Decisions, Decisions
Posted on Sat Mar 3rd, 2018 @ 12:24am by Commander Titus Livius Drusus PhD & Captain Liarra Von
Mission:
A Day in the Life
Location: Commanding Officer's Office
“Excellent,” Drusus said, sounding pleased with the decision as tapped his PADD and checked complete for the third item on the agenda. He looked across the desk to the captain and smiled, “Now, the last item is the most exciting, I promise.”
Liarra tried to hide a yawn as Drusus looked over his PADD. She was glad that he was enjoying the projects he was working on, but more often than not the subject matter went over her head. That tended to make these meetings drag on a bit long. "I can't imagine how it couldn't be," she replied sarcastically. Although she knew the Magna Roman wasn't always the most humorous, she at least knew him well enough to feel comfortable in her use of sarcasm.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Drusus said, looking almost uncharacteristically excited by what he was about to say. “This is once in a lifetime kind of stuff. Actually,” he paused, “probably even less frequent than that.”
He tapped at his PADD and a holoprojector cast a star chart of the local cluster into the air above the captain’s desk. A moment later, the display zoomed in to show a star surrounded by a dense disk of small protoplanetary bodies.
“This is System HRV-216039,” he began as though it was obvious. “It’s just under twelve light-years from here and, as you can see, is currently in the planetary formation epoch in its development. Hundreds of these protoplanets orbit the star and they’re constantly bombarded by smaller bodies. Federation scientists have studied HRV-216039’s system for the past hundred years and we’ve gathered volumes of data that have helped extend our understanding of star systems formation.
“My team's analysis of data from a recent scan by the USS Delehanty, which completed a survey two months ago, indicates that something exciting is about to happen.” He stood up and pointed at two relatively close, vaguely spheroid shapes, which promptly highlighted. “These are two of the largest protoplanets - HRV-216039-A04 and HRV-216039-A07. The Delehanty's data indicates that they –” he turned to face Von “– are about to collide.”
He was right; this one certainly was a lot more exciting. Liarra even sat up a little straighter in her chair. "A collision between two protoplanets is quite the rare find. Most of Starfleet's experience with such an event is after the fact." Liarra smiled since she started to sense what Drusus might say next. "And I suppose you want to go see it."
Drusus smiled and tapped the PADD, making the projection vanish. "I'd consider it to be my duty to do just that," he said, his inflection still light and somewhat awed as he failed to hide his excitement at the prospect. "Although it would be the captain's prerogative to lead the mission, should she wish. In any case, the collision won't take place for another fifty-three days. I'll have astrophysics draw up a mission plan and we can determine personnel later." He paused and looked nonchalantly at the viewport before adding, "Although, it would be highly irregular for the chief science officer not to be among the personnel chosen."
"Well, we certainly wouldn't want to be irregular. I'll be sure to take that concern into consideration," Liarra replied with a grin. "Draw up your mission plan and get back to me. I'll make arrangements to have one of the garrison ships available for the collision."
"Excellent," Drusus said, before striking the last item off his agenda. He sat back down in the seat and laid the PADD on his lap. "There is one other matter I'd like to raise, sir," he said tentatively. "I'd like to get your advice on a staffing problem I've got."
Liarra was a little surprised by the request. It wasn't like Drusus to question his staff, though he did run a tight department. "Sure, Titus. What's the problem?"
"Well, as you may know Lieutenant Zohlaosh has been transferred to the Kevaar," Drusus began. "That's left a vacancy as head of astrophysics. Zohlaosh's deputy is on extended leave, and unlikely to return, so there is no obvious replacement. I'm weighing up whether to bring in someone from outside the crew - and there are some candidates available - or promote from within. While most of the existing team is inexperienced, I think there is some good potential there. Which brings me to my question." He shifted in the chair, moving forward. "Do you think it's better to go with an experienced outsider, or an inexperienced insider with really a lot of potential?"
Liarra considered that one for a moment. "Honestly, that's a tough one. It's hard to get a good gut feeling. In the past I've gone outside for experienced outsiders, and I've gone inside for someone with potential. And in both cases, sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. If I didn't feel like I had anyone on the inside that was the right fit, then I would certainly consider going outside. And sometimes going outside works well when you need someone to give you a different opinion than the one you've been used to. If you want continuity and to not deal with the hassle of a steep learning curve, then I would promote from within. But if you want to shake up the ranks a bit, so to speak, then I would look outside. Did you have someone in mind for the position?"
Drusus nodded as he sat back again in the chair. "Yes, I've got two officers in mind. One an internal promotion, and the other is a transfer in. The outside option is Lieutenant Nix Zamani. He's currently aboard the Oberon and is well qualified for the position. But I have ... personality concerns. I served with him aboard the Magellan ten years ago and he didn't exactly get along with people in his team. I'm concerned that he'll run the Astrophysics team much like Zohlaosh did. And that could leave us with a morale problem."
He paused before continuing. "My internal candidate is Lieutenant Whitlam," he said. "She's a terrific astrophysicist and I'm sure she has a bright future ahead of her. But it's mostly ahead of her. She's young, hasn't led a team before, and is only a couple of years out of the Academy. She only made junior grade fifteen months ago. But ... but she's made a good impression on that team since she arrived and she's basically stepped into the role since Zohlaosh left, although not in any official capacity."
The chief science officer splayed his hands out as though the fates of the two officers he'd just described where resting in each. "So, on the one hand I've got an experienced officer with personality issues and on the other," he lifted up his right hand slightly above the left, "I've got an inexperienced officer brimming with potential." He let both his hands drop. "What do you think?"
"The first thing I would ask is if you have anyone in your department that would take offense to someone that's relatively inexperienced taking over. You don't want to cause a rift in your department. It's one of those psychological games that you never had to deal with before you had a department under you. Of course, personality issues could cause a rift of their own. Honestly, if you think she can do the job, there are benefits to uplifting someone from within, especially when you can groom them to be the type of leader that you want them to be. Bringing someone from the outside means that you get what you get, without much wriggle room." Liarra shrugged. "I'll support your decision either way. But the way I see it, you can train someone to be a leader. You can't always train someone to work well with others."
Drusus nodded thoughtfully; what the captain said made a lot of sense and seemed to help solidify his initial instinct on the matter. "To the first point," he began, "Whitlam's well respected in the astrophysics team. My deputy has been the acting lead there since Zohlaosh left and she says that everyone goes to Whitlam for second opinions or help on problems. Apparently they get on well." He paused again then looked up at the captain with a smile before tapping the armrest of the chair. "Thank you, Captain, I think that's really helped me pin down my decision."
"You're very welcome. I'm always glad to help," Liarra replied with a warm smile.
Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Commander Titus Livius Drusus
Chief Science Officer
