For The Adventure
Posted on 16 Jan 2018 @ 12:37pm by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm
2,171 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex
Timeline: MD 101, 1319 hrs
[ON]
The mid-afternoon rush at Avondale Production Facility's administrative complex was now in full swing with a buzz of activity present both in the shipyards and their supporting locations. For those present in the office wings, it meant an influx of traffic in yard engineers, dock workers, and Starfleet personnel who were quickly trickling in to take care of their various obligations.
For the captain of the newest incarnation of USS Galileo, the day had already been eventful as she'd managed to process six new crew members by the midday hour. A quick break for lunch had given her some more fuel to continue, and now she impatiently waited for her 1320 appointment to arrive.
Allyndra had finally arrived and very perturbed. The traffic had delayed the shuttle which in turn had made her late and she still had to find the office. She had grown up with the notion of being prompt, more than prompt and it irked her. That was on top of this rather odd feeling of having to interview for a berth on the ship. Well, at least, she thought this was a second chance and on a ship that she might like. She made her way to the main area shrugging her shoulders in that odd rolling way. Shuttles and really confined spots made it uncomfortable for those with wings.
An Andorian yeoman stepped out from behind closed doors and looked around with wiggly antennae as he searched for the name on the PADD clutched in his blue hand. "Commander Warraquim? Allyndra illm Warraquim?" he asked in the reception area, hoping one of the people present was the one on his list.
Allyndra heard her house name and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. She finally put up a hand, "Here, yeoman. I am Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim."
"Good, follow me," the young man replied with a motion for her to fall in step behind him. With the medical officer in tow, he led her in through the door he'd come out of which served as a small corridor in one of the office complexes. He stopped outside one of the doors on the right side of the hallway and turned back to Warraquim. "The captain's expecting you, good luck," he said before turning to walk back down the corridor.
Allyndra made one more rolling shrug to settle her wings and to relax. She straightened her tunic and then pressed the chime.
"Come," came the reply of a muffled female voice from behind the door. Inside the room, Galileo's newest captain was bent down in her chair searching for an item in one of the bottom drawers of her desk. Her face and body were hidden from view and all that was initially visible was the top of her dark black hair.
Whoever it was, seemed to be hiding behind the desk or otherwise engaged in some sort of task with the desk. Female and black hair, almost sounded familiar. "Sir, Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim reporting for requested interview."
Sitting back up straight in her chair with technical schematic PADD now in her hand, Lirha Saalm's familiar olive-tanned skin and facial features were now visible. Her hair was cut slightly shorter than usual, down to the bottom of her chin, and she wore the familiar red-collared Starfleet uniform with a new set of four brass rank pips on her collar. When she saw Warraquim enter, she greeted the familiar officer. "Hello, doctor."
Allyndra blinked several time which was the Akkadian expression of disbelief. "Admiral?" she said before noting the rank change on the collar, but the words had left her mouth.
"Not anymore. It's 'captain' now," Saalm corrected with a small smile. "It is good to see you again. Wanting to serve aboard Galileo-A, no less?" she mused while gesturing to the nearby empty chair across from her desk. "Please sit."
Allyndra was still getting used to seeing Lirha. The last was her being lead out in cuffs from the courtroom after the trial. She barely nodded and said, "yes sir," before stepping forward. "However, first and you can kick me out sir, but..." she put her arms out and gave Lirha a big hug. "By the Twins it is a blessing to see you."
The sudden affection was a surprise to Saalm who at first sat frozen then returned the embrace with a private smile. "It has been a while but it feels good to not be in a courtroom or penal colony anymore," she replied.
Allyndra let go and nodded. "You are going to have to regale me with how you went from being convicted to now being a captain again of a starship. There is something there." She moved to take the seat, the interview almost forgotten, but her curiosity was much higher than the job at the moment.
"Yes, I will. Soon. We must have dinner together and exchange stories," Saalm replied with a private smile. She'd heard about Warraquim's Academy assignment and had seen the reprimand on her official record. There was much they needed to discuss in due time. "In the meantime...what brings you back here, to Galileo? Was one starship adventure not enough?" she grinned.
"At least it was adventure. I must say that dealing with the politics and the Council of Akkadia has proven to be something less thrilling and more of a chore. I will say, that no ship offering, then I will have little choice but to deal with the politics of home. I am not going to waste time at the Academy. Teaching ethics might be one thing, but as I am sure you are aware, there are times and places where the situation dictates things. Textbooks are a bit too rigid and yet that is all I am allowed to follow. I do tell students: 'Just wait though until you are out there'."
"The Academy's always been a foundation. Good at teaching the skills and knowledge, and also at evaluating a cadet's potential," Saalm thoughtfully replied. "The rest, they will learn on assignment. I certainly did." She looked down at her PADD and briefly skimmed over the doctor's record. "Since we're on the topic, tell me about your classes. Did you enjoy teaching medical ethics? You don't really see it as a waste, do you?"
"I enjoy teaching yes, a waste not entirely but there is so much between what formal curricula and what most are going to experience that it is frustrating. I have been specifically told not to deviate on iota from the material."
Saalm reached down between her legs where Snuffles was curled up under the desk sleeping and gave him a scratch between his ears. "Someone has to teach it," she lightly shrugged in a neutral demeanor. "And it's important material that even a senior officer must remember out in the field," she added with a subtle hint towards the original reason for the doctor's teaching assignment.
Allyndra nodded. "Indeed, however, if I just wanted to teach then I might as well go home." She gazed at the captain for a moment. "While it is important call it my nature, but I want to see new things again and if I might add..." she waved a hand toward the captain. "It appears you have been given a second chance, that is what I am asking for as well."
The captain narrowed her eyes then let out a soft laugh. "Be careful what you wish for, doctor. Second chances often come at a price," she cautioned. While the circumstances of her release from Perth's penal colony were permanently classified, it would be naive to think she'd been released purely on goodwill. "In your case," she continued, "that price would be a long voyage far away from home, for many years. You will not see Earth or Akkadia for quite a while. Many consider these sorts of assignments very difficult."
"That I will not miss home would be a lie, still I would not miss the politics," she shrugged with that odd rolling motion of the shoulders. "I knew how long the mission might be and if I thought it would be something else that I could not deal with I would have never applied. So captain are you willing to have a doctor with a questionable blot and give another chance?"
"Yes...about that." Saalm tapped at her PADD to bring up the official reprimand on Warraquim's record. "I know our situation was," she paused to search for the appropriate word, "difficult in the Paulson Nebula. Even more so on Kreanus. All of us were tested in ways we never trained for. But...in the face of adversity, we must hold on to our values and ethics. Those can never be sacrificed for the promise of tomorrow."
Allyndra just tilted her head and said, "In other words, don't do something like I did again. Understood."
Saalm regarded the familiar Akkadian with a watchful yet soft set of green eyes. "You're a good officer, Allyndra. I don't need to tell you what to do or not do...you know that already and I've seen your work in the field. But if I'm to be your captain again, there can't be anymore lapses in judgement. No matter the circumstances." She took a deep breath and held her gaze, "That includes myself as well. Understood?"
"Understood perfectly," Allyndra replied. She made a small bow of the head. "We have a saying on my world, 'The ground is a harsh mistress, you will learn quickly from your mistakes.' Just as I have learned that lesson, I have learned from my other mistake."
The captain was pleased by the senior doctor's reply and her people's words of wisdom. She was a veteran officer who she knew would do well on an assignment like this despite the perils. "Good. In that case," Saalm rose from her chair and extended her hand to the winged woman to shake, "welcome aboard Galileo-A as my new chief medical officer. Did you bring all of your personal personal belongings with you?"
"Thank you Captain," Allyndra took the hand briefly. "Indeed, as I believe the message for the interview indicated to be prepared. Not much to bring, the few personal memories went with the old Galileo. Shall I get my boarding assignment then from your aide?"
Saalm nodded and procured a small blue and silver keycard card from one of the bottom drawers in her desk. She scanned it with her PADD then entered a few authorizations before handing it over to the doctor. "You'll need this to come and go aboard the ship while we're still in drydock. It will give you access to all non-restricted areas. And since we have a few days before we depart, I'd like you to assist the yard engineers with any final sickbay preparations they're tending to."
"Yes Captain, I suppose that if the new ship is anything like the old one, it is going to be a small sickbay yet again?" Allyndra let the question linger. She was not even sure what class the Galileo-A was but most long range exploration vessels presumably room for supplies outstripped the room for other things.
"A handful of biobeds with an integrated surgical ward, but the new medical laboratory facility has been installed directly into the sickbay chamber. You and your staff can perform your research and experiments without having to use one of the science labs," the captain answered. "And I believe a fellow doctor you might know could use help configuring the EBH to the new ship's holoemitter matrix," she winked.
"Oh? As long as it is not something like that freaky one we had. Who is the doctor?" Allyndra both commented and asked tucking the pass card away.
Saalm grinned privately to herself and shook her head. "I could give you two guesses but you'd only need one. And...yes, our EBH is the original Raven program." That should be enough info for the doctor to deduce, the captain hoped.
"Tulla. It could be no other. Well, that is nice to know but I was hoping that I might be first to decorate before the skull and crossbones got put on the walls." She laughed and then stood and saluted. "With permission captain, I would like to be dismissed to attend to my new duties, and if I may add a pleasure to serve under you again."
"Yes. You're dismissed then, Doctor Warraquim," the captain said as she rose from her feet to formalize the arrangement. "I'll send information about the first senior staff meeting to your PADD shortly."
"Yes sir," Allyndra replied and took a step back, turned and was off to hopefully salvage what there might be of the sickbay.
[OFF]
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CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
Cmdr Allyndra illm Warraquim
Chief Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A