CO in Title, XO at Heart

Posted on Wed Jul 22nd, 2026 @ 2:50am by Captain Patricia Cooke & Lieutenant Alice Penrose

1,853 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship

Hi! What do you fancy? Would Patricia go and talk to Alice? Or maybe they cross paths somewhere? Or Alice could find Patricia?

So, I'm figuring with the away team off, Patricia's still relatively new to being the Captain, and she's still got a gut instinct that she should be the one leading away teams, so I'm think maybe this post should deal with Patricia grappling with some of those regrets. Thoughts?

Great idea...would Patricia actually find Alice to talk about that? Or if that's a step too far we can have them cross paths and the convo turn in that direction?

Sorry for the delayed response, I've been getting over being sick for the past two weeks. I think Patricia may call Alice to the ready room to have the conversation. Sound good?

Oh no! Hope you're feeling better! And yes, sounds good to me. You want to start with her calling her up then?

Sure, I'll go ahead and get things rolling!

::ON::

The Away Team had boarded the Hindenburg. Though it was proper procedure for the captain to remain behind, deep down, Patricia knew that some of that Sandusky XO was still within her, and remaining behind on the ship was driving that Sandusky XO up the bulkhead.

With nothing to do but wait for the away team to report their findings, Patricia decided that perhaps some further conversation was needed to determine why she was feeling the way she was.

"Cooke to Penrose." Patricia tapped her combadge. "Can I speak to you in my ready room please?"

"Of course, on my way, Captain," Alice assured over the comm, her tone calm and gentle. If she had been in the middle of something, it wasn't obvious. It only took a couple of minutes for the chime to sound in the room. Alice only moved inside once she heard the go ahead, wearing her uniform, her dark hair pinned in a simple, neat twist. "You wanted to see me, Captain?" she asked, the question clear in her voice.

"Yes, have a seat, Lieutenant." Patricia instructed, gesturing towards one of the open seats on the bench that lined the large windows of the ready room. Patricia had gotten up from the desk and already made herself comfortable on the bench. By not having this discussion at the desk, Patricia was hoping for things to be a bit more casual and less official.

"Thank you," Alice nodded gently as she made her way over, sitting herself down next to the captain, but making sure to leave enough room so she didn't feel crowded.

As Alice sat down, Patricia let out a long sigh, indicative that she was about to discuss something that was seriously bothering her.

"Lieutenant, there's loads of things I could go through with you on with how f**ked up this ship's career has been so far, but I'll boil it down to one for right now:" Patricia explained. "Tell you the truth, I've only been in command of the Missouri for a handful of months. Before this, I was First Officer on a ship called the Sandusky, not sure if you've heard of her."

Alice shook her head lightly, not one to pretend for the sake of politeness or not seeming ignorant. "Can't say that I have. Tell me about her," she invited, to give her space to continue down that train of thought.

"She's a Steamrunner class. A little bit more crew than here on Missouri." Patricia explained. "Still, we were fairly tight knit. Captain Annalee Carson... I owe that woman a lot: She reignited my passion for old school board games through our senior staff board game nights, introduced me to what Mardi Gras is all about, but perhaps most importantly, she gave me my shot to be in the right place at the right time when the Federation's next Missouri was to be commissioned. I mean, if I hadn't been where I was, and this ship was given to another Aika Tenku... Well, I don't like to think too much about that possibility."

"She sounds like more than just a Captain," Alice smiled gently at the story she painted, getting comfortable as she rested her shoulder against the side of the sofa, so she could face her fully. "More like a mentor. One of those people who spark inspiration."

"I suppose so." Patricia admitted. "She sorta let me have free reign as XO to run away missions the way I wanted them run... And I guess I got used to that level of control. I've been finding it hard since Commander Chance came along to let go of that control, and trust that my first officer knows what she's doing. I know protocol says that the Captain's place is on the bridge, but damnit, I feel like I should be doing more than just... Sitting around doing paperwork while my XO goes off and has all the fun!"

"And *do* you trust that she knows what she's doing?" Alice asked with her trademark gentle bluntness. There was no judgement in it either way though, she just wanted to get a baseline idea of whether her struggle was with the new XO, or purely letting go of that position herself.

"No, I don't." Patricia answered simply. "Maybe it's because the last XO left such a bad taste in my mouth, I'm not as quick to extend my trust the second time around..."

Alice nodded lightly, accepting the words easily without questioning them. What happened had clearly left a mark. "And...perhaps you miss it a little too?" she asked, having noted her comment about the XO having all the fun. "Being a Captain is an honour, but it's a very different role. It's always been strange...the better you are at your job, the higher you climb...but the higher you climb, the further away you get from doing the thing you first loved."

"Maybe you're right..." Patricia reluctantly admitted. "Still, there's got to be a way to strike a balance; a way that I can still see some action, but not all of it."

"The protocol is there to protect you," Alice felt compelled to remind her. It was the responsible thing to say, even if predictable. "To make sure we don't lose our Captain when we need them most. But..." she tilted her head, clearly considering the reality of the situation. "...It's a completely natural reaction you're having. You could bring it up with the First Officer. You've yet to get to know each other. It might be that conversation would help you feel more comfortable with trusting them with that responsibility. Equally, it might be you find a comfortable compromise, that there are certain mission types that you agree you should take the lead in. I know it doesn't help with the mission at hand, but it may help going forward."

"That's a good idea." Patricia remarked. Until now, she'd only had one real talk with her new XO since she came aboard, and that was about nearly turning her ship into a warp speed kamikaze. "But even still, if the protocol exists to protect me, perhaps I should get used to the idea that I may never see away missions like I did as XO of Sandusky again..."

"I think...even if you come to a compromise on missions you can lead...they won't be the same as that," Alice agreed quietly, nodding lightly at her coming to that conclusion for herself. "Things have moved on and changed...but you must have gained something by accepting this new position, or you wouldn't be here," she reasoned, wanting her to think about what she had now as a CO that she didn't have as an XO.

"Indeed I did." Patricia nodded. "I was in the right place at the right time to reclaim the family legacy. The Missouri name means a lot to my family, and the fact that Starfleet selected me, trusted me with commanding the Federation's next USS Missouri.... Well, that's an honor I'll carry with me for the rest of my life."

Alice gave a soft smile at the words, nodding at the observation. She could see how much it meant to her. "And that's priceless," she agreed gently, settling her hands in her lap. "The sense of legacy...for you...your ancestors...any descendants that may come...it's part of the tapestry of life, not just transitory moments. Not everyone will have that. You're part of something great."

"It just hasn't felt great since I've gotten here." Patricia sighed. "I mean, if you were to have told me at New Year's that in just a few months, I'd rotate through over a dozen different officers in all departments, including a change in XO, I probably would have called you crazy."

"But...your task is to make the ship the best it can be," Alice pointed out, motioning to her with a delicate hand. "Perhaps...seeing the ship through those changes is the necessary evil required for you to make that happen."

"So that this crew may be the best that it can possibly be?" Patricia surmised.

"Exactly," Alice nodded gently, a small smile pulling at her lips. Every captain was different. The conversation wasn't just helping Patricia unpick her thoughts and feelings, it was helping Alice get to grips with the kind of woman she was. "It's a perfect circle, feeding in to itself...if the ship is the best it can be...it helps the crew be the best they can be...which helps the ship be the best it can be....and on it goes."

Patricia hadn't stopped to consider that possibility. She had been too busy signing transfer order after transfer order to think that perhaps the crew she was authorizing to transfer off didn't have what it took. She certainly knew it made sense with Commander Izumi, but not any of the others.

"That's definitely a way of looking at things." Patricia conceded. "Sometimes you get so caught up in the admin side of it that you don't stop to consider whether these people were qualified to take chief positions to begin with, or if they were, if they can live up to your expectations of them."

"Everyone has a place," Alice replied with a small, half smile, truly believing that. She'd worked with all kinds of people across the fleet and never found someone without skill or talent in something. "It's just about finding the right place for the right person."

"Well, it certainly seems like the right place for all the people that have come and gone- the former First Officer included- has been anywhere but on the Missouri." Patricia sighed. "But it seems for once the most recent batch of people to walk through those doors." She motioned towards the ready room doors. "Yourself included- seem to be here to stay, and actually mean those words."

A Mission Post by

Captain Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer
USS Missouri

Lieutenant Alice Penrose
Chief Counselor
USS Missouri

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