Advice From Grandma

Posted on 05 Jun 2013 @ 12:52pm by Lieutenant Commander Evelyn Coleman & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 06 Jun 2013 @ 1:46am

1,350 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Turbolift
Timeline: MD06: 0900

ON:

Evelyn was glad to be back on the Galileo. She and her team finished surveying the Rojarian planet; while there were no major incidents, the gravity was slightly higher than what she's used to. She no longer feels like she's carrying a backpack full of bricks.

She exited her quarters, having made the detour for a quick sonic shower, Eve was eager to return to duty. She made her way to the turbolift, when the doors didn't automatically parted, she pressed the door control to the side to summon the lift to the deck.

As the lift arrived and the doors dutifully parted, the XO looked up expecting to see his stop, but instead caught the eye of their Intelligence chief obviously on her way to some unknown location.

"Lieutenant Commander. I haven't seen you in a while."

Evelyn smiled seeing Holliday in the turbolift, "Missed you too, Commander." She grinned as she walked in. "I don't know about you, but I'm glad to be off that planet. Gave me the heebie-jeebies."

"I couldn't agree more. Any time someone so much as mentions the Borg I want to go and find a phaser. At least we got everyone back in one piece."

John had to smile at the comment - the thought of someone centuries older than him getting scared by anything was amusing, although with a threat like the Borg, it was totally understandable.

Evelyn nodded, turning to look him over. "How have you been? As you said it's been a while since we last talked."

"I'm....busy." John replied with a smile. It was seemingly one of the greatest understatements in Starfleet history, with so many departments across multiple ships to oversee, the XO was doing more than his fair share of the work right now.

"And you? You've had your own fair share of being offworld these last few days - getting the...heebie-jeebies as you put it?"

"Well seeing those ruins, it gave me a preview of what I might find on El-Auria when I go." She frowned thinking about the civilization that once populated the planet below. "The galaxy is huge, vast amounts of resources. You'd think there is enough room everyone."

"I used to think that - then of course the Dominion showed up, and the Borg just hiding behind the next nebula....the Romulans threatening us every so often....I think we need a few extra stars in this galaxy."

John wasn't usually the type to sit and try to figure out the grand plan of the cosmos, and the words coming out of his mouth surprised even him. It had never really occurred to him what proportion of time that Starfleet had spent at war - for a scientific and exploratory wing of the Federation, they had all gotten their fair share of combat experience.

Evelyn nodded, crossing her arms over her chest, "I remember a quote my grandfather taught me from his first trip to Earth, "In times of peace, prepare for war" those words are still relevant even in the 24th Century."

"Sounds like a good plan to me - I'd hate to get caught on the back foot again like we did with the Borg....a good defence is a good offense - that's my stance anyway."

The turbolift continued it's journey through the bowels of the Galileo carrying it's two passengers. Usually these lifts were crammed with crewmembers moving about the ship, but for once, it seemed that Holliday and Coleman had discovered an oasis of calm amongst a ship of energy.

"Am I right in assuming you'll be leaving the ship for a few days shortly?"

Evelyn nodded, "Yes I'll be leaving for a single day...." she then eyed him, "speaking of leaving, heard about an opening on the USS Excalibur, from what I understand you're their first choice."

If it had been anyone else stood next to him, John would have been concerned there was some sort of security breach in his personal communications, however the El-Aurian intelligence officer usually had knowledge far beyond what she should. Sheepishly, he looked at the floor before bringing his gaze back to the Lieutenant Commander.

"You..heard correct. The job is mine if I want it...not sure on it yet though. Any advice?"

The El-Aurian nodded as he confirmed the rumor and when John asked for advice Eve took a moment to processes her thoughts. "Well, it's a complete Win-Win for me in certain respects whatever you decide to do. Should you accept the position I will most likely be promoted to replace you, and I won't have to deal with the grandma jokes anymore," she mused and then leaned back against the wall of the turbolift, "on the other hand, you'd still be here. And of all the Executive Officers I've served under in my career, I like you the best." She smiled.

"High praise indeed from someone with your...experience." John replied with a smirk - he had not usually broken through his own wall of professionalism when it came to dealing with his subordinates but with the first El-Aurian he had ever met, the XO couldn't leave alone.

"But you asked me for my advice," Eve continued, "I hate the cliche responses when people give so I'll spare you those. It comes down to this, what is more important to you? The class of ship you serve or becoming a Commanding Officer?" She looked straight into his eyes, "All my bias aside John, you already are an Executive Officer of a Federation Starship. It's one thing if you're offered to command the Excalibur, but you aren't, it's a lateral career move which would affect the time in which you get a command of your own..."

John hadn't thought of it that way - the idea that an XO on one ship was no different to an XO on another simply didn't ring true to him - certain ships had always had more weighting than others when it came to preferred crew deployments.

"You say that....but being made XO of the Enterprise for example seems a lot more...prestigious than being the XO of a Nova-Class on the edge of Federation Space. I want that command chair one day, no doubt about it - but the cost of leaving Galileo is...higher than I thought."

Evelyn merely stared at John, "John, we're talking about the Excalibur, not the Federation Flagship. If you had the chance to serve on the Enterprise I would have called you a moron for having doubts. However, I am frankly surprised at your ability to shrug off this vessel's role in the fleet purely on the basis it's a Nova-Class. I'm not sure you're aware, but science vessels are usually the ships Starfleet Intelligence uses most frequently for their missions. Research and Development also utilizes science vessels as test vessels for weapon and shield system upgrades. Hell the Galileo is going to be retrofitted with new hull armor during her next maintenance overhaul."

"Galileo is certainly a hotbed right now, I'll give her that. Not every day you get two full ship retrofits in one duty cycle." John agreed with a nod - being such a flexible science vessel meant that Galileo was perfect for testing new technologies - even if some of them, like Sienna, had been a little less than beneficial in the long term.

"I guess I have a lot of thinking to do...thanks for the input."

Eve looked over a John, "Whatever you decide, I know you will make one hell of a Captain."

With one final smile as the turbolift doors parted in front of him, the XO headed out into the corridor, turning his head as he did so with one last remark.

"Thanks Grandma."

She shook her head chuckling and watched him walk down the corridor. "Goodbye, John." She whispered mainly to herself as the turbolift doors closed.

[OFF]

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. Cmdr. Evelyn Coleman
Chief Intelligence Officer/2XO
USS Galileo

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