Doling Out Assignments

Month 10 Day 26

0906 Hours

Smythe

When Smitty had things figured out, he got up to open his office door, barked, “Harris!”

The blonde was studying a readout across the room and jumped in surprise. “Sir!”

“In here!” He left the door open as he went back to his desk.

She soon arrived. “Yes, sir?”

“Close the door and take a seat,” he instructed, and studied the list on his computer screen as she did so. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything. I don’t want to leave anything in doubt. He glanced up and saw Harris waiting nervously. “I have a special project for you. You can tell people that you’re working something for me, but you can’t breathe a word about the project to anyone. Understood?”

Harris blinked. “Not even with my roommate?”

Roommate. Oh, blast, she’s Colleen’s roommate. “Especially not your roommate!” He pulled his temper back from the edge of panic. “If you can’t do that, tell me now, and I’ll find someone else. You two work opposing shifts, so it shouldn’t be difficult to avoid telling her anything. And your... efforts during the flu epidemic indicate I’ve underestimated you. This is a chance to see what you can do.”

Harris swallowed, then straightened her shoulders. “Well, we each sleep while the other’s on duty, so that leaves us both awake and free in the evenings. But I don’t have to remain in my quarters with her.”

Stay in her quarters? What’s she talking about? Oh. I guess it’s not common knowledge. “For the record, Co-MacDowell’s discipline has been cancelled. It turns out Wilson made the mistletoe units, based on a question I asked her months ago.”

Harris sighed in relief. “Good. I don’t normally spend much time in our quarters, and if she’s not confined, she usually has her own things to do.”

Right, like Bugalu, MacGregor and now Tall Bear. He drug his mind away from those thoughts. “I’m having Lt Oakhurst pull some data from the computer. Some of it will come to you. I’ll have to find you a place to work. Somewhere private.”

“What kind of data, and what am I supposed to do with it?”

“There’ll be a year’s worth of data.” Her eyes rounded, and he hurried on. “Don’t let that overwhelm you. You’ll only be looking at 6 people. No, 8. Only 8 people. I want you to study how well each of these people respond to the normal needs of their shift assignment. If something requires their attention, how long does it take them to respond?” He made a note on his screen. “See if you can tell if they are actually at their post. Or how much of their shift they are not at their post. Maybe Oakhurst has an idea how to get that information.”

“I have to do this for 8 different people?”

“Yes. In the end, I want to be able to compare the performances of each person to all the other people in that position but on another shift.”

“Is there some--”

The doorbell buzzed. Smitty switched his computer screen to an outside view and saw that Lt Oakhurst stood outside. “Open door,” he instructed. “Come in, Oakhurst.” He was a bit surprised to see the younger man was not in uniform. “I didn’t realize you weren’t on duty. You should have said so, and we could have done this at a more convenient time for you.”

The computer specialist shrugged. “It sounded important. I don’t mind attending a meeting off duty.”

“Well, I’m about to load you up with work, so maybe you should mind. First, none of this is to be discussed with anybody and nowhere but in this office. Not with your girl friend, your roommate, nobody. Are we clear on that?”

“Perfectly.”

“Good. Now, the first thing, and I’d like this done before midnight tonight. We want to audio record the bridge during A shift, without any telltale signs that could alert the communications officer or anybody else. Can you do that?”

“Yes. Does this mean Mac has finally filed charges against... someone?” Harris leaned forward in anticipation.

Does everybody know what she’s been going through? That makes me a poor excuse for a supervisor. “Even in this office, we won’t discuss why we want these things done.”

Oakhurst gave a curt nod; Harris barely squeaked, “Okay.”

“And then we need some raw data pulled out... or maybe you have a report you can run for the information. How long it takes for a position to respond to something that needs their attention. I say a position because we want it for all 4 shifts. Also, I’d really like to know if these positions are staying at their post during their shift, or if they’re wandering away and leaving others to do their job. Can you do all that?”

“I do have a report for a performance evaluation. I usually only run it for a single shift, but running it 4 times isn’t difficult. I can do the last item as long as they’re in uniform.”

What’s a uniform got to do with it? “Oh, their rank pins.”

“Exactly. Originally intended as a means to identify a body too badly damaged to identify visually, but nobody remembers that the computer keeps track of those pins as long as it’s aboard the ship.”

Harris visibly shivered. “Glad I change into civvies before I go on a date,” she stated softly.

“Even the senior officers seem to have forgotten that use,” Oakhurst stated. “Once I start gathering this information, I assume I send it to you, Mr Smythe?”

“No, send it to Harris. She’ll make it useable for me. That’s why she’s here.”

“She’ll need a place to work,” Oakhurst pointed out.

“Yes, I haven’t decided where. Maybe a briefing room, if she locks the door while she’s in there.”

“She can use my office,” the young man suggested. “I use the office of the shift I’m working.”

“Excellent. Thank you for the suggestion.” He stood up, happy that everything had been settled. “How soon can you have some data for Harris to work with?”

“Umm, you haven’t told me what position you want studied or how far back to go.”

Smitty felt his face go pink. “I’ve been thinking about it so much, I thought I had. We’ll need to go back at least a year. Let’s start with a year. And there’s 2 positions; shift lead engineer and shift helmsman.”

“Mac is pressing charges!” Harris surmised.

Oakhurst shook his head. “He doesn’t want the her to realize the bridge is being recorded.” He faced Smitty. “You realize that if she does get an inkling that’s happening, and she doesn’t approve, she’ll try to hack my hack. And she just might be good enough to do it. Eventually.”

Smitty stood motionless for a moment, stunned by the idea that his senior computer specialist thought his most junior communications officer was that good with computers. Perhaps Harris isn’t the only one I’ve underestimated? Or Colleen has pulled the wool over Oakhurst’s eyes. “Exactly why none of this will be mentioned outside this office.” He turned a stern gaze on Harris. “Especially not to roommates!”

Harris raised her chin little. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

“Well, to answer your question, Mr Smythe, it won’t be a year’s worth of information, but I can have the first 6 months’ report on one person ready for Harris in about half an hour. I’ll start it up before I leave. I’ll follow that with the rest of those reports, 6 months at a time, but only for 1 person at a time. That’s the way the report is set up, and it’s easier to run it 16 times - to cover a full year - rather than rewrite it. The location report will take a day or two to write a mini-program to pull that information. Of course, if you’re in a hurry, I can put on a uniform and get started right away.”

“No. We have to get a couple weeks’ worth of audio recordings. At least. And keep them where no one else can find them.”

“Okay. I’ll go start the first report and set up the recording. Harris, I’ll come back to get you settled at my desk, see that you can read the report. Is there anything else, Mr Smythe?”

“No. Nothing right now, anyway.” Maybe we’ll think of something else, once we start seeing what the data tells us. “Thank you for... giving up your time off, Oakhurst.”

“My choice. I’ll go get started.”

“Yes.” After the younger man had left, Smitty regarded the blond engineer who still sat facing him. “Shouldn’t you get back to work?” he suggested.

“Of course,” she agreed and stood up. “The trouble is, you startled me, and... I don’t remember what I was doing.”

That’s the Harris I dealt with before the flu epidemic. “The crystal readout display,” he stated.

“Oh! Yes! That was it! Thank you, Mr Smythe!” She hurried out of his office.

Smitty saved his file, logged off his computer and considered the screens that showed him various angles of engineering. Now what? Get out of uniform and enjoy my day off, Jane said. Easy for her to say, she doesn’t take days off. Hardly ever. Well, maybe I can practice my pool. Or that Attakke game.