Reporting For Duty

Posted on 20 Mar 2012 @ 9:19am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant Lilou Zaren

2,905 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Office
Timeline: MD 05 - 1515 hrs

[ON]

The Orion captain chuckled to herself, having just conducted one of the most interesting and entertaining crew interviews in recent memory. She was very pleased with her enthusiastic and...enigmatic new biotechnologist, and was anxious to see how well he adapted to ship life. Leaning back in her chair, Lirha picked up the next PADD which contained several final personnel files for the day. She smiled to herself with satisfaction as she read over the service record of a new engineering officer, Master Warrant Officer Lilou Peers. Her work history in Starfleet appeared quite impressive, and she was a true warrant officer with her level of technical expertise. Anxious to meet the new lady, Lirha quickly composed a message on her console requesting the woman's presence, and transmitted it to her PADD. Hopefully, the new engineer would receive the transmission and report to the captain's office in a timely manner.

Lilou had only just retrieved her solitary crate of belongings from the cargo transport pad when her PADD chirped. Awkwardly, she balanced on one foot, holding the crate between her knee and elbow as she fumbled to the message screen. It hadn't occurred to her to wait, to put the crate down, to finish the task of stowing her meager belongings into what would be her new home for the foreseeable future. The chirp meant someone needed her and someone needing her was never something to put aside for later. Message received, she cradled the crate beneath her arm once more and followed her mental map of the ship, carefully squeezing herself into the turbolift and trying to avoid bumping the other inhabitants on the ride down to crew quarters. She received no less than three strained looks and gained yet another when a Science Officer stepped into the already crowded lift and she lifted her crate above her head to compensate.

Not here one day and she was already sticking out like a demeanor-less thumb. She kept her head down as she passed down the corridor to her destination, her cheeks warm. Quickly, she registered her ID code, threw her crate into the tiny spartan sleeping bay, and hurried back to the turbo lifts. She was bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet as she waited to be released back to Deck 2 and the transporter room. When she reappeared in there, asking to be set down planet-side, she received another quizzical look. She'd only just hit the decks of the Galileo and she was already scurrying off? Still, they sent her on and the next thing she knew, she was standing in a familiar Starfleet transporter room. A few minutes later, she stepped out into far too much open space.

It had been six years since she'd been planet-side; Lilou was struck that she felt so awkward here. Earth, while it wasn't her home, had been a home to her - at least for a few years. Still, standing on the dry docks looking up at the brand new, shining silver exterior of the Nova Class starship USS Galileo, she felt oddly disconnected. She needed to be part of the ship, a cog turning in the giant wheel. The only reason for being outside a starship or starbase, in her opinion, was to be repairing the hull.

As she shouldered her way into Starfleet HQ, she was grateful for the ceilings. She felt far less exposed and, not for the first time, wondered just how people could stand being born and living on a planet, of all things. It seemed so... uncivilized. Alien. She found her way to the captain's office without too much trouble and stopped outside the door, signaling her arrival on the door's panel, folding her hands behind her back to wait. On the outside... well, she didn't know what she looked like. She tried, as always, to project a sense of calm readiness, but experience told her she probably only looked like one or the other. She'd never quite managed both at the same time. As the door wheezed open, she checked herself mentally, lifted her chin and smiled, fighting the urge to press her hands to her cheeks to check if they were still blazing. "Captain, you asked to see me," she said by way of introduction. "I'm Lilou Peers, Warrant Officer Engineering, assigned to your ship, the Galileo, sir." The words sounded stilted as they reached her ears, but they were the ones she knew were expected. No Captain wanted to hear some data-brained engine geek prattle on about how nice and shiny their ship was. Face to a name and get out of the way. A half second later, remembering belatedly, she snapped her hand to her head in a salute.

Lirha stood up from her chair as the young engineer entered her office. "Ah, Miss Peers," she began with a warm smile, "Thank you for coming on such short notice. At ease, please. I trust you found my office without any problems?" she asked, then motioned with her hand towards a nearby vacant chair, indicating for the woman to have a seat.

Lilou dropped her saluting arm gratefully and followed the captain's gesture to the vacant chair, perching at the edge of the seat. She couldn't relax, not yet. She knew she probably wouldn't until she were back on the ship and far enough from the planet and the Alpha Centauri system that they couldn't change their minds and ship her back again. Why else would the captain wait until just before departure date to ask to see her? She'd known getting this position without an interview had been far too easy. "Yes, sir," she replied, watching the captain's face attentively. 'People before ships,' she reminded herself. 'People before ships.' Actively, she tried to steer her thoughts away from wondering why she bothered trying to read facial cues when the subtlety of them was so often lost on her. "I've never had any problems adjusting my personal sense of navigation to any Starfleet architecture: land, ship, or base. The protocols and geographical configurations follow very basic laws of symmetry and numerical progression. It's a design flaw, actually, considering how many of our Federation ships enter into combat situations. One might think a less easy-to-navigate design would promote a more secure facility..." She was babbling. She could hear it. Stop, stop, stop. "Not that the Federation has anything to worry about. Or the Galileo. I'm sure it's extremely well suited to the task at hand, and well-led, and all the security protocols will undoubtedly serve just as they're meant to. And, of course, it's an a-plus craft, the Galileo, absolutely stunning down to its blueprints, designed and built by some of the greatest Federation minds, you can tell just by looking at her, so..." She bit the back of her tongue with her back teeth to stop it flapping. "No, sir, I had no trouble finding your office." She bit the back of her tongue again and imagined her breath flowing into her nostrils, down to her lungs, oxygen accumulating and matriculating through her blood stream out to the farthest reaches, muscles relaxing. Calm. Calm. She couldn't get reassigned yet. She hadn't had a chance to do anything to annoy anyone... except maybe just then, opening her ridiculous hypothetical-disaster mouth. Carefully, she folded her hands in her lap and clamped her jaw shut with a small, awkward smile.

The captain raised an eyebrow with a hint of amusement in her green eyes as she stared at the young Trill woman. "Please, call me 'Captain'." she said, noticing that the crewman in front of her seemed a bit...nervous. "And try to relax, Miss Peers, this is simply an informal interview." she said with a reassuring smile.

"Yes, Captain." Try to relax, indeed. She was trying. That was part of the problem. As far as she could tell, the only time anyone was actually relaxed was when they weren't trying to be. The very attempt made the act impossible. Her lips twisted into a self-deprecating smirk as she rallied her defenses for another round. Once more into the breach of interpersonal skills. She began to talk herself through system summaries and comparisons of starships, picturing the information streaming past her, and the flow of information calmed her more than anything else could have.

"So," Lirha began with friendly eyes, folding her green hands casually in her lap, "What brings you to the Galileo? Was this an assignment you requested, or were you transferred?" she asked, curious as to the reason behind the woman's arrival.

"I requested the transfer, Captain. It's not too often a brand new ship like the Galileo has positions available for someone like me, so when I saw there was a chance I could serve her - serve the Federation," Lilou corrected herself. 'People before ships,' she reminded herself yet again. That's it; she was making it a mantra. "-I couldn't pass it up. The Algonquin was a solid boat, sleek and lightening fast, but she was underused. To keep busy, I shipped myself over to the Tekne miner regularly, which was falling apart more often than not and the crewmen there didn't seem to care much. Poor old girl was doing her best, but it's hard getting slammed in the face with asteroid debris constantly and that happens to every miner, especially since it's not worth it to the corporations to keep the energy running to keep their shield stabilizers operational during the drilling for the most part. It's more cost effective," she said the word with a frown, and it was clear from her tone and expression that the whole discussion was as frustrating to her as it might have been for some others to talk about the plight of an epidemic, "to build cheap ships, use them until they're scrap, and then take that scrap and the minerals it's acquired back to base to rebuild from the wreckage. Which is fine," she said thoughtfully, losing herself to the topic, "but a little care and tenderness goes a long way... Those ships are severely undervalued." She glanced up from her hands, another small smile flickering across her lips. "That won't happen to the Galileo; she's primed and respectable, and it sounds like you're planning to put her through her paces; I wanted to be there to see her do it. Help her go further." Surely all this had been in her application. Had the captain not had a say in taking Lilou into her crew? What did that mean? Who had allowed her to be reassigned? She'd been sure the captain of the Tekne and his corporate puppet-masters would have done his level best to keep her from ever getting another assignment. And her parents didn't have enough pull to land her on a boat like the Galileo, not unless they knew the Captain. Which she was almost sure they did not. She hoped not. She'd liked believing she'd earned her right to this starship. "Does that answer your question, Captain?" she asked, curious.

"Yes, very much so." she answered with a chuckle. "I looked over your transfer file in your service record, but I wanted to hear it from you, as well." she finished with a wink. The young warrant officer seemed to have a knack for detail, which would serve her well at her position, Lirha thought. "I assume you are familiar with Nova Class starships? How do you feel about serving aboard such a small and specialized vessel?" she asked. Unlike the some of the larger and more multi-role starships in the fleet, the Galileo was geared for short-range scientific and reconnaissance missions, and Lirha made a habit of reminding all of her crew of that fact, even the most seasoned and experienced ones.

Lilou tapped her fingers against her knee, leaning in to the conversation. Talking about the ship kept her mind off her nerves; the tension in her shoulders eased as her expression softened. "I've studied the Nova Class extensively, Captain. She's small, yes, but she's got grit to her and she can pack a punch if need be." She'd only been on the boat for fifteen minutes, but she'd fallen half in love with her the first time she'd seen a Nova blueprint. "I prefer the smaller classes in general. More attention goes into the detail of their design and..." Her gaze flicked to her hand and the tapping stilled. "In all honesty, Captain, I like knowing that we're all working for the same goals here. Nothing's wasted. Every piece of the puzzle has a greater purpose. Small is good."

"I feel the same way, to be honest." the captain began as she adjusted herself in her chair, "My background is in Intelligence and I've served aboard a variety of starships during my career...so far, none have quite had the look and feel of the Galileo." she added, then picked up a PADD and began to read through the warrant officer's service record. "Tell me a little about your last assignment, the Algonquin."

"Cheyenne-class, light cruiser, outdated tech that was tragically underused. She had twenty decks, housing a crew of four hundred and thirty two, including a large company of marines." Her jaw twitched a little as she said that, but she moved on. She'd been asked for a report on her assignment, not what had happened off the record. "Four nacelles; she was capable of Warp 9.2 easy, but we never took her that fast. Ostensibly, our duties were to protect the asteroids that Tekne Corp had laid claim to and we hit trouble more than a few times, but for the most part we were reserve power for the Star - which was a scrap and tape junker miner-class the corporation had decided to use in that system instead of spending anything on R&D. She'd been scrapped and rebuilt four times in the previous ten years; not once while I was there, thank the stars, don't know what I'd have done." She pressed her fingers to her eyelids for a split second, restoring her center. "Six fighters, one runabout, six shuttles, and three transports. When I wasn't repairing the miner, I was back on the Algonquin working on the auxiliary crafts. We did a lot of mineral hauls to the nearby space stations and starbases in them and between the Star, the transports, and the fighters, there was always maintenance to be done." She paused, looking down at her hands. At least there was for me, she added silently. "Did you have a specific question you wanted to ask, Captain?" She'd said she had a background in Intelligence - had that simply been sharing information or a warning? There wasn't anything in her service record that was suspect - she didn't think so, anyway.

Lirha shrugged and paused for a moment, impressed at the thorough details her new engineer had just provided. "Well, I suppose I was more curious as to whether or not you enjoyed the assignment." she said. "Being a starship engineer is always a busy job, but some take to it better than others." she added. "But your answer gave me some good insight, and will suffice." she finished with a grin. "Do you have any questions for me?" she asked, offering the young warrant officer a chance to inquire about anything on her mind.

Why did you take me? The question was immediate in Lilou's mind, but she stopped it before it reached her tongue. Asking her commanding officer such a thing would only make her either look incompetent or narcissistic. She deserved her post and she'd work hard to prove it. That was enough. The second question, How did you get command of a brand new boat when you're so young? was also completely inappropriate. She bit her tongue, hard, and shook her head. "No, Captain. There's not much I have a right to ask. Well- not a question-" She paused, brows drawing together as she searched for the right way to say what was on her mind. "I love my work, Captain. And I can promise you, there's not many will love that ship of yours more deeply and try to protect her more fiercely. I wanted to say -" There's a hole in me, a part that's always missing and probably always will be, but this work fills it. These ships fill it. Make me whole. Better. Real. Alive. "I appreciate the opportunity. Thank you," she finished awkwardly, already wishing she'd just kept her mouth shut.

"Don't thank me just yet." the Orion captain replied with a mischievous grin as she thought of all the potential problems and kinks that needed to be worked out on a new starship. "Well, I'm looking forward to having you with us. Welcome aboard, Miss Peers." Lirha said with an approving nod. "If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."

Lilou lifted her hand in a salute and stood, slipping out the door. As the door shut behind her, she took a deep breath and headed back to the ship.

[OFF]

--

Master Warrant Officer Lilou Peers
Engineering Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

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