Questions and Sometimes Answers

Posted on 16 Sep 2016 @ 12:10am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Langdale Wiggins & Lieutenant JG Braxton MacKenzie

2,993 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 12 - Recluse
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD -04 1000 hours

[ON]

Braxton adjusted his collar for the hundredth time. He was on his way to meet with the XO and the CO. If this went like his other meeting with brass he'd be at home with a bowl of ice cream by the end of this. He walked up to the office and took a deep breath. There would be questions...there always were.

From inside the ready room, the door chime softly echoed across the walls signalling to both Saalm and Wiggins that there was an arrival at the door. The two senior-most officers aboard Galileo were currently busy discussing mundane issues such as duty roster approvals and provisions management, and for Lirha, the prospect of a guest visitor was a welcome one which might hopefully rescue her from her boredom. At least, momentarily.

"Enter," she called out from behind her desk where she was sitting.

Braxton entered the office and stood at attention. "Junior Lieutenant Braxton MacKenzie reporting as ordered...I think today was the appointment...I could be wrong though."

Lirha took in the sight of the new arrival she'd previously met in Transporter Room 1 when he first arrived aboard Galileo. This time, he was in full uniform and presentable as a proper Starfleet officer. "Hello, Mister MacKenzie," she greeted.

"How about now? Still think you could be wrong, MacKenzie?" Wiggins said chuckling. He stood up and reached out and offered his hand.

He shook the XO's hnd and gave a nod to the CO who'd asked him to sit. It appeared that he was going to be here a while. He sat and waited for her to ask the questions he usually went through.

"What may we assist you with?" she asked, wondering what had prompted the man's visit or if it was simply a chance to check in with his senior officers. "Or are you here for a standard transfer review?" If it was the latter, then perhaps it was fortunate timing that both she and Wiggins were present.

"Yes. Just the standard review." Braxton gave a nod suddenly feeling nervous.

"I see. Very well, then." She adjusted herself in her chair to get comfortable, and leaned back a bit before holding her open palms out towards him. "Tell us about yourself, lieutenant. What brought you to Starfleet Sciences?" she queried.

He shrugged. It was a standard opening. "As a child I wanted to reach the stars and when I got to the academy prep courses I realized I liked science." It was a simple answer but the truth.

She blinked at the abrupt answer which was sorely lacking in the details she liked to hear. "So why Starfleet? There are many other non-Starfleet organizations in the Alpha Quadrant that sponsor careers in space with a scientific focus..."

Braxton almost, almost, hissed at her. "Starfleet is one of the best. My father and all my uncles were in Starfleet, Ma'am."

"...And? You wanted to follow in their legacy? Pursue your family's tradition?" She couldn't quite figure out what his hesitancy was, but there appeared to be a great deal of it. Or perhaps it was simply curtness. Either way, she was beginning to have doubts about the man in front of her if he kept answering her questions in the same manner. In her experience, a person who voluntarily sought out the starship's commanding officer for a transfer review would be more eager to share their personal experiences.

"Sort of. It started out like that." His accent was getting worse the more nervous he got. "But I liked science. Starfleet is the best. Sometimes an apple is an apple. No deep worm holes."

Wiggins up until now had let the Admiral ask the questions. Though he had learned a long time ago to trust his innate intuition, it required a little bit of observing. What he'd seen so far had made him too curious not to ask, "Is that why you're uncomfortable? Do you feel like we're digging too personal?" The first officer was now slouched quite unprofessionally. He was tired and wanted another hot chocolate, but never the less he was intrigued by the CSO and the tone he used sounded more like it came from a therapist. Warm, and non judgmental.

Braxton looked at the man. "I am not uncomfortable. I am merely answering the questions posed to me in the most...efficient manner. I was asked why Starfleet. I like both Starfleet and Science, some elements of course more then others but to have both one must join Starfleet." He shrugged like it was the most obvious answer.

Wiggins exchanged a look with the Admiral before he turned his brown eyes back towards Braxton. He smiled warmly, "which elements do you like the most?"

Braxton had to fight hard to supress a smile. "Ohh but there are so many!" His face became more animated and he began to use his hands. "Well I originally studied Stellar Cartography and Astronomy...which is great because you get to study the make up of stars and play with planets and nebulas and the like. But mapping the stars is great too! Think about it. The ship sailing the starry waters and then you get to map this out and figure out paths and patches that have never been sailed." He sighed. "How wonderful!" He did smile a wistful smile as if he was in the room but his mind miles away.

"You see by mapping the stars you get to planets and then! OH! Archaeology getting to dig and unearth items that have laid under the ground for hundreds, thousands of years. So much changes yet when you pull those objects out an you hold them for a brief moment it's like a connection to the person that held that object thousands of years ago and for the moment you are in that time, you breath as they were breathing you feel the wind kiss your skin and you realize that many, many years ago the person who made the object, held the object, felt that same wind and breath the same air and you link with them!" He handed realized he'd stood up nor that he was pacing. Realizing that he'd...said a lot he plunked down onto the seat and his and his Vulcan side took over. His face became less animated and Vulcan logic mask slammed over his features. "So you see. Yay science."

Lirha listened to the man open up for her XO. It was a pleasant development in the conversation and good to see for one of her new senior officers, she felt. "Would you consider yourself an explorer and observer of science? Or perhaps an archivist and historian?" She was interested to know which specific feelings of discovery and science stimulated him the most.

He smiled. "But that's a hard question. How does one choose? I love to explore and find new things, there are times when observation tells you more or when observation is exploration and writing things down archiving them and the history of it OH! How do you choose. I'm all thse things but if I had to choose it's uncovering something new and just being the first to hold it or finding something lost in time. It's....like a rebirth. I love it!" His eyes seemed to be growing bigger. He was really getting excited. It's like the floodgates had been opened.

MacKenzie had seemed to open up and become very jubilant about his work. Lirha admired that element of a person's personality -- it was a departure from her own self and that of many Orions who were more calm and calculated in their social interactions. "One must always choose, I suppose," she tried her best to answer. "Choice is what enables us to perform great deeds...but with every choice there is a sacrifice. As a scientist, you know this well, yes?" she philosophized.

He thought about it. "Yes. There is that. Some sacrifices are not felt at all and are outweighed by the wonderful results and others are felt to deeply. But it is like that with life, Mon capitaine." He looked at the XO who seemed to be just staring at him. It was almost as if his eyes were staring into Braxton's soul.

"So, that being said what are your expectations of me." Brax asked.

Wiggins chuckled and straightened himself, cutting his blue eyes towards the Admiral. If Wiggins had been analyzing Braxton he either filed it away for later use, or made no obvious sign that he was affected by any negative first impression. "That," the XO said simply. Indicating the animated display that Braxton had been displaying till now. "Your enthusiasm for science. Our mission platform was assigned to us for a reason and I want Galileo to remain situated at the forefront of scientific exploration and progress."

Braxton smiled. "That we can do." He looked from CO to XO. Waiting for the next question.

A quick glance back down at the PADD in her hands indicated the man had had prior experience aboard a couple starships before his recent transfer to Galileo. "Did you bring this same enthusiasm with you aboard Dragon and Eden?" she asked. "How was your time aboard those starships?"

"The Eden was a good ship". He smiled. "We faced many trials there but we all worked through them. Like this ship the Eden was a science ship and we, the crew, all worked to make it a success. My captain's recommendations are on the PADD I submitted upon boarding as well as my record. As for the Dragon," a darkness settled over his face. "It was a ship, I did what had to be done." That was a closed subject. He couldn't hide the paleness of his face at the thought of the Dragon.

"...Did what had to be done?" Lirha repeated, her eyes now searching his for an explanation and insight.

Braxton met the XO's gaze head on. "I did my job as well as I could under the circumstances." He said. Hoping they didn't probe further. It was already in his records. He didn't want to go through this again. He didn't want to relieve his years there.

Instinctively, Wiggins sensed the unease from the man. It was practically palpable to him even without his innate empathy. He'd read his file earlier, as he'd done with all the senior crew members, and knew why he was reluctant to speak with them about it. However, his boundless curiosity -- or nosiness rather -- made him want the man to open up to them. If a department head couldn't trust them to confide in them, there would be no way for Wiggins or Lirha to help him with difficulties later on. Best to rip the bandage off now and establish the relationship right off the hop.

Which was why the first officer found him self blurting out, "You've been through a lot of healing since then, I'm surprised you still feel uncomfortable talking about it. Are you still receiving therapy? Our counselors on the ship I've heard are very good." Wiggins found himself cutting his forest green eyes towards Lirha to ensure he didn't cross a line.

And there it was, the probing. The question. The pity. Poor boy got put in his place by his daddy and now he's not competent to work. His lips squeezed into a thin line for a few seconds and then he sighed and released the tense breath he'd been holding. He was a lot better at the Vulcan thing then his father so Braxton slammed that Vulcan mask down so fast that it was like night and day.

Gone was the passion and it was replaced by the cool Vulcan logic. "Commander, if I was not capable of completing my duties because of an incident that occurred years ago I would not have been able to function on the Eden yet I did. I was awarded and recognized for my work with both medical and engineering in coming up with solutions for the new form of radiation discovered in the Floren Nebula and if my past had any hold on me I would not have been able to do that nor would I have been asked to lecture at the academy. I happen to know that both my counseling and medical files see me as clear and fit for duty. If you are wondering if my past will affect my performance here they will not. I am Vulcan we are well able to separate personal from work, sir."

Wiggins didn't bat an eye when the Lieutenant put up very evident walls around his emotions. He had expected it. The continued uncomfortable reaction the CSO had with his feelings was both foreign to the XO and concerning. Not that he thought the man's experience would hinder his performance, it was just hard for Wiggins to understand why anyone would want to shut themselves off like that. Feelings were what drove Wiggins through life.

The XO shifted in his chair and said to Braxton, "I'm going to make an informed guess here and venture that you've had your skills questioned before?" His voice continued to be comforting, not pitying. He didn't judge the man, and it came across on his expression. "I ask because you listed a very impressive defense against something we didn't question." Wiggins smiled warmly, "And while I'm thrilled to see that your trauma hasn't affected your work performance, I was asking if you were still seeing a therapist. Which is not something to feel ashamed for. I see a therapist. Once a week now, but I still go." Wiggins looked at the Admiral and grinned, "Only the Continuum knows what things the Admiral has to unload on a therapist." Wiggins was only guessing the Admiral saw a therapist, and even if she wasn't he hoped she'd just go along with it.

Wiggins looked back at Braxton and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Braxton gave a stiff nod but his eyes softened just a bit at what Wiggins said. Speaking with counselors was difficult and admitting it to a lower ranking officer could not have been easy so his estimation of the XO went up a little bit after his admission. When he spoke again his voice was softer it was just barely noticeable but it was, softer. "I have seen one to clear me for duty and when I feel I need to see one again I will do so. I will not jeopardize my job nor my staff nor my department nor co-workers. If I need medical attention or counseling then I will seek it."

"Good to hear," Wiggins sat back in his chair and folded his hands behind his head. He lifted a long leg and let it plop over the other knee casually. The tactic was deliberate to ease the mood and make it more conversational. The XO pulled his fingers through his medium lengthed hair which seemed to disturb what was otherwise a perfectly placed part. He resisted the urge to fix it and instead said, "Though you'll probably hear me say this a lot, but I really benefit from talking to a counselor regularly. Even when things are good. There's no better feeling than building a relationship with a mental health professional who is both unbiased and non-judgmental. To have someone there to just talk about whatever you're feeling good or bad," Wiggins shrugged casually, "it just feels good. Helps ground you in the moment." Not being able to take it anymore, the XO unclasped his hands and discretely fixed the part in his hair as he sat straight again.

"I hate counselors," interjected Lirha rather abruptly as if she had no care in the world for the art of diplomacy that was currently at hand. "Not hate, I suppose," she began to correct, "rather...they make me feel uneasy. But such is life, no?" she lightly shrugged. "Earthlings say it 'builds character'. Or something similar."

"Mister MacKenzie...do you have any questions for us?" she then asked, wanting to afford the man a chance to inquire about anything which might be on his mind or express his non-Vulcan-yet-Vulcan feelings.

Braxton thought for a moment. "Well I believe I am okay. I do tend to have a lot of staff meetings, I like to keep updated and I will be doing some team building with my staff shortly by way of comments...by way of questions I suppose none at this time but if I do I could always send a message....ohh maybe one. How often do you do department head meetings." He thought of the question last minute. He wanted to schedule it.

"Once a month with all the department heads together," Wiggins said with a smile. "But I like to run informal meetings throughout the week with various departments. If you see me cruising through the corridors and need something, just flag me down. Otherwise, you'll probably see me stick my head in from time to time to see how things are."

Braxton gave a nod. "Understood." He paused for a moment. "Is there anything else?" He asked wanting to get back to his little hobbit room.

"Not from me," Wiggins said with a smile. "You and I will have a one on one soon to discuss these team building ideas you have. I'm intrigued." The XO looked at Lirha to see if she had anything else.

"No...that is all, I suppose," Lirha chimed in with finality and joint nod to both her new XO and the recently-arrived CSO. "Dismissed, lieutenant. Thank you for coming to see us."

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Langdale Wiggins
First Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Braxton MacKenzie
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

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