SD 241301.29 || "Proverbial Thorn" || Plot JL || CHelm & USS Kennedy CO || LtCmdr Neyes & Captain Heifner ||
Posted on Fri Feb 1st, 2013 @ 1:26am by Captain Robert Lansine & Captain Landon Neyes
1,381 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Romulan Ale.. I mean Aide
Location: USS Vindicator
=/\= Transporter Room 3 =/\=
Neyes waited patiently for the Captain of the USS Kennedy to make an appearance. He’d been standing in the transporter room for the past 20 minutes, as the Kennedy’s transporter chief frequently chimed in with messages equating to something along the lines of ‘almost ready’ and , ‘just another minute’. At this point Landon had to assume it was passively intentional. Even an active effort to irritate him would have been partially amusing at this point. Landon and Captain Heifner both knew the Kennedy couldn’t physically force the Commander of the Vindicator to do anything, especially not with a science cruiser like an Intrepid Class. With the Captain stranded on the planet, Heifner was going to have to settle for less ambitious means of getting what she wanted.
Firing on the Vindicator hadn’t helped her cause.
“Looks like they’re just about ready, sir. I’m getting a clearance request for transport.” The ensign at the transporter controls said. His tone said the word he didn’t need to, and it was ‘finally’.
Neyes closed his eyes and channeled as much of his former host Hyane, the diplomat, as possible. She always had the knack for standing down pressure and forcing others onto her level. Something Landon had found modestly difficult.
A few more moments passed before the hum of the transporter beam introduced the woman Captain's arrival. Kayleigh Heifer had captained the Kennedy for almost three years. During her command the small ship had already garnered many commendations and awards, so many in fact, her friends at Starfleet Command joked she'd be trading in her four gold pips for a flag rank the next time the Promotions Committee met. Yet, despite all her success, all her fame, the woman hadn't seemed able to chorale the Vindicator's stubborn, and possibly treasonous, Executive Officer. And now, after meticulously going over the Vindicator's mission parameters for the last 20 minutes, and listening to the Vindicator Trill officer's complaints, she was beginning to doubt she'd have any more luck with the rival ship's Helm officer.
"Commander Neyes, I presume?" Heifner said flatly, stepping off the pad and handing a set of pads to an unsuspecting nearby ensign. "I believe I asked to speak to Commander Lansine--you are not Commander Lansine."
Neyes smiled dryly at her stabbing observation. She was an obtuse woman, to be sure. “See,” he started, “that’s why you’re Captain.” He made a motion for her to proceed out into the corridor. “If you don’t want to waste time, then let’s dispense with the pleasantries and get on with it.”
The Kennedy's Captain stepped hastily to the door and ahead of the Trill pilot, ignoring his proposition.
The doors slid open into the corridor only to unveil two guards posted outside with phaser rifles at their sides. After allowing Heifner to take it in, he stepped out into the corridor and turned to face her, a sincerely cold expression on his face. “Oh right. Hope you don’t mind. Let's go, Captain.”
Having such a perverse type of adversary on the ship was not something that settled well with Landon’s inner need to have a firm hold of control. He was impulsive, he knew, and this situation called for a little accountability. Having the guards at the ready was simply his way of telling her not to try anything. If she was willing to open fire on a friendly vessel, in an emergency situation no less, then he couldn’t count her out for anything less conspicuous. Last thing Landon wanted was to be held in court marshal for ‘attacking’ a Starfleet Captain. Even though he respected the position she held, and not her, he still needed to cover all his bases.
The show of force was not completely unexpected. The decision to attack the tactically superior Vindicator had not been made lightly, and she could tell the ship's crew hadn't taken kindly to the idea of an ally ship taking up arms against them. She knew Lansine and his crew could have easily destroyed the Kennedy, hell, the behemoth ship could have easily taken on three ships the size of her small Intrepid-class cruiser. The point of her attack hadn't been literal.
It was to send a point.
The Federation was at war, a war that had managed to crawl into almost every crevice of the Alpha Quadrant. With what seemed like a new political power jumping into the conflict every other day, there was no time to sit around for characters like Lansine to dictate the tone of conflict, nor was there resources available to have crews like the Kennedy go flying half way around the quadrant to apprehend one possible traitor. She took her orders from the CinC and Commander Parsons of Starfleet Security seriously, but their insistence they bring in Lansine ASAP had pushed her and her crew to the brink. She was fed up with the song and dance this mission had continually forced her into.
This Neyes character was only one man on a long list of people she hoped never to see again.
"You have no idea why I am here," Kayleigh said, following Landon down the corridor. She wasn't about to apologize for their arrival. Subspace comms had put them in communication with Dar well before their arrival. Yet, with the Vindicator's captain on the planet's surface and the crew's attitude towards her and her ship, she wasn't convinced anyone outside Dar knew of the Starfleet order.
“True enough.” Landon spoke coldly. His normal precocious attitude was soured by a throbbing headache he didn’t seem able to rid himself of. It had reared up about the time he had to leave the Captain and the rest of the away team on the surface. To some degree, this Captain Heifner was making the job of retrieving them that much more difficult.
“I don’t know why you decided to hike your ship and her crew all the way out here to the fringes of space to open fire on us during a potentially disastrous political situation.” He wanted to unleash the full fury of his lack of understanding of her position. Why couldn’t her mission with Rob wait until after they’d help save Captain Dar and the rest of the away team? Why would she fire on another Starfleet vessel, one that could obliterate hers in only a few shots, in front of a Romulan vessel with an unknown allegiance? He couldn’t pin down her position, and her tunnel-vision on Lansine was making him even more defensive.
The man's insubordination offered a terrible example of the rank and file of the Vindicator. If the entire crew was like this Kayleigh knew her mission would only get worse. "Is this how Dar runs his-,"
Landon didn’t wait for her to finish. He also didn’t skip a step in continuing to the turbolift. “I do know, since you are now on our vessel you will cooperate fully with meeting Commander Lansine. I’m sure he’ll be a lot more willing to hear you out than I am.”
In Neyes’ mind, all that stood in front of him immediately beginning a rescue attempt for the Captain and the team on the surface was this woman before him. If he had a choice, they would have already disabled the Kennedy entirely for opening fire, beamed its crew to the brig and started talks with the Romulans. Heavens knew the Vindicator’s brig was large enough to hold a mere 150 people, easily.
Heifner thought of finishing her remark but decided against it, it likely would have fallen on deaf ears. The Helmsman was a particularly sour man, one whose only purpose at the moment seemed relegated to a glorified escort. The choice to bring two armed Security enlisted men only further illustrated his shallow value. "Somehow I don't find that surprising, Commander," she said dryly.
"I didn't think you would, ma'am." Neyes responded. His headache was getting worse, and the cramped space in the turbolift wasn't big enough for this woman's ego, let alone four people. He waved the guards off, and they continued down the corridor without Neyes and Heifner.
"Deck one, conference room."
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