Breakfast Of Heroes

Posted on 10 Feb 2012 @ 7:09am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm
Edited on on 10 Feb 2012 @ 7:14am

2,368 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Episode 00 - Pre-Deployment
Location: Starfleet HQ, Mess Hall
Timeline: MD-02 0945hrs

[ON]

The trip to the mess hall had been more than a little disconcerting for John, it had definitely been a while since he had last spent any considerable time here, usually just passing through between assignments, or to pick up his new orders. In fact he probably remembered his way around his first posting better than he remembered these corridors!

Nevertheless, he had to admit he felt a little bit more at ease having someone to follow, although he was never going to openly admit that here, not where anybody walking past could hear it! He would have to make a note to thank the Commander at some point where there was a lull in mission proceedings.

The mess hall in HQ was no different to any other part of this facility, big, grand, and generally rather imposing, sort of a symbol of the power of Starfleet even after the damage it had taken during the Dominion War several years earlier. Earth was meant to be the embodiment of paradise, and this would extend even into its military facilities. Officers bustled around in a kind of organised chaos, everybody knowing where to go and what to do, even the first and second year cadets on assignment here seemed to be fitting in just fine. This many people was heading towards being rather too much for John, but he would make an attempt to control his frustrations for now, there was no point showing weakness in front of a CO he had only known for a few moments.

"I see this place hasn't changed since I was last here...although back then I was only an Ensign, and I had a Lieutenant leading me around in a group insisting that we understand the facility layout...so much for that lesson sticking"

The young Orion grinned as her own memories of her Academy days flooded her thoughts. Her XO was right, the mess hall looked pretty much like it did seven years ago when she had graduated. Some of the tech had been upgraded and the uniforms were slightly different, yet the building and rooms had the same old Starfleet look and feel to it.

He mentioned in passing as the two latest additions to the Galileo crew headed towards the bank of replicators located along one wall of the cafeteria. Of course being Earth there were also freshly cooked alternatives on offer, but this wasn't exactly an efficient use of time or resources, the replicators, as far as John could tell were just as good, and if anything reminded him more of home. Even with the advanced terraforming used over the course of Mars' development, crop growth was still relatively minimal, most of the space available was designated for either Starfleet, or civillian population living space, and only a small amount spare fo ranything else. Thus, he had grown up around replicated food, and saw it as a kind of comforting option.

"Eggs - scrambled on white toast, with coffee, black, double sweet."

He announced to the replicator, in all honesty he wasn't particularly hungry, and a small offering such as this would be more than sufficient for now. Usually he would have declined the option of breakfast, but he didnt exactly feel like saying "no" to the person who was soon to be his boss.
At the adjacent replicator, he watched as the meal choice of the Commander materialised in the familiar slot

Lirha's breakfast consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich, two strips of bacon, and a large glass of orange juice. She normally would never dare of eating such a high-cholesterol meal, but she figured the greasy food would be soothing for her stomach. During her time on Earth as a teenager, she had become quite fond of Human's culinary tastes, and found their indulgence in fatty and sugar-laced foods to be quite exquisite.

With food and drink in hand, Lirha grabbed a set of silverware and led them over to a small table near the corner of the room which was away from the most crowded area of the cafeteria. She took a seat and glanced at her XO as he joined her at the table.

"So, Mister Holliday...tell me about yourself." she said with a friendly smile as she picked up her sandwich and took a large bite.

After settling into his breakfast, John remained rather on edge, it was the first time he had dined with CO, and he wasn't entirely sure what to expect. Being asked about himself was a rather unusuale question in his eyes, he would have preferred just to stick to the mission at hand, instead of sidestepping it with personal requests.

"Not much to tell ma'am, I was born on the Martian Colonies, entered the Academy as soon as I could, and spent the last two years ferrying Romulan survivors around and making sure the Klingons didn't pick them off too easily"

He took another forkful of his breakfast, and with an awkward expression on his face, realised that he probably could do with revealing a little bit more information than that, the extremely abridged version of the best part of 20 years of his life might have seemed a little bit..short.

"Before that I served at the Academy, instructing in Starship Combat, apparently the new recruits these days need a good kick in the pants to realise which button fires the phasers...that didn't last long though, lets just say I had a slight....disagreement...with the Academy Commandant and took the first assignment out of there...not that I enjoyed that much more. Sure it was a Tactical posting, but there's only so many refugee runs you can do before you start realising that being stuck out in the Beta Quadrant just isn't the way to progress. Hence how I ended up here."

That was probably more than enough for now...that said he knew that Saalm had done some work for Intelligence...she was bound to come up with more questions, those Intel types always did, so John decided to try and 'head her off at the pass'

"What about you ma'am? I heard this was your first command posting, would I be correct?"

"You are correct. And I see you've done your homework." she replied with a smirk. "I most recently served aboard the Athens as Chief Intelligence Officer but my background is in Operations." she said, then took a few more bites of her sandwich and reveled in the fantastic flavors which stimulated her tongue.

"I was recalled back to headquarters on short notice and reassigned to command of the Galileo." Lirha added. She didn't want to go into too much detail about her strange transfer to the command department but she felt it was important to share her previous experiences and know-how with her new XO. "So you are a tactical man, Mister Holliday?" she asked with a small smile as she wiped her mouth clean with her napkin and took a sip of her juice.

"Yes ma'am" He replied, with an obvious sense of pride in his statement

"I specialised in Starship Combat and Tactics at the Academy, some people enjoy using words to solve their problems, I much prefer arming the phasers instead"

Giving it a moment for the information to pass through to his CO, John picked up his coffee, took a sip, and held the cup with both hands in front of his chest, looking down into the dark liquid as if reminscing about some past experience, before looking back up again.

"Diplomacy is all well and good, but there will always be a need for people like me, people who aren't afraid to step up to the plate when the going gets a little rough. That said, the Galileo isnt exactly a warship, so how much of that we'll get to do I don't know"

A pained expression spread across his face as he considered the tactical abilities of a Nova-class starship..a few phaser arrays, a couple of torpedo launchers..not exactly the Sovereign class assignment he had dreamed of during his academy days.

Lirha considered his words for several moments. Though she wouldn't admit it at the moment, she was thrilled to have her First Officer come from a tactical background. She, herself, wasn't well versed in starship tactics or strategy, and she had struggled with even the basic entry-level Security Protocol and Tactical Techniques courses while she was in the Academy. Now, to have a man who was experienced and well-versed in the field was a great relief to her...especially considering their newest assignment.

"So why did Starfleet transfer you to the Galileo?" she asked curiously. "Certainly there are more impressive vessels which would suit your field of expertise better?" she asked, then paused. "Or perhaps you requested this assignment?" she said hopefully then picked up a slice of bacon and slowly chewed on it.

And there came the moment that Holliday had dreaded, the moment where his new CO wanted to know why exactly he has been assigned to her command...his sense of duty told him that he had to tell her the truth, the whole story of his past mistakes, but the honour in him wanted to keep it quiet, play it off and make it look better than it really had been.

It took a few more moments, and another sip of coffee before John spoke again, hoping that the sweet, caffeine enriched broth would soothe the sense of bitter embarrassment at his situation.

"Lets just say, when I left the Academy teaching staff, it might not have been on the best of terms...in fact my last meeting with the Academy Commandant didn't end on a high...I think I might have referred to him displaying remarkably similar characteristics to a Risan dung-beetle, and have about as much backbone as a jellyfish...needless to say I was lucky I avoided a court martial...so when I requested reassignment from the Romulan relief mission to a new post, that same Admiral's name was written there in black and white on my new orders. I think he probably enjoyed sending the man of warfare to a ship of science."

She looked up at him with amusement sparkling in her green eyes. Not that she thought his current plight was humorous, but rather his past troubles with Starfleet. Lirha was a traditional 'good girl'. She had done everything asked of her to the tee and had never had a single reprimand recorded on her record throughout her entire career. "Well don't worry, Commander," she said, "Our little ship can outgun most other frigates in our class. Starfleet has given us a very capable and durable starship." she said proudly while also trying to reassure him.

It took all his composure to keep that rage bottled up inside, he was by no means a perfect officer, and now his CO knew all about it, if she didn't already from doing her own digging on her new crew members.

"But I'm hoping from a fresh start, a new ship, a new CO, and to be honest, the quicker I get away from San Francisco the better, I never felt entirely comfortable on Earth. When you don't really call this planet your home, it doesn't seem to have the same...place, in your heart as some other native Terrans might have."

By this point the last few pieces of breakfast were rapidly descending down his throat.

"So how about we take a look at this new bird of yours? See if the Engineers have managed to spell the name right on the hull or not?"

Lirha took a few final bites of her sandwich and finished her last piece of bacon, followed by a long swig of her orange juice. With her stomach finally settled, she still felt a bit woozy from her hangover but was much more energized. She knew she couldn't deny her new XO a chance to look at the ship when the drydock was only five miles away, but she had other matters to attend to at the moment. She was due to arrive in Savannah, Georgia in a little over an hour to meet her new Chief Medical Officer.

"I can't right now, Commander," she said softly, "But you are welcome to visit the docks today to conduct your own inspection." she finished, then thought for a second. "Tell you what...tomorrow, 0730 hours, meet me on Landing Platform Three and we will do a walk-through together?" she asked him, hopeful that he would want to look over the ship's internals with her.

"Yes ma'am"

He said with a slightly withdrawn voice, he was rather eager to get a look at this ship and see exactly how well built it had been. He knew that Starfleet had designed the Nova class to be able to hold its own in combat, at least for a while, the Type VIII phaser banks were probably the most out of place weapons system on such a small ship.

"I have very little else to do for now ma'am, with your permission I'd like to head over to the drydock and get my gear stowed away, then tomorrow by all means we can examine the ship from stem to stern?"

The green skinned woman smiled at him as well as his initiative. "Of course, by all means make yourself at home." she said, then stacked her plates and silverware neatly in a small pile. "I will see you promptly at 0730 tomorrow." she said and stood up.

Watching his CO begin to stand, John too leapt up from his seat, after all, it was only professional courtesy to be standing when a superior officer makes the decision to leave.

"See you tomorrow ma'am" he said, watching as Saalm disappeared out of the cafeteria, and headed out.

"I guess I better go find this ship of mine..." He muttered to himself, as he too headed for the exit.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LCDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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