Mission 3, Day 2

[Amanda Rose]

This is where the second day of mission 3 should have posts placed.

[Amanda Rose]

It had been a morning. Full of more PADDs strewn across her desk and floor than any person should ever have to see in one lifetime. At least she had been recycling them once she was done. Reports. Repairing. She had had to have more than one talk with more than one person to verify the results of the scans.

At least she had managed to set up a viable system for the data management, a substructure for the next Assistant Engineering Chief, and cleared off her desk. She had even asked everyone to begin filing their own reports and logging them. Progress to some extent. And after a very full morning, she had managed to lean back in her chair, for however long it would be hers, and take a rejuvenating sip of coffee, sighing a little as she exhaled, almost tempted to put her feet up on the desk.

Nav had been noticeably absent much of the previous day. Cindy could imagine that was because Nav had expected that she would be “court martialed.” But, for whatever reason, despite the fact that the Ticker Tape was buzzing with news about Whitney leaving and an opening for a Chief Engineer, Nav was silent.

Sure, there were many rumors that the new Chief Engineer had to meet certain special qualifications, hinting that the qualifications involved being a personal service assistant to the Captain, but Cindy ignored them all. She was starting to become genuinely concerned about Nav and the fact that she was apparently hiding out.

Cindy reasoned that the only place that Nav would feel herself would be in Engineering. She looked in the office of the Assistant Chief Engineer and saw Nav in a rare, what appeared to be a relaxing state. She sat across Nav without any formality and asked, “Planning on going somewhere? It is true that I was coming to tell you to clean out your office but I did not think that you would be beating me to the punch.”

There was concern in Cindy’s eyes and voice. At the same time, there was enough command in her tone that Cindy made it clear that Nav was anything but free to leave.

Nav coloured at the suddenness of the sound and opened her eyes in some surprise. “Oh, Captain Cindy, I’m so sorry, ma’am. I didn’t hear you come in.” She immediately straightened and then stood, clearing her throat to cover her embarrassment and felt a tightness in her chest. Was this it? Could it be…?

Whitney was leaving… that already put a knot in her stomach. If they could get rid of her boss, whatever might they do to her? With her? About her? She turned her focus outward.

“Planning to go, isn’t quite the way I’d put it, but it’s always better to be prepared, isn’t it?” She kept a smile firmly on her face, mostly to stop the focus on her eyes that were shadowed, and the tremble that was building in her voice. She held her breath, trying to stem the tears that threatened to well up, and swallowed, hoping to avoid further embarrassment. “I’m ready, Ma’am,” she said with formality and, stepping out from behind her desk, she straightened to attention and waited for the axe to fall.

Cindy nodded and rose. “Very well,” she told Nav solemnly. Cindy unfolded her hand and handed a rank band to Nav that would promote her to Lieutenant. “You will need this before you go.”

Nav looked down at her feet, partially worried, but more and more resolved as the time ticked by. There wasn’t Security here, but it wasn’t like she wouldn’t cooperate. After all there was no fight left in her for this. And besides, the Captain wasn’t really all about form… or formality.

But what she was saying clashed with what Nav was expecting. “What?” she asked, her eyes moving upward to her face and then back down to the Captain’s hand.

A smile started to creep into Cindy’s facial expressions and voice and only got more bright as she spoke. “Do you need help moving into your new office? Perhaps the Chief Engineer needs some time to decorate her office? Some Indian flairs, perhaps?”

“What?” Nav repeated, a wave of emotion overcoming her as she sat heavily and suddenly, blinking rapidly as the tears fell. “I… promoted?” Her throat closed up, and she felt a weight lift from her shoulders in one moment and then descend once more in the next. “Chief… me?” Her hands went up to her face, too much emotion held back for so long as it released in a wave.

She wanted to ask how… what had happened… but she couldn’t lift her head up, couldn’t look at the Captain or her bars, or anything else. It had been too much already, and she needed to collect herself before she could speak with some semblance of coherence, because right now it would have come out in a babbling cry-speak of Mary Tyler-Moore…

Cindy impulsively pulled Nav into a hug. “Yes, you. Can’t think of anyone better and as long as you don’t let Williams bully you into making Legacy into a tank, I have full faith in you.”

Nav was a bit overwhelmed, which might have been an understatement. But she managed to find her voice enough to say, “He and I already went over the necessary adjustments to the ship to meet his criteria, which is within Starfleet standard protocol, Cap… Cindy…” She sounded a bit muffled, but still coherent.

After a few moments, Cindy pulled herself back. “Well, enough of that. After all, you have an office to set up and a department to rearrange, schedules to set, and inspections to do. Right? You wouldn’t have it any other way, I know.”

Nav stole a glance and wiped away the wetness on her face. There was indeed a lot to do. “I’ve already started… for the next Chief.” Which was her. She blushed. She… she was Chief of Engineering…. on her first assignment.

Cindy’s contagious grin spread across her face. “Besides, we have a new mission and it is back to exploration for us! I can hardly wait! Who knows what we will find?! We have to be ready for everything, Nav. How long do you think it will take us to get us up to your standards?”

Clearing her throat, Nav nodded. “A new mission with more exploration. That’s what makes this so exciting!” Sitting back down for a moment, she brought up the specs of Frankie, and touched her palm to the desk. “We’ll always be working to make Frankie better, Ca… Cindy, but to get him up to our standards… should be no more than a few weeks. Specs for the tacticals is easily done, even with him overseeing everything. And I’ve got a few ideas on how to… Huanni-proof the mess hall. And make things run a little smoother…”

She was taken with a sudden realisation. Frankie was her ship… her responsibility. And she wanted to make this department the best that it could be, as well, as Frankie being the best that he could be. One step at a time. And not all at once. She hoped that people would come to respect her… but she wasn’t quite sure. There had to be some way of overcoming such hurdles that Lieutenant Whitney had put into place.

“I…” Nav stopped and looked up at the Captain. “Thank you,” she said softly. “What… what happened to the Lieutenant?”

“Whitney?” asked Cindy curiously, her normally characteristic smile departing from her face as she remembered her argument with Williams. Could it even be classified as an argument? He stormed out on her after disagreeing with her. She wondered why she continued to allow him to do that. She was the Captain, after all! Not him! But somehow, he managed to get under her skin and at some level, she felt like a failure both to Whitney and Phil and Williams.

Her voice had a tinge of regret and sadness it in as she continued her answer. “It seems that Lieutenant Whitney has been experiencing some psychological traumas associated with Vivyra’s appearance. So, he is undergoing testing and if found that he is capable of working, will be placed back into service somewhere in Starfleet.”

Nav’s face changed only slightly as she murmured, “It was happening long before the female Orion came aboard…”

Cindy tried to shake the haunting sensation in her mind and stomach. She tossed her long, blonde hair, as if she were physically tossing aside all of the negative emotions and put on a bright smile. “Of course, not that any of that unpleasantness matters now, right?”

Nav smiled, but not fully; a reticent sort of smile not associated with the usually enthusiastic and upbeat, newly minted Lieutenant. “Captain,” she began, looking directly into her eyes, “If it were not for you and your belief in me, I am quite certain that it would have been me instead of the Chief who was leaving The Legacy.”

Cindy shook her head, her voice somewhat somber. “You can thank Phil and Williams. They did all of the hard work in discovering the truth. I merely did not believe what Whitney had to say and made sure that he would never set foot on Legacy again.”

Nav blinked in some surprise. “The Commander and the Lieutenant?” Hard work. Truth… what had the man said? What had actually transpired? She may never truly know. But Whitney, at least, wasn’t coming back… but that didn’t mean there hadn’t been some stalwart supporters amongst the Engineering staff. Certainly the amount of bad mouthing he had done against her while she was here would have some fairly unfortunate circumstances. She hoped to change their minds, but this was one huge incline she would have to scale to not only overcome their perceptions but also gain their trust.

“I’ll be sure to do just that,” she said, smiling, finally grasping the stripes. “I can’t thank them enough, but I’m sure if we keep the Legacy in tip top, battle ready, exploration ready, form, it could be a start.”

Cindy returned the smile, feeling genuinely happy and relieved. Nav was not looking for “justice” as Williams suggested. She, like Cindy, just wanted the truth and did not want Whitney returning to the ship. “You don’t have a lot of time. We will be leaving soon. So, get to it. Just make sure that you schedule some personal time for yourself. I am going to want to have some dinners with you and perhaps you can get some with Luke. He seems to be rather keen on you.”

Personal time… was necessary for people who had family. Nav no longer had any. There really wasn’t anyone she had planet-side to spend any time with, and no one really to share the news with… “I’m good, Captain,” Nav replied. “Nothing left behind, so nothing needs to be taken care of. And I’m sure my schedule will be fine, thank you.”

She blushed only slightly when Cindy mentioned Luke and smoothed right by it easily. “Dinners will be lovely; I’d appreciate the time. And of course, if there’s time enough to share dinners with other members of the crew…” She left the rest unsaid. He hadn’t seemed keen on her until the Captain… well… perhaps it was just circumstance that had brought them together.

She didn’t linger on it, and instead stood. “I suppose I should get moving.”

Anything to get some space to process this next step in her career. There could be so many obstacles… she saw them rising ahead of her like mountains. “Thank you again… I really do hope I justify your faith in me.”

Cindy suppressed a smile and giggle when Nav started to blush over the name Luke. Ah, so, she finally has a crush on him. Good! She needs to get out and Luke now will stay focused on his job and not looking at me like a puppy waiting for his owner to give him a treat.

“You have only impressed me, Nav. That’s why you are where you are. Keep up the good work. I’ll be seeing you at the next briefing.” With that, Cindy turned on her heels and got in the turbolift, feeling that she had a successful day and it was just morning.

[lucasausems]

[Amanda Rose]

[Amanda Rose]

[Amanda Rose]

[Amanda Rose]

Cindy had calmed after her chai tea and discussion with Phil. In fact, her eyes had lightened considerably. However, with every step she took, she had to remind herself that Williams had started her problems and her eyes darkened. Remember, Cindy. He has undermined your authority. He needs to redeem himself. He needs to find out who is leaking information to the public.

Her eyes darkened as she remembered the betrayal. Firm and powerful. You are the alpha, Cindy. Time to teach your dog to heel.

Finding Williams took little time. She stared him down with greenish-brown eyes and sharply stated, “Williams, you’re with me.”

TK met the Captain’s stare with a cold, detached expression. He didn’t speak, but he did acquiesce to her command.

Cindy led the Lieutenant to a meeting room, allowed Williams to enter and watched as the door closed behind them both. She waited for Williams to decide whether he was going to sit or stand. She knew his decision could determine the tone of the conversation.

TK didn't even look at the chairs. He stood there silently, eyes locked on the Captain. He knew what this was about, but if she wanted to chew him out she'd have to be the one to engage.

A Mexican standoff, then? Cindy decided to allow some uncharacteristic wrath come out of her. Her eyes blazed with fire as they turned darker. “Sit your ass down, Williams.” Before he had a chance to comply and not caring whether he did or not, she continued her short tirade. “Who the hell do you think you are? I don’t give two shits about whomever you think you are but your sending that report to Wheeler was completely inappropriate. I should bust your ass down to cadet and have you drilled out of the service for such insubordination. The problem is, I don’t think you give a shit.”

Her eyes never lost focus with his and tried to bore a phaser sized hole through his temple as she seethed, waiting for a response.

TK sat. If he was bothered by Cindy’s tone it didn’t show.

“And there you’d be wrong Captain.” TK responded, “This’d be a hell of a lot easier if I didn’t give a shit. I’d keep my mouth shut and I wouldn’t find myself in these situations. Changing my rank isn’t going to change me, and if the Brass was willing to kick me out they’d have done so already. And, most importantly, fuck Admiral Wheeler. I didn’t send HIM anything.”

“You sent some report to some admiral or another. It got to him and that’s one thing we can agree on. He’s an ass. A politicking, good ol’ boy’s ass who has a thing for mine and the Commander’s.”

She paced from the table to the door and back again. “I’ll stand corrected. You give a shit. However, you think you’re better and smarter than everyone. I don’t need to tell you how many times you have been tossed off ships or how many times you have been written up. But here’s the skinny: I’m the Captain, not you. I make the decisions, not you. If you can’t handle that, get your ass off my ship and clean the mess halls on some other ship for all I care. This is a last stop for you and I think we both know it.”

An audible, angry sigh escaped her mouth, but it seemed to calm her. “I didn’t even have to tell you what I was doing with Whitney. You understand that, right?”

TK was shaking his head.

“You make a lot of assumptions Captain.” He said, “I don’t think I’m smarter or better than a great many people; you among them. And, yes, I know you didn’t have to tell me about Whitney. You could have kept silent and we all would have went about our business as normally as this ship gets. Which begs the question of why you did it knowing full well I’d be pissed off? I did what I did because Whitney is a criminal, and it’s my job to see him dealt with. And don’t try to feed me that nonsense about alien pheromones. That may have caused the incident in Engineering, but that’s not what made him tamper with security footage, and we both know it. You found a nice convenient excuse not to make the hard decision. I won’t speculate as to why; I’m not a psychologist, but you’re a starship Captain; you don’t get to be everyone’s best friend.”

“I told you about Whitney because I felt it was important that you know. I did not want you to find out through secondhand channels. You deserved to know since it was your investigation. I wanted to avoid something like what you did, though I never dreamed that you would try and undermine my authority in such a way. The universe isn’t black and white.” Her eyes lightened slightly.

“We both know that Whitney did what he did because he is jealous. He had the experience but not the creativity of Nav. That’s how he came to be the Chief Engineer. Nav is superior. I forced them together, hoping that they would build on each other’s strengths. Instead, he was jealous and tried to sabotage her. I was not going to ruin his career over my misjudgment. Furthermore, I believe everyone’s entitled to a second chance. Nobody was hurt out of this, except me. And, maybe he is psychologically unstable. After all, would someone who was stable do what he did to Nav?” She shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m not asking you or anyone else here to be my best friend. I know that you think I’m unprofessional and perhaps flippant. You need to understand that’s far from true. Sure, I am slightly unconventional but I do know what I am doing. I did not get here by being friendly with people, or as some people I know, sleeping my way to the top. I got here by my knowledge, creativity and hard work. You’re going to have to find a way to deal with it and me because if it comes down to another dispute between us, I guarantee that you’ll lose.”

“You’ve got to be joking.” For a moment TK didn’t know how to react, “You gave Whitney a pass because you blame yourself for his actions?”

He didn’t even register the rest of her words, because he couldn’t get past the ridiculousness of that one concept.

“That’s is…” he fumbled with his words, “Every single person I have ever met would tell you how straight-up wrong that is.”

“You didn’t listen. I believe he deserved a second chance. Did I feel some guilt? Sure. But he is responsible for his actions and he may have a psychological problem. If he can be fixed, he can still be an asset to Starfleet, though with a blot like this, I do not see how he will ever be a Chief Engineer again and that should be sufficient.”

“No. My investigation alone was enough to warrant a Court Martial, even without the supporting evidence the others brought into it. A Court Martial would have decided whether Whitney had a mitigating psychological factor. That’s what it’s there for. He would have gotten his second chance if the JAG felt he was legally entitled to it. Instead you just brushed the whole thing away.”

“A court martial would have ruined any opportunity he had, Williams, and you know it. Even if they found a mitigating psychological factor, he would have that court martial there and he would have no chance. He was jealous and foolish. It will all come out when he takes his psychological fitness. There’s not brushing away.”

She sighed. “Look, you don’t have to agree with me but you will not go behind my back like this again. If you can’t promise me that, then transfer. Though, God knows who would have you…. You’ve been thrown off enough ships…. I’d rather you here, though. Because despite you being personally irritating, you know your shit and I can’t find anyone else to keep up with me on this ship in squash. Add to that, I have another concern that I think you would be best suited to looking into.”

TK wasn’t about to promise anything of the sort. It was a moot point anyway; he knew any request for a transfer by him or the Captain would be vetoed by the Admiralty. They wanted him here and weren’t about to let him off any time soon. Still, Cindy had managed to pique his interest.

“What concern?” He asked.

She moved over to a console and tapped a button. “This. Did you see this?” On the screen flashed the public leak with information on Williams story. “I’m quite sure you did not do this, nor intended to get out in the public. As much as I dislike Norquay, I don’t think she did it either. So, how did this get out and why? Someone wants me and/or this ship to fail in its mission.”

TK’s eyes narrowed as he read the article. He hadn’t seen this yet. Aside from the gross misinterpretations and shoddy journalism the was an undertone of pure contempt.

“I’m not convinced this was aimed at you, or the Legacy specifically.” He postulated. The last line of text pulled at him. “Whoever did this could be looking to take down Starfleet in its entirety, or at least put it in a situation precarious enough to further some other goal. Make us vulnerable to something, political or military.”

Cindy could almost see connections being made inside TK’s brain as he ran through a preliminary list of suspects. Who had the access, the motivation, the means, who would gain and how…. There wasn’t enough information.

“How long till we leave orbit?” He asked.

“Twenty four hours,” she answered simply.

That wasn’t a lot of time. TK rushed from the room, calling back;

“Don’t leave without me!”

[Cmdr Phil]

Phil wasn't surprised to find Astrogation quiet, in fact he'd rather hoped it would be. They were in the early stages of prepping to leave and most people were still making the most of the opportunity to spend time with friends or relatives, whether in person or remotely, before they got underway.

Exploration. Deep space. It had been a while. Until Cindy had said it, he hadn't realised how much he had missed it while he'd been benched.

He called up some of the reference pictures, projecting them on to the largest screen. If he stood right up close, the curvature was almost enough for his peripheral vision to lose the rest of the wall, like he was right there in it.

He took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly.


tag - anyone who wants to interrupt his moment of zen If I don't reply promptly, come and poke me via a message.

[Iar Edra]

[Cmdr Phil]

A glint of reality flashed across the gently rotating galaxy in the bottom right corner. Phil had company.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. I'll leave you as you were." She said it quietly, as if her very voice were breaking the ambiance of the overwhelming picture.

"It's OK," Phil turned with a welcoming smile. "I've probably been here far too long anyway. Might have been here forever if you hadn't rescued me." He gestured to the view. "Gorgeous isn't it?"

tag - Varina

"That's what got me into this business, wanting to see things like this, up close and personal. I got a bit side-tracked, I think, so far, so deep, sometimes I need to come back here and remember the beauty."

He took a deep breath.

"Still, duty awaits, eh? Obviously you managed to find Astrogation. Anywhere else I can acquaint you with before my shift starts?"

taggles