'Ello ladies and gents!I'm back! I'm probably fooling myself by thinking you were hungering for the following stories so I'll shut up and let you read!
The Great Arc: Episode 3
Disturbed Peace
Lieutenant Commander Patrick Jacques Reddy sat silently as he read about the adventures of Commander Montgomery Scott and his years of service. Naturally as a Scotsman, Reddy was attracted to the man's life, not just because he served under the famous Captain James T. Kirk, but because he was fascinating man, and his insights into the art of shipboard security was what Reddy had taken too when he was assigned to the Chillingsworth as Acting-Security Officer. Now he had found a multitude of novels on the man at the Starfleet Recruiting Post in Glasgow, books that the head of the post had hidden away until a man like Reddy found them and enjoyed them.
He had stumbled upon the novels two days ago when his entire crew had been given a weeks leave and he hadn't made contact with Lt. Cmdr. Karen Andrews, he had wanted somewhat to meet the woman again and had almost gone down to Starfleet Academy and sought her out. Instead he settled on calling the information center there at the Academy and learned that the first person he had ever shared a bed with had been assigned to the Defiant, and was bound for Deep Space 9 before being diverted to fight the Borg in the Vega System. From the fact that she had not informed him, what Reddy had thought would be a lasting relation between proctor and student, had now become simply a one-night-stand.
Trying his best to get over the first woman he slept with, Reddy had instead gone back to the recruiting post in Scotland and gone from there to meet several old friends from school. He had been sure to wear his Odyssey uniform with his Lieutenant Commander ranks, and had duly impressed his friends with them. Where they had become doctors and lawyers, he had become a captain of a ship that had already been through some interesting events in it's short career. When they heard that he was the first Federation ship in the Vega System they had asked him to tell them everything, which he had, and even when he was done he was asked to tell the story again. After a day of such acts he had returned to Earth Spacedock, reluctant to return to his ship instead of enjoy his free time. When Walker was done with her reparation she would surely be away from port for more than thirty days.
In his free time he had wandered the halls of Earth Spacedock and enjoyed some of the recreational areas including the arboretum and the holodecks. But so far the best and worst time he'd had was in the Starfleet Council Chamber, where yesterday he had stood before the chamber and spoke like a diplomat. He had surprised himself then, he had managed to carry a topic and keep the attention of the council, as well as convinced them to a motion. However, Admiral Quinn, who had invited him in the first place, had asked that he sit outside for this morning's session and await the verdict, if they came to one, as to who would command the Una Fleet.
Reddy had been reading outside the chamber for an hour when the door opened and the council spilled out. At the front was Admiral Quinn with the expansive Councilman Kannarv, a Klingon who represented the Utopia Shipyard around Mars, right on his heels. Reddy stood and fell in on Quinn's left as he stormed down the hallway.
"I hope you're happy Pat." The Trill said curtly.
"Extremely sir, why should I be?"
The rear admiral didn't much care for Reddy's sarcasm. "You've made yourself a political target, I'd like to see if you ever make Admiral."
Reddy didn't much care for becoming an Admiral if it involved what he had seen yesterday. "Has there been a verdict yet?" Reddy looked past Quinn at the expansive Klingon.
Before the Klingon could say anything, there came a high pitched English voice, calling them about to see. "Quinn my boy!" the group turned and say a tall and lanky man in Captain's Uniform approaching. He stepped up with a great smile on his face. "Quinn dear, lad, you said you'd introduce me to the man who started all this."
Quinn sighed. "Can I go take a pill first?"
The man leaned back and let out a happy laugh. He looked at Reddy. "You must be Commander Reddy!" he offered a hand, Reddy took it and realized that the man shook very firmly.
"Lieutenant Commander, can't have the solid bars yet." Reddy retrieved a smarting hand but kept a smile on his face.
"Well worry not, someday you'll have them, and an extra if you are lucky." The man was genuinly ecstatic, Reddy began to think that he had been selected.
Quinn stopped rubbing his head and introduced them. "Lieutenant Commander Reddy, this is Commodore George Horrocks, he has been nominated to lead the Una Fleet."
Horrocks made a motion of taking of a hat and bowing. "At your service Mister Reddy. I have you to thank for this! My whole life I've spent wanting to command something worthwhile, now I'll get to!" he laughed and nudged Quinn with his elbow. "They may promote me over you Jorel my boy."
Quinn cast an agitated glare at the jubilant man. "I've got things to do, and so do you." he turned to go, both Kannarv and Reddy bid goodbye to Horrocks and followed the quick walking Admiral.
"He seems happy to be in command." Reddy said to no one at all.
Quinn huffed. "Captain George Brian Horrocks, I've known him since I taught at the Academy. He can memorize an entire document in a single glance and can organize a hundred men to do the hardest tasks, even if he was the most junior." he glanced over his shoulder to see that Horrocks wasn't following them. "The staff use to call him 'Quartermaster' because he almost took over our jobs. He's been a Captain since he left the Academy, commanding the same ship. He's been assigned to all kinds of things, from cleanup details to quelling civil unrest, each time he has got it done."
"A true warrior knows his troops and their strengths, he doesn't make politically correct decisions." Kannarv stated.
"Indeed." Reddy still was wondering why he had command. "But there are dozens of Admirals without combat commands, with combat experience. Why was Horrocks chosen?"
Quinn stopped and faced Reddy. "You remember what I said about politicking? Well that is it at work right now. Yes there are a dozen Admirals who could do the job, but Councilman T'Kitos has most of the council wrapped around his hand, and the last thing he wants is for a motion that you started to become successful in the end. By putting a man with little experience in command, he has created an unstable blackhole that might just drag you and Starfleet into it if Horrocks fails." he started walking again. "In short, T'Kitos managed to to do what he has been trying to do for the past five years."
"What's that?" Reddy asked.
"End Starfleet by denying all aggressors against it, he wants the spending gone and expects the Borg to act like it's nothing." Quinn's face was red. He looked at Reddy. "Those are the men who want to see Starfleet gone, and they've got about forty-eight percent of both the Starfleet and Federation council, most are Vulcan or human."
Reddy was still curious. "But how would they benefit from that?"
"They think their wages will go up and they can focus on increasing government profit. I'm not entirely sure, I feel that they just want the military gone." he brought his hands up and made quotation marks. "'It's the 25th Century, we shouldn't have to wage war.'"
Kannarv laughed.
Reddy grimaced. "Any chance that they'll succeed?" he asked, casting an eye at Kannarv who was chuckling to himself.
"Have you not been listening Pat? He's got half of the council, has already managed to decrease strength by half of what it was at the turn of the century, and he just ordered a white-collar to lead the assault on the Vega System. So I think that there is quite the chance he'll succeed." Quinn fumed. They reached his office and he stopped. He faced Reddy. "How's the work on Walker coming along?"
Reddy bit his lip. "Good," he lied, "I'm sure she'll be ready by the end of the week."
"Indeed, she looked in pretty rough shape." Quinn's brows went up.
"Aye, she was beat around pretty hard, but my engineer knows what she's doing and has done a remarkable job fixing her up, not to mention how well she works with my Operations Officer." Not all of the statement was true.
"Well then, go back aboard and hurry them up, I feel that I'm going to have a job for you by tomorrow." Quinn had obviously dismissed Reddy.
"Yes sir." Reddy turned, bid Kannarv goodbye, and walked away.
His ship's refit was going the complete opposite of good, or even bad. It was horrible. Two larger and more important ships had come in just after Walker and had hogged up Spacedock's resources. Reddy's Engineering Officer, a Bolian named Zarva, and his Head of Operations, Sarah Triss, had spent two days trying to find resources to fix the horrible damage that they had taken in the Vega and Pollux Systems almost a week ago. A ship as small as Walker was considered to be cannon fodder, and the ancient Miranda-class was usually placed at the very bottom of the priority list, right below the Constitution-refit-class cargo ships and the Centaur light cruisers. Next came the allocation of the four hundred civilians that Reddy had loaded aboard from Vega IX, he had managed to lose around two hundred, yet two hundred civilians still crowded the halls, making Zarva's job even harder. At the bottom of the list of problems, certainly not the least, was the missing crew. On the first week of Februarym during the fight over the small colony of Vega IX, now controlled by the Borg, a plasma fire had broken out on the Port side. Thirty damage control personnel had been critically wounded trying to put the fires out, another fifteen were dead. Already a requisition for basic crewmen from the Berlin and Beijing Arms had been sent, but Zarva was extremely short handed, and security forces made poor DC crews.
It was the main reason Reddy had procrastinated in Earth Spacedock for the last few days, the ship rang with hammers, torches, and complaining refugees. Zarva complained as well, which angered him because he hated having to listen to his friends complain, Elisa tried to avoid him and T'Kira was going through some kind of period where she was forced into solitude. The only person who seemed to go on without a complaint was Arripak the Bridge Engineer, who Reddy had a small grudge against because of a little telepathic incident during the fighting over Vega IX.
But now he had no choice, Quinn had given him a direct order, he also mentioned a mission. Reddy felt that a mission, even if it was a border patrol or cargo mission, would bring his crew back together and improve the moods aboard. Reddy's PADD buzzed and he found the a set of orders to return to his ship, he smiled.
As soon as Walker had laid up in port and news of the Borg had reached the public, Reddy had been intercepted by a group of news reporters. The next day his name had been in every newsreel and paper, making him a hero in the public, and an idiot to fellow Starfleet. One paper had said "Truly the finest Starfleet has to offer, a man even more important to the Federation than Jim Kirk or Jean Luc Picard, a shining example for all Starfleet officers, senior and non." Not many men had taken that well, especially the Lieutenants who had seen more years of service than Reddy. The thought among the ranks was that who was this 'days-old' man who deserves a promotion to Lieutenant Commander and a ship of his own.
Now, glad to have a real reason to return his ship, Reddy could leave the jealous gaze of Starfleet officers and return to his friends that knew that he valued his ship and crew more than a year in the news.