Armed Truce (part 1)

Posted on Thu Aug 30th, 2012 @ 11:21am by Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine & Commander Alexandra Vance

1,080 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Enemy Within: Lying in Wait
Location: Captain's Ready Room

ON

Samantha stalked into her ready room and pulled out a bottle of a fiery red liquid and three glasses, setting them on the small coffee table in the corner by her bookshelf.

She looked over at Alexandra. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Earl Grey Tea, hot." Alexandra replied.

Sam replicated a cup of tea for the Commander and set it on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch next to Damon. She wanted the support of having him next to her and it showed a united front to the new officer. Even though Sam knew she had no real choice in the matter, the mild show of defiance to whomever made this decision made her feel better.

She indicated the overstuffed chair opposite. "Have a seat, Commander."

Alexandra took a seat on the chair and took a sip from her coffee. Her gut was telling her something was awry. The two individuals across from her were close, as she would expect of a command team having served for a period of time, but these two seemed exceptionally close. It was the small observations that led Vance to this conclusion, the proximity in which York sat to the commander, the way she looked at him. The connection was far more than that which Alexandra had shared with Kilus under his command.

Sam watched the woman's eyes, noting the way they flicked from herself to Damon and back, the slight widening of query or comprehension. Vance kept her thoughts tightly battened down, which impressed Sam. Still, her relationship with Damon was not a secret. The two had been a couple almost from the time they came on board. "Yes, Commander," she said, answering the woman's unspoken question. Sam would much prefer getting it out in the open now than dealing with it later.

"Excuse me Ma'am?" Vance asked confused by the woman's statement.

"Yes, Captain Raine and I are more than just Commander and First Officer." She took a sip of her drink while Vance digested that information. "Now, let's talk about your posting here."

"As long as it does not affect your judgement nor ability to command this ship then it is no business of mine and I will keep it that way until I have reason to interject." she stated simply. "Now with regards to my posting, my orders are as stated in the document I gave to you, I was not aware of any ambiguities in them."

She went silent knowing full well that her arrival had caused turmoil in the ship's command structure. Her wonder lie in why Commodore York had even requested a new XO, surely she must have known that at some point there would have been a replacement. How far had her feelings for her significant other compromised her, the relationship alone was in contravention of policy and perhaps that is why starfleet was so swift. She was here now and not going anywhere whether York liked it or not.

"I won't be challenging your orders as regards to your assignment here." Damon said as he regarded the Commander. "This is your ship now, not mine. All of the administrative duties will be passed over to you as well as the responsibilities entailed."

This woman was making Sam's defenses kick into overdrive. Why, she wasn't sure. Or didn't want to think about at this point. "General Jonds has put Captain Raine in command of the USS Ontario. He'll be based on Calypso, but will need to be able to leave quickly when called upon. I was assured he would not be replaced for months -- if at all. So you can see why your arrival has caused some surprise. I can assure you it has nothing to do with our relationship. Admiral Burke is quite pleased with the way things are at present. Or were, anyway." She squeezed Damon's hand tightly. "It really doesn't matter at this point. Someone decided you needed to be here, so we need to simply deal with it and move forward. Which brings me to my next point. Where we're going. As you will be second in command, you need to know what's going on."

"Surprise or not my presence here is not meant as a challenge, it is simply an execution of orders that will be followed through. I will work with Captain Raine to ensure the hand-over is smooth and seamless so that he tend to his duties." The situation was clear but not one Alexandra wished to find herself in. She knew full well that even though she was infact the official Executive Officer, Commodore York would undoubtedly side and seek advice from her spouse vice the actual XO. She also knew this man would not hesitate to use his rank at his convenience to favour his wife. It would make her job difficult but not impossible.

"Now that we have established whom indeed is second in command" she said looking at Raine making sure her point was conveyed. She turned her gaze back to the Commodore. "What is our current mission?"

Sam didn't think it was the right time to let the Commander know that Damon would be third in command. There would be time for that later. "We'll be leaving immediately for Tiberius IV. It's a desert planet about 12 hours from here by warp. The USS Columbia went down on the planet and we have been sent to find them and rescue them -- if we can. The planet has silicate sands that prevent scanning by sensors, radar or echo location. So the sooner we get there the better. There's information on the planet in the science database. The planet is mostly sand, which is powder-fine and deadly. There are volcanic rock formations with fumerols and underground lakes. If the ship crashes on the rocks, they'll have a chance. If they land in the sand, we may never find them."

"Do we know the cause of the crash? Was it attacked or a mechanical malfunction?" she inquired. Ships simply did not fall out of the sky, ninety-five percent of the time if a ship went down foul play was involved.

"We don't know. All we know is they sent out a distress call and then we lost all communication. Two Intel ships went to investigate. They, too, are missing."

(To be continued...)

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Captain Damon Raine
Mission Advisor

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer

 

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