People Person

The USS Pegasus was a warship through and through.

The Orville was like a child's toy compared to it. The little boat one played in a bathtub years before you set your yacht out onto the lake. The tricycle before the bicycle. The Mk. I hovercar compared to the Mk. V. The…Alara took yet another breath, followed by another sip of water. There were many metaphors and similes running through her mind, most of them unpleasant, most of them involving words like "bat," "hell" and "oh God oh God oh God." So as she sat in the captain's ready room, twiddling her fingers, she thought that Captain Lee Adama wasn't God, but he was a close second. And God, as it turned out, just walked in.

"Captain Adama, I-"

"Sit down Lieutenant."

She did so, and went back to fidgeting. Lee Adama didn't fidget, she told herself. Lee Adama was an ace Viper pilot, who'd become the commanding officer of the Pegasus after the death of Admiral Helena Cain, and the deaths of a couple of far less competent commanding officers. She knew why a Planetary Union captain was here, one far more experienced than Ed Mercer. One commanding a warship in this quadrant. She just didn't know why Captain Adama had to be that person.

"Nervous?"

"Hmm?" She looked up at him. In one hand he was going over a data slate, in the other he was flicking a lighter's cap open and closed, again and again.

"I asked whether you're nervous," Adama said, still not looking at her.

She nodded, then realized that he wouldn't see that. So instead she said "do you smoke?"

The Hell?

She felt like kicking herself as he looked up at her. "Pardon?" he asked.

Oh God kill me now. "I asked…whether you smoke," she said, nodding towards the lighter. "I mean, I know lung cancer's no longer a thing, but this is an all-oxygen environment, so-"

"Actually the environment is a standard mix of nitrogen and oxygen," Adama said. He finally met her eyes for the first time. "And no, I don't smoke. This lighter is a bit of a…souvenir. A lucky charm. My grandfather's actually."

"And how's he?"

"Dead."

"Oh."

She'd be dead too, she told herself. Dead, or given a dishonourable discharge. One or the other.

"Do you know why I'm here?" Adama asked.

She nodded.

"Really?" he asked. "I mean, that Sapphire Star Captain Mercer gave you might have given you the impression that the Admiralty was impressed with your little stunt, but I'd like to remind you that you went to Calivon when you were given explicit orders to leave their sector of space."

"I got the captain back didn't I?"

"You did," said Adama, leaning back in his chair. "Somehow the great and mighty calivon were suckered in by reality TV from five centuries ago, and you got two Union officers back onboard their ship without a shot fired." He turned off the data slate. "Which is why I get to be here in Pegasus in a token effort to deter the calivon from making further inroads into Union territory in case they realize how insipid reality TV is, and you get to carry on on the Orville for however long it takes for the Admiralty to realize that there's far better options than Mercer around."

Alara remained silent, but hopeful…sort of. On one hand, Adama's speech indicated that she wouldn't be seeing the outside of an airlock anytime soon. On the other hand, he was clearly disgruntled. Did he want the Orville? No, probably not – she hadn't been in the Union Fleet long, but she could tell military men from explorers, and Adama was every inch the former. And even she had to admit that a Mercury-class warship like the Pegasus was miles above the likes of the Orville. Maybe he just didn't want to be here. Because given how much data she and Isaac had given the calivons, Alara doubted they'd be looking for much more human entertainment anytime soon.

"So…" She said slowly, a smile starting to form. "Does that mean we're…um…"

"Cool?" Adama asked.

She nodded.

He frowned – "ask me a question like that again and I'll make sure you don't serve on anything larger than a barge."

The smile faded.

"But since you're asked, I'll reaffirm that your career is still intact." Adama went back to his data pad.

"Thank you Sir," Alara said, swallowing. She got to her feet, headed for the door and-

"Sit down."

Did as the captain ordered, taking her seat with as much dignity as possible. Adama looked back up at her.

"Is there…something else?"

"Hmm." He leant back in his chair. "Do you know how I became captain of Pegasus?"

She shook her head.

"It was an ambush. I was the XO for Commander Barry Garner. Heard of him?"

She shook her head again.

"Didn't think so. He was captain for only a few weeks. One of our fighters went missing, and he brought Pegasus into the danger zone without doing proper recon. We emerge from FTL, and we find several krill battleships waiting for us."

She didn't shake her head this time. She just remained silent.

"I was made acting commander while Garner went down to fix the quantum drive. Got us out, but Garner didn't make it." Adama sighed. "Hypoxia. You know what that is Lieutenant?"

She nodded.

"Not a good way to go." He sighed, leaning forward over the desk. "Like I said, I got us out, but a lot of us weren't as lucky."

She nodded again – why was Adama telling her this? She watched as the captain got to his feet and began walking by a rack of various artifacts. Likely taken from Caprica, if she remembered the captain's homeworld correctly.

"Believe it or not, I don't resent Garner," Adama continued. "He was an engineer, not a captain, and he gave his life to save Pegasus." He turned and looked at her. "But command's about people. An engineer works with machines. A commander may captain a machine, because that's what a ship is at the end of the day, but he or she needs people to make the machine work."

"I know."

"Then is that why you ran down to engineering as soon as something went wrong?"

She froze. There was a full report of her command performance that had been delivered to Captain Mercer, but had that same report made its way into Adama's hands as well?

"Yes Lieutenant, I did read your command report."

Evidently it had.

"So I'll say this," Adama said. "You want to command, I'll remind you of something – it's about people. Trusting your gut, and trusting them."

"I know," Alara said. She steadied her gaze. "Doctor Finn told me more or less the same thing."

"Did she now? Well, that's good to hear."

"I guess." She fidgeted. "So why are you telling me this?"

"I'm telling you this because…" Adama leant back in his chair. "I guess I'm telling you this because I'm entertaining the possibility that Captain Mercer does know what he's doing, that you do deserve the Sapphire Star, and that there is a possibility that you could make a good ship captain one day."

Her heart skipped a beat. "You…you mean…"

"I said could," Adama repeated. "And if you do, I want you to remember this little moment. Because the galaxy needs people like Barry Garner in the engine room, and people like Alara Kitan on the bridge."

"I…" She got to her feet. "Thank you Sir."

"Hmm." He went back to the data pad. "You're dismissed Lieutenant."

She ran out the door, ran back in, saluted, then ran back out. Then skipped. Then hopped. Then tripped over a droid on the floor.

But it didn't matter. Right now, she was out amongst the stars.

Right now, she felt that way as well.

A/N

Update (21/10/17): Corrected spelling errors as per feedback.