From: Takako Nagumo <tnagumo@pop.pitt.edu> Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 20:32:03 -0400 Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: "I have a bad feeling about this...."
MD 14.2300
Scene: Reception
Commander Daniel Brennan found himself praying that O'Graeach was
not going to start an interstellar incident. Commander Miris had
already passed on word that the Flight Control Officer was having
some problems controlling his alcohol intake, and was acting
rather inappropriately. He would need to talk to him, soon.
The reception was winding down. Commander Miris had excused
herself earlier, as had Dr. Ledoux. Most of the junior officers
had left in the last fifteen minutes or so -- even most of the
security detail had been relieved, leaving only a few of the
senior officers. The Duchess and Counselor Tats-Marush seemed to
be having an animated conversation in one corner. Commander
th'Tellan and Meredith were in conversation in another part of the
room, with Yoshida standing close by. Lieutenant Fielding seemed
to be having some kind of discussion with Coltair and Falgor by
the portholes, and Shachor was having a word with Keyrin --
probably business, as they seemed to be looking around the room.
As he sipped his drink, Manisha Dixit, the ShipOres attorney,
caught his eye. He nodded, smiling, as she approached him.
"Ms. Dixit," he said, glancing around the room momentarily then
returning his gaze to her, "how are you doing this evening?"
"Fine, thank you, Captain," she replied. "I was having an
interesting conversation earlier this evening with Mr. Falgor, of
the other delegation...."
"Captain Brennan, Ms. Dixit."
The voice made them turn, and they saw th'Tellan and Meredith
approaching them. The ShipOres administrator stopped, nodded
toward the attorney, then turned to Brennan, a smile clearly
hiding a look of annoyance.
"If I may, Captain, I'd like to speak with you tomorrow, before
the morning sessions."
"Mr. Meredith," he said, glancing at th'Tellan and then looking
back at the administrator, "if this is something you would like to
have addressed immediately...."
"No... Captain," Meredith said, reassuringly, his smile becoming a
little better at hiding his other feelings. "Tomorrow morning is
soon enough, I think. It should not take long." He paused.
"Thank you, for this evening. It was quite... interesting."
"I certainly hope that that is a good thing," he replied.
"That," Meredith said, "may remain to be seen." He smiled again.
He took Dixit's arm, then nodded. "Good evening, Captain."
"Good evening, Mr. Meredith, Ms. Dixit."
He watched as they left the room, then turned back to the OPS
officer, grinning. "Quite a pair of dancing feet you have there,
Commander. I would not have thought it of you."
"You'll find, Captain," th'Tellan replied, deadpan, "that I'm full
of such surprises."
"I'm sure you are, Commander. You've certainly kept me on my
toes."
th'Tellan was about to reply when the Duchess, escorted by the
Counselor, approached.
"Duchess, Counselor." He nodded acknowledgment.
"Captain, Commander," the Counselor said, then turned to Brennan.
"Sir, the Duchess wishes to speak with you tomorrow morning,
before the session begins." Tats-Marush seemed somewhat
uncomfortable, although she was hiding it.
Brennan could not avoid glancing the doors which had just closed
on the ShipOres delegations. He quickly looked back at the
Duchess.
"Yes, of course, Duchess. When would you like to meet?"
"As early as is convenient for you, Captain," she said,
reassuringly, although he could see that she was not pleased with
something. He started to have a bad feeling about all of this.
"Would 0830 hours be convenient for you, Duchess?"
"Quite convenient. Thank you."
"My pleasure," he nodded, smiling.
"Then I shall see you tomorrow morning," she nodded. "Excellent
reception, Captain. And Commander th'Tellan dances quite well,
for a non-Corellian." She smiled at the Romulan officer. "Good
evening."
"Good evening, Duchess, Counselor."
Brennan watched as the Corellian party left quietly, leaving only
the few senior officers in the room. As he was about to direct
the stewards to clear the room, the doors opened, and he saw Miris
enter the room, tricorder in hand, her brows furrowed.
"Is something wrong, Commander?" he asked.
"Yes, I believe so, sir," she replied, sounding concerned and
annoyed. She had obviously been asleep. "Mister O'Graeach is
nowhere to be found, and he is supposed to be on the Bridge for
this shift."
"I saw him earlier," said th'Tellan.
"He was here earlier," she replied, her tone sharpening. "I had
noticed he was inebriated and had issued an appropriate warning."
"He is not in his quarters?" asked Brennan.
She shook her head. "First place I checked." She looked around.
"The computer said he was still here."
"Here?" He looked around, as well, then quickly walked to the
nearest computer panel, Miris and th'Tellan on his heels.
"Computer, locate Ensign O'Graeach."
[Ensign Ozwald O'Graeach is in Ten-Forward.]
He looked at the Exec, who simply raised her eyebrows, as if to
say, "I told you so."
He raised his brows, as well, then looked around for the Security
Chief. He spotted her still speaking to Shachor. He caught her
attention and beckoned her. Both Keyrin and the MCO both trotted
over to them. Fielding noticed the small crowd, and joined them,
as well.
"Yes, sir?" asked the Ensign. Keyrin, Shachor, and Fielding
looked at Brennan, Miris, and th'Tellan, in turn. "Problem?"
Brennan nodded. "Possibly." He lowered his voice. "Our errant
helmsman is supposed to be in this room."
"The mad Irishman?" Shachor asked. "What's he done now?"
"I see it's not the first time," said Miris, sighing. "I believe
we're talking about the same man." She opened the tricorder.
"We'll need to clear the room." She looked at Brennan. "Sir?"
"Go ahead, Commander."
He watched as she asked the stewards to come back in a half-hour
to finish cleaning. They simply nodded and left the room. Miris
tapped a few keys on the tricorder, then started scanning.
"I've set this to disregard our comm signals," she said, her eyes
on the instrument. "This should indicate any other comm signals
in this room...."
As they watched, she slowly walked past the tables, past the bar,
towards the storage area. She scanned the area, then stopped.
"I think I've found something, sir."
Brennan walked over, looked over her shoulder at the tricorder
reading. He nodded. They both looked at the position to which
the instrument pointed.
It was one of the storage lockers for foodstuffs which were non-
replicable. There were still a lot of those, as they had only
been nine days from port. They looked at each other, then
shrugged. Brennan reached out and pressed the key pad, opened the
door, turned the light on, and, with Miris, looked inside.
The two screams they heard said everything.
* * * * *
MD 14.2345
Scene: Ready Room
Brennan paced back and forth in front of his desk as O'Graeach and
Darling stood at attention in the middle of the room. Commander
Miris stood by his desk, watching. The two at attention were both
sober, now, thanks to the detox kits Miris had ordered up from
Sickbay. The two stood there, impassive, waiting.
Daniel Brennan was hopping mad. It was indeed a rare occasion for
him to be this angry, but this was a rare occasion.
"Am I to understand, Ensign O'Graeach," he said, trying to control
his temper, "that you continued to drink after Commander Miris
issued a warning?"
"Yes, sir," he mumbled.
"And you didn't see anything wrong with that, Ensign?"
"I... I think I was already too pi--"
"Damned right, you were too pissed!"
"Captain!" Commander Miris interjected.
Brennan sighed. "Excuse me." He breathed deeply, then walked
around the desk, sat down behind it. He looked up at the pilot
standing next to O'Graeach. "And you, Petty Officer Darling, you
knew that the Ensign was quite out of his own senses, yet you
persisted in this... this...."
"Yes, sir." Her voice was clear, neutral.
Brennan's hand came very close to bang on the desk, but he managed
to stop himself. He simply opened and closed his hands -- a
nervous habit -- as he unfocused his eyes, forced himself to
breathe deeply. He finally looked at the both of them.
"Mister O'Graeach, Petty Officer Darling, you are both hereby
confined to the Brig -- in *separate* cells -- for twenty-four
hours starting as soon as security can come to escort you. I
suggest you use those twenty-four hours to think about your
actions."
He nodded to Miris, who quietly tapped her commbadge to call a
security detail.
"Petty Officer Darling," he continued, "as your record shows no
history of behaviour unbecoming Starfleet enlisted personnel, I
will consider this incident an aberration. You will immediately
return to duty following your confinement."
He turned to the helmsman. "Mister O'Graeach, however, has now
twice been the subject of an investigation -- and this, after a
mere eleven days since reporting for duty.
"A formal reprimand will be included in your service jacket. I
will refrain from detailing the actual circumstances. The Fleet
does not look favorably upon fraternization between officers and
enlisted personnel, especially those who would fall in the chain-
of-command. However, I do understand the consequences of living
and working in close quarters, and I am willing to tolerate such
behaviour as long as it is discreet."
He glared at both of them. "But if I ever see or hear of this
kind of indiscretion again, you will both be confined to quarters
for the duration of the mission while you are not on duty." He
let the heavy silence weigh on them. "Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir," they both replied.
The doors behind them opened, and a security detail came in.
Brennan nodded, and Miris quickly gave them the order, and the two
left under escort.
It was only after the doors to the Bridge had closed behind them
that Brennan heaved a heavy sigh. He looked at Miris, then gave
her a wan smile.
"Thank you, Commander," he said.
"You're welcome, sir." She paused. "I assume that that is not
typical?"
"Typical?"
"You don't seem to anger easily... if I may say so, sir."
"No, I don't. And of course you may say so." He sat up, rubbed
his eyes for a moment, then stood, walking toward the replicator.
"Would you like something to drink, Commander?"
"No, thank you, sir," she smiled. "I think I've had enough
excitement for one day. If there's nothing else, sir, I'll see
you tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning it is, then. 0800 hours."
"Aye, sir. Good night, Captain."
"Good night, Commander."
He watched her leave, then punched up a cup of hot chamomile tea.
Returning to his desk, he sat down, sipped his tea, then started
reviewing the demands of the two delegations. Both Meredith and
the Duchess had requested a meeting in the morning. Whatever they
wanted to talk about, he saw no reason to be ill-prepared.
Respectfully Submitted,
Takako Nagumo,
CDR Daniel J. Brennan
CO, USS CHESAPEAKE (NCC-31813)
Task Force Bravo, Green Fleet
NRPG:
Fabian: As discussed. :)
Greg, Trevin: This should set up the next morning. :P <G>
All: Let's get the reception wrapped up ASAP. MD 15 should be an
interesting day. <G>
As for the title... I couldn't resist. :P
--
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Takako Nagumo <tnagumo@pop.pitt.edu>
http://www.oocities.org/TimesSquare/6318/
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CDR Daniel J. Brennan CO USS CHESAPEAKE, Green Fleet
LCDR Sian-Mairead Flynn, MD CMO USS ALEXANDER NEVSKY, Green Fleet
MAJ Anastasia K. Vansen MCO USS CORONA, Green Fleet
LCDR Duncan A. Morrell Instructor ALB Holodeck 4
CDR Julianna M. Sforza COMREC Commander, Starfleet Records
Civ Meyran Cates Semple Undersecretary UFPDOCA
Civ Carolina Maria Garces Director-General UFPESCO
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