You said you never would let me fall, but I'm falling

Posted on 30 May 2012 @ 6:34am by Commander Andreus Kohl & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 12 Jun 2012 @ 8:04pm

1,755 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2, Executive Officer's Office
Timeline: MD07 - 1520 hours

[ON]

During the second and a half of waiting after Andreus Kohl brushed his fingers across the door chime, a wave of anxiety overwhelmed him. He attempted to clasp his hands behind his back, but his left hand rose up and brushed through his honey-brown hair -- demolishing the side-part he'd managed to perfect in the turbolift. The Argelian man's breathing came unevenly again, and when the pair of doors started to recede into the bulkheads, he charged his way in. Moving too quickly, his right shoulder bashed against the sliding door, and Kohl stumble-spun into the XO's office.

"What the hell?" John called out as this unforseen intrusion into his private sanctum took place. He was all for having an open door policy when it came to his crew wanting his attention or input, but he would still rather have a door attached to his office with which to facilitate that policy.
Having earlier been in the midst of the final preparations for their impending evacuation of Starbase 152, the XO was less than impressed to find his thoughts disturbed by what appeared to be a junior officer launching themselves into his office only a millisecond after someone had sounded the chime.

"On your feet!" He called out, standing up from his chair to get a better view of the rather sprawled looking officer on the floor of his office.

Kohl braced one hand flat against the deckplate, and pushed off from the floor, to regain his footing in a fluid movement. As soon as his bootheels were facing the right way, he snapped his body into a posture of attention. There was a moment, though, just a moment, where his eyes betrayed a lack of orientation. It looked like his mind might be spinning, but only for that one moment. There was white noise buzzing away where his thoughts were supposed to be. Then, he was holding still as he regarded the executive officer. Kohl grit a stern expression on his face to hide the hideous embarrassment.

"That's better" John acknowledged as he moved around from his desk to stand in front of the now-recovered young officer. Looking at his face, the XO couldn't think for the life of him who this individual was, in fact he had never seen him before in his life, much less as a member of the Galileo's crew. For a moment his first thought was going to be to summon Lt Orexil and her security teams to remove an unwanted intruder, but for now he thought he would give the young man the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't believe we've met Ensign...." He began, taking a look at the pips on the collar of the rather quiet individual.

"Kohl," he said, in reply to the implied question. His timbre was measured and precise, not giving much away. The white noise was still there buzzing away. "My name is Andreus Kohl, sir. I reported to my duty station in sickbay for the first time an hour ago. I came here to report for duty."

"Well Ensign Kohl" John began, having finally learned the name of his mystery intruder. Thankfully the list of crew reassignments was something that the XO had virtually committed to memory, and as the officer gave away his name, John also let go of his earlier unauthorised officer fears.

"Welcome aboard....there's being enthusiastic however, and there's almost making my office door need the attention of an engineer....may I suggest you slow it down a little?"

"Yes, sir," Kohl replied without hesitation. The white noise in his head kept buzzing. He nodded once for emphasis, and confirmed his understanding, by saying, "I will certainly slow it down."

"Well now that's over and done with....how are you finding our little ship so far? She's not exactly enormous, but she's clever" John replied, heading back to his chair and taking a seat behind his desk, resting his forearms across it as he did so.

"Please, feel free to take a seat" The XO offered as he gestured to one of the two chairs sat opposite him.

Kohl grasped the chair on the left and he lowered himself onto the seat. As he nodded a silent thank you to the XO, his lips curled to one side in an approximation of a smile. He managed to express emotion in his voice for the first time since stumbling in, because he was genuinely curious to ask, "What is it you mean about the ship being clever?"

"Haha, perhaps the right word would have been....advanced" He began with a smirk on his face. He was genuinely proud of this little Nova class, something that he never would have thought possible only a few weeks ago. It was true that she did not have the pure firepower or speed of some of her fellow starships, but Galileo so far was proving herself to be useful.

"She's outfitted with some of the latest technology Starfleet has to offer. The best sensor platforms, tactical systems far superior to other ships of her class, and some of the latest advances in computer technology....not quite as boring as one of the outgoing Oberth class vessels to say the least. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to read up on the ship's specifications if you would like, they're in the main database"

"From the outside looking in, the ship is certainly beautiful," said Kohl. Thinking back to his first glimpse of the ship just made the buzzing in his head grow louder.


[Starbase 152 - Public Observation Lounge]
[MD07 - 1250 hours]

Since the sleek and angular visage of the USS Galileo was framed artfully by the viewport, Andreus Kohl struggled to pay attention to his PADD. There was no competition, really. The majestic forms of starships had always appealed to him, and they were all the more attractive when they became his home. The widescreen PADD between his hands was important, though; possibly more important than sight-seeing. His orders were spelled out on the PADD, and he could feel razor-winged butterflies in his guts for fear he had misread or misunderstood his orders somehow. He read, and re-read, his orders again, but his eyes kept drifting back to look at the ship.

His combadge chirped and a face appeared in the corner of his PADD. A petty officer in a black and gold uniform spoke to him from the display. "Ensign Kohl, I have a live communique for you. It's from Imogen Kohl."

Kohl's grip on the PADD changed. He held it so tight his right hand began to quiver, just a little. "Mother..." Kohl murmured.

"One moment," said the petty officer on the PADD, and then her face was replaced by the United Federation of Planets Emblem. After another two heartbeats, the display on the PADD was filled by the transparent cranium of a Gallamite woman. Imogen Kohl.

"Mother," Kohl said, more clearly this time.

"Thank you for accepting my--" said Imogen, but she stopped suddenly, as if she thought better of it. As clipped and formal as her words came out, she he words sounded anything but rehearsed. Her features were distressed; she was rambling. "I know it's been a while. I wouldn't have bothered you unless-- It's your father, Andreus. He got killed."

Kohl didn't say anything; his throat tightened up; he was incapable of speech. He set his jaw, and he slapped the contact on the PADD to close the communication channel. The screen went black.


[USS Galileo - Deck 2, Executive Officer's Office]
[MD07 - 1524 hours]

"From the outside looking in, the ship is certainly beautiful," said Kohl. Thinking back to his first glimpse of the ship just made the buzzing in his head grow louder. He couldn't totally remember what the question had been, and he said, "Uhm, I haven't seen much from the inside looking out. Sickbay, in Sickbay, I suppose I noticed the smaller scale. Fewer biobeds at our disposal than some other starships."

"Goes with the territory I'm afraid Ensign - smaller crew usually means less casualties so therefore less need for a substantial sickbay...that's the theory anyway. I'm hoping we won't ever be in a situation where we need to test that theory to it's upper limits."

John too had spent a little time in Sickbay, albeit as an observer and occasionally, reluctant assistant, but thankfully not yet as a patient. It was true that the area in question was particularly small, in fact even a Defiant class starship probably looked roomier to someone transferring aboard from one of the larger ships in the fleet.

"When you finish your duty shift I recommend taking a walk around, get to know where things are, there's only 8 decks so it shouldn't take too long. Have you checked in with Doctor Ni Dhuinn yet? I'm sure she's dying to meet her new staff"

"Yes, sir, I reported in to my department chief upon my arrival," Kohl said. That the XO needed to ask meant Pola hadn't warned him about Kohl's swooning spell in Sickbay. For a moment, Kohl wondered how long it would take for the report to be written and submitted, but that moment passed. Kohl's even tones turned warm, when he said, "I will go for a wander tonight, sir. I look forward to getting myself lost."

"Very good Ensign - well if there is nothing further I can assist you with, I won't hold you up any further. You're dismissed"

John acknowledged with a smile. He remembered his first few days on board, struggling to remember exactly where everything was located within the pristine metal shell of the Galileo. He had, in the scheme of things, been given a relatively easy introduction - when the XO first came to the ship, she was still sat in drydock, only half built, and with plenty of excuses to wander around, rather than in the middle of a mission as she was now.

Kohl opened his mouth, as if to ask a burning question, but the question remained in the ether. This authority figure was done with him, and Kohl supposed he had made too poor a first impression to do anything but agree with every single thing he said. Kohl nodded a, "yes, sir", and retreated from the office with a shred more grace than when he'd entered.


[OFF]

---

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ensign Andreus Kohl
Nurse
USS Galileo

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