Posted by Ensign Caelian Weir (Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty

Posted by Lieutenant Sapeth (Chief Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty

Posted by Cadet Caelian Weir (Engineer) in Check In - Cadet Caelian Weir Reporting for Duty
Posted by… suppressed (16) by the Post Ghost! 👻

<snip>

Sapeth walked over and tapped a command into the console. After a minute of examining he readout he nodded. “Very good Cadet. Please,” he said as he indicated one of the stools in the workshop. He took a second to evaluate the cadet, he had not had a chance to review his file that extensively before coming in to finish this early assessment.

“How do you feel your performance was during this assessment?”

Lt Sapeth - CE

At the Vulcan’s question, Caelian’s playful manner banked back, leaving him a touch more focused and serious. His father had warned him about these kinds of questions, had taught him to be critical of his own work. An engineer’s worst enemy is complacency. He took the offered seat, stared at the senior officer for a moment while he gathered his thoughts.

“Adequate,” he replied evenly. There was neither pride nor condemnation in his voice, simply fact. He was talking to a Vulcan, after all. “While I was able to restore the environmental controls to tolerance within the time allotted, I’d estimate requiring another ten minutes to properly stabilize and diagnose the systems to meet Federations standard. For the purposes of ‘repair under pressure,’ it would hold. I also assumed that I was required to take this test alone, which was why I didn’t ask for help. I suppose during an actual system failure, that wouldn’t be the case aboard ship.”

Caelian placed his hands on his knees and nodded, more to himself than Sapeth. “If there’s anything else, sir, I’d appreciate your view on the matter.”

—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

Sapeth nodded as he listened to the Cadet. His analysis was well reasoned, and thought out, there was definitely promise.

“Your analysis of the situation is correct. To use analogy from the doctors, you treated the symptoms but did not cure the illness. However, I concur with your assessment, and estimate it would have taken you approximately 8 minutes and 52 seconds longer to apply a complete fix of the environmental system for this office space.

“While you are that the idea was to evaluate your skills alone, and if you had asked for assistance I would have declined, it is prudent to understand when it is appropriate to ask. Many tasks here on the Challenger will be done as part a team, and not as an individual. Please make some time to familiarize yourself with the other engineering cadets during the next week here on the Challenger.

“But now that we have that assessment out of the way. Please briefly tell me about yourself, and what made you interested in pursuing a career in engineering.”

Lt Sapeth - CE

“Yes, sir,” Caelian replied warily. It was a perfectly logical question, he supposed. It was simply… unexpected. It also gave him a shiver of deja vu.

“Well, I was born and raised on a Federation science vessel, the USS Venture. It gave me the opportunity to view both sides of what the Federation is built on, both civilian study and exploration and, of course, the more structured Starfleet workings. I come from a line of Weir engineers, so I suppose that part of me wants to follow in the family trade. But I also enjoy understanding how things in the universe work, sir, and engineering is a way for me to do that. It also serves as a means for me to keep family and friends safe.”
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

“Elaborate on that Cadet. How does engineering keep your family and friends safe?” Sapeth asked, genuinely curious. During his time in Starfleet, he had a chance to study many different species and there interactions with each other. How some of these species, especially humans, made choices, really intrigued him. He could understand falling in the footsteps of ones parents when it came to a career. But the emotion behind it was something he still wanted to understand more.

Lt Sapeth - CE

Caelian had to pause again at the question. Shrugging, he leaned forward in his seat, elbows on his knees. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to adequately explain it in a purely logical sense, but he’d at least try.

“A starship is just a pressurized container hurtling through space at incredible speed into sometimes unknown anomalies,” he said carefully. As his thoughts gained traction in his mind, his voice became more confident. “It’s the engineers that help hold that container together, who ensure that the sensors can show us where we’re going. They repair the shields that protect us from space debris or phaser fire. We keep the gravity on and the air clean. Starfleet training may not set the safety of the Challenger on my shoulders, sir, but it’s an important job with very real consequences.”

Caelian took a breath and scrubbed a hand across his chin before continuing. “There’s a security in the doing, too. Every system I check is one less concern I have. It’s not a worry, because I’m not afraid of anything going wrong. I have faith in Starfleet. But I respect the dangers of being aboard a starship venturing into reaches unknown. I respect the consequences of not being prepared, not being sure that everything is working in harmony. Doing my job—doing it as well as I’m able—is my way of maintaining the faith of the people that depend on me.”

He took a deep, steadying breath and leaned back into a more relaxed posture. Caelian could feel his pulse shuddering in his neck, behind his eyes. Answering the lieutenant’s question hadn’t angered him. He’d just gotten a bit lost in his own convictions. The cadet was silently thankful that he had been speaking to a Vulcan; it was unlikely that Sapeth would take his stronger tones in a negative light.

At least, he hoped so.
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

“Interesting. Thank you for the elaboration Cadet, it helps to give me useful insight into the human psyche.

“Is it in your nature then to be constantly worried that someone will not have completed their task, potentially leading to further consequences? Or do you have, faith,” Sapeth said emphasizing the word to demonstrate he was trying to use the term as Weir had, “that your fellow officers will satisfactorily complete their required tasks as well?”

While Sapeth’s outer demeanor was calm, he was deeply intrigued by the Cadets responses. He was an engineer by trade, but over the years Sapeth had dabbled in a number of different pursuits, including some psychology. It was a belief that if he could better understand the motivations of his fellow crew members, it would better help him relate to them.

Lt Sapeth - CE

Caelian shook his head, making a vague gesture with a hand. “I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t trust in my fellow crewmen to do their jobs properly, sir. That’s not it at all. As I said, I have faith in Starfleet. I think there’s a natural level of trust and faith in most everything we do. I don’t run diagnostics on my replicator every time I want something to eat; I trust that whoever built it and maintains it did their job properly. Just like I’d like to believe that people trust that I have, and will do, satisfactory work.”

He shrugged and laced his fingers together in his lap, leaning forward slightly again. Was this part of the engineering evaluation? No, there was something more to the lieutenant’s tone—a soft edge to the timbre that struck a chord with Caelian. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but it intrigued him.

“In my experience, humans want to feel they have control over aspects of their lives, even if they don’t.” Caelian had work to keep his face and his tone neutral. He’d slipped a fraction, nearly quoted something the counselor aboard the Venture had told him word-for-word when he’d started dealing with Kendra’s death. When he’d started his journey to understand the why of things. “I think there’s a kind of security in doing a thing yourself, even if someone else has already done it. Even someone better-qualified. At a primal level, it helps make it more real for us. It helps to dispel doubt that something was missed, overlooked. I’m sure you can understand the concept of complacency, sir, and the risks.”
—Caelian Weir, Cadet—

“Vulcan’s are not complacent Cadet,” Sapeth said sitting a bit more upright in his chair. “But I have noticed the tendency in other species over the years.”

Sorting through a stack of PADD’s, he picked up one and handed it to the Cadet. “Your first duty assignment. You are off duty until 0600, when you will report to Lt. Timbre in the shuttlebay. He is needing additional support in finishing the annual flight checks for the shuttles. Unless of course you have any questions of me Cadet.”

Lt Sapeth - CE