Interviews

Posted on Dec 21, 2017 @ 5:20pm by Captain Michael Turlogh Kane

Mission: Fear Itself

"INTERVIEWS"

(Continued from "Spill The Deets")
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Captain's log, supplemental - we remain docked at Starbase 56, taking on new personnel and awaiting further orders...

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Location: USS Phoenix, docked at Starbase 56, edge of the Neutral Zone
Stardate: [2.17] 1221.1320
Scene: Captain's ready room - deck 1, saucer section


Michael Turlogh Kane and Jake Crichton were making progress through the mountain of department reports, copies of requisition orders, and transfer notices, but progress was slow. It was enough to make Kane long for the open road again - every time the Phoenix came back to the lights of civilisation, there was always a pile of admin work to plough through.

For his part, Jake seemed focused. Kane guessed that his Executive Officer was thinking about the phobophage's banishment. It must have been some comfort to Jake to know that, this time, the music box that had summoned the entity was also on the other side of the dimensional rift, and would not be used to trigger any more spates of killing. Aerdan had released Kass, Tomas', and Cantor Von from sickbay, and Cade was settling in several decks below them.

"Chaucer's memorial service is later," said Jake.

Kane nodded. "I'll be there," he said sombrely. "We should also check with Commander Malin-Argo to see if he wants to promote or request a replacement."

"I'll do that," said Jake.

"Alright." Kane looked back at the screen, and Jake looked back at his PADD, and the cloud settled silently on them once again. The deaths of one's shipmates wasn't an easy thing to think about. It was something that every Starfleet officer was aware of, but in a mainly abstract way - you didn't get up in the morning worrying about the myriad ways you could get killed in the service, even though you knew in the back of you rmind that it was possible. Thoughts like those were black squamous things that lurked way down in the dark, and only surfaced whenever something happened that reminded you of your mortality.

"We have over twenty new crew," remarked Jake. "A new shuttlecraft pilot, two senior nurses, a whole new damage control team, three new engineers, and replacements for our losses in Security. I'll notify the department heads."

Suddenly, Kane snapped his fingers and pointed at his screen. "Finally!" he said. "A new science officer. Take a look." He turned the screen around to show Jake. "It's about time. I've been chasing Admiral Stiles about this for weeks."

Jake ran his eye down the service record on the screen. "Looks good to me. Can't beat veterans."

"That's for sure." Kane quickly typed out a response indicating that he'd seen and approved the transfer. "Will you meet her at the airlock and bring her here?"

"Of course." Jake got to his feet.

Kane looked up at him. "Then you can take the rest of the day off. I know you have a lot on your mind right now."

Jake nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'll see you later at the memorial service."

He left the room, and Kane got back to it.

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Scene: Captain's ready room, as before


A short while later, the door chime sounded, interrupting Kane's train of typing. Someone was outside. "Come!" he called distractedly, checking the chronometer. It felt like over an hour had passed, but it was only twenty minutes after Jake had left.

The door hissed open. It was Byte. The android was carrying a PADD, and moved forward to stand before Kane's desk. {{Copies of the transfer reports,}} it said, placing the PADD down on Kane's desk. {{My apologies for adding to your workload, Captain.}}

"I can handle it," said Kane. He looked around at the mushrooming chaos. "I think."

{{Lieutenant Von will be resuming normal duties tomorrow,}} continued Byte smoothly. {{The new damage control team has been billetted, and Operations has scheduled a series of training simulations for them in holodeck two, to run for the next eight days. We will be running a number of emergency exercise scenarios, such as bulkhead repair, zero-gravity procedures, environmental fai - }}

"I'm sure you and Lieutenant Von will be very thorough," said Kane, leaning back in his seat. "Tell me something - have you completed evaluating your experience in the phobophage's dimension? In the moments following your return here, you indicated that you would need time to process all the data."

Byte cocked its head like a bird. {{Indeed, Captain. What would you like to know?}}

"Everything and anything that adds to our body of knowledge regarding that particular dimension," said Kane.

Byte made that expression where it seemed to be looking inside itself. {{I regret that my data is limited, sir. As you know, I was not working with my full sensor palette activated.}}

"Yes. Why did you deactivate your eyes? What did you see?"

Byte looked at Kane straight-faced. {{Nothing beyond a haze of colours and vague shapes, sir. My positronic brain is not programmed to - }}

Kane held up a hand. "You are capable of extrapolation, are you not? You are capable of theorising, correct?" Was it Kane's imagination, or did Byte look uncomfortable? It almost seemed like the android was trying to be as evasive as possible. "Was the phobophage alone in its dimension, or were there thousands of them? Did it, or they, seem aware of you at all?"

Byte's features creased into a regretful look. {{I apologise, Captain. I can tell you no more now than I could when I passed through the rift. My mission was accomplished - was that not sufficient?}}

Mollified, Kane nodded. "Of course. I apologise for pressing you, Mister Byte. It's just that we chose you for that mission in the hopes that you would learn more about that place than we ever could."

{{No apology is necessary, Captain. May I return to my duties?}}

"Yes, Lieutenant. Dismissed." Feeling a sense of frustration, Kane watched the android depart. It felt like an opportunity lost - for all the dangers the phobophage posed to them, there was something about the existence of extra-dimensional entities that spoke directly to Starfleet's mantra of seeking out new life. To encounter that new life, and yet to be able to learn almost nothing about it, seemed a hollow pursuit. After all, if the phobophage ever managed to return to this plane of existence -

He pushed that thought from his mind, quickly.

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Scene: Captain's ready room, as before


When Jake arrived up with the new science officer, Kane was ready. Her service record was open on his desktop monitor, and the PADD mountain had been taken off the desk and placed in a neat pile on the floor, where it wasn't so obvious. He was standing over by the viewing port, looking out into the long night, and was within easy reach of the replicator in case he needed to extend some sort of hospitality. Not that he was nervous or anything - he'd met dozens of department heads in his time as a ship's captain, and this was unlikely to be the last.

"Come in," he said in response to the door chime, and Jake and the new science officer entered. She was Human and, as they euphemistically put it earlier, a veteran - she'd been in Starfleet for almost thirty years - but was still a Lieutenant. Her service record said that she was fifty-three years old, and she did exude a mature, feminine air that Kane found agreeable.

"Captain Michael Turlogh Kane," said Jake formally, "may I present Lieutenant Karrington Crow."

The woman crossed the ready room floor and put her hand in his. To his surprise, Kane found that her hand was cragged and rough. "Captain Kane," she said pleasantly. "Reporting for duty. I'm pleased to have been assigned to the Phoenix."

Kane looked at Jake. "Thank you, Commander, that will be all." As Jake left, Kane motioned her to sit down. "Can I get you anything to drink, Lieutenant?"

She held up a hand. "If you don't mind, Captain, I prefer to be addressed as 'Doctor' in a professional setting. I hold Ph.Ds in xenobiology and xenolinguistics."

Kane raised an eyebrow and sat down. "Very well, Doctor Crow." He reached out and scrolled down through her service record. "You were nominated for the Zee-Magnees Prize several years ago for your series of papers on the evolutionary developments of microbial life-forms across both Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Impressive."

"I didn't win," she replied with a smile. "But yes, that was my work for three years without rest. During that time, I lived alone on an old Oberth-class science vessel in the Andaran system, on the other side of the Bajoran wormhole."

"Dedication is a good thing," said Kane. "I see that you're no stranger to fieldwork, either."

"No. I've led dozens of away missions in my career so far, and hope to lead a few more before I retire." Doctor Crow folded her legs. "I've been doing this a long time, Captain Kane." She paused. "I hear that, generally speaking, you allow your senior staff free rein in the running of their departments?"

Kane nodded. "Generally speaking."

"I work best in an environment like that," she said confidently. "I've already familiarised myself with the service records of Ensigns Lahav and Trimble, and look forward to working with them both. You and Commander Crichton can expect prompt, regular reports from me and the highest standard of professionalism at all times."

Kane was still nodding. "Then I have nothing further for you, Doctor. You'll find that our crew is the best in the fleet, and our science and medical staff are especially second to none. I look forward to hearing good things about you and your department going forward." He stood up, signalling that the interview was over, and she did the same.

She inclined her head. "Captain."

He watched her go, satisfied that, once again, the Phoenix was getting one hell of an officer.

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NRPG: Introducing a new NPC (credit to Shawn). Your characters can bump into Karri as she moves around the ship. She is older and wiser than you, but she's not an old lady either. You can find her current bio on the webshite.


Jerome McKee
the Soul of Captain Michael Turlogh Kane
Commanding Officer
USS PHOENIX


"He speaks an infinite deal of nothing!"
- Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice", Act 1, Scene 1.117

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