What's the hold up?

Posted on Sat Feb 10th, 2018 @ 3:21am by Lieutenant Erin Whitlam PhD & Commander Walter Prescott

Mission: A Day in the Life
Location: Mark IV Subspace Gravimetric Spectrometer, Starbase 332

ON: [[Mark IV Subspace Gravimetric Spectrometer, Starbase 332]]

“What are you talking about?” Erin demanded, frustration flavouring her every word.

The crew chief who was responsible for installing the brand new Mark IV Subspace Gravimetric Spectrometer shrugged in an almost comical display of innocence. “I’m very sorry, Lieutenant,” the grizzled petty officer lied. “But we don’t yet have authority to transfer the operating codes to your department.”

Erin clenched her jaw and stared daggers up into the crew chief’s eyes. He had at least twenty centimetres height advantage on the diminutive science officer, but that determined scowl seemed to make her grow almost taller than him.

“How can that be?” she said, trying to be calm through her gritted teeth. “The whole reason it’s even here is because astrophysics requested it.”

Petty Officer Tindall was well rehearsed at being innocently obstructive. The easiest way for someone in his position to get a small measure of revenge against an officer in Whitlam’s position who didn’t respect professional boundaries was to embrace the bureaucratic monster that accompanied any new requisition and just slowly, very slowly, navigate through it.

“I understand that, Lieutenant,” he said, trying to sound like he was on her side. “But regulations are regulations and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’d love to just hand these codes over to you - I really would.” He paused and shook his head, apparently downtrodden. “But my boss would have me on waste extraction duty if I didn’t follow procedure.”

“Rubbish!” Erin scoffed, shaking her head. In that instant, she decided what her next course of action had to be. She reached out and snatched the PADD from Tindall’s hand and marched away, calling back over her shoulder, “I’ll see what your boss has to say about this.”

[[Chief of Operations' Office]]

"...and find out from Lieutenant Tovan what the status of that overhaul is."

Walter studied the readouts hovering just above the surface of his desk. Despite a few initial misgivings, he was feeling pretty confident about the changes he'd been making to the overall structure of his department. Having experienced people in key positions was going to make it easier for him to supervise and to make sure everything got handled the way it was supposed to. Unfortunately, as with any sort of transition, the shuffling of personnel over the past couple of weeks meant there were a few places where things had slipped a little.

The sound of the office door opening caused him to look up. There had not been a single moment since coming aboard the station that Walter had seen anyone simply walk into his office. Even on those occasions when he'd still been settling in and had left if open for people to drop by, no one had really ventured to do so. He half expected to see Commander Luciano, the station's Executive Officer, or perhaps even Captain Von standing there. Instead, he was greeted by the sight of a familiar-looking woman in sciences teal.

"May I help you, lieutenant..." Walter's voice trailed off. Despite the sense of familiarity, he was having a difficult time putting a name to the face standing before him. He glanced over toward Karr. However, the yeoman seemed as surprised and confused as he was by the sudden interruption.

She probably couldn’t blame him for forgetting her name; they’d only had one meeting and she wasn’t on his staff. Nonetheless, in her present mood, she found it infuriating. “Whitlam,” she replied in a tone that was far too short for a junior grade lieutenant addressing a lieutenant commander. She realised as she said it and was quick to add, in a more professional tone, “From Astrophysics.”

Whitlam. The moment she said her name, Walter was able to put two-and-two together. He recalled how she had come to see him some time ago about obtaining a subspace gravimetric spectrometer and how doing so had almost put him in a turf war with her department head, Commander Drusus. Luckily, he'd managed to avoid that little entanglement. Based on the look she was giving him, however, something told Walter he wasn't going to make it through entirely unscathed after all.

"Will there be anything else, sir," Karr asked.

Walter's lingered a moment longer on Whitlam before turning toward the yeoman who was eyeing him warily. Clearly, Karr had figured out that if this woman was desperate enough to walk straight into a senior officer's workspace, things were probably about to head south. He didn't blame the younger man for wanting to escape the room before that happened.

"That will be all," Walter told him, "Thank you." The yeoman nodded, turned, and disappeared quickly through the doorway to attend to the list they had been making.

Erin watched the yeoman leave the office, taking the time to focus on her breathing in an attempt to calm her boiling annoyance. Once the door swished shut behind her, she turned back to the chief of operations and started talking. “Please forgive the intrusion, Commander, but there is a problem with my new spectrometer,” she said, each word spoken deliberately and clearly.

"So I've been told."

She paused a moment and furrowed her brow as she looked across at the chief of operations. She wasn't expecting him to have been aware of the situation. Maybe the crew chief had called ahead? "So you're aware that the installation crew is refusing to transfer access to the spectrometer because of some missing authority?"

"I am aware of that, yes."

"Pardon my bluntness, sir, but I need that authority so my team can get to work."

"...and I'm sure Petty Officer Tindall will get you the access you need as soon as his team is finished," Walter said, finishing the sentence for her. It was more than a simple statement of confidence in the ability of his own people. He could make a million promises about how good the technicians were, what exactly they were doing, and when she could reasonably expect things to be finished. None of that would make a difference unless he could convince her that he and his department were invested enough in the project to see that it was done and that it was done well.

"Look, I hear that you're frustrated," he continued, "This project clearly means a lot to you. You've put a lot of time and energy into it. If it were me, I'd probably be chomping at the bit to get things up and running as soon as possible, too."

Whitlam furrowed her brow as she listened. What she was hearing from Prescott didn't gel with what the crew chief had told her. Was it possible that they were winding her up? Selling her a story so she'd get off their backs? She breathed in and let it out before speaking, in a level tone. "Just to clarify. Are you saying, sir, that the installation is not yet complete?"

Judging by the look in the lieutenant's eyes, Walter was reasonably sure she already knew the answer to that question. Her eagerness to proceed with her work was having an effect on Tindall's work crew. It was an issue as old as collaboration itself - different people with different perspectives on how something should be done. In fact, Walter could easily call to mind at least a half-dozen times when he'd been the one in her shoes, expecting something a certain way in a certain amount of time, only to be told it wasn't possible.

Recognizing the issue was only half the battle. One way or another, they still needed to finish installing and calibrating the subspace gravimetric spectrometer. The easiest thing would be to simply complete the task. Tindall's work crew could then move on to the next thing, Whitlam would have access to the equipment for her research, and the two wouldn't have to deal with one another anymore. The better thing to do, however, would be for them to try and reach some sort of resolution.

"I'm asking you to be patient."

Erin breathed slowly, purposefully calming herself down. For a brief moment, she considered lodging a complaint about Tindall lying to her right then and there, but decided that it would probably slow things down even further. Besides that, it would likely as not be seen as an overreaction on her part. She focused back on Prescott and let her shoulders relax. "Very well, sir," she conceded. But she had no intention of leaving with nothing, so she was quick to add, "But do I have your word that there will be no hold up in transferring it to our department once installation is complete?"

"My people will get it done," Walter assured her, "and then, yes, you will be given access to continue your work."

"Thank you, sir," Erin replied with a quick bow of her head. "I very much appreciate that." With nothing more to be said, she quietly turned on her heal and left Prescott's. While she still didn't have access to her spectrometer, and felt no closer to getting her access, having the chief of operations' assurances seemed like a decent outcome.

Now she just needed continue to endure the interminable waiting.

OFF

Lieutenant Commander Walter Prescott
Chief of Operations
Starbase 332

Lieutenant JG Erin Whitlam, PhD
Science Officer
Starbase 332

Petty Officer 2nd Class Aagren Karr
Departmental Yeoman, Operations
Starbase 332