[USS Charon]
Tired and vexed. Those two words described Shiarrael's mind the best. Standing beside her desk gazing out at the passing stars she waited for Brent to arrive. Was she angry at him? Partially, breaking the hand of her yeoman was not endearing, but he also took care of her kids. She had given the issue much thought- considered the stupidity of the yeoman and decided on an appropriate punishment for the Acting Lieutenant. His reaction to the situation was certainly exaggerated.
Brent had really been expecting the call. After he had shattered the mans hand he figured that eventually the Captain would call him up into the office to discuss why he had done what he had done or what she wanted him to do about it. Brent figured that would be the best time for him to confront her as to why she was spying on him. He exited out of the turbolift onto the bridge before walking over onto the bridge and hitting the the door chime on her door. After receiving the confirmation to come in Brent moved into her office. "You wanted to see me ma'am?" he asked her.
"You are a very talented warrior mister Warren" She kept her back to him but watched his reflection in the window, now ignoring the stars "you know why you are here. Give me an explanation for your behavior."
"I have an advantage because of my place of birth and I know how to use it," Brent replied flatly. He watched her in the mirror for a moment before finally responding to her. "My explanation is that he would not tell me why he was spying on me or who he was spying for. I still don't know why he was spying on me. But I know who he was spying for... I was charged with defending this ship and also defending your children on a more personal level. If someone is looking to map out my daily routine and figure out my strengths and weaknesses. Imagine my surprise when I found out the real culprit behind his spying," Brent let that hang in the air even though he was sure that the Captain already knew why. "So are you going to enlighten me why you had me followed or do I have to guess."
"Spying?" Shiarrael chuckled and turned around "why would I send a yeoman to spy on you mister Warren?" She shook her head and moved behind the desk pulling her chair out "I didn't ask him to spy on you- I asked him to clarify rumors that you and Lieutenant Commander Tyrax are having a relationship. There is a difference- his approach was too exuberant. If I wanted to spy on you it would be done subtly, not with a child." She sat down and rummaged behind her desk "I appreciate the work you do- however, I cannot have you injuring officers, especially my yeomen."
"You say potato and I say potatoe," Brent replied. He waved his hand as if he didn't really care. "But for the record. Why do you care who I have intimate relations with. you certainly didn't care when I engaged in them in the past with the Romulan worker or the Klingon woman. Why does Commander Tyrax suddenly so special to you," he asked.
"She is my second officer- why shouldn't I care?" Shiarrael looked at him wondering about his thoughts "the Romulan worker do not concern me, nor does the Klingon, but Commander Tyrax does. After the Cole incident and loss of Commander Becker I have decided to be more mindful of these things." She tapped on her desk and brought up the computer screen "so you confirm a relationship?"
"Because normally it's filled under personal business and unless you have reason to believe that it is impairing her job or my job Captain's don't give a shit about personal relationships," Brent replied. He wondered just what she was talking about with her former Marine commander and whoever this Commander Becker was. "Cole incident, that was your former Marine Commander right? The one you marooned? What the hell does he have to do with this?"
"I'm simply being cautious Lieutenant, you've obviously never served under a Romulan but that's beside the point. I can't have you assaulting other officers-" she picked up the set of armor she had hidden behind her desk and dropped it onto the desk top. The thing landed with a noticeable "thud" shaking the floor. "This is a samurai cuirass, are you familiar with the term? Interesting people they were. As your punishment you will run fifty laps around the ship wearing this every day for the next three months" she grinned "and I know your people's strength is quite famous in the Federation- so I had it made of Iron. Quite heavy, not enough to give you a workout I'm afraid, but I'm sure the humiliation will more than account for it?"
"I believe paranoid is the correct word ma'am," Brent replied as he inspected the cuirass. He had been sorely tempted to reply to her that she had never served over people who expected not to have their rights as Federation citizens violated just because of a little misgiving their CO had... But he figured that his paranoid comment was enough of a measure of his displeasure at how she had handled the incident. "Yeah it was used as chest armor in ancient times on Earth. Before gunpowder weapons became powerful and rendered them useless," he said and picked the chest piece up. Not bad. He might break a sweat doing that fifty times. "Alright captain I'll play along, on the condition you just simply ask me the next time you feel your delusions rising in your chest and you want to know what I'm doing. For the gods sake, just ask."
Shiarrael nodded her head and looked at the doors "dismissed." As the Marine left she grinned, the punishment was clever and perhaps odd- certainly he deserved some sort of penalty for breaking the yeoman's hand, but the yeoman did deserve to have his hand broken for being discovered for easily. Oh well, what would the crew say about Mister Warren running through the corridors wearing an ancient suit of armor? That will be interesting.
[End]
Captain Shiarrael t'Rehu
Commanding Officer
USS Charon
&
Brevet Brent Warren
Acting Marine CO
USS Charon
