Having settled into his office and been given the most important part of the work he’d be doing for what would probably amount to the next several months, Mike set up a series of appointments to introduce himself to the various department heads that were already on the station and see if there was anything he could do to assist them in getting their departments up to where they needed to be. With that in mind he donned his uniform, did one last mirror check to make sure he was fully presentable, and headed out with a definite sense of purpose. 

First up on his itinerary was station security, it was paramount that that department was operating at peak efficiency with all of the issues with engineering making it so easy for things to happen that really shouldn’t. Padd in hand he approached the doors to the security offices and stopped just short of slamming face first into them. With a sigh, and a roll of his eyes he waited, and seconds later the doors swished apart to permit him entry. 

Across the room he saw the Saurian lieutenant that had been posted as the station’s security chief and began to approach him. He’d never actually worked with a Saurian before, and the chance to learn something about such a different species than his own was one he was excited about. Stopping a respectful distance from him he spoke.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Yatokii,” he said with a warm smile. 

Yatokii looked up as he heard someone enter the security office “Good morning, sir. There should be a PADD on the counter there, if you would please start filling in the information pertaining to your issue, I’ll be with you in just a minute.” as he went back to writing notes on what looked to be an inoperable view screen. “As you can see we are a bit short handed on office personnel and if I don’t get these notes on the patrol briefings than it won’t get a done before they start their next rounds.” 

Mike grinned, wondering how long it would take for the security chief to notice who he was talking to, but decided to just do as he was told. He picked up the padd and tapped in a few details, and then sat it back down where it would be in easy view of the Saurian as he worked, and then leaned back on a console not far from him and waited.  

Yatokii looked back down at his PADD and noticed the first blinking message reminder. “Hmmm” he looked back up at the briefing notes. “I don’t think I missed anything for the patrols.” he tapped on the message reminder and quickly read through it. “Ahhhhh damn it” he looked at the PADD than at the officer standing by the console than back at the PADD. “Real good Yatokii tell the new XO to fill out the security complaint paperwork and then you go and ignore him to finish your briefing notes. Real smart Yatokii real smart.”

Yatokii put down his PADD and approached the officer. “Commander Hayes, I presume? Lieutenant Yatokii, chief of security and tactical. Please excuse me for not paying attention earlier. As you can see security is a bit short staffed in office personnel, actually were a bit short staffed all over, and as you can see we are not exactly on the top of the engineer’s priority list for fixing things.” Yatokii offered a hand to the commander. 

Mike chuckled and waved away the apologies before reaching out to accept the handshake. “Nothing to apologize for Lieutenant. I’d probably be just as frazzled if I hadn’t just arrived. Give me a week and I might do the same to the captain. I honestly just came down to see if you could give me a quick rundown on what you most needed from me to get your department running the best it realistically can in the current situation.”

Yatokii looks around. “Well sir, should I state the obvious? Personnel, especially some with some experience would be nice. A few yeomen would help. Armory is not too bad, some of it is dated but serviceable. If I could get a competent Ensign and or even a chief and I could spend more time in the ops center handling Tactical and security from there. “  

Yatokii looks over the XO. “Any experience in security sir, you have the build and look for it?” he looks up as a few civilians walk by the office and shakes his head. “Would you like a quick brief on the current issues, sir? I gave the Captain a pretty detailed one yesterday. Or would you like to talk the tactical first, that one’s going to be a doozy. It’s not people it’s the equipment for that side.” Walks over to the replicator “Iced coffee, large.” takes the cup as it appeared “care for anything, sir?”

Mike was not expecting so much all at once, and he had to keep his mind focused on what was being said so that he didn’t lose the threads of what the officer was saying to him. “No thank you,” he said to the offer of something from the replicator. “I can tell this is something you are very passionate about Lieutenant. And from what I’ve already been told not a lot has been done to get any of the department heads the resources they truly need to be up and running. I’m glad I’m here and able to correct that.

“I guess what would be most helpful to me is a concise rundown of everything specific you would need to get your department to where it needs to be as quickly as possible so I can take it a try to do a home run with it and get it for you as quickly as possible,’ He added, crossing his arms, a pensive, worried look on his face as he contemplated the rest of the department heads having similar issues. He could already see that today was going to be a very rough day.

“Very well sir, I’ll write up a report for both security and tactical and send it your way. I guess you have some more meetings such as this scheduled for today. If you need anything at all sir, I’m just a combadge yell away. “ 

“Thank you, Lieutenant, and the same goes for you. I’m always on call, and I don’t mind lending a hand if it’s something I can be truly helpful with. I’ll be on my way to the next poor soul who has to deal with me today,” Mike replied with a grin. He would have included more pleasantries, but he could tell that at this moment, they probably wouldn’t be exactly welcome, so he left it at that and turned to leave. 

Next stop on his list was medical, and he wandered into sickbay a few minutes after leaving the security offices. He snagged a passing officer and inquired about where he might find the ship’s chief medical officer and was pointed towards their office. Walking up he rapped his knuckles on the doorframe to get the man’s attention. 

“Doctor Longfellow,” he said by way of greeting. 

Henry glanced up, PADDs covering his desk as he continued to work on the various ailments both technical, mechanical, and biological, that were ailing the station.  He glanced at the rank pips and stood, “Lieutenant Henry Longfellow, Chief Medical Officer.  Commander…?”  He hadn’t had the chance to read the updates to the station’s roster yet with everything that was going on.

Mike smiled. “Hayes, Mike Hayes,” he replied. 

Longfellow gestured to the chair in front of his desk, “Welcome to sickbay, Commander.  We’re playing catchup in more than a few ways.”  He leaned forward on his desk, “What can I do for the Executive Officer today?”

“Actually, I’m here to see what I can do for you, Doctor.” Mike replied as he settled into the offered seat, wondering if he was going to see a repeat of what happened in his own office with his first visitor. “I’m meeting with all department heads today to try to get an idea of what I need to be working on specifically to help you all be able to do your jobs to the best of your abilities.”

Henry chuckled quietly and dug through his desk until he found a PADD with the latest sickbay reports and handed it over to the XO, “Half our beds actually work…and of those working, we’ve got three that’ll need more than just our patchwork to get them working long term.  Engineering’s been working miracles with what they have, and our computer systems are lightyears from where we started with.”  He shrugged, “We’re getting staffed with nurses, orderlies, and the like.  Two station physicians are in transit and should be here within the next few days.”

Mike stared at the PADD in the man’s hand, and then took it, blinking in surprise. “Well, that certainly seems like you’ve got things well in hand. I’ll look over this and do anything I can to make sure everything happens on time, or even faster. If there’s anything that needs to be added never hesitate. I’m here to help y’all get what you need to succeed.”

He looked back over his shoulder. “I do have to say though, I’m pretty damned impressed with how well you’ve done with what you had. A lot of people might have looked around and had a panic attack before running. You look like you’ve got things well in hand. You settling in okay outside of Sickbay as well?”

Henry held his answer.  There was a lot to be said in response to such a question, but the reality of his situation was…he was in a new place with new people.  The recent loss of his wife was still weighing heavily on his heart and sharing that pain, that loss – that was not a task he took lightly.  He was sure that the XO was a good man and worthy of the position he held, but he wasn’t sure his burden was ready to be openly shared at the moment.  He settled on, “As settled as one can be in the far reaches of empty space, Commander.  I’m sure the more folks I meet the more relationships that I’ll build.  Settling into a place like this takes time…and thankfully we’ve all got plenty of that.”

Mike smiled, “I like that answer, Doctor,” he admitted. “I’ll check in with you a little later one for my physical. Until then, remember, I’m available, no matter what time it is. If you need anything, just let me know.”

As he turned to leave, he considered who was left on his schedule for the day and remembered that his next appointment wasn’t until after lunch. At that thought he felt the slight rumble of hunger and sighed, wondering what sort of disaster the replicators in the mess hall would be able to cook up. There wasn’t a way around it, no matter what, so he shook his head in weary resignation and headed off to see what was in store.