A Foot In The Door

Posted on Thu Jan 30th, 2025 @ 7:25am by Captain Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Akira Kogami

942 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: I-402

Patricia was in her ready room. Her fourth rank pip gleamed on her chest. She had read the note from Admiral Soryuu when she had returned to the ship. The letter had strongly recommended that Patricia appoint a Second Officer before departing, on the off chance that both she and Tsukasa were incapacitated during the upcoming battle, and Patricia knew there was only one person she would trust with the job: Once she heard from Security that Akira had been discharged from Sickbay, she knew what she had to do next:

=A="Cooke to Kogami:"=A= Patricia tapped her combadge. =A="Report to my ready room at once."=A=

=Aye, Captain,= came the (somewhat tired-sounding) response. =I'll be there in just a few minutes.=

As Patricia waited, she once again touched her four pips. It still felt odd to have the extra one there: She was just starting to get used to three...

It was at that point that the door chime to her ready room sounded, alerting her to Akira's arrival.

Patricia rose to her feet.

"Enter:" She called out.

The doors to the ready room snapped open and in stepped Lieutenant Kogami, evidently a bit groggy after being treated for her mild concussion, but nothing she couldn't recover from.

"Comman..." she began, before immediately trailing off when she observed the fourth pip on Patty's collar.

"...I guess Captain?" she quickly corrected herself. "Huh; did that happen while I was out?"

"Admiral Soryuu granted me a field promotion." Patricia explained. "If the Missouri is going to be the lead ship for the expedition to Planetoid Lazzaro, Starfleet Command thought it best that I be of rank equal to the other captains that will be joining us."

"Your Grandmother would be mighty damn proud of you, Patty," Akira remarked with a smile. "But that being said, I can't imagine you invited me up here just to flex?"

"Indeed not." Patricia said. "Have a seat, Lieutenant."

Akira nodded and drew up a chair.

"As you've correctly guessed, the field promotion isn't the only thing Admiral Soryuu mentioned in her letter:" Patricia explained. "You see, ever since I took command of this ship, it has been just me and Commander Izumi in command of this ship. No offense was intended to Commander Izumi, but Admiral Soryuu believes we don't make the most cohesive unit, and has suggested that a second officer be brought onto the Command Team to ease the burden on us."

Patricia folded her fingers together.

"I know you've been looking to get a foot in the door with Starfleet Command for a while now, and I wanted to approach you first about the opportunity." She said. "As Second Officer, you will be third in line of command should myself and Commander Izumi both be incapacitated. The position would also include additional bridge and command duties on top of your existing duties as Chief of Security. If you're ready to take the next step in your Starfleet career, the position is yours."

Akira's widened. "You're... promoting me, Patty?" she squawked, just to make sure she was hearing things correctly.

"I understand if you're not ready." Patricia said. "There are other officers on this ship looking for their foot in the door as well. I'm sure I won't have trouble getting a yes out of someone else..."

The longing in Akira's eyes spoke about how badly she wanted this, which seemed to hint at the fact that Patty was definitely onto something here. But at the same time, there was a certain... sadness underlying it all, as if Akira knew on a subjective level that this wasn't the best choice.

She leaned back and drew a deep breath. "Patty, with all due respect- and don't take this personally, because in any other situation, I would kill for an opportunity like this; but after everything that's happened... I'm not one too sure I deserve this; I've been nothing but dead weight this entire posting, and I'd only hold you back-!"

"Akira..." Patricia used Akira's first name. "I'm well aware of your performance record, and if I'm being completely honest, I'm running out of ideas to get you back in the game."

Patricia sighed heavily. Clearly this was not going the way she had hoped. Akira was proving a tough fish to take the bait.

"I want you here, Kogami." She said. "But I also want what's best for my ship. And if the latter comes into conflict with the former, then I must choose my duty to this ship over our friendship. And if that involves getting you the help you need that we are unable to provide, then so be it."

A long silence followed, and for a moment Patty was worried that Akira was going to hand in her resignation then and there- which was honestly the last thing that she needed when so many other officers had been rotated out in such a short span of time.

"Well, I suppose it can't be helped," Akira sighed. "You're needing a 2XO, and if you think I'm the right one for the job, then duty takes precedent in this matter..."

Her eyes flared with newfound determination. "Sign me up, Patty."

A smile grew on Patricia's face. Whatever she did, she had struck the right chords:

"I knew you'd come around:" She said, extending an enthusiastic hand. "Welcome to the team, Kogami!"

Posting by

Captain Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Akira Kogami
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
Second Officer

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