The Burden Of Duty

Posted on 25 Apr 2012 @ 11:48am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,222 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - CO's Quarters
Timeline: MD 03 - 2230hrs

[ON]

The events of the past few hours had been nothing if not stressful for the XO of the Galileo, and this late in the day he felt not entirely certain of what he should be doing. The evening had started off so well, yet had quickly spiralled out of control into something that any XO would see as nothing more than a nightmare of paperwork, duty, and emotion. He knew no matter what had happened, it was his requirement to report any such issues onboard ship to the Captain, and in this case, he was lucky her quarters were only a short turbolift ride away.

The short distance hadn't given him a lot of time to think of exactly how to phrase his experiences, although he thought that would probably be best in the long run. At the end of the day, it was simply one of those requirements that an XO had to finish in order to complete his job description, but that gave him little in the way of solace, and didn't make it any easier on him.

Approaching the door, John took a moment to steady himself, straightening his uniform tunic and making sure his combadge was still on square....his combadge....the little emblem of his life that had set all of tonight's events in motion. With a long sigh, he tapped the chime and waited.

Inside her quarters, Lirha was busy at her desk as she read a compiled stack of activity reports. They were over twenty-four hours old due to the required comms silence, but they still provided a good deal of information for the captain. The day started off well enough, and so far their journey was going smoothly. Hearing her door chime sound, she looked up from her PADD. "Enter." she called out, wondering who it might be.

With the order given, John tapped the panel again and let the doors slide open in front of him. Last time he had walked into a room he had found a colleague in life threatening danger, at least this time he could see that his CO was alive and well, albeit off duty, making John feel a little nervous that he had interrupted her.

"Ma'am. Sorry to interrupt you at this late hour but...there's been...an accident.....with Lieutenant McCarthy..."

As her XO spoke, Lirha felt a surge of anxiety run through her and a knot formed in her stomach as she looked up at the lieutenant commander. "An accident?" she managed to asked as she rose quickly from her chair.

"Yes Ma'am...I...don't know the specifics, the team in Sickbay are looking after her now but...she's in a coma apparently...some kinda bleeding in the brain, I don't know exactly but that's what I got from the Doctor anyway."

John sighed and rubbed his forehead, staring intently at the floor for a second and pacing back and forth in the entranceway to Saalm's quarters as he tried to think of what exactly to say. He was more than understanding of the fact that he currently sounded like a babbling idiot or a first year cadet trying to give a report to his Commanding Officer, but right now he didn't know exactly what to do.

"We were having a counselling session, then I left, realised I'd lost my combadge, went back to find it, and instead found the Lieutenant slumped against the table....damn I hope she's gonna be ok...."

Lirha blinked several times as she stared at her XO, taking in his words and swallowing a lump in her throat. She made her way around the table and swiftly moved to the door where the lieutenant commander was. Her normally bright green eyes were filled with worry as she grabbed John's sleeve and led him out of her quarters on her way to the turbolift. "Is she stable?" she asked, wondering if she needed to override the lift and sprint down to sickbay.

"Stable as can be expected ma'am. The doctor got her on life support but from what I can tell she's basically in a coma until further notice...ma'am are you ok?"

John was a little surprised that one of his superior officers had so quickly become concerned over a single crewman, in his opinion it was a little less than professional, but he also felt that it was not his position to question the actions of his captain until it became a danger to the crew, the ship, or herself.

"It's...not like you to react this way...from what I've seen of you thus far ma'am"

The captain looked up at her XO, putting a hand reassuringly on the front of his chest as she managed to give him a small smile. "I'm...just worried, John." she began, calling him by his first name for perhaps the first time since they met. "The counselor and I have become rather...close." she admitted.

"That's also the first time you've referred to me by my first name since I've served under you Commander...there's something more than meets the eye going on here isn't there?"

John was well aware of the Orion nature when it came to physical relationships, in fact very few men or women in the Alpha or Beta quadrants weren't either aware, or had fallen victim to, that very same nature. The commander felt it strange that he had never been called "John" by his captain before, but on the Bridge and in the briefings where the two of them had spent the most time together, regulations required the use of more formal language.

"I'm...concerned ma'am....if there's been a breach of Starfleet protocol....I should be aware"

Lirha walked down the corridor with long strides, looking over at her XO. She listened to him speak and sighed mentally. Her whole relationship with Dru, even though in the beginning stages, was a breach of protocol. "I've been seeing Dru...pretty much every day since we launched," she confided in a soft voice, "We had an encounter after the banquet in San Francisco, and we've been developing a romantic relationship ever since." she finally said, then glanced up at her XO to see his reaction. At the moment, she cared more about the counselor's health than protocol, but his opinion meant a lot to Lirha and she hoped he would be understanding.

As he was filled in on the reality of the relationship between his CO and the now-comatose officer lying in Sickbay, John found himself grinding to a halt along the corridor. He could not believe that his captain had allowed herself to make such a huge error in judgement when they were preparing to head off on a most vital mission on behalf of the Federation. His duty told him that he should report this to the Admiralty, but his sense of loyalty to his comrades, and the sense of helplessness that he had felt in Sickbay only a few hours ago was telling him to keep it quiet.

"You do realise that you've violated half a dozen regulations there Commander....if the Admiralty were to find out then there would be consequences surely..."

Watching as his CO got a little further along the corridor, John began to pursue her, trying to keep close enough to continue the discussion without losing sight of her down the corridor.

"They....they won't hear anything from me ma'am....this isn't the time.....nor the place"

Lirha stopped and turned around, waiting for him to catch up and giving him an appreciative nod when he did. He was right, afterall, she could very well lose her command for such a violation. She knew that it was wrong to involve herself in a relationship with a subordinate officer, but she had been unable to control her emotions. It had been a mistake in judgement, but John's silence on the matter meant a lot to the captain and helped to strengthen their already trusting relationship. "Thank you." she said quietly, then turned to continue her journey to sickbay with the lieutenant commander.

The doors of Sickbay were fast approaching, this late in the day, there wasn't a huge amount of activity in the corridors, in fact, so far they were yet to see another crewman moving anywhere around this area of the ship. Some of the sections had been cast into darkness as the ship operated in "night mode" for the majority of the crew, and didn't require unnecessary illumination.

"Are you...going to be ok with this? I can't imagine she's going to be a pretty sight straight after surgery and being in a coma and all that....it might be worth leaving it until the morning?"

Lirha nodded. "I need to see her." she answered as they finally reached sickbay. She reached up and pushed her hair behind her ears then tugged on her red Starfleet undershirt. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she stepped forward and the metallic doors parted with a hiss as she entered the infirmary.

"Yes ma'am....if you don't mind....I'll stick around....just in case"

John nodded to his captain as he watched the doors part ahead of him. He had only been here a short time ago, but by now Sickbay had been reduced to nothing more than its most basic operating mode. Currently there were no other patients except for Lt McCarthy in the room, and even she was being taken care of primarily by the medical components of the main computer, in any kind of emergency there would be half a dozen different alarms sounded, and the EMH automatically activated in the absence of trained medical staff, so really, there was no cause for concern.

The lighting in the room was dim with the overhead lights turned down to accommodate the late hour. Stepping into the middle of sickbay, Lirha glanced in the adjacent office for any sign of personnel, yet the room was empty. She moved slowly to the small row of biobeds and moved next to the unconscious counselor. Looking down at Dru, Lirha noticed she looked peaceful. Her eyes were closed and a silver blanket covered her from her shoulders to toes as she rested. The captain reached down with her green hand and stroked the side of Dru's face as she fought back a round of tears. "Do you have any idea what caused this?" she quietly asked her XO.

"I'm afraid not ma'am.....she seemed in perfect health last time we spoke....as I say, I left her office, got as far as the turbolift, turned and came straight back, found her slumped against the table looking like....like that"

John found it hard to maintain the level of professonalism that he would usually have held around his captain, for some reason, seeing the emotion in the woman's eyes had been enough to melt his usually harsh Starfleet exterior and summon up compassion from somewhere deep within his soul. It was not right to see a superior officer hurting this way, but Holliday knew that there was very little he could do except make sure that everything carried on as swiftly and efficiently as usual, even with the current situation.

"Would you....like some time alone? I can leave you be if preferred ma'am?"

Lirha sighed, then nodded. "Please. If you don't mind." she answered as she finally looked back up at him. "Thank you for your help...if you hadn't gotten to her when you did, she could have died."

"Any time ma'am...i'd do it for any of our crew. I'll see you tomorrow, if you need anything....I'm a commline away"

Nodding to his CO, John turned on his heels and headed back out towards the deck, his quarters were going to be the best place for him right now, and he knew in his heart that Saalm would need some time to herself as well, as a good XO, he knew when to walk away.

After he left, Lirha stood there silently by herself, finally moving to the corner to grab a chair and sit next to the sleeping counselor. The captain looked up at the biobed's vital sign displays and took note of her friends condition. Though not a qualified doctor, she was still an officer and knew how to read and administer basic medical care. For now, Dru's vital signs seemed weak, but stable. As Lirha sat there, she was overtaken with sadness as she remembered the once-happy and vibrant young woman whom she had first met in San Francisco. She tried her best to clear her thoughts and to see Dru as just another crew member, but it was impossible. Her heart ached for the Human to be okay. She wanted her friend back.

Lirha leaned down and kissed Dru on the forehead, then adjusted her blanket to cover her shoulders so she wouldn't get cold. She leaned forward and rested her head on the sleeping woman's shoulder, and took a hold of her limp hand while squeezing it in assurance. "Please be okay." she whispered quietly, then closed her eyes as she began to cry.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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