[ Ens Joshua Niles - Front Ear Station ]

In the aftermath of the hostage crisis, a particular young Ensign had found himself debriefed over and over again, and had to file a number of reports, and it had seemed to take forever before he could fully commit himself back to learning the trade of Strategic Operations while he was still assigned to the station.  And he was just working on some docking schedules in order to accommodate incoming and outgoing traffic with a minimum of delays when his commbadge chirped, with orders to report to Commander Eastman.  

At first, he wondered why, but her tone, cold and severe, spoke volumes.  Normally, she was much warmer when she called to anyone even in the most professional of occasions, and her tone said that 'earliest possible convenience' really meant 'ten minutes ago'. Hell, if he was any judge, the elderly, and generally kindly, Commander was positively furious, and somehow it would land in his lap...  =A="Yes Ma'am, on my way."

And so, he left the small office he was in and made his way to Commander Eastman's own, and before he reached for the door chime, he made sure to straighten his uniform and to take a deep breath.  At least, he would not be coming in while disheveled at all... 

And now that he had composed himself he reached out for the door chime, and once it beeped, he announced himself. "Ma'am, Ensign Niles reporting as ordered."

[ Ens Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

The way he was beckoned into Commander Eastman did not bode well for the young Ensign. Her manner was curt, and her tone made him think that at this point, butter wouldn't met in her mouth she had turned so bloody cold. To the point that when he stepped up towards her desk, he did not even glance towards the chairs. Instead, he brought himself to standing at attention. If he was about to enter a world of hurt, then he would face it head on... with every ounce of dignity he could muster.

And there she was, calling him on his ambition. Of course he wanted to advance! His career goals were firmly set: he wanted to be one of those sitting in the center chair, and he knew that with enough diligence, enough hard work, there were billets for starship commanding officers ranking as Commander, or even Lieutenant-Commander; he wanted one of those all right... And to do so, well, he had been working hard to establish himself, and that had meant he'd displayed a lot of initiative, even at the risk of overstepping himself...

And then, he realized what this was about. It was bound to come to haunt him at some point; someone had complained that he, as a very junior officer, had taken the lead in dealing with the terrorists in the bar rather than rightfully defer to the senior officer present, Lieutenant Aune. He had positioned himself as a negotiator when he was painfully unqualified, made decisions that could affect the whole station without any formal authority to do so.

Now was the time to face that reckoning all right.

"Absolutely no excuses, Ma'am," he replied stiffly and formally. "I've only ever tried to do my duty as best I know how, Ma'am, and I stand behind every decision and choice I've made."

If he was going to be hanged, then he might as well face it head on. And if he tried to recant himself now, he had the feeling it would come back to bite him even harder...

[ Ens Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

That single raised eyebrow sent a chill down Niles' spine, and he found himself swallowing hard when she spoke. He really had nothing to say in his own defence. He had damn well done everything he'd done, and he did stand by his judgement and initiative in handling the situations that he had come across.

When he hand went into her desk, he reckoned he would be seeing a PADD carrying the formal call for a board of inquiry, orders for a career review board, or even the summons to a court martial. And he was ready to face those head on, even though he'd really done nothing wrong...

But instead, what landed on the polished surface of her desk was a small, space-black box bearing Starfleet's insignia. He had one that was identical sitting in his quarters, the one that had contained the single gold pip on his collar when he had been formally commissioned. And now, he was looking at another one. Instantly, his eyes widened and he found his mouth working wordlessly for a few moments, and then all that came out were some confused noises. "Wait, wh? Why? H...? I just... Ma'am?"

[ LT (JG) Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

To say the newly-minted Lieutenant had been surprised would have been an understatement of rare proportions. He had been warned by Commander Eastman before to not overstep himself and to curb his enthusiasm lest he make a terrible mistake. He'd taken that to heart, but recently, he had been forced to go beyond what was expected of an Ensign, and he'd done so without orders, even effectively ignoring the fact he was outranked within the room... though he had done so out of tactical considerations.

However, given the expression on the Commander's face, she had approved of what he had done within the bar. And, well, it would seem she also approved of his confidence in his choices. As she rose from her desk, he reached for the small box on its top and he opened it to see the single black pip that was sitting there, and with two fingers he plucked it from where it rested and he affixed it to his collar, his heart pounding in his chest as he affixed it next to the first one.

However, as he did so, he heard the older woman speak of what her daughter called the pips, and he found himself guffawing when she mentioned they were known as a sort of candy that was, somehow, still popular. "Tic-tacs? That's... funny."

[ LT (JG) Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

And just like that, the conversation became serious again.  And while he had relaxed from a position of rigid attention when it became clear he was not in any real trouble, he found himself shocked by what came.  

And, truth be told, he couuld understand it.  A degree was no guarantee that one was smart; he'd seen some real characters come out of the Academy.  Some types who were geniuses in their chosen fields, and even were graduated as full Lieutenants as they were sent for advanced studies at places like the Daystrom Institute but could not lead their way out of wet paper bag or could be trusted to manage personnel, or keep their cool under fire.  And as a Tactical officer deployed to the ragged edge, he most certainly couldn't afford to let that new pip go to his head.  Not when his station was one controlling a starship's combat systems.  Not when lives depended on his ability to do his job as best he knew how without allowing himself to think he was any better at it than he really was.

Part of him wanted to think Commander Eastman was being a figurative old woman as well as a literal one, that she was being overly careful, but he knew better; he had seen her in action and he could tell she was as decisive and as ready to make the snap decisions as someone much younger.  So yes, he respected her insights all right.  "Ma'am, I realize I'm, well, very junior for the promotion.  And, well, I guess it could be really easy to let that go to my head all right. I guess it's a good thing I recognize that, if I can remember to keep it in mind.  But... I don't think it'll be a real problem."

He managed to offer the woman a smile.  It was odd, still, for him to find himself comfortable under the close gaze of a full Commander, let alone one who went to great lengths to keep her people happy and comfortable while wringing the best performance out of them. "After all, Ma'am, you would have had to sign off on the paperwork to make it happen and I don't think you would have done it if you weren't at least fairly certain I could hack it.  Hope you won't mind my saying so, but you don't strike me as the sort to take gambles, even carefully calculated ones."

[ LT (JG) Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

Well, one thing to be said for Commander Eastman, she was to the point all right.  But, she did not seem to reproach him his line of thinking; in fact, she went out of her way to explain her decision-making process.  And right then and there, a new frame of thinking started to form itself in the young Lieutenant's mind as he followed her to the table as he'd been beckoned.

Of course, the Academy did teach its graduates to evaluate courses of action based on available resources, the assigned mission, the capabilities of one's subordinates, one's ability to effectively communicate their plan, the legal and ethical considerations at hand, and the risk factors.  And, of course, there was always a need to supervise and redirect as conditions may change, or to ensure the subordinates were doing their jobs as was expected.  That mentality Commander Eastman had just so aptly described as 'fire and forget', Niles realized, had been part of what had led to the troubles in that bloody torpedo bay: he should have stayed right on top of that insubordinate Petty Officer from the very start, and especially after Captain Ellis had backed him, what felt half a lifetime ago.  


"I... I see what you're saying, Ma'am," he replied.  This was going to be a learning experience in its own right, and give him an insight into her mind, something he reckoned he could learn a great deal from, aside from her insistence that any submitted report be absolutely perfect.  "You say you consider the risks and follow up, and that you are risk-adverse?  I would think there is a difference between a gamble, even a calculated one, and a risk.  Gambles by definition are entirely uncertain, and I don't think you don't do anything without feeling a degree of certainty towards the intended end-result.  I'm hoping I am making some sense, Ma'am?"

[ LT (JG) Joshua Niles - First Officer's Office ]

When he was invited to sit, Joshua did just that.  Even though his confidence had grown since he had arrived to this post, he still very much had that somewhat ponderous formality going on.  However, seeing how Commander Eastman leaned back, he instead leaned forward to make himself comfortable, his forearms on the gleaming surface of the table as he listened to what she had to say.  Oh yes, he most definitely had a great deal he could learn from her.  

Oh, of course, she hardly seemed to be the kind of superior that most enterprising young officers would consider a good mentor.  But, he knew better all right.  

"I know you already warned me about... impetuous actions and overstepping my bounds.  I've been trying hard to keep that in mind, but still I wound up going beyond my real authority when the Kurjarians attacked.  I even worked against Lieutenant Aune's own plan for a while and it took me way too long to clue in; and it wasn't the smartest thing to make a move on the Clan Chief, even when I was pretty sure this was as much control on the situation as I could have."  The fact this hadn't come back to haunt him yet had been on his mind all right, but apparently, as it turns out, it wasn't being being held too much against him.  "Ma'am, you went to bat for me, and... you've seen just how surprised I was about it.  I just hope I'll measure up to the rank and that I won't let you down."