Looking the Other Way: Officially (part 2)

Posted on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 @ 1:29pm by Commodore Samantha York & Commander Alexandra Vance & Captain Cameron Bourne & Admiral Maximilian 'Max' Hunter
Edited on on Wed Jul 24th, 2013 @ 1:43pm

1,072 words; about a 5 minute read

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

[CONTINUED]

[OLD]

Cam watched the video replay, showing little emotion. He already knew most of what happened in the bar from his interviews with them Marines involved. Waiting until the video finished, Cam sighed, "I knew something like this wasn't far off" he said, looking over at Sam.

[NEW]

"Agreed. Tensions have been high of late. My primary concern is the discharge of a phaser to resolve the fight. There are number of regulations that were violated. It is these I wish to address."

Max took a moment to think before he spoke up. "If I may, Captain York." He said softly before turning to Cam and addressing him. "Lieutenant. I have the utmost respect for Marines. Don't get me wrong when I say this, but If you knew something like this was initially going to happen, Why did you not take the necessary precautions to make sure it doesn't?"

Max paused for a moment, looking around the room at everyone else before looking back to Cam. "You gave the order to fire the phaser, a phaser which: A Should not have been fired and B Should not have been in your officer's possession. Your on the Flagship of the fleet. Appearances not withstanding, I would have thought your Marines would have known to behaved better. Since it was, after all, a Marine who threw the first punch started this whole incident."

"This is Admiral Maxwell Hunter. He's here to investigate Lieutenant Wolfe's ... departure," Sam said.

Then Sam turned to Max. "Tension has been high on the entire ship lately. We're getting close to finding the cause, but there have been a few minor skirmishes recently. And our Chief of Security had to be locked up."

"But it's sat to assume those few minor skirmishes did nothing but fuel the fire to the one bit skirmish that we are now trying to resolve and decide what to do." Max looked over to Sam and then back around. "Don't miss understand. I do plan on helping anyway I can, but it just seems to me that this was bound to happen and ignorance of it is doesn't mean it doesn't exist."

"At the same time, I don't want this to end up on anyone's permanent record," Sam said. "I believe there are extenuating circumstances. But we still need to deal with the issue of the discharged phaser."

Max leaned back slightly in the chair with a sigh. "Well. I am neither a counselor or a JAG officer. So I am not in the right position to decide what condition defines extenuating circumstances and what punishment to give those involved." He looked around and then focused back to Sam. "But, I will tell you that as an Starfleet Admiral that letting this slide under the rug may cause further problems, but as a member of Starfleet Intel, especially the division that I run, I do understand the need to let certain things slide." He paused again and looked back around. "So I remind you all that unless this is done properly, it may come back to haunt everyone in this room."

Sam nodded. "Yes. We definitely need to do this properly."

Taking a slow, deep breath, Cam looked over at Sam, "Captain, Admiral, as Marine Division Commander I take full responsibility for the actions of my Marines. Whatever reprimand is warranted, I'll accept. As the Admiral has said, I gave the order to fire the phaser in question, as I believed it was the best and quickest option at the time to resolve the situation. I was notified by the on duty Security officer about the 'skirmish' in the bar and I said that I would handle it. After that, I took responsibility for whatever happened"

"Yes you will Lieutenant." Vance said coldly from behind him. "You entered a hostile environment sorely outnumbered.....As the Admiral said, you should have known better."

"And what was I supposed to do, stand outside hoping they'd stop on their own?" Cam asked, turning to face Vance

"Call for reinforcements Lieutenant. I for one was unoccupied at the time of the incident and I have combated much more than your marines have to offer in the past. Add in some additional security personnel, anyone really, the presence alone would have quelled the altercation without the need to discharge a phaser. Of course I can understand your decision to shoot first, better to beg for forgiveness isn't it?" Vance stated in a mocking tone.

"I wasn't begging, I was admitting my error and accepting the consequences" Cam said, in a low tone of voice, "and as for calling for backup, you seem to forget, Commander, that most of the crew are suffering from a severe lack of sleep. Now tell me, do you think talking a squad of security personnel who are all running on adrenaline, into a hot situation is the best option?"

"So it is better to have a sleep deprived marine discharge a weapon? We have all had training under strenuous and extreme circumstances." Vance shot back.

"Enough!" Sam barked. "We're not here to point fingers, we're here to work together so this matter doesn't escalate further."

Max looked over to Sam and then to Cam. "Lieutenant, we know you felt this was the only option available, and we understand you desire to accept the consequence in regards to your people. No one is question your loyalty, but it's does go without saying that your Marines may have been in the same adrenaline condition as any of the Starfleet Security Officers." He paused, looking over to Vance then back to Cam. "Regardless, Commodore York is correct. This is not about pointing fingers." Max looked over to Vance sternly. "As much as we feel there needs to be one."

"On the contrary Admiral. I am not here to point fingers, Commodore York mentioned we were here to work together to ensure this does not happen again and I am merely stating my observations on the matter, if they are unwelcome I will simply leave." Vance scoffed leaning against the wall.

"I would like to put this down to external conditions exacerbating sleep deprivation and excessive tension," Sam said.

(To be continued...)

2nd Lieutenant Cameron Bourne
Marine CO

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Admiral Max Hunter
Fleet Spec Ops

Commander Alexandra Vance
Executive Officer

 

RSS Feed