Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc

Posted on 14 Oct 2012 @ 2:28am by Lieutenant Scott Parker & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

2,514 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo (Vega IX surface) - Deck 1, CO's Ready Room
Timeline: MD03 - 1121hours

[ON]

Two days aboard a Hamish class freighter had left Parker feeling shaken and, for the most part, deeply unsettled. It wasn't that he was unaccustomed to sparse quarters and hauling cargo containers, it's just that he wasn't used to being threatened by a Naussican purely for yawning in his presence. No matter how much the crew had played down the incident, laughing at the Starfleet officer behind his back for the remainder of the trip, Scott had felt certain that Gemnak would have happily torn him limb from limb the moment they were together unsupervised.

As he left his quarters, he shivered at the thought. Galileo, in spite of her unusual situation, was a welcome relief following that journey. There was something oddly terrestrial about a vessel that was parked on land, in a planetary atmosphere. Scott couldn't recall ever being aboard a ship that was in that situation. Although most machinations regarding differences in environmental systems were lost within the beholder's imagination, he was absolutely certain that he felt like he was on the surface of a planet. And yet Galileo's corridors had no windows that would even suggest that.

It was funny how the mind worked.

He passed two yellow-trimmed crew members and offered them an awkward smile, which they returned in unison, before entering the turbolift. Saalm was in her office, on deck one. That meant passing through the bridge, which he truly hoped was unmanned for the time being. This change in plan had bothered him and he wasn't quite ready to meet his immediate colleagues. Reporting for duty, which was a formality regardless of his circumstances, was enough for the time being. He'd help with the workload later. Down at surface level, they looked like an extra hand wouldn't go amiss.

The turbolift journey didn't take long and was ultimately uninterrupted. Evidently the size of the ship made it easier to get around. That didn't bother Scott; several years service on a Defiant class had adjusted him to cramped quarters. Although the bridge seemed fairly welcoming size-wise when he first stepped across the lift's threshold. He didn't stop to admire it, though. Instead, he bee-lined for the ready room doors, palming the chime quickly and tapping his foot nervously as he awaited a response.

Inside her office, Lirha sat leaned back in her chair still browsing through the various PADDs on her desk. Most of them were requisition and supply orders, but others contained new personnel files for incoming crew members sent to replace those who were either KIA or transferring off the ship. Already she had met one of her new officers, an intelligence officer by the name of Lieutenant JG Markos. Lirha had been a bit puzzled by the increasing presence of her own former department aboard a Nova Class, but didn't dwell on it too much. Whatever the reason, Starfleet must have a good one, she supposed.

The door chime echoed through the room snapping the captain from her thoughts, and she placed her PADD down on the table and turned her eyes towards the door. "Enter." she called out in a subdued voice as she waited to see who was on the other side.

They parted to reveal Scott, who looked rather ashen-faced as he stepped over the threshold and into the office. He coughed lightly, as if to clear his throat, blinked at Lirha then unceremoniously dropped his kitbag to the floor, folding his hands behind his back. "Lieutenant Parker, ma'am, reporting for duty."

Lirha watched as a gold-collared man entered the room and promptly dropped his belongings to stand at attention. She took in the sight of him; average height with a bit of an athletic build, brown hair, brown eyes. He looked very Human, she thought. "Hello, lieutenant." she replied in greeting, giving him a friendly smile and then motioning towards an empty nearby chair. "Please have a seat. Do you have your orders with you?" she asked, waiting for him to produce a PADD.

"Uh, yes, ma'am," said Scott, as if taken by surprise. As he sat down he rifled through his bag, retrieving the PADD in question and handing it over diligently. With a light sniff and rub of the nose, he found himself poised, awaiting some kind of error to stand in his way. "Everything should be accounted for," he said hurriedly. "I was despatched from sector forty two about two weeks ago. You guys were already on assignment."

Taking the PADD from his hands, she set it down gently on the table and paused to rub her eyes for a moment, feeling a headache slowly coming on. The last several days had been very stressful on the captain, and she was beginning to experience some of the side effects. With a mental sigh, she picked the PADD back up and began to browse through it, stopping as she saw a notation at the bottom.

Scott was gazing around the office, noting it's relatively small size. He'd served on a Defiant class, he understood the constraints of non-luxury vessels and Novas were evidently no different. He just had expected her to have more room to work with. Somehow, in a typical twist of human emotional resolve, he felt guilty about this. As she glanced up at him, he grimaced awkwardly.

Lirha's eyes locked on to his and she placed the PADD back down on the table. Her facial features were unexpressive, betraying no signs of her emotions after looking at his service record. "Tell me a little about your last assignment." she said, her voice soft yet authoritative.

He was intuitive enough to understand that she wasn't referring to his administrative job. The question was bound to arise. She knew it after reading, he knew it when he handed the orders over; the situation was unavoidable. Heaving a breath out between pursed lips, he gazed at the desk between them and recited the explanation he had spent months rehearsing in his mind.

"The Heroic is a relatively new Defiant class vessel. She was assigned to an engagement with a Hirogen assault group before being passed on to the KSX patrol route in the Kamari sector, right next to the Romulan neutral zone. As I understood at the time, we were ordered to make frequent excursions into the area under the guise of intelligence gathering."

He glanced up and met Saalm's eyes, his manner rather subdued. He seemed uncomfortable but willing to yield answers. "This quickly descended into an operation to break up Star Empire supply routes. We began to disable freighters working between the alpha and beta quadrants. Shortly afterwards, the commanding officer ordered strikes on civilian colonies. Allegedly he was acting under orders. I refused and was apprehended; thrown into the brig with several of my colleagues."

There was a pause as Parker cleared his throat. "I was the only officer amongst the crew to object. The rest of the senior staff followed their orders. The ship was, subsequently, disabled by the USS Orion. Captain Dawson was thrown in prison for breaching various Starfleet codes, including the military charter."

Lirha listened to him explain the situation. Being a former intelligence chief in her previous assignment, she was acutely aware of the incident surrounding USS Heroic. Pretty much everyone with Level 8 clearance or above had heard about it in some way, especially considering the controversy surrounding such actions. She remembered reading the final after-action report, but had no idea that the man in front of her was one of the involved personnel. With a deep breath, she leaned back in her chair and arched her eyebrow. "Yes, I am aware of Captain Dawson's...troubles," she replied, "But I would like to hear your version of the story. Insubordination is rarely justified, but I will give you a chance to explain your decisions. Especially if your former commanding officer was court martialed."

"I don't mean to be disrespectful, ma'am," said Scott, looking rather pointedly at his new superior officer, "but would you fire upon unarmed civilians if ordered to do so?"

The captain frowned again, then folded her legs in her chair as she studied him curiously. "During my career, I have come across many civilians. Most, if not all were innocent in nature, however I almost lost my life once for making the assumption that a," she paused to emphasize the word, "civilian was not a threat. There are many groups of people in this galaxy, and whether or not they wear a uniform or are part of an underground or covert organization is many times hard to discern." she replied as she tried to prove a subtle point, then paused for a moment before continuing. "I am not questioning your ethics, Mister Parker, nor am I implying that you made the wrong decision. I am simply wary of anyone who second-guesses their orders. I encourage critical thinking and maintain an informed crew, however the truth of our duties means we must maintain discipline and follow proper protocol, regardless of our personal feelings. Do you agree?"

He nodded with enthusiasm but seemed caught up in the debate. "To a certain extent, of course I do. I understand my duties and I assure you that I have faith in the chain of command. In this instance, however, I went with my gut. You can understand that, right? The feeling that something isn't quite right? My instincts told me to challenge my orders and I did. Luckily I was right to do that."

The security officer's reply was genuine and well calculated, Lirha decided. The man had tact, that was for sure, and most importantly he had not become overly-defensive at the questioning of his actions. That alone impressed Lirha, and she nodded slowly as she considered the rest of his words. "I understand." she replied, "Working off of natural intuition and instinct is a critical skill set for all senior officers, and one which took me years to fine-tune in the Intelligence department. And, ultimately," she paused to reinforce the most important aspect of his controversial subordinate decision, "You made the correct choice. I am not looking for..." she paused again briefly to think of the correct Earth animal to reference, "sheep to blindly follow me or Lieutenant Commander Holliday. We are a science vessel and as such, we must be open-minded to all possibilities, even the unknown."

"My job, ma'am, as both you and I have been taught to understand it, is to ensure the safety of the vessel. That's something that I've been doing well for some years now." He re-adjusted his posture in the seat again, clearly uncomfortable with being so outspoken. His eyes darted around the room, analysing each corner of the office in some kind of attempt to avoid her gaze directly. "I assure you that I'll be performing my duties to the letter and with the guidance of my superior officers. All I'd ask is that you would hear what I have to say, when such a thing is necessary. It seems to me that this is the basis for a strong working relationship between a commanding officer and their senior staff members. Grant me the freedom to express concern - to warn you - and I'm satisfied. The decision itself is, of course, yours or the XO's."

Lirha gave him a small smile. "The opinions of my senior officers are always valuable to me, and my door is always open should you feel the need to speak to me about something." she replied, happy with man's response and understanding of his duties.

He smiled thinly and nodded, allowing a momentary silence to fall between the pair. Before it could fill the room, he suddenly broke into a chuckle. "You know, Commander, this just isn't me. It never was and every time they make me sit down and do this it just gets more difficult. I'm a solid officer, I promise you. I know my job and I like to be working - I really do. Starfleet has given me opportunities that no other organisation can offer. I'm grateful for that."

"Well, I don't doubt your abilities, lieutenant. And as long as you follow the chain of command, I think we will get along just fine." she replied, then paused a moment to change the subject to something a bit more comfortable. "So is this your first time aboard a Nova Class starship?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, ma'am. I saw one undergoing an SIF re-fit back at 'eighty two but I've never actually been aboard one. I like the size, though. She's compact. I've always believed that less is more when it comes to starships."

"I'm quite fond of her, I admit." Lirha replied, affectionately glancing around her ready room. "Unfortunately, we lack many of the facilities of larger starships, so you will find the recreational areas somewhat...limited." she warned.

He nodded, folding his hands in his lap, leaning intently forward upon his elbows. "I can appreciate that, I'm sure it won't be a problem. Is the crew sociable?"

Lirha shrugged, unsure of what exactly he meant by 'sociable'. "Some of them, very much so. Others...well, we're a Federation starship with a diverse crew of many races, and there is always a bit of a awkwardness as we all attempt to become comfortable with each other's work and social habits." she answered.

"I can understand that. I met Ensigns Rhodes and Rice this morning on the access ramp, they seemed like good officers. I liked Rhodes, I think we'll get on well. I guess I remember what it was like to wear his shoes." Parker inclined his head to the right, laughing awkwardly. "Captain, can you tell me if I'm babbling? Because it sure feels like it."

The Orion captain smiled slightly. "I'm not really one to interrupt someone who has something on their mind." she replied. "But I suppose I should get back to my paperwork soon. It's never-ending, you see...one of the anomalies of being in command." she said in jest.

"Yeah, uh, certainly, ma'am," he said, suddenly pulling himself to his feet. He tugged at the bottom of his uniform jacket and regarded her for a moment. Her youthful appearance was deceiving; she'd sounded to him like any other strong willed Starfleet officer. Lifting his kitbag, with a mind to return to his quarters, he gestured to the PADD on the desk. "Please don't let the Heroic affect your opinion. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have here and that report doesn't really highlight my strengths. I won't let you down."

"Don't worry, Mister Parker, I'm sure you won't. Welcome aboard Galileo." she said with a warm smile as her eyes glanced back at the PADD. "Dismissed." she added, giving him a proper send off to his new posting.

[OFF]
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Commander Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant Scott Parker
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

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