I second that. Well done!
The Star Eagle Adventures IV: All The Sinners, Saints
- Thread starter CeJay
- Start date
I second that. Well done!
Taz as first officer...now we know what startled Owens. Now, the question is, what are her real orders?
“Have you completely lost your mind?”
Balik-Ait walked into the room, finding Deite sitting at a table and sorting through a number of papers and images. She barely acknowledged her compatriot, correctly recognizing that he was not in fact looking for an immediate response. He had managed to keep his voice relatively calm but the eyes were burning with barely contained raged.
“We lost two-hundred good fighters in this insane attack on Al Tre Nek and for what? We gained nothing but provoke another government attack on one of our settlements. What happened to restraint and tactic, Deite? What happened to carefully planned and executed surgical strikes? You know we don’t have the numbers for this kind of fight. You led our people to be slaughtered.”
The female insurgent leader didn’t look up from her papers, not even when Balik’s voice grew louder with every word he spoke.
“They died for nothing, Deite.”
At that she did make eye contact. “No. Not for nothing,” she said in a chilly tone.
He looked at her as if she had just confirmed his initial prognosis that she had in fact gone completely mad. “Two hostages? You can’t be serious.”
“Oh but I am. Those hostages are more valuable to us than any military or government officer we have taken in the past. These two hostages just might help us bring end to the Tia tyranny for once and for all.”
“Really?” he asked and sat down in a chair at the opposite side of the table. “And how exactly do you think they’ll do that? Why don’t you enlighten me, seeing that we are supposed to be working together.”
Balik could tell from the look in her eyes that she had no intentions of being completely honest with her before she even spoke. He had known Deite for over twenty cycles, had fought alongside her for eighteen and in all that time the two of them had been so close it was almost as if they were an extension of each other. They had led their resistance movement as one. Sure, there had been disagreements before but never secrets. Never anything that could have cast any kind of doubt over their shared leadership and the ultimate goals of their cause. Something had changed. Something very fundamental.
“I have plans for them,” she said and looked at her papers again, signaling that the conversation was concluded.
It wasn’t for Balik. “What kind of plans? What do you think you are doing here, Deite? Are you trying to anger Star and her people on purpose? Have you forgotten that we need their help if we want to win this battle.”
“We have fought the Tia tyranny long before the off-worlders and her weapons came along. They are toying with us, Balik, can’t you see that? We are like insects to them,” she said in a voice that had now taken on a dangerously steely edge. “I’m done playing along their rules. This is our fight and they’ll soon learn what exactly that means.”
“And you are willing to sacrifice our people to make that point.”
“I’ll sacrifice whoever I must for the cause.”
Balik stood again but held her gaze. He could see the ironclad determination in her face. But he could see much more. The anger, of course but also the pain. The pain that had been there ever since she had lost the man she had loved. “We all mourn Gonde’s loss, Deite. He was indubitably a great man and a firm believer of restoring equality on Tiatia. Perhaps the both of you could have made a real difference together. But you can’t use your grief and your anger to dictate your –“
Deite shot up so quickly that she knocked over half the papers on her desk. “Don’t you dare bring Gonde into this,” she yelled at him, the fury no longer contained. “Don’t you dare disregard my plans as some sort of fleeting emotional reaction to Gonde’s death. I won’t let you do that.”
For a moment there was silence between them as if they had both been caught by surprise by the sudden outburst.
“You have changed Deite. Look at what you’ve done and tell me you haven’t.”
She sat down again, slowly. “I have done what is necessary and I will continue to do what is necessary,” she said and then locked eyes with her compatriot. “I guess you will have to ask yourself where you stand, Balik. You have to decide if you are with me or against me.”
This stunned Balik. Perhaps what stunned him even more was his hesitation in responding to her. “I’m for the cause, as I’ve always been,” he said, again surprising himself at the vagueness of his reply.
“Good,” she said simply as she began to pick up her papers. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I have to go through these figures to get an assessment of our current strength. Why don’t you go ahead and tend to our new guests. I’m sure we can come up with something to keep them occupied,” she added with a vicious smirk.
Balik hesitated again, waiting for some sort of sign that his long time partner had anything else to add which could relieve the tension she had created between them. Something to reaffirm that they were indeed still equal partners in their ancient struggle to overthrow the Tia elite. When he realized that he would wait in vain he walked away.
Not a moment after he stepped out of the room, Teldro-Ait stepped out of the shadows where he had remained concealed from Balik during his visit. “I am concerned about his dedication to the cause,” he said, looking after Balik.
“I can vouch for his dedication and you should be more mindful of your accusations, Teldro. I’ve known Balik nearly all my life. Much longer then either one of us has known you, I might add.”
The man nodded, acceding that point. “Of course. But his recent behavior warrants a certain degree of concern, wouldn’t you agree? His hesitation and his apparent unwillingness to make sacrifices for our cause might become troublesome in the future. After all the prias has made his intentions clear by escalating this conflict to new heights. We have to respond in kind or our cause is certain to fail.”
Deite found Teldro’s darting eyes. “Oh we will. Make no mistake. The New Light will not be extinguished under my leadership. On the contrary. We will more than match the Tia’s aggression. We will make them suffer on a scale they would not have thought possible. And when we have driven them to the point at which they will beg us for peace, we will take what is rightfully ours. Mark my words. Nobody will stand in our way. Nobody”
Balik-Ait walked into the room, finding Deite sitting at a table and sorting through a number of papers and images. She barely acknowledged her compatriot, correctly recognizing that he was not in fact looking for an immediate response. He had managed to keep his voice relatively calm but the eyes were burning with barely contained raged.
“We lost two-hundred good fighters in this insane attack on Al Tre Nek and for what? We gained nothing but provoke another government attack on one of our settlements. What happened to restraint and tactic, Deite? What happened to carefully planned and executed surgical strikes? You know we don’t have the numbers for this kind of fight. You led our people to be slaughtered.”
The female insurgent leader didn’t look up from her papers, not even when Balik’s voice grew louder with every word he spoke.
“They died for nothing, Deite.”
At that she did make eye contact. “No. Not for nothing,” she said in a chilly tone.
He looked at her as if she had just confirmed his initial prognosis that she had in fact gone completely mad. “Two hostages? You can’t be serious.”
“Oh but I am. Those hostages are more valuable to us than any military or government officer we have taken in the past. These two hostages just might help us bring end to the Tia tyranny for once and for all.”
“Really?” he asked and sat down in a chair at the opposite side of the table. “And how exactly do you think they’ll do that? Why don’t you enlighten me, seeing that we are supposed to be working together.”
Balik could tell from the look in her eyes that she had no intentions of being completely honest with her before she even spoke. He had known Deite for over twenty cycles, had fought alongside her for eighteen and in all that time the two of them had been so close it was almost as if they were an extension of each other. They had led their resistance movement as one. Sure, there had been disagreements before but never secrets. Never anything that could have cast any kind of doubt over their shared leadership and the ultimate goals of their cause. Something had changed. Something very fundamental.
“I have plans for them,” she said and looked at her papers again, signaling that the conversation was concluded.
It wasn’t for Balik. “What kind of plans? What do you think you are doing here, Deite? Are you trying to anger Star and her people on purpose? Have you forgotten that we need their help if we want to win this battle.”
“We have fought the Tia tyranny long before the off-worlders and her weapons came along. They are toying with us, Balik, can’t you see that? We are like insects to them,” she said in a voice that had now taken on a dangerously steely edge. “I’m done playing along their rules. This is our fight and they’ll soon learn what exactly that means.”
“And you are willing to sacrifice our people to make that point.”
“I’ll sacrifice whoever I must for the cause.”
Balik stood again but held her gaze. He could see the ironclad determination in her face. But he could see much more. The anger, of course but also the pain. The pain that had been there ever since she had lost the man she had loved. “We all mourn Gonde’s loss, Deite. He was indubitably a great man and a firm believer of restoring equality on Tiatia. Perhaps the both of you could have made a real difference together. But you can’t use your grief and your anger to dictate your –“
Deite shot up so quickly that she knocked over half the papers on her desk. “Don’t you dare bring Gonde into this,” she yelled at him, the fury no longer contained. “Don’t you dare disregard my plans as some sort of fleeting emotional reaction to Gonde’s death. I won’t let you do that.”
For a moment there was silence between them as if they had both been caught by surprise by the sudden outburst.
“You have changed Deite. Look at what you’ve done and tell me you haven’t.”
She sat down again, slowly. “I have done what is necessary and I will continue to do what is necessary,” she said and then locked eyes with her compatriot. “I guess you will have to ask yourself where you stand, Balik. You have to decide if you are with me or against me.”
This stunned Balik. Perhaps what stunned him even more was his hesitation in responding to her. “I’m for the cause, as I’ve always been,” he said, again surprising himself at the vagueness of his reply.
“Good,” she said simply as she began to pick up her papers. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I have to go through these figures to get an assessment of our current strength. Why don’t you go ahead and tend to our new guests. I’m sure we can come up with something to keep them occupied,” she added with a vicious smirk.
Balik hesitated again, waiting for some sort of sign that his long time partner had anything else to add which could relieve the tension she had created between them. Something to reaffirm that they were indeed still equal partners in their ancient struggle to overthrow the Tia elite. When he realized that he would wait in vain he walked away.
Not a moment after he stepped out of the room, Teldro-Ait stepped out of the shadows where he had remained concealed from Balik during his visit. “I am concerned about his dedication to the cause,” he said, looking after Balik.
“I can vouch for his dedication and you should be more mindful of your accusations, Teldro. I’ve known Balik nearly all my life. Much longer then either one of us has known you, I might add.”
The man nodded, acceding that point. “Of course. But his recent behavior warrants a certain degree of concern, wouldn’t you agree? His hesitation and his apparent unwillingness to make sacrifices for our cause might become troublesome in the future. After all the prias has made his intentions clear by escalating this conflict to new heights. We have to respond in kind or our cause is certain to fail.”
Deite found Teldro’s darting eyes. “Oh we will. Make no mistake. The New Light will not be extinguished under my leadership. On the contrary. We will more than match the Tia’s aggression. We will make them suffer on a scale they would not have thought possible. And when we have driven them to the point at which they will beg us for peace, we will take what is rightfully ours. Mark my words. Nobody will stand in our way. Nobody”
* * *
This situation is getting more and more precarious. Why do I have a feeling that Owens' actions are going to bear especially bitter fruit--and Deite's actions even more bitter?
Still a bit behind in this story steadily reading my way through it but had to comment on the first class tensions being created between the characters and mistrust too which I can only gather is going to complicate and make matters worse. For those up to date you probably know that full too well. Great story telling.
Desperation can muddy the noblest of intentions. The whole situation seems to be heading for hell in a hand-basket . . . which makes for a great story! 
All caught up. The battle scenes were great. There was danger and action and people were in a fraught situation and put between a rock and a hard place.
The decision by Owens to open fire on the planet surface was gutsy. Perhaps in the long run stupid or irresponsible but at the time it was the only course he could take and it was a decision he did not rush into lightly. I liked how you played that out amid the emergency of the situation.
Also how the Bluefin reacted and was treated. It was all so effective and real as I would imagine it. Really great followed by great interplay between Akinola and Owens. I know TLR has already commented on how you write Akinola but I must add to it from a reader point of view that you do a terrific job of portraying him and adding such complex layers to how you handle the Bluefin crew and their part in this whole saga.
And now Star is XO and that can surely only go bad for all concerned.
The decision by Owens to open fire on the planet surface was gutsy. Perhaps in the long run stupid or irresponsible but at the time it was the only course he could take and it was a decision he did not rush into lightly. I liked how you played that out amid the emergency of the situation.
Also how the Bluefin reacted and was treated. It was all so effective and real as I would imagine it. Really great followed by great interplay between Akinola and Owens. I know TLR has already commented on how you write Akinola but I must add to it from a reader point of view that you do a terrific job of portraying him and adding such complex layers to how you handle the Bluefin crew and their part in this whole saga.
And now Star is XO and that can surely only go bad for all concerned.
The senior officers of the starship Eagle which had arrived on the observation deck had come there with the expectation to discuss the recent events on the surface of Tiaita and formulate a strategy to quickly retrieve the kidnapped crewmembers.
They had however not expected to be introduced to their new first officer.
Nora Laas had jumped out of her chair in protest almost immediately after the captain had made the announcement and gestured towards the Trill commander with whom he had arrived.
“This has to be some sort of joke,” she said and completely ignored the glare she provoked from Star. “We lose one of our own and Starfleet’s response is to bring aboard a new first officer? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Acting first officer,” said Owens softly who didn’t appear to be fazed the security officer’s vocal outburst.
The heated Bajoran looked at her captain but received no further reaction. Her eyes found Xylion next; but as expected the Vulcan kept his facial expressions so neutral that it was impossible to tell what was going through his mind after learning that he had been replaced.
Unsatisfied with the non-responses she turned to look at the others for support. Leva nodded along slowly, apparently agreeing with her sentiment. Culsten looked cautious and the same could have been said for the chief engineer. Major Wasco was difficult to read and DeMara Deen appeared unpleased. But not about Star’s presence. Instead she remained the only person in the room besides the Trill who didn’t seem to appreciate Nora’s blatant objections.
The Bajoran turned back to look towards the captain. “Sir, with all due respect, we don’t need a new first officer, temporary or otherwise. Commander Xylion has been perfectly capable in that position.”
To that Xylion raised a single eyebrow as if he had not expected this offhand compliment.
“May I remind you, Lieutenant,” said Star sharply, “that your mission to Tiaita ended in complete failure. It was a simple humanitarian operation which ended in your team almost being overrun by enemy troops and Eagle forced into opening fire from orbit. Two crewmembers were taken hostage from right under your nose.”
Owens shot Star a disapproving sideward glance but didn’t speak.
“You weren’t down there. You have the luxury of basing your judgments on the after action reports you’ve read. The initial threat analysis gave no indications to the actual conditions on the ground. You’re telling me you would have done better under the circumstances?” Nora sat down in her chair again. “Give me a break,” she said and then added under her breath. “You’d probably have us sold out the first chance you got.”
“You’re way out of line, Lieutenant Laas,” Star shot back angrily at the insult and her insolent tone, to say nothing of her entire attitude.
The security chief held the Trill woman’s hard stare. “That’s Nora to you,” she said. “The ridges not prominent enough?” she said brushing the creased bridge of her nose.
That caught Star by surprise and she flushed slightly. She took a small breath. “Lieutenant Nora,” she corrected herself. “I apologize.”
The Bajoran shrugged, making it clear that she couldn’t have cared less.
“I’m still waiting on yours.”
But if Star wanted an apology she was going to wait for hell to freeze over first. Nora completely disregarded her and looked back at the captain who had remained quietly in his seat throughout the entire interchange. “This is a mistake,” she told him.
“Sir, I’m with Laas on this one,” said Leva, purposefully calling his friend by her given name. “I have looked over the reports and all the data available to us. It is my assessment that the situation was unavoidable and certainly doesn’t justify a change in leadership.”
Star was clearly still too upset to address the issue again. Or perhaps she realized that the crew was not going to be on her side no matter what. Nor was Owens for that matter.
“I understand your concerns,” the captain finally said and looked at his former acting first officer. “And Commander, I would like you to know that I fully agree with that assessment. You’ve done the best you could under the circumstances. I will make sure your file will reflect this.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said with a fractional nod. “I do however regret the way in which events have unfolded.”
“Of course,” said Owens, “we all do.” He looked at Star as if to include her presence as one of those regretful events.
“Sir, what are we going to do about the doctor?” asked Deen who seemed eager in moving this discussion forward. It wasn’t difficult to pick up the general animosity in the room that was directed against the new first officer and she was disappointed that even the captain seemed content to add to Star’s discomfort. No matter how subtly.
Deen wasn’t ignorant of Star’s reputation. She knew that she had turned against her own and disobeyed orders. She knew that people had been killed because of her. But she couldn’t deny a certain sympathy for the disgraced officer especially now that nobody else was willing to give her the light of day.
It had always been much easier for her to believe in the common decency of her fellow man than to give into apathy and cynicism. She wasn’t worried that others might have considered her naïve or gullible for thinking that way.
Owens turned to look at his long time friend and confidant and for a moment he could sense exactly what she was thinking just by looking into her bright purple eyes. For just a moment he felt ashamed over his own actions.
Mercifully the feeling was fleeting. “Commander Xylion,” he said. “Would you like to give us an update on the progress of our search efforts?”
“Certainly,” the Vulcan replied. “We have currently allocated eighty-five percent of our sensor capabilities to high resolutions scans of the surface of Tiaita. Additionally, we are utilizing eight shuttle pods, five shuttle craft and the Nebuchadnezzar for close surface reconnaissance and visual scans. Our sensor results have not been effective due to the gamma wave interference prevalent in this star system and due to the kelbonite and fistium deposits which lace much of the western desert and those areas that are most likely to contain rebel strongholds.”
“We’ve been experimenting with improving our sensor effectiveness by using the lateral arrays for quark resonance and high frequency EM band scans to isolate possible unique identifiers,” explained Louise Hopkins. The chief engineer did not miss that she had lost half the room by her technical explanation. “Basically we’re trying to identify something uniquely alien to Tiaita which our sensors could pick up more easily.”
“We’re looking for a human and a what?” said Culsten and then answered his own question. “A Vulcan. A human and a Vulcan on a planet without any off-worlders. Isn’t that pretty unique?”
She shook her head. “Sadly we’ve had no luck isolating different life signs. No matter what configuration we’ve tried, we haven’t been able to distinguish bio-signs at all,” Hopkins explained and slightly squirmed in her chair, uncomfortable at having to state her obvious failures.
“Visual scans have also remained unsuccessful as we do not have sufficient personnel and vehicles to cover the entire search area,” continued the Vulcan science officer. “We have also not been cleared for the majority of the air space over the western continent.”
“Why not?” asked Major Wasco. “You’d think they would give us all the help they can in order to find our people considering that it’s largely their fault we lost them in the first place.”
“The government appears to be concerned about possible intrusions onto their sovereignty,” the Vulcan said.
“Understandable,” said Star. “We just fired on their planet.”
“I like how you’re leaving out the part in which we saved their own people by doing that,” said Nora coolly, treasuring every opportunity to attack Star.
Owens spoke up before the Trill had chance to escalate another argument. “We will be meeting with Admiral Schwarzkopf shortly. He has been in negotiations with the planetary leadership since this started. Hopefully we will have a better idea of what we’re up against afterwards. For now we’ll continue all our present efforts to locate the missing crewmembers and honor all territorial considerations. That’s all people.”
One by one the senior officers vacated their seats. But it was clear that nobody was particularly happy with what they had learned. Not only was one of their own missing and possibly in mortal danger while their hands in trying to bring her back had been tied, now they also had to deal with an unwanted new first officer.
Owens and Tazla Star remained in their chairs while everyone else filed for the exits.
Deen stood but hung back for a moment as well. “Commander Star,” she said.
The Trill woman looked up at her, not having expected to be addressed.
“I just wanted to say, welcome aboard.”
Star certainly didn’t feel it but she couldn’t help but return the young woman’s smile which she realized was quite infectious. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate that.”
Deen nodded and before she left she shot a quick glance at Owens. But the captain avoided the eye contact in an attempt to spare himself another tug at his conscience.
He spoke again only after Deen had exited the room. And when he did, he never as much as glanced at the woman still seated next to him. “No matter how brief your assignment on this ship, these are the people you will have to be able to work with. You understand this, don’t you?”
Star tried to hide her irritation at that statement by replying instantly. “Yes, sir.”
“This won’t be easy for any of us but it will have to work.”
“I understand, sir,” she said again but didn’t voice what she was really thinking. She didn’t say that even if she tried to be as accommodating as possible, she couldn’t order his crew to respect her. She couldn’t make them like her and if this meeting had been any indication she couldn’t even make them follow her orders. And then there was the other problem. Tazla Star had never been particularly accommodating in the first place. It just wasn’t her style. Not for the first time she wondered what the hell Altee had been thinking.
“The admiral should be here shortly,” said Owens, picked up a padd and began to read.
Star could do nothing but sit quietly by his side and wait.
They had however not expected to be introduced to their new first officer.
Nora Laas had jumped out of her chair in protest almost immediately after the captain had made the announcement and gestured towards the Trill commander with whom he had arrived.
“This has to be some sort of joke,” she said and completely ignored the glare she provoked from Star. “We lose one of our own and Starfleet’s response is to bring aboard a new first officer? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Acting first officer,” said Owens softly who didn’t appear to be fazed the security officer’s vocal outburst.
The heated Bajoran looked at her captain but received no further reaction. Her eyes found Xylion next; but as expected the Vulcan kept his facial expressions so neutral that it was impossible to tell what was going through his mind after learning that he had been replaced.
Unsatisfied with the non-responses she turned to look at the others for support. Leva nodded along slowly, apparently agreeing with her sentiment. Culsten looked cautious and the same could have been said for the chief engineer. Major Wasco was difficult to read and DeMara Deen appeared unpleased. But not about Star’s presence. Instead she remained the only person in the room besides the Trill who didn’t seem to appreciate Nora’s blatant objections.
The Bajoran turned back to look towards the captain. “Sir, with all due respect, we don’t need a new first officer, temporary or otherwise. Commander Xylion has been perfectly capable in that position.”
To that Xylion raised a single eyebrow as if he had not expected this offhand compliment.
“May I remind you, Lieutenant,” said Star sharply, “that your mission to Tiaita ended in complete failure. It was a simple humanitarian operation which ended in your team almost being overrun by enemy troops and Eagle forced into opening fire from orbit. Two crewmembers were taken hostage from right under your nose.”
Owens shot Star a disapproving sideward glance but didn’t speak.
“You weren’t down there. You have the luxury of basing your judgments on the after action reports you’ve read. The initial threat analysis gave no indications to the actual conditions on the ground. You’re telling me you would have done better under the circumstances?” Nora sat down in her chair again. “Give me a break,” she said and then added under her breath. “You’d probably have us sold out the first chance you got.”
“You’re way out of line, Lieutenant Laas,” Star shot back angrily at the insult and her insolent tone, to say nothing of her entire attitude.
The security chief held the Trill woman’s hard stare. “That’s Nora to you,” she said. “The ridges not prominent enough?” she said brushing the creased bridge of her nose.
That caught Star by surprise and she flushed slightly. She took a small breath. “Lieutenant Nora,” she corrected herself. “I apologize.”
The Bajoran shrugged, making it clear that she couldn’t have cared less.
“I’m still waiting on yours.”
But if Star wanted an apology she was going to wait for hell to freeze over first. Nora completely disregarded her and looked back at the captain who had remained quietly in his seat throughout the entire interchange. “This is a mistake,” she told him.
“Sir, I’m with Laas on this one,” said Leva, purposefully calling his friend by her given name. “I have looked over the reports and all the data available to us. It is my assessment that the situation was unavoidable and certainly doesn’t justify a change in leadership.”
Star was clearly still too upset to address the issue again. Or perhaps she realized that the crew was not going to be on her side no matter what. Nor was Owens for that matter.
“I understand your concerns,” the captain finally said and looked at his former acting first officer. “And Commander, I would like you to know that I fully agree with that assessment. You’ve done the best you could under the circumstances. I will make sure your file will reflect this.”
“Thank you, sir,” he said with a fractional nod. “I do however regret the way in which events have unfolded.”
“Of course,” said Owens, “we all do.” He looked at Star as if to include her presence as one of those regretful events.
“Sir, what are we going to do about the doctor?” asked Deen who seemed eager in moving this discussion forward. It wasn’t difficult to pick up the general animosity in the room that was directed against the new first officer and she was disappointed that even the captain seemed content to add to Star’s discomfort. No matter how subtly.
Deen wasn’t ignorant of Star’s reputation. She knew that she had turned against her own and disobeyed orders. She knew that people had been killed because of her. But she couldn’t deny a certain sympathy for the disgraced officer especially now that nobody else was willing to give her the light of day.
It had always been much easier for her to believe in the common decency of her fellow man than to give into apathy and cynicism. She wasn’t worried that others might have considered her naïve or gullible for thinking that way.
Owens turned to look at his long time friend and confidant and for a moment he could sense exactly what she was thinking just by looking into her bright purple eyes. For just a moment he felt ashamed over his own actions.
Mercifully the feeling was fleeting. “Commander Xylion,” he said. “Would you like to give us an update on the progress of our search efforts?”
“Certainly,” the Vulcan replied. “We have currently allocated eighty-five percent of our sensor capabilities to high resolutions scans of the surface of Tiaita. Additionally, we are utilizing eight shuttle pods, five shuttle craft and the Nebuchadnezzar for close surface reconnaissance and visual scans. Our sensor results have not been effective due to the gamma wave interference prevalent in this star system and due to the kelbonite and fistium deposits which lace much of the western desert and those areas that are most likely to contain rebel strongholds.”
“We’ve been experimenting with improving our sensor effectiveness by using the lateral arrays for quark resonance and high frequency EM band scans to isolate possible unique identifiers,” explained Louise Hopkins. The chief engineer did not miss that she had lost half the room by her technical explanation. “Basically we’re trying to identify something uniquely alien to Tiaita which our sensors could pick up more easily.”
“We’re looking for a human and a what?” said Culsten and then answered his own question. “A Vulcan. A human and a Vulcan on a planet without any off-worlders. Isn’t that pretty unique?”
She shook her head. “Sadly we’ve had no luck isolating different life signs. No matter what configuration we’ve tried, we haven’t been able to distinguish bio-signs at all,” Hopkins explained and slightly squirmed in her chair, uncomfortable at having to state her obvious failures.
“Visual scans have also remained unsuccessful as we do not have sufficient personnel and vehicles to cover the entire search area,” continued the Vulcan science officer. “We have also not been cleared for the majority of the air space over the western continent.”
“Why not?” asked Major Wasco. “You’d think they would give us all the help they can in order to find our people considering that it’s largely their fault we lost them in the first place.”
“The government appears to be concerned about possible intrusions onto their sovereignty,” the Vulcan said.
“Understandable,” said Star. “We just fired on their planet.”
“I like how you’re leaving out the part in which we saved their own people by doing that,” said Nora coolly, treasuring every opportunity to attack Star.
Owens spoke up before the Trill had chance to escalate another argument. “We will be meeting with Admiral Schwarzkopf shortly. He has been in negotiations with the planetary leadership since this started. Hopefully we will have a better idea of what we’re up against afterwards. For now we’ll continue all our present efforts to locate the missing crewmembers and honor all territorial considerations. That’s all people.”
One by one the senior officers vacated their seats. But it was clear that nobody was particularly happy with what they had learned. Not only was one of their own missing and possibly in mortal danger while their hands in trying to bring her back had been tied, now they also had to deal with an unwanted new first officer.
Owens and Tazla Star remained in their chairs while everyone else filed for the exits.
Deen stood but hung back for a moment as well. “Commander Star,” she said.
The Trill woman looked up at her, not having expected to be addressed.
“I just wanted to say, welcome aboard.”
Star certainly didn’t feel it but she couldn’t help but return the young woman’s smile which she realized was quite infectious. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I appreciate that.”
Deen nodded and before she left she shot a quick glance at Owens. But the captain avoided the eye contact in an attempt to spare himself another tug at his conscience.
He spoke again only after Deen had exited the room. And when he did, he never as much as glanced at the woman still seated next to him. “No matter how brief your assignment on this ship, these are the people you will have to be able to work with. You understand this, don’t you?”
Star tried to hide her irritation at that statement by replying instantly. “Yes, sir.”
“This won’t be easy for any of us but it will have to work.”
“I understand, sir,” she said again but didn’t voice what she was really thinking. She didn’t say that even if she tried to be as accommodating as possible, she couldn’t order his crew to respect her. She couldn’t make them like her and if this meeting had been any indication she couldn’t even make them follow her orders. And then there was the other problem. Tazla Star had never been particularly accommodating in the first place. It just wasn’t her style. Not for the first time she wondered what the hell Altee had been thinking.
“The admiral should be here shortly,” said Owens, picked up a padd and began to read.
Star could do nothing but sit quietly by his side and wait.
* * *
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!
I do not envy Star her situation--the senior officers distrust and despise her--as does her new captain. Tazla will have to either 1) learn to be more accommodating or 2) she's going to screw up even worse than before.
One could almost feel sorry for Star! 
There's a lot for the crew to take on board with Star as XO and so far they are not taking it too well.
There's a lot for the crew to take on board with Star as XO and so far they are not taking it too well.
Nope. I don't feel sorry for Star, not one bit. She got herself into this situation. She has to show that she's capable of looking out for someone besides herself before I'll waste any sympathy on her.
In case anyone was wondering, I really don't like Star - a testimony to the author's writing ability.
In case anyone was wondering, I really don't like Star - a testimony to the author's writing ability.
Yeah!
Michael Owens didn’t think that his second meeting of the day could have been any more combative than the first and it would turn out that he would be sadly mistaken on that point.
Problems began the moment Admiral Schwarzkopf entered the observation lounge to find Michael Owens and Tazla Star waiting for him. He had clearly not expected to find the Trill there. He didn’t mention her presence, his body language however spoke volumes all by itself and his disdain for the commander was perfectly obvious.
Star for her part had apparently learned from the disastrous senior staff meeting minutes before and kept her head down this time, barely even acknowledging the admiral. Owens couldn’t tell if she had similar dislikes for Schwarzkopf as she–different to the admiral–maintained a near unreadable poker face.
“I have just returned from a lengthy meeting with both the prias and his key advisors. We have spoken at length about the incidents on the surface and I think we have come to a mutual understanding how we should proceed,” Schwarzkopf said, as he stood in the middle of the room, in front of the large panorama windows and facing Captain Owens who sat at the head of the conference table.
“Admiral, if you don’t mind waiting for just a moment. We are still expecting the other participants,” said Owens.
Schwarzkopf gave him a puzzled expression. “What other participants?”
The door to the observation lounge opened just then to allow Captain Akinola and Commander Dale McBride to enter.
If Schwarzkopf had appeared irritated before, it was nothing compared to his reaction upon seeing the Nigerian Border Service skipper enter the room. “What is the meaning of this?” he said but directing his question to Owens.
Eagle’s captain didn’t need a counselor to tell him that the tension level in the room had just reached explosive heights and for the first time he wondered if it hadn’t been a mistake to try and put Captain Akinola, Admiral Schwarzkopf and Commander Star inside the same four walls. He was faintly aware that all three had history together. Neither one of them knew each other personally, he was sure of that, but they had all been involved in an episode which had led to dire consequences for all three parties.
Akinola was tense and became impossibly more uncomfortable upon seeing Tazla Star, sitting next to Owens. Schwarzkopf was close to furious, not just because of Star’s presence but because Akinola had seemingly intruded on a meeting which he himself had called but with apparently no intentions whatsoever to include the Border Service captain. Star shifted nervously in her seat, for the first time showing the slightest hint of not being entirely at ease with the situation herself.
Owens stood to face the admiral. “Seeing that one of the missing crewmembers is part of Captain Akinola’s crew I thought it would be prudent to keep him involved and updated on the situation,” he said and tried a small smile. “I believe he has every right to be here, wouldn’t you agree, Mel?”
The admiral winced slightly as if he had suddenly come to regret the intimacy he had invited with Owens. He shot a quick glance towards the opposite site of the room where Akinola and Bane awaited Schwarzkopf’s response. The admiral relaxed somewhat even while it remained obvious that it was an entirely forced reaction. “Of course,” he said with a smile infinitely less honest then Owens’ had been. “If you’d like to take a seat, Captain, Commander. I’ll be briefing all of you.”
The two Bluefin officers sat at the opposite end of the table. But Akinola avoided eye contact with Schwarzkopf. Instead he looked at Owens to give him a short and guarded nod of acknowledgment. Then he looked at Star. “Before we begin,” he said coolly. “I would like to know what Commander Star is doing here.”
The Trill looked up at the mention of her name, her green eyes looking at the Bluefin skipper for just an instance. She couldn’t hold his intense gaze any longer.
“My apologies, Captain,” said Owens. “And to you as well, Admiral, for not explaining sooner. Commander Star has been re-assigned to be Eagle first officer for the time being. As such I have asked her to attend this meeting.”
Neither Schwarzkopf nor Akinola seemed happy with that development. Owens knew exactly how they felt but managed to keep his own reservations well hidden. He hadn’t realized how much these two men seemed to disapprove of her. Had he known he may not have insisted on her presence in the first place.
“I cannot say that I’m happy with that arrangement,” Akinola said in a surprisingly blunt tone to which Owens took offense for just a moment. He disliked the idea of Star being there just about as much as Akinola did, possibly even more but that didn’t give Bluefin’s captain the right to criticize the way he ran his ship.
“I agree with Captain Akinola,” Schwarzkopf said and immediately appeared as if he wished he had phrased that differently. “Commander Star’s presence here is neither requested nor required and to be frank I do not trust her.”
Star glared at Schwarzkopf but held her peace.
Owens understood that rank had its privileges but as far as he was concerned a line was being crossed here. He stood from his chair again. “Gentlemen, I understand your concerns but allow me to be frank also. Commander Star has been reassigned to this ship as acting first officer effective immediately. It was not my decision but that doesn’t mean that I will not respect it. Whilst you are guests on my ship I will not accept anything less but for everyone to afford the Commander with all the respect due to a person of her position, regardless of her past or your previous experiences,” said Owens in a tone so firm it surprised himself. His eyes were so focused on the three men in the room that he didn’t notice the astonished expression on Star’s face.
Schwarzkopf appeared taken aback for a moment by Owens’ bluntness.
Akinola took a moment to read his counterpart’s determined expression before he slowly nodded. “Very well, Captain. Perhaps it is time then to focus on why we are here in the first instance instead of reliving painful memories.”
Owens noticed the look between Akinola and Schwarzkopf which was anything but amicable. They still didn’t trust each other or Star for that matter but at the very least they were willing to ignore those personal feeling for the moment. Or at the very least would pretend to do so.
Owens sat down again. “Mel, you were just talking about your meeting with Tiaitan’s government officials.”
Schwarzkopf nodded hesitantly, requiring a few moments to return to his earlier train of thought which had begun back when everything had appeared to be going as he had envisioned it. It was a long way from where they had ended up. “Yes,” he said finally. “I have spoken to the prias at length about the recent events on the surface. Firstly he has been kind enough to absolve us of any wrongdoing in regards to how we have reacted to the events in Al Tre Nek,” he said and looked directly at Owens, making it clear that he wasn’t particular happy about his decision of bombing the planet earlier. “He has also asked me to convey his sincere apologies that his security forces were unable to protect our people and prevent the abduction of our crewmembers.”
“Apologies won’t bring them back,” said Akinola.
Schwarzkopf shot him a sharp glare. “I’m fully aware of that, Captain,” he said. “And so is His Eminence. He has pledged to use his entire military apparatus to locate our people and return them to us safely as quickly as possible.”
“Forgive me Admiral,” said Owens. “But we have been using a fleet of shuttles, equipped with high-powered sensor units for the last two hours to comb half of a continent without finding a single clue to their whereabouts. How exactly are the Tiaitans proposing to find our people?”
“The Tiaitans are naturally far more familiar with the terrain and with these criminals than we are. This is not the first time people have been kidnapped and the government has had a high success rate in returning abductees. That’s why I have agreed to leave this matter entirely in their hands.”
“You can’t be serious?” said Dale McBride, the first words he had spoken since entering the room. “These are our people, you can’t entrust their safety to a foreign government.”
“I can and we will, Commander,” said Schwarzkopf. “Trust me, this is not an easy decision for me to make. There are many considerations here however, including the Prime Directive.”
“The Prime Directive?” asked Akinola in an almost bemused tone. “You are bringing that up now? After Captain Owens decided to bombard the planet from orbit? If there ever were any Prime Directive considerations here they have gone out of the airlock long ago.”
“Two wrongs don’t make it a right,” the admiral shot back. “I don’t agree with Captain Owens’ decision to fire on Al Tre Nek and I sure as hell will not condone any further violations of the Prime Directive. The abduction of your crewmembers has become an internal Tiaitan matter the moment you decided to go to part of that planet that had not been deemed safe for off-worlders.”
“I made no such decision,” Akinola said.
“Be that as it may, I will not allow anyone to jeopardize this treaty by utilizing any more strong hand tactics. This is more important than two Starfleet crewmembers,” he said and let that last statement sink in for a moment. Clearly he had not expected to win any popularity contests with the two starship captains but the ensuing silence–stemming from disbelieve–was maybe more than he had anticipated.
It was Owens who finally broke it. “Mel, I have talked to my officers after they returned from the planet and I got the distinct impression that the government would not be disinclined to our help. If that is true then why are we not more active in trying to locate these rebel strongholds where our people might be kept? Surely we could negotiate some sort of joint search operation.”
“Because this isn’t just about what the Tiatians want or about what we want or about what we can do for that matter. This is about creating a lasting relationship with Tiaita with which not only their government will be comfortable with but ours as well. If the Federation Council learns that we are actively using military assets to assist the Tiaitans in their internal security matters this entire treaty might fall apart like a house of cards. This is about appearances as much as it is about securing a war time alliance which might win the war for us. Now, I will remain in close contact with the government and update you on any progress being made. In the meantime you both have your orders.”
“Orders? You mean to sit on our asses and twiddle our thumbs?” said Akinola.
Another glare. “If that’s how you like to put it, Captain, be my guest. I will return to the surface to keep a close eye on the situation. Gentlemen,” he said, shooting Akinola and McBride the briefest glance, giving Owens a short nod and ignoring Star entirely as he walked quickly out of the room.
Not a moment later Akinola left his seat and addressed Owens at the opposite end of the table. “You can’t be seriously considering to go along with this.”
“I don’t see how we have much of a choice in the matter, Captain.”
“There is always a choice.”
Owens shook his head sadly. “Not if we are trying to reach the same goal.”
The two men looked at each other intensely for a moment, each of them trying to get a glimpse into the other’s mind.
“Then maybe our goals are not compatible,” Akinola said and walked towards the door with his first officer in tow.
“Captain Akinola.”
The Nigerian man stopped short to look back at Owens.
“I want to get our people back as much as you do.”
He nodded. “I’m sure you do, Captain. For what it’s worth I appreciate your invitation to this meeting even if it was about as productive as I had expected. Good day, Captain,” he said and left the observation lounge along with McBride.
Michael Owens sighed as the doors had closed and he was left alone with Tazla Star at his side. “He was right about this meeting,” he said quietly but without glancing at his first officer. Then he looked at her almost as if he had only just remembered that she was still there. “You were rather mum during the meeting.”
She shrugged. “It seemed to be the wise thing to do considering my current popularity level.”
Despite of himself a small smile crept onto his lips. There was certainly no denying that point.
“Sir,” she began. “Akinola won’t be sitting by quietly and trust Schwarzkopf or the local government to return his crewmember. Sooner or later he will be making a move.”
Owens nodded slowly. “I know. But what do you suggest we do about it?”
“I’m not sure yet but we have to be ready for it.”
“I don’t like where this might be going, Commander.”
Star didn’t reply.
He looked out of the window to catch a glance of the small Albacore-class border cutter gliding along in a parallel orbit. The last thing he needed now was to worry about an internal battle to break loose. “Make whatever preparations you think are in order.”
She nodded sharply. “Sir,” she said and stood to head for the door. She stopped before she had reached them to look back at her new captain.
Owens noticed. “Is there something else, Commander?”
She appeared uncomfortable which Owens had already realized was not one of her traits. Even when surrounded by people who cared little for her, she had always maintained a certain confidence about her. How much of that was an act, he didn’t know. “About what you said earlier. I wanted to thank you for your faith in me. I know you have no reason to trust me.”
“Let me be perfectly clear in order to avoid any future misunderstandings between us. I still don’t. You will have to earn that.”
Star nodded and left.
Problems began the moment Admiral Schwarzkopf entered the observation lounge to find Michael Owens and Tazla Star waiting for him. He had clearly not expected to find the Trill there. He didn’t mention her presence, his body language however spoke volumes all by itself and his disdain for the commander was perfectly obvious.
Star for her part had apparently learned from the disastrous senior staff meeting minutes before and kept her head down this time, barely even acknowledging the admiral. Owens couldn’t tell if she had similar dislikes for Schwarzkopf as she–different to the admiral–maintained a near unreadable poker face.
“I have just returned from a lengthy meeting with both the prias and his key advisors. We have spoken at length about the incidents on the surface and I think we have come to a mutual understanding how we should proceed,” Schwarzkopf said, as he stood in the middle of the room, in front of the large panorama windows and facing Captain Owens who sat at the head of the conference table.
“Admiral, if you don’t mind waiting for just a moment. We are still expecting the other participants,” said Owens.
Schwarzkopf gave him a puzzled expression. “What other participants?”
The door to the observation lounge opened just then to allow Captain Akinola and Commander Dale McBride to enter.
If Schwarzkopf had appeared irritated before, it was nothing compared to his reaction upon seeing the Nigerian Border Service skipper enter the room. “What is the meaning of this?” he said but directing his question to Owens.
Eagle’s captain didn’t need a counselor to tell him that the tension level in the room had just reached explosive heights and for the first time he wondered if it hadn’t been a mistake to try and put Captain Akinola, Admiral Schwarzkopf and Commander Star inside the same four walls. He was faintly aware that all three had history together. Neither one of them knew each other personally, he was sure of that, but they had all been involved in an episode which had led to dire consequences for all three parties.
Akinola was tense and became impossibly more uncomfortable upon seeing Tazla Star, sitting next to Owens. Schwarzkopf was close to furious, not just because of Star’s presence but because Akinola had seemingly intruded on a meeting which he himself had called but with apparently no intentions whatsoever to include the Border Service captain. Star shifted nervously in her seat, for the first time showing the slightest hint of not being entirely at ease with the situation herself.
Owens stood to face the admiral. “Seeing that one of the missing crewmembers is part of Captain Akinola’s crew I thought it would be prudent to keep him involved and updated on the situation,” he said and tried a small smile. “I believe he has every right to be here, wouldn’t you agree, Mel?”
The admiral winced slightly as if he had suddenly come to regret the intimacy he had invited with Owens. He shot a quick glance towards the opposite site of the room where Akinola and Bane awaited Schwarzkopf’s response. The admiral relaxed somewhat even while it remained obvious that it was an entirely forced reaction. “Of course,” he said with a smile infinitely less honest then Owens’ had been. “If you’d like to take a seat, Captain, Commander. I’ll be briefing all of you.”
The two Bluefin officers sat at the opposite end of the table. But Akinola avoided eye contact with Schwarzkopf. Instead he looked at Owens to give him a short and guarded nod of acknowledgment. Then he looked at Star. “Before we begin,” he said coolly. “I would like to know what Commander Star is doing here.”
The Trill looked up at the mention of her name, her green eyes looking at the Bluefin skipper for just an instance. She couldn’t hold his intense gaze any longer.
“My apologies, Captain,” said Owens. “And to you as well, Admiral, for not explaining sooner. Commander Star has been re-assigned to be Eagle first officer for the time being. As such I have asked her to attend this meeting.”
Neither Schwarzkopf nor Akinola seemed happy with that development. Owens knew exactly how they felt but managed to keep his own reservations well hidden. He hadn’t realized how much these two men seemed to disapprove of her. Had he known he may not have insisted on her presence in the first place.
“I cannot say that I’m happy with that arrangement,” Akinola said in a surprisingly blunt tone to which Owens took offense for just a moment. He disliked the idea of Star being there just about as much as Akinola did, possibly even more but that didn’t give Bluefin’s captain the right to criticize the way he ran his ship.
“I agree with Captain Akinola,” Schwarzkopf said and immediately appeared as if he wished he had phrased that differently. “Commander Star’s presence here is neither requested nor required and to be frank I do not trust her.”
Star glared at Schwarzkopf but held her peace.
Owens understood that rank had its privileges but as far as he was concerned a line was being crossed here. He stood from his chair again. “Gentlemen, I understand your concerns but allow me to be frank also. Commander Star has been reassigned to this ship as acting first officer effective immediately. It was not my decision but that doesn’t mean that I will not respect it. Whilst you are guests on my ship I will not accept anything less but for everyone to afford the Commander with all the respect due to a person of her position, regardless of her past or your previous experiences,” said Owens in a tone so firm it surprised himself. His eyes were so focused on the three men in the room that he didn’t notice the astonished expression on Star’s face.
Schwarzkopf appeared taken aback for a moment by Owens’ bluntness.
Akinola took a moment to read his counterpart’s determined expression before he slowly nodded. “Very well, Captain. Perhaps it is time then to focus on why we are here in the first instance instead of reliving painful memories.”
Owens noticed the look between Akinola and Schwarzkopf which was anything but amicable. They still didn’t trust each other or Star for that matter but at the very least they were willing to ignore those personal feeling for the moment. Or at the very least would pretend to do so.
Owens sat down again. “Mel, you were just talking about your meeting with Tiaitan’s government officials.”
Schwarzkopf nodded hesitantly, requiring a few moments to return to his earlier train of thought which had begun back when everything had appeared to be going as he had envisioned it. It was a long way from where they had ended up. “Yes,” he said finally. “I have spoken to the prias at length about the recent events on the surface. Firstly he has been kind enough to absolve us of any wrongdoing in regards to how we have reacted to the events in Al Tre Nek,” he said and looked directly at Owens, making it clear that he wasn’t particular happy about his decision of bombing the planet earlier. “He has also asked me to convey his sincere apologies that his security forces were unable to protect our people and prevent the abduction of our crewmembers.”
“Apologies won’t bring them back,” said Akinola.
Schwarzkopf shot him a sharp glare. “I’m fully aware of that, Captain,” he said. “And so is His Eminence. He has pledged to use his entire military apparatus to locate our people and return them to us safely as quickly as possible.”
“Forgive me Admiral,” said Owens. “But we have been using a fleet of shuttles, equipped with high-powered sensor units for the last two hours to comb half of a continent without finding a single clue to their whereabouts. How exactly are the Tiaitans proposing to find our people?”
“The Tiaitans are naturally far more familiar with the terrain and with these criminals than we are. This is not the first time people have been kidnapped and the government has had a high success rate in returning abductees. That’s why I have agreed to leave this matter entirely in their hands.”
“You can’t be serious?” said Dale McBride, the first words he had spoken since entering the room. “These are our people, you can’t entrust their safety to a foreign government.”
“I can and we will, Commander,” said Schwarzkopf. “Trust me, this is not an easy decision for me to make. There are many considerations here however, including the Prime Directive.”
“The Prime Directive?” asked Akinola in an almost bemused tone. “You are bringing that up now? After Captain Owens decided to bombard the planet from orbit? If there ever were any Prime Directive considerations here they have gone out of the airlock long ago.”
“Two wrongs don’t make it a right,” the admiral shot back. “I don’t agree with Captain Owens’ decision to fire on Al Tre Nek and I sure as hell will not condone any further violations of the Prime Directive. The abduction of your crewmembers has become an internal Tiaitan matter the moment you decided to go to part of that planet that had not been deemed safe for off-worlders.”
“I made no such decision,” Akinola said.
“Be that as it may, I will not allow anyone to jeopardize this treaty by utilizing any more strong hand tactics. This is more important than two Starfleet crewmembers,” he said and let that last statement sink in for a moment. Clearly he had not expected to win any popularity contests with the two starship captains but the ensuing silence–stemming from disbelieve–was maybe more than he had anticipated.
It was Owens who finally broke it. “Mel, I have talked to my officers after they returned from the planet and I got the distinct impression that the government would not be disinclined to our help. If that is true then why are we not more active in trying to locate these rebel strongholds where our people might be kept? Surely we could negotiate some sort of joint search operation.”
“Because this isn’t just about what the Tiatians want or about what we want or about what we can do for that matter. This is about creating a lasting relationship with Tiaita with which not only their government will be comfortable with but ours as well. If the Federation Council learns that we are actively using military assets to assist the Tiaitans in their internal security matters this entire treaty might fall apart like a house of cards. This is about appearances as much as it is about securing a war time alliance which might win the war for us. Now, I will remain in close contact with the government and update you on any progress being made. In the meantime you both have your orders.”
“Orders? You mean to sit on our asses and twiddle our thumbs?” said Akinola.
Another glare. “If that’s how you like to put it, Captain, be my guest. I will return to the surface to keep a close eye on the situation. Gentlemen,” he said, shooting Akinola and McBride the briefest glance, giving Owens a short nod and ignoring Star entirely as he walked quickly out of the room.
Not a moment later Akinola left his seat and addressed Owens at the opposite end of the table. “You can’t be seriously considering to go along with this.”
“I don’t see how we have much of a choice in the matter, Captain.”
“There is always a choice.”
Owens shook his head sadly. “Not if we are trying to reach the same goal.”
The two men looked at each other intensely for a moment, each of them trying to get a glimpse into the other’s mind.
“Then maybe our goals are not compatible,” Akinola said and walked towards the door with his first officer in tow.
“Captain Akinola.”
The Nigerian man stopped short to look back at Owens.
“I want to get our people back as much as you do.”
He nodded. “I’m sure you do, Captain. For what it’s worth I appreciate your invitation to this meeting even if it was about as productive as I had expected. Good day, Captain,” he said and left the observation lounge along with McBride.
Michael Owens sighed as the doors had closed and he was left alone with Tazla Star at his side. “He was right about this meeting,” he said quietly but without glancing at his first officer. Then he looked at her almost as if he had only just remembered that she was still there. “You were rather mum during the meeting.”
She shrugged. “It seemed to be the wise thing to do considering my current popularity level.”
Despite of himself a small smile crept onto his lips. There was certainly no denying that point.
“Sir,” she began. “Akinola won’t be sitting by quietly and trust Schwarzkopf or the local government to return his crewmember. Sooner or later he will be making a move.”
Owens nodded slowly. “I know. But what do you suggest we do about it?”
“I’m not sure yet but we have to be ready for it.”
“I don’t like where this might be going, Commander.”
Star didn’t reply.
He looked out of the window to catch a glance of the small Albacore-class border cutter gliding along in a parallel orbit. The last thing he needed now was to worry about an internal battle to break loose. “Make whatever preparations you think are in order.”
She nodded sharply. “Sir,” she said and stood to head for the door. She stopped before she had reached them to look back at her new captain.
Owens noticed. “Is there something else, Commander?”
She appeared uncomfortable which Owens had already realized was not one of her traits. Even when surrounded by people who cared little for her, she had always maintained a certain confidence about her. How much of that was an act, he didn’t know. “About what you said earlier. I wanted to thank you for your faith in me. I know you have no reason to trust me.”
“Let me be perfectly clear in order to avoid any future misunderstandings between us. I still don’t. You will have to earn that.”
Star nodded and left.
_ _ _ _
Very tense segment! That made me uncomfortable just reading it! 
Talk about awkward meetings.
Now Captain Owens not only has a rogue first officer to watch, he's got a ticked-off Akinola on the warpath! Talk about having a bad day!
And Schwarzkopf is a slime. I just had to throw that in, too.
Talk about awkward meetings.Now Captain Owens not only has a rogue first officer to watch, he's got a ticked-off Akinola on the warpath! Talk about having a bad day!
And Schwarzkopf is a slime. I just had to throw that in, too.
For those interested, the orignal exchange between Akinola and Owens went something like this:
“I want to get our people back as much as you do.”
“I’m sure you do, Captain. For what it’s worth I appreciate your invitation to this meeting even if it was about as productive as I had expected. Good day, Captain.”
"Before you leave, may I just -"
"I SAID GOOD DAY!"
“I want to get our people back as much as you do.”
“I’m sure you do, Captain. For what it’s worth I appreciate your invitation to this meeting even if it was about as productive as I had expected. Good day, Captain.”
"Before you leave, may I just -"
"I SAID GOOD DAY!"
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