"Officers' Chat"

[Guest Laarell]

Commander L.E. JoNs was quiet as the night nurse took yet another set of data readings, running the small handheld medical scanner over the cat's entire body. JoNs sat cross legged on her bio bed and just waited for this latest round of check up tests to be over. Wydown's medical staffers were thorough, and this was a good thing.

 

"Hello?" A familiar voice called out, then addressed someone else -- a nurse, most likely. "Is she asleep?"

 

Nurse Tech Call smiled at Left Ear and then moved out of the line of sight. "No, Commander Teykier, and I was just finishing up here. I'll leave you both be." JoN's meanwhile flipped an ear back and adjusted her seated position on the biobed. "Commander. Nice to see you." She offered a small smile to the Orion senior officer.

 

"You too. I figured I'd stop by. How're you feeling? Any better?"

 

"Somewhat, aye. I just have some difficulty with being knocked on my butt. I'm on the mend, thanks to Rue and her staff here. How goes things with you on the command front? I've been keeping up as best I can with the recorded reports."

 

"Ugh," she answered, sitting on the edge of the biobed. "The Bridge gives me headaches."

 

A knowing, yet good natured smirk bared some kitty fangs. "Oh, I have no doubt. When we serve long enough, you're exposed to all sorts of conversations that can take place on the bridge, don't you agree? What sort of discussion, and was it official or unofficial?"

 

"Official bickering." She sighed. "But I shouldn't stress you."

 

The brown furred Caitian feline rolled a healing yet stiff shoulder and regarded the green skinned Orion officer. "Fair enough, but thanks for the warning in case I need to follow up with disciplinary inquiries. How are you handling the double duties of second officer as well as acting exec?"

 

"Inquiries? Probably not. And the duties... I'm doing double shifts," Laarell admitted. "Triple the other day. But I have caffeine -- it's all good. Besides, not like I'm going off duty while we're stuck in this pea soup anyway, hmm?"

 

"Thank you for the assistance with the command duties regardless Comm... Laarell. And ... I've read the data graphs on this Thicket we are in the middle of." An ear winged back. "We are very much in the wrong neighborhood, I think that's what the humans say when you wander off your intended road? The ship got bounced around pretty bad, I know that."

 

"Well," she considered, "we did need to get in here to get at the Crownstone anyway..."

 

"Aye, and it just happens to be in the clawed hands of natural born pirates that have a built in moat." JoN's sighed. "What's the general moral condition of the crew, what with the baby missing?"

 

Laarell glanced out to the rest of Sickbay, not seeing anyone with sensitive ears directly about. "Honestly? I don't think it's demoralizing on the whole. The general sentiment is 'find it so we don't end up looking like the galaxy's biggest bastards later'. Or maybe that's just mine..."

 

Left Ear's green eyes flashed in warning for a brief second. "Careful, Commander: that sort of comment can attract the wrong attention. Bottom line, getting the little one back is a concern and the right thing to do." There was no anger in the statement, just a no-nonsense tone.

 

A sigh. "Permission to speak freely to the kitty?" she asked, teasingly, adding a little bit of her own purr to the words.

 

"Always. You and a few select others I can trust to do that and not stick your boot in your mouth."

 

"Thank you," she acknowledged. "While I for obvious reasons wouldn't directly challenge the decision to go after the kid.... how to say this? I don't agree with putting the lives and, by and far the safety, of an entire starship and fighter squad to retrieve a child. I mean I realize we don't have a choice, and I hardly fault you and Corizon for doing it, but... damn. There needs to be a change in the future. I'm tempted to propose a very, very strict 'no children' policy. With respect," she added.

 

JoN's gazed at the Orion senior officer for a long moment while her internal brain screamed at her, "Diplomacy! You suck at diplomacy M'Vess JoN's! You always have!" Still, Left Ear gave her response to the semi-proposal and constructive complaint and or careful consideriation, and then plowed onward. The cat glanced around the medical bay to further ensure no prying ears or eyes or general senses were tuned their way. "Off the record, Commander, I agree with you to a point. Families have no place on any sort of exploratory warship like the Excalibur; they do have a place on starbases and space stations and the like. Excal's general policy is not to have children aboard. Obviously we couldn't turn around and make them dump the child, but something will have to be done in the future. It's not generally known among the crew, Commander Teykier, but the Ziers asked me to be the baby's godmother. I have a responsibility there as well... but aye, we need to address this larger issue and problem of families in danger."

 

She nodded. "I'm really not a mean and spiteful bitch, Lefty," she said, "and I feel bad for the kid. But above any personal feelings I might have on the issue... we have a big, important picture to look at, and we can't let this sort of roadblock happen again. If that makes any sense?"

 

An eye twitched at the Lefty comment, but then Jons got ahold of herself and reminded herself that Teykier did indeed hold the same rank as her. Do not pounce the fellow command officer. She truly needed to learn to not be so wire-tight all the time. "You're looking out for the overall safety of the crew. That's what we do. No harm in that."

 

 

"Yeah." She shrugged. "So anyway, do you want anything while I'm here? Should I go breaking and entering in your quarters to retrieve a book-padd or something? Food?"

 

A slight fanged smile appeared at the question. "No, I now have plenty of reading material, and have been well taken care of with regard to food. But I would like to ask something of you, regarding ship's business?" Lefty raised a whisker.

 

"Sure!" Laarell offered. "Fire away."

 

The brown-furred feline regarded the Orion intently. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm what might be called a disciplinarian. I can't stand insubordinate behaviour, shenanigans, and general stupid chaos. I've always been this way, even as a young kitten, and I've just always expected the proper behavior from my squads. Now with that said? I am learning that you have to give a little in every situation.

 

"But, I'm curious Commander -- since stepping into the acting exec role, as well as maintaining your second executive officer position, what's your impression of ship's discipline levels? My view is that the crew is pretty solid, other then a few firebrands here and there." A curious purr heralded the end of the question.

 

Laarell nodded, repressing a groan. "It's... generally, very good. I'm, overall, very happy. Engineering especially impresses me. Tandaris has a tight ship down there." She smirked. "On that note, actually, did you read that we have a cloaking device now?"

 

"I am attempting to not dwell on the fact that we have an illegal cloaking device on board, much less attached to the ships innards. What cloaking device? I'll deal with it later when I'm feeling better."

 

The Orion snickered. "Very well. But anyway... I adore our new med chief, though I haven't talked to her too much yet. That's next on my list -- I have a few... things... to go over with her. Off-duty. As far as the rest of medical, I've had a few concerns," she coughed, "but I've kept my loud mouth shut. I read a few reports from that Patterson, though -- she seems quite capable. And an interesting background..."

 

Left Ear offered a purred chuckle. "The CMO is what is referred to as 'good people'. She's riding herd on me, and very well I might add. I'd swear she was a captain in a past life or something. Patterson? Aye, she's a good doctor, and flat out told me I had better not try and bolt from medical again. That takes guts to be that blunt to a senior officer, but she did it with respect, and that's important."

 

She laughed. "Gutsy is good. Let's see. Security is doing well. Victria and Garrison handled the heated Bridge discussion very... classily. What am I forgetting. Science? Mmmm," she growled.

 

A snorted, but good natured purr rang throughout the recovery area. "We are always the hardest on our own departments, isn't this true?"

 

"True enough," she answered. "They're contributing well..." she trailed off.

 

The former security officer, well versed in tones of voice and body language, picked up on Laarell's reluctance. "Something you want to talk about? I can do off-the-record if necessary. Either way, we both need to keep tabs on the general health and interactions of the ship's personnel."

 

"Off-the-record, then," Laarell agreed. "I'm a little concerned about how the crew is handling the chain of command, I suppose? I mean it's such a happy medium to strike, because we have specialists that need to give their opinions... but... still... final decisions should be left in the hands of the CO and XO, or acting XO," she acknowledged with a blush. "If that makes any sense. Today I was on the verge of handing out a rare 'You aren't in a democracy' speech."

 

JoN's again shifted her position on the bio bed in order to continue facing the Orion commander and lay on her side, propped up on her good arm. "I witnessed a situation similiar to that say about... five years ago? Just a difference of opinion between a senior lieutenant and his XO. It really wasn't a pretty sight. But, most officers -- both senior and junior levels -- learn to pull back before a situation gets to that point. I gather you didnt have to break out the speech because the party or parties involved pulled away?"

 

"They did," she agreed. "And they were just speaking their minds. No problem with that. But it makes my headaches flare. We're having a conference in a few hours -- that should help."

 

JoN's positively perked up. "As long as it remains a controlled atmosphere, aye. Perhaps I can get Doctor Wydown to release me for a couple hours in order to attend the meeting."

 

"I'll put her up to it," she agreed, and grinned.

 

A happy tail lash was the only response to the statement.