Beginning a New Chapter

Posted on 22 Jul 2018 @ 5:55pm by Commander Aren Ban & Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Master Chief Petty Officer Kai Mazen
Edited on on 22 Jul 2018 @ 5:56pm

3,543 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Shipyards, Docking Bay & Crew Quarters
Timeline: MD 107, 1000 hrs

[ON]

Kai disembarked the runabout Cuyahoga with his android dog, Fineagle A. Beagle (AKA 'Fin') following at his heels, and stepped out into Avondale Shipyards Administrative and Personnel complex, in orbit over Rigel II. There was a fair amount of bustling around by technicians and docking bay personnel. Kai marked the Security presence, a number of Masters-At-Arms stationed throughout the area. He strode casually towards the security checkpoint one had to pass through to get to the station proper. Kai chatted amiably with the Master-At-Arms that reviewed his security clearances and identification, while another searched his bag. There wasn't much in there. He had a case that would be sent straight through to his temporary quarters until he was permitted to move into his quarters on the newly built Galileo. The case had whatever belongings he could carry that fit into the weight requirements of his new posting. He'd been assigned to a Starbase 49 prior to receiving orders to report to Command Chief/Chief of the Boat School in San Francisco on Earth. He'd had pretty good quarters on Earth (Master Chief Petty Officers get treated pretty well) but he went ahead and put all of his 'extra' stuff that he'd accumulated on SB49 into storage.

The Master-At-Arms checking his bag put everything back in and handed it to him.

"All set, Master Chief," he said. "Welcome to Avondale."

'Master Chief' or even 'Chief' still sounded strange to Kai. As a Hospital Corpsman, even a Master Chief Hospital Corpsman, Kai was more commonly referred to as 'Corpsman' or 'Doc'. When his undershirt was green (when he was assigned to the Marines), his Starfleet insignia clearly indicated he was a corpsman (they were the only Starfleet personnel permitted to wear Marine green and then only when assigned to a Marine unit) and when he wore teal after he moved on from service with the Marines, those things clearly indicated that he was a corpsman and people just called him 'Doc'. But now he wore Command red and things were a little different.

"Thanks," Kai said. He took his bag from the MA3 and walked into the base proper with Fin still by his side. The advantage of having an android dog was that it was easy to train. One of the first things Fin was taught was how to walk 'off-lead' so he didn't need a leash. Kai found the Personnel office in short order and was assigned transient quarters as befitted his station. He made his way there and got settled. His case was still in transit from the Docking Bay, but there was no rush. He wasn't going to unpack it until he got to his quarters on the Galileo. Kai grabbed a shower and a fresh uniform and recycled the old one.

"Computer," he said. "Please locate Captain Lirha Saalm and Commander Aren Ban for me."

A mere second passed during which the mainframe queried the requested data and responded in the signature soothing female voice. "Captain Saalm and Commander Ban are on Deck 22, section A-one, administrative ward." The exact area was a tight corridor of command offices adjoined to a small reception area, and it was on the other side of the facility.

"Thank you," Kai said to the computer. Yes, it was a computer and technically it didn't care whether he was polite or not. Bu the way Kai figured it, if everyone's nightmares came true and computers took over the galaxy, he wanted to be remembered as one of the 'good fleshbags'. He called up a map of the station. "Of course it's on the other side of the base. Well, I could use the exercise."

Fin made a noise.

"I know, I know, you could use the exercise, too," Kai said, scratching his steadfast companion behind the ears. "But I need to take this meeting alone. Tell you what. Stay here, be good, and we'll go exploring later. What do you say?"

Fin barked a happy bark, then jumped up on the bed and lay down.

"That's a good boy," Kai said.

Kai tapped his comm badge.

"Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Kai Mazen to Captain Saalm," he said.

A distinctive light female voice sounded in reply across the channel. "This is Saalm, go ahead."

"I've arrived safely and I'm settled in," Kai said. "I was told to contact you as soon as I was available for an interview."

"Yes, come to my ward and check in with my yeoman," she instructed. "Tall, Andorian, hard to miss. He'll show you to my office. Saalm out."

"Understood," Kai replied. "Okay, Fin. See you soon."

The small reception area in the administrative ward was cramped yet efficient, with only a handful of chairs and a set of red-collared petty officers shuffling around with various PADDs. A nearby door swished open and out stepped an Andorian yeoman, his blue antennae curling inward while he looked down at his PADD and the captain's schedule. "Master Chief Mazen?" he asked looking around. "Kai Mazen?"

Kai rose up from where he was sitting and approached the Andorian.

"I'm Kai Mazen," he said. "And I'm a Master Chief, so I think it's a safe bet that you're looking for me."

The yeoman took notice of the Human then tapped an entry into his PADD with blue fingers. "Yes, follow me, master chief," he curtly replied. The junior petty officer turned and entered his security code into the nearby door's keypad, then motioned for Mazen to follow while he led him down the secured corridor. At the very end of the short hallway, he stopped and turned towards the room on the right. "Captain, Master Chief Mazen is here for 1000," he said into the door's comm.

"Yes, come!" Lirha called out from behind the door, currently sitting with her XO discussing mundane matters pertaining to duty shift rotations and crew scheduling. A quick break from their work to meet a new member of their crew was a welcome relief.

The door swished open to allow the COB candidate to enter, and the Andorian yeoman stepped to the side. "Good luck," he casually said to senior enlisted man.

"Thanks," Kai said as he entered. He came to attention. "Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Kai Mazen, reporting as ordered!"

Aren had turned and watched the Master Chief enter the office, snapping to attention attention before the two officers.He himself stood to face the man and Lirha. As this was her office, he waited for captain to give the command at ease. Aren had taken time to review the mans file and was looking forward to having him aboard.

"At ease," said the captain while she took in the appearance of the Human who'd just entered. He was not overly tall but his frame was muscular and he looked to be in excellent condition. His bald head and features betrayed a hint of age mixed with youth, and he looked younger than his true years. "Hello, chief. Welcome to Avondale," Saalm greeted, leaning back in her chair to study him. "I hope your trip was uneventful?"

"Very much so, Skipper," Kai said as he assumed the 'at ease' position in Starfleet and Marine tradition, sliding his left foot out so his feet were shoulder width apart and placing his hands over his abdomen, hip level or so, one hand over the other. "Thank you."

"Good. Please sit," Saalm gestured with an emerald hand to one of the vacant chairs across from her desk while also giving her XO a cue to take his seat. "Tell me what brings you to Avondale and my starship," she then prompted, seemingly subtle on small talk.

Kai took a seat in the indicated chair. This was the part of serving in Starfleet that he hated. If he'd wanted to go through lots of job interviews, he'd have stayed a civilian.

"This interview brings me to Avondale, Captain," Kai said. "As I said in my message to you, by around this time I'd be graduating from Command Chief/Chief of the Boat school and I'd be looking for a job and I was hoping you'd consider meeting with me. You've got a good rep as a captain, which is a plus for me, but you're getting an almost entirely new crew. It's going to take an experienced hand to turn them into a functional starship crew. I've been Starfleet just over four decades. I spend a quarter century in the trenches with the Marines, most of that with the Raiders, and I've spend the last fifteen years on starships and starbases. I understand how the Fleet works. I understand the enlisted population of the Fleet. I even understand how to deal with junior officers when they're behaving as if they're twice as smart as they actually are...smart meaning both actual intelligence and experience in this case. This could be said about a lot of people who are applying for this position, but not all of them have the experience on the ground, in the thick of things that I do. Out of all of the jobs a Hospital Corpsman can go for, Combat Medicine is one of the toughest and it's damned hard to get into. We're placed in situations where we have to make life and death decisions almost immediately upon arriving at our first assignments, depending on whether or not we're at war or not. I joined during the Cardassian Border Wars and was in the thick of it right after I completed my training. It taught me to manage stress and get the job done. You go out far exploring, sometimes far from Fleet support. I can be an asset to you out there, if you'll have me."

The captain listened while the senior enlisted man explained his experience, expertise, assets, and accolades. She couldn't deny that she was impressed, but also wanted to be upfront with the man.

"Your merits are sound but you flatter me too much," Lirha replied with a shake of her head. "Two months ago, I was serving a five-year sentence at the Perth Rehabilitation Facility on Earth." She held his eyes firmly while she briefly explained. "I was recently found guilty of treason against the UFP, destruction of Federation property, and willful disobedience of standing Starfleet orders pertaining to the Klingon Neutral Zone." She gave him a sideways smirk. "I am not sure my 'rep' is as prestigious as it once was."

Kai grinned.

"Nobody's perfect," he said. "What's a little treason, destruction of property, willful disobedience, and prison time between professionals? So, did you do the whole five-year bit? Were you released early on good behavior? Did they drop the charges and exonerate you? Or did your crew stage a prison break? I've never served under a wanted fugitive before. That might be fun."

Saalm's light green eyes turned serious while she continued to look at Mazen. "I received early release on the condition that I take Galileo to...its objective," she carefully answered while trying to phrase her words in a manner that wouldn't betray the true nature of their expedition or the secrecy she'd been sworn to.

Lirha then frowned and tilted her head slightly to the side with a long moment's pause. "Are you not concerned at all about me? Starfleet has already judged and sentenced me, and only by fortune have I retained this position as a ship commander."

"Should I be?" Kai said. "This mission they want to send you on. It's either a) a one-way trip but easy enough that any idiot could do it and you're the idiot of the moment, b) it's a one-way trip, they don't think it has much of a chance of succeeding, and they don't want to risk anyone valuable on it, or c) it's an extremely difficult mission, they need someone highly qualified to lead it, someone they could coerce into leading it, and they chose you. Which is it? If it's the latter, we can keep talking. If it's one of the first two, I might have to reconsider this interview. I'm no coward. I've got the medals and the aches and pains to prove that. But I've got a lot to live for and I don't intend to volunteer for a suicide mission without a really, really good reason."

"Come now, Mister Kai. We are not at war anymore," replied the captain with a dismissive shake of her head. "The Federation doesn't make a habit of sacrificing their crews and starships. We are not the Klingon Empire." She shifted slightly in her chair and re-crossed her legs beneath the desk. "Galileo is being sent on her mission because Starfleet has discovered something they believe to be of great importance. I cannot tell you what, exactly, but it appears to be an urgent matter. And I don't believe Command would send a science vessel on a one-way journey with no chance to report and study our findings."

Kai relaxed a bit.

"Alright," he said. "Then I'm all in. I haven't had much opportunity to serve on science vessels in my time. It'll be fun to try something new. I'm pretty confident that I'm up to the challenge. If you'll have me, that is."

Aren had been sitting quietly listening to Lirha and the chief conversation. Like Lirha, Aren had read the master chiefs file and was impressed with what he saw. “Keep that level of enthusiasm and confidence .” Aren said with smile. “Having a strong SNCO aboard is always an asset.” He said, looking over to Lirha and made eye contact before slightly nodding an approval. “ I do have a question or two for him if you don’t mind Captian.”

Saalm gave the Trill commander a simple nod to indicate for him to proceed. Her XO's thoughts and queries were always a valuable commodity.

Aren turned back to Kai. “As I said before Master Chief, you have an impressive array of qualifications, and would be an asset to have aboard any starship. You have expressed how you would be asset but one thing that you haven’t really touched on is your reason or reasons for wanting an assignment such as this. What are your personal reasons for choosing the Galileo?” Aren asked, wanting to get a feel for the man. Aren knew that Kai would be a great addition to the crew and fill out a much needed position in their roster, but he did want to know the reasons and motivations of the crew. For him, being armed with that information allowed him to better lead and guide those under his charge.

"As I've said," Kai replied. "Despite the prison sentence, the captain has a good reputation as a solid commanding officer, with the backbone to stand up to Starfleet Command and to stand by her convictions...er...pardon the choice of words, Captain. Anyway, a solid commanding officer is one good reason to join the crew of the Galileo-A. As I've also said, while I've got a few years of experience in the exploratory arm of Starfleet, I could really use more to round out my resume. If you're looking for wide-eyed wanderlust, sorry, I outgrew that a while ago. But I have ambitions that extend beyond the time I hope to spend on the Galileo-A and I need to expand both my resume and my horizons, branch out into areas that I'm less experienced in, to make those ambitions a reality. I've got about forty or so years left before I reach the age where Starfleet likes Humans to retire. That's forty years of Command NCO positions ahead of me. Many of those are going to be on ships and starbases. As time passes there will hopefully be opportunities to serve at the Task Group, Task Force, and Fleet level, as well as the opportunity for positions like Command Master Chief of Starfleet Academy, or one or more of the Fleet Departments. I assume Medical, but BUPERS doesn't really care what your rating was before you transferred to Command, only that you know how to command. If I'm determined, good enough at my job, have the right connections, and if I'm damned lucky, maybe I could become Command Master Chief of Starfleet. Who knows. It doesn't hurt to dream. My parents told me to reach for the stars. Even if you fall short, you'll likely end up higher than you were before. But to get there, as I said need experience as a Command NCO on some exploratory and science vessels."

Aren nodded as he listened to the Chief make his reply. "I appreciate your honesty Master Chief. Those are lofty goals, but as you said, it doesn't hurt to dream." Aren turned his head to Lirha. "That was all I really had from him at the moment sir." Aren said, giving the floor back to the Captain.

Lirha didn't have much to add that couldn't be covered at a later date. In fact, her entire command team needed to sit down to review the new starship's logistical operations. There'd be more time for her to ask questions, but before she finalized the COB's transfer, she wanted to afford the man an opportunity to ask about anything on his mind. "Do you have any questions for either Commander Ban or I? Before I accept your request for assignment?"

Kai thought for a moment. Did he have any questions? Maybe one, a very important one.

"I can only do my job well if I'm included in as much of the decision making...I wouldn't necessarily say 'process', since most of the time I'd just be there to listen and sometimes offer advice, usually when asked, but sometimes I'll volunteer an opinion," he said. "I guess I'm saying without overstepping my place in the scheme of things or getting too big for my britches, I'd like to ask that, if you decide you want me to join your crew, please include me whenever possible in command meetings and officer briefings. I work best when I know what's going on, and I've got a lot of experience to draw on, but also I have a lot to learn about being a Command NCO at this level and I'm only going to learn what I need to know if I'm 'in the room where it happens' to quote and Old Earth musical."

Lirha blinked with a bit of surprise evident in her sharp Orion features. "Well of course. You'll be my COB, after all," she replied with a small smile. "I wouldn't hold a briefing without your presence and advice. You are...the commander of our enlisted crew. Which is most of our personnel compliment."

"Excellent," Kai replied. "So, does this mean I'm in?"

Saalm cast an amused glance over to her XO then back to the senior enlisted chief. "Yes Mister Kai, you're 'in'," she answered with a small smile while she let the strange Human express roll off her tongue. The captain then reached down into one of her desk's drawers and retrieved a commbadge and silver-trimmed passcard for her newest crew member. She pushed them across the table towards him. "This is your new commbadge; it's been re-coded. And the keycard will give you access to all unrestricted areas aboard the ship while we're still in drydock.

The Orion captain stood and reached up to push a stray lock of dark hair back behind her ear while her eyes held his. "Welcome aboard Galileo-A, master chief." She extended her green hand for him to shake.

Kai shook the offered hand and took the commbadge.

"Thank you, Skipper," he said. "I won't let you down!"

Kai decided to let the 'Mister' go by without mentioning it. Because Starfleet could be a little informal sometimes, some people forgot that 'Mister' was reserved for ensigns and lieutenants. Senior NCOs were called Chief or in Kai's case maybe Master Chief. He'd even accept 'Doc' when he was in Sickbay, because he was still rated as a Master Chief Hospital Corpsman. But he didn't let anyone below him in the food chain call him 'sir' and he hated it when officers called him 'Mister'. But Saalm seemed a decent sort and the interview had went well, so Kai let it pass. Sometimes you had to let things go like water off a duck's back for the sake of good order and discipline...and to avoid pissing off your new captain.

"So," Kai said without skipping a beat. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to take a walk through of the new ship and then see what I need to be doing to get her ready for launch."

And also enjoy some of my down time here. Might as well take advantage while I'm here.

"No, that's all. You're dismissed," replied Saalm. She had a busy schedule for the remainder of the day which left little time for chit chat or other forms of pleasantries.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Kai Mazen
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo-A

Commander Aren Ban
Executive Officer
USS Galileo-A

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