Commander's Prerogative

Posted on 18 Jan 2018 @ 4:50pm by Commander Aren Ban & Ensign Miraj Derani

1,698 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Hathaway - Captains Ready Room
Timeline: MD 97: 0950 Hrs

[ON]

The last week had been quite a journey for the temporary crew of the Hathaway. The cadets had been doing fairly well and he was pleased with the reports that was coming across his desk. But what pleased him most was seeing the crew of the late Galileo really applying themselves and rising to the challenge. He wanted to reach out to the observers directly, if only to check in with them and see how they were holding up.

One of the first he wanted to talk to was Ensign Miraj. He had tried to keep up with the exploits of those he had served with during the Kreanus Incident, and was glad that many of them had found there way onto the Hathaway. Ensign Miraj had been apparently been on several adventures since Kreanus.

Aren poured himself a cup from the carafe he kept on his desk, as he waited for Miraj to arrive. Aren wished that the captain ready's room wasn't so spartan, but there hadn't been any time to really add any personal touch that was common to many of these offices.

Miraj hadn't been expecting a summons to the captains ready room, and was surprised, and a little worried. She had been scampering around in the jefferies tubes and she wondered if Vansen had peached on her to the Chief Engineer, who might have had a word with the Commander. Or it could be anything to do with the cadets, who had been vaguely competent at a helm, by her entirely unrealistic standards.

She pressed the bell, and waited for permission to enter, twisting the end of her left side pig tail unconsciously.

Aren waited a moment to collect his thoughts before answering. He never liked how some Commanding Officers would make there subordinates wait, especially if they had been the one to initiate the meeting. "Enter." Aren said.

Miraj took a breath. It could be anything. Best to go in with a smile and hope for fair sailing. "Good morning, Sir. What can I do for you today?"

"Well, thank you." He said with a smile before motioning for to take a seat. "Please, Ensign, take a seat." Aren said as he indicated one of the two chairs in front of his desk.

Obediently, she perched on theedge of the chair. She'd made sure she had her boots on before entering and she found herself trying to push through them to get a better feel of the ship without looking too obvious about it.

"Would you like a cup off coffee?" Aren asked, motioning to the other cup of that was seated closer to her side of his desk.

"Thank you sir." She pulled the mug over and held it two handed. It smelt good, the nearest barrister was probably over ten light years away, but bless the replicator, it didn't matter.

"Very well. Tell me Ensign Derani, how have tyour cadets been performing? I have read the reports and seen the evaluations, but sometimes there are things that can't be quantitative and I want to hear your thoughts and opinions." Aren said trying to put the ensign at ease.

Miraj sipped the coffee, considering her opinion of the two cadets. They were barely younger than she was. There was only a couple of months between her and Jasper Higgins. "Thasiv'Rahn is competent, but his flying isn't anything special. Solid. Boring."

"What do you mean by, boring? Can you elaberate a little?" Aren asked. He knew that Ensign Derani had a rather interesting connection when it came to piloting star ships, and while it could be seen as rather eccentric, she did produce excellent results. Though being a good officer was more than just being excellent and your job, and Aren wanted to make sure that he mentored his junior officers to the best of his ability.

Miraj bit her lip, to keep her thoughts inside before they could dodge her brain/mouth filter. "Everything is.. adequate. Textbook. He doesn't put a foot wrong. But flight isn't just entering co-ordinates and adjusting the warp speed rating. Autopilots can do that. If you're going to pilot a ship you have to be able to feel, as well as to know. I know space is empty and the chances of having to do something really complex is infinitesimally small, but its a ship, not a calculator. It needs more than just pushing buttons to know when something can be pushed or not. Does that make sense?"

Aren nodded and reached for a PADD to enter in a couple of notes, and to quickly review record Thasiv'Rahn. "I do understand your meaning. He scored well on his evaluations so far. What are your recommendations for him to improve?" Aren asked, with a small smile.

"Unclench." Miraj winced, realising she'd spoken before thinking, "I mean he needs to relax," she followed up, hoping the speed would cover the hiccup. "Go with flow, listen to the ship, feel it struggling or champing at the bit. He's too...two dimensional, space is 3d, but he's like most pilots, banking in space, staying on the same plane, and the same orientation. Out here, up is a choice, not a matter of physics and biology."

Aren nodded slowly, before entering in a few notes into the cadets evaluation. He skimmed over his notes, before leaning back into his chair, taking a moment to gather his thoughts. "How would you go about helping the cadet to relax? That is not to be, how did you say it....two dimensional?" Aren asked. He was genuinely curious if she had ideas how to impart upon that kind of knowledge. He wasn't naive to think that there was some level of intuitiveness and natural affinity that not matter how many hours of flight time or class room learning, some could never achieve, but he wanted to make his subordinate think. He wasn't here to only cirque the cadets, he also was here to mentor his own team.

Miraj started to open her mouth, and then stopped, thinking. She didn't know how to teach what came to her more easily than breathing. She could get him drunk. "er.." then it came to her. "He needs to go joyriding. Fly it like he stole it."

Aren leaned back in his chair, studying Miraj for a moment. "Alright Ensign," Aren started, a mischievous glint in his eye, "I have a task for you that needs to completed prior to returning to Spacedock. I want you to come up with a training plan, one that meets all Starfleet requirements and regulations, in addition anything extra that you think needs to be included. If you think that 'joyriding' can help pilots relax and not be two dimensional, then include it."

Miraj wasn't entirely sure Starfleet would go for Grand Theft Spaceship as a method of training. "Yes sir," And how did you teach someone to fly like she did. teaching non flyers was easy. You had to learn the basics before you could do anything flash. But feeling a ship, flying as one creature? How was she going to make that into a lecture and easily defined set of bullet points? She'd just have to find a way. "How long before turning returning to spacedock?"

"You should have about three days. Be as creative and unorthodox as you need, however it still needs to be kept within the realm of possibilities. Outside the box is fine, but outside the galaxy is not. Remember, your primary duty on this cruise is the observation, evaluation, and training of the cadets." Aren wanted to make sure that Miraj had the freedom and flexibility to do what she felt needed to be done, but still to have some boundaries as well as time constraints.

Three days! Miraj kept her smiled fixed. Three days? She had no idea how she was going to supervise the exercise, and do the equivalent of explaining to fish how to breathe air. "Aye, aye, sir. It'll be like swinging the lead."

"I look forward to seeing what you come up with." Aren said, knowing that he was asking a lot of her. All he was really expectingwas a bare-bones rough draft, but he didn't want to tell her that. He wanted to see what she would do and whom she would solicit for help, if she even reached out to any one; this was a teaching moment after-all. "One last thing before I cut you loose, how have you been holding up since we returned to earth?" Aren asked, speaking more candidly then before. Aren had tried to keep tabs on all the personal that made it back from Kreanus, and he was genuinely concerned for them.

Well, everything's turned upside down, I feel like the universe's butt monkey and I nearly lost the only thing that makes life worth living, the man I thought I had something going with has been avoiding me, and i seem to bounce from life threatening situation to another. And when I tried to talk about it, the counselor went weird. "I'm fine sir," she smiled brightly. "No problems."

Aren studied the young ensign for a moment, before shaking his head. If she didn't want to share, he wasn't going to pry. "Very well. Do you have any questions or anything in particular you would like to discuss?" He asked, wanting to leave the floor open for her if she needed to get something off her chest.

"No, sir." nothing she felt comfortable sharing. Kreanus aside, she didn't really know him. "But that may change by the time I finish the training plan."

"If there is nothing else, you are dismissed." Aren says with slight nod. He was looking forward to seeing what she could come up with.

"Yes, sir," She headed for the door, mind already spinning with possibilities for her training course. How could you teach someone to feel their way through flying. She didn't know, but she'd find a way.

[OFF]

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Ensign Miraj derani
Flight Officer
USS Hathaway

Commander Aren Ban
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Hathaway

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