Oh Why Even Try?

Posted on 23 May 2019 @ 9:59pm by Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc

1,505 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 1, Conference Room
Timeline: MD -15, 1240 hours

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An entire story played across Lake ir-Llantrisant's face in that moment. Between his severe brow ridges, the occasional lines around his eyes, the expressive curve of his lips, and his dark eyes he managed to embark on an entire hero's journey. It wasn't the most remarkable of heroes journeys, but it was a journey all the same. When the doorway opened, Lake appear shocked that someone had entered the compartment, and then he looked curious about what time it was --as his eyes darted towards the chronometer on the wall-mounted LCARS panel-- and then relaxed when he remembered the conference room was still scheduled for him. After that, there was a look of recognition across his eyes, and everything was right in the world again. All of this, he managed, with half of an arepa jammed in his mouth.

"Ah, yes," Lake said, while he frantically chewed on fried dough. Trying to clear his mouth, Lake swallowed hard, and he stood up to greet his new companion. "Yes, Chief Ghoc, yes," Lake said, "Please come in." He swept his arm out to indicate the arepa buffet he'd laid out on the conference table, including bowls of shredded meats, cheese, beans, sauces and of course arepas. The spread wasn't pristine --especially given how Lake had already helped himself-- but it remained bountiful. "Help yourself," he said.

Azra shrugged and grabbed an arepa with a few slices of cheese and a few pinches of meat. She pulled one of the several chairs out from the table and sat. Although Galileo's bosun respected Starfleet regulations, it was her job to train people to follow them, she struggled with the procedures she found pointless. The meeting she was currently attending being one.

As she rolled the chair under the table, she set the arepa on the table in front of her. "So, what questions do you have for me?"

Nodding briefly, Lake considered Azra's words and the thought about how to succinctly summarize what he needed from the Boatswain. "There have been more than a few metrics suggesting crew morale is suffering in the past few weeks," Lake said to begin, because it was certainly the most pressing reason, although there was also some need due to the fact, "and crew evaluation season is nearly upon us. I would greatly value your perspective on any themes you're noticing in crew performance, or training needs, that could be used to inspire some course correction, so to speak."

"Honestly," Azra said, by way of preamble, "I think that most of the morale issues we're seeing come from sheer boredom. While I am still holding regular training sessions, and the department heads are trying to keep everyone busy, there's only so much of a single set of tasks a person can handle. Doing the same thing day-in and day-out gets powerfully dull after a month, and becomes drudgery after several months."

Azra took a bite of her "sandwich" and chewed for a brief moment before answering the second part of Lake's question. "As for training needs, from every metric I can track the crew is operating at a higher level than most Starfleet crews can claim, even with low morale. As for course correction, there is relatively little that we can do during duty shifts that we aren't already doing. Surprise inspections, drills, and productivity rewards keep us working efficiently, but doesn't stop the boredom."

While Azra spoke, Lake had chewed and chewed on his arepa. At first he had made some attempt to tap notes onto a PADD, and then he couldn't quite keep up, so he stopped trying. "That's, uh, that's a lot of information," Lake said, spinning his index finger over his PADD as he considered how to capture it all; "all at once, huh?"

"I'll send you the data," Azra said without hesitation. She was exceptionally organized, and she'd already built a number of dashboards comparing each department's performance with both the average and maximum performance across the fleet. She'd even graphed out each individual's performance in relation to fleet proficiency goals and average achievement. "With only a few exceptions each of the Starfleet personnel aboard is achieving above expected results, and in a few cases far above. As for the motivational measures, I also have logs reporting on their frequency and estimated impact on performance."

"That would be much appreciated," Lake said, brightening up from his earlier state of overwhelmed. "Those will make Commander Blake's crew evaluation conversations far richer, I believe." --He took a smaller bite from his arepa and sipped at his tea-- "I heard you mention a few exceptions to our well-performing personnel," Lake said, following his curiosity. "Who would you say you're most worried about?"

Azra thought for a few moments. While she was incredibly organized, she didn't have anywhere near perfect recall. "If I'm remembering correctly, I believe that Crewman Thero and Petty Officer Reteif are two members of the crew that I am most concerned about. Both only barely achieve satisfactory results in the majority of the training sessions. With Mr. Reteif, I think it's an issue of motivation, but I'm not familiar enough with Ms. Thero to say what may be behind her lack of exceptional achievement."

Galileo's bosun added, "To be clear, both are achieving results higher than typical Starfleet standard, but they lag behind the rest of the crew by a significant amount."

Nodding quickly at Azra's observations, Lake remarked, "Wherever they may land on that spectrum of performance, we always want their experience on this tour of duty to be personally rewarding. We all had to volunteer for Galileo and this mission, which means it had to mean something at some point in time." --He sipped at his tea again-- "What have you observed of Reteif's flagging motivation?"

"Flagging isn't the right word," Azra said. She'd gone over and over this in her head. "From what I can tell he never had the motivation to excel in regard to Starfleet's preparedness ratings. He does just well enough to pass, but no better, and every time I talk with him about how to help motivate him, he just shrugs." It was one of the things she was most frustrated by over the last couple of months.

Seeing how important this was to Azra, Lake asked, "Why do you think he's here?" in reference to the Galileo's mission into the unknown. "Off the record," he suggested, giving into his own curiosity. "If he can't break a sweat for his duties, why is he here?"

"That's part of why I'm confused," Azra confessed, "Lieutenant Sandoval rates his work and productivity very highly. The same goes for his previous supervisors. But then you look at his general preparedness scores and he barely passes."

"I can't say," Lake said, shaking his head with the same hesitancy that was in his voice, "I'm entirely familiar with the granular details of how the ship operates. If his superiors rate his work productivity highly and his preparedness scores are low," Lake asked, "what's the difference between those two measures? What does he value in the labs that he can't find elsewhere in his career?"

Azra shrugged. "That's a good question. I know that not everyone shares my interest in a wide range of proficiencies, but every member of Starfleet should want to be prepared for emergencies. Maybe Mr Reteif just doesn't understand the importance of preparedness."

"How would you describe your own motivation," Lake asked, "these days?" His eyes down on his plate, Lake piled a touch more shredded meat on his half-eaten arepa.

Azra thought for a few moments. "The length of this transit has made it difficult to maintain intense motivation, but I'd say that I'm at least as motivated as I was after a few years on other posts. And we've made significant progress with most of the crew. So that's satisfying."

"That's what we're all here for," Lake said. He offered a lopsided smile and nodded his agreement, speaking for roles such as Azra and his own. "We support the crew in their journey of discovery. Our success translates to their success, and their success is our success."

"Agreed," Azra replied. It sounded like a dismissal. "Thank you for your time, Lieutenant." Oddly enough, she found that she was actually grateful. Not that it had any concrete purpose or effects, but she did at least have a better sense of how things were actually going aboard.

"And thank you for your time," Lake replied. "Any new information is a gift. Gives me more ideas about the kinds of wellness programs we may need for the crew." He chomped on the last few bites of his meal and he nodded at Azra with gratitude. "I won't take up anymore of your time. Thank you again, Chief."


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Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Azra Ghoc
Boatswain
USS Galileo-A

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