A typical starship needed a crew of at least a hundred to be able to run properly. But that number went up with the size of the ship itself. The bigger the ship, the more systems it had and the more it count integrate. The more systems it had the more people it needed.
A Ship like the shore had a crew of a few thousand. But that included the researchers and other members who couldn't really be considered as part of the crew, but they were included anyway. But the actual number of crew aboard a ship like The Shore was at least an order of magnitude greater than what was needed for Jeager.
Osritch had basically hired him a skeleton crew for the Jeager. The Ship simply wouldn't be able to run without this crew. But if Kita wanted to run the ship properly, he needed a lot more people with him.
But hiring so many people were easier said than done.
After finishing the meeting with the officers, Kita had gotten a good idea on the immediate needs of the ship. Some of them were more mundane like procuring more fuel. Getting more supplies and ammunitions. And some of them were more urgent, like getting the main turrets of the ship inspected and tested.
Staying on a dry dock for so long, the main turrets might have incurred some damage. So that needed to be checked and fixed.
All of these issues were really important. And Kita had already instructed the officers to start on addressing some of these issues. But the lack of man power meant that things were gonna go really slow.
This lack of man power was the most important issue of all. As every other issue relied on getting this one fixed first. Kita needed to address this one first.
But he had no idea on how to find, vet and hire crew for a ship. He didn't know anything about it. He also had no idea on how to run the daily operations of a ship.
If he was being honest, he just wanted to hire someone and delegate all these responsibilities to them.
And he planned to do just that. He had just the guy in mind who would be perfect for this. But he would probably need some convincing.
So after getting back to his room, He sat down on a chair before he gave Lieutenant Holland a call. Last he had heard, that the guy had taken a long break from the military and wanted to go back to his home for a while. He was quite depressed on what happened back on B1. Last Kita met him was during the party at the Red Jack. The guy seemed pretty depressed back there too. So Kita wondered if he would like to join him.
But Kita needed someone just like him right now. Although Lieutenant Holland was actually an high level officer back aboard the Shore. But his actual function was so much more than that. Kita knew that they guy handled almost all the administrative work that needed to be done. If anyone needed anything, or they wanted to do something, Lieutenant Holland was the guy they looked for. Right now, Kita needed someone just like him to handle the Jeager.
The call rang for a few seconds before Holland picked up.
As the Projection lit up, he saw Lieutenant Holland sitting under a tree, the blue sky looked really great. And everything seemed peaceful.
The guy gave a smile as he spoke first.
"Hey, Dr. Kita! I didn't hope to receive your call today! How have you been?" The man said with a smile. He looked like he was enjoying life right now.
"I've been great! I heard you took a break? How're you enjoying life?" Kita asked in a delightful voice. He was happy that they guy was enjoying life. There's more to life than just work.
"Yeah. I've taken a break. After what happened, I couldn't focus on work. I needed this." He said with a smile.
"Where are you right now?" Kita asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm at my home. Back at J'Hagaer IV. With my family. We're currently on a picnic."
"Sorry for disturbing you then! Maybe I'll call later?" Kita didn't want to disturb them.
"Oh don't worry about that. My Wife and daughters have gone somewhere, they'll be back shortly. And it's always fun to catch up with an old friend.".
"When are you going back?" Kita asked in a cautious tone.
"Well, the official leave is for 2 years. But I don't think I'm going back. I've had enough military life for me. The incident made me realize that Human life is fleeting, if I'm always away, I'll miss my daughters growing up. I've had enough. I just want to lay back and enjoy life with my family." Holland said with a peaceful expression. It seemed that he had finally found his place in life.
Kita was happy for him. The guy was always working so hard being the pillar that kept the ship running and everything going. He deserved a break.
But there was a problem. Kita wanted him to come with him. But seeing how happy he was currently, he didn't want to burden him with such a request. He knew that if Kita asked, Holland would seriously consider it, But Kita wouldn't feel right. So decided against asking him to come.
"By the way, did you need something for me? I know you wanted to ask somethin" Holland suddenly asked.
Kita was a bit surprised that even after such a long time, the guy knew when someone wanted something from him.
"Ah, yes. I did call you because I wanted to ask you something. But I wonder if it's a good time." Kita didn't know what he should ask now. But he knew that Holland was someone he could rely on.
"Don't worry about that. Just ask."
"Well, I just bought a ship. And I needed someone that could handle the day to day operations as the person in charge. Basically someone that can bring everything together. Do you have someone in mind?"
"I see. I thought for a second that you wanted to hire me. But let me think." The man said as he fell into thought.
Kita felt guilty. Because that was exactly what he wanted to do. But he changed the last part of his request. But it seemed that Holland might have someone for the job.
"Although he's a big young. He should be capable enough for the job." Holland murmered.
"Oh you have someone?" Kita perked up hearing that.
"Yeah. I might have. But... He's a bit esoteric."
"Don't worry about that! Just send him my way."
"If you say so. Where are you going next?"
Kita gave Holland their next destination. Which was also a big trade hub.
"He'll meet you guys there then! Hope he doesn't give you too much trouble."
"Don't worry about that! I'll handle him." Kita assured him.
After that they chatted for a bit more before he ended the call. Kita had managed to secure someone to handle the day to day affairs of the ship.