EXETERRPG: (1 1201) Lieutenant Ire Williams/Lieutenant (JG) Greta Smith

[Robbie Gray]

Mission: Space was cool before it mattered

 

Day: 1

 

Stardate: 2446.04.25

 

(USS Exeter - CTO Office - Lieutenant - Ire Williams/Lieutenant (JG) - Greta Smith -1201)

 

 

Ire leaned back in his chair and stared at the small image frames on his desk. One was a picture of him and Greta on mars. She looked amazing in that dress and he felt that he looked a bit stiff and formal but she liked the picture so he liked it. He smiled to himself and placed it down in its place on his desk. The other was an image of the Void Hauters Squadron in full squadron flyby. 

 

He looked at the image, feeling a deep pang of longing to be in a  fighter again. Those Peregrine fighters were a death trap waiting to happen. That he could contest having misfortunes in more than one of them. He noticed a presents at the door and sat up right as he looked at the door.

 

Smiling as she walked In with a plate, Greta handed it to Ire and said, "Knowing you as I do, I thought I would bring you lunch. You work too hard, Boss man." She winked as she sat down opposite him with her own sandwich. 

 

"Managed to grab my lunch break and for some reason, I thought you would welcome the company."

 

He smiled and nodded as he pointed to a chair in front of his desk.

 

“Yes please. That would be great.”

 

He glanced at the plate.

 

“What is it?”

 

She smiled and said, "It's not haggis don't worry. I wouldn't trust a replicator to create convincing haggis."

 

“Yes, I think natural haggis that comes from its own environment would be better than from a replicator.” 

 

"It's just a nice simple ham salad sandwich with extra Bajoran mustard. Unless I got that wrong… damn my brain forgetting…" she sighed.

 

Ire smiled.

 

“That sounds great, thank you so much. I appreciate it.”

 

He frowned a little.

 

“You okay? How’s your shift going.”

 

Greta nodded, "Just quiet. Almost too quiet. Making me long for the white skull days. But the big girl is behaving for the moment so I am grateful for that."

 

“See I told you she would. It just takes some time to use to her idiosyncrasies.”

 

Sitting back in the chair and taking a bite of her sandwich, Greta looked at Ire for a second. "Ire, what is it?"

 

“It's nothing. I'm fine.”

 

"I can tell something is on your mind so spill it."

 

“That obvious am I?”

 

He gave a slight smile and nodded.

 

“I don’t know where to start.” He paused again trying to get his thoughts into some kind of order. “Okay I don’t want this to come across that I am not grateful for the opportunity as well as the responsibility.” He paused again. “But I am not sure the security is for me.” He looked at her. “I only ever wanted to fly since I was so high.” He lowered his hand near the floor. “That was the only direction that I wanted to go when I entered the academy. I would have been happy to fly a garbage scow but I got to be a fighter pilot in the first fighter wing and that was amazing, being out there free was all I hoped for. Then I got the Void Haunters. I can tell you that I freaked out with the responsibility me in charge of a squadron of fighters and the men and women. It was intense and I had to get off the ground running fast. It was not easy and we all had our good and bad days but it was flying.”

 

He gave a small smile as he just off loaded.

 

“Then came Exeter. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed flying her but she’s a large starship and I am a fighter man. I was amazed with the level of power and performance she was capable of. She was fun to fly. And then came Trip’s assignment and if it had been from almost anyone else I would have said no but Ravok had just gone and he asked me. There was no way I could have said no. I had seen myself as a lieutenant colonel or a colonel being in charge of a fighter wing or a whole group but I am now in security.”

 

He sighed.

 

“Don’t get me wrong Security is a fine department and I am honoured that Trip feels that I am up to the job of keeping the crew and ship safe but Greta I just don’t know if I am.”

 

Greta sighed softly. Seeing Ire so conflicted was hard for her. But, she let him continue to speak, waiting for him to finish.

 

“I know it sounds selfish and that it's only been over a month but still.”

 

He shook his head.

 

“How did you cope with the transitioning from Flight to Security?”

 

"Wow… okay. I had a feeling it was something to do with this." Greta leant forward and took Ire’s hand gently and began to speak.

 

"There’s a few sides to this. Firstly, the change from flight to tactical… its a big change. Believe me I know." She smiled softly. 

 

“Yes you do.”

 

"For me, it wasn't too bad because I was not in charge. I was just a grunt for want of a better word. Ire, your ability to lead is sound. You could lead a horse to water and tell it it was thirsty. The problem isn't that you can't lead. It's you are leading a new set of people with a different skill set than you are used to."

 

He sighed and nodded.

 

“Yes I suppose so.”

 

"So, the crux of the matter is you are no longer where you thought you would be and how you reconcile that within yourself, would that be right?"

 

“Yes that would be right.”

 

"Whilst I would love to give you the magic answer, there isn't one. It's something you need to find the answer to yourself. All I can do is be there for you. But… do you want my honest opinion?"

 

“Always.”

 

He gave her a slight smile.

 

“Especially when I know I am not going to like the answer.”

 

Greta smiled widely, "Especially then but you are good." She leant back in her chair and looked at him for a moment,  "Ire, the problem isn't that you aren't a pilot anymore. That you aren't in charge of a squadron. The problem is your belief in yourself. 

 

Look at it this way. You would be scared and unsure of what a change it would be if I got pregnant right?"

 

He paused for a moment looking at her before answering her question “Of course I would.”

 

"It's kind of the same thing here. The fact that there has been a sudden and unexpected change in your life, in the way you see yourself… it's scary. I get that. " Greta said as she thought back to what happened in the bar, the one place she had been avoiding since she had been back on the ship.

 

"But, the measure of a man is how you react to that change. Do you admit defeat instantly or do you fight?"

 

“You mean am I a man or a mouse?” he paused for a moment. “ I make a very good mouse you know.” His smile faltered and he nodded with a long sigh. “I know.”

 

"Look, remember how nervous I was when I got to Mars and was assigned to work with you? First time I had been assigned in a squadron. First time working with a seasoned pilot. But you got me through it. I'll be here, always."

 

“You were so green you squeaked but yes I know you will and I do so appreciate it.”  He gave her a tired smile. “I think part of it was that we were so busy dealing with the Vandalosian and then the aftermath. It's only really been now that things have slowed down and we are twiddling our thumbs around the nebula that I have had time to reflect on it.”

 

"And therein lies the problem. If we were busy, you wouldn't have time to let your mind wander. Speaking as someone who just had plenty of time to let their mind wander and ponder over things that have happened,  that is not always a good thing." She paused and winked, "You need to stop being so hard on yourself. "

 

“Yes I know. I needed a good kick up the backside to stop making me feel sorry for myself.”

 

Greta chuckled, "Oh I can give you an actual kick up your backside if you want."

 

“Oh thank you, I like my backside where it is than you very much.”

 

"Ire, seriously, you will be fine. Captain Williams wouldn't have put the trust in you he has with ship tactical things if he didn't think you could do it."

 

“I know but sometimes I feel that he picked the wrong person.”

 

"Hey, look at it this way. If I can make the change, you can. Admit,I failed miserably and ended up with a vulcan inside my head…" Greta paused for a second, took a deep breath and continued, " What I am trying to say is that if I can fight through that and come back, you can do this."

 

“You have overcome a lot. The least I can do is to do my job.”

 

"Can I ask a question?"

 

“Of course.”

 

"Does this have anything to do with Commander Shara? I know you two were close and… " she stopped, not wanting to bring up anything too bad for the man she loves.

 

He paused and nodded.

 

“Some of it. This was Ravok’s post and he did it very well. I do kind of feel a bit like I am intruding into his job… I can count on one hand the people I would go through the fire caves on bajor for and he was one of them. Filling a dead man's shoes is just not a good way to get a promotion. I know that our job is dangerous by the prophets you and me have been through enough of it to fill a lifetime already. We had all gone through so much to have it happen that way just feel such a stupid waste.”

 

He stopped before he carried on any more. He knew that he was just rambling now which was not productive.

 

"It's not stupid. It's how you feel and that is never stupid." She replied. "I never told you that I saw him… after I woke up. He … wasn't the guy we knew. The guy we flew into battle with. If the man you knew, that we both did, was here right now… he would probably give you a lot better advice than I would." She smiled.

 

“He would probably kick my back side from here to next week.” He looked at her again. “That’s not a challenge.” He gave her a slight smile.

 

"Maybe the answer to all this isn’t something in the past or where you thought you saw yourself. It's how you react to the change. Change is good. It can make or break you and, Ire… believe me when I say this is going to make you."

 

He nodded. “And with you around to keep me on the straight and narrow there is now way I can fail.”

 

"I'm hardly the poster child for straight and narrow." She replied with a smile.

 

He looked down at his half eaten sandwich. 

 

“I am sorry you wanted to come and have a nice lunch with me and I just off loaded on to you.”

 

"Ire, you stood by me when I was having nightmares, held me so I felt safe even though my head was in another place. If all I ever do is be a sounding board for you, then that's what I'll do. Other than give you an actual kick up the backside." She replied with a wink. "Now, finish your sandwich, boss man, and let's talk about how to avoid me kicking your… " she stopped and laughed a little. 

 

He grinned as he picked up his sand wedge. “You just keep talking rubbish Fly Girl. You just keep talking. You, me and a holodeck and we will see who is going to kick whos backside.”  

 

(Reply None)

(Posted by Jackie and Robbie)


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