Chiefly Among Them

Posted on Sat Nov 22nd, 2025 @ 5:38pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Vashti Rao & Captain Remy Johansen

1,980 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Peril at the Unification Accords
Location: Main Engineering, USS Astrea
Timeline: MD 03, 1515 Hours

Captain Johansen walked onto the Main Engineering deck for the first time since Nash's departure. It felt strange without him here. She'd been friends with the family for a long time - since before Alexandra was born. His office was empty, but he hadn't left her without recommendations moving forward, and as she'd dug into one young enlisted officer's history, including leadership among the crew, not just here, but in previous assignments, dating back to her time in the Academy, Remy couldn't help if she might be fit to do more than just engineering.

Remy approached an officer who appeared to be preparing to take a panel off an access point near the computer core.

"Excuse me, officer. Do you know where I can find Chief Petty Officer Rao?" Remy asked.

The officer looked up from the half-open panel, a small plasma spanner balanced in his hand. From here, the warp core pulsed and hummed in their ears.

"Chief Rao, ma'am?" he said, straightening a little. He knew it wasn't often Captain Johansen found herself in Main Engineering. "She's on the upper catwalk realigning the deuterium flow regulators, I think."

He gave Remy a faint smile and nodded respectfully.

"Thank you. As you were," Remy replied as she gave the officer a curt nod before turning on her heels and jogging up the metal stairs to the catwalk.

Vashti stood half-crouched before the open housing, the superconductor magnet in her hand. She held it close to the interface--so close the field shimmered, a slight teal haze that trembled around the conduit--then drew it back again, biting her lip as the readings shifted by fractions of a unit.

"Come on," she muttered. "Don't make me babysit you all day."

Her hair, tied back with a black cord, had come loose at the temples, strands clinging to her cheek as the coolant vents purred beneath the catwalk. The sound of the warp core was, as always, patient and steady. Her own patience was not.

"Rixi!" she called down. "Reinitialize the deuterium flow and tell me if it's still throwing the imbalance!"

A muffled acknowledgment echoed back from the deck. Vashti remained poised, the magnet still humming in her grip, her eyes locked on the fluctuating readout.

The Captain slowed her steps as she reached the upper level and made her way toward the regulators, looking for the features she'd tried to memorize from the engineer's personnel file. Noticing a dark-haired, lithe female ahead the Captain tentatively called out.

"Chief Rao?"

Vashti turned, and there was Captain Johansen standing a pace away. She blinked, straightened, and instinctively powered down the magnet. "Captain--sir--sorry, I didn't hear you."

"I left my bells back in the Ready Room, I wouldn't have expected you to," Remy quipped giving the younger crewman a cheeky grin. "How are things running down here, now that Commander Winters has left?"

Vashti gave a small, weary smile--the kind that flickered and vanished before it could take root. She brushed a strand of hair from her cheek with the back of her wrist, setting the magnet on a nearby tool tray.

"They've been big shoes to fill," she admitted, meeting Remy's eyes. "But the team's been solid. Between myself, Tenzi, Aguila and the rest of the team, they've all stepped up. We're keeping the systems balanced and the lights on."

She glanced toward the core, its slow, luminous heartbeat rising through the catwalk's transparent deck plating. "We've got a good handle on things, ma'am."

Remy clocked the names that Rao mentioned, recognizing Tenzi's from a briefing recently. But more important to the Captain was how quickly that Rao was to give teammates credit.

"I was hoping to catch a moment of your time if you aren't too busy?" Remy asked. "Commander Winters spoke highly of you," Remy added, conscientious that she could be making the junior officer nervous with her request.

"Of course, Captain," she said, a small lilt in her voice that denoted curiosity. "Just give me one second."

She crouched again, reached into the housing, and twisted a safety latch into place with precision. The display flickered yellow, then green--finally--and she exhaled, the tension in her shoulders loosening somewhat.

Leaning over the catwalk railing, she called down to the engineers below. "Rixi, lock down the regulators and log the new parameters. If it jumps again, have Ensign Scout check the cross exchange from the tritium reserve--make sure the admixture doesn't exceed point-five percent."

Turning back to Remy, she offered a slight smile. "What can I do for you, ma'am?"

"Can we talk in the Chief's office?" Remy asked. She hadn't gotten out of the habit of asking questions, even when she knew her suboridinates were more likely than not going to perceive them as orders.

Vashti nodded and replied, "Of course, Captain. This way."

She led Remy along the catwalk and then down the floating stairs and around the warp core. The door to the Chief Engineer's office hissed itself open on their approach, releasing a slight draft of air that seemed somewhere cooler.

The room was as bare as a supply locker--no personal touches, no clutter, no sound. The console blinked patiently in standby mode, and in the far corner sat a single potted coleus, its leaves deep maroon edged with lime green and bent toward a small vitamin lamp.

Vashti stepped inside first, wondering what was going on. Captain Johansen had never sought her out in the year she'd been aboard. In fact, up until today, she doubted Remy even knew her name.

"No one's really been in here since Commander Winters left," she said, moving to the desk. "I come by now and then to update the duty roster--or water the plant."

She gave the coleus a sad glance and then turned back to Remy. "Didn't seem right to let it die, you know?"

"It looks great. I've never really had much of a green thumb," Remy admitted. "It's why I stayed away from Botany. Though maybe I might have learned something."

Remy took a seat in one of the guest chairs. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable. I came to see how things are going down here. It seems like the crew responds well to you," Remy commented, offering the statement as more of a question. "You clearly seem to be one of the leaders in the engineering department."

Vashti hesitated for a moment, standing before the desk like someone caught between duty and disbelief. Then she eased into the chair opposite the Captain, hands resting lightly on her knees.

"I don't know about leader, ma'am," she said, her tone honest and careful. "I'm just organized. When you're roommates with Zal Rixi, you can't afford not to be."

She chuckled quietly and looked up at Remy, a more serious expression taking hold. "We've got a good crew down here, Captain. They're sharp and they care. Sometimes it just takes someone willing to listen when something's off, or when someone's had a bad shift."

"That good insight to have." Remy looked at the young officer, clearly seeing why Nash had made a point to put the young officer on the Captain's radar. "Not everyone gets that. And it applies to a lot of areas in life."

"Maybe so," Vashti responded, looking down at her hands. "What would you like to discuss, Captain?"

"An Acting Chief position, down here in Engineering. For you," Remy delivered her response with measured professionalism, her energy focused on reading the chief petty officer's reaction.

"Commander Winters gave me a list of names, and yours was at the top of his list."

Vashti blinked a couple of times--unsure she'd heard her right. The words echoed in her ears for a few moments longer.

"Nijavada?!--Me?" she asked, a little incredulous. She took a deep breath and straightened her posture--not from pride, but simply reflex--as though bracing for the turbulence of an ion storm. "I--thank you, Captain. I just didn't think..." She trailed off, pressing her palms against her knees, not at all prepared for what Remy was suggesting.

"You didn't think what?" Remy asked patiently, an almost motherly look crossing the Captain's face as she urged the younger officer to talk.

"I didn't think anyone noticed," Vashti said, the words coming out miniscule and unwashed. She gave a short, nervous laugh and shook her head. "I mean, I just... keep things running. Fill in gaps. Make sure the duty roster is completed and everyone is content. That's all, ma'am."

She looked down, fiddling with her thumbnail. "I'm not an officer--not that that's important to me--I just think it might be strange to give orders to an officer."

"It appeared to me in just a few short minutes out there that they already listen to you," Remy replied.

Vashti smiled at the Captain. She hadn't noticed Remy's piercing green eyes before, but now they were on full display--and looking right at her. She felt like telling her about growing up in Karnataka State with multiple younger siblings and her parents always requiring an extra set of hands whether it be for meals, washing-up, or minding the younger kids. Perhaps what came naturally to her would be an asset in keeping the Engineering department running smoothly for now.

"I suppose you're right," Vashti said, her smile slowly fading. "Sometimes a job just needs to be done, regardless of rank or position."

"So, it's something you're interested in?" Remy asked. "You could see yourself enjoying the position?"

Vashti couldn't help but grin and found herself feeling momentarily relaxed in front of the Astrea's captain.

"Hell, yes... ma'am."

Remy gave a firm nod to Vashti. "I'll take that spirit. Congratulations. I'll have Commander Spello draft orders for you by the end of the day," Remy replied.

"There is something else that I would like for you to consider, if it wouldn't be too much on your plate," the Captain added.

Vashti nodded earnestly, fixing Remy with an intent look. "Absolutely," she said.

"I'd like to get you enrolled in the Starfleet Enlisted Command Qualification Program," Remy stated. "You'd take it from here, in our Academy extension campus on Deck 11. There's a new session starting in nine days, and there's space for you if you're interested."

Vashti's eyes lit up like an overcharged power conduit while the corners of her mouth resolved into a bridled but exuberant smile. "Command program, ma'am?" She lowered her eyes to her knees for a moment and shook her head in disbelief. "I had never considered command, being an enlisted officer, but I have to admit--if you have such faith in me..."

"It's settled then. We'll get you enrolled when we get your new orders drafted," Remy stated. "Do you need anything from me before I let you get back to work?"

"Not at the moment, Captain. I think--"

The comm opened.

[Fuchs to Rao.]

Vashti tapped her combadge. "Rao here. Go ahead, crewman."

[We've got an issue with the antimatter injectors.]

"Sounds like you are needed out there, Chief," Remy stated with a smile as she stood up. The Captain extended a hand to Vashti. "Congratulations."

Vashti found herself rising in unison with Captain Johansen and took the proffered hand, shaking firmly. "Thank you, ma'am," she said softly. With a note of solemnity, she added, "I won't let you down."

[Chief? Are you there?"]

She grinned at Remy and rolled her eyes. "There's never a dull moment down here."

Tapping her combadge, Vashti replied, "On my way, crewman."

---

Captain Remira Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea


Master Chief Petty Officer Vashti Rao
Assistant Chief Engineer
USS Astrea

 

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