Personally Involved (Part 2)

Month 6 Day 31

0145 Hours

Capt Burke

Previously:

Jane stood up. “Stay quiet. I’ll go get her. And don’t fall asleep, or I’ll personally approve her promotion.” He didn’t answer, so she assumed he was following instructions to be quiet. She walked to the door to the bridge, which opened for her.

Jane stopped, surprised to see 2 men standing behind MacDowell at the communications console. The men were talking and laughing, while the redhead worked. “Lt Evans,” Jane greeted as she moved forward. “If communications has a problem, I would expect Lt Adams to handle it without your supervision.”

Red-faced, Evans turned, muttered, “Yes, captain,” and headed for the helm.

That left Adams slack-jawed and looking guilty. “What problem with communications have you been called up to solve, Mr Adams?”

“Ahh. Mac- Lt MacDowell hasn’t told me yet,” he stated.

“Lt MacDowell?” Jane asked.

The girl looked around and was surprised to see Jane on the bridge when she should have been in bed. “Captain, is there a problem?” She pulled a small speaker from the ear closest to the captain.

The speaker is traditionally worn in the other ear, although every person assigned here has a pair of them. She could be wearing both, which would indicate she didn’t care to listen to the 2 men standing behind her. “I assume Lt Adams is here to solve a problem with the communications equipment that you could not fix.”

MacDowell made a short, rude noise. “Communications is working perfectly, captain. I’ve been listening to Yukosk radio stations, learning more of their language.”

Most would just let the translator do the work at this point. And since these people speak and hear at a frequency we can’t speak or hear, that makes sense. But MacDowell still wants to study their language. “There isn’t any problem with communications, Mr Adams.”

“Ahhhh...” He obviously does not have any acceptable reason to be here.

“Still, it’s good that you’re here. Adams, relieve MacDowell at communications. I need to see her in my office.”

“Me?” Adams asked in disbelief. “At communications?”

Jane gave the engineer a cool stare. “You have been cross-trained on the equipment, right?”

“Yes, captain, but... it’s been a while.”

“Try to remember how it’s done,” she instructed. “Come along, MacDowell.” Assuming the girl would follow, Jane walked back to her office and paused next to her desk for a slurp of coffee. Good, I can't see Smitty. I don't hear any snores, so I hope that means he's still awake. She turned and smiled at the redhead. “Would you like some coffee? I just made it.”

MacDowell stood in front of the closed door, looking uncertain, and slowly removed the speaker from her other ear. “No, thank you, captain. I never acquired a taste for it.” She took a step forward. “Have I... done something wrong?”

“Not that I know of,” Jane replied. “But you did ask me something this morning... I mean, yesterday, since it’s past midnight. And I finally have an answer for you. Go ahead, sit down. We might as well be comfortable.” Jane sat, and the girl followed her example.

“I- I’m sorry, Captain. I had a... an upsetting evening before I came on duty, and I don’t remember what I asked.”

What did Bugalu do? Not my business. Unless she lodges a complaint. “You wanted to take your test tomorrow. I mean, today. So I’ve decided to give it to you. If you’re ready, we can do it now.”

The redhead gave a lop-sided smile. “A pop quiz? Why not? Lots of people have quizzed me, trying to figure out how I can be so stupid that I haven’t passed yet.”

“I don’t think you’re stupid,” Jane stated as she turned on her computer screen and called up the test.

“Thank you, captain, but-“

“Banish thoughts like that,” Jane instructed. “They are not your friends. Such thoughts erode your confidence, which makes you second-guess what you’re about to say. And that becomes a self-defeating cycle.”

“Bugs... Uh, Bugalu told me something similar a few days ago.”

“Good. I hope you listened. Let’s get started, shall we?” She read the first question. MacDowell’s answer started almost before Jane finished reading. The answer hit all the marks the computer expected, and the redhead added extra details. Sure hope Smitty’s awake and hearing this. Jane read the next question, and again MacDowell’s answer had more details than the computer expected. Several more questions were answered in similar fashion. If Smitty gave extra credit, she’d have more than 100% correct on each question. Jane covered a yawn and looked up when the girl stopped speaking in mid-sentence.

“Sorry, captain.” MacDowell’s cheeks were pink. “I’ve been answering as if Kolla were asking these things. I mean, we all learned the same technology, but she didn’t. I go into far more detail when I explain something to her. It’s kind of like talking to Takor, except I seldom talk technology with him anymore. The Sciss family dynamics, society, religion... those are all so different from human versions. Even after 6 months, I feel I’ve just scratched the surface of learning about them. Anyway, I’ll try to stick to the details the computer looks for, and we’ll get done faster.”

A deep voice came from the darkness around the corner. “No need. I’ve heard enough.”

MacDowell stiffened, her face white. Her eyes looked past Jane and when those eyes grew large, Jane knew Smitty had emerged from the darkness. “Smit!” MacDowell was so shocked, there was hardly any sound to her utterance.

Jane whirled her chair around, saw Smitty refilling his mug. “What did I tell you would happen if you didn’t stay quiet?”

“You don’t have to personally approve her promotion. She’s passed probation.”

The girl jumped to her feet, her face almost matching her hair and uniform. “I told you no!” she hissed at the chief engineer.

“You can’t tell me no now, Colleen. You’ve got the captain involved in this.”

“The captain is not- Wait.” The redhead looked at Jane. “You were ready to approve my promotion? Why?”

“Because you have skill, knowledge and talent. It isn’t fair to hold you back just because there’s one man on this ship you can’t talk to.”

“But he’s the one that matters! He’s the one I have to impress!”

“Impress?” Smitty repeated. “Who said you have to impress me?”

The girl flushed, but Jane wasn’t sure if that meant uncertainty or embarrassment.

Next Time:

MacDowell lowered her face to stare at the floor. “Capt Nash of the Bartholomew. When he heard the assignment I wanted, he gave me a sour grin and said he’d sign the paperwork, but it wouldn’t matter, because once I failed to impress Mr Smythe, I’d be sent back to a tug.”