Operational Status

Posted on 05 May 2019 @ 1:49am by Lieutenant Danyl Adan & Captain Harvey Geisler

1,059 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Kalisa Conundrum
Location: Captain's Mess
Timeline: MD3 || 0700 hours

Lieutenant Danyl Adan was excited. It wasn't every day one was invited to the Captain's Mess for a meal. This was a breakfast and the spread offered to be a fresh one of fruits and delights beyond the imagination.

Dressed in a wrinkle-free uniform, Danyl hurried on his way and soon was seated with the Captain. His plate was resplendent with an omelet filled with cheese, meat and vegetables, chunks of fresh pineapple and hot buttered toast. For a beverage, Adan selected fresh hot coffee with fresh cream. In fact, the word fresh repeated itself in his mind as nothing here was replicated.

"Delicious, Sir!" he told the Captain as he took a fork full of omelet and put it in his mouth. He chewed greatfully.

Harvey, who sat nearby and not directly across the table, could only smirk as he worked on a bowl of oatmeal topped with various berries from three worlds. "Glad you enjoy it."

Adan sipped the hot coffee. "The last time we enjoyed a meal together like this, I was Jarveth,"pointed out Adan. "That wasn't all that long ago, Captain...only months."

"I'm sure it's a bit unusual for you," Harvey said. "On one hand, you and I have rarely spoken, yet you have the memories of another life. As for me, I'm still getting used to having a new face whom I know nothing of, but still have memories of a previous person. It's like you're the same and not all at once."

Lieutenant Adan nodded. "I understand where you are coming from. So many things are familiar to me and yet they are not. Oh, the Black Hawk is new to both of us since it is a new vessel, but the faces. I feel as if I should know them and on some level I do, yet I don't at the same time."

"I'm sure all of that will be mended in time," Harvey assured the Trill. "Aside from your and the symbiont's memory conflicts, how have you been settling in? Has the crew treated you okay?"

Adan took a quick sip of his hot French Roast coffee. Setting the cup down on the saucer, he breathed deep and exhailed slowly. "The crew have treated me with respect. I appreciate it. Except for Lieutenant Jg Cooper, I do not have personal relationships with them after hours. I think I have a tendency to avoid such situations and I am trying to rectify that situation. Like this, now. I don't generally open up to superior officers like this. Jarveth always did and, of course, Sahala. How else could she have made Captain?"

"Speaking from experience," began Harvey, "there's more than one way to the center chair. For most of my career, I was the pain in the ass of many superior officers. The fact that I was good at what I did helped me advance, but I suppose age tempered my outspokenness. As for my stubbornness, well, I supposed age has just made it worse."

"So, you want me to be a pain in your ass?" quipped Danyl. "I wonder if I could..."

"No, no," Harvey interjected, waving off the idea. "There's only room for one pain on the ass on this ship, and it's me. Stubbornness and the like, I can deal with."

Danyl did not smile as he promised, "Stubborness I can give you, Sir. When I was first assigned the Black Hawk, I was both thrilled and annoyed...as you might have guessed. When I realized I had no other choice, I placed demands upon myself to do the best job I could here. Besides, getting to work under your command was something I couldn't pass on."

Harvey raised an eyebrow. Someone actually wanted to serve under him? That was a concept he'd never before encountered, much less entertained. "Under my command?" he asked, before realizing a moment later that Adan had some prior experience with crusty old Geisler.

Danyl sipped at his coffee some more, thoughts from Jarveth's memories rising into his mind unbidden. Setting his cup down into its saucer, Danyl responded, "Yes, Sir, under your command. Believe it or not, there are those aboard the Black Hawk who actually admire your style of command. Jarveth was one of them and he knew several of the other officers who felt this way as well. There's a strong hand involved, but a humanity to it as well that a lot of today's commanding officers lack. I would, were I in a position to command my own ship, like to be like you are, Captain."

There was something Harvey didn't hear every day, or practically any other time. Someone aspired to be like him. Harvey had long thought that impossible, especially since he hadn't tried to inspire anyone. "You flatter me, Lieutenant," Harvey admitted. "But I'm certainly no role model."

"You're more of a role model than you know, Sir," said Adan. He finished off his coffee and placed the cup down in its saucer. "That comes from a Trill who has experienced what it was like in the Captain's chair."

"Oh?" Harvey asked, looking over to the Trill. "That sounds like an interesting story."

Danyl smiled. "Sahala was something else. She worked her way up to being the Captain of the Bradbury. Jarveth served with her in Flight Control. She was, in my opinion, beautiful. She was dedicated to her crew. She also sacrifieced romance for the big chair. She had no children which appears to be an Adan trait.

"Anyway, she was trying to negotiate with a rogue Klingon Captain the release of several Federation diplomats when the Bradbury was boarded. Sahala was killed by the Klingon Captain as a traitor and that's when Jarveth, who was aboard serving at the time, became the next host in order to save the symbiant's life."

Harvey winced, noticing that the Adan symbiont had an unfortunate pattern with hopes. "I'm sorry for your loss. If I recall correctly, those diplomats were rescued?"

Danyl jabbed a fork into a chunk of the pineapple and chewed it. He nodded slowly. "All twelve of the diplomats were rescued. Sahala received a posthumous award for her bravery."

Setting down his fork, Danyl picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth. "That was good, Sir," he said. "Thank you for inviting me to breakfast."

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