Admiral's Discretion

Posted on Thu Dec 30th, 2021 @ 1:58pm by Captain Nycolas Temple & Admiral Gordon Francis

Mission: The Gauntlet
Location: Deck 17 - Brig

ON:

Time. That's all the former Admiral Thac had now. Time to think, time to replay his past conversations, and time to consider the glory that had slipped through his hands.

Thac definitely had time now to question where exactly he messed this up. Was it pushing the scientists to come up with a successful experiment when the planet was clearly being dramatically effected by the Pithos Facility? Was it calling the Pandora for help to clean up the mess after Commander Rothgan sounded the alarm? Was it simply accepting the damned assignment from Admiral Vincent in the first place?

So much time. So few answers. All Thac could do was sit on his hard bunk, staring at the ceiling, considering how exactly he came to be in this position.

Outside the brig, Admiral Francis approached, wearing a heavy coat with a hood over his head. He had had a bad series of ear infections as a child and as a result had to wear covering over them in cold weather, and the brig was especially cold.

"I'm sorry, sir, the brig is off limits. Captain's orders," said the security officer by the door.

The Admiral scoffed. "Ensign, I could order the Captain to stand on one leg and he'd have no choice but to do it. He might even ask me for how long," he said, sizing up the Ensign's very well-maintained body. He pulled down his collar and flashed his Admiral's pips. "Imagine what I could do to you, cupcake."

The buff Ensign's eyes went wide and he straightened himself. "I'm sorry, Admiral, I..."

"Was just doing your job, I know," Francis said with a nod. "If you don't mind, I'd like to speak with your prisoner."

"Of course Admiral," the Ensign said, putting his palm on the scanner.

The door swished open into the room with five unoccupied cells. Inside the sixth one sat Admiral Thac. Former Admiral, Francis reminded himself. Francis approached the cell and stood straight, hands crossed behind his back. Francis had wondered what he would say to Thac upon seeing him again. Would he deactivate the force field and punch the man in the face? Instead he looked into the cold eyes of Thac and saw resignation and boredom. He also could sense a twinge of hate.

Thac remained sitting, but he straightened upon seeing Francis. There was a silence between the two, with both of them taking in the herd of elephants in the room.

"Would you like me to bring you a book?" Francis asked, breaking the dramatic silence. His voice was soft and oddly sincere.

Thac sighed slightly, “The Captain is disinclined to give me anything I may harm myself with.” His tone was scoffing. “As he’s currently labouring under the delusion that I might be out of other options.”

Francis shook his head. "You're getting out of this one just fine," he said. "Sec 31 has multiple contingency plans for every contingency plan." He sighed and moved closer. "Commander Rothgan, that girl you assigned as your second in command on Pithos, was found dead two days ago with a rather convincing suicide note taking blame for several of the transgressions on the Pithos outpost."

Thac did feel a sting of emotion run through him, though he tried not to show it. He wasn’t surprised, of course. Rothgan had transferred to the Palatine after the Hesiod event and that ship wasn’t as secure (or paranoid) as the Pandora. Thac could only assume Section 31 had been able to infiltrate it. The only thing Thac did feel was relief. If 31 had seen fit to eliminate Rothgan rather than rescue her, it would hopefully mean they were cleaning up for him.

“A shame.” Thac finally declared. “She had a lot of potential for the Fleet. But you will find her personal records are filled with reports of erratic, unstable behaviour. I’m not surprised she was unable to handle the consequences of her actions.” He gave a short laugh, “Of course you’d know that, you wrote those reports.”

Francis shrugged. "I suppose I did write them. Since the destruction of Pithos I've been running out of people who could confirm I didn't. Qaraq and Rothgan are dead, Griffin has been stripped of his rank, Lieutenant Roderick is missing, and Commander Nash is in a deep coma." He leaned forward. "This is quickly becoming my word against yours."

Thac raised an eyebrow, "I hope you're not trying to suggest anything, Admiral. Remember, I have been a guest of the USS Pandora's brig for this entire time. I couldn't possibly be involved." If there was a way to sound smug without smirking, Thac was perfecting it. Every word dripped with sarcasm, but he kept his face somber and emotionless.

Admiral Francis waved a hand. "Stop with the villainous jibber-jabber! I can see right through your psycho act and so will the tribunal. You're not psychotic. You were of sound mind when you made a pigsty of Hesiod Green. Now you're just a coward trying to weasel his way out and using this smug bravado as a shield."

"My, my, how the pleasantries have quickly faded." Thac remarked, "You know, all that time impersonating you on Hesiod Green and I don't think I quite nailed your pompous self-righteousness, Francis. Perhaps it's because I wasn't passed over for promotions and assignments like you were? So I don't have that same chip on my shoulder like you."

Francis shook his head. "Sorry Thac, you're still wrong. My promotion to Admiral took about the same amount of time as anyone else. You were handed the rank by Section 31 while still in diapers and have been manipulated by them ever since. You can't take a leak without them holding your prick!"

Thac let out a true belly laugh, slapping his hands together in mirth. “Ha ha! I do enjoy your candour, Admiral.” He let out a sigh and sat back down on the bench. “Fleet Admiral Vincent clearly feels I have a lot of potential. I anticipate that I’ll spend a few months at a desk job before he finds something new for me. I’m sure you’ll lodge your disagreement then.”

"I won't," Francis replied.

“Well that only leaves me with a question, Francis, if you may indulge me.” Thac shrugged, “If you are so sure about me, if you know the situation is getting a little cloudy, then why aren’t you running this investigation? Clearly it is slipping out of Captain Temple’s hands. He’s not ready for this kind of work. Why aren’t you in control of the Pandora right now?”

Francis matched Thac's icy stare. "Let me know when you want that book," Francis said and turned to leave.

“Let me know when you wanna talk about Temple.” Thac shot back, reclining smugly against the hard wall, not sure whether the Admiral could hear him.

Thac kept the smug look on his face as the doors closed and he was alone again, the silence filling the Brig like a heavy weight in the air. He was left with more questions than answers, and no amount of performance was going to change that. He was worried, for his future and for his life. The waiting game continued.

OFF