A Good Day

Posted on 18 May 2016 @ 12:56am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Lieutenant JG Randolf Eklund

1,593 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 11 - Divinum Mundi
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Main Bridge
Timeline: MD 01 - 2100 hours

[ON]

It hadn't been long since Andreus Kohl returned to the bridge, following a bit of a sleep, and a snack, and a sonic shower. The Second Officer had felt it important to see Galileo off on her new mission, but he'd been a bit of a third wheel --literally-- at the time. Now that the ship was underway, now that it was well on its course through the woods, it was nearly time for Kohl to take his seat at the ship's wheel. Nearly, but not yet.

With a casual flick of his wrist, Kohl locked out the mission ops console. He'd been reading through the status reports from Starfleet Command, from his post at the aft of the bridge, but he'd exhausted all of the reading material. After locking out the station, he walked a very short way to the bridge's tactical station and its tactical officer.

Things had been quiet so far for Randy and security in general. Considering they had just left Sector 001, that wasn't all that surprising. They ship was in tip top shape, and they were cruising through the very heart of the Federation. How many unexpected threats could there be here where almost every cubic meter of space was under near constant surveillance? Still, he'd been taking the opportunity to run some drills with the team on Beta shift.

"Your family," Kohl asked of Randolf Eklund, "do you think they would be the type to colonise a new world? To work to tame a wild planet?" While it might have been considered something of a non sequitur, to Kohl, it was a perfectly reasonable continuation of a conversation they had started a few days earlier, back on Jupiter Station.

He paused the diagnostic he'd been running when Commander Kohl approached. Randy hadn't expected the question, but he'd learned to expect the unexpected in Starfleet. He gave it a bit of thought before he answered. "Perhaps. They're more than a bit of what you'd call traditional. They are a bit anachronistic, in fact. I grew up in a household without things like replicators. We farmed the old fashioned way, tilling the soil with tractors or animals. So, I think that taming a new world is something they would enjoy. They would certainly be prepared for the hardships." He paused a moment and asked, "Why do you ask, sir?"

"I can't-- I can't imagine that life, what that life would be like," came Kohl's reply. There was a crease to his brown, and a hesitation to his words, as if he was struggling to visualize himself living some semblance of a life on Celes III. Kohl shook his head, letting out a smirk of a laugh. "I've never even lived like a civilian proper; I've just jaunted between Federation and Starfleet facilities. But the way you described your family, I could picture you living there. On Celes Three."

"Really?" Randy smiled wistfully. "Perhaps you could tell that to my family. I'm afraid they're all convinced I've lost my mind and my edge by joining Starfleet. They'd be much happier with me just a short walk down the road on my own farm. That just...wasn't for me, though. I respect that way of life, but I just couldn't live it."

After chuckling at Randy's remark about his family, Kohl nodded at what Randy had to say about himself. He braced his hands against the tactical console between them and he squinted momentarily in thought. "What was it," Kohl asked, "that convinced you a Starfleet life was the way of life for you?"

"Service," the standard answer sprang to his lips immediately. Randy knew that it was the truth, too, but only a partial truth. The commander deserved more. "And escape. I...the life they wanted for me wasn't the life I wanted for myself. Either I would have been unhappy there living their life, or they would have been more unhappy than they are now with me there living my own life." He knew that sounded harsh. "Please understand. I love them very much, and they love me just as much, but I think we love each other much more with a bit of distance. Does that make sense?"

That question put a wince on Kohl's face. He tried to force it into a smile, and when that didn't work, he tilted his head down, as if he were examining the tactical console. Kohl locked his eyes on one quadrant of the tactical console after another, putting on a show of reviewing ship status. When he finally couldn't think of anything else to say, Kohl looked up, and he said, "I didn't talk to my father for two years before he died. I'm probably not a benchmark for healthy familial relationships."

"I...I'm sorry, sir," Randy wasn't sure quite what to say. "I've reminded myself several times recently that security officers should loom menacingly and not speak. Apparently it wasn't enough," he smiled a bit awkwardly. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

A (likely inconsiderate) laugh bubbled from Kohl's lips. Shaking his head, Kohl insisted, "You did nothing to make me uncomfortable. No, I only have my own behaviour to blame for that." --Fidgeting from a lack of activity, Kohl drummed his hands on the tactical console-- "Besides, I like to think an effective security officer has no need to loom or menace. Don't you?"

"Ideally," Randy smiled, "but there are always those who respond to nothing but menace. An effective security officer needs to be able to pull off both good cop and bad cop. Besides," Randy straightened to his full 6'4" height. It emphasized the good 20 pounds of muscle he had on the Commander without being threatening. "Do I really look like I couldn't loom?" He laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Yeah, but you have kind eyes," Kohl said, although in the moment, he said it as if it were a bad thing. Shaking his head, Kohl remarked, "It changes the entire effect." --He waved a palm in the general area of Randy's shoulders-- "In the end, I suspect most crew members and enemy combatants would appreciate a good looming from you."

Once again, Randy inwardly lamented his fair skin as he was sure it was now turning a bit pink. "Thank you...I think," he tried to laugh it off. "I've had enough practice at it considering my brothers and I made it our mission to drive off as many of our sister's boyfriends as possible. I figured that if they were really into her and worthy of her, they'd have fought back. They never did, though." He blushed a bit more at an errant thought, "well, most of them didn't, anyway." He shook his head to clear it. "But that was my first taste of security; I was hooked."

Kohl had to grin at that. Mostly, it was an expression of amusement and awe, but there was a touch of strain with jealousy as well. "I wish I'd known that sort of certainty in my career. Wish I'd felt that drive." Shaking his own head in embarrassment, Kohl admitted, "I've been a diplomat, a nurse, a scientist, and a Chief Medical Officer, and that's only while I've been an officer..."

Randy chuckled a little darkly. "I wish I could do half of that. You've seen how diplomatic I can be. I'm sure I'd do great with my foot in my mouth half the time. And I'm not running myself down, I'm no idiot, but scientist? Medical officer? Gods, I can't imagine how desperate Starfleet would need to be before tapping me for either of those positions. I like what I do, which is very lucky. I know lots of people don't. But I was either going to be a farmer, a security officer, or...something very disappointing."

"What makes for a very good day?" Kohl asked, after some moments of consideration about Randy's statement. "What does a good day in Security look like to you?"

Randy was thrown again. He didn't understand it, but the Commander seemed to have the ability to come at him from directions he never expected. "Um, I suppose a good day is subjective. I think a good day would be one where I'm completely unnecessary. A productive day is one where I am of use, protecting others or setting defenses to make my protection unnecessary. That's good in its own way.

"There are also days when I get to do good, stop someone bent on harming others. I love those days. Those days can be thrilling and terrifying, too. Which is good in some ways, right? You never know what you're capable of until you're tested. I remember my father once saying that courage doesn't mean you don't get afraid. Courage means you don't let your fear stop you." Randy also wasn't sure how the Commander got him to talk quite this much. He normally was much quieter than this. "Does that answer your question?"

So enthralled by Randy's words, Kohl blinked rapidly to centre his thoughts on the here and now. "I can't remember what question I asked," Kohl remarked, "but I sure know you better now."

"And you, Commander, have left me with nothing but questions," Randy smiled. "But considering part of the reason I joined Security was to solve puzzles, perhaps that was your intention."



[OFF]

Commander Andreus Kohl
Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lt.jg Randolf Eklund
Asst. Chief Sec/Tac
USS Galileo

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