The Ice is Slowly Melting...or is it?
Posted on Thu Mar 16th, 2023 @ 4:58pm by Captain Marc Kidd
Edited on on Thu Mar 16th, 2023 @ 5:06pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
The Hunt Begins
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 3 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD004 0800 hrs
Kelly hated to leave her office, requiring people to come to HER. BUT...as she was a very regimented person, she ALSO respected the perks of office, and since this was the Captain, she wearily and grudgingly descended from her office, like a dragon leaving its lair, and rang his chime. After being told it was fine to enter, she did so, and stood at firm attention, not sitting. She wouldn't; standing usually gave people pause, and she used that to her advantage.
"Thank you for seeing me at last minutes' notice; we both know I wouldn't have done the same." She was well aware of her bad habits, but had zero intention of changing them.
"There's a judgeship opening at HQ. I am planning to apply for it. You are the CO, and they said I needed to let you know. I don't need anything from you, but I would appreciate the support. I doubt I will get it; the youngest JAG and a female-I don't stand much of a chance, but it's always been a goal of mine. On the off chance I DO get it, you will need to find someone to fill my post, and I'd recommend Benson for it. I read her personnel file; she's good, and she's won a few cases."
She waited for his answer. She had a couple things to spar with him about, but this was the lesser of the three, so she decided to start there. She might be a bitch, and possibly crazy, but she wasn't stupid.
One did not become a Captain without gaining the ability to read people and know how they would react to certain situations. As such Marc knew that should he offer a seat to Kelly she would refuse. So, he leaned back in his chair and regarded the officer before him. "I would be saddened to see you go, especially since you just got here. However, who am I to begrudge someone's advancement in their career. Of course if I am asked I will throw my weight in to it. If your file is any indication I am sure that you deserve it."
She nodded. "Thank you. It's very competitive. I DO deserve it, but there's others that deserve it, as well. Once I hear what is required of you, if anything further, I will let you know." She paused a moment. Time for point two-this one wouldn't sit as well, she didn't think. "What the hell is the problem with Corwin? Is he from a lesser advanced species? We were discussing the Breen case, and bringing on Powers, and he got...insubordinate. Perhaps an all-personnel retraining on the proper etiquette for addressing a senior officer? I'll gladly lead it, if you'd like." If there was anything that Kelly knew, it was the field officers' handbook. She knew that thing inside and out, like the back of her own hand. "I'd appreciate if you'd speak to him." She was being petty, for the moment, but it irked her, and she needed to get it off her chest. She would have no idea if the Captain would actually speak to the man, or not, but she didn't care, really. "And while we're on the subject of rule and insubordination, you should probably read the blurbs about fraternization with a junior officer." Some people thought that because she spent so much time in her office or in her quarters, that she didn't know what went on, but she knew more than people thought. She just was smart enough to keep those nuggets of information for when she'd need them, if ever. This was one of those times. "I mean, unless I am mistaken and that wasn't Ensign Rider you were having dinner with." She hadn't actually *meant* to overhear the woman telling her friend, she'd just been in the ladies' room at the same time and was very observant.
"Finally, I want to review the final things about the Breen case so we can get it calendared and heard. I am ready to be done with it. OH, but the Tellarite won, so he'll be leaving us to return to his planet." Couching bad news in between two pieces of good news was a technique she'd learned from her mother, who had been a doctor for StarFleet, and used it to deliver bad news to patients. It often worked well; the other person focused more on the good news they heard first and last, instead of the worse bits in the middle.
What Marc thought was to be a cheerful conversation turned dark and in a hurry. It seemed that someone was going to have to put Ms Miller in her place and it may as well be the Captain. "Please allow me to address each of these one at a time. As to Corwin he is here to be defense council so you are going to have to expect that he will seem argumentative. However, he should not be insubordinate. So, I will chat with him about that. As to your next point if I choose to have dinner with a junior officer, then that is my choice. If there is an issue with it the Admiralty will contact me. NOT YOU! Do I make myself clear Commander?" The fact that she dared say anything angered him to no end. Who the hell did she think she is? he thought. He allowed the anger to subside and the words to sink in.
She almost made a quip about the Admiral needing to know in the first place, but decided it was too much. He was on notice, which was all she cared about. "The rule book is the rule book for a reason, Kidd. It'll save your life, trust me." She looked at him, and then sighed, and waited for him to continue.
After a moment Marc continued. "You will address me as Captain!" Marc fumed. "As to your final point there is no Breen case. There are no charges being filed against the Breen. Especially since there is no one the answer for them. Breen do not allow themselves to be captured. Anything that you have in the file should be loaded to the SCIS computer in the event that it would be needed in the future."
She had been pacing the room, as she often did to release pent-up energy, plus the movement helped her to listen better. She stopped.
"So what are they investigating? When were you going to say something? We've all put in work on this." She sat down-anyone who knew much about her knew that this was not a good sign-she was very upset or feeling some other strong emotion. She was a stander in general.
"No one is investigation anything. I am not sure who or what gave you that idea. In truth I do not have to say anything. It sounds to me that you went off half cocked. I am the Captain here I tell you when I want something done not when I don't want something done...." Marc wondered where the hell this woman got off doing what she did. "You know this has let me know that perhaps I will let the JAG know that you have a tendency to leap without looking. To act first and ask later. Also the insubordination is something that should be mentioned as well. Since we are talking about the book."
"Ok, CAPTAIN, then pray tell why Molar, and Kaida have been investigating the selfsame thing, and why you had that meeting with myself and Corwin about Commodore S'vrock. *I*, certainly, didn't give those orders." Simply because issuing orders would've required paperwork and Kelly had had enough of that. "Unless there's something you're not telling us, and in that case, you may as well put through a court martial or whatever now, because my next move is to call HQ and even if I have to transport there, someone will listen to me. You can't withhold things from your crew; it's the fastest way to kill morale. I might not care about being in command, but I certainly care if my Captain is lying to me." She fixed her brown eyes on him as if she wanted to set him alight with her gaze alone. "The last time someone lied about an investigation, my husband died," she said, quietly.
"Right Commander now you have crossed into the realm of insubordination. So I suggest you calm the hell down and listen before I am forced to send you to the Brig. As to Molar she is simply asking questions because one of her previous hosts was a historian and she is simply curious. If you bothered to ask you would know. As for Kaida did you think that perhaps you led her. You began to question her, she in turn seeing a superior officer worried about something followed your lead. Finally I spoke to you can Corwin about the Commodore to inform you who your judge will be for future cases. Now are you going to calm down or am I going to lock you in the Brig." Marc fumed who the hell did this woman think she was. It was then that he saw that she calmed down and began to speak quietly.
"Listen Kelly. If we are going to serve together, if this experiment of the Admiral's is going to work we are going to have to trust one another. I can promise you that I will never hide anything from you or anyone else on this crew. Whatever happens we are in this together." Marc lowered his voice and changed his demeanor to a more sympathetic one. He hoped that this would help to get Miller to calm down.
She had, indeed, calmed down. She was one of those personalities that exploded at first, and needed to get things out, and then could talk about it. "I see what you mean about how they might be influenced by my own curiosities. I will make sure that the crew is informed that there's no formal investigations happening. I apologize for that. And you are correct; we need to trust one another. All of us. I am bored to DEATH doing paperwork; is there anything else on board I can do for awhile? I don't have any other skills than the law, but there has to be another department that can use a hand. I think that's part of my, um...aggressiveness. My brain isn't stimulated." At least at the Starbase, she had things to do daily-usually a Petty Officer or something got into minor trouble on a R&R or a pilot was caught in a compromising position with a junior officer. And she could run, too, one of the few things left in the world that brought her joy until she'd had her fall and injured her knee. Now she was stuck on a Starship in who knows where, behind a desk, and surrounded by people she didn't understand.
"I need the help."
"Commander despite being a JAG Officer your file says that you are a cleared bridge officer. I understand that it could be a bit boring waiting for a case to drop in your lap. That being the case I have two ideas for you. Would you be interested in begin trained as pilot, you could take the helm for a time. Better yet something commensurate to your rank and training. One of the shifts in the center seat." In truth Marc was not sure about giving the woman his ship. However, he felt that showing her a bit of leeway would be a great thing. Now lets see what she can do. Marc thought.
She sighed. "I am a cleared Bridge officer. But I am NOT good at it. I get way too stressed out. John tried to work with me on it with simulations and stuff, and I couldn't ever get past the panic." She was afraid she'd kill someone inadvertently. "Plus...that was HIS domain. He was a helmsman, I was the JAG, it was how we worked well together." She kept the behind the scenes stuff going, he was flashy and out in front. It was what worked. "And I am not sure I can do it; it's been YEARS." She sighed. She HATED being this open with someone, but figured it was time it all came out. Maybe she should see Counseling far more often than she thought. "But if you think that's where I'd be most helpful, I can certainly try, right? I mean, it's just like riding a bike, isn't it? Once you figure out how to get your balance again, it's easy."
"I have reviewed your file and your cases. If you can command a starship even remotely close to the way that you command a courtroom you will do more than fine. I will tell you what, during normal operations you can sit second chair to me on the Bridge. When you feel that you are ready I will give you the overnight to yourself. Like I said I know the feeling when you want to do more. This ship and myself will come to rely on your command abilities during investigations. Someone is going to have to hold down the fort while the evidence is gathered etc... Then you have center stage to put the bad guys away. What do you think?" Marc could tell that Kelly needed time to adjust, so he forgave the insubordination almost immediately. He smiled softly as he laid out the plan to her.
She stood up to pace again; it's how her brain processed things. She considered things carefully, silent, staring ahead at the wall. She was about to decline when something, a feeling, came over her. She instantly recognized it. So she turned, and nodded. "Ok. Let's try it. I have no better ideas and you've met every counterpoint..." she sighed. Maybe HE should try a case or two. "Then, when the time comes to go to work, you can turn the reigns back over to Rice or whoever." She nodded, mostly to herself. "I really DO mean that it's been a LONG time. I am a good ten or eleven years older than you; it's been at least fifteen years since I tried." To be fair, she was significantly younger then and had other things on her mind-they were trying to have a baby, and she was trying to get her career established. Then the Dominion War broke out and she was needed more in the courtrooms and investigations and such.
"That sounds fair. So then I will see you on the Bridge tomorrow morning. Alpha shift... Hell I will even bring you some coffee." Marc's smiled broadened. He could tell that it would take a lot of his command training to help Kelly. But in this moment he truly hoped he succeeded.
"I'll be there. Black, please, hot. Nothing else." She said. "Anything further? I have work to do." She was back to her simple, short answers, but her tone had changed the slight bit towards...not friendly but at least not biting. When he excused her, she stepped out of his office, and headed for hers. Might as well work a few more hours because everyone knew she wasn't going have dinner in the lounge or something.
When the doors swished closed behind her Marc thought that is one intense woman. He hoped in the time to come he could help her find a place on the ship, and unwind somewhat. He laughed at the though of just how much work that may be.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Commander Kelly Miller
JAG Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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