Only those who knew them saw the quick exchange of looks among the bridge crew and saw the smallest of smiles as the Captain and Officer Ganner left the bridge. The Captain, their Captain, was slowly coming out of the stupor of his pain.
In the briefing room Kirk just looked at Ganner for a moment, "You have the makings for a great officer, perhaps, in time, a First Officer or maybe even a Captain but you have a lot to learn before that happens or you assume to have that potential and the qualities needed for those positions."
"I am aware of that, Sir. I have watched and studied Mister Spock and aspire to be as proficient and effective as him."
Despite himself Kirk smiled and shook his head, "Do not waste your time attempting the impossible, Officer Ganner."
"I am aware that being a Vulcan and who he was gave him two advantages, Sir, but I feel I will prove my worth and abilities to achieve my goals. I am also aware of how suddenly after the death of your first First Officer he was given the position."
"Two advantages?" suddenly Kirk was looking at the man, not liking his tone nor how he seemed to have an overly inflated ego.
"It is known that he was the first Vulcan into Starfleet Academy and that that was because of family connections and the Federation wanting to be on the good side of Vulcan. And then there is him being a Vulcan. I mean with him clearly not having any feelings or desire to seek promotion meant he knew he could concentrate on something without distraction and with his type not caring about us mere Humans he could see things without taking into account the complexity of Human emotions and ways. It would be much easier for you to have a Human as First Officer on the ship as a Human could relate to his fellow officers better and be respected by them better. I can only imagine what a monumental readjustment it must have been for you and the crew when he so quickly became the First Officer, especially how it was within a very few days of the death of Mitchell. For the good of the crew you should have a Human as your next First and you should have one as soon as possible."
Kirk took a deep breath, told himself that this was not the time nor the place to say what he wanted to say, nor to do what every fiber in his body was screaming at him to do. He had read the man's file and this was a clear indication of how serious he was about advancement, how he saw an opportunity, an opportunity that he could back with sound reasoning. Slowly Kirk exhaled as he looked directly at Ganner, "Officer Ganner, with regard to your obvious fixation of the roles of a First Officer. I do agree I do need one but I need one who knows this ship and this crew. We will talk more about this later. Right now my priority is dealing with the evacuees as I have total faithand trust in my bridge crew to take care of the ship. You will return to the bridge but you are to only observe and remain silent. You will make no comments nor will you touch anything. Is that fully understood?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. Just remember that Mister Checkov is in charge of security on the bridge and has my authority to remove you if he deems it necessary or if Mister Sulu so orders. Oh," Kirk looked levelly at the young man, "I would also advise you to keep your interest in the position as a First Officer to yourself. You might have noticed that the bridge crew are still coming to terms with the loss."
"Understood, Sir."
As Kirk walked to where the evacuees were he momentarily wondered about Ganner. The man seemed to possess the drive and determination to get ahead but he clearly had a problem with non-Humans. It would have been difficult for anybody who was not familiar with Vulcans to understand Spock, it had taken him long enough to get through that shielding the Vulcan put up to protect himself from the emotions of others. And Kirk had to admit that most of the crew had worked with him and were used to his ways. There might possibly have been some who found it a bit difficult to working with Spock as both First Officer and Science Officer but only because of his exacting standards and expectations. None had been so openly hostile about it as Ganner had been. Clearly Officer Ganner had not been on a starship before or was too self-engaged to realize that Vulcans were not the only non-Humans he would have to deal with if he wanted to stay on a starship.
It was also clear that that Ganner had to drastically improve on his relationship with the entire crew and realize that each one of the four hundred and twenty-seven crew aboard the ship were a crew. They were a very cohesive and caring group of professionals. Ganner seemed to have a problem about and individual's rank meaning more than it did. The young man still had a lot of very rough edges.
I can only imagine what a monumental readjustment it must have been for you and the crew when he became the First Officer, especially how it was within days of the death of Mitchell." In the reports of Gary's death no mention was made as to the changes his friend had undergone nor the fact that he that been the one who had killed him. Spock had not sought promotion to First Officer as well as Science Officer. At that time Spock had clearly known that the ship needed an officer to act as a First Officer and immediately took up the role as the Vulcan clearly had seen that he, the Captain, was in no real fit state of mind to command for those first few days as he accepted what had taken place, what he had done.
Kirk smiled as he remembered how Spock had looked at him with that raised eyebrow when he had asked him if he wanted to be First Officer, "Sir, I am best suited, by nature and training, to be a Science Officer. I have only been assisting by performing the duties of a First Officer to ensure the smooth running of the ship while you recovered for your physical and psychological injuries." It had taken a considerable amount of the Kirk charm and the help of a few other senior crew members to get the stubborn Vulcan to see he was best for both positions.
Calmly he quelled the annoyance that Ganner's comments had stirred up in him. He could not wait to get the obvious bigot off the ship. Oddly he knew without referring to anything that he had to have that man on the ship for another three months and two weeks standard time.
The evacuees had all been thankful for their help and only a few wanted to watch the death throes of their former home. Many had shaken his hand and thanked him. So many had commented how his First Officer had allayed their fear with his calmness and reassurance that an orderly exit would see them all safely on the Enterprise. Most said it had been simply the calm assurance that they said seemed to radiate from the Vulcan that calmed their fears. He had nodded and told him that his First Officer had that effect on most people in most situations. Oddly, when he thought about it, he could feel that calming influence there, around him, cocooning him.
One woman, a child held at her hip, walked up to him, "Captain Kirk, if I might I would like to thank your Officer Dint for bringing my twins aboard. My husband was on the second to last transport wanting to help get the last of the equipment up so Officer Dint took the twins while I held this one on the third transport to the ship."
"Are, are you sure it was Officer Dint?" A faint red alert went off in Kirk's mind as he had been told that Officer Dint was the officer trapped.
"Yes, yes it was Officer Dint. That other officer, the one helping coordinate the transport, an Officer Ganner I think his name is, had Officer Dint help us. For some time I had had a struggle with three of them and he had seen me but it was not till he had looked for some time at your First Officer that he had Officer Dint help me. I had not expected it as your First Officer had not been looking at us."
Another factor Kirk knew he would have to work on with Ganner. In all the confusion that was going on he was correct in helping the woman with her children but to get the names of fellow crewmen mixed was a grave error. Also there had been no need to have looked at Spock if he had been assigned to help the evacuees be transported. Kirk knew he would have to now find out who the other officer was if it had not been Dint with them. Kirk knew he should be furious and to a degree he was. A part of him realized that this was possibly the first time Ganner had been thrown into such a dire situation where so much had to be done in a short period of time and with confused and upset people and he was feelong totally out of his depth but with his record he should have been able to deal with being on the planet better. Should have been not that he would be. Something was now started not to feel right. He shook his head as he remembered how he had scoffed at McCoy's feeling about the man. Maybe there was something but what? Or maybe the whole reality was impacting more on him than he wanted to admit and he was unrealistically doubting Ganner's personality and abilities.
Again back in his quarters Kirk sat and looked at the reports. The reports showed that Dint had, in fact, assisted with transporting two children to the Enterprise and then assisted with the allocation of accommodation for evacuees after they had been medically assessed and statements taken. He skimmed over some of the statements and noted how many stated Spock had been instrumental in the smooth processing of the evacuees, how his quiet presence had been reassuring. Most unsettling had been all the accounts of the coldness and indifference of Officer Ganner in dealing with the evacuees.
There had also been twenty-seven accounts of Officer Walker rescuing the evacuee despite putting his own life at risk. Accounts on how he had made them all feel certain that he would get them to safety, how he had been able to even calm the fears of a very pregnant woman and some very frightened children. Kirk smiled as he remembered a conversation only twenty-five days ago with Spock in Sickbay after Walker had saved him when there had been a major problem with the turbolift, "Jim, his methods and reasons were rather unique and defy all rational reasoning and logic but they did work as he was so certain they would. I find that I was in error of an earlier comment made on his record. I will correct it."