Commander Etan Iljor & Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen - Looking for Ihsehelm Part 1
Thomas Sanderson
((Crew Quarters, Deck 7, USS ‘Oumuamua))
After the chaos of the nebula and the rescue of the nautilus, Lhandon finally had a chance to take stock of the past few weeks. It was a long road getting from there (that incident at the Academy) to here where he had hoped that he proven to the Commodore that he was worth keeping around despite the ultimatum that he perceived hanging over his head like a Sword of Damocles.
Lhandon was sat in his quarters alone with a handful of PADDs surrounding him. He was refusing the sensor data from the nebula in particular he was looking for a clue, the one thing he was convinced he missed when himself Maxwell and Promontory saw that ghost on the sensors.
He was looking for that mistake, a mistake that he perceived was his fault as he opened up another log he scrolled down that briefly and lent back and sighed. Kel'ran would snap him of out, most likely finding some kind of trouble to distract him, Toxin would tell him that he didn’t think Lhandon was going to find anything, but would help search anyway, meanwhile Ma would gently put his PADD and insist that he eats his stew.
Today’s distraction came from an unexpected place. Lhandon jumped from his chair and nearly knocked the table when PADD chimed.
=/\= Meeting with Commdander Etan Ijor in ten minutes =/\==
Lhandon got up and quickly made his way out of his quarters but just as he passed the door he turned back and grabbed a padd from the pile on the table before heading to (insert location Iljor summoned him to here). Along the way, he kept flicking through his pad, almost missing the random ensign in blue and just about avoiding a lieutenant in gold.
Lhandon took the turbo lift and after a short ride, found himself on deck 2.
((First Officer’s Office, Deck 2, USS ‘Oumuamua))
Lhandon found his way to the first officers office and pressed the door chime. He was apprehensive. The first officer had been part of the group that escaped the Anchorage and somehow found their way back to the Oumuamua using nothing more than the thruster on the escape pod and pure unbridled skill.
Etan: =/\= Come in. =/\=
Lhandon stepped over the threshold as the door opened and he had to duck his head to avoid hitting
Nilsen: You asked to see me sir?
Life aboard the ‘Oumuamua had more less returned to normal, which for Etan Iljor meant a veritable treasure trove of after-action minutiae: debriefings, report writing, crew evaluations, analyses, future-proofing- amongst other things. It was not glamorous work, but it was entirely necessary and it fell to Iljor to ensure that it was carried out.
When Ensign Nilsen stepped into his comfortably appointed office, Iljor was reclining on the plush sofa with a PADD and a cup of coffee. He had been reading Ensign Herrick’s after-action analysis of his experiences on the asteroid colony. Just as they had on Yansamin Anchorage, events there had spiralled out of control and it was clear that nefarious elements had a vested interest in derailing the Esh-O. For what purpose, nobody could say- but hindsight had now made it obvious that the cephalopodic species had become a flashpoint in the continuing socio-political struggles of the Gamma Quadrant.
Upon seeing the pilot Iljor rose to his feet and set the PADD down on the arm of the sofa. He brushed down the hemline of his skant uniform and waved for the newly assigned officer to join him at his desk.
Etan: Yes, come in. Take a seat. ::he motioned to the chair opposite his as he sat down.:: Would you care for a drink?
Nilsen: No thank you sir, I would not want to intrude.
He said this because he simply didn’t want to intrude. Lhandon stood at attention as if his back was attached to a plank. Lhandon had yet to meet Commander Etan, at least, not in an official capacity, and he didn’t think that beaming out the commander's group from escape pod quite fits that official capacity of meeting. Regardless, he was still an ensign, Etan was a commander so the formalities stand..
Etan: No need to stand on ceremony, Mr. Nilsen. :: he said with a smile.:: I don’t bite. I just wanted to meet our impressive new HCO officer. I heard you acquitted yourself very well during our last assignment.
Nilsen: erm (Beat) thank you sir, I was simply doing what I was trained to do.
Iljor noted the man’s humility. He had been doing his job and nothing more. In some ways, Nilsen reminded him of the man he used to be. When he had first been commissioned as a Starfleet officer, he had been averse to praise, and had dismissed any with “I was just doing my job”. For a moment, the XO could not help but wonder if it was a ‘default’ setting for Ensigns.
Etan: Well that may be, but you managed to impress a lot of people. :: he realised that the officer was still standing despite his offer to the contrary. :: Take a seat, Ensign- before you sprain something. :: a smile curled the corners of his mouth. ::
Lhandon realised he had yet to take the commander's offer to sit down, and soon rectified that and sat opposite but still with back straight. Etan asked for a rundown of events. “Who did he impress?” Lhandon thought to himself. He knows he’s in V’airu’s good books at the very least, or least she elected to make up her own mind about his performance rather than reading some report from a few years ago.
Etan: Why don’t you start by telling me about your take of our recent mission?
Nilsen: Well erm, I was working in cargo bay 2 doing inventory for the anticipated relocation of supplies out of that cargo bay, when Lieutenant Johnson called for me to join herself, Commodore V’Airu and Lieutenant Kessler in disabling the torpedoes of the mission pod, and retrofitting the Oumumaua into a giant sensor. Erm when that was done, I assumed I would be going back to my task in the cargo bay but instead the Commodore saw fit to invite me to the bridge and ask me to pilot the Oumumaua.
Etan: I imagine that must have felt quite overwhelming.
After all, it wasn’t every day that junior officers were asked to serve on the bridge, let alone pilot the starship. Iljor remembered how frightened he has been the day he had taken his post aboard the Resolution for the first time. He leant back in his chair, allowing himself a moment of reflection. He had travelled a great deal since then; literally and figuratively.
Nilsen: Yes sir, after some very erm kind words that I’d prefer to keep between myself, Kessler and the Commodore, I took my new post at the helm.
Etan: Your first time since the Academy, I take it? ::he shifting his his high back leather seat.::
Nilsen: Yes, first time at the helm since the academy and the holodeck training cruise of the USS Centris under Commander Wil Ukinix.
o0 That’s where the urm hi came from 0o
Lhandon paused for a second and got back on track.
Nilsen: I then flew us into the neblina, dropping waypoints in the navigational computer we went. It was at this time that I saw what could be describe as a sensor echo. I was worried that was a vessel following us with hostile intent.
Etan: Given the situation, I think that is a natural reaction to have.
Nilsen: Yes sir, I should have reported it first, and I will next time, but I think in the end the Commodore was pleased that I took the evasive action. With the pod being used as a sensor and the limited visibility of the nebula, I erm yeah.
Iljor looked thoughtfully at the curly-haired ensign, ruminating on his words. “I will next time”- he had already reflected on his performance and was ensuring that any errors would not occur again. Already impressed from reading the after-action reports, the XO found his admiration deepening.
Etan: Go on.
Nilsen: That’s the thing sir, I don’t know, and I still don’t know but I do have one theory but you will not like it.
Lhandon thought back to the work he was doing prior to being called to this meeting. He ruled out the real USS Nautilus, that location had been accounted for, but in his mind, the heading of the pod brought him confusion and the Zet ships had come from the same direction.
Etan: ::his right eyebrow quirked upwards.:: Oh?
Nilsen: I’ve been working with Ensign Dahlquist. I think it was you (beat) more specifically, the escape pod. I erm….
Lhandon pauses for a moment, as if a thousand regrets just assaulted him.
Iljor could see the flicker of self-doubt flit across Nilsen’s face. He recognised the straight immediately. He had felt it many times. Too many times if truth be told.
Nilsen: If that echo, that sensor ghost was you, I coulda got the ship to you all faster and we could have you know…
Lhandon finds the words fail him, those thousand regrets still in his head, “if only I did”, he thought to himself, “if only I could have”
Iljor held up a hand to stop Nilsen. He smiled kindly across the desk and hoped his words would bring him some measure of comfort.
Etan: Ensign, what you’re suffering from here is a case of what your people call “Coulda Woulda Shoulda”. Hindsight can be a very dangerous thing, especially when we start going down the plychyk warren of “I should have done something” or “I could have realised sooner”. :: beat :: There is no point in beating yourself up over something you had no way of knowing.
Nilsen: I know I shouldn't but…
Lhandon found himself unable to finish the sentence, "Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda" is a rather uncomfortable place for most to be, and a rather natural place for his mind to go. Just ten minutes ago, he was search through the same data Commander Etan was about to describe.
Etan: I’ve seen the sensor logs and when that ghost first appeared my team was still on Yansamin Anchorage. Truth is, we don’t know what it was. It might have been a Zet ship, it might have been an unintended error of the modifications made to the ‘Oumuamua. We just don’t know.
Nilsen: That wasn't? ::beat:: that wasn't you? I…I erm I don't understand.
Etan: Mr. Nilsen, I’ve learnt that we cannot possibly hope to understand everything about the universe. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try, but sometimes… things just don’t make sense. Our sensors are very powerful, but they are not omniscient. Sometimes they can’t identify something or they malfunction. It’s just the, ah, “luck of the draw”. ::beat:: And the pod approached the situation from the far side of the Nautilus. Totally the opposite direction to the ghost.
Lhandon sighed. Of course, he should have remembered that, he was the one who manoeuvred the ‘Oumuamua in between the Zet and the Faux Nautilus. He’s been so focused on answering the question of what, he didn’t consider the question of where.
Nilsen: Like too much rain ruining the crop.
Before he realised it, Iljor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Having grown up on a farm, Iljor knew all about the delicate balance needed for a successful crop- and subsequent harvest. Yet, it also reminded him of the fact that his parents were now facing a lifetime prison sentence for their part in the Talmulna Massacre during the Occupation. He had not spoken to them in over eighteen months, and the farm now belonged to another family. If only he had not visited the homestead on that fateful day. His eyes dropped down for a moment as he felt the familiar pangs of guilt in his abdomen.
The XO drew in a breath, looked back up and pushed past the uncomfortable sensation.
Etan: Something like that.
Lhandon saw the moment of discomfort from his first, and wondered for a second, do they share a common background? Very few people would react in such a way to an analogy about farming and rain.
—
Commander Etan Iljor
Executive Officer
USS Oumuamua
NCC 81226
C239203TW0
(They/them, he/him - character and player)
&
Ensign Lhandon Joseph Nilsen
HCO
USS Oumuamua
O240007LN1
He/Him/His (Both player and character)