I heard it from the Grapevine

[STSF Seiben 0]

"I Heard it From the Grapevine"

10505.01

 

STARFLEET HQ, SAN FRANCISCO

 

With an exasperated sigh, Admiral Franklin slammed down his PADD with a loud thunk. "You know Jeff, that's not a very good way to treat Starfleet property" snidely responded Admiral Hopkins. "Oh, shut up Brian" responded Franklin hotly. "Honestly, I don't know what's wrong with that family" Franklin continued. "First his older brother Hans playing it up with the women on Altoid, and now this! I swear, they both make Ambassador Zareh look like a saint!" Hopkins held up his hands as if to stop his old friend. "Whoa, whoa whoa. Let's not go there. The Seibens' personal business is their own." It was Hopkins' turn to look worried. "But still. What are we going to do about it? A Captain marrying a non-Federation species. We're not even sure if they're warp capable. I honestly don't know if this is against the rules of the Prime Directive." Hopkins was of course well-versed in the rules of the Prime Directive, but this one had him stumped. How many Captains have married a non-member species like this? None that he can think of.

 

"Regardless of what the rules say, what if the press gets wind of this? This could be a PR Disaster for us" said Franklin. "Honestly, I don't know what Captain Seiben was even thinking" Admiral Hopkins sat at a terminal reading over the Captain's record. "Well, according to his file, he just underwent a lengthy divorce with his wife. He either wanted to re-marry quickly to fill the void, or get revenge on his wife for leaving him... or both" replied Hopkins. "That and he was probably very drunk after the party they had on 892-IV. I read about it from the Captain's own personal log about it" Franklin frowned, but nodded knowingly. "But still, what are we going to do about it? Personally, I'd love to drum him out of Starfleet. The next ship he would command is a garbage frigate out of Pluto" Hopkins shook his head. "I don't think that would be a very good move, Jeff. One, I'm sure that'll severely damage relations with us and the Romans and two, news of that would probably just be as big of a PR Disaster as the news of the marriage. We need to tread carefully on this. I'm sure Senior Command will have gotten wind of this too, and we can see what we can do about this."

 

Franklin nodded in agreement. "Yes, I'm sure they would have too. But, I still think we should do something about this before it gets out of hand. The tabloids would have a field day on this, and that's the last thing we need right now. But at the same time, Captain Seiben shouldn't be marrying foreign species like this. It could also affect relations between us and other species may accuse us of favourtism against the Romans" Hopkins reflected quietly. "Well, let's bring it up in the next Council meeting and go from there" Franklin said nothing, but nodded in agreement. Hopkins hoisted a large brown golfing bag that was sitting on the floor over his shoulders. "Now come on, it's almost our tee time. Grab your golfing bag, I have a match to win"