Ming had returned to the flight bay after some meetings around the ship. He was pleased with the flight’s simulated scores.  They were smoothing out with Abara and improving with a few modified attack plans.  They’d earned the rest of the evening off.  

Speaking of which….He walked over to a knot of the flight crew with a bit of a smile on his face.  He got nods from all involved before everyone but the ordinance chief and his protege melted away.  Marcus quirked an eyebrow and said, Wow.  I’m not used to being such a buzz kill.  But, since that was the effect, to business I suppose.  How is our protege doing Petty Officer Andrews?”

“She’s doin’ just fine L.T.  She’s picked up things faster than most which got a few grudging compliments from Chief Xellath if ya believe it. She’s also seeming to get a bit more familiar with the Fleet way of things,  Maybe not quite as fast as the hands on and technical side of things but even still she’s doin’ a fine job of getting into the swing of things,” Andrews said with a hit of enthusiasm in her voice. 

The Knight’s commander nodded and glanced at Órlaith, “Think that is an accurate assessment Ms. Murphey?”

“I don’t believe I am qualified to answer that sir. It’s hardly an objective and unbiased assessment and certainly useless.”

Ming folded his arms and studied Órlaith Murphy for a moment before saying, “I can certainly appreciate modesty. Something you’ll want to work on is being able to do an objective self-analysis…or at least reasonably objective anyhow.  It’ll be a very useful skill to attain as, be it Starfleet or private firm, many organizations often ask for such a thing during interviews as well as semi annual or annual reviews.  I personally didn’t see much use for them when I was starting out but I’ve gotten an education over the years which proved otherwise.” 

He glanced over at Andrews after he finished speaking.  The Ordinance chief took the que and said, “The L.T. ain’t wrong about that.  It can be a pain in the backside but it is cert’inly a danged useful talent you’ll wanna pick up.” 

“It’s not modesty.  It’s a matter of objectivity.  It’s impossible to impart an honest and truthful assessment of my performance.  Failures are amplified and success is undervalued or overvalued depending on the individual or situation.. or even my mood for that day. Do I feel like I am doing an acceptable job? Sure. I wouldn’t be here right now if I didn’t feel like I was.”

Ming’s violet eyes focused on his protege as she spoke.  He thought for a moment, reevaluating his approach since the explanation he and Andrews offered wasn’t getting through.  After a moment he said, “Ok…New approach. Another way to put it is to look at your day to day duties.  Pick out two or three things that you feel you’re doing the best at.  Or, if you’d rather, what you’ve had an easy time with….Leaving out the basic stuff in this case. Conversely, think about two or three duties that you have a hard time with.  It’s how the game often works with performance reviews.  It’s how things have largely worked for the past few centuries unfortunately.”   

Órlaith shrugged, “Remember you asked sir. I feel that i am doing everything well. Perhaps social interaction may be my biggest weakness,  but that is not part of my job.”

“In your personal life…That is absolutely up to you.  On the job in the fleet or even in many to most private industries there’s going to be at least some. Most of the time your coworkers and you supervisors aren’t going to be close friends and they won’t try to be.  A certain level of social expectation in most jobs.  It’d be good if you manage to either acclimate to it or else, at the very least, fake it.   I have every reason to believe that it’ll be an asset for you if you do so.”

As he finished speaking Ming’s combadge gave a double chirp.  He exhaled slightly and said, “And that is the five minute warning for my next meeting.  I suspect Petty Officer Andrews can answer any other questions that you have for now.  If not we can talk about it later.  In the meantime as you were.”

Marcus nodded to each of the women with a slight smile before he turned and headed for his office on the far side of the launch bay.   When he got there he sat behind his desk, got logged in and reviewed some of the latest reports and updates while he waited for Sh’iv to arrive.  It was mostly the same ol’ same ol’ although there was one slightly cryptic message from a friend at Starfleet Command.  He was about to read it twice but he downloaded it to the padd for later review.  He didn’t want to be interrupted while he worked on trying to cypher it out. 

Sh”iv stood at the doorway to Ming’s office,  “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I did.  Come on in. Have a seat if you care to.  I wanted to see if you’d been able to review the flight performances of Knights 3 through 5 yet,” Ming said amiably. 

Sh’iv stepped fully into the office and stood in front of the desk with her hands behind her back. “I have.  What three lacks in skill she makes up for in in enthusiasm. She has difficulty anticipating enemy maneuvers and can lose big picture situational awareness. 5 is a truly gifted pilot.  Better than me, and possibly better than you. He has raw talent and natural instincts.  Unfortunately he knows that as well, and he can he a bit arrogant and he does not make for a good wingman.” Between 3 and 5 I would prefer 3 at my side. 5 will get someone killed.”

Ming allowed himself a slight smile which ended up being less slight than intended.  The Knight’s CO said, “Your flight leader was accused of being the same not very long ago.   As a matter of fact that is why Ranger Actual put us together.  Abara came across as arrogant then too.  They mistook my quiet nature for smug…Mostly, anyway.   Admittedly I was a little smugger back then.  They figured the two crazy pilots should fly together.  His senior thesis was on Celtic Lore which, along with his very impressive skin tone, lead to his callsign of the Ebony Druid.  The madman from New Berlin, Luna got sidled with the callsign of The Lunar Lunic or Lunartic for short.” 

Marcus tilted his head, “Guess it’s good that Jenna has your wing while Abeo’s on mine.  I know how to handle him after flying with him as long as I did on our last assignment so no worries from me on the matter.  He talks a big game but there is a method to his madness.  BUT, with that being said, that just leaves Knight 4.  What’re your thoughts on the illustrious Vulcan member of the Knights?”  

“Adequate.” She said simply.  “He is a highly proficient and by the book pilot, but he lacks the ability to understand and anticipate enemy actions, and compleatly predictable.  If it doesn’t fit neatly into a textbook he’s in trouble.”

To be continued…