"Occam's Razor" (Challenge Fic, Prompt by geekbynight)
Title: "Occam's Razor"
Author: kappamaki33
Rating: PG
Characters: Kendra, Hoshi, Gaeta, Lee
Notes: Based on geekbynight's prompt: "Felix Gaeta and Kendra Shaw, missing Pegasus scene,"There's more than one kind of razor."
Spoilers: Through "Razor"
Disclaimer: I do not own BSG or any of the characters described herein. These works are for fan appreciation and entertainment only, and I do not benefit financially from them.
“That’s enough, Major, Captain.” Commander Adama cut both Shaw and Thrace off in mid-sentence. “Thank you both for your opinions.”
Shaw straightened her back and held her chin up a little higher than was really proper. Thrace threw herself onto the sofa that Commander Adama had added to Cain’s quarters and crossed her arms like a petulant child. The Pegasus XO and CAG had been presenting alternate plans for a small-scale attack on what looked from the recon photos to be a Cylon communications satellite, and their particular style of presentation appeared to be giving the green commanding officer a headache. Shaw and Thrace had been slugging it out for over an hour, Shaw arguing that Thrace’s plan was too bizarre and risky and Thrace jabbing back that not even the Cylons were stupid enough to leave a target vulnerable to her sort of attack.
Shaw knew that, even though she and Thrace were definitely significant contributing factors, they weren’t the only reason Commander Adama was wiping his hand over his face agitatedly. It had been a mistake to make Thrace the Pegasus CAG when everybody knew she and the Commander were close friends, and Thrace was exactly the sort of person who would never learn to separate work from personal life.
However, it was the audience that was clearly putting the most pressure on Commander Adama. Not only were she, Thrace, Hoshi, and Merrian from the Pegasus on hand to give input as needed, but the Admiral had decided to come over for a visit and bring his CAG and tactical officer along with him. Though the elder Adama had said it was “your call, Lee,” and done his best to look unobtrusive by seating himself in a chair in the corner, everyone, including the Commander, knew that the Admiral was there to let it be his son’s call only if he agreed with the result.
Commander Adama sighed. “Lieutenant Gaeta, you’ve been awfully quiet. What do you think?”
Shaw could almost feel Hoshi and Merrian stiffen beside her. It was only natural for the Commander to ask a Galactica officer for his opinion, since they’d served together longer, but Shaw noted it as a strategic mistake she’d mention to the Commander later. Commander Adama was already an outsider on the Pegasus; he didn’t need to widen that gap any further by keeping Galacticans as security blankets when he had perfectly good officers on the Pegasus to consult for advice.
On top of that, Shaw knew Adama would go with Thrace’s plan now. She’d never met a Galactican who didn’t give Thrace far more credit than she deserved.
“Well, sir,” said the slight, dark-haired man as he looked over the Commander’s shoulder, “Captain Thrace’s plan is creative, whereas Major Shaw’s is straightforward. Besides that, I see very little difference in their merit. There’s a principal in science that the simplest explanation that covers all the facts is usually the best. That generally holds true in strategy and war as well: the fewer variables and unknowns added to a plan, the better. So, I would recommend the Major’s plan, sir.”
Commander Adama nodded to himself. He thought for a few moments and then said, “All right. Lieutenant Merrian, run Major Shaw’s plan through a few more computer simulations, just to be on the safe side, but Captain Thrace, you might as well go ahead and brief your pilots on it. That is, if the Admiral doesn’t object-”
The Admiral shook his head, downed the last of his drink, and stood up to leave. He patted his son on the shoulder as he and his retinue left.
“Thank you, everyone. You’re dismissed,” Commander Adama said, rolling up Shaw’s plans.
Thrace stomped off and Merrian headed directly to CIC, but Shaw hung back when she saw Hoshi lingering not too far from the Commander’s quarters.
“That was surprising,” said Shaw.
“Sorry, sir?” said Hoshi, who apparently hadn’t realized Shaw was still there.
“Lieutenant Gaeta, choosing my plan over Thrace’s. And here I thought everyone on Galactica worshipped the ground Thrace walked on.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence as the two watched the Admiral and the other Galacticans disappear at the end of the long corridor.
Shaw finally said, “Gaeta reminded me of how Cain always used to tell us to cut through the crap and the hand-holding, to shave our suggestions down to the point.” She glanced over at Hoshi to see if mentioning Cain would get any kind of reaction out of him, but his face didn’t change. “I think I might recommend to the Commander that we relocate Lieutenant Gaeta to the Pegasus the next time we have a crew transfer. What do you think of that idea, Lieutenant? You’ve worked with him quite a bit, haven’t you? Is he as capable as he seems?”
Still staring down the now-empty corridor and shifting uncomfortably, Hoshi said, “Yes, sir, we have worked together, and I agree that Lieutenant Gaeta is a very competent officer, but…permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Permission granted.”
The Lieutenant looked Shaw in the eye. “What did I do to deserve the punishment of being sent to the Bucket?”
Shaw cocked her head in confusion. “I was suggesting transferring Gaeta here.”
“And who is Commander Adama going to send to take Lieutenant Gaeta’s place on the Galactica, sir? I was on the Hesperides for a year. That makes me the only one here with experience on a ship as old as the Galactica.” Shaw was shocked, not at what Hoshi was saying, but that he was speaking at all; he’d barely said anything more to her than “yes, sir” since Cain died. Shaw hid her surprise under a practiced look of impassivity and let him continue. “You know as well as I do that Galactica was always a dumping ground, and became even more of one after Adama took command.”
“He does seem to have a habit of picking up strays that nobody else would touch, doesn’t he?” Shaw mused, then instantly regretted her word choice. “Picking up strays” sounded far too much like the Scylla. Then again, Shaw admitted to herself, if she avoided saying things that reminded her of the Scylla, she’d be speaking as little as Hoshi had been recently.
“If I’m right and the Bucket lucked out and got one competent officer by chance, then we shouldn’t take him, because we’d be making Pegasus a little more efficient in exchange for making Galactica vastly more dysfunctional. And if I’m wrong and there’s a reason he’s a Galactican, then we’re better off without him.”
Shaw gave Hoshi one of her rare half-smirks. “Too bad. I figured you’d enjoy having a little friend to show off all your shiny toys in CIC to who’d actually appreciate it.”
The old Hoshi would have at least chuckled at that, knowing how few and far between Shaw’s attempts at jokes were, but he barely seemed to notice what she’d said. “Sir, there’s something else…” He grimaced. “I love this ship. And I know that, despite everything, you love it, too. We fit here. The more I talk to Gaeta, the more I think he doesn’t. The difficult thing is, I’m not so sure that’s such a bad trait anymore.”
Shaw nodded. No wonder Hoshi wasn’t talking much anymore, but there wasn’t much she could do about it if that was the reason why. “You’re right. Not everyone’s got what it takes to make it on the Pegasus,” was all she could think of to say.
Author: kappamaki33
Rating: PG
Characters: Kendra, Hoshi, Gaeta, Lee
Notes: Based on geekbynight's prompt: "Felix Gaeta and Kendra Shaw, missing Pegasus scene,"There's more than one kind of razor."
Spoilers: Through "Razor"
Disclaimer: I do not own BSG or any of the characters described herein. These works are for fan appreciation and entertainment only, and I do not benefit financially from them.
“That’s enough, Major, Captain.” Commander Adama cut both Shaw and Thrace off in mid-sentence. “Thank you both for your opinions.”
Shaw straightened her back and held her chin up a little higher than was really proper. Thrace threw herself onto the sofa that Commander Adama had added to Cain’s quarters and crossed her arms like a petulant child. The Pegasus XO and CAG had been presenting alternate plans for a small-scale attack on what looked from the recon photos to be a Cylon communications satellite, and their particular style of presentation appeared to be giving the green commanding officer a headache. Shaw and Thrace had been slugging it out for over an hour, Shaw arguing that Thrace’s plan was too bizarre and risky and Thrace jabbing back that not even the Cylons were stupid enough to leave a target vulnerable to her sort of attack.
Shaw knew that, even though she and Thrace were definitely significant contributing factors, they weren’t the only reason Commander Adama was wiping his hand over his face agitatedly. It had been a mistake to make Thrace the Pegasus CAG when everybody knew she and the Commander were close friends, and Thrace was exactly the sort of person who would never learn to separate work from personal life.
However, it was the audience that was clearly putting the most pressure on Commander Adama. Not only were she, Thrace, Hoshi, and Merrian from the Pegasus on hand to give input as needed, but the Admiral had decided to come over for a visit and bring his CAG and tactical officer along with him. Though the elder Adama had said it was “your call, Lee,” and done his best to look unobtrusive by seating himself in a chair in the corner, everyone, including the Commander, knew that the Admiral was there to let it be his son’s call only if he agreed with the result.
Commander Adama sighed. “Lieutenant Gaeta, you’ve been awfully quiet. What do you think?”
Shaw could almost feel Hoshi and Merrian stiffen beside her. It was only natural for the Commander to ask a Galactica officer for his opinion, since they’d served together longer, but Shaw noted it as a strategic mistake she’d mention to the Commander later. Commander Adama was already an outsider on the Pegasus; he didn’t need to widen that gap any further by keeping Galacticans as security blankets when he had perfectly good officers on the Pegasus to consult for advice.
On top of that, Shaw knew Adama would go with Thrace’s plan now. She’d never met a Galactican who didn’t give Thrace far more credit than she deserved.
“Well, sir,” said the slight, dark-haired man as he looked over the Commander’s shoulder, “Captain Thrace’s plan is creative, whereas Major Shaw’s is straightforward. Besides that, I see very little difference in their merit. There’s a principal in science that the simplest explanation that covers all the facts is usually the best. That generally holds true in strategy and war as well: the fewer variables and unknowns added to a plan, the better. So, I would recommend the Major’s plan, sir.”
Commander Adama nodded to himself. He thought for a few moments and then said, “All right. Lieutenant Merrian, run Major Shaw’s plan through a few more computer simulations, just to be on the safe side, but Captain Thrace, you might as well go ahead and brief your pilots on it. That is, if the Admiral doesn’t object-”
The Admiral shook his head, downed the last of his drink, and stood up to leave. He patted his son on the shoulder as he and his retinue left.
“Thank you, everyone. You’re dismissed,” Commander Adama said, rolling up Shaw’s plans.
Thrace stomped off and Merrian headed directly to CIC, but Shaw hung back when she saw Hoshi lingering not too far from the Commander’s quarters.
“That was surprising,” said Shaw.
“Sorry, sir?” said Hoshi, who apparently hadn’t realized Shaw was still there.
“Lieutenant Gaeta, choosing my plan over Thrace’s. And here I thought everyone on Galactica worshipped the ground Thrace walked on.”
“Yes, sir.”
There was a long, uncomfortable silence as the two watched the Admiral and the other Galacticans disappear at the end of the long corridor.
Shaw finally said, “Gaeta reminded me of how Cain always used to tell us to cut through the crap and the hand-holding, to shave our suggestions down to the point.” She glanced over at Hoshi to see if mentioning Cain would get any kind of reaction out of him, but his face didn’t change. “I think I might recommend to the Commander that we relocate Lieutenant Gaeta to the Pegasus the next time we have a crew transfer. What do you think of that idea, Lieutenant? You’ve worked with him quite a bit, haven’t you? Is he as capable as he seems?”
Still staring down the now-empty corridor and shifting uncomfortably, Hoshi said, “Yes, sir, we have worked together, and I agree that Lieutenant Gaeta is a very competent officer, but…permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Permission granted.”
The Lieutenant looked Shaw in the eye. “What did I do to deserve the punishment of being sent to the Bucket?”
Shaw cocked her head in confusion. “I was suggesting transferring Gaeta here.”
“And who is Commander Adama going to send to take Lieutenant Gaeta’s place on the Galactica, sir? I was on the Hesperides for a year. That makes me the only one here with experience on a ship as old as the Galactica.” Shaw was shocked, not at what Hoshi was saying, but that he was speaking at all; he’d barely said anything more to her than “yes, sir” since Cain died. Shaw hid her surprise under a practiced look of impassivity and let him continue. “You know as well as I do that Galactica was always a dumping ground, and became even more of one after Adama took command.”
“He does seem to have a habit of picking up strays that nobody else would touch, doesn’t he?” Shaw mused, then instantly regretted her word choice. “Picking up strays” sounded far too much like the Scylla. Then again, Shaw admitted to herself, if she avoided saying things that reminded her of the Scylla, she’d be speaking as little as Hoshi had been recently.
“If I’m right and the Bucket lucked out and got one competent officer by chance, then we shouldn’t take him, because we’d be making Pegasus a little more efficient in exchange for making Galactica vastly more dysfunctional. And if I’m wrong and there’s a reason he’s a Galactican, then we’re better off without him.”
Shaw gave Hoshi one of her rare half-smirks. “Too bad. I figured you’d enjoy having a little friend to show off all your shiny toys in CIC to who’d actually appreciate it.”
The old Hoshi would have at least chuckled at that, knowing how few and far between Shaw’s attempts at jokes were, but he barely seemed to notice what she’d said. “Sir, there’s something else…” He grimaced. “I love this ship. And I know that, despite everything, you love it, too. We fit here. The more I talk to Gaeta, the more I think he doesn’t. The difficult thing is, I’m not so sure that’s such a bad trait anymore.”
Shaw nodded. No wonder Hoshi wasn’t talking much anymore, but there wasn’t much she could do about it if that was the reason why. “You’re right. Not everyone’s got what it takes to make it on the Pegasus,” was all she could think of to say.