So I have a few quiet hours his morning before the craziness of Christmas really hits, and was struck with an idea as a little introduction to my new project concept and one of the main characters. This is very rough, but I hope everyone enjoys it.
* * * * *
Captain Marcus Raymond studied the personnel file on his desktop terminal intently. When Lieutenant Commander Grol had brought the matter to his attention he’d thought the Tellarite had been pulling his leg, which wasn’t unheard of for his security chief and senior tactical officer, but after Grol had handed him the PADD with the transfer request he’d been stunned. The crewmember in question was newly promoted Lieutenant (j.g.) Hunter McCade, the gamma shift tactical officer who, by all accounts, was one of the best on Grol’s staff, definitely someone to keep an eye out for as he rose through the ranks—or at least that was how it’d seemed until he’d submitted his request out of the blue.
Though Raymond had no grounds on which to refuse it, the junior officers promotion now qualified him for the posting he was after, just where he wanted to go to was the equivalent of career suicide—definitely not the sort of move he’d have expected from someone like McCade. There was definitely something more going on here, he just wanted to find out what it was if he could as he didn’t want to lose such a capable officer, especially not when they were facing another war against the Cardassians after less than a year of tentative peace since the last one.
At the chirp of the enunciator, he looked up at the doors and called, “Enter.”
The panels parted to reveal a strapping young human who filled out the new figure-hugging uniform to its utmost (not surprising given he had captained his Academy wresting, rugby and parrises squares teams), candy brown hair swept back without a strand out of place, slate grey eyes that quickly looked around the room and took in everything in his surroundings. He stepped up to the desk and stood at attention, his posture as stiff and unyielding as a cadet.
“Lieutenant McCade, reporting as ordered, sir.”
Raymond gave him a warm smile and gestured to one of the chairs opposite him. “Mr McCade, please take a seat.”
He gave a curt nod and sat down, back straight, hands resting on his knees.
“Would you like anything to drink, Lieutenant?”
“No, thank you, sir.”
He frowned a little at the overly formal demeanour from the younger man. Raymond wasn’t like a few other CO’s in the fleet, insisting on strict adherence to rules and regulations, he felt the stifled creative thinking, so he always made sure that he had a more open style of leadership—so either that wasn’t translating to the junior officers or something was off about the one who sat opposite him now.
Sitting forward, he clasped his hands together on the desktop. “Commander Grol has informed me that you’ve requested a transfer off the Tecumseh, is that correct?” he asked already knowing the answer.
“Yes sir, I have.”
“To Gamma Station?”
“Starbase G-14, yes sir,” McCade corrected, using the official designation for the outpost.
“Why?”
“The current senior tactical officer has retired from the starbase, my recent promotion and certifications now qualify me to oversee a class-eight tactical array, it would provide considerable opportunity for command experience, sir.”
“Which is pretty much verbatim what was in your request and doesn’t tell me why you want to leave.”
It was McCade’s turn to frown. “If there something wrong with my performance onboard the Tecumseh that would invalidate my transfer, sir?”
“I think you know there isn’t, Lieutenant.”
He hesitated a moment, no doubt wondering how far he could go without having asked permission to speak candidly. “Then, begging the captain’s pardon, I’m at a loss for why my transfer request is a point of contention, sir.”
Raymond gave a single humourless laugh. “I’ll be frank then, Lieutenant. Gamma Station isn’t the place for you, it’s the sort of assignment troubled officers find themselves dumped onto before they decide to resign their commissions. If you go there, it’ll be a blemish on your otherwise pristine record, one that’ll be like a ball and chain around your ankle, holding you back when you want to move forward with your career. If I grant your request, whatever endgame you had in your sights when you entered the Academy will be nigh on impossible for you to achieve, and I wouldn’t want to be responsible for ending a very promising officers chances.”
McCade sat a little stiffer (something Raymond hadn’t thought possible). “Thank you for your concern, Captain, but I am well aware of Starbase G-14’s reputation, however I believe it to be the best option for myself at this current time.”
“But why, Lieutenant? If you’re wanting the experience of supervising a department, I hear the Stargazer is looking for a new chief weapons officer, and if things don’t improve with the Cardassians sometime soon we’ll be at war with them again in months, if not weeks, so someone of your skills will be in high demand.”
“If that happens, then I can be just as easily reassigned from G-14 as I can from here or the Stargazer, sir.”
Raymond locked eyes with the younger man, giving him the same stare he did when someone had messed up enough to need a chewing out from their Captain, but McCade held his look, unflinching and unrelenting. Damn, this kid has guts! he mused to himself, more sure in that moment than before that he had a bright future, or would’ve if he wasn’t so determined to throw it all away.
Realising that he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere close to the real truth with the junior lieutenant, Raymond gave a small sigh and picked up the datapad resting in front of him which held McCade’s original written request for transfer. He pressed his thumb to the biometric scanner, signing off on the request, then handed to the younger man.
“Thank you, Captain,” he said as he accepted the PADD.
“Mr McCade, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that you’re not blacklisted for this decision you’ve made, though I can’t promise that it’ll do much good.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into, Lieutenant.”
“I do, sir.”
Raymond looked at McCade, who looked to be suppressing a smile. “Very well then, Lieutenant. You’re dismissed, and good luck out there.”
“I appreciate that, sir, thank you again.”
With that, McCade rose and quickly left the ready room, leaving behind a very bewildered Captain, who was still racking his brain to figure out just what the lieutenant was up to and why he’d do that to himself.
* * * * *
END
* * * * *
Captain Marcus Raymond studied the personnel file on his desktop terminal intently. When Lieutenant Commander Grol had brought the matter to his attention he’d thought the Tellarite had been pulling his leg, which wasn’t unheard of for his security chief and senior tactical officer, but after Grol had handed him the PADD with the transfer request he’d been stunned. The crewmember in question was newly promoted Lieutenant (j.g.) Hunter McCade, the gamma shift tactical officer who, by all accounts, was one of the best on Grol’s staff, definitely someone to keep an eye out for as he rose through the ranks—or at least that was how it’d seemed until he’d submitted his request out of the blue.
Though Raymond had no grounds on which to refuse it, the junior officers promotion now qualified him for the posting he was after, just where he wanted to go to was the equivalent of career suicide—definitely not the sort of move he’d have expected from someone like McCade. There was definitely something more going on here, he just wanted to find out what it was if he could as he didn’t want to lose such a capable officer, especially not when they were facing another war against the Cardassians after less than a year of tentative peace since the last one.
At the chirp of the enunciator, he looked up at the doors and called, “Enter.”
The panels parted to reveal a strapping young human who filled out the new figure-hugging uniform to its utmost (not surprising given he had captained his Academy wresting, rugby and parrises squares teams), candy brown hair swept back without a strand out of place, slate grey eyes that quickly looked around the room and took in everything in his surroundings. He stepped up to the desk and stood at attention, his posture as stiff and unyielding as a cadet.
“Lieutenant McCade, reporting as ordered, sir.”
Raymond gave him a warm smile and gestured to one of the chairs opposite him. “Mr McCade, please take a seat.”
He gave a curt nod and sat down, back straight, hands resting on his knees.
“Would you like anything to drink, Lieutenant?”
“No, thank you, sir.”
He frowned a little at the overly formal demeanour from the younger man. Raymond wasn’t like a few other CO’s in the fleet, insisting on strict adherence to rules and regulations, he felt the stifled creative thinking, so he always made sure that he had a more open style of leadership—so either that wasn’t translating to the junior officers or something was off about the one who sat opposite him now.
Sitting forward, he clasped his hands together on the desktop. “Commander Grol has informed me that you’ve requested a transfer off the Tecumseh, is that correct?” he asked already knowing the answer.
“Yes sir, I have.”
“To Gamma Station?”
“Starbase G-14, yes sir,” McCade corrected, using the official designation for the outpost.
“Why?”
“The current senior tactical officer has retired from the starbase, my recent promotion and certifications now qualify me to oversee a class-eight tactical array, it would provide considerable opportunity for command experience, sir.”
“Which is pretty much verbatim what was in your request and doesn’t tell me why you want to leave.”
It was McCade’s turn to frown. “If there something wrong with my performance onboard the Tecumseh that would invalidate my transfer, sir?”
“I think you know there isn’t, Lieutenant.”
He hesitated a moment, no doubt wondering how far he could go without having asked permission to speak candidly. “Then, begging the captain’s pardon, I’m at a loss for why my transfer request is a point of contention, sir.”
Raymond gave a single humourless laugh. “I’ll be frank then, Lieutenant. Gamma Station isn’t the place for you, it’s the sort of assignment troubled officers find themselves dumped onto before they decide to resign their commissions. If you go there, it’ll be a blemish on your otherwise pristine record, one that’ll be like a ball and chain around your ankle, holding you back when you want to move forward with your career. If I grant your request, whatever endgame you had in your sights when you entered the Academy will be nigh on impossible for you to achieve, and I wouldn’t want to be responsible for ending a very promising officers chances.”
McCade sat a little stiffer (something Raymond hadn’t thought possible). “Thank you for your concern, Captain, but I am well aware of Starbase G-14’s reputation, however I believe it to be the best option for myself at this current time.”
“But why, Lieutenant? If you’re wanting the experience of supervising a department, I hear the Stargazer is looking for a new chief weapons officer, and if things don’t improve with the Cardassians sometime soon we’ll be at war with them again in months, if not weeks, so someone of your skills will be in high demand.”
“If that happens, then I can be just as easily reassigned from G-14 as I can from here or the Stargazer, sir.”
Raymond locked eyes with the younger man, giving him the same stare he did when someone had messed up enough to need a chewing out from their Captain, but McCade held his look, unflinching and unrelenting. Damn, this kid has guts! he mused to himself, more sure in that moment than before that he had a bright future, or would’ve if he wasn’t so determined to throw it all away.
Realising that he wasn’t going to be getting anywhere close to the real truth with the junior lieutenant, Raymond gave a small sigh and picked up the datapad resting in front of him which held McCade’s original written request for transfer. He pressed his thumb to the biometric scanner, signing off on the request, then handed to the younger man.
“Thank you, Captain,” he said as he accepted the PADD.
“Mr McCade, I’ll do everything in my power to ensure that you’re not blacklisted for this decision you’ve made, though I can’t promise that it’ll do much good.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I hope you know what you’ve gotten yourself into, Lieutenant.”
“I do, sir.”
Raymond looked at McCade, who looked to be suppressing a smile. “Very well then, Lieutenant. You’re dismissed, and good luck out there.”
“I appreciate that, sir, thank you again.”
With that, McCade rose and quickly left the ready room, leaving behind a very bewildered Captain, who was still racking his brain to figure out just what the lieutenant was up to and why he’d do that to himself.
* * * * *
END
