You...

Posted on 15 Apr 2018 @ 12:12pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Lieutenant JG Gideon Nicols PhD

1,188 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex
Timeline: MD 101, 1444 hrs

[ON]

The trip out to Rigel II had been uneventful. Gideon had decided to get some personal reading in, something he didn't get a chance to do very often. On earth he was given the recommendation to read a set of books called The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. The series spanned multiple books, and he was sure it would take him years to get through them all. It wasn't that he wasn't a fast reader, but between his job, and writing and working on his own books, time was limited. But, he would give it a go, and so far he was liking the series.

Because of his relaxed attitude, others he had talked to asked if he was nervous about his upcoming interview. The short answer was no. No, he wasn't. It wasn't like he hadn't gone through these things before, not to mention he was a seasoned officer by this point in his career. Besides, he was rejected once and even though he had planned to not deal with it past that, his ego and pride got in the way. It was like he was five years old again and being told 'no' which would only make him want it more. Sure, he wasn't sure what to expect, and he knew it would be tough but he wasn't worried. His personnel file was blemish free, he had a good record, and his hard work proved he was a good fit for the job. However, no matter what, there were some CO's you just could not please and it was what it was. So no, he wasn't worried. He wasn't worried because he could only be himself and go from there.

Before he knew it, he was disembarking and entering Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex.

It was several minutes shy of mid-afternoon and so far Galileo's captain had already interviewed ten new crew applicants. The day was shaping up to be productive so far, and only one of the interviewees had failed their onboarding examination. Much work still remained, of course, but while the coming days would see the rest of the applications processed, the captain was pleased with the timely progress she'd made.

Her Andorian yeoman entered the office and handed her a PADD in his blue hand before walking back out and towards the waiting area at the end of the secure corridor. With a swish of the door, he paused and looked around at the Starfleet personnel waiting to be interviewed, then looked down at the list on his PADD. "Lieutenant Nicols? Gideon Nicols?" he asked, looking around with twitchy antennae.

Gideon sat there, feeling like a sardine in a tin can. There were so many people, and he had to someone get his long frame tucked in between two others. So when his name was called, he was relieved. "Here," he said as he stood. He picked up his duffle and swung it over one of his broad shoulders. Once in front of the Andorian, he handed the PADD he was hold over to the blue skinned man.

The Human was tall, the Andorian noticed. And well-built. He took the offered device and gave it a quick read before handing it back with a nod of confirmation. "Yes, that's you. Follow me, the captain's waiting for you." He started to lead Nicols into the rear corridor where the offices were located and looked back over his shoulder to make sure the lieutenant was following. "She doesn't like being kept waiting," he added in a quiet voice.

Tell me something I don't know, Gideon thought. Again, this wasn't his first rodeo when dealing with a CO. However, he had noticed how twitchy the Andorian's antennae were and that caused a brief internal yellow alert. It didn't last, obviously, Gideon wasn't a nervous person in that regard. He wanted this assignment, badly, but he also wasn't going to beg for it either. If this CO felt he didn't get to be on board this new ship then so be it. What was he going to do? Protest it? File a complaint? He would just do his best and let his record speak for itself. "What's she like, this captain?" he asked, his tone just as quiet as the Andorian's.

Stopping next to the far door at the end of the short corridor, the yeoman pressed the chime then entered his personal access code into the door's keypad to unlock the room for Nicols to enter. The Andorian shrugged, his antennae rising and spreading to the side in a more relaxed manner. "Well...she's an Orion," he simply replied while giving the Human lieutenant a knowing look that he assumed explained it all. "And determined. My father always said to be careful around their kind," he shrugged.

Well that didn't tell him anything, and it also sounded a bit racist. Gideon had known two Orions, one was great, the other shot him... but that was not because she was an Orion. It was because she was a lunatic who was over protective. Wouldn't it be ironic if that was the person I was meeting, he mused. But what were the chances of that happening? He almost chuckled at the absurdity of it. "Alright," he said simply, not sure what else to say to that. He just followed the Andorian yeoman into the room.

Inside the room, Captain Lirha Saalm was seated behind her desk shuffling several PADDs between their various distinct yet disorganized stacks. Her green skin was of a more olive complexion which betrayed her recent time spent out in the sun on Earth at one of Australia's rehabilitation centers. Her curvy and toned frame was dressed in a fresh, form-fitting Starfleet uniform, and the four brass rank pips on her collar were adorned by her short-cut hair which was neatly cropped to fall just to the tops of her shoulders.

Gideon entered the room, and the moment his eyes fell on the woman behind the desk, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed. "You have got to be kidding me, seriously..." His jaw was clenched, and he grunted in frustration. This was a small universe for sure. So the overprotective lunatic was the person he was meeting, this was just perfect. He wanted to walk out, no he wanted to punch the Andorian first for being so vague, and then walk out. But anger coupled with determination kept his size 15 feet firmly planted in place.

The Orion captain's eyes locked on to the interviewee as he entered the room then began to narrow as an angry dawn of recognition swept across her features. She'd known she'd recognized his face on his dossier but hadn't been able to place the memory. But now, seeing him in person with his distinctive large and almost-perfectly-muscular-physique and tall height, the recollection snapped in place. Her voice lowered to an aggressive whisper. "You..." her voice trailed off with knowing recognition.

[TRUNCATED]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

LTJG Gideon Nicols
Chief Research Officer

RSS Feed