Command Decisions

[Sovak 0]

Sovak, folded his hands behind him and looked at the two officers standing stiffly at attention in the brig cells. He motioned to Precip to lower the force fields, his stony countenance and their own discipline holding Garnoopy and Farron in their places. Sovak’s voice belayed no emotion, as he composed his thoughts and began.

 

“As you both, I am certain, are quite aware, striking a fellow officer is a Court Marshall offence, and punishable, at the discretion of the Commanding Officer, by not only a reduction in rank, but incarceration of up to 10 years per offence. By the number of wounds and bruises that I note on each of you, which I deduce, logically, must have been inflicted by the other, I would be well within the technical confines of military justice to leave you in these cells for the rest of your natural lives.”

 

He noted, with some satisfaction, that neither of them showed any reaction to his words, which meant that either they thought he was bluffing (which, of course, he was not) or that they were showing much better self discipline than they had when they got themselves into this situation in the first place. As they were both intelligent officers, he logically surmised that the latter was the truth.

 

“Fortunately for you, military law does give me wide latitude in the interpretation and application of justice in this instance, and the plain facts are that I need you both functioning in the capacities to which you are currently assigned. Our mission parameters do not allow me the latitude to be without either of you.”

 

“I am not interested in any excuses, and will be reading your reports with extreme scrutiny. You will both be confined to quarters while not on duty, until further notice. A formal reprimand will be placed in your records. That is all. Dismissed.”

 

He turned and strode out of the brig area without giving them any chance to speak, passing the none-too-pleased-looking Precip, and noting the somewhat surprised look on Counselor Roget’s face. He did, for a moment, wonder if she thought he was being too easy on them, or too hard, but was sure she would discuss the matter with him, later, in their regular crew evaluation meetings. He headed to the turbolift, to return to the bridge, already putting the matter behind him.

 

His thoughts moved to other matters: preparation for departure, mission preparedness, and one other thought, which prevailed and seemed to take more precedence than he would like.

 

The Admiral had left the ship. His reasons for doing so were a mystery, but that is not what persisted in occupying his thoughts.

 

Sovak was in command. He was alone, with no Atragon to back him up. Certainly he had been in Command before. As first officer, he had had occasions to made command decisions before. But this time he was truly in Command. The lives of the entire crew, and the lives of the people with which they were to come in contact were his responsibility, no other’s. He was surprised to find that this fact made a difference to him, and colored his every thought and preparation for the mission. Logically, it was still the same mission, the same crew, the same ship. Fascinating, that this truth should make a difference in all that.

 

Perhaps he should have that meeting with Counselor Roget, sooner than he had originally planned…