Training

Posted on Wed Nov 28th, 2012 @ 11:49pm by Captain Elsie Halliwell

1,956 words; about a 10 minute read

[ON]

Refreshed from a water bath, something that Halliwell rarely indulged in, the captain of the Ranger decided, whilst the decompression of the data from the Dubai was being handled by her science team, to take a leisurely stroll around Deck Five to further clear her head and also decompress. She still hadn't managed to shake off the unnerving feeling since she had returned from her dinner with Jenner.

It had been a while since she had done the rounds and it had felt good to be back in service and in command of a starship again, despite the tension she still felt at the back of her neck. As she rounded Section 32-Alpha, she spotted Barim up ahead and took the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

"Ah, Lieutenant. Do you have a minute or two?" she proffered, sleekly moving a strand of hair that had freed itself from her still-drying pony tail. "I have a proposition to discuss with you?"

Jensar paused from his walking, and looked up from his PADD. Noting that the Captain was well on her way, he lowered the PADD, and tilted his head to the side. With a slight grin appearing on his face, Barim replied, "I am all about the proposition ma'am."

"Then let's move somewhere less formal. The Mess?"

Jensar nodded and waved his hands in front of him with a slight bow, customarily to allow the lady the opportunity to go first.

Elsie sat down and pulled the teacup closer to her, popping in a lump of sugar with a plop. She smiled and then felt the need to add, "I don't usually take sugar. And if you asked my mother, she'd call it sacarlidge, but I feel like a boost would do me good."

Jensar took his coffee black, which few people seemed to do these days. To him, it was a reminder of simplicity, and to which end, he could find it acceptable that it tasted bitter. As time went, it grew on him. "Aye ma'am," he began. "But, if you ask me, the boosts that we need rarely come in the form of a chemical rush."

Elsie raised both eyebrows in a clearly amused fashion and then said, "Then I fear we may have to agree to disagree. Nothing clears your head like a tipple of scotch, but that isn't a medicinal prescription, merely something my grandfather used to enjoy."

Jensar nodded. "In truth, I have a tendency to utilize a fine liquor for relaxation purposes as well," adding with a smile, "just not a boost. Relaxation is the key for me. But... I agree, to disagree that is..."

"Anyway," she managed after taking a sip to taste its sweetness, and placing the cup back down on the saucer with a clink added "how would you feel about allowing some of your recruits to get more hands on than they currently are? We have a lot of data to sift through both from our future scans and the Dubai's. I really think that this is an opportunity to allow them to see how a mission unfolds, and in real time."

Jensar considered this for a moment. Looking up to the ceiling, he nodded slowly and replied, "I definitely can agree with that ma'am. The biggest problem that I have discovered concerning new recruits, and especially senior cadets, has been their lack of experience. I realize that it is somewhat... ironic and cliche to say it, but it still holds true. The only way to get these up and coming officers the experience they need before they actually need it, is to get as much as they can now."

"Well," she countered, a wry smile now warping her delicate features, "if I cast my mind back to a decade or so ago," she paused and raised one eyebrow in protest of Jensar's uncommunicative objection to the reality of linear time, "I can remember those last few years of the Academy being the most hungry for experience I have ever endured. And with the excellent tutelage provided by yourself, I'm confident that both the cadets and crew can both gain advantages."

Jensar leaned back in his seat, folded his hands and placed them behind his head. Looking directly at his commander's face, he replied, "It seems ma'am, you have something in mind?"

Elsie leaned back in her chair and took another sip of her steaming cup of tea, a look of resolved discovery now framing her face. "I may have," she said, relaxing further into her chair, "but I don't think it's really my position to guide either you or the recruits into a specific channel of development. That's yours." She fell silent a moment and then smiled. "But I will offer you an alternative, should you wish for it. Commander T'mpest. She deals with the duty roster much more than I. Take advantage of her. And her thoughts."

Jensar considered that for a moment. "I can see where you are coming from on that ma'am. The XO is always a great place to begin for assignment suggestions. Besides... it's not my decision to place or train, merely to oversee their progress and make my recommendations concerning their careers," Jensar said, then added quickly, "... and act as a buffer between them and yourself, of course. However, since you did make mention of your desires when you were a young cadet, what did you yearn for the most, when preparing for your commission?"

The captain, with a decided twinkle in her eye, cast her mind back to those hungry days when all she wanted to do was explore the universe and experience the stars. She smiled, briefly, and then lowered her meek chin into her supple hand. "I just hungered for pace. I wanted to be out there with the best of them. Active duty. Doing my bit..."

"So," responded Barim, "the one thing that you wanted the most was for things to never be slow. You wanted to have action even when action was not present... all things considered. I certainly can agree with that. Ultimately, in my opinion, what helps us to determine whether someone is ready or not, is how they handle themselves under pressure."

"Absolutely," Elsie agreed with a nod. "Service isn't solely concerned with training and knowledge, but the decisions you make when the game is about to close and you're out of options to score." She smiled, reminded of her youthful days and then then fixed him with a gaze. "What about you, Lieutenant? Hungry yourself?"

Jensar tilted his head to the side slightly, a smile spreading about his face. While his empathy knew what Captain Halliwell was referring to, he replied, "Actually, I'm famished." Noting what was she really was referring to, he carried it further. "I'd have to say that the hunger is truly never fed. When I was moved to the Training Division from Communications by Starfleet, I assumed that with my penchant for languages, combined with my telepathic and empathic abilities, they felt that I should be really good at training people."

Barim shrugged, "In truth, I think that I have a lot to offer young members of Starfleet. The only thing that I worry about, is that when I send them on their way, they are not prepared for that one moment in time, to make a decision because I didn't do all that I could do for them."

"We, as teachers, can only provide the tools with which these students will make from. We can't hold their hand while the hammer, too, Lieutenant." She fell silent a moment and then took to her cup again to drain the last, tepid amber. "Not everyone will succeed and you can't expect them to."

Barim considered that statement, nodded his head slowly, then immediately shook it in the negative. "While that's true, I'll never resign myself to the idea that there wasn't something more I could do. So, I will still want to do everything I can now, to make sure they succeed when the time comes."

"No one's asking you to be any less than you are, Lieutenant," Elsie replied almost affectionately, "but you need to be aware that once you've done your best for someone, you're not ultimately responsible for their actions once they've left your tutelage." The captain's mind quickly shot back to an uncomfortable memory she had been suppressing for the majority of her command career. And maybe it was the surrender to a telepathic race, but she decided to divulge.

"During my first command away mission as XO on the Damascus I failed a young Bajoran ensign." Her voice fell as she took in a breath and lowered her head a little. She then began to explain further: "We were tasked with a simple survey mission -" She tossed her blonde ponytail with casual yet suggestive shake of the head. "- They seem to be my lot in life," she added as she widened her eyes and stared at the table between them both. "Being the officer in charge, I was - I have to admit - a little giddy with pride. But, I tried not to lose sight of the fact that we, as a team, had a job to do, nor that I was ultimately responsible."

She fell silent again and then locked eyes with the lieutenant. "We surveyed the ecosystem thoroughly and did what we needed to do. Only I wasn't aware that Ensign Noranna had brought aboard with her a memento of her first away mission, equally excited and naive. The transporter biofilters were offline on our return due to engineering maintenance and she never told me what she'd stashed with her: An innocent, beautiful looking plant. Similar to Scottish heather, from what I remember; hardy, wild-looking. Inane... Only it wasn't. What I now know is that once a lunar cycle, the plant spores and, usually, to no ill effect on humanoids. Apart from Bajoran physiology." She shook her head a little as a tear began to well at the corner of her eyes. "It took the doctor a week to work out what she'd been exposed to and by that point it was too late for her. We discovered the plant in her quarters the morning she died. Her Trill bunkmate was completely immune to fungi. As was I."

She composed herself a little and then looked at the Betazoid with slight affection in her features. "I don't blame myself for what happened to her. I can't. I perhaps should have been more vigilant in keeping track of the samples we'd brought aboard but to my knowledge they were all tested in labs once we'd returned. Save for Noranna's cultivation. So I understand where you're coming from. But we are all responsible for our own actions and inactions. So I get it."

Jensar took the last sip from his coffee cup. He checked to ensure that it was, in fact, empty before he placed his cup down and pushed it to the side. Leaning back in his chair yet again, he said, "In point of fact ma'am, 'Things happen...' As such, I still feel as though we do what we can to ensure they are ready for tomorrow. We can't affect our past, but we determine our own future."

With his last, Barim stood up from his chair and said with a slight bow, "And now, if you will excuse me ma'am, I have some reports to finish concerning our current crop of cadets."

[OFF]

Captain Elsie Halliwell
Commanding Officer

&

Lieutenant Jensar Barim
Training Division Officer

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