "I can't promise that you'll never come to harm under my command," he whispered. "But I'll do whatever I can to protect you, so that you, in turn, can protect and shelter everyone who lives here. This I promise."

He removed his hands and shrugged to himself. It was a silly gesture, perhaps. But it comforted him, nonetheless.

Fleet Admiral Blyx Red
Commander, Beta Fleet

-and-

Commander Evan 'Weirdo' Merlin
Commanding Officer, Cold Station Theta