Rating
Posted on 28 Nov 2021 @ 11:46am by Commander Thaddeus Zayne & Commander Bruce Kensforth
Mission:
M2 - Sanctuary
Location: Shuttlebay - Obsidian Command
Timeline: MD 06 - 1009HRS
2037 words - 4.1 OF Standard Post Measure
A Starfleet Officer only stopped learning when he retired. That was a mantra that had been instilled in him from day one in the Academy. No matter what he was doing, how high a rank he had or how many years of experience he had; the day he stopped learning was the day he left the service. Something he didn’t intend to do for many years yet, there was still quite a bit more Thaddeus Zayne had left to accomplish.
For the last few weeks that subject had been flight ratings. As Executive Officer of a Command Starbase, he was not only in charge of nearly ninety-thousand Starfleet personnel, he was expected to set the standard. That standard included being rated on all the craft that the station had to offer, from work bee pods to the state of the art runabouts being deployed on the station. Having been stationed with the Marines on Catus XI and then in the void aboard this station for the better part of a year and a half, a few of his ratings had lapsed and a few more had been created that he hadn’t sat through yet.
He’d quickly managed his expired ratings, but the initial rating on any craft required a flesh and blood proctor. So despite having gone through all the written tests and every holographic test available to train on the new Arrow-Class Runabouts, Thad still couldn’t be rated for the craft until a certified instructor saw him through his paces. It was one of the more infuriating aspects of the credentialing system, but it was why he was going through the motions. He was already certified himself for every other craft he was rated for so that he could be the one that tested the crew when the time came. All he had to do now was finish up with the Arrow and he’d be fully rated for all OC’s shuttles and runabouts.
The only problem he had was; there were no other certified instructors on the Arrow. So, frustrated, he’d simply filed his request with Starfleet hoping that he’d at least get a few days notice to brush up on things before he was expected to take the exam. He hadn’t expected to get a ping back within the hour that an instructor had been found, and setting up a testing time that afternoon.
That was what brought Thad to the shuttlebay, a space he’d really only visited once or twice. Most of what he needed to do day-to-day was handled at the huge holo-table in the CIC. His job was the people of the station, so he tried to make a habit of visiting a different section every day, so that people at least saw his face now and again if not daily. He knew he’d never know everyone’s face and name on a station this size, but he could at least make an effort.
Following the instructions on his data PaDD for today’s test, he found Arrow-Class Runabout 42 on the shuttlebay deck right where it was supposed to be, according to his device. The craft was a long, sleek one with an almost predatory look about it. She was longer and wider than the aging Danube runabouts and much less bulky. An elegant bird compared to a flying brick. In reality, it was the first time Thad had been around the genuine article. He’d gone through the holodeck training, but he hadn’t yet come down to the shuttlebay and put his hands on one for real. Seeing as there wasn’t an instructor waiting on him, he did just that, taking a long tour around 42 inspecting her lines and making physical contact. As if that would somehow imbue some kind of connection between them.
“Should I leave you two alone for a bit?” A man called out playfully in a distinct Kiwi accent.
Thad blushed slightly and turned about to see a somewhat slight blonde man in command red’s standing by the open hatch of the runabout. He looked somehow familiar to Thad but he couldn’t quite place him.
“Commander Zayne, I assume?” The man asked, stepping out of the runabout and offering his hand to Thad. “Bruce Kensforth.”
“Thad Zayne,” he answered slowly, the wheels in his head turning. The name was familiar, “Why do I know your name?” He asked finally.
Bruce smiled broadly, “I’m First Officer of the Ardeshir, she’s in the yards for refit.”
The memory snapped into place and he understood now how he’d landed a proctor so quickly and unexpectedly. He’d looked through his crew for a rated proctor. He hadn’t considered the passing crew, or those like Kensforth here on a sort of temporary reserve. Technically they didn’t have berthing on the station, but on their ship. But as the Ardeshir was in three separate pieces (last he checked) the crew was in station housing.
“Right,” Thad agreed. “Right.”
Bruce clapped his hands, smiling still. “So. Ready to get this show on the road, mate?”
“Yeah,” Thad nodded, “Yeah, let’s get this over with.”
Bruce waved for him to come aboard and went on inside the runabout, taking the secondary CoNN station while Thad took the primary station. Kensforth sat back casually, almost like this was just two friends meeting up to go for a joy ride, not an official assessment of Thad’s grasp of the controls and aspects of the Arrow-class.
“Right. So where do we start?” Bruce asked casually.
“Pre-flight check,” Thad answered, thumbing back to the door. “But you said to come aboard.”
Bruce grinned, “But you’re supposed to stop me and say: But, Commander. I haven’t done the pre-flight.”
Thad just glared back at him and sighed, “I’ll go do pre-flight.”
“Good call,” Bruce smirked.
With a sigh, Thad got up and went back outside to go through the pre-flight, coming back in the hatch almost immediately when he forgot to grab the PaDD on the inner bulkhead with the checklist on it. Bruce grinned back from his seat but didn’t say anything.
Thad knew that Kensforth was just trying to throw him off; to make him think through what he was doing and make sure he was doing it in order. He did something very similar when he tested crew, it just somehow felt less irritating than Kensforth had made it with him. But maybe that was just perspective.
He went through the list, checking and double-checking like he was supposed to and finally returned to the cockpit where Kensforth was waiting, lounged back in the chair and listening to the latest news report from the FNN. He turned it off when Thad returned and sat up properly. Thad handed him the checklist and sat down.
Bruce took a minute to look it over and then nodded in approval, handing it back so he could put it on the bulkhead where it belonged.
“Let’s shake a leg then,” Bruce waved at the CoNN station.
Thad was ready for it this time. He sealed the hatch and then walked aft to check the rear hatches and to make sure there was no one else aboard before finally returning to the cockpit to find Kensforth smiling, waiting now at the secondary CoNN to take off.
“Now we can go,” Thad said, taking the Conn and going through the brief pre-flight controls check before powering up.
For him, this part was going to be the easiest. It was the same with any craft. Power up, check with station control, take off and navigate carefully out of the docking bay. It was going to be the actual maneuvers he was going to have trouble with as the new Arrow class utilized a very different control interface than the standard Starfleet variety. It was something more in line with the fighter craft, from what he understood, and he’d had trouble with in the holo-training.
Not unexpectedly, Thad managed the formalities and got the runabout out of the inner bay and out into open space. Bruce gave him the coordinates of where they’d be running their drills and he headed that way, glad for the auto-pilot to give him a chance to refresh himself on the awkward controls.
“I saw you’re certified on just about everything else on the station but the fighter craft,” Bruce mused as they rode out towards the nearby asteroid belt.
“Yeah,” Thad nodded. “I’m not sure there’s a reason to get rated on the fighter craft. I’d have to have a pretty good one to get the clearance from Starfleet to.”
Bruce nodded, “They’re pretty protective of it,” he smiled.
“Are you?” Thad asked.
“Came up through the fighter corps,” Bruce replied, checking the panel in front of him for something and then sitting back. “Makes it easier to maintain those ratings. I like what you’re doing here though,” he added, “Maxing yourself out to be able to train your own. That is what you’re doing, right?”
“Yeah,” Thad replied. “Trying to set the example of what I expect from the Senior Staff.”
“I do the same,” Bruce grinned. “It’s a good example to set and it’s a great way to spend time with staff you might not usually. That Lieutenant in the Science lab that never comes to the bridge, or that Gamma shift Ensign in Engineering. They’ve all gotta come through me to get rated, and they all gotta get rated to get that next promotion. It’s a racket, sure, but it works!”
“How long have you been XO?” Thad asked.
“Couple years,” Bruce shrugged, “Not the job I expected I’d find myself in when I first came aboard the Ardeshir, but Markus sold me on it,” he smiled. “There’s good days and bad days, sure, but on the whole I enjoy it. How about you? Finding your sea legs with this job?”
Zayne chuckled darkly, “It’s not the job part that’s the problem,” he complained with a sigh. “It’s the charged environment.”
Bruce nodded and flashed a pained expression, “I don’t envy your position,” he admitted. “But I think you’re doing just fine with it. Better than I would, probably.”
“From what I’ve heard, your crew thinks they have the best CO and XO in the fleet. I’m not sure I believe you,” Thad shook his head.
Bruce snorted, “You think that was overnight? I took the job following one of the best XO’s in the Fleet, who went to take on her own command. You know how hard that is? It’s not the quagmire you’re going through, but it sure as hell isn’t a quick fix. Took more than a year just to tread water.”
Thad just looked back quietly. Maybe it was just time that he needed, that the crew needed. It hadn’t been that long since Calliope had been relieved and as hard as he was working to keep focused on the job and not on his predecessor, it was hard not to see where it colored every interaction with the crew. Especially in the Engineering decks.
“Just keep doing what you’re doing, mate,” Bruce smiled across at him. “They’ll come around once they see what you can do. Once they get over their emotions and get back to the job. It just takes time.”
Heaving a slow sigh, he nodded. “Yeah.”
In front of him, his terminal chirped and both him and Bruce turned forward from their conversation.
“Right,” Bruce clapped his hands. “Let’s get to it then,” he smiled. “Now…” he trailed off, punching in a few commands that overlaid a course through the asteroids. “…part one. Navigate this course, manually,” he said, pulling out an old fashioned stop watch. “In under three-minutes. Ready?”
“Ready,” Thad agreed, adjusting the console in front of him to his preference.
“Right then,” Bruce nodded. “Engage.”
