Change of Command

Posted on 15 Feb 2016 @ 9:28pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

1,619 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 10 - Symposium
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 7, Observation Lounge
Timeline: MD 90 - 1100 hrs

[ON]

"Captain Holliday, please join me in the observation lounge," said Lirha into her commbadge before giving it a gently tap. With a PADD clasped lightly in her fingers behind her back, she stared out through the large windows at the sight of Jupiter in the near distance. The massive gas giant loomed large and bright against the backdrop of the Federation space station, and its swirly orange and beige clouds seemed to move in a slow water-like motion across the surface.

Several minutes passed as the Captain made his way across the vastness of the Jupiter facility and back to the relatively tiny confines of his vessel. The trip from the access port to the observation lounge was minute in comparison, and dutifully Holliday stepped through the door to meet the Admiral.

"You called ma'am? My apologies - I was finalising our departure plans with the Quartermaster on the station."

Lirha heard John's voice when he entered, but declined to turn around from her view. Instead, she motioned for him to join her and continued to watch the planet through the window.

"A lovely Jovian, no?" she commented a bit absentmindedly.

"A gas giant is a gas giant to me Admiral." Holliday replied directly. He was not an astrologist or indeed a scientist of any shape or size. Whilst he had observed these phenomena and knew them well enough, none of them held any particular attraction for the Martian.

Nevertheless, he accepted the unspoken invitation from his senior officer and joined her at the window, looking towards the planet.

"I...presume you called me here for something other than my keen observational skills Admiral?"

She nodded briefly and held her PADD out for him to take a look at. "New orders, it seems. Apparently Starfleet wants to give us a 'transitional' assignment following our return from the Mirror Universe." By 'transitional' she really meant light-weight, for there was not much in the mission briefing which required any sort of specialized expertise from the crew. Certainly nothing that another starship couldn't handle.

"I believe we are now on babysitting duty for a colony vessel," she added.

An audible sigh left Holliday's lips as he took in the news of their reassignment. It obviously meant that they would be assigned hte most boring duty in the fleet on a mission that would probably involve nothing going on.

"Excellent....well I suppose babysitting is the sort of training the crew are going to need if the reports I hear regarding your current....status...is correct Admiral." He cleared his throat before looking at her and then back out into space again.

"My status?" she repeated, a bit oblivious to what he was referring to. Subconsciously she had completely forgotten that she hadn't mentioned her pregnancy to anyone aboard the starship except Lieutenant Benice.

"It has come to my attention that you are....expecting...Ma'am." Holliday replied, keeping his eyes locked solidly on the landscape in front of him rather than catch the look in her eye that surely would have appeared should he have matched her gaze.

"Expecting what? New crew and orders?" She was oblivious to the nature of his remarks and instead shook her head and waggled her PADD again for the Martian standing next to her. "We have both, it seems. If I expect anything during this upcoming mission, it is a lack of adventure," she then mumbled out-loud.

"Ma'am you miss my point. It has come to my attention that you are...pregnant." Jonathan replied taking the PADD from her hand in order to prevent it being used as a prop on her next response.

Lirha blinked. Once, then twice before looking over towards him. A plethora of emotions flooded through her, and while she wanted to ask who had informed him of such private information, she had known all along that it was only a matter of time before rumors began to flood the ship.

"Oh. Yes," she confirmed in a soft voice while instinctively placing a hand on her swollen belly. "With twins. I am in my second trimester." She turned to show him her slightly-bulging waist line which was beginning to stretch her uniform pants. "Did Nesh tell you?"

"No ma'am." Holliday replied blankly, not wanting to spill his source, something he understood was generally not meant to be given away during discussions of this type. In reality he was already choking at the idea of one extra child, twins was enough to set the hardened warrior's spine ice cold.

"Suffice to say the information came from elsewhere. I was unaware of your decision to have children. Do you intend to remain aboard Galileo following their birth?"

That was a good question which she hadn't taken much opportunity to ponder yet. There were obviously pros and cons to each side of the coin, but she didn't want to begin to think about it until a few more months down the road. "Undecided," she answered with a light shrug, as it wasn't the most important thing on her mind. "I am not sure if a starship like Galileo is the best environment to raise a child. Perhaps a Galaxy or Nebula-class, but..." her voice trailed off and she pointed back at the PADD that John now held.

"Starfleet is reinstating me as commanding officer of Galileo," she added somewhat abruptly. The mention of a staying aboard the vessel was at least answered for the time being.

If he had been sat on a chair, John would have promptly fallen off of it. Indeed he reached out a hand to steady himself against the bulkhead serruptitiously as he took in the news of his apparent demotion.
Taking the PADD he quickly pulled up the last file accessed, and confirmed that it did indeed contain a notice of a change in command of the ship.

"And...what is to become of me? Am I to be reassigned ma'am?"

She looked into his eyes, searching through them for the hints of emotion he usually held back. "If you request one, I will endorse it, but I was hoping you would stay aboard as my first officer?" The prospect of working with another XO and shaking up the command staff was not desirable to Lirha, and she had grown quite fond of Holliday over the years. "I suppose it would be like old times again."

Holliday was not sure how he was supposed to be feeling right now. On the one hand he had just been stripped of his command after barely enough time to get comfortable in the big chair, but on the other he was being asked to resume a role that he had become rather fond of.

Reassignment would not be the worst decision he could make - after all, with his track record Holliday could have happily made his way into another command role elsewhere in the Fleet and the rank and privilege that goes along with being a CO.

The mention of old times however, was enough to break the hard outer shell of the Martian for a moment as he allowed a chuckle to escape his lips. He remembered the man that he was as a Lieutenant Commander arriving to report to his new CO. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he first stepped aboard the Bridge of the tiny Nova class, and in a way it was. For now, he would go with his heart and not his head.

"And here I was just getting used to having the Ready Room to myself...very well ma'am....you have your First Officer again...just don't try to put me on diaper duty - I'm a soldier, not a nanny."

"Well..." she began to protest but quickly shut her mouth as her eyes darted towards the floor and side to side. "I mean yes, of course." She didn't want to tell him right now and spoil the mood, but she hoped Uncle John would become a paramount figure in her children's upcoming lives. At least, so she hoped.

"It could always be worse," she added, changing the subject briefly back to the topic at hand. "You could always be reassigned back to the Academy for two years to instruct new cadets while you wait for an open command to manifest..."

"Hmph. They wish." Holliday replied with his usual tone. The Academy were more than happy to get rid of him back to a command post - the threat of him returning to wreak havoc once more would probably be enough to make the Commandant himself turn a shade of green not unlike the Admiral's skin.

"The day I return to teaching is the day half the teachers decide to take early retirement. They'd try and get me the Enterprise if it meant me staying away from San Francisco." He replied with a smirk.

Perhaps they would. Lirha had always felt the Academy staff to be rather tight-knit. It wasn't often that new instructors came and went, and probably for good reason. "I am sure your diplomatic skills will work well with the colonists we are to escort," she said sarcastically. "And unless you have any questions about them, you are dismissed. Thank you, John," she added with an appreciative smile.

"Aye ma'am." He acknowledged with the merest hint of a smile. Placing the PADD down on the desk he turned on his heels and made for the exit, newly relieved of the weight of command, but with the old familiar stresses of the second chair.

[OFF]

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RADM Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer/First Officer
USS Galileo

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