Facing the Music (part 1)

Posted on Mon May 20th, 2013 @ 12:35pm by Commodore Samantha York & Commander Alexandra Vance & Admiral Maximilian 'Max' Hunter

923 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: What Dreams May Come?
Location: CO's Ready Room

ON

Samantha sat at her desk, looking at the death of Vance for the tenth time. She still wasn't sure how to approach Vance about it, but she needed to face Vance and see what she had to say about it.

"York to Vance. Could you please come to my ready room?"

Vance rubbed her eyes for a moment in frustration. For the first time in a while she had missed Dorin Kilus' command style. He had not been such a thorn in her side even as stubborn as he was.

"On my way." Vance replied after tapping her commbadge.

[[Ready Room]]

Moment later Vance was positioned in front of York's ready room. She tapped the door chime.

"Come in." Sam smiled coolly at Vance. "Have a seat, Commander. I'd like your opinion on something."

"Very well Commodore." Vance said taking a seat.

When Vance was settled, Sam pushed a button and the recording of the encounter between Vance, Damion, Hunter and Ronnie.

When it was over, she waited for several moments before asking, "Explain."

"What you are witnessing here is an elaborate ruse intricately designed to portray an event to sway the mind of a particular individual." Vance replied calmly. She had not seen the video until now and was quite impressed by how convincing it was.

"Obviously. Why did you not tell me about it? And why did you involve a non-Intel member of my crew?"

"I was not at liberty to release this information to you nor did I anticipate you would find that footage this quickly. As for Lieutenant Lancaster, she was brought in to wish Damion farewell, his reaction was also not one the Admiral and I accounted for." Vance replied still remaining calm as ever.

"Yes, you were at liberty to say," Sam countered. "It happened on my ship under my watch. It was your duty as my XO to let me know. Especially when it directly involved two members of my crew."

"Operational Security is not dictated by stature nor location. Information flow is limited on a need to know basis. It is what keeps people alive." Vance shot back.

"As the Captain of this ship, *I* need to know," she shot back.

"I'm sorry Commodore, but that is not a call neither you nor I can make."

"It's a call Admiral Burke made when she informed me that Wolfe was acting out as part of a planned sting operation. It was also a call Admiral Hunter made when he insisted that I know that Wolfe would be taking his shuttle. They recognized that I needed to know what was going on. Pity you didn't."

She gave Vance a cold, hard stare as she continued, "Keeping information from your commanding officer without a direct order from one of those two Admirals is not a call you had a right to make. Lying to your Captain is also not a call you had a right to make. Especially when it is your duty to be my right hand, not my blind eye."

"My duty is to protect information. I am not to release said information unless I am so commanded by the officer on point. The pity is not the fact that I did not divulge information to you, the pity is that Admiral Hunter did not feel the need to inform you himself or atleast have me bring you in the loop. The fact you have been blind sided by this video only serves to show me that you have stumbled upon information you have not been made privy to and therefore are not authorized to have at this moment. If you want answers Commodore you are going to have to go through him. Should he order me to divulge the details of this operation, I will happily do so without any resistance." Vance replied matching York's tone.

Alexandra would not be intimidated by rank, position or a scientist. Had she read Vance's service record she would have known this. People die, because the wrong people get the right information.....knowledge is truly a power to be reckoned with.

"And people get demoted for lying to a superior officer." This was going nowhere. Sam didn't want to throw her XO in the brig, but she couldn't let her get away with lying and withholding information. She needed to bring in reinforcements.

"I was a Captain not long ago Commodore. My rank holds no importance to me..." Vance said with her voice trailing off bowing her head slightly as she remembered the crew she left behind.

Sam ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I'm trying very hard not to throw you in the brig for any of a long list of things. Disobeying a direct order, lying to a senior officer, endangering personnel...need I go on?"

She didn't give Alexandra time to respond. Instead, she tapped her combadge. "York to Hunter. I need your help with a pig-headed, misinformed former Intel officer who may soon be a former Executive Officer."

"Name-calling Commodore? I had you pegged to be better than that." Vance said shaking her head.

Sam ignored her XO's comments and waited for Admiral Hunter to speak.

There was a moment of silence and then a slight sigh as they hear his voice come over the combadge. "You must be talking about Alexandra. I'll be there shortly, Commodore."

(To be continued...)

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer
USS Calypso

Admiral Maximilian Hunter
Covert Operations
Starfleet

 

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