"Decisions Made"
(previous post "Executive Thinking")
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Stardate: 60323.0800
Setting: NEW ALEXANDRIA, Section H
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Writing reports were a part of the job and although it certainly wasn't his favorite part, Prav didn't mind it too horribly much, except for this last one. Usually he could pound one in short time but the mission report from the TANGIERS ORBITAL had left him sitting for hours staring at his monitor.
The report he had turned into Captain Simmons, which in-turn was given to Admiral Koneki, certainly wasn't fiction but it didn't tell the whole story either. The information the Enaran had gleaned from the overly-friendly Ktarian had been quite enlightening. The project her husband had worked on and had been on the ORBITAL to sell certainly would be of interest to Starfleet but the people who really needed the information would probably never get it and it was for that reason Prav had held back on full disclosure.
As he walked toward his meeting with General Alvarez he contemplated his decision. He couldn't be completely sure that Starfleet wouldn't turn over the information to the essential Delta Quadrant governments and maybe he had been too hasty in his hesitation to withhold the information. Alvarez had been his failsafe, he could turn over the information to the General with the excuse that he wasn't sure if he should put something like that into a report that would go through so many hands. It was a weak excuse and he probably would be put on report for not following protocol but the up-side was that he could finally put this anxiety to rest.
As he walked off the turbolift into the Marine section of the base he noticed the noise level increasing. It was a completely different world down there compared to the rest of the base, which always seemed very quiet and reserved. When they were docked, Prav purposefully didn't spend much time here, preferring the camaraderie and comfort of his own men on ANUBIS.
Although Alvarez's office was in the administrative section, he also maintained a 'working' office in the H section of the base. He may have been considered 'brass' but he was still a marine and preferred the company of marines over the fleeters, including even Koneki himself.
There was always a lot of action in this place: combat training, physical training, as well as rest and relaxation. The marines didn't hang out anywhere else on the base, this was their home and sometimes it was as if the rest of NEW ALEXANDIA didn't exist.
As Prav moved through the complex, one voice rose over the rest. He closed his eyes for a second, hoping he had mistaken it, but the body soon joined the voice smack in front of Pravat.
"Well, well," Anderson began. "Thought maybe you fell out one of ANUBIS' airlocks; we haven't seen you around here in so long."
Prav gave a sarcastic grin. "And I'm sure you were awake nights with worry," he said as he began to push by the larger man. "Now if you'll excuse me Anderson, I have important people to see."
Prav didn't get too far before the antagonistic marine stepped back in front of him. "That's Captain Anderson," he said, his voice dripping with condescension.
Immediately Prav looked at the man, his eyes darting from the face to the double silver bar on his collar. Disbelief flooded his mind. Not only had he an Anderson both get commissioned at the same time, the man was an idiot and never seemed to follow an order without getting into some kind of altercation. Something was very wrong with reality here.
Anderson took in the look of shock on the Enaran’s face, finding it even better than he had hoped.
"You better take that off before you get court-martialed," Prav said as nonchalantly as he could muster.
Anderson laughed. "Sorry my friend, they are all mine. I see that gold is still your color, though, pity," he said mockingly. "Do you know what I find tragically sad?" he asked his friends who were enjoying the bewilderment of the 2nd Lieutenant.
"No Captain," one of them answered, like the trained parrot he was.
Anderson stared hard at the Enaran. "It's really sad that the MCO of one of our Scarab-class cruisers is just a measly 2nd Lieutenant. You would think that a position of that caliber would warrant an officer of a bit more skill and training. You know, someone like me."
Prav stared him back for a moment before pushing by him. He could hear the snickers behind him and after a few steps he turned around and finally responded. "What's really sad is that you're a Captain, and they still think that I'd do a better job as MCO than you and that's why you're here and I'm there."
He turned and continued toward his meeting with Alvarez, with any thought of correcting his report having vanished.
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Matt Kelly (downwitmal@yahoo.com)
Writing for: 2005 post #256
2nd Lt. Pravat
MCO
USS ANUBIS
