FUBAR Part I

November 13, 2009 on 1:49 pm | In SS-Elise, Serial Story | No Comments

She wanted a drink. Or two. Maybe three.

What she didn’t want was to be sitting across this meeting table from Shawn Ellery while he told her how badly he’d fucked up.

Tania fought to keep her face blank as Ellery searched her features. She knew he was searching for any reaction, something he could use to justify his stupidity. She wasn’t going to give it to him. He’d screwed up in a major way by bucking the protocol and not reporting the information he had when he received it. Granted, she understood that his reticence wasn’t technically insubordination, but it was definitely poor judgment. And, in this case, it put her ship and her crew in danger.

Ellery pressed his lips together, his nostrils flaring.

Tania remained impassive. While she wasn’t up to Xu’s standards, she was better than most, and she’d been working on her technique. Nothing like a Crystal Graei as an executive officer to help you perfect the art of blank face.  Still, she was going to have to do something if he didn’t get here soon.

The conference room entry hissed open.  Xu entered, ignoring Ellery completely.

Tania watched him take up a post at the corner of the table, ramrod straight and inhumanly beautiful. Xu was rarely less than perfectly turned out when on duty, but right now his uniform was just slightly off – the seams not perfectly straight, the edge of one sleeve tucked under. His smooth, dark skin was more blue than usual, and the tips of his ears curled back on themselves instead of standing upright. Hmmm.

“I apologize for any delay. I came as quickly as possible.”

Tania raised a brow at him. She’d paged him only moments before, and the locator had placed him in the Pleasure Lounge. She had the impression he had been…busy. Between the slightly mussed uniform and his physical characteristics, she was surprised the line of his uniform pants wasn’t ruined.

“I appreciate your prompt attendance, Commander.”  She had a sudden and inappropriate desire to grin. Given the seriousness of the situation, she needed his stoicism – and her own. Her amusement retreated at the thought of what a mess Ellery had created.

Xu dipped his head in acknowledgment and Tania turned her attention back to Ellery.

“Lt. Commander Ellery has information which severely impacts the security of this ship and crew. Though he has been in possession of this information for nearly a day, he has only seen fit to share it with me in the last hour.”  She sent Ellery a pointed glance. “Please, bring Commander Scholen up to speed.”

A muscle in Ellery’s cheek twitched, but he nodded stiffly.

“Yesterday morning I received a comfile from a contact indicating that there was possible pirate activity along our projected route. Since I had no independent confirmation or any other similar reports, I set it aside. Around mid-morning, I began getting similar reports from other contacts. It seemed pretty solid at that point that there was pirate activity, and seemed very localized and specific.”

“Did you include this information in your evening briefing to the Captain?” Xu’s tone was flat, his face blank. Tania admired that. She knew he was pissed. He knew very well that hadn’t been in the intelligence briefing, since it was her practice to send a copy to Xu when she received it. Unlike Ellery, Tania was a believer in sharing information.

Ellery ran his tongue over his teeth. “No, I -”

“Standard protocol is to notify the Captain of any potential threat.”

“Yes, but -”

“When were you going to mention this?”

Swallowing hard enough to be audible, Ellery down. “I wasn’t.”

Tania raised her eyebrows. “You weren’t?”

“I intended to gather enough information to turn over to Galactic Services to allow them to do the cleanup. They already have a cruiser en route.”

“I see,” Xu said, crossing his arms over his chest. “You notified Galactic Services but not Captain Fielding.”

He had the grace to look abashed at Xu’s statement, but Tania’s temper started to rise. She wasn’t sure which made her more furious: that he’d bypassed the chain of command completely and gone to Galactic Services or that he’d ignored protocol and left her in the dark.

She forced herself to breathe deeply and control the anger. Anger wouldn’t help her crew. Anger wouldn’t save lives.

“So, when the news feeds started running the story of a species-blind immunochem being manufactured onboard, you didn’t think that might increase the likelihood of Mercy being a target?”  Tania moved to the opposite end of the conference table from Xu. The move put Ellery between them, having to split his attention to keep track of both of them. It was petty of her, but it gave her some satisfaction to see his discomfort. Which of them should he watch? Xu was more physically threatening, but Tania was the superior officer.

“The news feeds explained the increase in activity.  But we don’t have a species-blind immunochem. Do we?” His gaze moved rapidly back and forth between her and Xu.

“And you think I would tell you if we did? At this point? I think not.” Tania was pleased with the cold delivery. “It’s a moot point in any case. The pirates – hell, everyone- think we have it. We’re a target regardless of the truth. And because you withheld this information, we’re about to be sitting ducks. If we’d had this information, we would have moved the upgrades up and had them done well ahead of running the gauntlet of pirates. As it is, we’re screwed. The lives of not only this crew, but the entire population of New Juneau are in jeopardy because of your poor judgment in this matter and your desire to grab some glory by turning informant for Galactic Services.  If we wait to make the upgrades, we won’t make New Juneau in time to avert population decimation by plague. In order to do the upgrades, we have to run silent, thereby becoming a fat, unprotected target for pirates. If they get us, not only is the crew in jeopardy, but New Juneau is, again, screwed. Congratulations.”

Silence stretched again as Ellery stared at his hands.  Tania was a veteran of these games, and she wasn’t going to let him win this time either. She was both his superior officer and completely right, and she wasn’t going to give him the upper hand.

Finally, after what seemed like hours but was probably only a few minutes, Ellery looked up.  Even before he spoke, she knew he would bend.

“I don’t have a good reason.  I thought I had it under control, I thought I’d be able to present you with a fait accompli.”

Tania quirked an eyebrow.  “So, instead of following protocol, you elected to withhold important intelligence on the grounds that you believed you could make yourself look good?”

He flinched, dropping his eyes again. “That’s not–”  He cleared his throat and started over.  “That’s not what I meant to do.”

“What did you intend, Commander?”

His eyes met hers. He looked miserable, guilt and horror mixing in his expression.  It was coming home to him how bad the situation he had created could be.

“I’m used to working independently, to working with a smaller crew where I know everything.  I made a miscalculation based on knowledge I had, and I bet that we had more time than we do.”

That got her attention.  She glanced at Xu. He inclined his head briefly, indicating he didn’t have any more clue than she did.

“What information?”

Ellery glanced at Xu and back to Tania.  “Engineering told me we wouldn’t be doing the upgrade until we arrived at New Juneau. I was told we would make the window without the upgrade. Something about risk of leakage and portdocks being safer for propulsion upgrades than being underway. I didn’t expect us to go on lockdown and prep for running silent for the upgrades.”

Tania bit the insides of her cheeks to keep from screaming curses. Her breathing hitched as her rage exploded. Oh, she knew where that came from, and it wasn’t the head of engineering. Damn Enchev.

She threw a furious look at Xu, who shook his head.  She didn’t know what that meant, but it didn’t matter. He might not realize where that misinformation came from, but she did.

“Commander Scholen, get Commander Steesk in here.”  Her voice was hard, even to her own ears. This was a screw up of epic proportions. She could only pray they found some acceptable option. People were going to die.It was just a question now of trying to minimize the damage.