"Shoot First Ask Questions Later"

[DaveJohnson 0]

“Shoot First, Ask Questions Later”

A Log by Ensign David Johnson

 

David sat in the brig his head in his hands. He ran his hands through his hair as he pondered his situation. Less than an hour had passed since he had strolled into engineering a smile on his face, ready to start his very first duty shift. Lt Cmdr Jax greeted him in her office and before he could even finish listing his areas of expertise he found himself running with her to her quarters where they discovered a man sitting in a bath tub and smoking a cigar. David didn’t recognize him especially since he didn’t have a uniform on so he pointed a phaser at him and asked his superior whether he should shoot. She told him yes, and he did. That was what was puzzling him now, why did he shoot, why was he so quick to follow orders before even asking a question. Only after he had shot the man did he realize that not only was Lt Cmdr Jax joking but that the man he had shot was the Chief of Security. It was almost impossible for him to consider not following orders regardless of whether they were joke orders or not and because he didn’t realize that Lt Cmdr Jax was joking it had made things all the more complicated. He thought back to his days at the academy when he had times performed badly on a simulation because he did what was ordered instead of acting on his instincts. He realized that he had shot first and asked questions later a philosophy which had landed him in the brig. Of course had he asked questions instead of shooting first he could have been shot himself. As David tried to compose his thoughts and figure out how he was going to explain the story to the Admiral, having already explained it to the Chief Medical Officer & two others, he picked up a padd that had been given to him by one of the security officers upon his request. It was time to put his thoughts in writing, especially since his Starfleet career might depend on it.