Ride The Rising Tide (The Maxwell Saga) (27 page)

Commander Mars nodded at Steve, a smile spreading over her face. “Well done, Ensign. I’m pleased to see you’re making good use of your time in the Engineering Division.”

“Thank you, Ma’am,” he managed to say.

Ergal strode over and wrung his hand. “A personal ‘thank you’ from me, too, Ensign, plus a collective one from the rest of the Division. I was beginning to worry I’d lose what little remains of my hair over that damned shuttle pod!” Grinning, he turned back to the Commander, braced to attention, and hurried out.

The warm glow of satisfaction stayed with Steve for the rest of the afternoon.

~ ~ ~

Another one of his new responsibilities wasn’t going so smoothly. Two days later, he was Assistant Officer of the Deck to Lieutenant–Commander Kilian during the afternoon watch. After taking over the watch and making sure that all was in order, the Exec spent half an hour going through the entries in the ship’s log, annotating those he considered worthy of comment and discussing them with Steve as a training opportunity. At last he closed the file on his terminal and sat back.

“
How are your various responsibilities going, Ensign? I don’t want a formal report, just quick verbal feedback.”

Steve spent a few minutes discussing the ship’s small craft, the now–fully–functional Shuttle Pod Two, the state of Berthing Compartment Echo, for which he’d assumed responsibility, and his navigational work with Senior Lieutenant Ellis. “She’s going to have me calculate and execute the final hyper–jump on our approach to Midrash, Sir. She reckons every Navigating Officer has to ‘lose his virginity’, as she puts it, and this is how you do it.”

Kilian laughed. “She’s right. You’re arriving in the close proximity of a star that can swallow you and your ship if you haven’t calculated the jump correctly. That adds a whole new element of stress! Well, that takes care of three of your responsibilities, but you haven’t mentioned the commissary. How’s that going?”

“
I haven’t taken over yet, Sir. The stock–take and audit haven’t yet been completed.”

Kilian frowned, glanced around the OpCen at the other personnel on duty, and lowered his voice so as not to be overheard over the rush of forced–draft air conditioning, the hum of electronic consoles, and other conversations. “I assigned you that responsibility almost two weeks ago! Why didn’t you tell me about the delay before now? What’s causing it?”

Steve responded equally quietly. “I approached Senior Lieutenant Fulghum about it the very next day, Sir, but up–to–date information on which to base the handover wasn’t available at that time. PO O’Grady’s doing a stock–take, but when I last checked with him, two days ago, he said he hadn’t had time to complete it yet. Senior Chief Luculle assigned PO Jorgensson to assist him, but I haven’t spoken to him, Sir.”

“
And the audit of the shop’s finances?”

“
I presume Senior Lieutenant Fulghum is having that done, Sir.”

“
You ‘presume’? You don’t know for sure?”

“
Sir, I told him I couldn’t accept responsibility for the commissary without an up–to–date inventory and audit. He instructed me to tell PO O’Grady to begin the stock–take, and we agreed that we’d delay the audit until the pressures of preparing for departure were over. I haven’t heard anything from him since then, Sir.”

Kilian was visibly annoyed. “You should have kept after him about it. Ensign, when I assign a responsibility to one of my officers, even a minor one like the commissary, I don’t expect there to be any delay in assuming it — and I particularly don’t expect to find that out two weeks later! You should have informed me as soon as you became aware of the problem.”

“I’m sorry, Sir.”

“
All our departments are required by Regulations to maintain current, up–to–date inventories and accounts. I’m responsible to the Captain for making sure that the Regulations are observed. If the commissary didn’t have them immediately available, that’s a shortcoming I need to address right away. Did Senior Lieutenant Fulghum tell you why they weren’t available?”

Steve mentally crossed his fingers. He didn’t want to repeat Fulghum’s explanation, because he knew it wouldn’t go down well. “Er… not specifically, Sir.”

“Not specifically? What do you mean? What exactly did he say?”

Steve knew he could no longer evade the issue. “He said he’d never been able to give the commissary enough time and attention, because he’d had too many other important things to do, Sir.”

“He said
what?”

“
Er… that’s what he said, Sir.”

“
I see.” The Exec’s face wore a thunderous expression. “Let me make an educated guess here. He wanted you to take over the commissary without waiting for a stock–take and audit. Am I right?”

“
Er… I’d rather not say, Sir.”

Kilian looked at him very narrowly. “I think you’re trying to cover for him, Ensign. I appreciate this puts you on the spot, but you can’t take his lumps for him.”

He turned to the command console, picked up a comm unit, and dialed Fulghum’s code. “Lieutenant, this is the Exec. What’s your duty schedule today?… Very well. I want to see you in my office at sixteen–thirty to discuss the commissary handover. Kindly bring the latest information about the stock–take and audit with you… At sixteen–thirty, then.” He replaced the comm unit on the console.

“
This doesn’t excuse your failing to keep me informed, Ensign. Consider this a formal rebuke, albeit verbal rather than written. Remember, your superiors really,
really
don’t like unpleasant surprises! If you keep them informed at every stage, they’ll have early warning if things begin to go pear–shaped and be able to help you do something about them.

“
Remember, too, that a problem like this can get much worse, very quickly. For example, when we arrive at Midrash, what if a Sector audit team comes aboard to conduct an unannounced operational readiness inspection? It’s happened before, and will again. They look for any shortcomings they can find, no matter how minor, and this would be right up their alley. It would put a black mark on the ship’s record. That would earn Commander Mars a roasting from Captain Hutchinson. She’d give one to me in turn, and I’d pass it on down the chain of command, through Senior Lieutenant Fulghum and yourself, all the way to PO O’Grady. See how quickly a minor administrative issue can balloon into something much more nasty?”

Steve nodded, crestfallen. “I see, Sir. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“See to it that it doesn’t. I’ll have words with Senior Lieutenant Fulghum after we go off watch, and put a reaction thruster under the stock–take and audit. I want the handover completed by this time tomorrow!”

~ ~ ~

Steve asked to see Senior Chief Luculle the following morning, and found PO Jorgensson leaving her office as he arrived. The NCO looked tired and annoyed, and nodded briefly at Steve before walking down the passageway. Steve commented on this as he sat down in the Chief’s office.

“
He
is
annoyed, Sir, and he’s got a right to be.” Her voice was curt. “He agreed to help with the audit of the commissary store as a personal favor to me — it wasn’t his job. Despite that, he’s just been made to work all night on the audit, notwithstanding the fact he has to pull a normal shift today. He’s tired and angry, and quite frankly I don’t blame him a bit! I’ve just sent him to Sick Bay for a stim–tab, to give him enough energy to get through the day.” She didn’t say it, but Steve felt sure she’d be taking the matter further.

“
I’m very sorry to hear that, Senior Chief,” he said with real contrition. “I feel partly responsible, because I’m involved in this handover too. When it’s complete, he’ll have a hundred credits in his commissary account. He can use it any way he pleases. Should I tell him, or would it be better coming from you?”

She looked at him narrowly. “You’re not allowed to use commissary profits for that sort of thing, Sir.”

“I know, Senior Chief. I won’t use them. All he needs to know is that he’ll have a hundred credits in his account. It’s the most appropriate way I can think of to apologize for the trouble to which he’s been put.” He couldn’t tell her he’d pay the money out of his own pocket, because payment for favors or services rendered, while not specifically forbidden, was officially discouraged. However, he knew she’d understand.

She sat back, relaxing as she began to smile. “Then on his behalf, thanks very much, Sir. That’s a nice gesture, and I know he’ll appreciate it. It’ll go some way towards making up for last night. I’ll inform him.” She hesitated. “Strictly between you and I, the audit didn’t go well. I guess the Exec will tell you more, since you’re taking over the commissary. Now, you asked to see me. How can I help you, Sir?”

“I need some advice, please, Senior Chief. I had a discussion with the Exec yesterday. He was angry that I hadn’t told him about the commissary situation. He said, amongst other things, that superior officers don’t like unpleasant surprises, and it’s my job to keep them informed, so they have early warning of problems before they get out of hand.”

She nodded. “That’s true everywhere I’ve served, Sir.”

“Problem is, Senior Chief, in general terms, how do I know for sure whether a problem exists or not? I’m trying to delegate to the NCO’s in each of my areas of responsibility, as the Fleet wants us to do. I’m telling them what to do, but not how to do it, and trusting them to keep me informed. Quite frankly, I don’t have time to check on their reports, what with the number of things on my plate! However, if they don’t keep me informed, I won’t necessarily pick up on that from other sources — which means I won’t be able to keep the Exec accurately informed. How do I deal with that?”

“
I see your point, Sir.” She sighed. “I guess that’s been a problem throughout history. I daresay, back in the days of the old Roman Empire, centurions used to complain that decurions hadn’t kept them informed about the need to sharpen their legionaries’ swords.” They both laughed, and she pointed to the pot of coffee on a warming plate on her sideboard. “Pour yourself a cup, Sir. This is going to take a while.”

Steve took a disposable cup from the stack next to the pot, filled it, and added creamer and sweetener while the Senior Chief refreshed her own cup. As they sat down again, Luculle began, “You’re doing the right thing by telling your NCO’s what to do, not how to do it. If they’re trustworthy — and that should be your default assumption, Sir, unless or until they demonstrate otherwise — then delegate everyday supervision to them, and hold them accountable for it, just as the Exec holds you accountable. Yes, you’re responsible if they screw up, but the Fleet doesn’t normally promote habitual screw–ups to NCO rank in the first place! It’s been my experience that if you demonstrate trust in them, they’ll respond well to it. If they make a mistake, you can go into the detail of how to do something as part of corrective measures.”

Steve frowned. “But what if they
do
screw up? The problem will go up the chain of command, and come back down with a reaming for all of us.”

She shrugged. “That happens, Sir. It goes with the territory. You learn from every mistake, and try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I’m Chief of the Ship, and with my years of experience I should be able to keep abreast of all my responsibilities, but it occasionally happens to me too. If it’s handled professionally and impersonally, we can live with that. It’s the people who can’t handle it impersonally who have problems. They take an official rebuke as being some sort of personal attack on them. It shouldn’t be, and most times it isn’t — it’s just the way the system works. During your enlisted service, Sir, were you ever blamed or held responsible for something that wasn’t your fault or your responsibility?”

Steve grinned wryly. “Yes, I was.”

“
It’s going to happen to you as an officer, too, Sir. People are sometimes unreasonable. The proverbial brown substance does hit the rotary air impeller from time to time. All we can do is work through it and come out the other side.”

Luculle took a sip of her coffee, her face thoughtful. “Early in my career, I learned a rule that’s mentioned in military memoirs dating back to well before the Space Age. It’s very simple: ‘Never explain, never complain’. In practice, Sir, it means we let our actions speak for us rather than our words. If we get reamed out, fairly or unfairly, instead of trying to excuse ourselves or complain that we’re not being treated right, we turn around and demonstrate by our ongoing actions that we’re trustworthy and reliable. I’ve tried to stick to that. It’s worked for me.”

Steve sighed. “I guess so.”

“
I’ve got two suggestions for you, Sir. First, make sure your NCO’s know you won’t ream them out for being up–front with you about a problem, and make sure you adhere to that in practice. That way, they’ll be more willing to tell you about something before it gets out of control. Tell them you expect to be given early warning of anything going wrong, just as the Exec expects that from you. That way they’ll have no excuse for not keeping you informed.

“
Second, if something does go badly wrong and you get reamed out about it, try not to let that flow downhill in a negative way. I’ve seen too many people, officers and NCO’s alike, who get angry and frustrated when that happens. They pass emotions down the chain of command, instead of corrections. That’s not the way it should be, Sir. First, take a few moments to calm down. Next, figure out a way to correct your subordinates that tries to solve the problem and prevent it happening again, rather than beat up on them. If you do those two things, you’ll achieve far better results, and they’ll respect you for it. They’ll know you got chewed out — the grapevine always knows! The fact you didn’t let that flow downhill onto them will be counted in your favor, and they’ll work harder and more willingly for you because of it.”