"I Touch the Future: I Teach."

Posted on Sunday April 16th, 2023 @ 4:51pm by Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi & Commodore Gregory Paladin

1,835 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave
Location: Starfleet Academy
Timeline: During the events of "Shore Leave"
Tags: Shore Leave, 2395, Introduction

[ON]

Meanwhile, at Starfleet Academy...

"Keep a steady arm." Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi said to a cadet whom had evidently never fired a phaser before. "There might not be any kick back, but it's more precise if your arm isn't shaking like a leaf."

Erika moved down to the next cadet in line, who was holding their phaser sideways.

"Phaser... Upright." She said, grabbing the cadet's arm and rotating the phaser into the correct orientation. "You don't look cool, and all firing a phaser sideways does is put stress on the components, so get the image of you looking 'hood' shooting a phaser sideways out of your head."

Erika checked the stances of the rest of the class she was teaching during this live fire exercise in one of the Academy's holosuites. The scenario chosen by Erika was one which involved boarding and capturing a Romulan warbird. The class was already several steps deep into the scenario, but they had already failed the scenario multiple times before they reached this point.

"So, shall we restart the simulation where we left off?"

Gregory Paladin had been given a rare chance to return to Starfleet Academy since the duration of the stay for the USS Poseidon had been extended at Risa. Starfleet Academy had deemed that the cadets and crew deserved a real, long crew leave and Gregory had agreed. Furthermore, the Academy had been considering transferring control of the Poseidon from Pegasus Fleet to Theta Fleet, something which did require the presence of Gregory to talk over with his superiors. He had just left the meeting with a smirk on his expression when he rounded the corner to the training holosuite that he was given directions to. Everything was falling into place better than he had expected - considering everything almost always fell to pieces rather quickly.

He stood at the entrance and watched his target instruct the cadets. For a good thirty minutes he observed Lt. Commander Erika Itsumi go about the delicate tasks of training cadets on the appropriate use of phasers. He chuckled a bit at watching a few of them try to look "special" or "important" with how they held their phasers, but each time Erika would delicately and professionally offer correction. When there was an interruption in the tempo of the training, the Commodore approached.

Erika spotted Gregory as he approached, and recognized the flag officer uniform.

"Commodore on deck!" She called out.

In an instant, the cadets immediately stopped what they were doing and snapped to attention.

"At ease," Gregory swiftly ordered. "Lieutenant Commander Itsumi," he called out as he walked forward. "I'm Commodore Paladin, I've come to ask you a few questions, see about a potential future for your career in space."

"Of course." Erika nodded. "Computer, end program."

Within an instant, the corridors of D'deridex warbird vanished, being replaced by the blank walls of an empty holosuite.

"Take five, everyone." Erika instructed. "Looks like I've got a little Starfleet business to attend to."

Having been dismissed by their instructor, the cadets began filing out of the training holosuite, chattering amongst themselves. Once the last of the cadets had left, Erika turned to Gregory:

"In... Space, sir?" Erika asked. "Are you suggesting there's a need for security officers?"

"Kinda," Gregory said as he watches the cadets leave. "You do a good job with these kids. How many Starfleet academy training ships are you aware of, Commander?"

"Training ships?" Erika pondered. "You mean like what they made the Enterprise into later in her life?"

"Sort of," confirmed Gregory. "The ones I'm referring to are directly under the supervision of Starfleet Academy. As far as I know, only one ship operates under that. I'm directly involved with it. Starfleet Academy uses it as a ship to help train cadets. I was wondering if you'd be interested in such a position. You'd still utilize your training appropriately as an officer, but you'll also have the responsibility of training cadets assigned on board the ship. Missions typically take a few months to fully rotate the cadets out. Is this something you'd be interested in?"

Erika froze, her eyes glazed over as she began to remember the literal hell she had went through on the Halcyon. The screams, the flames... She recalled all of it as if no time had passed, and the whole thing only happened the day prior.

"I... I don't know, sir..." Erika faltered. "I've... Not been in space since the Halcyon..." Her breathing became labored as she began to want nothing more than to curl up into a ball and start crying. "I've... Turned down offers before, because... The idea of returning to space is a... Painful one to me..."

Gregory watched the emotions unfold and play out on the Lieutenant Commanders face. He regretted instantly approaching Erika now, realizing it was a grave mistake. He had his own past - now sorted thankfully - that had traumatized him immensely. He realized Erika still had much of her career that she had not spoken about that equally traumatized her. He gave a nod, his words calm and somber as he spoke.

"I understand," the Commodore replied. "Sometimes we get sent onto assignments or have things happen to us that, over the course of our career, impacts us dramatically. While I'm not privy to the specifics of the Halcyon, I know that its lessons are quickly being taught in some classrooms here on the values of proper command procedures and effective leadership. Apparently the Halcyon was lost only due to the absolute negligence of its commanding officer and those who played along. I'm very sorry for that. You place trust in someone in command, absolute trust, and when it's broken over something so preventable it's hard to trust again.

I'm not here to ask you to our new Chief Security Officer or any other direct line position. Instead, I came to you concerning a unique position to the Poseidon. Chief Cultural Officer, a position which requires a firm grasp of leadership and educational responsibility. Effectively you'll be the principle on a ship dominated by cadets and students. You'll direct the teaching methods of all departments as it pertains to their interactions with these students. You'll have the final say on all classes being undertaken, and be able to halt a class by an officer if you find it's out of order. You'll report directly to myself or the Captain.

Additionally, you'll act also as Chief Diplomatic Officer and Chief Chaplain. We on the Poseidon decided some time ago to mesh these two positions to create Chief Cultural Officer. This position is unique because it requires a person capable of immense compassion and empathy as well as a firm and stern understanding of academic training procedures and operations. It requires an incredible amount of trust between the Captain and the Officers knowing that everything will be kept in order. You, out of everyone I've reviewed presently at the Academy, have these credentials.

Captain Johnson runs his ship sternly, within absolute specs, and keeps things in line. He's a nice Captain, he's compassionate and understanding, and he has an open door policy for his crew. His ship is nothing at all like the Halcyon. You won't find incompetence like you did there. Rather, you'll find cadets in direct need of someone like you to guide them and prepare them for their journey in Starfleet as officers and crew. The amount of effort you put in will equate to the amount of experience these cadets get. You'll both directly and indirectly through all divisional officers be responsible and accountable for that.

If you're not up for it, I understand, I have a list of people I wanted to see today. If you think you need time to consider, I can give you that too and wait on your answer. Let me know now what you need, because what I need is a dependable officer, and what the Captain needs is a dependable officer capable of doing their jobs. Our last two Chief Cultural Officers left both of us desiring for more. I think you'd change that."

Gregory finished, looking at Erika closely for a reaction as he stood silently awaiting her reply.

Several seconds passed before Erika finally spoke up.

"Well, sir, be grateful that you only know the surface details on the Halcyon incident." She said. "Because for those of us who were there, the scars run deep, both emotionally, and physically:"

Erika lifted up her tunic slightly to show the Commodore some of her burn scars.

"I must admit. I was concerned that you were going to ask me to slide back into a gold uniform after all this time." She said. "But, if it's a position that's similar to my current line of work, I'd be willing to give it a try. If what you say about Captain Johnson is true, then chances are good he won't have an engineer who will let a plasma fire spread out of control."

"That being said, going back to a starship won't be an easy transition for me to make." Erika sighed. "Does the Poseidon have a counselor on board? If it does, then chances are I'm going to have to pay them a visit."

"One of the best, actually," the Commodore replied, almost too quickly. He chided himself for that silently. "Commander Kanaka Shakura is her name. She was at one time the Executive Officer before stepping down to tend to other business, but she's still the ships Chief Councilor and handles the incredible task of caretaking and dealing with the ships academy cadets. She has a very robust support staff as well, who you may in fact end up seeing. The Poseidon is, unfortunately, not new to handling mass incidents of trauma both medically and psychologically. Whoever you end up seeing will be more than capable of helping you through the process.

That said, the Poseidon is also an older ship. Most of the crew, both cadet and seasoned, enjoy a walk in the park. I mean that literally. The Poseidon still has her original Arboretum. Real trees, real wildlife, real running water. It's on deck six of the Poseidon, same deck as the counseling offices, and I don't think that was coincidental."

"As long as it's well-maintained, I don't mind older ships with original facilities." Erika said. "As you can probably imagine, I have an aversion to ships that are poorly-maintained deathtraps."

Gregory laughed. "I gathered," he said, but quickly added, "no offense. So...is that a yes?"

"I'll have to make arrangements with my bosses." Erika said. "But, I believe you have yourself a deal, sir."

Erika extended her hand for Commodore Paladin to shake.

Gregory took the offered hand and shook. "Absolutely wonderful. Poseidon is on Risa at the moment, but you're free to head there and get acquainted."

[OFF]

----------

Commodore Gregory Paladin
Mission Advisor
USS Poseidon

&

Lieutenant Commander Erika Itsumi
Chief Cultural Officer
USS Poseidon

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