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Post by lorkney on Mar 16, 2010 0:10:11 GMT -5
The message was simple, but the meaning was profound.
[TO: Lt Cmdr Laurel Orkney]
SUBJECT: Psych Evaluation
Just to let you know I am available for a meeting at your convenience for the evaluation. Might be a good time to let me try that coffee you promised.
-K Hart
"So here I am", Laurel thought. "Assigned to decide if Lt Cmdr Hart, Karl was psychologically fit to return to duty."
She certainly was qualified to do it. Though mainly a student of the physical arts, she of course was qualified to serve as a ship's counselor in a pinch. Not that she really thought much of the position. But still.
So Starfleet had assigned Laurel to evaluate her friend, proving once again they could be half a plum off a bubble for sure.
Laurel had a couple of problems with this and had almost protested the assignment. But in the end, she is a professional and will do as told.
But they had put her in a bad position. As Karl's friend, she would have to be extra hard on him so as to not show favoritism.
And the fact she had been there, in the same battle. Had seen the battering Europa took close up. Had assisted in the rescue efforts and the towing of the hulk back to dry dock.
Laurel tapped back a reply:
[TO: Lt Cmdr Karl Hart]
SUBJECT: Psych Evaluation
I got the coffee. You name the time and the place.
-L Orkney
As Laurel prepared her documents. She figured she'd start with the Klingon Raktajino to help Karl relax. It would make his answers more honest.
And then she would have to switch over to indifference mode.
Become the objective observer.
And grill her friend over the coals like a catfish.
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Karl
Commander
SE-531-463-C / BR-W-UK-H-394
Posts: 126
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Post by Karl on Mar 17, 2010 13:36:43 GMT -5
Shortly after 1 pm Earth Standard Time, Laurel Orkney was in the room that she used as her quarters while she was aboard Spacedock. She believed that comfortable surroundings were a perfect setting for what would be a difficult evaluation for Karl, and in some ways for Laurel. Her own recollections and feelings were still there, in her subconcious. Her ship had managed to withstand the ferocious attack by the Klingons, and the crew and herself had suffered minor ailments. She had fought well, and defended the Europa whilst maintaining the integrity to her ship and personnel under her command with sincere professionalism. Yet she was still troubled. Some call it survivors guilt. But the Varina had stood its ground and won, and for that she can be proud.
The smell of her favourite coffee was drifting through her quarters nicely. "After all the hype I've given Raktajino coffee, I hope he'll like it. She was wearing her uniform, the uniform of her grandmother. She was about to go check on the coffee when the door chime chirped.
She turned and stepped to the door and pressed the small keypad. The door opened to reveal Lt Cmdr Hart standing with a smile, in his civilian clothes. Her eyes immediately saw the scars on his face and she suddently felt herself feel guilty. "Like my new tattoo? Not one I planned to get but.. " Karl said, trying to put Laurel at ease.
"Hi... oh.. its just that I haven't seen you.. well since... come on in.. " Laurel said and stepped back to let Karl enter. "Its very good to see you Karl." She continued. She extended her hand in greeting.
"Hello there.. " he replied, taking her hand and shaking it with both of his. "I think I might be a little early. I was going to bring you some Bajoran coffee, but I remember you promising to try this Ratalinko? Is that right?"
"Almost.... you mean the Raktajino." she felt herself began to smirk, and was trying to stop herself thinking it inapproporiate, until Karl seemed to be trying to stop himself giggling too. "Yes.. " he half-smiled half-giggled, "... the Ratty Jinger stuff you really are trying to make everyone try huh?" and he shrugged, and winked. Laurel conceded and giggled, "Is that the British sense of humor?"
"No ... I'm just being sarcasticly humorous." He stood with his hands behind his back and attempted to look as regal as possible, which he didn't. "Is that smell wafting all around here, and probably the whole station the Ratty? "
"Oh... you'll love it I'm sure. I'll just be a moment." she replied as she laughed and walked off towards the small kitchen area. Most quarters had room for some cooking to be performed, but mostly food and drink were replicated. The coffee was being kept warm on a small camp style heater. Laurel felt at ease, and was so relieved that Karl had effectively broken the ice with his joke on the coffee. She had regretted staring at his scars but he'd made light of that too. In her mind she wondered if he was, in some way, over the hardest part of his trauma or merely hiding behind humor. She hoped it was the former.
Karl looked around the room and smiled. These quarters were very comfortable, he'd had the pleasure of using similar ones himself. His mind was calm, but he secretly worried about the discussion they were about to have. Starfleet could have ordered him to have had a more formal evaluation, if Laurel hadn't accepted the request to perform it. But he knew she will be honest and to the point. That was her job. She was professional enough to be impartial, whilst remembering she was actually there herself. His thoughts were interrupted by footsteps padding into the room. "Here we are... lets sit down over here, near the window if you like. Here's your coffee..." she said and handed Karl a tall glass with a curved silver handle full of a steaming liquid.
"Now I know you like your Bajoran coffee, but this will curl your toes.. well in a nice way.. " she said, with a wicked wink.
Karl took the glass. "Oh boy... " he said. "I'll let it cool a little." he said as Laurel sat down and he sat across from her. In both their minds, they didn't want any formality when it wasn't necessary. Thats why Laurel had suggested her quarters for the chat. But now it was time. And Karl opened up without thinking.
"I'm scared Laurel. " he said. She blinked. Her face looked slightly stunned. "Oh? I... maybe we should just talk about..."
He cut her off. "I'm sorry.. I know. I just wanted to say... I'm scared about losing people again. Not scared of second guessing decisions I make, but scared of suddenly not feeling that pain of loss when or if it happens too many times." Karls' face was dark. He looked into her eyes and for the first time she saw him vulnerable. He'd not put his glass down and then realised it and placed it on the small table. "Sorry.. Laurel I .... I should have waited. I really want to get back out there, and when I'm asked, take the fight right back at the bastards.. but the hardest one will be to walk back on the bridge. I'm proud of the crew that fought, those that died didn't die in vain. Those that are still here and waiting to be reassigned need to look at their captain and be sure...."
"Karl... " Laurel spoke normally and while looking directly into his eyes. "Those crewmembers who survived want one thing, to board the Europa A and only if your their captain. I'm certain of that, in fact I'm sure of it, I checked." she said. She noticed his hands were shaking slightly.
His eyes were closed. He opened them, and looked at Laurel. "Thankyou..." he said quietly. "I can only be honest."
"That what I was hoping you'd be.. " she smiled, "... but if you have to lie about one thing.. make it the coffee, only don't make it too obvious."
It was her turn to crack the joke and break the moment. Karl laughed and nodded. "Oh yeah.. sure will." he said and reached for the glass. He took his first sip and it tested so good. The flavour was very strong, but she had been right, it was a drink to be savoured. "Wow... no wonder you drink so much of this." he sipped and placed the glass down.
"Right. Lets make a start shall we?" Laurel said with a wink and sat back.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After a few moments went by, sipping coffee, looking out the window at the Earth slowly rotating, Laurel said, "I'll just ask you some questions that I set out to give me a better idea of.. well, how you feel. Like you said, if being honest is all you do, then thats all I ask."
Karl nodded. The coffee was soothing, even though it was strong.
"Ok. I'll start by asking if you thoughts or memories of the event are entering your mind against your will. How do you feel about that?
Karl sat back and looked at the window. "Initially, yes. What seemed like days after the event, the images of my crewmembers would suddenly seem to float in my vision. But only in those first few days. I put it down to my mind recoiling from what happened. Now it doesn't happen at all. The medical care was really effective in keeping me calm, so the demons that were .... " he visibly trembled at this memory, "... were haunting me are not appearing to me unannounced. Does that make sense?
Laurel smiled and said, "Yes it does. Its a good indication your recovering well." She'd noticed him tremble, but he wasn't aware she'd noticed. What he also didn't see was her own demons knocking at the door of her mind. Her guilt was also there, but her strength came from her total belief she had saved so many lives.
"Now, my next question is about your dreams. I understand from the medical report that you experienced some really bad dreams. Are you still having them?"
"Thankfully no... well... not in the sense that I'm getting them each night. Since my release from the medical bay I've had two uncomfortable nights where the imagery is blurred, but the fear is still strong. Did you read the discriptions of the kinds of things I saw? My God... " he paused, and his hands tensed. "Those scenes of people thrashing in the water, trying to put the plasma fires out.. and the Klingons still firing on them.. its something I don't think I'll ever forget. But no, the dreams are very rare now.. well in the frame of time since the event and since the immediate aftermath I can say they are gone. Well almost, but vague."
She could see he still had problems with visualizing those terrible mind pictures, but his composure was calm enough.
"So, my next question is kinda related. Do you ever feel that the events, not the dreams but the actual events of the battle were happening again.. in a form of waking dream or hallucination?"
Laurel asked.
Karl didn't asnwer immediately. He sipped his coffee and held the glass in his lap. He was looking at her now. "A few days ago I had a real bath. I wanted to feel water all around me. It was a silly mistake. I closed my eyes and I think I either drifted off or hallucinated, but I felt I was floating in boiling water, green water. I panicked, fell like I was burning and drowning at the same time."
She stopped him, "No .. sorry I mean of the actual event. That sounds like a sort of daymare I think. I mean feeling trapped in a lift or sounds triggering memories..."
Karl smiled, " Oh no... no.. nothing like that. I guess ... well once the turbolift on the promenade of the medical department wouldn't open, some glitch I think. I felt a growing tension like I was back on the Europa. We'd tried to get to Engineering to make bypass lines for coolant to the plasma conduit on deck 17 port side. The damn turbolift slammed to a stop in the shaft for a moment. That reminded me of that. Thats all I think."
"Are you sure?" Laurel asked. "Yes, yes I'm sure. It was a scary moment, but really that was a once event."
"Good", she said. "Now.. I guess you've kinda answered my following question. Are you still feeling upset by reminders of the event? I guess your memory is still tender to any cues which may..."
Karl looked straight into her eyes. "No. Not at all." his sudden answer surprised Laurel. "Sorry." he said. She smiled. "I don't feel upset. I feel... " he looked out into space beyond Earth, "I feel pride at what my men and women achieved under terrible circumstances, and also anger at those Klingons who aimed to slaughter people who they knew they'd beaten." his fist was clenched. "Don't get me wrong, its not a reckless anger to just just in a ship and go out blasting any Klingon I see. Just a resolve to make sure we don't lose again."
Laurel smiled, but hid her surprise at Karls' bitterness. She expected some anger, but it surfaced quicker than she expected. She also realised her coffee has been drunk, and Karl needed a refill. "Ahh... were out of coffee... let me top us up. You in for another?"
Karl blinked and smiled, as if drawn back to the present. "Oh yes please." he said handing the glass to Laurel. "By the way, I've not been in touch with Nyoko for a while. How's she doing?"
Laurel called as she walked to the small kitchen to get the coffee. "Huh? Oh, she's busy as always. She's a total workaholic, always writing reports and working for the Fleet. She's still trying to sort out the Admiral post."
Karl shook his head. "She loves protocol, that lady." Laurel walked back into the room and placed two fresh glasses of coffee on the small table next to the couch. She laughed. "She is gonna ruin her nails with all the keypads she's tapping."
Laurel sipped her coffee and suddenly stopped. "Good grief!" she exclaimed. "We look to be short of victuals.... be right back." and she jumped up again. Karl just blinked.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Back on the couch, Laurel had provided some pastries which were here own creation. "Hope you like them. I had a go at programming a replicator pattern a few days ago and it seems like they came out pretty well. Don't worry I've tried them... there safe." she said as she took one. Karl looked at them and said, "Hmm I think I will. Can't resist nice treats." as he took one. The tiny pastries, about an inch in diameter, were soft and fluffy, contained a little bit of liquid chocolate and were very tasty. He ate one and nodded to Laurel, "Oh yes, these must be issued to the fleet immediately."
Laurel giggled, "Really? Wow thankyou. I don't get much chance to experiment with foods."
They chatted about general things, food and such. But then Laurel sipped her coffee and said, "Ok we should continue. If you want to take a longer break.. "
"No its ok, lets carry on. I don't want to take up more of your time than I need to. I'm really eager to get my flight status back. I'm unable to make a visit to the Europa A to see her, and make any crew advisories." Karl said.
Laurel smiled and nodded. "You really miss being on a ship?"
Karl nodded in reply. "I do. I really do."
"I'll do my impartial best." she said, with a grin. "If you'd said my pastries were bad, I'd have listed you as nutty as a fruitcake, so your doing pretty well."
With mock surprise and exaggerated nodding, Karl said, "Totally... totally loved em yep ... mmmm... tasty."
"Right.. lets get on then." Laurel shook her head as she laughed.
"Ok. another question is.. do you get any dizziness, sickness, racing hearbeat kind of feelings when your reminded of the event?"
Karl replied, "I still tremble sometimes, when I think too deply about those I lost. I've been told thats normal emotion. I've also been told that its a symptom that will fade in time. If that means that I won't feel anymore as I continue to lose crewmen, then I'm doomed. I hope I never lose that feeling. But the terrible shakes and blackouts don't happen anymore."
"You had blackouts?" Laurel asked?
"Yeah, well... in the initial days following the event, I would be in one place and then find myself back in my bed. The nurse explained to be I'd just blanked everyone out. Its not happened more than 3 or 4 times and not happened for a few weeks now. Initially they said, on my release that the blackouts wouldn't happen again. Initial trauma they said. They were right." Karl said.
Laurel nodded and smiled, "Thats good." she sipped her coffee and helped herself to more pastres. "Lets see.. As the nightmares have faded now, are you sleeping better these days?"
"Oh yes, yes very much so. Yes now the nightmares are behind me I can sleep without any medication now." Karl replied.
"And what about being easily irritated or angry?" she asked.
Karl paused again. He looked down at his coffee and seemed to be in thought for a moment, almost like he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. "I have to say.. I sometimes lose my temper in situations where I normally would have been ok. Or I over humorise a situation to prevent me from being swepped up in the angry wave that seems to want to wash over me. Thankfully I've not made an outburst towards any colleagues or staff, and I've recently seen my family on Earth, and certainly no problems there."
"Oh .. seeing your family must have been nice. Did you get to see your brother?" Laurel asked.
Karls' reaction to this was surprising. He simply looked at Laurel and said, quite calmy, "No." It wasn't the context of the word, but the lack of emotion when he said it. He almost looked blank.
For the first time, Laurel felt uncomfortable. She said, "Oh .. er.... do you want to talk about something else or.... "
"My brother.... is a ghost. My brother is a vaporous cloud which exists... out there!" he pointed to the darkness of space. "He almost certainly knows of my situation, yet chooses to stay out of touch. Or doesn't make any choices at all... I don't know. He follows his own path and I follow mine. Next question."
Completely thrown by his sudden change of mood, Laurel wasn't able to answer immediately. She looked at him and thought she saw something dark. Not an evil, nothing like that, but a dark memory, like something which was there but so far had been kept out of sight. She finally said, "Lets take a break."
"No.. please.. lets continue." he rubbed his temple and said, "Ok look. I guess this is going to be relevant, I don't know. Your a very good friend and I just want to help you help me. Let me ask you something. How should I react when my brother, a man who I looked up to after dad was gone, who persuaded me to join Starfleet and pushed me to follow my dream, who in so many ways guided me though difficult times, repays my loyalty by making a deal with the one race of BASTARDS who took my father from ME!!" Karl had squeezed his glass to the point the glass was starting to crack. "God, I'm sorry .... it.... I'm ... "he stammered and put the glass down. Luckily most of the coffee had been drunk.
"Its ok.. its ok... " Laurel said quietly, but shocked at his reaction.
"I guess I've screwed my evaluation up now huh?" Karl said.
"No, not at all. Your doing great, really." she said. She'd touched on a very raw nerve and possibly a deep rooted problem that had been causing him some pain for some time.
"But its gonna be on the record right?" Karl asked.
"Well, yes I guess so, but look.. your record of conduct is impressive. All elements are taken into account. Its up to you if you want to discuss it." she replied.
"No.. thats for another time." Karl said.
Laurel was struggling to remain neutral and detached during this. She wanted to discuss, to help him, but she felt that deeper examination of the problem newly revealed would seriously jeopardise his chance of returning to flight. But she also needed to get as much information to determine if he was fit enough to command, that was her task here in this evaluation. To let a commanding officer command a starship when he had deep rooted concerns was dangerous. But hadn't all the personnel who served in the front lines had, at some point or another, some elements of their psychi put under terrible strain. Weren't they all suffering from some dark cloud waiting to engulf them? It was the very thing that kept this cloud at bay that made the people of Starfleet who they were. She pondered for a moment, letting Karl relax. Then she said, "Yes, we can leave that for now."
"We're nearly done Karl, do you want to continue? Laurel said with a smile.
"Sure... sure yeah." Karl replied and he tooked a pastry.
"Ok, do you have difficuly concentrating, or focusing on tasks? I mean in everyday situations." Laurel asked.
"No I'm fine with that. I kinda kept myself busy with some engineering stuff, working on some specs for secondary coolant pumps, general stuff. And in a way I sort of proved to myself that I was able to focus ok. The medical staff at the support station gave me some preliminary tests in the initial days after the battle which I failed at, but 3 or 4 days I was pretty much back to normal." Karl nodded.
"Do you feel your more aware of dangers or potential threats since the event? Laurel asked.
"No ... I've not experienced anything that defines hyper awareness. But I guess for a while after I was quite jumpy and certain triggers would make me over evaluate my situation." he answered.
"Ah that was gonna be my last question. Can you explain a bit more?" Laurel asked?
"Um... well.. I guess initially if I saw a group of people running, I would assume there was an alert or something. One occasion I was in the recreation foyer on the Support Station and a replicator suddenly blew up, some resonance feedback on one of the pattern buffers energiser coils I later found out. Anyway, when it blew it didn't make much of a sound, but the shower of sparks was very bright and the flash made be have a flashback of my own. Luckily only happened the one time, but it was terrifying. Not had any since."
"Ok. Well Karl.. thats all I wanted to ask you. Of course if there is anything you want to add we have time." Laurel said.
Karl smiled and said, "No thats ok. I'm pretty much talked out I think." he looked at Laurel, this time with a sense of relief. "Thankyou Laurel, for doing this. I think that I'd would have had a worse time with someone I didn't know. I know your gonna have to be impartial, and I wouldn't expect you to be anything other than professional. So thankyou."
Karl leaned forward and shook Laurels hand, which she offered to him. They both stood and Karl walked to the door. "Oh, and the evaluation on the coffee? Brilliant. Pastries? Awesome. Must have the recipe."
Laurel flashed on Nyoko’s scrunched face as the poor Asian sampled experiment after experiment of hers until she finally got the recipe right. She’d rather not admit to that nor the “Classic UK Recipes for a Modern Galaxy” data tape she had purchased on DS9.
She just laughed and winked, "Oh no... a girl has to have some secrets.. right?"
"You've been spending too much time with Nyoko.. " Karl said. This time, Karl leaned forward and hugged Laurel. Surprised, she replied in kind. "You've helped me a lot, more than you know."
He pressed the door control pad and stepped out into the hallway.
"I'll be in touch Lt Cmdr Hart." Laurel said.
"Hope so Lt Cmdr Orkney.. I might need another Rattyjingle fix. Bye." Karl said and he walked off.
"Raktajino.... its not so hard to pronounce." she called down the hallway. She was certain she heard a "... yeah whatever..." as he entered the lift.
"Well I like it." she said and walked to pick up the glasses, the door gently closing behind her. She stopped as she picked up Karls glass, its cracked surface glittering where he had squeezed it in his moment of anger. Her jovial mood dimmed somewhat. "I'm gonna have to be nothing more than honest my friend, thats all I can be." she said to herself as she took the damaged glass back to the replicator and keyed the console to recycle the glass back to the matter stream.
"Computer, play some music. I'd like some piano concerto."
<<Please specify artist and song required>> the computer replied.
"Select something at random, low volume. Also, bring the lighting up please." Laurel requested, and the soothing tones of piano music could faintly be heard as the lights came slightly brighter. Laurel refilled her glass of coffee and sat down to write up her report.
((Written with the kind help of Miss Laurel Orkney))
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Post by lorkney on Mar 18, 2010 1:12:01 GMT -5
Vivaldi’s Spring was playing again as Laurel sat down, starting a log, ending it, starting over, ending it again, starting yet again and then giving up.
“Ugh!” She groaned in frustration and started pacing the room. Something she did when she needed to think.
Though she hated not being on the Varina, she had actually enjoyed her little sojourn staying on Mathia’s ship at DS9. Probably because Nyoko was in the next room. Laurel took great delight in waking her early with a mini concert.
What she really missed though was being able to just walk out into the adjoining room and talk to her when she needed to. After testing Nyoko’s stomach, Laurel had caught a runabout to Earth Station and set up in her own quarters there. And Thursday being the memorial, she would stay here.
Laurel’s thoughts went off on a tangent on how to thank Mathias for his hospitality. She’d think of something then.
It was probably for the best though that Nyoko wasn’t easily accessible anymore. If Nyoko knew the things that Laurel knew about Karl, she would be forced to go by the book and cashier him. And that would kill Karl, kill Nyoko and then kill Laurel in turn.
Ok, so how to do this. Think… Think…Think… Have to be fair and objective. And white wash the interview.
Laurel grabbed her PADD and held her stylus at the ready. Most of the interview had gone well and the standard boiler plate could be submitted for the final report. But the problem areas. She quickly made a list.
A. Subject has admitted to black outs
B. Subject has shown out of control emotions as it relates to family.
C. Subject has expressed an unwillingness to lose crew that may manifest itself as hesitancy to act in a time of crises.
These were the only damning parts of the interview. The rest, she could clean up. These were red flags and Nyoko would recognize them right away.
Let’s take them one at a time.
The first one, letter A. The black outs only occurred three or four times. And hadn’t occurred for a few weeks. Laurel accessed the medical records for the incidents. They had been documented. Not really bad and could be considered part of the recovery process. It had been a few weeks as Karl had said. She could leave this off of her report…. For now.
The second one, aka letter B. Laurel had started and stopped her research into Karl’s past. If she did follow through, as she probably should, and learned the details, then she would have to report on them. But if she didn’t, she could argue ignorance since it was merely a bit of a passing remark.
OK, on moral and professional shaky ground there, but for the good of the fleet…
The last one. Well that was a stickler. For sure that’s what the text books would harp on. If you read all the ideals, a captain had to be master of his emotions, feeding his men into battle as needed, never hesitating, always knowing the answer. A lot of that was true to a degree, but showing concern for those under your command wasn’t a failing.
Laurel flashed on Nyoko and her face as she surveyed the ruins of her bridge and read the casualties reports. Nyoko had expressed the same doubts and concerns.
And then Laurel thought about herself and her reactions. Once, her cousin had told her she would never make it in Starfleet. That she was too kind hearted and couldn’t make the life and death decisions. Maybe her cousin was right, but there was line where logical thinking ended and callousness began. And in Laurel’s opinion, that was what made a good captain.
So, to indict Karl for his human feelings would be to indict herself and Nyoko and many others she had met in Starfleet. She felt justified in her decision sent Nyoko a full report for her to endorse to Starfleet, clearing Lt Cmdr Hart for duty. Leaving out the three issues.
She then sent a separate message to Karl:
“Lt Cmdr Karl Hart is to consider himself under the psychological care of Lt Cmdr Laurel F. Orkney for a period not to exceed three months upon your reinstatement. During such time, Lt Cmdr Hart will immediately report to any black out episodes. Also, he is directed to meet and discuss any incidents of hesitancy as it relates to command decisions.”
Laurel knew she had overstepped her authority on this with no approval of a higher up. But she didn’t think Karl would object. In fact he might be able to read between the lines to see that she was having it both ways. He could get his command back, but would be on a bit of an unofficial leash. And as long as he didn’t have any more occurrences…..
Laurel felt a bit better about herself and the situation. She was walking a fine line, though in her mind she could justify it.
After sending her message, she thought it might be a bit too stilted.
She looked into her little kitchenette and thought about making some more of those pastries Karl had enjoyed so much. Now that she had figured them out.
She rattled off one last message to Karl and then called it a night:
“Enjoyed the social part of our meeting today. We need to do it again soon. I believe you still owe me some Bajoran coffee. Perhaps another private meeting.
Totally off the record. Even if you want to discuss your family some. I can put aside my titles and responsibilities for an afternoon. Then I can just be Laurel and listen.
And I’ll bring the pastries.”
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Karl
Commander
SE-531-463-C / BR-W-UK-H-394
Posts: 126
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Post by Karl on Mar 18, 2010 13:08:08 GMT -5
The tables in Club 47 were empty. Not many patrons in at this time of the day, which indicated crew rotations and shift changes were underway. Karl had been sat at one of the small tables on the upper balcony. He liked the corner of the balcony, it was secluded but again wasn't hiding out of the way. You could see the people of different races going about their business below, and the bar was just a few steps away. At the upper bar, a Bolian and and Andoran were chatting quietly.
Karl had been here for about an hour. He'd had only tea, he wasn't really a drinker of alcoholic drinks much, and he didn't fancy a coffee at the moment. The memory of Raktajino was still fresh, as was the after effects. First time symptoms, he'd put it down to. Certainly wasn't the pastries. Laurel had gone to great lengths to find a real British delicacy which hit the spot nicely. He smiled at that memory too. Very tasty indeed. He also smiled at the meeting. It was informal and pleasant, almost like he'd just popped round to her quarters for a coffee. 'She really is good at putting a person at ease', he'd thought to himself. He was wondering how she had gotten hold of that particular desert recipe, when his PADD gently vibrated against his hip. He took it out and keyed the smooth surface. A message from Laurel. The subject was Evaluation. This was it.
He switched it off and made his way to the turbolift to return to his quarters, a short ride to the Officers Deck. Simple quarters, he didn't really go for pomp and ceremony. He stepped into the lift and the doors closed. "Deck 10 - Officers Quarters" he spoke, and the lift system chipred its familiar response and began to move.
In his quarters, Karl sat at his desk which had several small display pads with various data readouts on the Europa A. He'd been checking up on her completion data and was going over the preparations for her status changeover to full operation. He hoped he could commence with the preparations as captain, but the letter from Laurel may not be what he expects. She was to be honest and unbiased afterall. He sat back in his chair and, with a fresh cup of his favourite Bajoran coffee, he began to read the Evaluation Report.
______________________________________________________________________________________
His relief was palpable. If he was totally honest with himself, he really felt that his command would have been postponed for a while. He felt his emotions let him down, but as he re-read the report for possibly the 10th time, he realised Laurel was being totally honest and not bending the rules, as she couldn't do. He wasn't totally let off, and he was to be monitored for a while. He was actually welcoming this. Laurel was a calming influence to his nerves that were still raw, in some places.
He was also glad she had enjoyed the informal side of things too. He'd not spent too much time with her at all, over the time she had been a part of the fleet. Yet they seemed to click. He was aware Nyoko and herself were close friends too, proving that Laurel had qualities beyond her command. He felt he might take her up on her offer to discuss his family a little more. But not now. Now wasn't the time.
He began to make checks on his command code status within Starfleet and the Daedalus Fleet, and the results came back that his codes were verified and cleared for flight. He could now really get to work. He tapped on his PADD and sent a small message to Laurel: "Normally I find words easily, but this time I can simply say. Thankyou, for being honest. I shall start preparations for the crew to begin prepping the Europa, and the handover ceremony aboard her will be a short one. She won't leave Spacedock until the memorial services are complete, however. Her construction is completed, and she will be cleared for flight once final checks are complete. Take care Laurel."
He sent the message and sat back to finish his coffee, before he needed to go and prepare his uniform for the memorials. Somehow he didn't feel too tense, he knew he was ready to re-commence his duties with his colleagues. There had been several additions to the fleet since his time off duty, he was keen to meet them.
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