Uninspiring Candidates - Part II
Posted on Tue Oct 27th, 2015 @ 8:14am by Master Chief Petty Officer Arathenar ch’Darnath & Commander Jordan Gunning
Mission:
By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Security Centre [Deck 13, Starbase 332]
Timeline: After "A Forensic Recruitment Policy"
Previously...
"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."
"Lots," ch'Darnath replied as he accessed another file on his PADD. "This one might be a good choice for a section chief in a quieter part of the station," he said, copying it to the centre display. "Some experience with beat work, but light on the leadership side. Never seems to have reached her full potential. She's approaching that 'move up or ship out' point in her career so might be extra motivated. That's a useful quality if we're getting people up to snuff."
"What's her name?" Gunning asked, trying to find it on his own before realising she was already on the screen.
The Andorian refrained from embarrassing the boss and just answered the question, "Engstrom. Jani Engstrom. Betazoid, so she probably already knows we're talking about her."
"Well, she might work in Habitation. I don't want to make any generalisations but having a Betazoid responsible for security down there might actually be handy."
"I agree," ch'Darnath said, moving her across to the fill the space labelled Habitation. "Plus, if she doesn't cut it she'll be easy to replace." He looked down the list again and shook his head, "Or at least easy to remove."
Gunning nodded. From her file it looked as though Engstrom had experience of responsibility for both Starfleet personnel and civilians, making her the best of the bunch when it came to habitation. Most of her remit would end up being burglary - a surprisingly common problem on Starbases with transient populations.
"What about Engineering? We'll need someone who isn't going to get under Lieutenant Le's feet."
"Sounds like a job for a Vulcan," ch'Darnath muttered, flicking a file across to the central console. "What about this one? Starfleet's her second career, so she'll have a high level of maturity; even for a Vulcan."
"What did she do before?" Gunning asked absent-mindedly.
"School teacher," the Chief replied with a wry smile. "She'll scare the shit out of some of the younger grunts."
"Good plan." An apple for teacher meant that Lieutenant (JG) Mena would cross into Section Chief for Engineering. "We're going to need someone similar for the docking areas - someone who's got a good nose for trouble. What about that wee Tellarite that's been kicking around the office?"
The Andorian let out a quiet grumble and scowled. "That would be Glek," he said. "I don't like him, but he's probably as qualified as anyone else on the list. He handled a few difficult merchant skippers on a rotation through the docks last month."
"How did he do?" Tellarites had a reputation for being crotchety and hard to get on with but since they would be providing security support to a team of customs agents, that might not be such a bad thing.
"Minimal casualties," ch'Darnath replied dead pan.
Gunning just laughed into his glass.
"Seriously, though, I received good reports," the Andorian replied. "It annoyed me because I personally don't like the guy. What did the customs chief say? Oh yeah; merchant crews responded well to Glek's manner. Or words to that effect."
"I suppose they wouldn't have had much choice." Gunning replied, dragging the Tellarite's name onto the area marked 'Docking'. "I was thinking Lieutenant Harper for Storage."
Ch'Darnath furrowed his brow and his antennae swirled slightly as he searched his memory for the name. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it without consulting his list. "I've got to be honest with you, I'm not familiar with him. Where's he worked?"
"From what I can tell he's always lurking around down in the darkest reaches of the station anyway so formalising it might do him some good. Plus, he's been on the station for years already and he knows the place like the back of his hand."
"That will come in handy down there," ch'Darnath replied with a nod. He dragged Harper's name over to the tree and said, "Sounds like he'll go alright."
"That leaves us with the tricky one - the Promenade." Gunning finished off the last of drink and offered another one across the table. "At least before we move onto customs and custody."
The Andorian sighed and peered own the list with none of the names standing out for him. "That is a tricky one," he said as he scrolled. "None of these really stand out to me. All of the current officers have promenade experience - it's a required rotation - but leadership experience is few and far between." He paused for a moment. "What about security officers on ships in the sector? Anybody transferable?"
"Everyone who is is pretty damn close to washing out altogether and given some of the scum on this station, we need someone who's not going to be corruptible - the chance to earn a few bars of latinum before you get flushed out into civilian life might be a bit much for some of them."
Ch'Darnath looked sideways at Gunning. "I didn't realise you were so cynical, Commander," he said with a smile, acutely aware of his own cynicism; which made it harder for him to play the optimist. "For the right officer, it could be just the motivator to turn their failing career around. Give them something to prove. We'd just have to find the right officer."
Gunning sighed. The hours of poring over these personnel files had destroyed any semblance of goodwill he had left. "That's true. What about this guy? He looks like he's struggled to get out of a rut - he's been on the same little station for years and hasn't advanced."
"Hmm," ch'Darnath looked over the file and nodded. "Out on RS-197-S, huh? Small, but it's the kind of place that smugglers and other ne'er-do-wells target because they think it's outside the eyes of law enforcement. It looks like he's done a passable job out there."
"Right. Marc Madigan to the Promenade. I'll send them one of our younger officers on the fast track in return. That way they won't lose out." Gunning had just the ensign in mind - someone whose career would be kickstarted by being on the very frontier. He continued through the file. "He's no spring chicken either. Last chance or bust. Speaking of which, we've still got Customs to do."
The Master at Arms' antennae seemed to whither with the realisation that they were not, in fact, done yet. He sighed and said, "I'm going to need another drink."
Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief of Station Security
Master Chief Petty Officer Arathenar ch'Darnath [NPC: Drusus]
Master-at-Arms
Starbase 332
