2A. Blood of the Innocent – Admiral, I Broke Your Ship
by Commodore Shiloh Steele
Post Details
(Three Days Ago)
One of the things they don't teach in Command School is how to tell an admiral that you destroyed the ship you were given to command. Probably because you weren't supposed to do that which was why Shiloh Steele, once captain of the USS White Dove, found himself discussing the situation with his reflection while shaving. No stranger to such conversations having been dressed down more than once in his career in Starfleet, he was, not to put too fine a point on it, rehearsing.
"Yes, I lost the ship. Well, it was baby energy beings ..."
"Who knew? Apparently, they're born troublemakers ..."
"By the time we knew they were there, we already had a warp core breach ..."
In each of these scenarios, the Admiral ended up red-faced while he ended up scrubbing latrines for a number of years. He could just see that too. First years at the Academy shaking their head as they passed him by. "You know, he used to be a captain. Heard he lost his ship ..."
He finished shaving and showering and moved on to getting dressed in his duty uniform -- not that there was much to do. And how strange was that? The Ready Room wasn't his. The Bridge wasn't his. How quickly he'd gotten used to being the go to guy.
"Enough stalling, Shai. Time to get it done."
He headed into the area of their quarters (VIPs lived better, for the most part, than ship's captains) set aside for work. He closed the partition doors and requested a connection to Admiral Stallbridge.
Within a minute or two, the Admiral's aide came online. "Captain Steele, I'm sorry but the Admiral's tied up in meetings. He asked me to convey his apologies and tell you that he'll meet you in person when you arrive at Utopia Planitia."
The aide closed the connection and Shiloh sat staring at the screen. "Great. GOod one, Shai. Nothing like a dressing down in person."
He fixed himself a Raktajino and stalked around for awhile. Glad that Siobhan was sleeping and that he had some space to work through this on his own. He hated failing. Hated feeling like he failed his crew and the admiral who had believed in him.
He had finished the first cup and was halfway through his second, following the longest route he could manage within their quarters, when the emotions of recent days lost their grip on him long enough for him to see things clearly again. He resolved to use his mission report to analyze the situation, emotions put strictly aside, and see where that led him.
Somewhere in the middle of that process he came to the realization that he'd been carrying the loss on his shoulders and that maybe, just maybe, it didn't belong there. No one's fault. Satisfied, he finished the report and sent it along. Included in that report were his own recommendations for reassignment. It would be three days before they arrived at Utopia Planitia. Enough time for Starfleet to figure out where his crew would be headed next.
That done, he recorded a message to be personally delivered to the White Dove's crew. He was relaxed as he recorded the visual message, the guilt of the past days having been lifted from his shoulders. Now, to lift that same guilt from any other shoulders in his crew.
"Since the Montoya doesn't give us a place, short of the hangar deck, where we can all meet at one time, I'm using this as a way of talking to you as a member of the crew of the USS White Dove. Its best if you view this alone because its just between me and you."
"First contact situations are never easy and really, that's what we were facing. A first contact situation with a species that no one, literally no one, believed existed ... except for one scientist and even she didn't have any hard evidence."
"The fact that the energy being, known as Madison's Wanderer, chose our ship as a safe place to give birth was not something we could have known would happen. The sensors were not equipped to read their energy signature -- though all sensors going forward will be. We gave the fleet that."
"Nor could we have known how unintentionally destructive they could be. The reports that you have submitted, the information we retrieved from the ship before the breach, all confirm that the newborns damaged our ability to detect and defend against them. I don't think that was deliberate."
"More importantly, I don't think we are responsible for the loss of the ship. In a first contact situation, even when we are prepared, which we were not, and with the best of intentions, bad things can happen. So listen to me now. You're a good crew. A fine crew. I'm proud to serve with every one of you and whatever you might thinking, however you might be trying to lay the blame on yourself, I am proud to have served with you."
"And none of this is your fault."
He sent the message and sat there for some time staring at the Starfleet logo. It wasn't, he thought, our fault. Sometimes, bad things happen. That's all."
(Stardate: 62920.43)
He had spent the last three days meeting with various departments of his crew, reinforcing the message that all was well. Word had not yet arrived for any of them as to where they would be going next and there was some worry on that score. The crew wanted to remain together and he took that as a good sign. If it turned out that he wasn't going to be their captain, he hoped that whoever got them next understood just how lucky he or she was.
"Bridge to Captain Steele."
"Steele here."
"Sir, Captain Reardon wanted you to know that we're on final approach to Utopia Planitia."
"Thank you. Have you informed my crew?"
"We're about to, Sir. And Admiral Stallbridge requests that you meet him in his office at your earliest convenience."
"Thank you, Bridge. Steele out."
As Shiloh went to tell Siobhan, the Bridge broadcasted the following message. "We are on final approach to Utopia Planitia. Crew of the White Dove, orders have been sent to your quarters regarding your next assignment. You are to proceed immediately. Its been a pleasure having you on board. Crew of the USS Montoya. 12 hours shore leave for everyone then report back, we're heading out again."
by Commodore Shiloh Steele
Post Details
| Title | Admiral, I Broke Your Ship | |
| Mission | 2A. Blood of the Innocent | |
| Author(s) | Commodore Shiloh Steele | |
| Posted | Sat Apr 25, 2009 @ 5:41am | |
| Location | VIP Quarters, USS Montoya | |
| Timeline | Current |
One of the things they don't teach in Command School is how to tell an admiral that you destroyed the ship you were given to command. Probably because you weren't supposed to do that which was why Shiloh Steele, once captain of the USS White Dove, found himself discussing the situation with his reflection while shaving. No stranger to such conversations having been dressed down more than once in his career in Starfleet, he was, not to put too fine a point on it, rehearsing.
"Yes, I lost the ship. Well, it was baby energy beings ..."
"Who knew? Apparently, they're born troublemakers ..."
"By the time we knew they were there, we already had a warp core breach ..."
In each of these scenarios, the Admiral ended up red-faced while he ended up scrubbing latrines for a number of years. He could just see that too. First years at the Academy shaking their head as they passed him by. "You know, he used to be a captain. Heard he lost his ship ..."
He finished shaving and showering and moved on to getting dressed in his duty uniform -- not that there was much to do. And how strange was that? The Ready Room wasn't his. The Bridge wasn't his. How quickly he'd gotten used to being the go to guy.
"Enough stalling, Shai. Time to get it done."
He headed into the area of their quarters (VIPs lived better, for the most part, than ship's captains) set aside for work. He closed the partition doors and requested a connection to Admiral Stallbridge.
Within a minute or two, the Admiral's aide came online. "Captain Steele, I'm sorry but the Admiral's tied up in meetings. He asked me to convey his apologies and tell you that he'll meet you in person when you arrive at Utopia Planitia."
The aide closed the connection and Shiloh sat staring at the screen. "Great. GOod one, Shai. Nothing like a dressing down in person."
He fixed himself a Raktajino and stalked around for awhile. Glad that Siobhan was sleeping and that he had some space to work through this on his own. He hated failing. Hated feeling like he failed his crew and the admiral who had believed in him.
He had finished the first cup and was halfway through his second, following the longest route he could manage within their quarters, when the emotions of recent days lost their grip on him long enough for him to see things clearly again. He resolved to use his mission report to analyze the situation, emotions put strictly aside, and see where that led him.
Somewhere in the middle of that process he came to the realization that he'd been carrying the loss on his shoulders and that maybe, just maybe, it didn't belong there. No one's fault. Satisfied, he finished the report and sent it along. Included in that report were his own recommendations for reassignment. It would be three days before they arrived at Utopia Planitia. Enough time for Starfleet to figure out where his crew would be headed next.
That done, he recorded a message to be personally delivered to the White Dove's crew. He was relaxed as he recorded the visual message, the guilt of the past days having been lifted from his shoulders. Now, to lift that same guilt from any other shoulders in his crew.
"Since the Montoya doesn't give us a place, short of the hangar deck, where we can all meet at one time, I'm using this as a way of talking to you as a member of the crew of the USS White Dove. Its best if you view this alone because its just between me and you."
"First contact situations are never easy and really, that's what we were facing. A first contact situation with a species that no one, literally no one, believed existed ... except for one scientist and even she didn't have any hard evidence."
"The fact that the energy being, known as Madison's Wanderer, chose our ship as a safe place to give birth was not something we could have known would happen. The sensors were not equipped to read their energy signature -- though all sensors going forward will be. We gave the fleet that."
"Nor could we have known how unintentionally destructive they could be. The reports that you have submitted, the information we retrieved from the ship before the breach, all confirm that the newborns damaged our ability to detect and defend against them. I don't think that was deliberate."
"More importantly, I don't think we are responsible for the loss of the ship. In a first contact situation, even when we are prepared, which we were not, and with the best of intentions, bad things can happen. So listen to me now. You're a good crew. A fine crew. I'm proud to serve with every one of you and whatever you might thinking, however you might be trying to lay the blame on yourself, I am proud to have served with you."
"And none of this is your fault."
He sent the message and sat there for some time staring at the Starfleet logo. It wasn't, he thought, our fault. Sometimes, bad things happen. That's all."
(Stardate: 62920.43)
He had spent the last three days meeting with various departments of his crew, reinforcing the message that all was well. Word had not yet arrived for any of them as to where they would be going next and there was some worry on that score. The crew wanted to remain together and he took that as a good sign. If it turned out that he wasn't going to be their captain, he hoped that whoever got them next understood just how lucky he or she was.
"Bridge to Captain Steele."
"Steele here."
"Sir, Captain Reardon wanted you to know that we're on final approach to Utopia Planitia."
"Thank you. Have you informed my crew?"
"We're about to, Sir. And Admiral Stallbridge requests that you meet him in his office at your earliest convenience."
"Thank you, Bridge. Steele out."
As Shiloh went to tell Siobhan, the Bridge broadcasted the following message. "We are on final approach to Utopia Planitia. Crew of the White Dove, orders have been sent to your quarters regarding your next assignment. You are to proceed immediately. Its been a pleasure having you on board. Crew of the USS Montoya. 12 hours shore leave for everyone then report back, we're heading out again."