Promotion Party of One

Posted on 21 Mar 2018 @ 10:08pm by Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant & Commander Aren Ban

1,539 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: USS Hathaway - Deck 1, Ready Room
Timeline: MD 99 - 0500 hours

[ON]

Despite the retro decor of a Constellation-class starship, Lake ir-Llantrisant felt a visceral thrill run through him when he planted his boot on the deck of the Main Bridge. This wasn't even his brand of nostalgia, not really; he had been brought up on holonovels featuring D'deridex-class Warbirds. And yet, the erect collection of Starfleet officers --surrounded by the distinctive cacophony of LCARS telltales-- filled his body with a rush of energy.

Lieutenant (Junior Grade) ir-Llantrisant stepped out of the turbolift to stride slowly towards the Captain's Ready Room. He was too young, for the most part, to have experienced the era of Counselors being posted on the Bridge of every ship of the line. He had missed that heyday, which meant his trips to the Bridge were few and far between. Lake's assignment to Hathaway was only temporary in nature. His posting to the Counseling department on Starbase 74 still beckoned him, and grew closer every day. Somehow, Lake wasn't entirely ready to let go of Hathaway and his band of medical cadets.

As he reached the door and touched the chime, the physiological excitement slowly drained away from Lake's body. The Romulan began to tabulate in his head the many reasons why he might have been summoned by his Captain, Aren Ban. His performance as a medical doctor in the simulations had been about as rusty as he anticipated it would be, and there was that cutting remark he'd made to Cadet Yuulik. If nothing else, there was his counseling session with Miraj Derani that had left Lake in tears. Certainly, Lake had made patients cry before, but it had been a while since Lake had been the one a weepy mess in front of his patient. At least six months, it had been at least six months since the last time. More than anything, he didn't know what was hidden behind that Ready Room door.

Aren was usually an early riser and today was no exception. Running a cadet cruise required more work than just about any starship that he had been aboard previously, even during the Kreanus Incident. Usually his inbox felt like it contained more messages that required his attention than a being could possibly process. And yet, they all would be reviewed and at the very least skimmed. However one message certainly caught his eye. The message that came across the day previous was one of the best ones a commanding officer could receive. Promotions. Lieutenant JG Lake ir-Llantrisant.

The promotion message had come across his desk. Aren had taken some time to become familiar with Lake's file as well as the recommendations for promotion. He had arranged a meeting with Lake, wanting to meet him and exchange pleasantries before pinning on his new pips.

Aren poured himself a cup from a carafe of coffee that he kept on his desk, taking a moment to savor the smell and take a sip to help focus his mind before answering his chime. "Enter." Aren said. His office was spartan, but there hadn't been any time to really add any personal touch that was common to many of these offices.

The door panel receded into the bulkhead, clearing the way for Lake. Shoulders back, Lake strode into the compartment like he owned it, allowing his arms to sway with the motion. "Good morning, Captain," Lake said, by way of greeting. "How did you sleep?"

Aren nodded in greeting. "Good Morning, I slept well enough, please have a seat." Aren said as he motioned to one of the two empty seats that was before his desk. "I have a couple of things that we need discuss this morning, so please forgive me if we delay the pleasantries for another time. First, tell me how have your cadets been doing. I am well versed on the reports and current evaluations, but I want to get your opinions and observations of those whom you have been evaluating." He started, wanting to take a measure of the Lieutenant (Junior Grade).

Lake's eyes remained on Aren most of the time he spoke, but whenever he took a breath, he allowed himself to scan his surroundings. Lake took notice of the lack of personal touches in the compartment, which made the carafe of coffee, the scattering of PADDs, and the small box on the desk all the more noticeable.

"The medical cadets are technically proficient, considering where they stand in their educations," Lake replied, quick to rattle of his opinion of them. He took a wide stance to lower himself into the proffered chair, continuing his storytelling all the while. "I would trust them with non-holographic patients --under minimal supervision-- and I'd expect most of those patients to still be living afterwards. Cadet Yuulik has a mouth on her. If she's assigned to a willful CMO, on a backwater starbase someday, she could grow into a spectacular doctor one day. Rather, if she's assigned too close to Earth and the Admiralty, she may not be an officer in five years."

It seemed like Lake only took his first breath, when he paused to consider how to finish the sentence, "Cadet Debbie Larson is..." --His firm eye contact with Aren broke, while Lake searched the overhead for the correct wording; all he came up with was-- "Obedient. She'll get the job done. I don't know if I'd expect her to cure any space plagues, though, or to make it past Lieutenant (Junior Grade)."

Aren picked up one of the PADD's on his cluttered desk and tapped out a few notes. "I see." He said before setting down the PADD and leaning back in his chair, taking a sip of coffee. "Tell me a little more about Cadet Larson, what makes you think that she wont make it past Lieutenant (Junior Grade)?" Aren inquired. Her scores and evaluations were more than adequate, though based on Lakes initial thoughts he had his own suspicion.

Leaning back into his chair, Lake considered the Captain's question in the time it took him to tilt his head to one side. His pointed ear nearly touched his shoulder and then he straightened up. "In my experience, Cadet Larson answers medical questions with what she thinks I want to hear," Lake answered, and he was careful to speak to his experiences, rather than judge Debbie's character as a whole. "To date, I haven't seen any spark of creativity or a hunger for brilliance. She may have it in her deep down, but she hasn't learned how to access it. And she can't even make small talk. Not even bad, awkward small talk."

Aren sat in thought for a moment before he leaned forward and steepled his fingers on the desk. "It seems that the potential is there, with that in and assuming you had adequate time to mentor this cadet, what or how would you bring out this potential?" Aren asked in a friendly, yet probing tone.

Lake counted off the steps of the process on his fingers as he spoke. "Cadet Larson would need to listen, practice and go boldly," Lake said, completing with the third step. All the while, he struggled to maintain eye contact with Aren. His eyes darted down to the PADDs; although he didn't allow his eyes to linger, he searched the displays for words that might reveal meaning. He looked for meaning in the PADDs and the looked for meaning in the boxes. At the same time, he maintained his stream of conscious evaluation of Cadet Larson.

Lake said, "I would tell her stories of techniques and approaches that worked for me --or that didn't work for me-- and role-model leadership to her with intention. I would create experiences for her to practice new competencies, within a framework of some safety. Places other than the operating suite. And then, based on the outcomes of her practice, I would set her escalating goals to go try new things on her own, with mild supervision."

Aren nodded approvingly. While the medical field wasn't quite his forte, he could identify competency. "I see...since we are on this path, lets say that particular approach didn't quite work, what else would you have in mind in order to draw out her full potential?" The question was pointed, but he was curious of other possible ideas that the Lieutenant Junior Grade had.

Tilting his head from side to side as he thought it through, Lake rattled off, "There's the directive approach. I could micromanage her for a month or six, in the hopes of her developing a stronger muscle memory, regardless of her own intentions. Give her very clear directions, very candid feedback. Don't allow for independent thought, and maybe that tight cage will bring out her creativity as a rebellion." At that point, he had to force himself to look up at Aren. His eyes were drawn down to the box on the desk like a lonely shuttlepod dragged into the gravity well of a black hole...


[OFF]

To be continued...


Commander Aren Ban
Commanding Officer
USS Hathaway

Lieutenant Lake ir-Llantrisant
Chief Counselor
USS Hathaway

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