" Decision "
(Previous Post was Serena's "Executive Confrontation")
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, CO's Ready Room
Stardate: 60324.2115
The young woman sat in her chair behind her desk… her thoughts
lingering on the discussion that had just taken place between her and her ExO. Never before had the redheaded woman found herself at odds with the half
Human, half Romulan woman, and Sabrina thought for an instant that this had
been a good thing. Going nose-to-nose with Serenna had not been a pleasant
thing… even if her arguments had been well founded and well meant.
"Rikar to Annie… please open a secured comm channel to VIPER 1." The CO requested from the Ops officer, the young woman suddenly feeling the need to speak to her life-mate.
=/\= Secured channel opened. =/\= The Avatar promptly replied once the task had been accomplished.
"Enaii… what's your status?" The CO inquired, not thinking for a moment that she had the report sitting on her desk within arm's reach.
=/\= Same as when I reported in 10 minutes ago. =/\= The ILO reported, understandably sounding a little annoyed. Enaii had never been known to be the type to be inefficient in *anything* that she did, and to have her need to report in so soon after she had already done so had rubbed the woman the wrong way. That the request had come from none other than her wife had in no way made the situation better… in fact it had only compounded the event.
"Enaii… can you stop being your usual cold self for just one moment and talk to me as a person and not an officer… or your CO." The redheaded woman pleaded, obviously not having been able to maintain the required image expected of all COs… that they be perfect and absolutely certain of every single action and decision they took.
=/\= Very well… what do you want? =/\= The ILO sighed, not at all making the young woman feel any better about the situation that she had found herself in the middle of.
"Maybe it was a mistake to contact you… just give me an update on the status of the Cardassian vessel and let's leave it at that… OK?" The CO offered as she shook her head and rubbed her forehead regretting having thought for an instant that Enaii had been the person she needed to speak to.
=/\= I Estimate that they will have full power restored in 45 minutes… 50 at most. We might be able to add a few minutes if we drop the hologram and engage with the VIPERS' weapons. The pulse canons are not going to make a big dent in their exterior hull, but we could keep them busy for a few minutes. =/\= The ILO explained, not at all sounding upset that Sabrina had turned the call into a purely professional one.
"I doubt that a few minutes more is going to make that much of a difference, but thanks for the option. Stand-by for further instructions." The CO said with a lengthy sigh having figured out that she would need to make this decision on her own. David's plan had the benefit of almost insuring the wanted outcome… that of having the ANUBIS and the Cardassian ship separated… the problem had been time. According to Enaii the 2nd Cardassian shipo would be back to full operation almost 1 full hour before Dawson's plan could be implemented. The plan suggested by Maya on the other hand addressed that issue very nicely making it possible for them to be back on their proverbial feet within the hour, but the risks to the crew had by no means made the call an easy one for the young woman.
With a tap of her finger on the control panel located on her desk, the CO opened another comm channel, this time to the Enaran MCO.
=/\= Pravat here. =/\= The Marine 1st Lieutenant replied, a hint of trouble present in his voice. Just as she had been ready to speak, the young woman was interrupted by the sound of her door chime to which she responded by pressing another control and opening the door allowing the ANUBIS' Cns to step in.
"How are you doing?" The CO inquired of the Marine while instructing with a movement of her hand for Susan to come in and take a seat while she finished with the conversation.
=/\= We have been faced with a fair share of resistance from the Cardassians, but we have gained access to their primary computer core. We should have the entire content decoded and downloaded within the next 10 minutes, maybe 15 if they keep this up. =/\= Pravat replied as the sound of weapons' fire could be heard in the background.
"Just make sure that you *all* get back to the ANUBIS safe and sound." The young woman said in a somewhat commanding tone, glad to hear that at least that part of their plan had seemed to work as expected.
=/\= Understood… Pravat out. =/\=
"What can I do for you Ens. Mei?" The redheaded woman inquired, wondering what had brought the ship's Cns up to the bridge… and more specifically in to the office of the CO.
"Just came to see how everyone was doing on the bridge… Lea is up to here dealing with those injured by the crash and since I was doing nothing more than being in the way, I thought it best if I came to see how everyone was handling the situation." Susan explained in a perfectly professional manner and tone of voice which would have normally been expected from an officer with several times the Ensign's experience.
"Doing the best we can with what we got… which unfortunately is not all that much at the moment." The young woman replied, nit really ready to open up to Susan and request her input on the decision the CO would have to make very shortly.
"From what I have heard… you have several options available… and having multiple options is never a bad thing." Susan stated as she leaned forward in order to place her elbows on the CO's desk. Obviously the Cns had been made aware of the situation in some way, and that immediately made the young woman question the motives for the Ensign's presence in the Ready Room.
"Are you here to check up on the Command Staff… or on me?" Sabrina fired at point-blank range. Wasting time with pointless issues or a lengthy discussion would in no way help matter any.
"Let's just say that Maya was quite forthcoming with the details of our situation and the options that we currently on the table. Either you allow David to do as he had planed and we get caught unprepared by the other ship, or we risk sending the ANUBIS into a dimensional oblivion before they get to fire at us. Sounds like you have to make a difficult decision." Susan expertly explained, summarizing the entire situation in a few simple lines… unfortunately the situation itself had been anything but simple.
"And you are here to offer your opinion?" The CO offered as she turned away from the Cns and looked out of her window to see the aft section of the Cardassian ship which had embedded itself into the ANUBIS.
"I would never presume to give you my opinion without you asking for it Captain… I just thought that maybe you could use a sounding board." Susan explained, now wondering if her coming here had been a good idea. As the ship's Cns it was her duty to assist the CO or anyone else on the ship with the making of difficult decisions, but Susan began to question if she had the necessary experience to be involved in the making of a decision that would have the fate of the entire crew in the balance.
"I'm sorry… your presence and assistance are both greatly appreciated. The decision is actually a simple one… either I push our CEO to make the needed work as fast as possible and risk us coming in second behind the Cardassians who will not hesitate to even out the score, or I turn over the ship to our CSciO and her overzealous plan and risk sending half or all of the ship into another dimension." The young woman offered with a weak grin appearing on her pink lips as she tried to downplay the seriousness of the 2 choices she would have to pick from.
"There are risks either way… and at first glance I cannot see one choice being better than the other. So the best I can offer you is to rely on your experience… and if that fails, follow whatever your gut tells you." Susan suggested as she leaned back in her chair sounding rather calm and collect given the situation.
"Follow your gut? I don't think I ever used that line when I was a Cns." The young woman said, sounding both amused and surprised by what the Ensign had just said.
"Following one's intuition is sometimes the only way to go… it's either that or flipping a coin and I was never one to believe in luck." Susan said, reflecting the smile present on the lips of the CO back to her.
"Thank you… it may not show but you have been a great help." Sabrina said as she stood from behind her desk prompting the Cns to do the same.
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Bridge
Stardate: 60324.2125
"Lt. Cmdr. Maya… report." The CO demanded as she stepped out of her
office followed by Ens. Mei.
"Initial projection and computer simulation show that the plan I suggested should work. We would need to very carefully modulate the main deflector dish to create a sub-space resonance harmonic that would interact with the ship's hull but I think that we could pull it off in time to meet the other Cardassian vessel on equal footing." The CSciO reported in as few words as the Shillian could.
"I don't want any indecisions or surprises… we need this to *work*, no ifs, ands or buts. Understood?" The redheaded woman offered to the woman behind the science station. Obviously the young woman had made her decision which of course triggered the ExO to take a step towards the CO who stopped the half Human, half Romulan woman dead in her tracks by lifting a single commanding finger.
"It will work… I will make sure of it." Maya stated before diving headlong into her work and the countless number of calculations that she would need to verify and test before the would make the plan a reality.
"Rikar to Dawson… change of plan. Coordinate your efforts with Lt.Cmdr. Maya, she will fill you in on what you and the Exo-Comps need to do… just be ready to implement your plan as a back-up should things not work as expected." The CO said after having tapped her comm badge and opened a channel to the ship's CEO.
=/\= Whatever you say Captain, Dawson out. =/\= The CEO acknowledged sounding oddly accommodating, something that both surprised and pleased the young woman.
"Captain…" The ExO began before being cut short by the CO who had obviously not intended on reopening the discussion on the making of this decision.
"Your objection has been noted and will be entered in the ship's official log… if you are right the records will clearly show that you objected from the start. Don't take this the wrong way though… but I truly hope that you are not right on this one." Sabrina said through a forced grin as she made her way to the central chair.
"I hope that I am wrong too." The half Human, half Romulan woman said, accepting the decision as having been made.
"Ensign Doratheva… have 2 security teams standby to go in and assist Lt. Pravat. We may need to give them a hand to get back in one piece. Also have all weapon's system at full readiness… if this plan works, we won't have a whole lot of time to get ready before we end up nose-to-nose with that other Cardassian ship."
"Aye aye Sir." The Sec/Tac officer acknowledged, wasting no time to proceed as per the instructions that had been given to her.
"Bridge to Sickbay… I know that you are busy Doctor, but I just wanted to warn you to be ready. Before the hour is over, you might be called upon to deal with a whole lot more casualties." The CO explained, not revealing the specifics as to the possible cause of this new set of casualties.
=/\= Guess I don't have a choice… so we'll be ready. Sickbay out. =/\=
"Lt. Fairborn… set a course that will take us away from that Cardassian ship as fast as possible… wait for my signal to engage." Sabrina instructed with a deep sigh, already feeling nervous about the manoeuvre that they would be attempting for not another 30 minutes of so.
"Understood Sir… course calculated and entered in the ship's computer… awaiting your orders." The giant FCO said making the CO turn to look at the station located directly behind her.
"Now we wait." The ExO said as she glanced at her instruments to see Lt. Dawson, the engineering team and all of the Exo-Comps moving into position as per the CSciO's instructions.
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Sabrina Jones {sabrina_sweet@hotmail.com}
Captain Sabrina Rikar
Commanding Officer
USS ANUBIS, NCC-18501
"We are Grey, we stand between the Candle and the Star, between the Darkness and the Light" 2005 post #313
-Entilza Delenn, Babylon 5
