Sight Unseen
Posted on March 20th, 2021 by Scott Ammora

Starfleet Academy, 6 years ago.

“As a security officer your job isn’t always about brute force. As a security officer your job isn’t always about precision marksmanship. As a security officer, your job is not always keeping enemies at bay. Your job is the integrity of your team, your crew, your ship, or whomever else is under your protection.”

Scott, a first year cadet at Starfleet Academy, materialized on the holodeck training room floor with his team of four classmates. This was their first exercise of this nature. Book work and lectures had been most of the first term. Exams on Federation history and the backdrop of Starfleet and the marines had been commonplace, standard tactical exercises were studied but not participated in, and weapons identification were on holo-projectors. The most tangible thing Scott had come into contact with in his first half-year of training had been PADDs. Oh, so many PADDs.

“Your best weapon isn’t a phaser. Your best defense is not offense. Retreating to fight another day may seem like a logical decision to save lives, it isn’t always the best course of action.”

His palms were sweating. This segment of ‘Tactical Basics’ was talked about at the Academy. It was designed to weed out those not fit for security duty. Scott had always known that going into a job of a physical nature was going to be difficult, his frame and stature wasn’t built for the work per se, but he always felt he was smart enough to blend brain and brawn. He was still nervous as hell.

“Your best tool, always at your disposal, is your sight. Your best resource is your memory. When the two are combined there is cohesion. As you move through the Academy courses that lay ahead you’ll start to understand that your surroundings and tactical information you’ll absorb can only be applied if you preface every situation with your sight and your memory.”

Standing next to him, fellow cadet Mark Ellingson scoffed. “I think that Captain Asper gets off on sounding as much like a public service announcement as possible.”

“Shut up, Mark,” Pasha Pruitt said through gritted teeth as she stood at rigid attention.

Scott ignored them both. The overhead announcement was meant for them to listen to. As much as the diatribe was based on the idea of sight and memory, Scott knew that listening was going to be the next lesson. He’d read ahead. He worried if taste was going to factor in at any point, although there was none of that to be found in the syllabus.

“In this exercise, you and your team will recreate the environment that you will see for a brief moment. 30-seconds, to be exact. In that time you will need to work together to rebuild the scenario as we present it to you. The more details you get correct, the better the grade. Details, people, details. You will have the next two minutes to discuss process. Your time starts… now.”

They all broke their attention stance at the same time and they huddled together.

“Scott, you take surroundings – ”

“Valin, watch environmental factors – ”

“Pasha, immediate surroundings – ”

“Mark, the sky and the ground – ”

The cacophonous nature of them all talking at once was met with a sudden silence as they all looked at each other. In that moment there was an unsaid terror that flashed upon all their faces; well, with the exception of Valin, the Vulcan, who stood as stoically as he ever did. They were all trying to lead. Valin was the first to speak through the din. “Perhaps I can take point on this?”

Mark laughed, “Why you?”

“It’s the most logical choice given my experience and training on Vulcan, and is supported by your obvious… youth.”

Another laugh, this time a snort was slightly included, “For being so poised and proper, you’re a passive aggressive son of a bitch, you know that?”

“Guys!” Pasha snapped her fingers, drawing their attention back to the center. “We don’t know what we’re getting into. Maybe we just all take in everything and do our best after?”

Scott shook his head, “In that case, let’s hope we’re on a deserted island with one palm tree and water as far as the eye can see. Somehow I doubt that’s not what the Captain has on his docket for us.”

Pasha’s head whipped to the right, her eyes narrowing at Scott, “You want to join Valin in the passive aggressive club? Or perhaps you and Ellingson can just continuing being pricks. I prefer to pass this course.”

“Trust me when I say I know what I’m doing,” Mark stated abruptly, putting his hands on his knees and putting his head down. “I’m the fourth Ellingson to go through this training. I’ve heard my brothers talk about this very exercise. Four things: landscape, supplies, people, and other life. There’s a reason there’s four of us. Pasha, take supplies. Valin, other life that is non-human. That’s awkward-looking plants, animal life, everything not us. Scott, you’re on landscapes. I’ll take people.”

“Time.”

The four of them bolted back to attention in the standard diamond formation that a security detail would take. Pasha shifted slightly to her right to even the eastern point as gracefully as she could. Scott knew that she was internally chiding herself for missing her mark, but it didn’t show on her face.

“Cadets ready?”

“Yes, sir.” They announced in unison.

The holodeck morphed. It was a meadow, open and robust with greenery. A group of what could only be called refugees were huddled a bit to the team’s right, a couple of supply boxes behind them, and the entire area circled and enclosed by various environmental obstacles. All four cadet’s eyes started darting about, taking in their respective responsibilities based Ellingson’s direction. Why his direction, however, was lost on Scott. Who died and made him leader?

Scott looked north and started a clockwise surveillance of the landscape. Trees, mountains in the distance, what looked like a bog of some kind to the south, and a craggy monolith to the west. He committed it all to memory.

And then it was done. The environment shimmered away. The four let out a collective breath; they all had been holding it. Except for Valin, who hadn’t done much by way of physical movement other than his head looking up and down. He had stayed at attention the entire time. There were times where Scott envied Vulcans in their ability to curb anxiety and panic… this had been one of them.

Captain Joshua Asper, renowned for his security work on the USS Banshee, appeared in front of them on the holodeck floor. He was tapping a PADD – obviously making copious amounts of notes – and showing little to no indication on how he thought this team’s progress was going. He walked towards the group. “Observations complete.”

“Sir, we divided…”

Asper held up a hand, “Ellingson, I know what you did. I was listening. I’ll bring you in one at a time. You’re dismissed to wait in the hall. Pruitt, Valin, please join him.” Gesturing to the archway to guide them, Asper then returned to tapping away on his PADD. “Ammora, remain.”

Scott’s breath caught in his throat. One-on-one conversation with a commanding officer, a teacher, someone of high regard like Captain Asper wasn’t on Scott’s to-do list. It wasn’t what he was expecting anyway. He remained at attention and set his feet. He knew he could do this. He was sharp, astute, and knew his part of the exercise that he would comment on would be a benefit to his team. ‘B’-level, he thought. God, he hoped at least a ‘C’.

Once the others had left the room and the archway disappeared, Asper put the PADD behind his back, looking Scott up and down. “Cadet, recreate what you saw.”

He launched in with detail. “To the north, sir, heavily wooded forest. Timberline at 200 meters, maybe 250. Thick overgrowth with trees of a standard trunk size. Most half a meter in diameter. To the east it thins, same distance. Rocky outcroppings to the south, uh, west. Standard granite by the looks. A swamp of some kind to the south, water-heavy landscape. Probably impassable.”

“Good. And?”

“Standard foliage in the meadow, non-threatening plant life. Soil moist, showing moisture-rich nutrients.” And that’s what he’d taken down in his mental cache in the 30 seconds he had been allotted. “And, uh, blue skies with scattered assorted clouds. Might rain later. A slight breeze from the west. Temperature the same as a warm day in San Francisco… sir.”

Asper nodded, tapping away on his device. “Go on.”

“Sir?”

“Go on. What else?”

Scott blinked. What did he mean, ‘go on’? Scott fumbled over his words, unsure of how to answer the request. “I was observing landscape factors and the environment in general, sir.”

“Good for you, Cadet, what else?”

Now he was uncomfortable. Scott hadn’t been paying attention to anything ‘else’. He worked with his team, did his part, and was done with it. There were no more details to share, no more observations to give, and no more input that he felt he could give with any accuracy. Scott opened his mouth once, closed it again, shook his head, opened his mouth again, and then looked down in defeat. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Asper holstered the PADD under his shoulder, folding his arms across his chest. Much like Scott had done, he lowered his head, thinking. In the moment that followed, Scott couldn’t tell if it was disappointment his professor was feeling or something else. “Okay. Ready for this lesson? One I’m sure I’m going to give all your teammates as well.”

Scott nodded, resolute at attention, “Yes, Captain.”

“You’re in this situation and all of a sudden disruptor fire rains down on you. Where is it coming from?”

“The boulder outcropping to the west, most likely.”

“Good. And Pruitt, Valin, and Ellingson take three headshots right off the bat. They’re down, dead. All that is left is you. Assuming you get out alive, how do you file a report if all you have to offer is how green the trees are and how sweet the scent on the wind is?” Asper’s gaze was laser-focused. There was no give, there was no contrition; there was only inquiry.

Sucker punch. Scott flinched. And he still had no words.

Asper began an ominous circle around Scott, his arms still tight to his body. “The purpose of this exercise is about observation. And, for as much as Mr. Ellingson thinks he knows, he’s still not right. There are numerous elements one must account for when in any given situation as a security officer. And team dynamics are essential to operating to the best of our abilities. However, and it’s a strong however Cadet, we always must be aware one will not always have a unit at the end of the day. You could come back from any mission alone. So, give it your best shot. Give me the details.”

Closing his eyes, Scott attempted to recall everything from the short 30-second window. The landscape was easy, that was his focus, and he had gotten good marks for his recollection. But, what else? “Three supply containers, behind us to the right. Different sizes.”

“Contents?”

“Unknown. Four, no five, people ahead of us to the right.”

“Men? Women? Children?”

Scott clamped his eyes shut even harder, tilting his head down to the left as if it would give his mind more clarity. “Three adults, one man and two women. Two children. No, three children. Six total.”

“What was their mental state?”

“Are you kidding?!” Scott exclaimed, surprised by the question and equally so about his outburst.

“Focus.”

Deep breath.

“Scared, confused… disheveled.”

Keeping his eyes closed he continued in his mind’s eye to recreate what he had experienced. He heard the beeping of the PADD as Asper no doubt was logging negative comments about his inability to recall minute details that he didn’t know he was supposed to recant. Scott’s breathing mellowed as things took shape in his memory. Whether or not they were factual and had actually existed was anyone’s guess, but he was trying.

Asper continued, “Tell me about your team. How were they?”

“Argumentative.” Scott smirked..

“Physically. Each one of you were given an adjustment to their physical parameters. Wounds, a change of species, et cetera. What were they?”

What the hell? “Unknown.”

“Three of you were equipped with phasers, who had them?”

Damn it. “Unknown.”

“One of you took on a different role when the simulation started. One of you was medical. Who was it?”

“Unknown, sir.”

“Your reports are going to be horribly insufficient, Cadet, if every field just says ‘unknown’. Let me make this very clear to you as you move through my course and every other course here: what you see saves lives. What you see is fact. What you see, by far, is the best piece of data you can put in a report, give a commanding officer, or have for yourself to soothe a trouble soul.” Asper had made two or three laps around his student at this point. “We each get two eyes, Cadet, and we have to use them. And you can’t rely on others to have the same perspective. They may not be there when all is said and done. Dismissed.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Cadet… you saw a lot. Remember to try and see everything, as difficult as that sounds.”

Scott moved swiftly to the arch as it appeared, leaving his instructor behind. As the hallway opened up before him he saw his classmates. Valin, Vulcan as ever, stood with his hands clasped behind his back. He nodded at Scott. Pasha looked at him with a concerned grimace, but didn’t say anything. Mark Ellingson had been crouched on the floor in a seated position, his back to the bulkhead. As the sound of the doors echoed, he stood up. “How’d it go?”

“Your brothers can suck it, Mark. You’re all about to get your asses handed to you.” Scott stated matter-of-factly, not breaking his stride. “Good luck.” It hadn’t been his finest hour, but he knew that the lesson had been learned. From then on Scott would pay attention to his surroundings at all times. His eyes would move from person to person, rock to tree, sky to sea, and everywhere when he was on duty. After all, the devil was in the detail.