Post #324 A Little Reconstruction
Posted on Thu Jul 23rd, 2026 @ 8:29pm by Commander Jordan Haines & Lieutenant Jude Haines & Lieutenant JG Rory McGregor & Lieutenant Commander Michael McMahon & Lieutenant Marty Stokes
1,404 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
A Leap of Faith
Location: XO's Office
Jordan sent out a missive for a meeting in his office in two hours. He knew Captain Pontmercy had said operations and engineering but he felt since the changes were for security and medical that both of the heada of each department should be invited as well.
He sat drinking his favorite coffee. Double caramel mocha with an extra shot. A lot of his friends claimed his sweet tooth would be the death of him but he just responded that at least he would die a happy man.
The truth was be had something to live for now...or rather someone. Jordan felt a smile cross his face as he thought of Charlotte. She sure knew how to keep him on his toes or rather the straight and narrow. There wasnt another person living that could do that.
His door chimed and he called out. "Come in!". Jude came in, it always amazed him how much he looked like Josiah. That was where the similarity ended. Jude was a good offixer, he played by the rules and was everything Jordan had once despised. "Grab yourself something to drink, your the first to arrive."
"Yes sir " Jude replied and grabbed a water, taking a seat where he would be central to the others.
Mike chimed on the door and stepped into Jordan's office, a travel mug of coffee in one hand.
"Commander," he greeted with an easy smile before noticing Jude already there. "Lieutenant."
He hadn't been given much beyond an invitation to attend the meeting, which was fairly typical. If Jordan wanted him there, there was a reason for it, and Mike trusted him enough not to pry beforehand.
Finding an open chair, he set his coffee down and took a seat.
"I hope I'm not the last one here," he said, glancing between the two men. "You were cryptic enough in the message that I've spent the last couple of hours trying to figure out whether this is going to be a routine planning meeting or the sort where I suddenly discover Operations has inherited three new responsibilities."
A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Actually, don't answer that. I'd rather keep the optimism for another minute or two."
Settling back in his chair, Mike folded his hands around his mug and waited for the rest of the attendees to arrive.
Jordan smiled widely. "You know me I like to be all cryptic and secretive. We are waiting for Marty and Rory to arrive."
Rory came into the office next, a mug in hand and too m a seat next to Jude. He looked to Commander Haines. "Reporting for our meeting, Sir." He wondered what was going on b I t figured he would find out soon enough. He nodded to Jude and Mike. His boss, Lieutenant Chambers was on the way, but sent him so the meeting would start on time.
“Sorry if I’m late, medical has been a nightmare lately,” Marty said as she juggled several padds while taking an empty seat.
"You are right on time "Jordan replied, waiting for her to take a seat. "I will get right to the point. Captain Pontmercy and I were discussing the empty decks and what to do with them. The captain would like to have a hospital on board and to do that we need to make sickbay bigger." He paused. "We would also like to give security more room for a training facility. Thoughts?"
“Medical could definitely use some more room,” Marty replied as she moved her hands over her data pads. “This is just the tip of the iceberg!”
Jordan smiled. "This is the planning stage so i want to know what you think you need for a hospital. Think big because as much as we hope to never go through this again, I want us prepared to be able to help a lot of people should the need arise." His eyes met Marty's. "You are the most qualified doctor I know."
“I appreciate the vote of confidence but I’m no architect, I might need a little input about how big you think big should be,” Marty said with a grin.
"I was thinking half a deck." Jordan replied seriously. "Unless you believe an entire deck is more suitable." He looked to Mike and Rory. "This will be a lot of work for your departments as well I want to ensure that you can work effortlessly together on this."
"Engineering has always cooperated with Operations." Rory spoke up. "I speak for my chief by saying no job is too big for us."
"I will need to know what systems will be down during this work." Jude spoke up. He looked to Marty. "And if you need assistance during the move, I can lend some bodies to aid in that."
Mike listened to everyone else speak before setting his coffee mug down on the table.
"From an Operations standpoint, I think the Captain and Commander are looking in the right direction."
He looked toward Marty first.
"If we're building a hospital, I'd rather build one that's larger than we think we'll ever need than discover we undersized it during the next crisis. We've all had enough reminders lately that planning for the average day isn't always enough."
His attention shifted to Rory.
"I appreciate Engineering's confidence. Operations will work alongside you to identify a deck that minimizes disruption to the rest of the station. We'll have to map out utility reroutes, traffic patterns, and emergency access before anyone starts pulling bulkheads apart."
Mike folded his hands together.
"I'd also recommend we approach this in phases. Keep existing medical facilities fully operational while the expansion is built, then transition services over in stages. That way we don't create a gap in medical coverage."
He glanced over at Jude.
"And I'd like Security involved from the beginning. Construction zones have a habit of becoming bottlenecks, and if we're moving equipment and personnel around the station, we'll need to keep emergency response routes clear."
Looking back to Jordan, Mike gave a small nod.
"As for size, half a deck sounds like a reasonable starting point for planning. If Medical comes back and says they can effectively use an entire deck, I'd rather have that conversation now than wish we'd left ourselves room to grow."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"The nice thing about having empty decks is that we have the luxury of thinking ahead instead of simply finding somewhere to squeeze another department in. I'd say we should take advantage of that."
"I agree." Jude murmured. "First of all, let's get medical out of the way, their need is greater than mine at the moment." He paused. "I think a blueprint drawn up and discussed with medical is the starting point and from there we can visual how much of a deck it will entail."
“I’m good with that,” Marty said with a nod. “I’d like to see what you have in mind.”
"Okay." Jordan spoke hp. "The plan will be for Operatoons and Engineering to come n up with a diagram for both medical and security. Once its been approved by the two departments we will implement work. Any questions?"
Mike nodded.
"That works for Operations."
He looked toward Marty.
"I'd like Medical involved from the start. We'll handle the deck layouts and operational requirements, but you're the expert on what the hospital needs."
Turning to Rory, he added, "We'll start pulling deck schematics and identifying possible locations. Once we have some options, we can sit down with Medical and refine the design."
Mike glanced back to Jordan.
"No questions from me. We'll get started right away."
“I’ll make sure I’m available,” Marty said with a nod.
"I concur." Rory spoke up. "I will fill the chief in and we will be ready immdiately."
"Security is ready as well." Jude spoke up. He was looking forward to a training facility.
"That's a wrap then." Jordan grinned. "You are all dismissed."
Jude got up and headed towards the door at the same time as Rory. They started talking about security and some things to make work flow seamlessly.
Commander Jordan Haines
First Officer
Starbase Obsidian
Lieutenant Marty Stokes
Chief Medical Officer
Starbase Obsidian
Lieutenant Jude Haines
Security Chief
Starbase Obsidian
Lieutenant JG Rory McGregor
Assistant Chief Engineer
Lieutenant Commander Mike McMahon
Chief Operations Officer
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