Faces from the Past

Posted on Wed Sep 1st, 2021 @ 5:16pm by Captain Björn Kodak & Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: Mission Day 8 at 1030

[Ready Room]
[MD8: 1030 Hours]

Emni stood outside the door to the Captain's ready room for the second time in under an hour. Dr. Bracco had been congenial as they made the quick trip to Deck 3 where Emni had made the Quartermaster aware of the plan for Dr. Bracco to be quartered in one of the two VIP quarters. Emni doubted they would be hosting any more special guests in the near term.

Now, she stepped into the door chime, alerting Kodak to her return. She was curious how he would react to the news that his new temporary chief engineer was, in fact, someone quite a bit higher in rank than they had planned.

"It's open," came Kodak's voice, piped again into the hallway by the comm system.

When the double doors swished open -- the hallway entrance separate from the egress shared with the Bridge -- Kodak was to be found this time behind his desk, sipping from a ceramic mug in cranberry red. Emblazoned on its forward face were the words 'Number One Captain' in canary yellow, behind which was a depiction of a large combadge. "A gift from Debbie," he explained, holding the mug a little higher aloft so Emni could see. "Apparently she's taken up making custom mugs as gifts? Sweet notion, just hope I live up to the sentiment. I am, after all, pretty new to being a Captain. Especially compared to most other Captains."

And it was true. While Kodak had largely overseen the Adelphi's adventures in the Delta Quadrant, he himself had been promoted rather suddenly with little warning. And though Starfleet Command had told him he'd done an admirable job given the circumstances, he couldn't help but wonder if they'd made the right choice in sending him back out with a brand new ship under his care. After what happened to the Adelphi under his watch, Kodak had some demons to fight when it came to his own sense of self these days. Shoots of his insecurities flitted through his mindscape as those particular thoughts darted through Kodak's mind.

"So tell me," he said, gesturing Emni to one of the seats in front of his desk, "what was so important that I couldn't leave my office until you came back?" There were elements of humor in his emotions, though it was mostly curiosity and concern that flooded through his mental signature.

Emni entered, eyeing the Captain's mug with a smile. "I've no doubt you will and do live up to that mug," she remarked. "Wonder if Debbie would make me a matching one?" She noted the levels of uncertainty in Kodak's mental makeup, but, for the moment at least, left them be.

Coming around the chairs before the desk she settled into one, crossing one leg over the other before offering up the computer chit Smith had given her outside of engineering. "So it seems that Lieutenant Pelkath has remained on the Miranda," she began. "Commodore James Smith came aboard in his place. He says he heard we needed an engineer so volunteered for the job. I understand that once you accept the transfer, he'll take a temporary rank reduction to Lieutenant. He mentioned that he knows you and Debbie?"

Kodak had taken the chit, eyeing it with curiosity as Emni explained the situation. Once she mentioned Commodore Smith coming aboard, however, Emni would have zero trouble picking up on an explosion of emotions coming from the Captain. It was as if the room had been a calm pond with a few passing ripples that then became an ocean-side city besieged by a torrential hurricane. Lashings and thrashings of emotional rain, lightning, wind, and thunder filled the room with Kodak's sudden surge of reactive feelings. This was obviously not at all good news. In fact, the level of unhappiness radiating off of the Chameloid was probably one of the strongest feelings Emni would have even felt from the man.

"Smith? On this ship?" Kodak asked in disbelief. Fucking hell, he thought to himself, crashing upon the shores of his own discontent. Oh, he was sure Smith meant coming aboard to be some friendly reunion and a good time for all. But likely what Smith failed to comprehend was the immense degree of pressure and strain his arrival would put on Kodak, who had only been a Captain for a few months before the extended stay on Risa. Smith's congenial offer to help out came with the emotional baggage of a new Captain now second guessing every- and anything when it came to his own performance. Especially because he looked up to Smith so much but had bailed on the Lancelot some years earlier, despite requests from then-Captain Smith to stay. How would Smith feel about having been essentially dumped for a better assignment elsewhere?

"Last I heard, he was heading up the Starfleet Corps of Engineers," the Captain began again, trying to work through his feelings but being utterly and completely stunned. "Is Starfleet Command sending him here to ensure I don't run this ship aground? Is he here to make sure I tow the line and don't do anything stupid with Starfleet's shiny new ship?" A million reasons for Smith coming onboard flooded his mind, this time exploding inside with the force of a supernova's worth of anxiety.

Why couldn't Kelkath have just come aboard to keep things simple? Kodak wondered. Why, on top of everything going on, did Starleet -- or, more likely, Smith himself -- foist this incredible complication onto him when things were already so up in the air and difficult? It might seem like an overreaction to some but Kodak keenly resented not being part of the decision to bring Smith onboard. Had he been asked -- had the idea been floated by him -- Kodak would have warmly greeted the Commodore but politely asked him to stay on the Miranda and stick to their original plan. But now Smith was here and the Miranda was moving away. What could be done about it?

Nothing, the Captain mentally lamented, sighing softly in his chair. "What a mess," he said out loud.

In the entire time she had known Björn Kodak, Emni had never needed to erect rapid mental defences. Her familiarity with his emotional makeup could have been very closely related to family--the kind of comfort that was born of shared difficult experiences and time spent together.

And yet, as she delivered the news of Smith's arrival, she found herself scrambling, walls flying into place to hold back waves of anxiety, uncertainty, and self doubt rolling off of the Chameloid, melding with her own mental landscape like flood waters across unprotected flat expanses.

One of her hands clenched in her lap, nails digging into her palm to ground herself in the physical until she had placed emotional levees between the two of them, Kodak's still building emotions lapping at their tops of the barriers, but not breaching them.

She let out a slow quiet breath as he paused in his comments.

"Björn," she began, voice gentle but deliberate, "what reason would Starfleet have to do those things?" Before the Captain could answer she continued, "Unless he has extensive training at presenting false emotions, I picked up nothing to suggest a motive beyond what he told me."

The Chameloid took several long moments to collect both his thoughts and himself in general. The news had detonated a bomb of reactions -- not all of them wholly rational -- and somewhere, in the back of his head, Björn understood that Smith was probably not here to wrest control of the ship from him. Smith probably wanted to see old friends and lend a hand. But Smith also wasn't a new Captain trying to establish himself with his new ship and a new crew makeup, all while simultaneously hunting down aspects of his own origins. It was a lot for anyone to take.

"You're probably right," the Captain intoned back, taking a breath and trying to draw some of Emni's perceived calm onto himself. "But this could not have happened at a worse time," Kodak lamented, shaking his head. "It's one thing to know ahead of time that a flag officer -- a key member of Starfleet Command -- is coming aboard ship to visit. It's another to find out last second. And what's with this whole demotion to Lieutenant?" he rasped dubiously. "Is that supposed to make it easier to order him around down in the engine room? It quite literally changes nothing. He's got an immense amount of experience captaining a starship. On an important mission like this one, I have no business running this ship when a veteran like Smith is aboard," Kodak trailed off forlornly. Friendly reunion indeed...

Emni's expression remained carefully neutral as her friend spoke. Her own thoughts a ball of concern and no small degree of her own uncertainty in the face of a new role. That uncertainty, though, would have to wait. This was neither the place or time for it. She could tell that the worst of the emotional deluge had peaked, but the tide was still high and so she shored up the bases of her levees, settling in to wait for the worst of it to subside.

Carefully she considered how to respond, her fingers uncurling from their fist to show four white marks where she had pressed her nails into the skin. Finally she spoke, forcing as much confidence into her tone as she could muster. "If that's what Smith thought--what Starfleet Command thought--" she remarked, "they wouldn't be sending him as an engineer. He would already be in here making you aware of his intent to take command of the ship."

She paused, formulating her words deliberately. "I understand where you are coming from, but you aren't giving yourself enough credit here. The Commodore may have more command experience, but that doesn't mean he's the right person to command this ship or lead this mission. You know as well as any of us that you use your best tools and those tools aren't always the person who has been in the field the longest."

Kodak sat with that for awhile, his thoughts millions of light years away. Perhaps Emni was right. Perhaps this really was just a congenial visit from a man who missed his old friends. Kodak wanted to believe such but again, he found himself wishing Starfleet had just kept things simple and sent them a fresh face who didn't come with so much baggage. But there was literally no changing it now. He'd have to live with the decisions being made for him, though he was not at all happy about it.

"Fine. He stays, then. Not like I can do anything about it anyway," Kodak finally replied. "And please, no platitudes that this 'might be a good thing' or 'won't it be nice to catch up?' He's inserted himself into this situation, he can ride it out like the rest of us." Something within the Chameloid seemed to harden; it was as if a door had closed behind him, never to be opened again. "We've only got one VIP suite left: if Smith wants to play Lieutenant, let him be a Lieutenant. Please see that he is afforded quarters with a roommate appropriate to his new rank. Ensure all accesses to this ship are also rank appropriate. See to it that Smith receives no special treatment while he is on board."

Waves of anger radiated off the Captain, no doubt funneling themselves into his decision-making. It was clear that he, at least, was not in the "happy reunion" headspace. That could change over time but, for now at least, Smith was just one more wrinkle on an overly wrinkled shirt: one way or another, the Admiral would have to be ironed out, just like the rest. But the Captain had too much to do at the moment to even think of meeting with the man. "Should he inquire about coming up here to say hello or report in, let him know I've accepted his transfer orders and will drop by at some point when I can. Will that be all, Lieutenant?" he asked, still mired in the muck of his own feelings and insecurities.

Emni sat back in her chair only a moment, emotional defences beginning to crumble despite herself. She knew, rationally, that the ball of anger Kodak was feeling wasn't directed at her and yet with emotional defences beginning to crack it was hard to remember.

She stiffened when he shot his last question her way, the dismissal clear to her an numerous levels and, as she scrambled to erect mental defences before now she scrambled to keep her facial expression neutral, the effort not landing the way she would like immediately. Taking a breath she nodded. "It will, sir," she replied her tone even, albeit more distant than usual.

Standing, she met the Chameloid Captain's gaze, dropping into at ease position as she did. "I'll get back to my work." She nodded her head to Kodak then, turning and taking his question for the dismissal it was, she hurried from the room.

Kodak could tell that Emni did not take his reaction well. Even without empathic abilities, who would? But the Chameloid found himself very much in fight-or-flight mode and it was difficult to pull himself out of it. He'd just have to grit his teeth and get through this mess. If there was an upside, though, it was that the Sojo at least had a Counselor now. Perhaps he'd make that appointment sooner rather than later...


=/\= A joint-post by... =/\=

Captain Björn Kodak
Commanding Officer

and

Lieutenant Emni t'Nai
Acting Executive Officer