A Matter of Trust
Posted on 09 Jun 2016 @ 3:47pm by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Commodore Harvey Geisler
2,116 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Risky Business
Location: Geisler's Quarters
Timeline: MD 0 || 2230 Hours
Harvey sat in his desk in his quarters as the warp trails shot past his windows. Several PADDs lay on his desk; nine to be factual. Each one displayed a headshot of each member of the senior staff. Of the nine, six laid in a stack, candidates that he had rejected. Three finalists remained. Two of them he knew he could trust. The third was a complete gamble.
Commander Walsh topped the list, and his image was represented among the three finalists. Aside from being one of three Lieutenant Commanders on board, his command experience made him an invaluable asset to the ship. His priority, however, rested with the Black Knights. While he knew Walsh had everything on the Flight Deck under control, and a solid second-in-command, the Squadron needed him more than Geisler.
The other lieutenant commander on the list (Doctor Kij had been rejected as aside from being the ship's Chief Medical Officer, Harvey was certain the entire ship knew about their relationship. Harvey had no desire to display any sense of favoritism.) was his good friend Adam Casey. Harvey hadn't yet selected a new First Officer, but having a face he trusted on the command team would be critical. It was Adam's lapse in service that ultimately disqualified him. Between being reactivated and being a father, Harvey knew Adam had a lot on his plate.
That left Harvey to look deeper in his command staff. It was in his search he realized how much the Black Hawk lacked seasoned officers. Over five hundred people on board, and only four people bore the rank of Lieutenant Commander or higher. It wasn't that Lieutenant Rykov or Lieutenant Di Pasquale weren't qualified. Both individuals had held their positions for nearly a month, and the double solid pips on Camila's collar were freshly minted. They needed experience before stepping up to be the Second Officer.
In the end, Harvey was left with one real candidate. He knew this three hours ago, but it took a lot to convince himself that this was indeed the right course of action. Now it was time to act.
"Computer," he said at long last. "Locate Lieutenant Bast."
"Lieutenant Bast is in his quarters."
It was late, and Bast had had another very full day. He'd pulled another double shift, finalizing another set of upgrades to the lateral sensor array's software. He was almost done backtracking all of the modifications that he'd done to the ship's systems while he had been under Consortium control. He would have been finished by now, if it hadn't been for the damned Risan virus crisis. That had also weighed very heavily on his energy over the past few days. Being used as a living incubator to grow the antibodies required to cure most of the crew had drained him. Doctor Kij had wanted to put him on medical leave for 48 hours, but he'd managed to talk her out of it - the Operations department was still severely short-staffed, and he had to make sure they completed their maintenance list before they encountered another Consortium ship.
He would have loved to spend the night with Camila, but tonight was her shift on the Bridge. It was probably just as well, he thought, since he needed the rest.
He was just about to start snoring when the comm system came to life.
=^= "Captain Geisler to Lieutenant Bast. Please report to my quarters." =^=
Temerant awoke with a start, and hit the comm panel next to the bed. "On my way," he replied. He ran a hand through his hair to try to get it back into place, and jumped out of bed. He was almost at the door when he remembered that he'd forgotten to put on his uniform - it simply wouldn't do to show up on the Captain's doorstep in his underwear.
He pulled a fresh uniform out of the closet, slipped it on, and grabbed his boots. Within two minutes, he pressed the chime next to the Captain's door.
Harvey had noted the time before he contacted the Chief Operations Officer. He was more than aware of the hour, and something like this could have waited until the morning. This matter, however, prompted Harvey to see Bast's reactions and attitude for himself, rather than through the testimony of others.
The few minutes felt like hours to Harvey as he'd waited for the chime to sound. When his ears finally heard the chime, Harvey straightened in his chair. He glanced down for a moment to see if his uniform needed adjustment, which by this point was a regulation vest that was open and the red long sleeve shirt which was unzipped just enough for his neck to be free.
"Come," he called out, triggering the door to open.
The doors parted, and Bast walked through. His eyes quickly darted around the room before settling on the captain, sitting at his desk.
"Good evening, Captain," he greeted. "Glad to see you're feeling better."
"Thank you," Harvey replied, sensing that the Trill was being sincere. He gestured to a seat he'd pulled up to the desk. "How have you been doing, Lieutenant?" Harvey knew a few things from reports and observations, but he wanted to hear from Temerant himself.
Temerant seated himself across the desk from the Captain. "I've been keeping up," he replied honestly. "As you'll see in my progress reports, we've mostly caught up with the maintenance list that had been established after..." He cleared his throat. "After the thing on the T'Pring," he said succintly, not wishing to rehash the past. "Though I won't lie to you Captain, the lack of a staff in the Operations department was a major setback. Cadet Mackie's arrival helped ease the workload. He's been a great help, but he's still a cadet, and needs supervision."
"As do most cadets," Harvey replied with a surprising lack of emotion. "I have to admit it's impressive, how much you've accomplished without a large staff." Based on the late Xiao's recommendation, Harvey had arranged for some extra personnel in other departments to be transferred off the ship and some additional operations officers assigned.
"Thank you, Sir."
The Captain noted the modest and simple response. "I can't apologize for the setback, but you certainly have proven to several members of this crew that you don't let setbacks hold you back."
"I will say that I was disappointed that the transfer requests were approved for the entire Operations staff," Bast conceded, "and more than a little surprised that I wasn't informed until I showed up at an Ops briefing, all by myself. But that being said, it's pointless to cry over spilled milk. The job had to be done, and it was my responsibility to see that it was. I was also somewhat responsible for causing most of the trouble, it was only natural that I repair the damage."
"And how well do you feel that your repair efforts have progressed?" Harvey asked. "Between sabotaging the Black Hawk and firing on members of its crew."
Temerant looked down at the ground, contrite. "I can only apologize again for that," he said. "You know the circumstances that led to this event. I know there are plenty of people on this ship who still don't trust me. But I would hope that my actions and my behavior since those events has helped to convince everyone that I an no longer under the influence of the Consortium. As for the repair efforts, I would estimate that 90% of the maintenance schedule has been completed, and the rest will be finished by the time we depart from Unity again. Recent events on Yolvanda have brought to light a few flaws in the ship's power distribution grid, which took precedence over the maintenance list."
"There might be many that still don't trust you, but it seems you've already won over quite a bit of the crew," Harvey remarked. "Our Chief of Security seems to be rather fond of you."
Temerant blushed at that, in a manner that somewhat betrayed the host's youth, compared to the century-old symbiont inside him. "And I am rather fond of her as well," he said.
Harvey could not help but offer a smirk at the Operations Chief's expense. "Truth be told, Mister Bast, the Black Hawk has taken some rather considerable hits in the last few months. Replacing department heads is one thing. Rebuilding a command staff is an entirely different matter." Harvey hadn't yet admitted it, but he blamed himself for Xiao's death. The Captain felt that by allowing the Operations department to abandon its leader lead to the young Lieutenant Commander's demise.
"You've taken care of my ship. And you helped take care of my crew. I hear that I owe you, Adam, and Jayla my life. I have a tendency to hold a grudge, to focus on one thing until I can overcome it. But, you, Temerant. I was wrong about you."
"They did most of the work," said Bast. "I was just their living incubator. I have... I should say my previous host had a scientific background, but it's in physics, not biology. I just kept the machines running and incubated... stuff."
"Still," Harvey continued, "You had a hand in it, and I am certainly grateful. To me, you're a reminder to not just why the Federation and Starfleet exists, but why we're so different than everyone else, including the Consortium. That's why I would like to install you as this ship's Second Officer."
"Sir, the Consortium didn't really give me any choice in the matter when they decided to drug me, and use telepaths to control my mind and turn me into a psychotic puppet. I was very lucky to end up on Doctor Kij's table, where she could reverse the block, and allow me to regain control over my own mind. I can assure you that I was completely unaware of the Consortium's actions in creating this virus, and that I had nothing to do with contaminating..."
Geisler's words finally registered, and Temerant's brain halted its tailspin. "Did you say Second Officer?"
"I did," the Captain confirmed. "This isn't about making amends, either. Since I've taken command, I've only officially had one Second Officer, and it didn't end well. But, that's only recently. And, this isn't about what I need. This crew needs leadership. A Captain does not make a fine crew alone. The Consortium mess is just beginning, and this crew needs an individual who can help lead and keep this crew together as we continue moving forward."
He looked Temerant straight into his eyes and emphasized, "An individual like you."
Temerant took a deep breath, and swallowed. This was entirely unexpected. "I'm honored, Sir," he replied.
Harvey nodded. "As such, I'll be expecting nothing but the best from you. You've done a fine job so far." Harvey reached to his left and picked up a small box that his desktop terminal obscured from Bast's view and slid it across the table. "Which is reflected in earning this."
Temerant reached across the table and took the small box. He looked at Geisler before opening it. His breath caught in his throat as he opened the black box, and saw a black pip inside it. He was instantly filled with a sense of pride from the symbiont.
"Captain..." he whispered. No other words came.
"As I said, Commander," Harvey assured with a small smile on his face, "you've earned it. And, together, we'll prove to this crew that you are more than what the Consortium tried to turn you into."
Temerant was at a loss for words. "Ah... I, uh... Thank you again, Sir," were the only words that managed to come out of his mouth. This moment was completely unexpected. Certainly none of this had been on his radar for quite some time, and he'd pretty much given up hope of advancing much beyond the rank of Lieutenant for quite some time, given recent events.
"You are welcome, Commander." Harvey adjusted his posture once more. "Your first assignment is to get some rest. I have a feeling the worst is still ahead of us."
Temerant nodded, and rose to his feet. "And might I suggest you do the same, Captain. After what we just went through on this last mission, I think we both need it."
"I plan to," Harvey said with a tired smile. "If there is nothing else, Mister Bast, then I wish you a good night."
"Good night, Sir," replied Bast. With a nod, he walked out of the Captain's quarters, carrying his new pip in the little black box to his quarters.
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