After going to warp heading to Pyrithia, Traan handed off the controls to Kip and headed to the rear cabin, he grabbed a quick snack from the replicator and then grabbed a padd and layed down on his bunk.

The mission should take about a week in total, if everything went well. Then Traan would have to continue settling in to his new role as Head of Repair Docks when he got back. His first few shifts on the job had consisted of making the rounds and getting to know the people and the routines of the crews who repaired, refitted and upgraded all the Starfleet vessels that put in at Starbase Bravo. The Directors words to him a week ago rang in his mind. You don’t need to know shit about stuff anymore, just manage and support the people and the system. The rest takes care of itself.

Still though, it was a big switch from his previous role as a shift leader for the Shipyard Ops(SO) section where he was overseeing 150-180 people from day to day, and fully a third of them were crane or large auto welder operators. Regardless of the kind and direct support of the new Director of SO, Traan knew he was still ‘sailing up the crevass'(an old Andorian turn of phrase that translated closely to ‘swimming against the current’) in alot of ways.

The techs, chiefs and junior officers on the repair teams were all good at what they did. What he had noticed though was a lack of structure in how the repair crews divided up and accomplished their tasks. As Head of Repair Docks he had over 500 people spread over 3 shifts that he was responsible for now. He also noticed that the repair teams themselves were all pre chosen by the roster of repair team leaders, by rote, which had led to a certain cliqueeness and staleness in the team rosters and schedules.

Essentially he had two dozen 20-person teams, and not a 500 person Repair Dock Staff. The teams were usually specialized and focused in one or two aspects of the ‘ship repair dance’ too which added some more inefficiencies into the equation. Traan made a note in his padd

–Break up the teams, mix up the specialties. Unless is a major repair requiring a team of people with one specialty, all teams should be versatile, with atleast one person from each specialty on each team.

There was, after all, 11 different occupational specialties represented in varying amounts on his staff, why not get them all working together and doing atleast a little bit of cross training? Traan had another idea and made another note.

–Get the team and shift leaders together and tell em you’re going mix up the teams a bit over the next week. Then have them draft staffers onto their team during a meeting the next week with the proviso that they have to have atleast one person from each specialty on their team.

In all actuality, this trip may have been what was needed, as it gave Traan a chance to process what he had seen and learned on his first few days on the job. This trek to Pyrithia would let that info settle while he accomplished the side mission. It may have also given him time to cultivate an approach to the job that was unique but effective. A plan for a new and improved operating model for the Repair Docks would take shape over the ensuing days.

The 2 day trip to Pyrithia went smoothly and Traan had gotten to know some of his new staff over meals and a few hands of poker the first night aboard. Kip had ccleaned up while talking everyones ear off about his time on the frontline against the Gorn 15 years(a ploy that worked, the stories were all fallacious).

Traan had been sleeping for about 5 hours when Alonzo came into the cabin.

“Almost there sir.” the fresh faced Alonzo said as he stood of Traans bunk.

Traan chortled, snorted, and couched as he woke up. At 45, he was starting to crest the top of the hump that was middle age for Andorian chaan males(they had a slightly lower life expectancy then the other 3 sexes due to their more martial nature).

“Yep, I’ll be right up.”

“Aye sir.” The young petty officer replied before returning to the cockpit.

As he sat up on his bunk he noticed Chief Kip seated at the dining area in the far corner of the cabin. The chief was reading from a padd and sipping from a mug.

“Well, I guess its time to go and fix an old rusty space station eh Chief?”

“Yessir, going over the specs now. She’s old, but operable…should be able too help the Pirythians get it up and running in a few days, right on schedule…I told Alonzo to unload the tool chests and the fusion generators first thing.” Kip said as he slammed the rest of whatever was in his mug, stood and went and tossed his padd on his bunk.

“By the way, make sure you let me know if I’m messing anything up…remember I’m a Tactical Systems Chief by trade, not a seasoned repair and refit guy like you.” Traan patted Kip on the shoulder as the Bolian snickered and nodded in agreement. The two then went into the cockpit and got ready to drop out of warp in the Pyrithian System.