Meet the New Boss

Posted on Wed Oct 7th, 2026 @ 10:03pm by Lieutenant JG Amelia Gordon & Lieutenant Muffy Harrington

1,513 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Mission 01 Shakedown Cruise
Location: Main Science Lab
Tags: Lt Muffy Harrington

[ON]

After leaving the Captain, Amelia headed straight to the science lab. She wondered how much of it would be the same. After all, she'd been the one to come up with it originally, but the new CSO might have made a lot of changes. Well, she would find out soon enough, wouldn't she. The lift opened and she stepped out, the feeling of being home felt even stronger as we walked down the corridor to the main lab entrance. She paused just outside, taking a moment to gather her thoughts and get herself ready to meet the woman who had taken her place, and who she now had to report to. She was a little jealous, but a lot more relieved that she wasn't the one with all those headaches now.

Stepping through the door she looked around at the room, the Chief Science Officer's office door was just to the side of the entryway and Amelia turned towards it, raising her hand to ring the chime to announce herself. Once the door opened, She stepped inside and got the first look at the CSO. It came as a bit of a surprise to see someone so young wearing the DH bars.

"Sorry for the interruption, Lt Harrington," She paused a moment, a friendly smile formed on her lips, "I am LJG Amelia Gordon, recently reassigned to the Churchill and ready to assist you in the Science Department."

Muffy smiled at the woman and invited her in. "Come in and let us talk. As assistant department head, you will have a few perks the others won't, but that comes with responsibilities as well." Muffy smiled at those in science and nodded to them and then closed the door to give them privacy.

"Please, call me Muffy when we are together. When I hear Lieutenant Harrington, I hear the Doctor Harrington like I was on Earth before I broke with family tradition. I think the first thing is you will have your own office, like mine with a private lab and sealed computer system, so you will be able to keep your personal research private until you are ready to share it. Tell me what you are thinking?"

Amelia smiled, "Honestly Muffy, I was a little worried that you might be upset I was here. And it's Amelia." She sort of had to laugh as she had been the one to suggest the private labs for the chief and assistant even before the ship was christened. That seemed lie ages ago, and Muffy seemed like a very friendly person. "I am aware of what it will take as your assistant, Ma'am. "

Amelia took the offered seat, "Of course any work from you or assigned by the captain will have utmost priority. There may still be a few of my old experiments laying in wait for me
on the computers." She sat back in her seat, "It's good to be back in uniform and on the Churchill."

Muffy laughed. "Please, when we are alone, call me Muffy. That Ma'am stuff bothers me between equals. And for the record, Amelia, I can't possible answer all the questions the universe poses, so I really need someone with a sense of adventure who wants to help me find those answers."

Muffy went to the small refrigerator until and took out a bowl of salsa and a bag of chips from a cupboard. "The Salsa is homemade, please, help yourself." Muffy said and scooped out some salsa on a chip and popped it into her mouth. When she finished her bite, she got serious and looked more like the stuffy librarian type. "One of these days, I'll take you to the farm, so you can see it for yourself. Sorry, no key, but if you want to go back, then I or Doctor Toulaine can take you. Each key had to be registered with Starfleet sciences so they know who all can activate the private wormhole."

Amelia helped herself to a taste of the salsa on a chip and hummed her approval. "MMmmm, that is good," She was a bit confused by the talk of a key and a portal, but let it slide, "Speaking of the doctor, I need to go see her next. And I need to unpack." She paused a beat, "Which brings me to the next question, do you allow us to have personal items in our work areas? I know some people frown on it, so I wanted to check first."

"Of course I allow personal time while at work. I also like everyone to pick one soft science to go with the harder sciences. So I sew and cook and take care of the farm and preserve the food grown there. That will give you something relaxing to do after hours of staring at star maps or geology or chemistry or whatever. Find your passion and follow it, it makes a dry subject more palatable." Muffy said and handed Amelia a jar of the salsa. "Enjoy. I'll even give you the recipe if you want it."

Nodding to the CSO, "I'll make sure I find my other passion. I'll have to think about the soft sciences though. It's definitely a good way to keep one's interests in all areas they enjoy." Amelia accepted the jar of salsa, thinking that she was going to have to make sure not to eat it all in one sitting, it was that good. "Thank you, Muffy. Now, did you want me to start immediately, or tomorrow, or what?"


Muffy thought about it for a moment. "I think that today is a good day to settle your quarters and get your physical. Then you can come in and fix up your office and lab as you will be most comfortable. As for starting date, I would say when you have everything set up as you wish, then you start. I do have one question for you though, how much bridge time do you want? I know some don't like any and some want all they can get. I do my best to keep that station manned at all times and set up a schedule for it."

Amelia had always liked being on the bridge, but she loved being in the labs, so it was a tough choice sometimes. "Honestly, I won't turn it down. Sometimes it's rather exciting," She said with a small smile, "however, if there are other officers who are really wanting bridge time, I have no problem waiting longer."


"Some had asked for it until I changed up the more hands on sciences rather than the stand back and wait for it to happen, more of them said that working in the labs is much preferrable. So I will make up a floating rotation of bridge duty, along with away team duties. That way, just one or two people are not constantly in use and the rest feel like they are redundant and not needed. Thank you, for your candor, Amelia. I have the feeling that we are going to be great friends as well as co-leaders in Science." Muffy said with a smile. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Amelia shook her head, "I don't think so as far as my duties are involved." She smiled and held up the gifted jar of Salsa, "I will attempt not to devour this in one sitting." She chuckled slightly, "and as you mentioned, I do need to see the CMO."

Muffy smiled at Amelia and turned to a drawer in her desk and opened it and thumbed through the files there and then pulled out one and glanced at it and handed it to Amelia. "The recipe to make your own salsa should you run out too soon. And as for Doctor Toulaine, if she is in her grumpy mood, just smile and take what she says with a grain of salt. She really, truly is an outstanding Doctor. I mean think about it, there are thousands of medical officers in Starfleet and she was chosen to be the chief on this ship, so I would say that anyone who is a department head or assistant department head is outstanding and a cut above the rest. If she's in a good mood, she likes sweets, but she won't tell you that and homemade are the best for her." Muffy finished conspiratorially.

Gordon chuckled, "Thank you, for both the recipe and the advice about the good doctor." She stood from her seat and nodded to Muffy, "If there is nothing else, I should get to the doctor and then unpack."


With a nod, Muffy waved to Amelia, dismissing her, and turning to one of her current projects. She looked forward to getting to know Amelia and see if she fit in with her family by choice, but only time would tell.

Amelia gave the woman a quick nod before turning and heading out to visit Dr Toulaine.

[OFF]

Lt Muffy Harrington
Chief of Science

and

Lt JG Amelia Gordon
Asst Chief of Science

 

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