More Dangerous Than Mutiny

[Captain Halloway 0]

The following is a joint log with Commander Chirakis, taking place in the Aegis brig after the dinner conversation with Drankum and during the Time Between Sims (TBS).

 

With authorization from Drankum himself, Captain Thomas Halloway found no resistance to his request for a visit with Commander Chirakis. He'd been escorted to her cell by one of the over-eager security people he recognized from the runabout welcoming committee.

 

Stepping inside, he nodded to Axcelis. "Thanks, I'll be fine from here," he offered pleasantly, with a touch of dismissiveness. He turned to Chirakis. "Commander, I'm Captain Halloway of the Yorktown.

 

Having stepped away from the door out of habit, Chirakis seemed surprised. "Captain Halloway. Your reputation precedes you."

He smiled briefly. "I hope you don't mind me dropping in unannounced."

 

"Not at all," she replied. "I welcome it. Announcements don't usually make it through the heavy doors. I would offer you a seat, but there don't seem to be many around."

"No," he smirked, feigning a search in the cramped room. "I can stand." He paused a moment, as if assessing, then pressed ahead. "My ship picked up the distress call from Aegis. I expected the aftermath of a battle. I didn't expect to find things in such an unorthodox condition."

 

Chirakis assumed a comfortable stance, arms crossed. "Unorthodox," she ventured, "as in the political situation?"

 

"The command tension, yes," he admitted. "Not something I wanted to walk into, especially since it may compromise this station's safety."

 

"Indeed. The safety of the station," she repeated, searching his face.

 

Halloway leaned one shoulder against the wall. "I have no interest in meddling with this station's command situation, but I can't seem to untangle it from the alien attack. So I find myself needing to ask meddlesome questions..." He watched her face, the expression urging him to ask. "Questions that, legally speaking, you're not required to answer since they could implicate you. But they might be critical to the station's survival." He paused. "So I'm just going to ask, and you're going to decide if they're important enough to answer, since I can't offer any absolution or immunity. OK?"

 

Her nod was slow and deliberate.

His first questions were about the attackers and what prompted the attack.

 

Her response on the Athra began with legends she had gleaned from an earlier investigation. She spoke of specimens with a nearly impenetrable shell, a body structure integrated to the hull, impressive weapons. She mentioned evidence of telepathic communication and keen strategy. She noted an apparent connection with Breen space, looking at him knowingly. As executive officer of Aegis, she undoubtedly knew of Yorktown's mission in Breen space, but did not speak of it openly; this was wise considering the cell's lack of privacy. It was a curious connection in any case, he considered. Nothing Yorktown had encountered suggested the presence of the Athra. But he wouldn't speak of that here, either.

Instead, he frowned in concentration. "That doesn't leave Aegis in a promising defensive position, does it?"

 

"It does not," Chirakis answered quickly. "Our saving grace has been Subcommander Jorahl's excellent manipulation and strategic deployment of Aegis's defense grid."

 

Halloway nodded, then made a rolling motion with one hand. "Something you said about telepathic communication. This may stray into questions you don't want to answer..." he cautioned, wrestling with the phrasing. "I don't really understand what prompted your decision to remove Drankum from command."

 

Chirakis looked as if she wanted to choose her words carefully. "Ambassador Drankum was not acting in the best interests of the station," she stated tersely, then went on. "During the two attacks we experienced, he arrived on the Control Tower, disrupting the flow of tactics and defense with questions and an occasional rant. One disruption had an unfortunate cost: the death of two fighter pilots. It was enough to make me wonder what side he was on. After that incident he flew into a rage, brandished his cane and threw it across the Control Tower, then stormed out."

 

Halloway listened, looking slightly pained at the narrative. "Look, I wasn't there," he shook his head, "...but are you sure it rose to the level of challenging his command?

 

"He was disruptive enough," Chirakis explained, "that I believed it in the best interest of the station to remove him, yes." She paused to clarify. "I did not, at any time, expel the Ambassador from the Tower. He did that himself. I removed him from command pending a full evaluation by Dr. Lepage." She shifted a little. "When Lepage deemed him competant, I released him and reinstated him to command. He chose of his own volition not to resume as commanding officer."

 

Halloway ran one hand through his hair, concerned at how this version of events differed from what he heard over dinner. He waved his hand. "So, you didn't have an armed guard escort him from the Command Center and advise him that you were taking command?"

 

Chirakis shook her head. "I had Centurion Dabi follow the Ambassador and restrict him to quarters pending an evaluation by Dr. Lepage. Of course, the security guards were armed during the attack but no one was pointing a weapon."

 

Captain Halloway folded his arms. "And he went peacefully, aside from punctuating things with his cane?"

 

"As peacefully as an angry Ferengi can go," she replied, "yes."

Halloway closed his eyes, running a hand over his face. "We're a far cry from 'Sir, we have noted in your recent behavior certain items which, on the surface, seem unusual.'" he scoffed, quoting the recommended phrase from the regulations manual.

 

"The heat of battle tends to change things," Chirakis objected mildly.

He said nothing to disagree. "Alright, the doctor found nothing unusual. And Drankum obviously reconsidered going peacefully."

 

Chirakis nodded.

 

"I gathered from the record," Halloway added, remembering the transmission feed, "that his resumption of command was somewhat forcible?"

 

"A subjective opinion," Chirakis replied non-committally.

 

"I'll be specific," Halloway asserted. "Did Ambassador Drankum resume command via announcement, duty log, or at the point of a phaser?"

 

"Ambassador Drankum carried a Ferengi phaser," Chirakis admitted. "Subcommander Jorahl and several officers had Romulan disruptors. They entered the Control Tower and surrounded Centurion Dabi, Lt Porter, and myself. We were unarmed."

 

"And you offered no resistance?"

 

"There was no reason for us to resist," she remarked. "Ambassador Drankum was, after all, the commanding officer of the station."

Halloway turned away, shaking his head. He could think of no reason for such escalations, remembering a similar surprise when Yorktown had ordered that runabout to stand down from an attack run on TKR-117. And hadn't they caught that same team looking to steal people from his own bridge? He turned back toward her. "Commander, do you still have concerns about your commanding officer with relation to this new threat? You obviously felt he was... a hindrance, or a liability, or possibly in league with the Athra if I understand you. Do you still feel that way, despite the doctor's report?"

 

It was Chirakis' turn to frown. "If the ambassador is of sound mind then I must assume either collaboration with the enemy or extremely poor command abilities," she stated flatly. "I'm inclined to believe in questionable command abilities for no other reason than a Ferengi preoccupation with profits." Halloway winced a little, but she went on. "However, he is still the commanding officer. Even if he lacked tactical ability, I would hope he would lean on Subcommander Jorahl to direct defense of the station. The Subcommander is the station's best hope at this point. Someone must defend the station."

 

"Collaboration is a serious charge," the captain said gravely. "One that warrants evidence. And a subordinate's judgement of poor command ability isn't grounds for removal."

 

"Indeed," Chirakis agreed. "But insanity is. And infirmity is."

"Yes," Halloway was quick to respond, "both of which require a consenting medical opinion. Of which there isn't."

 

"The injury he sustained during the first attack led me to question his mental state," she explained. "I removed him and looked to Dr. Lepage for an evaluation."

 

"I'm not disputing your intentions," Halloway insisted. "In battle, there's good reason for acting in the absence of evidence. I'm a 'damned if you do' person myself." He watched her expression soften. "But you did," he asserted, "and you may be damned."

 

Chirakis squared her shoulders. "I may be," she admitted. "So be it."

 

He had nothing to add to that. He moved on to the thoughts which had been nagging at him. "My lingering concern is that the crew has shown a willingness," he spoke quietly, "almost an eagerness, to support your action against Drankum."

 

Looking at him, she seemed disappointed, as if he'd confirmed a fact she had already sensed.

 

His voice grew impassioned. "And I keep hearing the same reasoning, even if people think they're kidding: 'A Ferengi can't possibly know how to command us.'" He shook his head. "And it's two-way. Drankum believes the crew thinks this, too."

 

He watched her shoulders slump slightly, heaving a sigh of concern.

 

"So the crew expects him to be a poor commander," Halloway concluded, "and he expects them to look for reasons to disobey him. As self-fulfilling a prophecy as I've seen."

 

"More dangerous than a mutiny," she surmised.

 

"A constant expectation of mutiny. When a captain doesn't think he has the faith of the crew, he often stops trying to get it. And unexplained orders remain unexplained. Why bother?" Halloway shook off the dark mood descending on him.

 

Chirakis began a slow pace around the 10 by 20 foot cell, her footfalls soft on the hard metal decking, barely making an echo. Stopping for a moment to study the back wall, she finally turned to face the captain and resumed her original stance.

"I'm not going to lecture you on CO/XO relations." His voice was quiet, deliberate. "And I can't say I agree with your actions. Challenging a captain's authority... well, it's serious," he revealed. "But then, I certainly wouldn't have walked off my bridge, either." He continued. "I think it hurts this station's chances to keep you locked up in here. But there's little I can do to change it. Drankum wasn't particularly interested in my advice. That's his right." He stretched out one arm. "And I can't wave a wand around to make charges and counter-charges go away. I have no intention of staging a jailbreak and I'm not taking his suggestion of whisking you off to Breen space."

 

"So...we wait..." she said, expectantly.

 

He waggled his eyebrows in agreement, letting out a deep breath. "One last question, if you don't mind." He waited to see her nod. "How impartial is your ranking Romulan? I don't know the man, but he seems to have been even-handed in all this. Do you agree?"

 

"The Subcommander follows the law of the Empire," Chirakis corrected. "He is no more impartial than any man who takes his rank and vows seriously. He bows to the ranking authority because it is the Romulan way, and I would have it no other way. He is a man of honor. He is our hope in this matter, of that I am certain."

Halloway nodded approvingly. "I think it's worth a talk with him," he said, glancing over. "With no mutiny in my heart, I assure you."

 

Chirakis gave him a curt nod.

 

Halloway waved in summons for the guard. "Thank you, Commander."

 

She went to respectful attention. "Captain Halloway."

Moments later, she was once again the sole occupant of her cell.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Captain Halloway