Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jun 8, 2020 3:37:05 GMT
Kaya peered at Eastman then looked away. All the words were ready like a fully composed symphony on the tip of her tongue. She'd had the conversation to an imaginary tribunal hundreds of times in the shower and several times in a bar. But if she took too much joy in it, if she sounded too angry, no one on the other side of that holocamera would ever believe she was being objective and there was nothing holier.
"Our team was on swing. We'd get moved around where there were gaps, so Nirak was never reporting to the same officer any given time. That's why he was able to stay under the radar. No one wanted that job so he was seen as the clean-up guy. And no one was going to look twice at how he was doing it because no one else wanted it."
Kaya paused to get an affirmative from Eastman that this made sense. It tracked. He made a little dirt castle in a little dirt kingdom that no one else wanted.
"Right? So I come in and get assigned to Nirak and at first it's all the right things said. Take initiative, I want to hear your ideas, my door's always open, whatever you need. All that."
The thing with Kaya Som is that once she starts, she doesn't stop. She's aware on some level this is more words now in one sitting she's ever spoken to anyone above the rank of Lieutenant, but the airlock is open.
"I know people have made out a lot of this to be cultural, but I've known Vulcans and tearing down a brand new crewman for asking reasonable questions, or threatening to write people up for procedural errors, that's not a cultural thing. It's a leadership issue," Kaya pressed.
"Between me and him things were alright for a little while. I mean, I'm watching him mishandle the team and retaliate against the others but, I'm just along for the ride at that point. Then one day I lost my temper and that was it. Things got bad enough I filed a complaint."
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jun 8, 2020 16:28:14 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]Judy was now all but trapped in a gilded cage of formality. She couldn't reassure Kaya that she was doing well, she couldn't say that she was on her side, and she couldn't speak her mind about what was being said. All she had were her facial expressions. Kaya peered at Eastman then looked away. All the words were ready like a fully composed symphony on the tip of her tongue. She'd had the conversation to an imaginary tribunal hundreds of times in the shower and several times in a bar. But if she took too much joy in it, if she sounded too angry, no one on the other side of that holocamera would ever believe she was being objective and there was nothing holier. "Our team was on swing. We'd get moved around where there were gaps, so Nirak was never reporting to the same officer any given time. That's why he was able to stay under the radar. No one wanted that job so he was seen as the clean-up guy. And no one was going to look twice at how he was doing it because no one else wanted it." Kaya paused to get an affirmative from Eastman that this made sense. It tracked. He made a little dirt castle in a little dirt kingdom that no one else wanted. So far, the First Officer leaned forward attentively. When Kaya paused, Judy nodded - every command had their clean-up crew. She had filled a similar but different role for a time, the expert on getting projects back on track, filling in budget shortfalls and catching up on schedules. "Right? So I come in and get assigned to Nirak and at first it's all the right things said. Take initiative, I want to hear your ideas, my door's always open, whatever you need. All that." The thing with Kaya Som is that once she starts, she doesn't stop. She's aware on some level this is more words now in one sitting she's ever spoken to anyone above the rank of Lieutenant, but the airlock is open. This time, it hit a little closer, and Judy turned her eyes down at her PADD for a moment. She'd used that language, as had so many officers, and hearing it echoed served as a reminder that Nirak was a product of the same system that had produced the bulk of Starfleet. For all her civilian background and late start, Judy couldn't entirely dissociate herself from it, either. She looked back up after a moment and nodded again. "I know people have made out a lot of this to be cultural, but I've known Vulcans and tearing down a brand new crewman for asking reasonable questions, or threatening to write people up for procedural errors, that's not a cultural thing. It's a leadership issue," Kaya pressed. This one was a little harder on Judy. The edges of her mouth twitched briefly, as she considered, and instantly held back, a Vulcan impression that she knew not to do on duty, and then just as soon held back her instinct to agree that this was poor leadership. She prided herself on her people skills, on her drive to bring the best out of those around her and especially under her. If anything was the secret to her successful career, it was this. "Between me and him things were alright for a little while. I mean, I'm watching him mishandle the team and retaliate against the others but, I'm just along for the ride at that point. Then one day I lost my temper and that was it. Things got bad enough I filed a complaint." Judy offered her most sympathetic look. She suspected Kaya might blame herself for letting it go on, keeping her own head down. Judy certainly would. Still, the interrogation continued. "Please elaborate on Ensign Nirak's conduct," she directed, her neutral tone undercut by her forward-leaning posture and her gaze. "In what ways did he mishandle the team? How did he retaliate?"In the back of her head, Judy reminded herself to ask less official questions later, after the recording was done.
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jun 10, 2020 2:12:36 GMT
Any hesitation Kaya Som had been holding onto had dissipated. She was still getting sympathetic looks from Eastman that she didn't want, but she understood. Starfleet didn't like to think that its officers could misbehave, that its leadership could fail. Kaya forgot for a moment the pain of that time and how she'd been up nights for a long time wondering if she should have just let it go rather than go through a futile process. She believed in this moment that this new process would actually pay off.
"I'm not a delicate flower," she said leaning back and tapping her chest. "Ask anyone. I can follow an order, I can take correction, you don't have to be nice to me. So I'm not saying Nirak was just stern. I'm saying he made it personal."
She leaned forward again and ticked on her fingers.
"Personal insults, tearing us down, questioning our credentials, threats to write us up with exaggerated or untrue infractions. He'd move your shift around so you'd be late, or schedule you so you couldn't get any sleep, always with some excuse.
"One second he'd compliment you, the next second the requirements for the job had changed out from under you. You just stopped trying because nothing was right."
Kaya sniffed derisively and took another drink of water, shrugging like she was over it. "If you tried to get transferred to another team, he'd sabotage it."
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jun 10, 2020 3:10:24 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]
Judy had a strange feeling that the line about not being "a delicate flower" was directed at her, though it might not have been. She acted somewhat maternally, protectively, towards her crew, especially those in the age groups of her children (which was most of them). She supposed she'd be a little bit more blunt, with the next question.
"Earlier, you said you'd lost your temper and filed a complaint," Judy reminded, still maintaining the same gentleness almost by default. "Tell me more about that."
Judy wanted to say something like 'if you're comfortable', or 'take your time', but she waited to gauge Kaya's reaction. All in all, she was still sticking to her supportive, semi-maternal modus operandi.
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jun 26, 2020 22:39:26 GMT
Kaya couldn't avoid affecting a posture of defiance. Yes, she'd snapped back. Yes, she'd used some choice words. Yes, she'd shirked the end of her ship. And yes, all of that had made for the only reprimand she'd earned. It had been a mistake, but she'd become so cynical at that point that she didn't regret it.
It wouldn't do to cover it up for the recording so she related the incident.
"Nirak had done something stupid, so I told him. He'd ordered a teammate of mine to work inside a faulty airlock when it could have been fixed remotely, but something something 'hands-on experience' something something 'grit' and 'character'. I got my mouth involved, stormed out, and didn't come back.
"Went straight on to the Chief of Engineering to file a complaint."
Instead of continuing on, Kaya stopped. She addressed the Commander. "Look, I dropped the matter. It's over. I'm gone. I don't care what happens. I don't need my thing relitigated. I'm happy Nirak's been found out, but I'm not interested. So, what else do you need?"
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jun 27, 2020 0:10:46 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]Judy sighed softly. She was aware of the fact that she was currently picking at Ms. Som's old wound, and she didn't like it. "I think we have enough for HR to work with," she said quietly, as she ended the recording. "As for what I need, I need my crew to report incidents of that sort, and I need to make it known that even if other command crews look at these things dismissively, and side with the officer by default, we don't work like that," Judy added, choosing this time to reiterate that point. "I came up in the civilian world myself, you see, so I don't treat the chain of command as rigidly as some fleet lifers do. I don't support insubordination, but I also don't think these things," she tapped on the three pips on her collar, "denote more brain cells."In her quiet, subdued ways, Judy stood in (passive) contempt of all things military and militaristic in Starfleet. She sought respect, but not rigid decorum; deference, but not blind obedience.
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 7, 2020 1:31:31 GMT
Kaya knew she had to give Eastman some consideration. She'd said it a few times now and her reputation among the crew confirmed that she was a reasonable person. Since Kaya'd arrived at this posting, she'd not heard any good bridge drama or fraught departures from ship or station. Kaya wanted the benefit of the doubt. Eastman deserved some amount of it in turn. Kaya took a deep breath. Fair's fair.
"I'll try and keep that in mind," she acquiesced. She drummed her fingers on the underside of the table, still unused to the Commander's direct style.
"I do like it here," Kaya said after a moment.
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jul 8, 2020 19:34:53 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]
The last phrase brought a smile to Judy's face. She knew theirs wasn't considered a very desirable duty station, and that some, such as Lt. Harmon, downright resented being here. It was nice not to see that.
"I'm very glad you do," she said, leaning back in her chair. They were, indeed, more or less done.
"Before I release you, is there anything I could do for you?" she asked.
Judy practiced what she preached. Other than bigger quarters, more desirable shift times, or promotions, she'd try to accommodate almost any request.
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 18, 2020 23:10:53 GMT
Kaya could feel the release. The unhappy memories had been pulled out of where they'd been fitfully resting to hang in the air. In this joyless room, though, they'd hovered over the recorder and were heard and taken in with more clarity than they had before. It was easy to be cynical. No, it was safer to be cynical. But it was more Trill to cynical and unburdened.
"Thank you, Commander, but no, I've got what I need."
Maybe given more time, Kaya could have thought of something, but no deficits came to mind at the moment. All was, mostly, as was expected. Wait! It occurred to her all of a sudden and for the first time since she'd come in, something of a smile chanced itself.
"Actually, there's a question. I can't seem to get a straight answer from anyone."
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jul 19, 2020 1:24:06 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]After Kaya indicated she didn't have anything to say, Judy took off her reading glasses, allowing them to dangle on their chain. Then, before she could begin to stand up, she did get a request. "Well, in that case, go ahead and ask," she encouraged. "I'm all ears."Judy had that grandmotherly, gentle smile on her aged features as she waited to hear the question.
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 19, 2020 2:04:47 GMT
"Right. Ears. About that."
Kaya hesitated only for a moment more, aware on some level that she'd been offered a djinn's wish and was wasting it on, what, trivia? But she hadn't been able to yet figure it.
"What's the name of this station? The actual name."
It couldn't possibly be a Terran language pun, some translation error committed to the database, could it? Everyone insisted...
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jul 19, 2020 2:15:03 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]"Oh, that."This was a most peculiar topic about the duty station. "It's an English-language pun. It's Frontier, but it's also an Ear located at the front of your head," she explained. "As for why, I wish I knew. The best theory I have is that it's a clerical error, although my husband thinks the previous Commander had it changed to this on purpose. Either way, the brass is too lazy to change it," she added. "It did get some laughs at my Grandson's show-and-tell event on Earth a few months back, so it's not entirely without its advantages."
Tag Kaya Som
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Kaya Som
Engineering/Ops
Site Historian
Yaya! You have survived! That's too bad!
Posts: 804 Likes: 108
Rank: Senior Chief Petty Officer
Position: Chief of Engineering
Species: Trill
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Post by Kaya Som on Jul 19, 2020 2:42:59 GMT
Kaya blinked once, then twice. It was true. True, at least, in that the Commander had confirmed that the place
"Front. Ear," Kaya repeated. Then she took a deep breath, laid her palms on the table, and pulled herself to standing.
"Thank you. I hate it," she said then with a touch of cheer. She straightened up and clasped her hands behind her back. In the grand scheme, things could be worse. Phonetically, they were one syllable off something truly embarassing in Bajoran. Perhaps this was why Starfleet resorted so frequently to numbers.
"Permission to go?"
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Judith Eastman
Civilian
Grandma
Posts: 2,593 Likes: 84
Rank: Civilian/other
Position: Civil Servant
Species: Human
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Post by Judith Eastman on Jul 19, 2020 3:05:39 GMT
[Cmdr. Judith Eastman(-Williams) - First Officer's Office]
Judy flashed a smile in return, pearly whites neatly lined in her mouth.
"Permission granted. Somene's gotta keep this station in one piece," she answered. "And I have reams of paperwork to get back to."
Judy stood up from the conference table, using both arms to push off, and then walked over to her desk.
"If you do need something, at any point, you let me know," she reiterated her open invitation as she sat back down and put her readers back on.
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