"Disciplinary Reminiscing"

[OdileCondacin 0]

Harper looked up at Condacin, her face sober. "Two days, five hours, and thirty-seven minutes."

 

Odile nodded, shifting her weight from side to side. "Your point?" Rubbing her temple with the palm of her hand, she sighed. Damned headache wasn't getting any better...

 

Repressing a smirk, she replied, "You missed the record by two days, three hours, and ten minutes. I assume you *were* going for the record?"

 

"Record, Colonel?" Condacin mirrored her expression.

 

"Fastest disciplinary measure on a new assignment."

 

Snorting, she leaned on the marine commander's desk. "Not necessarily, Sir."

 

As if Condacin had not spoken, Harper elaborated, "Because quite frankly, Condacin, I can't imagine why else you would be stupid enough to brawl with your chief your first week on duty."

 

She shrugged. "He was asking for it."

 

The colonel nodded soberly. "I see," she said, deadpan. "Lt. Kroells said to you, "'Welcome to the science department, Condacin -- here, break my nose. It's tradition.'"

 

"He might as well have. He required me to cease wearing the dagger." She shrugged once more. "It was the logical thing to do."

 

She raised her brows, regarding Condacin cooly. "Did you grow points on those ears since last I saw you? If so, you need a few refresher courses in Surakian philosophy."

 

Straightening a strand of hair, she exposed a nice round ear. "Of course I'm not one of the green bloods, Harper." Her smug expression turned sheepish. "I suppose I didn't make the best first impression, did I?"

 

Harper sighed, leaning back in her chair. "No, you really didn't, O'd'yl," she said wearily, and waved the petty officer to a chair. "Suppose you tell me why you put Kroells in sickbay. From the beginning.

 

"You know, you were one of the few people who could manage to pronounce that name correctly." She pulled out the chair Harper motioned to. "First of all, the boy had an attitude."

 

Giving her a knowing look, the colonel asked tartly, "This 'attitude' wouldn't happen to have been describable as, oh... 'this is my department and I'm in charge'?"

 

"Well, he was downright arrogant about his power."

 

"And then?" she prompted, too patiently.

 

Not really acting on prompt, she replied, lazily, "Besides, he was standing up for a little snit of a midshipman. Couldn't keep her nose out of my affairs. And then, the knife. Grozit, Harper, he told me to not wear the dagger on duty."

 

"It isn't regulation, you know, Condacin."

 

"No, but I'll be damned if some power hungry chief is going to take it away from me." She started snickering. "Besides, I need it for... self defense."

 

"Seems to me you do just fine without it, Condacin," Harper pointed out, wearing a deep frown.

 

"Sentimental reasons? I've not gone without it for two decades. I'd never actually use it on Kroells..." Silently, she thought that she might use it on Prospera if Blondie didn't show a little more respect, but that was beside the point.

 

She sighed and drummed her fingers on her desk. "I know that," she replied quietly. "And I know you've been granted dispensations in the past. But, O'd'yl..." She shook her head. "If it was that much of an issue, you could have filed a dispute with Kroells's order. You know I'd have let you have it. Now, though..."

 

"You're wondering what to do with me, aren't you? Fine, I'll apologize to Kroells. Written if need be. I'll bring him flowers in Sickbay and I won't laugh at the nose. But the knife has to stay." She huffed, shaking her head "Harper, are you planning to have me discharged?"

 

The colonel sighed. "Not over one punch," she admitted. "But you are on report, and you will be making a formal apology to Lt. Kroells. Possibly to Midshipman Prospera, as well."

 

"Not her. Kroells, fine. I've just had a bad day. But please... she's beneath me."

 

The temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "She is an officer aboard this ship, Condacin. Technically, she outranks you. Practically, she's your comrade. Either way, you owe her the same respect you pay anyone else in Starfleet."

 

"Technically, she annoyed me. Badly, Harper. But I'll try to restrain myself from smacking her halfway across the room in the future."

 

"If we had a counselor, Condacin, you'd be in for mandatory sessions."

 

"Counselors are for weak-hearted fools who can't keep track of their own brains." Smirking, she shook her head, almost in disbelief. "Gods, it's been one hell of a long time. What rank were you on Kyushu? Lieutenant?"

 

"You ought to know; you insisted on calling me "el-tee" all the time." Harper fixed the Xenexian with a stern look. "I'm not going to stand for this behavior on my ship, O'd'yl. You have such a strong urge to knock people into bulkheads ... I can always use a sparring partner." She grinned wolfishly.

 

Raising an eyebrow, Condacin looked intrigued, still grinning. "You'll end up in the infirmary, Harper."

 

"Not likely." She glanced at the disciplinary report on her screen, and frowned. "Of course, we'll have to wait to find out who's right; your off-duty time is about to become severely curtailed for a while." Looking back at Condacin, she steeled herself and added, "And as for the knife... I'm sorry, O'd'yl. It goes."

 

Standing, she instantly started bellowing. "Harper, you can't be serious!"

 

Unfazed, Harper looked up at Condacin. "Perfectly serious." She steepled her hands before her. "You chose to make it an issue; now you can live with the consequences. You can petition for a uniform allowance through the usual channels. If it's granted, you'll keep the knife peace-tied on duty. And so help me, I catch you in violation of that even once --!"

 

"So what happens if we get an intruder, and I don't have my phaser? If it's peace tied... it's worthless." Sitting back down, she gripped her left arm with her hand, getting more and more irritated by the minute.

 

Harper rolled her eyes. "It takes a couple of seconds to undo, Condacin. This is about your temper, not your self-defense skills."

 

"Don't let me hear you repeat that outside this room," the colonel snapped. "I know you never had much patience for greenies, but she is still your shipmate."

 

She begrudgingly nodded. "Of course, Sir."

 

"Good." Harper sighed, and relaxed back into her chair. "Little gods, O'd'yl, but you do know how to make an entrance."

 

"Oh, we all know that." Her golden eyes sparkling, she kept a smirk on her face. "You humans don't make it easy on me."

 

"Misfit."

 

The smirk turned a shade darker. "Something Kroells said similar to that landed him in the Realm of the Doctors."

 

Harper shot her a warning look. "Don't even think it."

 

Rubbing her hands together gleefully, she curled her left hand into a fist. "Think about it, Colonel? I'm halfway there!"

 

A sigh. "O'd'yl, haven't we outgrown this?

 

Letting her hand relax, she chuckled. "Not that I'd pick a fight with you, Medusa, dear." Growing serious again, she stood. "Well, I suppose I have to apologize to Sir James..." Something she was not looking forward to.

 

"You can do it in writing," Harper said, waving a hand. "Put off facing him until your next shift, if you like. But please, don't call him 'Sir James' to his face. His temper works about like yours."

 

"Burning like fire? I'll keep that in mind. Any other advice for me?" she asked, taking the dagger out of its sheath, running it along the side of her hand.

 

"Don't do that --" she indicated the dagger -- "around the goldshirts. They're twitchy. And don't order raktajino from the replicators in the crew lounge on deck seven, fore. They never get it right."

 

"Hmm, good advice. Nothing worse than bad raktajino." Extending one hand to her forehead, she managed a lopsided salute. "Just like old times, eh?"

 

"Heaven help us," Harper agreed.

 

Turning on her heel, she didn't bother fighting back another smartass remark before heading out. "I'll try not to kill anyone... Colonel..."