“A Little Time Off, Part 1”

[Kansas 0]

01.05.08

ISS Agincourt ICC-81762

“A Little Time Off, Part 1”

 

Lieutenant Conrad “Silencer” Zimm sat at the desk, waiting quietly for Lt. Commander Mrrett “Kansas” JoNs to finish her own packing. He absentmindedly twirled a dark blue credit piece in between two fingers, his thoughts elsewhere as his gaze wandered aimlessly around the female Caitian’s quarters. The human had finished packing his own gear about ten minutes ago, and his small military travel bag, emblazoned with a woodland camouflage pattern, was placed at his feet all set to go.

 

JoNs meanwhile was placing the last few clothing items in her own military type messenger bag of olive to dark gray in coloring, with a stylized eagle drawing and the words “Freedom, Fame and Fortune” printed under the avian on the flap of the bag. Like Zimm’s, her bag had no marks identifying or linking her to the Agincourt. Sometimes, it was best not to advertise where one came from.

 

The feline glanced over at him, and smiled. “You look about a thousand miles away. Is everything all right?” She placed a hideaway disruptor pistol in the holster set in between the small of her back and the waistband of her slacks.

 

The human looked over to his Caitian lover, who was rapidly on her way to becoming his fiancé if he were to be honest with himself, and answered her with his own question. ‘I’m just wondering why you haven’t made a play for taking over command of the Agincourt yet?”

 

A chuckle almost escaped Kansas, before she realized that the male human was serious. “What brought this on? I mean, you have ten more years service then me Conrad…I just assumed you knew my reasons for not taking command.”

 

He ran a hand through his blond crew cut hair. “I’m not a mind reader M’rrett, and I never claimed to be an expert on the command track and the various intricacies. Humor me.”

 

JoNs nodded, and then moved to perch on a corner of the desk closest to him. “Okay then. Computer, access Imperial Fleet personnel files for the last one hundred fifty years.” The flat screen viewer on the desk hummed to life as the computer responded to the voice command, followed shortly by the feminine monotone programmed in to be the ‘voice’ of the computer.. “Working….”

 

“Display profile of Commander Spock, Executive Officer, ISS Enterprise.”

 

A profile head shot of the esteemed and famous Vulcan soon appeared on split screen, with his biography scrolling by on the other section. Kansas pointed with her paw. “To quote the esteemed Commander Spock - I am quite content to be a lesser target. I agree with him, and I prefer to stay as second officer, that’s all there is to it.”

 

“Display profile of Colonel Charlotte Harper, Commanding Officer, ISS Agincourt.”

 

“Harper didn’t have to become a sponsor, and I didn’t have to become her protégé. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, it’s true, but I can’t just up and back out of the arrangement – it wouldn’t be honorable or respectful. Plus the fact, she’d probably shoot me dead if I ever did something to even remotely jeopardize her power, but that’s beside the point. You and I both grew up with that type of honor code…a little rough, but it’s there regardless.” She waved a golden paw in the air, frustrated at her explanation. “You understand what I’m getting at, right Con?”

 

Zimm grabbed at the flailing paw with a big hand. “I understand.”

 

The golden feline smiled. “Good. Computer, show profile of Lieutenant Colonel T’Loren Day, Executive Officer, ISS Agincourt.”

 

“Another esteemed Vulcan, and our second in command. Honestly, she and I haven’t ticked each other off yet, and I am perfectly content to leave well enough alone. Plus the fact, she’s half Vulcan, very good at what she does, and the pointy ears are a long lived species. During that time, they are known for building up their kin and contact networks. If I even attempted to kill her? I’d probably have to contend with being hunted down by her family or various contacts. I don’t have the desire or the patience to deal with that kind of attention and fallout.”

 

“Computer, display profiles of Day and Harper, side by side.”

 

The computer promptly displayed the two profiles as instructed, one of the raven haired human bad ass, the other of the pointy eared Vulcan mind-hopper.

 

“Those two together represent a unique factor, which is two sharks in charge of an Imperial naval ship. And you know what? It’s all working out. There is currently no other ship in the fleet that can boast a marine command team. It’s that uniqueness that also makes the arrangement dangerous. That is, for those who choose to upset the balance of this power team. The numbers don’t lie, and the stats all show that the Agincourt is a model ship: our assassination count is way down, we provide Intel and looted goods to the necessary persons back at Fleet command when we need to, and the two sharks have led us into successful missions that we’ve all benefited from, either financially or reputation wise. Even if I entertained the notion, and succeeded in removing both Medusa and Paradox, I’m sure I’d tick off someone back at command who has some sort of vested interest in seeing two marines successfully command a naval ship. Therefore, I don’t mess with a unique and sure thing.”

 

“Computer, scroll through the department heads and line officers, continuous scroll.” With that voice command, the Agincourt ship-wide computer obediently brought up the profile shots and bios of the department heads and line officers. Levy, Rieve, Merril, Quade – they were all represented as the information flowed by on the console screen. “As second officer, I more then have my paws full keeping an eye on all these people and their subordinates, without setting my sights on the senior command positions. That’s all there is to it. I don’t want command of the Agincourt, period.”

 

A slow smile lightened Zimm’s chiseled features, and he pulled the feline closer to him. “Thank you. I wasn’t worried exactly, but the question of if you would make a play for command kept coming into my mind. Now, to the business at hand: Ms. JoNs, are you prepared for some well deserved shore leave?”

 

“Mr. Zimm, that sounds like a damn fine idea.”

Edited January 6, 2008 by Kansas

[Kansas 0]

EDIT: paragraph addition after the Day profile paragraph and before the department head/line officers paragraph.