Perks of Command

Posted on Thu Jan 27th, 2022 @ 1:14am by Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov & Lieutenant JG Kassandra Selin

Mission: S1 Episode 1: Caretaker, Part I
Location: Bridge - Deck 1
Timeline: MD 5, 0030 Hours
1627 words - 3.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Kass sat in the captain's chair, a pile of Padds on the Xo's seat beside her. To be honest, they were tethered to a starbase, no one but her, was on the bridge and she was reading to keep herself awake, as she was physically exhausted, horny and absolutely pissed at her chief of department.

First the jackass had used her agonizer on her for hours, and she still had the hand shakes, then she was certain she was going to get laid with Callie and Johnathan only for that to be totally interrupted. Jerk, Asshole, F&^$%Tard, she had a number of names for him. And now she was looking down the barrel of being awake over 24 hours. She bit back a groan and picked up the next padd.

The turbolift doors whooshed open and the Assistant Chief of Security strode out with a confident gait, his attention locked on his destination, the tactical console. Having just finished his shift a half hour before, he had lingered in the Security Offices chatting with crew from Gamma Shift. After he was finished there, he decided to meander up to the bridge to finish one more task which was best done from the main console. He stepped up into the alcove and logged into the console with a quick succession of key strokes. He worked with direct attention, humming a song as he went.

The Bridge was typically a bustle of activity when a ship was underway; even Gamma Shift would field at least four officers with traffic from some others, and during high alerts, that number swelled to 13 at the minimum. While they were nestled safely inside of Spacedock however, one senior officer or highly positioned junior officer was normally selected to man the fort uselessly, just in case a communique came through and the XO, who was on call during Gamma, would need to be roused from his slumber.

Andrei hadn't had the luxury himself, and he wouldn't until they were well under way, in which case he would have a host of Ensigns under his command, but he liked to get his extra work done during the quiet hours of the night. He often came up during this time to do just that.

He began to hum a tune mindlessly, his lack of musical talent immediately obvious. When he'd downloaded the information he needed from the console, he logged out and stepped out of the alcove. It was only then he noticed the long brown hair of Ensign Selin sitting in the command chair.

These Intrepid Class Bridges were strange, lacking the functionality of a proper warship but with great tactical power. Even the fact that the Captain had to share the central area equally with the XO was appalling to him. He stepped down onto the main level and picked up the pile of PADDs from the chair, moving them neatly and stacking them behind the command display between the two chairs. Then he lowered himself into the XO's chair and logged into his own hard-wired security PADD wordlessly.

Kass didn't say a word, instead she reached for the mug of coffee on the other side and took a sip before pinching her own arm. Yup awake. No, not a dream that the other jerk on the ship had just sat down beside her. She chose then to ignore him and continue her study of flight data for her meeting with Lieutenant Anderson .... gods in 9 hours.

"Funny, I thought Lieutenant Morrison was supposed to be the lone rider tonight." Andrei said, still looking at his PADD.

"He swapped out" Kass replied, her tone montone. "Seems he had better things to do."

"Yes, I'm sure he did." Andrei responded, folding one leg over the other and leaning back comfortably. He keyed the PADD several times, scrolling down. He looked over at her, a look of innocent curiosity on his face. "Do you mind, Kassandra? I thought you might like a little company and I thought...well, I'm working anyway."

Kass gave a shrug and sipped more of the coffee she had brewed for herself. It was uber strong. "Free bridge" she said, too tired to really care who was there. She had to stay awake. At least if he was there, it would force her to stay awake.

He said nothing for several seconds after that, thumbing through the PADD, clearly reading a security report. After a while, however, he lowered the PADD slightly and turned his head toward her again.

"I know we've gotten off on a terrible foot here, and I know I'm alot of the reason for that." he said to her. He offered an handsome smile. "I just wanted you to know that I regret that it has happened and that I'd like it if you and I could make up, you know. Be friends."

This made her suspicious. She sent him a side glance. "Uh huh. I maybe suffering from pain induced delusion but I could have sworn I heard you say you regret stuff.”

He chuckled, lacing his fingers comfortably.

“No, I do. You’re very much awake. I shouldn’t have treated you that way. It was mean spirited and it wasn’t fair.” He said, putting on a serious expression. “There’s no reason for us to be at each other’s throats.”

She raised an eyebrow, "ookkaayy.. still not getting the holo-recording Andrei. Be grateful I have it and not Morrison."

“I’m not trying to get the recording, Kass. I know there’s no way you’ll ever give that up. This isn’t about that.” He said, raising his hands and showing his palms. “I mean, we have to work together here and it’s ridiculous for us to fight over nothing.”

Kass rarely trusted people, it was not in her nature. "Colleagues then. No out and out war. Besides I have bigger fish to fry currently than you."

“Oh, I’ll bet you do, you little sneak.” He commented with a sly grin. His energy increasing in a friendly manner. “You gray shirts always have something on underneath. What have you got hidden away in that head of yours? Let me guess…the Imperial Command Codes…or, maybe the contents of my diary?”

"Ah now that would be telling and I don't need to read your diary. I just have to look at any eligible female who has never had sex before." Kass sipped her coffee. "Are you telling me you didn't hear? I got punished today."

“Skirt chasing isn’t all I think of, you know. I have other hobbies like…catching the skirts.” He said with a smoldering grin. “And he’s, I heard he did a number on you. Are you okay?”

"Fine but I have been up since 5 am yesterday morning because I wanted to make sure I was fully ready for a senior staff briefing I really didn't need to be at cause Lieutenant Morrison showed up, and then spent nearly 5 hours as his personal agonizer bunny. And now this. He wants me to quit." She sipped her coffee again and this time her hands shook slightly. "Coffee is going to get me through the next few hours and through a meeting with Lieutenant Anderson at 09h00, or i swear someone is going to die." She gritted out.

“Perhaps someone should..” he said without reservation, his brow raised in an unreserved suggestion. “I think, if command knew about this, Lieutenant Morrison would be quickly reprimanded. Punishing competent officers for following orders isn’t exactly well-regarded in the Empire. You know, or maybe you should vaporize him and make it look like an accident.”

"And be the first person they accuse?" Kass asked as she considered mainlining caffeine. "I am sure the people high up know of him. I just have to be patient. "

"Patience is for the powerless." Andrei said in a slightly dismissive tone, then caught himself. "But, then again, perhaps you should be careful. Plunging a knife into the wrong back could ruin you. But, since we're getting along, remember that I could always arrange a...transporter incident or something like that."

"I will keep that in mind" Kass said with a wry smile. She glanced at the Chrono. "But I refuse to plan revenge on no sleep. Maybe once i have caught up i will think better." She added.

He offered her a charming smile, tired as well, and he logged out of his console. He stood, leaning over the center console for a brief moment.

“Word from one sneak to another, you can program this console to ring if anything noteworthy happen including someone entering the Bridge or even asking for the first floor as their destination.” He said, giving her another grin. “If I were you, I might make use of that function.”

"I will keep that in mind." Kass said. "Have a good night Andrei. I take it there will some lucky lady tonight?"

“I don’t think so, no. Just some wine and a good book, I’m afraid.” He said, shaking his head. “Unless that was an offer? If so, I believe ‘having a meeting in the briefing room’ would be an adequate excuse.” He said to her, winking, and then he chuckled.

“Joking, Kass. Only joking.”

She gave a small smile. "Turbolift is that way" She said with a smirk. "Go get some sleep Andrei."

"I'm already gone, love...already gone." he said, repeating himself as his father so often did. He wasn't aware he had also developed this happen and would probably hate the person who pointed it out, but it was certainly there. He strolled comfortably toward the door, humming the same tune he had been earlier.