A More Direct Path

Posted on Mon Feb 12th, 2024 @ 8:24am by Caeda & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant Asher Stagg

Mission: S1 Episode 7: Prime Factors
Location: Crew Quarters; Gladius
Timeline: Date 2371-09-10 at 1615
2403 words - 4.8 OF Standard Post Measure

Andrei had been walking around this damn ship for too long, yet the Gladius crew were still frustratingly difficult. He was determined, while respecting the ridiculous limitations his father had placed on him, to get OShea in his custody and to deal with him as he saw fit and appropriate. More than anything, the resistance to his will was the thing that bothered him, and talking to the ship’s XO had been virtually useless. He wanted to slap that common self-satisfied expression off the older man’s face. But he promised he would do things differently.

Now he stood outside O’Shea’s quarters. If he couldn’t take the man with his superiors’ permission, he could at least talk to him and see if he could find more potential leverage. He pressed the chime and stepped back a pace. Hopefully it would make the man comfortable and willing to talk.

“Yeah, what?” The man’s voice came from inside of the room, though immediately after the door opened. Standing there was a tall, wiry man still in uniform though the jacket was open, giving him a bit of a disheveled look. His hair was messy and tousled and looked like it was in need of a wash and there was more than a shadow of a beard on his chin. He was older and there was a tiredness about his brown eyes that came from a hard life. When he saw Andrei standing there, he frowned.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“I’m Commander Andrei Petrov, Executive Officer of Vengeance.” Andrei said, looking the man over with an obvious appraising glance, judging him immediately. “I’m here to discuss something very important with you. Something about Fleet Security. May I come in?”

“Yeah you got the wrong guy, You’re looking for Lieutenant Stagg. I’m just a grunt.” He scratched his chin and reached for the door panel to close it. “He’s like six rooms down to your left. Enjoy.”

Andrei took a step forward, insistent but not threatening, but stopped short of the door.

“I assure you, Officer O’Shea. It’s you I need to speak with,” he said in a calming voice. “I’d just like to explain what I mean.”

The older man frowned and gave a short, annoyed sigh.

“What is it?” He asked, not inviting Andrei in.

“Is this how you treat a Commander of the Imperial Fleet? Make him report to you standing in the corridor?” Andrei asked, his face turning into a resolute frown.

O’Shea simply rolled his eyes and turned back into his room to go to the small couch and sit. He didn’t speak to invite Andrei in, but he had left the door open for Andrei to enter. With a heavy thud, he sat down with his legs splayed and his arms stretched over the back. “What is it?”

Andrei entered the room immediately, not waiting for an invitation even if one had been forthcoming. As the door closed behind him, he sat down too.

“I’ve read your file and, obviously, I found myself surprised you were still on active duty considering the incident you were involved in. Care to explain?”

“Captain and XO decided to forgive and forget as it were. It was all an accident anyways, not that the little fuck didn’t have it coming.” He gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Not forget or forgive; you’re still on reduced liberty on off-hours. That means it is still very much not forgiven or forgotten.” Andrei said with a lift of the brow above his hidden eye. “What can I say to a man who murdered a fellow soldier in a barroom brawl, unrepentantly, and then remains on probation without trial?”

“I mean I was sorry it happened but the guy was an idiot and probably would have gotten people killed anyways.” O’Shea shrugged again. “I’m doing my time like the warden commanded.”

“Well, have you heard, O’Shea?” Andrei asked, looking confused. “There’s a new warden in town.”

“Uhh what do you mean? S’far as I know Queen Anne is still in charge.” His flippant attitude did seem to falter just slightly and he sat up a bit on the couch.

“Yes. As long as she is allowed to be in charge.” Andrei said, meeting the man’s eye with his single visible one. “My father commands this Fleet. And that means he commands you; has life and death authority over you.”

“Okay so what is the issue?” O’Shea asked immediately, frowning. “Did he order me arrested or something?”

“No, not yet.” Andrei responded and then added a chuckle. “If he had, I’d be here with a security contingent to clap you in irons. No, for now, I’m just here to put you to the question..see what your history is…see where your loyalties lie.”

“Well, sounds like you read the file so you know the first part and I don’t even know what the second part of that is supposed to mean. Obviously here with my captain and crew considering what they did for me in their choice of sparing me.” O’Shea said, his tone indicated he thought perhaps Andrei’s line of questioning was just stupid.

“So what’s the point?”

Andrei suppressed the desire to sigh. These commoners could be so simple.

“It means your situation may change very easily if you don’t comply with me.” He said, leaning back. “Now, tell me about the night of the murder. Start from the beginning.”

“Group of us went to the bar, we got drunk, a conversation evolved into an argument that evolved into a brawl. I threw him across the table, he landed badly and died.” O’Shea shrugged again slightly. “It was an accident. Maybe he had it coming like I said but it’s not like I wanted to do it.”

“That's worse. It means you’re incompetent.” Andrei said, shaking his head. “There’s no honor at all in a wrongful death like that. You know you could be executed for this, right?”

“What would be the point of that, exactly?” O’Shea asked again, annoyed. “We are stuck seventy years from home with no other Terrans around us. You’d really kill a fellow Terran over an accident like this? When was the last time you have heard of someone actually getting executed for some bullshit like this?”

“Wrong, O’Shea. Wrong.” Andrei said with narrowing eyes. “We are months away from home; a year at the most. And if you don’t play ball with me, the next time you see those beautiful children in your file, you’ll be in an urn.”

He had completely and unapologetically sidestepped the question. Sure, he was playing dirty now, but he was already working outside the chain of command by being here.

“Oh fuck off, no we aren’t.” The older man scoffed and rolled his eyes. Like everyone else on the Gladius, they had of course all spoken the ‘we’ll get home” words but were very aware of their reality. It had jaded them all, and it seemed not everyone had subscribed to the miracle that the Vengeance was supposed to be. They were people who projected hope and yet had very little. “You people are just as lost out here as we are.”

Before Andrei could respond, there was a chime at the door. He turned to look at the surface and, with a scan of his patch, read the lifesign beyond. It was Stagg. So much for playing nice.

“Yeah, come in, you’re missing the party!” O’Shea invited, not knowing nor caring at this point who was at the door.

The door slid open as soon as he’d spoken, revealing Asher Stagg with a curious expression on his face. As soon as he locked eyes with Andrei, however, anger swelled in his breast and a frown crossed his rugged features. He stomped into the room, a crewman from Engineering in his wake.

“What in all fucks are you doing here, Petrov?” He asked, teeth gritted. “You have no authorization and NO RIGHT to be here.”

Andrei felt a swell of prideful anger swell in his own breast, but he did nothing to indicate it. He remained seated and seemingly calm, but inwardly, he desperately wanted to put Stagg in his place.

“Calm down, Asher. Malcolm and I were just having a calm discussion about his experiences in the Delta Quadrant.”

“Yeah, no. He’s been threatening me since he walked through the door wanting to execute me for that whole shit show a couple months back if I don’t ’play ball’ with him, whatever the fuck that means.” O’Shea confessed to Stagg immediately and stood from the couch.

Andrei sighed, more annoyed than anything at having been caught so soon. Asher, on the other hand, darkened with anger. He stayed in front of the open door and raised his voice immediately, prompting the passing Gladius crew, three me in red, to pause next to the security that had come with him and watch.

“You motherfucker, I was clear that you should drop this fucking witch hunt of yours!” Asher shouted, pointing at Andrei and taking several steps forward. “I will handle my crew and YOU will handle yours. Now, can you wrap your privileged little mind around that, or am I going to have to beat it into your head?”

Andrei looked up at Stagg, a smile appearing on his features. This man really thought to threaten him? It was almost adorable in his mind. Stagg was formidable, but less imposing than him.

“You need to watch your tone, Lieutenant, or you might be sucking space dust with your friend here.” Andrei said, still grinning.

Stagg surged toward him, red and masculine with fists clenched, white knuckled, as he seemed to seriously consider hitting the younger man.

“If you don’t get off my fucking ship, you’re going to need some serious dental work, Commander. Daddy is going to see his baby boy isn’t deserving of his rank and title. I’ll show him.”

Andrei stood then, slowly, and looked directly into Stagg’s eyes. Not an ounce of fear was there, but a prideful anger sparked in his visible eye, contradicting the amused smile still on his face. For a moment it wasn’t clear if he was going to strike first or wait for Stagg to do so. His fists clenched too, and his muscular build, seen through his uniform, seemed to tense and prepare for a fight. But then, in a moment, his eyes softened. He was playing nice, after all, and he remembered that.

“No..” he said, with difficulty. “There won’t be any need for that, Lieutenant. I’ll be going.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Fuck off.” O’Shea barked at Andrei, bolstered by the presence of the other crewmen and Stagg himself.

Andrei looked at Stagg for a few seconds more, and then shifted his gaze to O’Shea. His smirk remained and, if anything, grew in confidence. He leaned in and spoke quietly and clearly.

“Hide behind your mangy dog while you can. One day, I’ll make you eat those words, O’Shea.” He said, and then pushed past Stagg, allowing his shoulder to move rough against the other man’s.

When Andrei was gone, the amused crew that had gathered outside the door quickly dispersed before they were chastised by their XO for wasting time and being mosey. He looked back to O’Shea.

“He’s going to be a problem.”

“You think?” O’Shea scoffed and shook his head. “The fuck did I ever do to him?”

“I don’t know, Malcolm. I think he’s just waving his dick around, trying to scare us into doing what he says.” Asher said with a shake of his head. He was irritated, obviously, but certainly not angry to the point of losing control. “Hair like a girl; missing eye. I should fucking take the other one.”

“Well if you do want to, you let me know. You know we’ll back you.” O’Shea said and flopped down on the couch again. “Were you heading down here to warn me about him or did you need something?”

“The first one.” Asher said, his brow still furrowed as he looked out into the empty hallway. “I thought he might try something like this, and I was right. I might take you up on that offer one day, Malcolm. I have a bad feeling about this bastard. He’s the sort of man that needs to be put down.”

“Well you know Queen Anne won’t like it at all… which I guess worked out in the end for me.” He shrugged slightly. “Thanks for coming down when you did.”

“She can normally be counted on to do the nice thing.” Asher said, his voice matter-of-fact, communicating no sense that this was a negative trait for their Captain to have in his mind. “And don’t mention it. That’s what friends are for.”

“Let’s get a drink when you have some time, my treat.” The other man offered with a tired, slightly strained smile. “I fuckin’ hate all these changes.”

“What, Vengeance? The Fleet? Some of your women being reassigned to different ships?” Asher asked with a grin.

“Yeah, fuck that noise. Not like you didn’t lose anything either.” He pointed out with a smirk. “Who are you gonna fight with now that Kit is gone? The green girl?”

“I’ve got options, but I’ll just wait and see what happens.” Asher said with a shake of his head. “Annalise has got me under a mountain of paperwork.”

“Welp, that is all a you problem in the end.” O’Shea grinned in an almost wicked way. “Good luck with that on both fronts. Really though, let me know if you want to take care of that walking shitstain. We have your back, bossman.”

“I will, O’Shea. And I’ll catch you later for that drink.” Asher said before heading toward the door. He glanced over his shoulder for a second before he stepped into the hallway.

END