Command De-Briefing (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 17 Jan 2014 @ 9:50am by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Scarlet Blake & Lieutenant Commander Dea Mialin & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Petty Officer 1st Class Oliver Morris & Petty Officer 1st Class Victarion Jaqen

1,791 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 05 - Solstice
Location: Starfleet HQ - 2nd Floor, Auxiliary Briefing Room #5
Timeline: MD 04 - 1320 hrs

Previously, on Command De-Briefing (Part 1)...

Quinn raised a hand. "As both Commodore Saalm and Captain Holliday know, I have a long history with the Dockmaster and, with your permission, I would like to suggest an attempt to...acquire the new holographic control consoles for the Bridge Stations. They are relatively easy to swap in, along with the extra holo-emitters that would be required to increase their functionality. All the new recruits from Boot Camp are starting to be trained on them now, and with the large amount of enlisted specialists we carry, I feel it would be worth the gamb...the conversation with the Dockmaster."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

The seasoned sailor took a breath then continued. "As for the new mess halls, I think it would be a mistake to separate the enlisted from the Officers, Sirs. My reasoning for that is simple. The biggest advantage we have on Galileo is the fact that we are so small of a crewed vessel, and do work and mingle with each other, that the trust the enlisted have for you, the officers, is because they know you, not just professionally, but personally. If we segregate the crew, like it is done on larger ships, it will only hurt not only our production and long safety streak, but will cause dissension and mistrust from the enlisted up to the officers. Then I have to go around knocking heads and kicking in teeth. I hate that shit...well, sometimes I like it. But seriously, Sirs, I implore you to go ahead with the remodel, but not with the separation of the crew by rank structure. Instead use it as one maybe ala' carte, and the other menu, or whatever we have to do, but we are known across the Ninth Fleet for our tightness, lets not start unraveling knots. It only weakens the rope we are all holding on to."

Quinn sat down, not sure how his spiel would be taken, but he felt it needed to be said.

Dea waited to see what the others would say. Quinn had a very good point. But then she had a good working relationship with the enlisted crew aboard Galileo. Some of them were members of the Flight Control department. For now she was still getting used to her new duties as Second Officer.

"I agree Mr Quinn. I don't see any need for a separate officer's mess. I would however ask that we retain some semblence of a more formal dining area - in case we ever have to entertain dignitaries or flag officers - present company excepted of course Ma'am"

John replied with the CoB with a wry glance to his former CO. Now that there was a Commodore on board, the Captain knew that there was a heightened chance of Galileo being called upon to entertain an ambassador, admiral, or other functionary at some point in the future, and it never hurt to be prepared.

"As far the holographic display panels - I open that up to discussion - thoughts people?"

Lirha remained silent and looked down at her PADD while she took notes of the different suggestions and requests being presented. She would be sure to forward the captain's request to the dockmaster regarding the mess hall arrangement, and now she waited to see what the consensus was regarding the LCARS displays.

"As the Chief Flight Control Officer I've been doing some research on the holographic LCARS displays. They make sense. I think this is a good move for not just for Flight Control but all the bridge stations as suggested," Dea replied.

Oliver took in a deep toothy breath, "How much power will it cost on our systems? If my father were here he'd asked that question first to get a Operation's perspective. And, what if they go down will we be able to revert to the standard system easily without any problems?"

"A good point Petty Officer. Mr Quinn, your thoughts? The last thing I want is pretty displays but no warp drive?"

John replied, looking further at the schematics for these new displays that had been suggested to see what he could glean regarding their power requirements.

"The power out put for them is actually less than the standard LCARS console as it runs from holo emitters and not directed through secondary and tertiary node connections that require constant maintenance and monitoring since you lose power for every bypass the circuitry runs through, which then requires more power output." replied Quinn.

"Now, with the new holo consoles, I can activate the helm station in engineering or sickbay if I had the access code to it. The seats are no longer required to be assigned on the Bridge with them. As for what happens if the holo emitters take a shit, well. The consoles will still have the ability to power up and go active the current way. The actions won't be as fast, but the ship will still be able to operate. And it will allow the EMH to be present on the Bridge."

"It sounds like there are more benefits than problems from my position." John replied, grateful for the added flexibility that the new consoles seemed to be able to offer over the existing flat panels.

"How long would they take to retrofit and bring our crew up to speed? The Bridge looks like it will be one hell of an activity hive."

"Two weeks, Captain." replied Quinn. "Possibly less, but no guarantees. As far as training, any one that has graduated from the Academy within the the last year will already have basic experience on them, as most ship simulations are now taking place on a Holo Deck, versus an actual ship or the old module simulators most of us remember."

"However, the bulk of the trainers could come from the NCO's and other specialist skilled enlisted crew. The enlisted have been in on the ground work of the new system, letting the Ops technicians and Engineering Computer Specialists and Science Specialists work out the kinks. The first fully holographically installed Bridge consoles was the USS Elysium and it was extremely successful, despite several combat situations and spacial anomalies it encountered under Admiral Sharr. The second was the USS Nimitz, which is still conducting space trials, but during the instillation and initial testing phases, there were only minor issues, mostly corrected by the enlisted instillation technicians."

Scarlet wasn't completely convinced on the overall benefits from the change. She felt like there was a lot of change for the sake of...well...change. And surely it would be easier for the holo-emitters to be knocked out during a battle and disrupt the holo-displays than the amount of punishment a physical interface could take? She kept silent to listen to the discussion though. Technology wasn't her strong suit, and Quinn seemed convinced on the benefits. She didn't see the benefit of the disruption and change herself, but then, she didn't fly the ship or work Engineering.

"I believe as long as the crew has the option to disable the holographic interface if they do not feel comfortable using it, then it could be worth testing the new system," Lirha chimed in while she jotted down more notes into her PADD. "I did forget to mention that we are also getting a new bridge module installed, so perhaps the yard engineers could try to adapt some of the systems to the new LCARS consoles."

"Indeed Commodore - I saw the requisition order pass across my desk - I understand the new Bridge should offer us greater flexibility than our current design?"

John chimed in, having read the report only a few hours ago about replacing Galileo's bridge module. As Starfleet had advanced they had become more and more modular in their design systems meaning that replacement modules were essentially plug and play.

"That is the idea," she nodded in answer to the captain's question, then elaborated. "Many of the stations have been streamlined and simplified specifically for Nova Class vessels unlike our previous module which was generically used for various classes of starships. Though I did not mind the previous bridge, I found it to be a bit too much. Too many stations, too much clutter. This new design should prove much easier to navigate and offer improved operations."

"Department heads please make sure your teams are aware of the changes to Bridge operations in that case - Mr Quinn permission is granted - please liaise with the Dockmaster to install the new consoles as our new Bridge module goes live."

John made an extra note on his PADD to approve any additional requisition forms that came across his desk so that the work would get done on time.

"Are there any other issues that I should know about?"

"We lost Virginia In the battle. I'd like to see what our options are for getting that shuttle replaced," Dea figured this was a good time to mention the topic.

"The dockmaster can probably take care of that for you," Lirha answered. "He is in charge of all of Galileo's refits and acquisitions," she briefly explained.

"Feel free to submit the requisition to the Dockmaster Miss Mialin, I'm sure if he gives you any trouble our esteemed CoB can help convince him of the urgency of our request." John replied with a nod.

"Any further outstanding business? If not you are all dismissed - with your permission Commodore?"

Quinn chuckled at the comment of convincing the Dockmaster. Only Holiday and the Commodore knew how the ship came about it's dedication plaque and the poker game that won it. The old CoB knew the Dockmaster probably better than most, and if the man was bluffing during a game of poker.

"Aye-aye, Sirs." Quinn remarked

"Nothing here Captain," Dea commented in response to Holliday's question.

Oliver nodded and waited for the commodore to stand be he did.

Scarlet gave a single shake of her head to indicate she was done. They'd gotten through a lot.

Lirha nodded with approval to John after he requested permission to dismiss the group. "If anything else important comes up, I will transfer it to your PADDs," she informed the group.

[OFF]

--

CDRE Lirha Saalm
Mission Advisor
USS Galileo

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTCMDR Dea Mialin
Chief Flight Control Officer/Second Officer
USS Galileo

CMDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

Command Master Chief Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

PO1 Oliver Morris
Senior Yeoman
USS Galileo

PO1 Victarion Jaqen
Yeoman
USS Galileo
[PNPC - Markos]

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