"Congratulations, Jim. You've officially eliminated the Orion Syndicate." The Federation president lifted his glass in toast to Kirk.
The rest of the dignitaries followed suit.
Jim nodded good-naturedly and took a small sip of the light amber wine. It had been a year to the day that he was appointed to Operations and given the task. It didn't matter that there were still cells out there reorganizing and restructuring the Orion crime family. It was time to declare the job completed. Hundreds had been arrested and tried in very public court hearings. It had been a hugely popular war and politically successful campaign.
"Thank you, sir." He answered through a tight jaw. His dinner mates ignored his expression, chalking it up to his notoriously mercurial personality.
A small pyramid of plates and line of silver utensils to each side indicated the number of courses he could anticipate. Jim was both honored and disgusted at the pomp and circumstance.
The president was comically predictable. A single course meal signified a completed job, though the verbiage was always about the same.
"Admiral, I knew we had the right man for the job. Your leadership skill and ability to leverage resources has fostered unprecedented paradigm shifts in Federation policy."
A five-course meal was taken as high praise - job well done.
"Thank you sir, I couldn't have done it without your help."
The president gulped the wine down and waved his hand dismissing Kirk's humility. "Nonsense. You're a proactive, enthusiastic mission focused leader."
But a 7 or more course meal was the kiss of death. It was the sign of the highest praise possible, a permanent job at the President's right hand.
"Of course I would never try to convince you that your trust was misplaced, sir, but I merely organized the efforts of those who accomplished the mission. I was instrumental at a very high but superficial level."
The president chuckled as one would when tolerating a child. Jim didn't quite flinch, but he could feel it coming.
"Jim, I'll be honest with you, I think it's your finest work. I can't imagine a better choice for Chief of Operations. I don't know what we did without you. Hell I don't want to imagine what we'd do without you."
Jim felt rather than heard the stifled groans from the interns in attendance. Clearly they could imagine what they would do without him.
Jim set his jaw, lifted his glass and accepted his fate with an air of graciousness that he did not feel. "Thank you, sir."