Stepping Down

Posted on 30 Sep 2022 @ 11:56pm by Captain Bane Plase & Lieutenant JG Lisald Vaat

1,835 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Outbreak

ON
Sickbay


Lisald adjusted as much as he could in his biobed. His back was sore from laying on it so much. His chest was sore from the surgery he had to remove his right lungs that had been irreparably damaged during the incident with the Crystalline Entity. The adjustment hurt like hell, and he moaned involuntarily, and much louder than he would have liked.

"Now now," Nurse Byzkit said, rushing to Lisald's side said in way of warning, "You know you aren't supposed to move much. Doctor's orders."

Lisald winced. "I know. But my back. By the Prophets, its killing me just laying here."

The nurse nodded. "That is to be expected. Here, let me get you something for the pain, and to help blood flow a bit better." She scurried off. Half a moment later, she returned with a hypospray. "Doctor Elodin said you could have this." She placed it against his neck, and heard a soft hiss. Moments later, he started feeling better.

"Thank you, Nurse. Is there anything you can do to make it stop feeling like I have to pee all the time now?" The twinkle in his eye was apparent, and the look on his face told the nurse he was just messing around.

"I'll see what I can do," she smiled back. As she was looking at him, she noticed a shadow approach. Looking up, it was none other than the Commanding Officer, Captain Bane. "Oh, Captain, what a pleasant surprise!"

Vaat looked over in the direction she was looking and saw Captain Bane too. He tried to sit up, but Bane put a hand gently on his shoulder. "Easy there, Lieutenant. As you were." Lisald relaxed back into the biobed.

"Is there something we can do for you, sir," asked Nurse Byzkit.

"Actually yes," he said, his eyes upon her, his eyebrows raised. "Could you please get me a chair?"

The nurse nodded and disappeared, off to find a chair tall enough to be at appropriate sitting height next to the biobed, and comfortable enough for the Captain.

"How you doing," Bane asked Lisald.

Lisald adjusted a little, winced, and through one eye open, responded. "I've been a bit better, sir."

Plase smiled. His sense of humor was still there. That was good. "Good, good. Doctor Elodin tells me you are still in for a bit of recovery."

Vaat nodded. "Yeah. I am being grown new right side lungs. Its going to be a while."

The nurse returned with a chair. "Thank you Nurse. If you would, please see to it we are not disturbed for a bit. I need to spend a bit of time with a colleague and friend." The nurse nodded and aye-aye'd him, then disappeared again, presumably to make sure nobody approached this particular room. Bane looked back to Lisald. "You take care of yourself. We will pull extra duty on the Bridge and in Operations to make sure your job is taken well care of, and ready for you once you return."

Lisald blinked a few times, fighting back tears and failing. "Sir, I....I am not sure I want to return."

Bane's brow crumpled up, concerned heavily. "You don't want to return?"

For a long moment, Lisald was silent, and did not look at his Captain. When he finally did, the defeat was evident in his eyes. "No Captain, I don't. I am thinking about resigning my commission and going home."

Bane felt for the young man, he really did. But he needed to understand why the sudden change. Bane remembered reading the officer status report that his predecessor, Captain Stafford, had written about Lisald. Words like 'ambition' and 'drive' and 'excellence to duty' leapt out at him. When Bane had come aboard, Lisald was the first officer to talk to him and give him the rundown of the ship and personnel. The Captain was, at first, annoyed by the passion and drive and eagerness to please by the younger Bajoran man, but over the course of the voyage, Bane had learned to respect and admire Vaat. This was not the words or actions of a man that Bane had knew a week ago. "Well, that is well within your right and is your decision to make," he began carefully. "I feel it is my duty to tell you that we need you here on the Cygnus."

Lisald slowly shook his head back a forth. "No, you don't. You just said other people would be filling in. I can be replaced, and should be."

Plase inhaled, collected his thoughts, then exhaled. "You are mistaken, Lieutenant. Your work can be replaced. You cannot. The ship, and all the people on her would be lesser without your presence."

Vaat exhaled audibly, a telltale sign he did not necessarily believe the Captain. "Yes sir." There was a pause, then Vaat look at Bane again. "Sir, do you know why I got into Starfleet?"

Plase was not expecting this and sat back in his chair, a visible reminder that the question caught him off guard. "I honestly do not, Mr. Lisald. We've never discussed it."

The wounded Bajoran closed his eyes for a moment, and was already speaking before he opened them back up. "I joined because I wanted to practice science. I was not concerned with rank, or position, or power or authority. When I came aboard this ship, I was the xeno-archaeologist. I'm an anthropologist by training and education. I just wanted to learn things nobody had ever learned before, and wanted to expand my knowledge and understanding, and then share that with as many people as I could."

"So, how did you end up as Chief of Operations?"

"Heh," Lisald said, the word moving his head. "A comedy of errors. When I came aboard, there was no Chief Science Officer assigned. After my very first mission, I was made Assistant Chief Science Officer, but was given the duties of Chief Science Officer. After my second mission aboard, I was promoted to Chief Science Officer and Lieutenant," he explained. "I found it easy to move up, and found the work challenging and rewarding, and I did well at it. Commander Pope, ah, the Executive Officer at the time," Lisald said, when the name didn't ring a bell with Bane, "Asked me to her office and wanted to know if I would be interested in pursuing the command track at the Academy. I was thrilled, so I jumped at it, and before I knew it, I was Chief of Operations. I struggled at it, as I am sure you could tell."

Bane shook his head honestly. "Not really. I felt that you were getting in your own way, eager to try and please the new Captain and Executive Officer," he said, referring to himself and Erik Larsen, "But beyond that, you did very well. The things you and Mr. Spangler came up with were amazing."

"I guess," Lisald said, remembering the work and the excitement he had when he was coming up with plans and measures to communicate, or destroy, the Crystalline Entity. "But that is what I mean. I was doing well because I was working the science, not the power and personnel management of the ship," he continued.

Bane interrupted, "Which you did well at."

Lisald ignored it and continued. "And because of the science, we survived. Well, most of us did," he said, his voice defeated again.

"Hey, hey," Bane said, placing his hand on the Lieutenant's shoulder. "That was not your fault. In fact, without yours and Spanglers and Carsen's and Doctor Elodin's and everyone else's efforts and expertise, we would not be sitting here having this pleasant conversation."

Vaat nodded vigorously, which caused him to wince in pain. "My point exactly, Captain. My expertise. I am a scientist first. I just want to be a scientist, which is why I must insist on resigning."

Bane's brow crumpled up again. He thought they were making progress, but clearly they weren't. They were silent for several minutes. Bane used this time to think how he could keep this qualified officer. "What if we put you back into the Science Department?"

Vaat shook his head. "You are making false promises, Captain," Lisald said, a hint of contempt in his voice. "You just promoted Spangler to Lieutenant. He is, and has been, the Chief Science Officer since I left the position. It would not be fair to him to move him from that position only to put me back in Science."

It was Bane's turn to exhale loudly. "You shouldn't make assumptions, you know. I never said anything about moving Lieutenant Spangler from his position."

"I don't understand. I thought you just said to put me back in....oh," Vaat said, the realization coming to him. "You didn't say make me the Chief Science Officer."

Plase smiled. The kid was quick. "Nope, I didn't. Instead of you resigning from Starfleet, I would be willing to entertain you resigning as Chief of Operations. I would, of course, need to confer with Commander Larsen and Lieutenant Spangler about where to put you in Science, and get with Starfleet about getting a new Chief of Operations, but I think we could work something out. That way, you still get to practice your science, you don't have to worry about rank or position or authority or power or anything else except your science.

Lisald thought about that for a moment. It would literally be the best of both worlds. He would be safe in the science department, far from harm, and would be doing his science again, and would be working directly alongside his best friend again. It was a win/win for him. But the dark clouds of doubt crept back in. "What if Albert can't work with me now? I used to be his boss. Would he be okay working with me again?"

"That is a good question, something you would have to work out with each other, and if you cannot, then enlist the help of Counselor Morak."

It was Lisald's time to crumple his brow, which in Lisald, deepened the ridgelines on his nose. "Who?"

Bane patted the younger officer on the shoulder again. "You will find out. I have to get back to the Bridge," Bane said. "Lot to do. But you'd stay on the Cygnus if I can get you out of Operations and back into Science?"

Lisald thought for a moment. "Yes," he said, a feeling of peace washing over him.

"Good, good. For now, concentrate on getting better. I'll stop back by when I can, okay?"

"Yes sir. And Captain? Thank you for taking the time to come see me and listening to me whine."

Bane gave the gesture that was familiar to all Bajoran's to think nothing of the matter. "It's what friends do, right?"


OFF

A JP by:

Lisald Vaat, Lieutenant (jg)
Patient, USS Cygnus

&

Bane Plase, Captain
USS Cygnus, Commanding

 

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