Meeting the Captain of the Galileo

Posted on 16 May 2018 @ 4:39pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Marisa Wyatt

2,900 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex
Timeline: MD 102, 1801 hrs

[ON]

The latest new Galilean to join the famed starship's crew had just departed the captain's office and was escorted back out into the waiting room by the attentive young Andorian yeoman who'd been working the appointment schedules for the last several days. PADD in hand, the blue-skinned petty officer reached up to scratch his white hair and grab a drink of water from the replicator before casting his gaze on the remaining few personnel still present in the administrative ward's waiting lounge.

A quick glance down at the slim silver device in his hand revealed the next in queue, and to his pleasure, he noticed everyone seemed to be running on time so far. "Lieutenant Sandoval?" he called out, glancing between the last few crewmen who were seated. "Marisa Sandoval?"

"Here," she said, standing and walking over to the Andorian. She'd been reading up on the latest archaeological findings to keep her mind off the conversation she'd had with Commander Ban and her upcoming meeting with Captain Saalm. Even though she'd worked with the captain before, she was both nervous and irked because her first application had been rejected without reason.

He took notice of the Vulcan officer as she approached. At first, she looked like any other of her kind he'd seen before, but upon closer inspection, he could see she was of mixed heritage. From where exactly, he couldn't quite place. "Follow me, sir," he instructed as he led her down the back corridor to one of the last offices in the row. He reached out with his blue hand and input the chime command into the door's keypad. "Captain, your 1800 is here. Lieutenant Sandoval," he said into the comm. The door swished open and the yeoman stepped aside to allow the blue-collared woman to enter.

Inside the room sat Lirha Saalm, Galileo's now-infamous Orion captain who'd been relegated to the likes of a prisoner less than two months ago. But instead of a broken, dejected former-shell of herself, Saalm glowed as vibrant as ever. Her uniform was still crisp and her dark locks of hair had been nearly trimmed to fall just above the tops of her shoulders. She smiled when she saw who had just arrived.

"Hello, captain," Marisa said politely and bowed in greeting. "You look well."

"Thank you, you as well. Come sit and tell me about your shore leave," the captain instructed with a gesture to one of the two vacant chairs across from her desk. The standard Starfleet office was sparsely decorated except for a few small gold models of various starship classes neatly stacked on a shelf display.

"Miraj flew me to a small archaeological dig for a few days." She couldn't help smiling. "I don't think she'll ever do that again. We had a run-in with some hostile natives and an AI."

"Oh...?" The mention of an archaeological expedition perked up the captain's green ears. "Tell me more," she then said, wanting to know some of the details about what the science officer had uncovered.

"It was on Mirzcek III. My old mentor, Doctor Peter Helsing, was in charge. He invited me to help out for a few days, and Miraj agreed to come with me and to be the pilot. The government gave permission for the dig, but a group of natives were against it and had made several small attacks on the site. The day we arrived, there was a large explosion at the camp. It led to us finding an underground tomb that contained some type of AI or robot. It controlled small creatures that resembled dung beetles. They turn into different things like a wall and trees." She shook her head. "We got out and reported what we found, but we left right after, so I'm not sure what happened, except that the dig continued, buty htis time with more help from the locals."

"Yes, I remember reading about the survey proposals for that world," the captain remarked. It'd been of slight mention from several of her colleagues, but she was now surprised to learn of this new information. "Small creatures? Was it nanite technology?" Saalm then asked.

"I think so. It would explain why they were able to transform as they did. The AI controlled them," Marisa said. "And it semeed that its sarcophagus was its power source."

The captain paused to consider the ramifications of such a find. "What sort of artificial intelligence was this?" she then asked. Discovering new sentient life forms -- robotic or otherwise -- was always a special time for those who served within Starfleet's Science Corps. "Was this a first contact scenario?"

"Not sure. The AI was ancient. I believe it was buried in the tomb for a reason and the natives didn't want us to dig it up. But, instead of telling us, they protested, and then they tried to destroy the dig site. Pete and his team will keep working to see what they can find. There should be a few papers when they figure out what it is and how sentient it is."

Saalm felt a bit disappointed at the lack of detailed information from the expedition but also realized the experience might have been overwhelming for both Sandoval and Derani. Most likely, as the lieutenant had stated, extra time would be needed to decipher their findings. She leaned back in her chair and gave the other woman a small nod. "Well. It seems you had your hands full with a discovery most anthropologists would kill for," she grinned. "So what brings you here, to Galileo, instead of back on another survey site?"

"Restlessness," she said bluntly. "I taught for years, but I can't settle into teaching again. And while I loved getting into the field again, I don't want to do that right now, either." She shrugged, deciding to be honest with the captain. "After Kreanus, I need to be moving, to be exploring. Working on a starship is different every day, and right now, I need that. But, if this doesn't pan out, either, I will probably find some dig somewhere. Pete said he'd take me, but I'd rather run my own department."

"Well, this is a long assignment," the captain prefaced while she considered Sandoval's reasoning behind her request for deployment. "Part of this interview process -- your reason for being here and speaking to me -- is to make sure things don't not pan out, as you put it. Three years in isolation aboard a starship on the frontier is a bad recipe for anyone with doubts or second guesses." Hesitation to commit was one of Saalm's biggest fears, and though she didn't necessarily get that impression from the Vulcan hybrid, she hoped to see conviction and passion for the assignment. "Who is Pete?" she then asked, not knowing who the lieutenant was referring to.

"The early years of Starfleet sent crew out for five years. Three years in deep space is no different. And I've spent over a year at a time on a small archaeological site with far fewer people than are on a starship," Marisa replied. "And when we signed up to join Starfleet, we did agree to assignments like this." She shrugged. Maybe it was the way she was raised, but this was not as onerous an assignment as the captain seemed to indicate. "As for Pete, he's Doctor Peter Helsing. He was my mentor for my Doctorate. I've worked with him a number of times. When he heard I was twiddling my thumbs in San Francisco, he invited me to spend a few days working with him again. As it was, Miraj and I arrived just before the explosion and we were in the group that went to investigate the now-open tomb. We were there for less than a day. It was thanks to Miraj and her shuttle that we got out when we did. The tomb was closed until Starfleet decided it was safe to go back in, and Pete needed to have a good long talk with the locals. So, our trip was cut short. He offered me a job if I want to resign my commission. But, as I said, I'm not ready to give up exploring just yet."

She paused for a moment. "I have a question for you. I was with you on the Galileo for a short time. You know my history. And yet, when I applied to join the Galileo A, you rejected my application. Why?"

Saalm nodded in acknowledgement of her actions. She felt no guilt, but realized she probably needed to explain her motives to Sandoval. She deserved as much, after all.

"I did, yes. And I was hoping you would reapply. Many in Starfleet would call this a 'special' assignment, and I want to make sure all of the crew are certain about their decision," the captain started to explain in the hopes that Sandoval might catch on to her line of thinking.

Marisa looked at Saalm for a long moment. "Seriously? That's not how Starfleet, or any place I've ever worked, handles staffing. You apply and hope to be chosen. If you aren't, you go elsewhere. You never insist you be given an interview after you've been told no. If you do, you are more likely to be blacklisted than given a second chance. You occasionally go through a vetting process, but that's not by demanding to be seen. It's by filling out a questionnaire or taking a test of some sort." The only reason Marisa was here is because Commander Ban arranged for the opportunity.

She paused and changed to a different tack. "Even in the early days of Earth's space flight, for special assignments like the astronaut program, people only applied once. They could apply again the next time the position opened, but they never sent in multiple applications for each opening, or demanded to be given an interview. If they had, they would have been kicked out of the program entirely." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I find this illogical."

The captain laughed at that, a full chuckle sounding from her throat. "I suppose it's a good thing that I'm not a 'logical' captain, then." Saalm was an Orion through and through -- not a Vulcan, half-Vulcan, or from a species that even remotely placed emphasis on logic. "Captains have long held prerogative in Starfleet's ship staffing matters," she then continued. "I had to apply three times for my intelligence posting aboard Starbase 137 before the CO approved my transfer. Yet when I was transferred to USS Athens, it was by the captain's request -- I did not interview or even apply, I was...selected," she explained using a series of examples to demonstrate the variety of personnel selection methods among the fleet's different commanders. "I have never asked for any of my crew to insist or demand they are selected for this assignment," Saalm went on to clarify. "But I do expect that the senior officers under me not give up hope or turn away at the first sign of rejection."

"I did," Marisa said. "If my professional credits and letters of recommendation aren't enough to get an interview, I'll go somewhere else." She shrugged. "As I said, I'm only here because Commander Ban arranged it. It's not that I don't want the assignment, it's for the reasons I gave. While I agree that you, as Captain, have a right to decide how you are going to vet your crew, I have a right to disagree with your methods. I am, after all, half Vulcan." There was a definite glint of humor as she said this. She was both logical and emotional, which meant she never quite fit in with either humans or Vulcans.

"Of course you are free to disagree," the captain replied. "And I'm not required to explain my actions to you, either." It was the blunt truth of the matter and Saalm made sure to get that out of the way early so there was no confusion at any point in the future. "Having said that, I do afford my officers a certain leeway to express their views. Provided it is done in a private and professional manner." The reality was that she didn't care much about what Sandoval thought of her recruiting methods. There were far more less petty, pressing matters at hand she had to deal with in the coming days.

Grabbing a PADD from her cluttered desk, Saalm became silent for a moment while she entered several short paragraphs of information into her new vessel's personnel chart. Then she sat the PADD down with a soft click on the table. "Regardless of how you managed to find your way here for an interview, you are here now. And I think you would be a good fit aboard my starship. So...if you want to be posted to this assignment, it is yours. And if you want to return to your friend, Dr. Helsing, you can do that as well. The time to decide is now, while I have this PADD in my hand." She tapped her green index finger against the top of the slim silver device, hoping that the projections of apathy she'd received from the lieutenant were simply Vulcan idiosyncrasies.

Marisa shook her head. "I can't settle down just yet, and even an archaeological assignment would keep me in one place for several years. Working on the Galileo is what I need right now."

Marisa paused, then asked. "Will Miraj be coming, too? She's the best pilot I've ever seen, and you'll need the best."

Saalm wasn't really sure what the ensign's intentions were. She'd received an initial application for assignment from Derani not too long ago, but there had been no followup submission that'd come across her desk pertaining to the conn officer. "I don't know," the captain answered with a light shrug. "I didn't see her name in my interview schedule, but today is only the second day of onboardings. There's still time before the week is over."

Turning her thoughts back to blue-collared officer in front of her, the captain felt a slight weight lift off her shoulder now that she'd seemingly found a permanent science chief to join her crew. "Well, since this is where you want to be," she began with a small smile, "and because you served with me on Kreanus and DuJa'Q, I'm pleased to assign you to the position of Galileo's chief science officer. Unless you have any objections or would like to head our research operations, instead?"

"No, I'd rather work with science than research, but thank you," she said. Then she raised an eyebrow. "So, if, like me, she didn't feel it proper to insist on an interview, you aren't going to give her one based on past performance? Did you make Commander Ban insist on an interview after you rejected him? Or Commander Warraquim?"

The green-skinned captain reached down into one of her desk's drawers and retrieved a new commbadge and a blue-trimmed silver keycard designated for all new science personnel. "I have faith that Miraj will show up for an interview. One way or another," she answered with a subtle private smile. She'd grown fond of the young Boslic over the last year and knew she was free-spirited, young, and sometimes unpredictable. "As for the commanders, you can ask them yourself if you want. They both arrived here yesterday for their interviews and I think they're still on-station."

Picking up her PADD to input the serial number from the keycard into the ship's database, Saalm then pushed the commbadge and pass across the desk to Sandoval. "You will need these. This keycard will give you access to the vessel and all non-essential systems while we're still docked. And the commbadge contains a newly-coded transmitter." The Orion then stood and offered her hand to the newly-minted science chief. "Congratulations, Lieutenant Sandoval. Welcome aboard Galileo-A."

Marisa hoped Miraj would get an interview. She was pretty sure that, like Marisa, she would not respond to the initial rejection. Someone would have to intervene on her behalf as Commander Ban had on Marisa's. Maybe she could ask Ban to get Miraj an interview? "Thank you, captain," she said, taking the commbadge and key card before shaking Saalm's hand. She would definitely have a look at the science department. Then she gave the woman a brief Vulcan bow. "See you later."

"Yes, dismissed for now," said the captain after giving the lieutenant's hand a firm shake. "Once you've stowed your belongings, you can tour the new laboratory facilities aboard the ship. And if you want, you can join Commander Ban and I for an external inspection of the new sensor suites later this week." The next few days were bound to be busy for the new captain and her crew as they began to acclimate to the new starship class' technology, capabilities, and fellow personnel.

"I'd like that," Marisa said. She would check and see if Miraj got that interview. If not, that would give her a chance to have a word with Commander Ban.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

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