Chapter Six

Marrissa was not having a good day. She'd started it in the holodeck explaining how the various ships worked together in the Squadron with Sub-Commander Saavik. Then she'd had to show Saavik Main Engineering, where she not only made a fool of herself, but also reopened the cut from the previous night's demonstration. On top of all that, the Indefatigable's First Officer seemed to think it would be a good idea to change her battle station from the Bridge to Environmental Control. She had mumbled the fact that such an assignment was an insult to a visiting First Officer and the idea was dropped. It didn't help that she was developing a headache, and her period was due, either.

She turned the corner into the corridor which led to her own quarters. Marrissa was going to take a nice hot water shower. That was the only cure for a day like this.

"Stop!" came a baritone voice from behind her. She instinctively followed the order. "About face." It was the Lieutenant who'd tried to stop her in the hall the previous night, the one that had taken over the Indefatigable's Captaincy Candidates from Lieutenant Pizarro. "Your uniform is improper, Ensign. In case you hadn't heard, Ensigns only wear one pip."

The Lieutenant reached out and plucked off two of her rank pips, one the gold edged black one that she'd added when she reached Lieutenant Commander, the other one of the two rank pips she'd received long ago from Captain Picard when she'd been trapped in the turbolift. "That is the proper decoration for an Ensign. I'll keep these."

Marrissa tried to respond but her throat was all choked up. Suddenly she burst into tears with a deep sob. She dropped from her instinctual attention stance, at first slumping, and then collapsing against the corridor's wall. The Lieutenant barked something about not giving her permission to do something, but Marrissa didn't hear him as she slid down to the floor and into a fetal position, her tears refusing to stop.

...

Captain Berganmister Portinmire heard the sobs before the scene came into view. There was Lieutenant Commander Picard in a fetal position sobbing on the ground. He squatted next to Lieutenant Commander Picard, who was still crying. He gently turned her tear-stained face to face him as he said in a soft tone, "Are you okay, Commander?"

Marrissa could only shake her head no, as tears continued to flow.

"I understand you had a hard day, and that my officers haven't made it any better," Portinmire said. "I think we need to have a long talk, Marrissa. However, here is not the place. I believe your quarters are close." He helped Marrissa stand. "What happened to your rank pips?" There was a rough spot on her collar where there would usually be two more.

"He took them," Marrissa sobbed, tears threatening to return. "The Lieutenant told me I wasn't supposed wear them and ripped them off like I was one of the new Ensigns." The tears began to return again, as she sobbed, "One of them was my father's."

Portinmire placed his arm around her and gently directed her to her quarters. "I'll get them back from him." Portinmire was well aware of the tradition of passing pips to lesser officers of merit as they were promoted. It made some sense that Captain Picard would pass his to his adopted daughter with her promotions to Ensign and full Lieutenant, and like many officers, she no doubt treasured them. In fact, he had received his Captain's pip from his first Captain.

They entered Marrissa's quarters, and once there she broke down in tears again. Portinmire found himself gently hugging the young girl, just like he did his own little girl during the infrequent times when he was at home. For a good ten minutes they stayed that way.

Finally Marrissa pulled way, and dried her tears with her right sleeve. "Sorry sir," she said. "I haven't done cried like that since I was twelve."

"When you learned of you parent's deaths?" Portinmire inquired. Marrissa nodded. "It is understandable. We have been putting you under a lot of unnecessary stress for quite some time. Sometimes we forget that everyone has a breaking point, and I think we've managed to hit yours. I'm sorry we did."

Marrissa could only nod as she stood in front of the Captain.

"I had intended to talk to you today about that, but I think we'd both prefer if we did it when our emotions are both under control," Portinmire said. "So, why don't you take a hot water shower, and relax the rest of the shift. Then, tonight, join me for dinner in the Captain's mess."

"Aye sir," Marrissa said, snapping to attention.

"None of that, Marrissa," Portinmire said. "I think we've had enough formality today. I'll leave you to your shower. Don't spare the water." He left Marrissa behind him. When he passed where he'd found Marrissa, he realized that he had a wet spot where Marrissa had buried her face into his chest. As he looked down at his chest he spotted a slight rip in the carpet of the corridor where the Lieutenant had to have come to a stop to reprimand her. There was only one Lieutenant who had the mass to inflict such damage on the carpet with his steel toed boots.

"Captain Portinmire to Commander Luciani," he said, tapping his badge.

"Luciani, go ahead Captain," the response came quickly.

"Antonio, find Lieutenant Harkeness and see if he is in possession of two rank pips, one hollow, one full, the full well worn," Portinmire said, walking swiftly toward his office. "Don't let him deny it."

"What has the Lieutenant done, sir?" Luciani said.

"I'll tell you later, Antonio," Portinmire said. "Once you have that pip, escort Harkeness to my office."

"Aye sir."

"And Antonio, Lieutenant Commander Picard is off duty for the remainder of the day, including red alerts. Turn off the siren in her quarters, and lift water restrictions for her."

"Will that be all, Captain?"

"Yes, for now. Portinmire out."

...

Jay Gordon had reached his limit with paperwork. While it was the job of the Captain to command a ship, the First Officer ran the ship. He now knew why Marrissa protested so much when he broke into her work in the evening insisting that she take a break. It simply wasn't possible to keep up with everything in even two standard eight hour shifts.

He'd missed contacting Marrissa the previous day. She'd been engaged in some sort of demonstration when he'd called. Perhaps she'd be available now. It was the middle of Beta shift, after all. "Computer, is Lieutenant Commander Marrissa Picard on the USS Indefatigable available?" he inquired.

"Lieutenant Commander Marrissa Picard is not to be disturbed per orders of the Indefatigable's First Officer," the computer replied.

"Computer, is Commander Antonio Luciani available?" Jay inquired. While the computer's reply had been emotionless, Jay's inquiry was rough with sudden concern.

"Commander Antonio is available," the computer said.

"Connect me to him," Jay said, tapping his computer screen on.

In just a few seconds Commander Luciani appeared on the screen. Luciani was a long time First Officer, who had served under several Captains before settling under Captain Portinmire for the past five years. His black hair was thinning on top, but he still maintained a athletic figure despite his fifty-two years. Behind him was an almost finished painting of a Constellation Class Starship with a halo of fighters flying around it.

"What can I do for you, Lieutenant Gordon?" Luciani asked, apparently cleaning his brush.

"I just tried to contact Marrissa and got a message that she was not to be disturbed and I'm a little worried," Jay said.

"Yes, I guess you would be, given that you do seem to always be her escort," Luciani said. "It seems that Lieutenant Commander Picard was the center of a discovery of a little problem today."

"Problem?" Jay said, the word catching in his throat. This wasn't good at all. Marrissa did not need to be at the center of a problem today.

"Yes, not one she caused, but I think she's suffering the most from it," Luciani replied. "We'd thought that Lieutenant Pizarro was our only real problem child, but figured that with exposure to a ship like yours for a bit, he might be salvageable. Unfortunately, his transfer has revealed that he was apparently a mild case. I assigned Lieutenant Bickham Harkeness to take his place, and in the last hour I've discovered that Harkeness is a holy terror."

Jay scowled.

Luciani took a deep breath. "It seems that shortly after the end of Alpha Shift, Harkeness encountered Lieutenant Commander Picard, and assuming due to her age that she was one of his Ensigns, reprimanded her for wearing a rank to which she wasn't entitled."

Jay took in an involuntary deep breath. That was hitting Marrissa in the worst possible place emotionally.

"Apparently Lieutenant Commander Picard broke into tears, and collapsed," Luciani said. "Harkeness left her there. Captain Portinmire found her and took her to her quarters, and ordered her to take some time off and a long hot shower, which she has done."

"And Lieutenant Harkeness?" Jay said, surprised at the hard tone of anger in his voice.

"The Captain reamed him for his behavior in front of all the Ensigns we'd assigned him to take care of him," Luciani said. "We've also relieved him of duty, until further notice."

"He couldn't have chosen a worse thing to do to Marrissa than to say she didn't deserve what she had," Jay said, reflecting on past problems that Marrissa had. "It's always been a sore spot for her."

"Lieutenant, I have to admit that I'm worried about Lieutenant Commander Picard," Luciani said. "So is the Captain. I understand that you've been friends with her for a long time."

"Ever since I can remember, sir," Jay replied. He could not recall a time where the blond girl had not been a part of his life.

"Is there anything that we can do to help her?" Luciani asked, his concern clear in his eyes.

"Well, the long hot shower order probably helped," Jay said. "A short time off helps, but not anything extended, and showing that her abilities are needed when she comes back on duty will probably be the best thing long term. When we were on the Enterprise, dinner with the Command Crew always seemed to work."

"The Captain has invited her to eat dinner with him tonight," Luciani said. "Should we make that with the Senior Staff?"

"I'm not sure," Jay said. "That might intimidate her too much after today. She doesn't know the Indefatigable's staff, like she did with the Enterprise's. She used to very shy and when she's upset that shyness returns."

"Hmmm, well, I'd really like her to at least meet up with the core of our command staff," Luciani said, picking up his pallet and looking at the various prepared colors. He dipped the brush in a deep red. "Lieutenant, you submitted a plan to the Squadron Tactical Discussion Group last week about shifting the location of a wing of your fighters around to other ships on rotation."

"Yes," Jay said, puzzled at the sudden change of subject.

"Well, I'm a little concerned about the readiness of the Indy's shuttlebay staff and would like a little drill," Luciani said, turning towards the painting and signing his name and the stardate to the picture. "Do you think that the Stargazer could spare yourself and a wing of fighters around the end of Beta Shift? Afterwards we could perhaps discuss it and the drill over dinner."

"I think we could," Jay said, smiling. "I'll have to talk to Captain Washington of course. And if you should forget to tell Marrissa of my arrival, well, I always have liked surprising her."

"Well, she does have that do not disturb sign out," Luciani said. "Unless I hear otherwise, I'll expect you at say, 1600?"

"That looks good to me," Jay said.

"Then, I'll talk to you then, Indefatigable out."

Jay turned off his computer screen and pushed back his chair. He needed to talk with Captain Washington now. It looked like his efforts to keep Marrissa in good mental health were failing.

...

Captain T'Gwen Washington was about midway through her walk through the ship. It wasn't a walk that she could complete in a shift. In fact this was the third shift in the current iteration of the path through all the corridors and work areas on the ship. Deck 8 was one of the decks split by the Fighter Bay, which made her have to double-back more than most decks did. She'd seen this part of the ship a few minutes ago, so she was walking quickly.

She'd already covered the forward port section of the ship, and now was heading back around Cargo Bay Three towards Engineering. Unlike the bigger ships in the fleet, the Stargazer just had one Engineering Section, with the warp core in the middle, and the port and starboard impulse engines on each side.

As she peered into Cargo Bay Three, she heard the distinctive rhythm of Lieutenant Jay Gordon's approach. While Marrissa had been known to skip when she was in a very good mood, Jay had a habit of walking in an almost perfect beat. "Jay, what brings you down to Deck 8 this afternoon," she said, not even looking his way.

"I just got some bad news from the Indefatigable," Jay said. Washington found his tone to have a note of worry. "Apparently Marrissa had a minor breakdown a few hours ago."

T'Gwen stopped abruptly. "How badly?" There was an unusual note of concern in her voice. Marrissa was her First Officer, and more than that, Marrissa was like a younger sister to her in some ways.

"She broke into tears after a lower-ranking officer reprimanded her for wearing improper rank insignia," Jay said. "Captain Portinmire gave her Beta Shift off to recover."

"You're still worried about her," T'Gwen stated. Her eyes had picked out the signs on Jay. His easy-going posture had been replaced with an almost ramrod one. His usually cheerful blue eyes were now ice cold.

Jay made no move to deny it. "I'd like to lead Purple Wing over to the Indefatigable. Commander Luciani would like us to drill his shuttle bay crew on fighter servicing and other fighter emergencies, anyway."

"That would make my two top tactical talents off ship," T'Gwen observed. "Tactical instinct is my weakness."

"Respectfully, Captain, I think you're selling yourself short," Jay almost snapped.

T'Gwen rose her hand, stopping Jay from continuing. "Relax, Jay. I know better than to stop you from seeing Marrissa when she needs you. I just want you back by 2200 hours, and if you'd send word as to how Marrissa is doing, I'd appreciate it."

Jay remained standing before T'Gwen for just a moment, the words apparently needing time to sink in.

"Now, go get Purple Wing ready," T'Gwen said. "The sooner you provide Commander Luciani with his drill, the sooner you can visit Marrissa. Business before pleasure, after all." Jay's stance was relaxing.. "You're dismissed, Lieutenant."

When the Captain entered Engineering a few minutes later, she spotted a young Ensign staring at her. She quickly schooled her face. She couldn't entirely let the myth of the Vulcan's lack of emotions be revealed. It was a planet-wide conspiracy after all.