Star Trek Hunter
Episode 12: Prisoner in the Ice Castle
Scene 18: Annual Performance Evaluation
12.18
Annual Performance Evaluation
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"We're going to keep this short." Justice Minerva Irons looked exhausted. She leaned back in her chair at the head of the table in the executive conference room. "Tali."
Dr. Tali Shae was seated next to Irons. "Dr. Sif did a thorough job with her autopsy of the Dauphin, Sin th'Ravonet. However, she tells me that it was Dr. Boles who researched thousands of andorian autopsies, particularly in missing persons cases and it was his research that identified not only how to track an andorian's location by their consumption of aglimoss and oroins, but it was also what made him suspicious when they identified the amount of pardo in the Dauphin's bloodstream. I know Dr. Boles occasionally rubs people the wrong way, but his contributions were vital to this effort. And Dr. Sif has become one of his small circle of fans."
"Thank you, Tali," said Irons. "Lt. Tauk."
"Ensign Tolon and his team, along with Investigator Buttons got all the excitement and performed exceptionally well. Tolon has completely won the loyalty of his team. He leads well from behind and from in front and knows when each is appropriate. He was the one who had the presence of mind to collect samples of the aglimoss during the first rescue attempt in the Ice Hole. But we would have been nowhere without the intelligence provided by Investigator Shran and Lieutenant T'Lon's processing of this information. She designed the attack plan to rescue the Dauphin Sin Shav's daughters."
"Has Shran returned from leave?" Irons asked.
"He has," Tauk replied. "He isn't telling us what he did during the time he was reactivated by the Imperial Guard and I am not asking."
"Continue that policy," Irons said. "Kenneth."
"Chief Guth, and flight specialists Chin and Salazaar conducted a flawless first strike in Bespatel. Chin and Salazaar had to wait for more than 20 hours in their interceptors in Rings' eastern LaGrange point. Hiding in a LaGrange point requires constant adjustment to keep from drifting into the debris. Guth did a superb job gathering information at Bespatel and taking down the house shields. He also did some fine flying down into the Ice Hole. And T'Lon and I had a bit of excitement up here."
"So I heard," Irons intoned. "We will talk about that momentarily. Sarekson?"
Dr. Carrera cleared his throat. "Midshipman Brazil worked well in the field, especially in rescuing the ground ops team out of the Ice Hole. She has done some fine tuning to the pattern enhancers that helped overcome some local conditions that would otherwise have made use of the transporters impossible. The Hunter, the wagon, the tactical unit and both interceptors are in good condition and ready for next action."
"Lieutenant Commander, you met directly with the new emperor. Impressions?"
Mlady sat up. "He is strongly telepathic and projects a presence around him that everyone can feel. A lion. The other andorians were terrified of him. And fascinated by him."
"I believe this qualifies as a successful mission. Thank you all. You are dismissed," Irons said. "Kenneth, David, Mlady, please stay."
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Irons laid her head back and closed her eyes until the room had cleared. Without opening her eyes, she placed a small box on the table, pushed it with her fingertips to Pep, who, in turn, placed a massive finger on it and slid it across the table to Mlady.
"Lieutenant Dolphin," Mlady said, "we have completed your annual review. Because of the severe implications of your behavior over the past year, I am deferring to our Executive Officer."
"Admirals have gotten involved in this action, Kenny," said Pep. "And not just any admirals, the Chief of Star Fleet Operations and the Star Fleet Chief of Staff. Given that, I am deferring to Captain Irons."
Irons opened her eyes, looking even more weary. "Kenneth, given your behavior over the past year, Admiral El Fadil and Fleet Admiral Stewart have both made it clear that an adjustment in rank is not only in order, but required. I am not going to change the structure of this boat - you will continue in your role as director of flight operations. You will still answer to Lieutenant Commander Mlady and Second Lieutenant Gamor will still answer to you. I don't like placing an officer under the general supervision of an officer of the same rank, but given the circumstances, it cannot be avoided."
"To review: Within the first hour you joined this crew, you gave a direct order to a fellow first lieutenant, Lieutenant Allen Mitchell. He filed a grievance against you, and that grievance made it to Fleet Admiral Stewart. In the Battle for Pillo you brought the tactical unit out of warp manually directly between two battle cruisers that were less than 100 meters apart. I had the Daystrom Institute run the numbers and they told me that maneuver is statically impossible and you should never have attempted it."
"In your assignment to Subspace Radio Ivonovic, you disobeyed my orders to only give an interview, went rogue, behaved like a covert agent and in the process of providing shelter from the tribunal for a wanted suspect, you lied to Fleet Admiral Stewart and used my personal influence in ways that I am still recovering from. And then there are your actions over the past few days."
"During a firefight over Andoria, after playing chicken with an andorian cruiser and nearly squashing yourself and two other officers like a bug on their hull, you personally took command of the battlefield in the presence of four Star Fleet captains and eleven other superior officers. Captain Chekov, who is in command of this mission, was particularly incensed at your use of your own name - especially when you personally commandeered 40 andorian interceptors and threatened to cut off the squadron commander's antennae? And there's a rumor floating around that you horse-whipped a superior officer?"
Dolphin turned bright red.
"I cannot have a first lieutenant under my command doing these kinds of things, Kenneth," Irons said.
Lt. Cmdr. Mlady opened the box, removed a rank pip - platinum with a black center. She walked around the table to Lt. Dolphin. He felt her tugging at his collar. She stepped back.
"Some of the Star Fleet captains are starting to call you a 'Kirk'. That isn't a compliment when coming from superior officers." Irons sighed, took a breath. "But Admiral El Fadil and Fleet Admiral Stewart - who still doesn't like you by the way - agreed with me that having a Lieutenant Dolphin with your reputation is not optimal for my strategic needs… Lieutenant Commander…"
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Dolphin's hand shot to his collar, counted three pips. He could feel the third pip was the new one with a black dot in the center.
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Pep exploded with laughter. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a straight face around here?"
Irons started laughing as well. "You scared a top of the line andorian battle cruiser out of the sky of its own homemoon…" she couldn't continue for laughing.
"I just wish I could see Captain Chekov's face when he learns you promoted him…" Mlady said.
"Tell me how to run my ship," Irons retorted, a little acerbically. "I was a starship captain 20 years before he was born. I bounced him on my knee… And he was a wet little crybaby…"
Pep, barely managing to speak while laughing: "I can't believe you horse-whipped Commander Red…"
Dolphin, still bright red, managed, "It was just one pop… It was Mlady's idea…"
Pep held on to the table to keep from falling out of his chair laughing.
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12 - Prisoner in the Ice Castle
Stay Tuned For:
Episode 13: The 15,000 Cities of Cun Ling
Crew of the U.S.S. Hunter: (Ship's Interactive Holographic Avatar - Hunter)
At-Large Appellate Justice, Captain Minerva Irons
Chief Executive Officer - Commander David Pepper
Chief Operations Officer - Lt. Commander Mlady
Medical Director - Commander Tali Shae
.Asst. Medical Director - Lt. Jazz Sam Sinder
.Epidemiologist - Lt. Napoleon Boles
..Ensign Chrissiana Trei
...Forensic Specialist - Midshipman Sif
...Emergency Medical Hologram - Dr. Raj
...Tactical Medical Hologram - Dr. Kim
Director of Flight Operations - Lt. Kenneth Dolphin
.Asst. Flight Dir. - 2nd Lt. Gaia Gamor
...Navigator Johanna Imex
...Navigator Eli Strahl
..Ensign Ethan Phillips
...Chief Flight Specialist Dewayne Guth
...Flight Specialist Dih Terri
...Flight Specialist Joey Chin
...Flight Specialist Winnifreid Salazaar
Director of Ground Operations - Lt. Tauk
.Asst. Ground Ops Dir. - 2nd Lt. T'Lon
...Investigator Lynhart Shran
...Investigator Buttons N'gumbo
..Ensign Tolon Reeves
...Tactical Specialist Jarrong
...Tactical Specialist Belo Rys
...Tactical Specialist Belo Garr
...Tactical Specialist Belo Cantys
Director of Engineering - Lt. Sarekson Carrera
.Asst. Engineering Dir. - 2nd Lt. Moon Sun Salek
..Midshipman Tammy Brazil
...Transporter Engineer K'rok
..Ensign Sun Ho Hui
...Flight Engineer Yolanda Thomas
...Flight Engineer Thomas Hobbs
...Flight Engineer Tomos
...Flight Engineer Kerry Gibbon