GsB II: Acorns and Ergot.
Chapter 48: Annoyance

"Communiqué from Command, sir."

"Hmm?"

In the center seat aboard Enterprise, Captain Ready looks up, still bearing a distracted expression. Something just hadn't let him rest easy, since Rose left the ship to join the mission team. Call it apprehension, call it sentiment, call it what you like, but he has it in spades, and the worry lines etched under his midnight blue eyes belie the broken sleep cycles of the past several nights. Yawning, he takes the sheet of paper in hand.

"Anything of note to report?", Captain Ready asks

"You might want to read it for yourself, sir."

A spark of intuition flashes in Captain Ready's eyes, and he comes fully alert, diving into the short stack of paper with intensity. Scanning the main body of the text, his expression turns to one of shock, then irritation, then worry, and then a combination of the three.

"Get the acting XO up here. I need someone to take the bridge, and take it now!", Captain Ready orders

"Where're you going, Captain?", the XO asks.

Gesturing across the Italian landscape, Captain Ready heads out the rear doors of the bridge, shouldering out of his uniform jacket as he goes.

"Where do you think?", Captain Ready says out loud.

As he disappears below decks, an annoyed growl is heard by the rest of the bridge crew.

"And Command is just sending us this now?"