Uninspiring Candidates - Part I
Posted on Sun Oct 25th, 2015 @ 9:20am by Commander Jordan Gunning & Master Chief Petty Officer Arathenar ch’Darnath
Mission:
By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Security Centre [Deck 13, Starbase 332]
Timeline: After "A Forensic Recruitment Policy"
Sitting quietly in the glass roundel, surrounded by empty, half-illuminated desks, Jordan Gunning and Arathenar ch'Darnath cast solitary figures. Gunning put down the PADD he had been poring over and looked at the Andorian Master-at-Arms. "We're getting nowhere."
For the last forty five minutes the two had been ploughing through personnel records with the intention of restaffing the department and mainlining whisky to take the edge off the boredom. "I've got one person who would be suitable to be Assistant Chief but," he paused for another sip, "I dunno. What about you?"
The grizzly Andorian NCO tossed the PADD he held onto the table hard enough for it to slide across and fall off the other side. "Nothing but kids and screw-ups," he growled before tossing back his drink and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "They're all light-weights; not enough experience to run a section between them!" He shook his head, his antennae twitching angrily. "We need veterans, dammit."
Gunning sighed as he too tossed his PADD onto the desk. "We don't have the luxury of choice. Our shortlist is almost entirely kids or screw-ups. We just have to find the most trainable and the most redeemable of them. Then it's up to us to get them up to snuff."
Pouring another glass, ch'Darnath shook his head then offered the bottle to Gunning. "I know," he said reluctantly. "It's got to be done and we'll get it done, but ... I'm getting too old for this shit."
Gunning took the whisky and splashed some into his glass. "I know you are." He told the Andorian before leaning under the desk to grab another pile of PADDs. "Let's start at the top shall we? We need an Assistant Chief."
A roar of laughter broke ch'Darnath's dark mood; he very much approved of his new boss. Anybody who could deadpan that response was alright in his books. "Well," he said, regaining his composure and stern visage. "Ideally you'd want a light commander, but ... none available." He paused. "Didn't you say you found someone who would be suitable?"
"There's this one, yeah." Gunning said, waggling a PADD in front of the Andorian before absent-mindedly copying the information to the larger display which they shared in the middle of the desk. "Lieutenant Alayna Bancroft - currently assigned to the USS Canberra. It's in the sector and she's up for a transfer."
Ch'Darnath took a copy of her file over to his PADD and examined it in more detail. "Has locked horns with superior officers on a couple of occasions," he noted. "A bit of a stubborn streak, apparently. What do you like about her?"
"She looks as though she's got a good technical understanding of forensics and the more," Gunning thought for a moment, "in-depth aspects of the job. At the end of the day, the Assistant ends up taking on a lot of the paperwork so having someone with a broad working knowledge could come in handy."
The Master at Arms nodded, his antennae still and pointed forward as he read. "That forensic knowledge is a big advantage," he said. "You're right, though. She's probably the best option for Assistant Chief."
"Out of all of them, she's the only one with enough experience." Gunning agreed, shifting her name onto a branching structure on the shared display which looked like a family tree. He took a quick sip from his glass and set it down on the rim of the display. "Right then, one down... god only knows how many to go."
To be continued...
Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief of Station Security
Master Chief Petty Officer Arathenar ch'Darnath [NPC: Drusus]
Master-at-Arms
Starbase 332
