A Duty to the Fallen: Gold Trim

Posted on 12 May 2024 @ 8:33pm by Master Chief Petty Officer Toren Vral & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm

3,295 words; about a 16 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-B - Deck 2, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD 05 - 0900

[ON]

Toren hadn't been over to the B since his run in with Vren. He had not had the need as part of regular duties, but there had certainly been ample opportunity... He was no coward but the idea of another second spent under the acidic gaze of his son did not appeal one bit.

Still, as a human colleague of his on the Celestial had often said, 'needs must when the devil drives'. Toren wasn't really sure what a devil was but he was always fond of an idiom. In this case his 'devil' was a long held responsibility of the Chief of the Boat - gettin' things in order. Ha! What but duty could compel him to have so many less than savoury conversations in one day.

He felt the tell tale tingle of the transporter beam shifting his matter over to the sister ship. The Admiral would be in her ready room, so he proceeded with slightly more urgency than he normally would towards the turbolift.

Several moments later he was in front of the ready room door. He locked himself into a professional stance and pushed the chime.

"Enter," followed the distinctive reply of a light and accented Orion voice followed by the single door swishing open to present its interior.

Admiral Lirha Saalm was seated behind her desk with her dark black hair pulled back behind her ears while she tapped away at her console, inputting several administrative logs and requests into the ship's computer at a rapid pace. Her discerning light green irises briefly glanced to the blue-skinned Andorian arrival then quickly darted back to her screen. "Vren, shouldn't you be down in Engin--" she paused her speech when she realized the Andorian in question was donning a red-collared uniform from the past, not one of her crew's. "Toren. My apologies...you look very much like your son. Or vice versa, perhaps. Please sit."

Toren didn't outwardly react to the confusion. He couldn't deny his son had taken on many of his features, something Vren no doubt lamented in his broken state. He pushed thoughts of his estranged child to the back of his mind, smartly entering and taking a seat across from Saalm.

"Admiral, I appreciate your seeing me," he gave a respectful nod of his head, antennae bouncing slightly with the motion, "There's never been a busier time for any o'us but some things I can't in good conscience delay." He caught the Orion's gaze, "I would like to speak to you about the death of Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hollenday. It is my habit and my duty to ensure a good account is made of the circumstances in the log an' to Commander Tarin," he paused for a moment, before adding, "Beyond the written reports, that is."

Saalm observed the tall Galileo-A chief of the boat move into the room then sit. His posture, aura, even speech inflections were different than those of his child yet still familiar in a strange way. Seeing this lens into one of her crew member's past was...slightly unsettling. But also comforting. At least one of Vren's parents was still alive, regardless of what time period they'd come from.

"Of course, master chief. I'm aware of the impact Hollenday's death must have on both members of your crew and mine." She tapped a large button at the bottom of her console which paused her work then collapsed the terminal. She clasped both of her green hands together atop her desk and gave him her undivided attention for the next several minutes. "What is it you wish to know?"

Toren fished a PADD from a pocket and tapped it a couple of times. His long career had taught him that the gold threads weren't too different from the brass collars, and he'd sat in front of both in similar circumstances many times before.

"Well I recieved a meti'ulous report from Ensign M'Lyr'Zor as to the situation down in Engineering, and o' course I am well aware of the overall context," he almost put a hand to his chest where his rib had been driven through his lung during the battle, "But I did have some clarifyin' questions if you would be so kind as to assist me."

A single curt nod was given from Galileo-B's captain followed by, "Proceed."

Toren shifted a little and kept his eyes on the Orion admiral, "During the heat of the conflict, sah, your order to seal the Jeffries tube was critical no doubt. Given the dire circumstances we faced durin' the battle, could you share your perspective on the specific factors that led to the order to seal the hatch?"

Saalm's hands retracted from the desk top and into her lap while she leaned back in her chair and studied the facial features of the senior Vral while pondering the intricacies of his question. "We were engaged in an offensive posture against the Romulan scout vessels. Two versus two...as even of an uneven engagement as is possible," she recalled. "I ordered Attack Pattern Beta 3 then relayed our posture to your starship. My intent was to merge with them to negate their firepower advantage while isolating a single one of their vessels to destroy it as quickly as possible. Entering the merge, Galileo-B was solely targeted by both Romulan ships in a frontal assault and we took heavy fire from them which compromised our shield integrity."

The emerald-skinned admiral exhaled a frustrated breath through her nose then continued her recollection of the battle. "We managed to turn on the lead Romulan scout vessel and the maneuvering battle began - I ordered Commander Tarin to cover our aft quarter from the second warbird while we prosecuted our target. She did as was instructed for several minutes, helping to present a new target and absorbing some disruptor fire from the trailing enemy..."

"But then, your captain broke off from her defensive posture to isolate the same target we were firing upon and left our aft quarter exposed. I...believe Tarin saw an opportunity to expedite the destruction of one of the warbirds and took a calculated risk to leave us, despite her orders. This action led to a hole in our defenses and we sustained several direct impacts on our secondary hull after our rear shield grids collapsed. We were hit between decks 6 and 7 in our engineering compartment which took out our plasma relays. Ensign Sera ordered Petty Officer Hollenday to repair the damage as quickly as possible using the local Jefferies tube conduit, but then we absorbed another volley of disuptor fire. That one broke our inner and outer hull in the same section your engineer was working. The utility systems went offline for several minutes, including the forcefield generators. There was...no choice but to manually seal that hatch before we lost the ship if the containment fields failed."

Toren's antennae swayed a little as he listened to the Admiral. He had been on the Bridge of the A during the fight - it had been intense, and in the storm you followed orders to the letter. It hadn't occurred to him that Tarin had both figuratively and literally broken rank.

"I appreciate the thoroughness of your account. It’s clear you were jugglin’ a slew of critical decisions in a moment where every second counted." He paused, his gaze fixed on Saalm, "The part that remains somewhat murky to me, sah," he continued, shifting the PADD on his lap, "is the precise nature of the Galileo-A's actions during the skirmish." Toren's somewhat gruff tone softened as he trod delicately onward, "Within the context of the battle, would you consider Commander Tarin's actions a contravention of your orders?"

Saalm's light green eyes tightened, the ageing creases at the periphery becoming more prominent. "Commander Tarin broke formation, yes. I suppose that is technically a 'contravention' of her standing orders," she was forced to admit. "However had it not been for those actions, both of us would most likely not be alive to criticize her decision."

The Orion attempted to explain her reasoning further with more detail to the Andorian COB. "The Romulan vessels we encountered - of this era - we refer to as 'R'tor-class'. They are highly maneuverable with potent sensors and electronic countermeasures. In the turning battle our four vessels were engaged in, the Romulans would have eventually turned into both Galileos' aft quarters and put us on the defensive. We would have been worn down by attrition and suffered much more damage and many more casualties. I saw this possibility beginning to emerge and I believe Commander Tarin did as well. She then performed a perilous maneuver to prevent it from happening, which was successful. I cannot chastise her for her actions. They saved our two starships."

Toren's expression remained thoughtful as he listened to Saalm's response, then nodded slowly as it came to an end. "Sah, it's a tightrope we walk, ain't it?" He finally said, his voice tinged with understanding, "The balance 'tween order and initiative. Disaster an' salvation." He left it at that, admittedly glad that the Admiral avoided hanging his CO out to dry.

Still that battle winning manoeuvres may have been the difference between life and death for Officer Hollenday. Food for later thought.

"I'll move on if 'y don't mind, sah," he tapped his PADD a couple of times before returning his eyes to the Orion, "Decisions such as this can shake the crew's trust and affect their morale. What measures do you recommend to openly address and mitigate any fallout among the crew following these harsh but necessary choices?"

"...Measures?" she frowned with slight confusion. Morale and crew fallout? Her eyes did a slow 360-degree scan of her surroundings while she pondered the strange question then quickly shook her head from side to side as she began to understand the master chief's line of query. "None. Toren, you must understand that every member of my crew has lost someone they loved. Family members, friends, colleagues, peers - we've been at war for many years and death...sacrifice is nothing new to us," she attempted to explain.

"Every Galileo-B crew member volunteered for this mission knowing it will be their last. We've accepted our fates and hopefully come to internal peace knowing we will die on our own terms; that our actions here with you and your Galileo will prevent this from ever occurring. My crew, by its very nature, trusts in the mission or else they would not be here. Morale...it cannot be any worse than it has been over the past two years. We're here for one reason, master chief: to ensure the survival of the Federation and its member species. Anything else is secondary and, with respect for your engineer, we can't afford to dwell on the past. We have honored him with a traditional ceremony rarely afforded to our own. That is the most I can do."

Toren nodded, "Standard questions don't quite cut it in the circumstances, sah, but I appreciate y' response nonetheless."

His antennae shifted as his mind wandered to his own past, "I was out on the line durin' the Dominion War," he grunted by way of a humourless laugh, "I suppose that must be a distant memory here. Small fry. But the odds were against us then. To all it looked like the Federation might fall an' well... in the end it didn't. Some plucky sorts found a way."

He gestured his head towards Saalm, his antennae bobbing a little, "An' here we are with those same plucky sorts, y'self and y'crew admiral, but for a different conflict." His gravelly tone took on a little softness, "Death, destruction. They're hard truths of these times. Hopefully your crew's morale will be bouyed at the end at least. When the A goes back to fix things."

The Dominion War indeed seemed so long ago in the Orion's memory. In truth, it was from a relative point of view. It'd been a terrible conflict which saw the loss of more than two-thirds of the Federation's fleet power, devastating attacks on Earth and the occupation of Betazed. Hundreds of millions of Federation citizens killed. "42 years since that conflict concluded...and I remember those dark days as clearly as those we face now," she nodded to him with understanding. "Of course, I was merely a teenager at the time and Nesh was little more than a toddler. But it was the reason I joined Starfleet." She then studied his veteran features closely in silence before asking, "Are you a spiritual man, Toren?"

"Not in the traditional sense, sah," Toren responded after a moment's thought. "I've seen too much of the cosmos to hold to any one belief too tightly. But you can't spend as much time below decks as I without pickin' up on a few superstitions."

He paused, allowing his gaze to drift for a moment as he considered the Admiral's question more deeply.

He shifted back to meet Saalm's gaze, his eyes clear and steady. "'An I do believe in the spirits of our actions, as 'twere, the echoes they leave behind. In that way, you could say I carry a bit of spiritual weight."

"An' you, Admiral?" Toren continued, flipping the inquiry back towards Saalm with a nod. "Does your path through the stars guide you to some higher understanding?"

Galileo-B's captain emoted a hollow shrug, one indicative of a broken person who'd long lost such faith. "At one time it did. My people have always been explorers similar to Humans. Whether for trade and new business opportunities or to colonize new planets, Orions were always curious of the worlds and people around them. We developed space-faring vessels well before many other races out of necessity when our original homeworld's star became unstable. That event - and the following diaspora - instilled a culture into us. A culture guided by the divine spirits who would always help us find our new destinations and care for us during our journeys." Ever so briefly, Saalm's light green eyes brightened while she recalled her kind's proud and unique history, but then they dulled and became semi-distant in their usual state.

"Those times have long passed, Toren," she revealed with personal candor and regretful inflection in her light voice. "Here...in this time, faith and spirituality only serve to motivate when we suffer constant death and defeat. I don't have the luxury of placing my confidence in a higher power or assuming the next day will be better than this one. My faith rests in my crew. And now your crew. You...they are the ones who will determine our future fate and these 'echos' you speak of."

“I reckon that’s a perspective I can respect, Admiral,” Toren replied, his voice low and gravelly. "Faith in our crews... It's the rock on which we build our command. Without it, the void we navigate would swallow us whole."

He paused for a moment or two then tapped his PADD again and slid it back into his pocket. "Off the record, sah, is there anythin' y' think I can do to tighten the teamwork between the crews of the two Galileos, especially as crunch time approaches?" He met her gaze, "Those on the A won't cope so well with this death as your more seasoned crew over here."

Presenting a rare smile to the older Andorian man, Saalm couldn't help but find a bit of humor within this dark conversation. "You are Galileo-A's COB, master chief. Shouldn't solving that puzzle be part of your duty?" she lightly teased.

Toren gave a gruff, "Ha!", by way of a chuckle, "Well, sah, I've never let pride get in the way o' good advice. If y' have any insights about your crew that'll help me get things workin' more smoothly then I'll take them gladly. If not I'll 'puzzle' away as ever."

The Orion's eyes lowered then she leaned forward within her chair to rest her forearms atop the table she sat behind. "During times such as this--" she gesticulated to the surrounding bulkheads, a metaphor for the entirety of their current existence, "you will draw no greater strength than from those around you and with whom you serve. So many of our worlds and people have been lost that it's become difficult to fight for the concept of a Starfleet and Federation which barely exists anymore." She locked her light green irises onto his electric blue ones. "Aboard this Galileo, we endure our hardships for each other...for the officer or NCO standing next to us at our stations. We find strength in our peers who we share so much with. Their lives - their well being is what motivates me every hour of each day to keep going. Draw on your strength together as a crew and consolidate, and your people will always give you their best. And then we will finally have common ground to share, and a true understanding of our shared objective."

Toren nodded, his antennae bouncing slightly with the motion. War always forged the fiercest bonds. The distinctions between officers and noncoms became blurred and the only thing that mattered was the objective, and the person by your side.

"Well said, Admiral. There's a deep truth in your words, one that I reckon we'll all need to hold close in the times ahead," Toren's raspy tone had a note of solemn appreciation.

He tapped the PADD in his pocket and gave a small smile, "I'll carry y' advice back to the A, and we'll make sure our folks are as bonded and resilient as yours. It's the unity that'll see us through, no doubt."

"See that you do. We are all counting on your crew and we've come too far to see this plan fall apart in its final stages," replied Saalm with a tinge of urgency and firmness in her subtly-accented inflection. "Any other queries you have for me? I'm afraid I must return to my duties sooner than later."

"No more questions, Admiral. You've given me plenty to think on." Toren responded, rising from his seat and straightening his uniform.

He gave a nod to the Admiral, "Thank you for your time, sah. It’s been inval-uable. I reckon I'll head on now, get on with adding to the report." He patted the PADD in his pocket, "The devil drives, as humans say, and duty calls."

"Duty calls for all of us, Toren. Especially now and here. Dismissed." She was about to look down back to her stack of PADDs but then remembered something she wished to tell the veteran Andorian man while she still had the chance. "Your son is a fine officer, by the way. You should be proud of him and what he has accomplished here on board Galileo. It's not often we are afforded a chance to reconnect with those so close to us, across time. Take advantage of it while you can."

"Yessah," Toren said, maintaining a stoic composure, "I will take that under advisement, sah." Vren seemed too damaged to reconnect with, but the Admiral was right - time dwindled, and this version of his son deserved some closure one way or another. He gave Saalm a final, firm nod, then smartly left the office.

[OFF]

--

MCPO Toren Vral
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vala]

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Tarin]

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