Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Posted on 21 May 2013 @ 1:32pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 23 May 2013 @ 1:12pm

1,512 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1 - Ready Room
Timeline: MD07 1800hrs

[ON]

Beta shift had remained uneventful since John Holliday had taken his place in the central chair. The never ending flurry of scientific reports and analyses continued to drift in from the array of teams both on and off the Galileo on everything from atmospheric analysis, to mineral composition and the few remnants of ancient technology being freed from years of decay.

As he sat, the comm channel indicated on the panel to the right of his chair began to flash - encrypted for his eyes only it seemed, but definitely a Starfleet signature. Saying nothing, the XO transferred the call through to the Ready Room, knowing that Lirha would be elsewhere by now, and he would have the privacy he sorely needed to respond.

Standing from the big chair, he ducked off of the Bridge, and settled into the captain's chair behind her desk. Taking a moment to familiarise himself with the console layout, which the Orion seemed to fiddle with every other day to better suit her needs, John eventually found the comm interface routine, and transferred it to the main screen beside him.

"Nice to see you still answer my calls John."

The face of Robert Holliday, esteemed biologist and father to Galileo's first officer quickly formed in place of the Starfleet emblem. He seemed well - much better than he had been last time that John had seen him over the comm, seemingly recovered from his illness that without the help of Commander Coleman would have been all but fatal.

"I'd have hell to pay if I didn't old man. Now tell me, how did you manage to contact me on a Starfleet frequency, and an encrypted one at that? Last time I checked those frequencies were off-limits to civilians?"

John had never put anything beyond the abilities of his father, but accessing classified Starfleet transmitters was still an offense under Federation law - those channels were there for Starfleet use only, with more dedicated civilian channels existing for other methods of communication.

"And you would be correct - they are indeed off limits to civilians. But to Academy Instructors, they're fully available."

Holliday's confusion was little reduced by that statement - what his father said was indeed true, Instructors at the Academy were granted all the rights and privileges of their shipboard colleagues, but his father was a civilian. John didn't have to wait long however, as the older man leaned back to reveal the blue uniform of a Starfleet science officer, with the pips of an Academy Instructor clasped to the neckline.

"Dad...why are you wearing that uniform? That's....that's an Instructor's insignia on your neck....but you hate Starfleet? What happened to the whole nothing but a load of oppressive soldiers routine you used to pull on me?"

Robert had to smile, it was true that for years he had stated how Starfleet was of no benefit to science, and that their main contribution for the past several years had simply been to bring war and death to the Federation. However, his recovery from what had been presumed a fatal illness combined with some stiff words with his son and a certain El Aurian crewmate of his had been enough to convince the older man where he had been wrong.

"Well...put it this way John...I had a change of heart...when you're lying at death's door, something like being told you aren't gonna die tends to change a man. And if Starfleet seems to have made a decent job out of you...well maybe it could do the same for me. Still, someone has to teach these damn cadets the difference between a gram positive bacterium and a bacteriophage...might as well be me."

John could not believe what he was hearing. Keeping one eye on the monitor, he reached out his right hand to the console next to him and quickly accessed the Starfleet Academy database, cross-referencing his surname with the faculty listing. Right there in front of him, below his own inactive instructor status was the name.

Dr Robert Holliday - Civilian Instructor - Genetics/Biology/Xenobiology

His father had been telling the truth. Had he been anyone else, John would have called him a liar, and decided that this was all an elaborate hoax, however his father never did such things - if he made a decision, he made it for a reason.

"Now son...instead of sitting there undoubtedly checking up whether or not I'm telling the truth - shame on you, you should know better - you and I need to have a little chat."

John snapped his eyes back to the monitor, closing down the interface to the Academy as quickly as a child pulled their hand out of the cookie jar upon being caught.

"A little chat Dad? What about? The other instructors not being nice to you?" He replied jokingly.

"No - about you being offered the XO spot of a Galaxy Class starship and still not having accepted - ring any bells?"

John's blood ran cold at the mention of the Excalibur posting. He had been pushing it further and further back in his mind so as to avoid allowing it to interrupt his duties to the ship, but still that tangible idea of working aboard such a large vessel refused to move from the forefront of his mind.

"Yes...the Excalibur needs a First Officer...Yes I am a Commander in Starfleet...but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to jump ship just because another posting comes along Dad."

"Son, are you being stupid? She's one of the biggest in the fleet!! You'd be moving up the career ladder towards having your own command - isn't that what all you Academy graduates want out of life?"

"Galileo is a challenge herself you know - just because she's small doesn't mean she isn't a handful - we're out on the edge of known space making new discoveries every day."

"Oh fantastic John - you're out there finding a new species of moss, or a new butterfly - that might keep the biologists like me happy, but what about the opportunity to meet a whole new species? That's gotta be worth something to ya?"

First contact missions were indeed likely to be rare for a Nova class - she simply wasn't cut out for such a committed mission. John knew however, by comparison, the Galaxy class ships were more than able to handle large delegations from new worlds, and to commit the resources necessary to develop a relationship between them and the Federation.

"It might be a new challenge yes Dad, and I agree, a Galaxy class XO posting is likely to get me into the big chair faster - but this is only my first posting as XO - it's not like I've been doing it for years!"

John's relative "green-ness" amongst other First Officer's in the fleet couldn't be understated. There were other Commanders in the fleet who had served in this same position for a decade or more - Holliday wouldn't come close to something like that for many many years.

"All the more reason to grab it! Listen....they want to close the posting within the next 72-96 hours....but I have a few contacts here now...and they're willing to hold it open for another 48 hours beyond that for you alright...all you need to do is put in your transfer request, and the job is yours."

The XO formed a fist with his hand off screen, squeezing all his rage and tension into a tiny ball, before it threatened to overwhelm him. It seemed everyone had a different opinion. First Coleman had told him that it didn't matter where you were XO, then his captain congratulated him through gritted teeth, and now his father? It was almost as if people wanted him off the Galileo more than they wanted him on it.

"Look...Dad...I'm in the middle of a mission right now ok? I can't make a decision like that - besides for a few days I'm the only captain this ship has, and I'm not about to hand over command to another part of the senior staff just so I can run away elsewhere. We can have this discussion later."

His father looked visibly deflated as John gazed back towards the display screen. Obviously the older Holliday had expected his son to simply jump at the chance to take a new posting, and for the words of his father to be enough to force him off the tiny Nova Class.

"Son....do what you gotta do....but you owe more to yourself than to any ship....we'll speak soon."

With one final nod, his father reached out and tapped the control pad in front of him, severing the connection and returning the screen to darkness. John's time to think was running out.

He had to go somewhere - the question was; where?

[OFF]

CMDR Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

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