A Long-Overdue Conversation - Part I

Posted on Wed Jun 11th, 2025 @ 5:37am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Amanda Rose

1,209 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Preservation Instinct
Location: Captain's Ready Room

Once most of the crew was off spending time on the station, Grace asked Amanda to come see her at her convenience.

She'd been meaning to talk to the counselor for a while now and kept putting it off. But for Percy's sake--as well as Amanda's--she needed to have the discussion.

Since the crew was off, Amanda was dressed casually. While she always had the freedom to dress as she chose, as a counselor, she often stuck to her uniform when on duty. For today, she had chosen a rose sun dress with a flower pattern and simple black flats.

Getting a call from the Captain was unusual. While she did not have to report to her, it would be rude not to meet with her. Besides, maybe she needed advice of some sort. So, she headed to the Ready Room and rang the chime.

Grace had been looking out her viewport. When she heard the chime, she turned. "Come in."

Amanda walked into the room and noticed that the Captain had been looking away. "Is something on your mind, Captain?"

"Yes. Several things, actually. Please, have a seat." She indicated the conversation area instead of her desk, hoping the less formal seating would be better for this conversation.

Demurely, Amanda did so and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. It is about the Doctor, isn't it? she considered. God, he's such a royal, know-it-all, insufferable pain in the ass.

"It has to do with the HTA, Elijah, and Percy."

Amanda blinked several times trying to process what Grace was saying. None of these were topics that she really wanted to discuss. They might even be worse than the Doctor. Hesitantly, she questioned, "OoooooooKKKKK? What about all of them?"

"When I was kidnapped by Captain Kilgore, he paid our bounty as a bribe. Neither one of us needs to worry about the HTA or the bounty they put on us." She couldn't help smiling grimly as she added. "Although I'm not eager to go back to that planet again."

She paused, then went on, wanting to get it all out. "Next, I wanted to say something about Elijah. He was going through every attractive female on the ship. He was too focused on physical appearance and, in my opinion, was simply looking for conquests. He'd go out with them a few times, then move on. He went out with two women before he turned his attention to you. I was not doing anything to draw his interest. However, when his attention turned to me, I deliberately encouraged it to protect the women of this ship. I told him that my people do not rush into physical relationships. We want to be sure we're compatible and that we truly care for each other first. He assured me he was willing to wait, but at one point he literally tried to jump me when we were having our daily meeting in his quarters. It was his decision to meet over breakfast and felt we would be able to get the business over with quickly and get to our duties. Until that point, it had always been about business. I didn't give him an opportunity to try it again. I've heard nothing of or from him since he left and have no wishes to do so."

Amanda listened intently as the Captain laid out all of this information in a rather matter-of-fact way. It was almost as if she was doing everything on a memorized list. If everything that she said was true about Elijah and the HTA, that left Amanda with only one question that she had to ask out loud, as her eyes narrowed. "Why are you telling all of this to me now? Why have you waited?"

"Because I didn't think you would take it well before. You saw Elijah as the prince charming I stole from you, not the Lothario who was systematically seducing any female who gave him the time of day. I wanted you to have the perspective that comes from time and distance before I shattered your illusions."

"Captain, I appreciate that you have many tasks as a Captain, but I am a counselor. I can handle the truth. I do not understand why you didn't tell me about the HTA until now. Elijah, at least, I see you had good intentions. Besides, at this point, I'm more than used to having anyone I might be interested in taken by someone of superior rank."

"With everything that's gone on recently, the HTA was not one of my priorities. Haruna, the doctor, and Percy were. And that last comment is why I have not chosen to speak with you until now. Rank had nothing to do with it. Elijah lost interest in you. He was losing interest in me as well and would have gone after another woman on the ship if he'd stayed much longer. It was and is his nature. You were one in a long line of women. I have no doubt he's found a dozen more by now."

Amanda shrugged helplessly. "And I didn't get the opportunity to find out for myself, even if he turned out to be a bad egg, as you say."

"That was his choice. HE chose to move on. I did not lure him away. He flirted with me, kissed me. But then he began to send me pictures of what he wanted me to wear when he came to my quarters. I did not, by the way. I did not wear the lingerie he wanted me to replicate and wear for him. I did not sleep with him. While I did not reject him outright at first, when he refused to respect my clearly stated boundaries, I reestablished a professional distance. He could have moved on at that point. He could have gone back to you. He did not." Grace paused. "Perhaps you should consider yourself fortunate that he did move on before taking further advantage of you."

"Perhaps," Amanda replied neutrally. "By then, I had other interests and those did not work out either. Like I said, it is what it is and once again, a higher ranked officer took that one. So, perhaps I should just become a Captain so that only the Admiralty can ruin my opportunities." She ruefully chuckled at that.

"Look, Captain. I do appreciate what you're trying to do here but I have already processed these things at this point."

"You may have processed it, but you clearly don't understand." Grace shook her head, growing frustrated. "I'm not explaining myself in a way that would help you do so. And, since I have no desire to argue with you, we can end this conversation." It never was about rank or position, but she could not convince Amanda of that.

"I understand," Amanda simply answered, clearly believing that the Captain somehow wanted exoneration or some sort of thank you for dating someone that turned out to be undesirable. It made no sense. Why dredge up this stuff at this juncture. "You also wanted to speak of Percy," she reminded the Captain.

(To be continued...)

Commander Grace Vetur
Commanding Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

 

RSS Feed