The Ms. Ponsonby Problem

Posted on Tue Oct 6th, 2026 @ 5:26am by Captain William Abernathy & Chief Warrant Officer Marlene Ponsonby

999 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Echoes in the Triangle
Location: USS Arcadia | Lieutenant Commander Walker's Office

Captain Bill Abernathy stepped into Lieutenant Commander Sebastien Walker's office without bothering to announce himself. Walker had asked him to stop by regarding the latest personnel reports, and Abernathy had already spent most of the morning dealing with the sort of administrative work that made him question whether command was worth the trouble.

Bill stopped after two steps, coming to an aprupt halt as his eyes locked onto a figure that waa unmistakenly not Lieutenant Commander Walker, his First Officer. Someone was sitting on Walker's desk. Not behind it. On it.

It was a woman in a command division Starfleet uniform, sat comfortably atop the edge of the desk, one leg crossed over the other. Her brunette hair was swept into an elaborate beehive, with a few carefully arranged curls framing her face. She held a data tablet in one hand and appeared completely absorbed in whatever she was reading.

Abernathy looked at her. She looked at him. Neither spoke for several seconds.

"Well, youu're not Commander Walker."

"Thankfully no, Captain," she replied pleasantly. "I'm not. I am glad we establishee your eyesight is good."

Abernathy glanced toward the empty chair behind the desk. "Where is Commander Walker?"

She looked at Bill. Deadpanned she replied "Commander Walker is away having lunch."

"In the officer's mess?"

The woman nodded. "I would imagine yes, as one does when they are First Officer."

Abernathy looked back at her. Marlene smiled politely and returned to reading the tablet she was holding, her eyes glued to the screen.

Abernathy stepped farther into the office. "And you are?"

"Ponsonby. Marlene Ponsonby" she replied. "Chief Warrant Officer," she added.

The name meant nothing to him.

"I see," said Bill.

"No, you don't."

Abernathy raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

Marlene finally looked up from the tablet. "That's the problem, Captain. You don't see me. Yet."

There was something about the woman's manner that immediately reminded Abernathy of people who had spent decades working around senior officers. She wasn't nervous. She wasn't trying to impress him. If anything, she seemed mildly amused by his confusion.

"What exactly are you doing in Commander Walker's office, Chief Ponsonby?"

"Ms. Ponsonby. I've had so many ranks in my lifetime. Too formal, and what does it look like I am dking? I'm reading."

"I can see that."

"Then we're making progress, aren't we?"

Abernathy's expression hardened slightly. "Chief Warrant Officer."

"Ms." She corrected.

"Fine. Ms. Ponsonby, what are you reading?" His eyes had caught a glimpse of it from afar. My crew's personnel files?"

Marlene calmly tapped the tablet against her knee. "Because they're going to be my crew too."

The silence that followed was considerably longer. Abernathy walked toward the desk. "I'm sorry?"

Marlene slipped the tablet into sleep mode and placed it beside her. "Starfleet Command has reassigned me to the Arcadia."

"No one has mentioned this to me" said Abernathy. He crossed his arms slightly offended that something had happened without his knowledge, without his say. "Did Commander Walker approve of this?"

"Apparently he didn't know either."

"Then who authorized this?" asked Bill.

"Starfleet Command, love. They authorized this. It sounds like you were left out of the loop."

Abernathy stared at her. Marlene offered a small shrug. "They seem to have rather a high opinion of themselves."

He reached for the tablet. "May I?"

She handed it to him. He started to do some quick fact checking. The transfer order was legitimate. He checked the authorization codes twice. Chief Warrant Officer Marlene Ponsonby. Permanent assignment. USS Arcadia. Chief Yeoman. Effective immediately. Abernathy lowered the tablet."

"You're my new Chief Yeoman."

"That does appear to be the arrangement, Captain," she said with a shrug.

"And nobody thought to tell the captain."

"Apparently they thought you'd enjoy the surprise."

"Well, I most certainly do not enjoy them."

"Yes. I suspected as much given that sourpuss look on your face and hoity-toity tone you have going on."

Abernathy handed the tablet back. "Where were you assigned previously?"

"Me? The Office of Commodore Elias Harrington."

Abernathy looked at her. "You were his... personal assistant?"

"Among other things."

Abernathy paused. "And why did you leave?"

Marlene's expression remained perfectly composed. "Commodore Harrington's wife didn't like me."

Abernathy blinked. "Why?"

"That is an excellent question."

"You don't know?"

"Oh, I know." Marlene smiled faintly. "I'm simply not sure you'd like the answer."

Abernathy folded his arms. "Try me."

"She believed I was too familiar with her husband."

"And were you?"

"Captain, I had worked for the man for fourteen years. I knew his schedule, his medical history, his dietary restrictions, his preferred tea, his children's birthdays, and precisely how long he could tolerate a diplomatic reception before developing a headache."

She paused. "I suppose that could be misinterpreted as intimate."

Abernathy almost smiled. Almost. "And Commodore Harrington?"

"Objected to my reassignment."

"Apparently unsuccessfully."

"Apparently so given that I am here, Captain."

Marlene slid off the desk with surprising grace and straightened her uniform.

"Starfleet Command decided I would be better utilized aboard the Arcadia."

"Better utilized."

"Yes."

"Convenient."

"Extremely."

Abernathy studied her for another moment. There was something distinctly unsettling about how comfortable she was. Most officers transferred into a new command spent their first day trying to establish where they fit.

Marlene Ponsonby had apparently decided she already belonged there.

"Have you been reading my crew's files all morning?"

"Most of them, yes" she confirmed. "You have a rather interesting crew. Quite diverse."

"You read them without my authorization to do so?"

Now, she crossed her arns. "Allow me to point out for you, Captain Abernathy, that I do have all the appropriate security clearance to do so."

Abernathy sighed "That wasn't my question."

"No, Captain. It wasn't." Marlene smiled.

"You're going to be a problem," surmised Abernathy.

"Almost certainly, Captain."

She picked up her tabler again. "And Captain?"

He stopped at the doorway. "Yes?"

"Your own personnel record is remarkably interesting."

Abernathy's eyes narrowed. This was his life now with Ms. Ponsonby.

 

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