Worrying history

Posted on Tue Dec 8th, 2015 @ 2:19am by Commander Bertrand Cuprum & Lieutenant Ishan Satele

Mission: If I told you...
Location: Security Office
Timeline: Prior to the mission

Lt Commander Bertrand Cuprum was not happy. This was not an unusual state of affairs where the word curmudgeon regularly appeared on performance reviews.

However, he was particularly unhappy today.

First the Captain had agreed to a "Secret" mission which would not appear on official records. Bertrand HATED them with a passion. While he recognized the need for security and secrecy, it made his job very difficult. How do you arrest someone for doing something they should not have been doing during a mission they were not officially on?

Secondly, the team had been shuffled. He'd lost good staff to a temporary reassignment, and some he suspected he would not be getting back.

Thirdly he was rankled by the official stance that the crew on the station they were to investigate were only third priority. He had been a low priority himself, left behind at Wolf 359. He had even had to do that to the crew only last mission, leaving the captain and a number of other people on a doomed planet while he took the ship to a separate rescue. Now there was a good chance ti would happen again.

But this last straw was what got under his skin the most. Agent Smith, the face of SFI for the duration of the mission, had brought his own personnel. What little information he could find was disheartening. Most of them had exemplary records, that which he could read of them.

However, the Flight Control officer he was bringing with him was far from exemplary, unless you wanted an example of who NOT to make a part of your crew. He read the report three times to make sure he hadn't been mistaken. Nope, there it was.

Brawling,
Insubordination,
Theft of Shuttle Craft,
AWOL,
Conduct Unbecoming an Officer,
...

And all of those were just while she was still still part of Starfleet. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his left hand. This had to be dealt with.

He tapped the comm pin once.

=A= Lt Cmdr Bertrand to Lt Ishan. Report to the Chief Security Office. =A=

Sitting in her assigned quarters, Satele was meditating on her new assignment. she was sure that she would cause some people to be weary of her due to either her history or the mannor in which she had been transferred in.

Hearing the call from Cmdr Bertrand, Satele sighed, opened her eyes than tapped her combadge, =^= On my way Commander =^= she replied before heading out

It didn't take her long to find the security office as she'd memorised the deck plans of the standard Sovereign class and assumed that this ship wouldn't be that different. Tapping the door chime, she waited for the response.

Bertrand felt the woman at the door, trying to gauge her before he even met her. She was surprisingly calm. Usually you don't get that sort of focus from someone unless they put effort into it.

"Come in," he called.

Bertrand was not what you would call an imposing figure. He wasn't tall, he wasn't particularly heavily built like a lot of security officers were. His clothes were slightly disheveled but at least it matched his hair.

Stepping inside, Satele stood at attention, "Lieutenant Ishan Satele reporting as ordered"

He gestured to a seat near Satele and waited for her to be seated. Then he suddenly said, "What the hell are you playing at?"

Satele looked at Bertrand, confused, "Sir?"

"Don't 'sir' me like that mattered to you. Your record reads more like a rap sheet. You have a long history of arching against any sort of authority. You fly in the face of regulation. You are a loose and undisciplined rebel."

"And yet you are given a significant post on one of the biggest ships in the fleet. You come looking to rejoin Starfleet after blowing them off. Your aptitude scores are not that of a blowhard wastrel."

"So, again, what are you playing at?"

"I'm sorry, i still don't understand what you are reffering to sir." Satele said. She figured that this was about how she first left Starfleet, but she wasn't completely sure.

"Are you the dangerous loner who makes her own rules and screw the system, or are you a responsible and disciplined officer who knows how to follow the chain of command? I have not yet someone who manages to be both, and I want to know where you and I stand."

"I may be both, or either at this point. I still have my Starfleet training coupled with my time alone has given me a unique perspective on things. It's also allowed me to reflect in detail about my past actions and if i could change my choices I would, but all I can do is try to prove myself worthy of the second chance that i have been given"

Bertrand sat back in his chair.

"That," he said reluctantly, "is a good answer."

He sighed heavily, "Some of the best officers I have served with in security were reformed delinquents. Likewise, some of the most difficult officers I have had to deal with were unrepentant reprobates. My job is to keep this ship and its crew safe. While you are a part of my crew, then it is my job to keep you safe too, but the instant you step outside that, then I need to keep the crew safe from you."

"And just so you know how seriously I have taken this, I have already arrested two of the command crew for breaches of conduct, including the Captain, on one occasion. I am an absolute bastard, so don't let this gruff exterior trick you into thinking that there is really a warm cuddly underside; warm and cuddly died decades ago."

He stood up and suddenly held out his left hand, "That all being said... Welcome aboard, Lieutenant.

A little surprised, Satele took a moment to take in what he'd just said. Quickly standing, she took his offered hand, "Thank you Commander. I promise i won't let you down. And surely even a hardened investigator like yourself has at least a little cuddly left somewhere. I've learnt that everyone does."

Bertrand could tell she was answering as honestly as she could, and that was good.

"If there is, Lieutenant, this hardened investigator hasn't been able to find it. Dismissed."

OFF:

Lt. Commander Bertrand Cuprum
2XO, CTO

Lieutenant JG Ishan Satele
Chief Flight Control Officer