Use your Judgment

Posted on Tue Jun 28th, 2022 @ 11:06am by Commander Grace Vetur & Captain Elijah Michaels

1,132 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Bandits of Black Rain
Location: Captains quarters

Elijah walked out of the alcove in his quarters with two mugs of tea, one was his standard breakfast blend with only a pinch of milk. The other was a mix of peppermint and other flavours. His jacket undone and a lot more relaxed.

He and Grace had agreed to keep things on a slow pace. Because there was a lot at stake professionally and personally and they both knew that they had to do it for the sake of the Ontario. But this was an informal meeting of the two most senior heads of the Ship.

"So, I've been reading up on my notes." Elijah said as he walked across the room. "Your eligible for promotion to Commander once this mission to Black Rain is over with." He said handing her a cup.

"Perhaps," she replied, taking her mug. "Just because I have the time in grade does not guarantee a promotion. Besides, I would rather wait and see how this mission goes, and if we can find out who is behind the attacks." She wasn't all that concerned about a promotion. The ship and crew came first.

He nodded as he settled himself down beside her. "Whoever these Bandits are they clearly have no objection to a brazen attack on any power they see with enough Cordanium."

"No, they don't. It's the number of attacks that's concerning," she replied. "Either someone is very organized, or word is spreading that this sector is fair game for pirates." She took a sip of her herb tea. "I'm surprised the HTA hasn't caught them by now."

“I agree.” Elijah nodded. “Reports are that HTA have beefed up security within the region, a Gorn ship almost had a skirmish with them and they got a bloody nose.”

Grace chuckled. "You don't mess with Gorn if you can help it. Still, I don't trust the HTA to do the right thing. They're more likely to make a deal with the pirates to turn a blind eye for a percentage of the Cordanium."

Elijah nodded. “Considering they’re a trade entity with a rather sketchy and abrasive attitude towards business I think we have to tread lightly.” He took a sip of his tea and then looked towards Grace. “Did you change your hair?”

"My hair?" She put a hand up to touch it. "No, I didn't." Until that moment, she'd been thinking more of the HTA and their possible reactions to the recent pirate activity.

"It looks nice." He smiled softly at Grace before sipping on his tea again. He sat down and sighed. "The first Federation Ship in the Dreadex region and we've already had our fill of bad guys and cosmic phenomena."

"Hardly our fill," she replied lightly. "I have a feeling we've only scratched the surface of the problems here." What little she saw of the HTA only made her want to dig deeper.

“I agree.” Elijah responded to her. He liked being an explorer despite his background as a Security and Tactical Officer. “How’s the old girl holding up?” He asked in reference to the Ontario herself.

"Fine. I sometimes wonder if Mizuhara is doing more harm than good spending all her time crawling through the Jefferies Tubes, though." It was more the invasion of privacy that bothered Grace, but she'd deal with that if it came up again.

“One of the perks of having an Ambassador Class as your posting, it’s almost likely to have something lurking in the farthest reaches of the ship rather than anything new to discover.” Elijah chuckled at that thought.

"Haruna does enough lurking, thank you," she replied, chuckling. "I'm sure if she finds anything else in the bowels of the ship, she'll adopt it. But apart from that, everything is going well on the ship. It's the pirates that are concerning. The attacks all look to be random, but there are so many of them that I wonder."

“Based on the frequency of the attacks and the somewhat violent nature of the attacks. I’d say that there’s a base or planet they are housed on or there are multiple ships.” Elijah commented to her as he set his cup down.

"My assumption is that there are multiple ships," Grace said. "The attack styles are too varied. Unless it's one ship completely changing its MO."

‘Good assumption to make.” He responded to her with a nod. Elijah looked at Grace and smiled. “Do you have plans for dinner?” He asked.

"I'm...not sure," she replied. "I have a pile of PADDs to get through after my shift. It depends on how long that takes."

Elijah offered his hand. “May I?” He looked at Grace and smiled softly.

She looked at his hand, then at him, confused. "May you what?"

"Just take my hand Grace for goodness’ sake." He responded to her.

She just raised an eyebrow and held out her hand.

Elijah took Grace by the hand and guided her over to the table near the window of his cabin. Pulling out the chair for her and then looking to the XO. “I’m making eggs Benedict?” He smiled softly at her.

"Ah," she said, chuckling. "The mysterious side of the captain."

Elijah smiled at her softly. He reached for an apron hanging up in the Kitchenette of his quarters. He started to prepare the food for Grace and himself. “You’ve been avoiding me recently since we kissed…"

Had she been avoiding him? No. But she hadn't sought him out, either. It was something she would have to think about later. "I've been writing reports and answering questions from Starfleet Command about the two ships," she replied. "There was a lot left undone when we dropped them off."

“Ah.” He responded with a chuckle of his own as he practically mimicked what Grace had done before now. “One egg or two?”

"Two, please," she said. Lunch could very easily be detained as she still had to find out what was going on with Percy. "Have you heard anything more from the HTA?"

Elijah sorted the plates and began presented the elements of the meal into a rather decorative if not appetising look. “Very little actually, there is a report of a Romulan Refugee ship being fired on for nonpayment of a toll but it’s not verified.”

"I'm not sure if that's good news or bad," she admitted. She smiled at him as he set her plate in front of her. "Thank you."

They continued to discuss the ship and ccew as they ate. As soon as they were done, Grace excused herself. She wanted to get back to her office and her work.

____
OFF

Captain Elijah Michaels
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Executive Officer
USS Ontario

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