The Next Phase

Posted on 12 Jul 2015 @ 12:47pm by Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Captain Jonathan Holliday

1,140 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo - Deck One - Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1: 2300 hrs

[ON]

Gyce had been asked to report to Holiday. This was something of an anomaly for her, since in her profession, being unnoticed meant you did your job right. That said, she did have a few things to bring up with Holiday, regarding Admiral Saalm's protection.

As much as Gyce liked the woman, she could not guard her all the time. A security detail had to be assigned. So she was hopeful, as she hit the chime of his door. More like faithful. For she prayed to the Prophets he was more manageable than Commander Blake.

"Come!" The voice of the Captain called back as the doors parted automatically. Sat behind his desk, cup of raktajino in hand, the Martian was busily reassembling one of his interface panels.

"Ahh - Lieutenant - take a seat, or help yourself to the replicator? Bear with me a moment, damn isolinear chip must have come loose when gravity went down and Engineering have better things to worry about right now."

"Yes Sir," Gyce agreed and pulled an iced jumja tea from the replicator and then sat down patiently. "I confess while I know how to work my equipment, most of it I cannot repair all that well... I assume your missing chip isn't a bad problem, Sir?"

Holliday looked up with a smirk on his face, interrupted only by the capacitor module he held between his teeth as his two hands were busy reassembling a separate element.

"Some things are easier to deal with yourself rather than make it someone else's problem. I might be the captain but that doesn't excuse being bone idle."

Taking the module from his teeth he slipped if back into place, and the panel whirred back into life.

"Not that I confess to being any sort of engineer. Now...I hope I didn't pull you away from anything urgent?"

"No Sir," Gyce confessed. "The security monitors are running a base movement pattern recognition program tracked via combadges. So if anyone wants to break into locked doors, I'll be notified by their path deviation."

Seleya was still a prime target to catch too, though she let that be for now. Still no proof and not a subject she wanted to press on anyone at the moment.

"Wants to break into locked doors? Rather suspicious for a ship full of scientists Lieutenant." Holliday replied absentmindedly as he watched the interface reboot and the latest damage reports come flooding onto the screen like a tidal wave of headaches.

"Now...as I'm sure you have probably heard, Lieutenant Wyatt was injured during the recent power failure. Sickbay tells me they have had to place him in a stasis pod until enough power and resources are restored by Engineering for them to conduct surgery. This means I have an absence in my Security division. Until we get back to a Federation facility, I am reassigning you to Acting CSEC."

"Yes Sir," Gyce nodded. She was not entirely sure how to absorb that new information all the sudden so she went on with, "I would like to take this moment to ask that a security detail be permanently assigned to Admiral Saalm, Sir."

"For what reason Lieutenant?" Holliday replied with a raised eyebrow, his hands folded together in the middle of his desk in front of him.

"Is the Admiral not safe aboard my ship?"

"We've had some attempted break-ins and unauthorized entries since I have come aboard," Gyce admitted with an air of slight annoyance, but not directed with him. "No clear leads because the second the alarms went off, the culprits scattered to the winds and Commander Blake tied my hands on investigating anything without proof, Sir. So to answer your question, I honestly don't know if Admiral Saalm is safe or not, because your former XO treated me as if I was constantly paranoid. But even if the tripped alarms were accidental Sir? Protocol states admiralty and dignitaries should have details on them."

Holliday frowned at the comments regarding his former first officer. She might have been a little harsher than some, but she had been a fine match to his own command style, and her reassignment by Command had not gone down well with him at all. Commander Stace was doing a fine job since donning the red uniform, but John simply missed the marine mentality of her predecessor.

"Commander Blake followed my orders. Innocent until proven guilty I believe is the phrase?"

Sitting back in his chair the Captain placed a hand behind his head and thought for a moment. Lirha could be stubborn - like a targ with a headache at times, and forcing her to take a security detail even if she didn't want one would prove to be a challenge.

"I will discuss it with the Admiral. In theory I have no problem with an assigned detail, however she is still a flag officer and ranking officer aboard this vessel. Leave it with me Lieutenant. Any other...problems I should be aware of?"

Finally. Progress. At least, someone that did not treat Gyce like a first year rookie on a beat. Clearly, there were a few things Holiday did that annoyed her, but Gyce wanted to believe it was a trust issue. And she was fine being put in a spot where she could prove herself to him.

"None Sir. Rest assured, whatever decision you make, I will always respect and follow," Gyce told him wholeheartedly. "I do feel I should reiterate with you the same thing I tried to convey with your former XO, which is that while some of my ideas have seemed extreme, it is only because I care about the safety of this crew, Sir."

"As do I lieutenant." Holliday replied with a dip of his head. He knew first hand how dedication to a cause can end up alienating one from a collective whole, but sometimes it has to be done.

"Just don't take it too personally if I ever need to chew your ass out in the line of duty, fair warning. " with a smirk, he took a sip of his coffee and waved his hand towards the door.

"You're dismissed lieutenant. Feel free to take the tea with you when you leave. I won't cite you for a breach of regulation this time if I catch you drinking at your post."

Since Gyce only ever showed up on the bridge for four-hour stints during alpha shift, she did not foresee any sort of issue with bringing beverages onto the bridge.

Dutifully, she sat her tea on the desk to salute the CO, then picked up her tea again and walked out of the office.

Tag

[Off]

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Benice Gyce
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

RSS Feed