Dressing Down

Posted on 11 Oct 2022 @ 8:49am by Admiral Zachary O'Connell & Commodore Harvey Geisler

1,539 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Regrouping
Location: Gamma Command
Timeline: May 10, 2390

“What the hell do you think Starfleet is, Geisler?” Admiral O’Connell demanded, slamming his hand down on the desk. Zachary’s furious brown eyes burrowed deep into the figure standing at attention across the desk. He waited for a moment, anticipating some sort of reaction from his former rival. Perhaps this non-verbal vote of no contest was the reaction.

“Two years ago,” Zachary continued, not breaking his gaze on Harvey, even though Harvey’s eyes were affixed straight ahead, “you crashed your first ship onto New Bajor.” The Admiral chuckled and added, “That one, I’ll give you. We were at war, and you stayed with the ship so it wouldn’t hit an inhabited area. There are hundreds of thousands who owe you your lives on that one.

“But a year later, with a brand new ship, you entered the Convergence Zone to conduct an investigation. In the process, you caused significant structural damage to a Century-class and kicked a hornet’s nest containing mind-controlling parasites. It took our yard engineers months to get that ship back together. Then, just a few months ago, we outfitted your ship with a test program which somehow becomes sentient and tries to kill your crew. And now…”

Zachary paused for a moment, continuing to burrow his gaze into the Captain standing before him. “Now, you manage to snag a handful of quantum filaments and turn your ship into the most hazardous thing I’ve ever seen.”

He reached over and picked up a padd. “According to this report, the yard engineers don’t want to touch your ship. They’re calling the Black Hawk a demon.” He dropped the padd and asked, “So what do you think Starfleet is, Harvey? Do you think Starfleet is a source of unlimited resources that gives you a license to do whatever the hell you want out there, and we’ll just keep your ship out there flying?”

Harvey gave no response. He remained silent, standing at attention, and eyes fixated straight ahead. All thoughts, all responses he kept to himself because he knew it was futile. Years ago, he and Zachary had been rivals. It wasn’t until the Consortium Crisis of 2388 when Harvey had been assigned to hunt down and capture then-Commodore O’Connell that the two of them were able to bury the hatchet. The two had become so close that Harvey had asked the Admiral to wed he and Joey on Deep Space 15 two years ago.

And, while Harvey was uncomfortable with this entire diatribe, he deliberately chose to do nothing. Harvey was always cautious, always trying to weigh Starfleet’s ideals and principles while navigating a quadrant that was entire hostile to those. He knew that if Commander Di Pasquale was here, not only would she have a few words for the Admiral, she’d be telling Harvey that she should have listened to him.

Zachary sighed. “Do you have any idea how much your carelessness has cost us?” He rose from the desk and turned to look out the viewport behind him. “The Gamma Quadrant is still a sore subject among the Federation Council fifteen years after the Dominion War. They’ve always been hesitant sending resources out here, and this station, this… Gamma Command exists only because of the relationship with Bajor and the Federation’s need to maintain a bright face in front of the Dominion. They want the Dominion to remember what happened, and they want the Gamma Quadrant to know there’s hope beyond the eons of oppression they’ve endured.

“But the Mars attack is still five years old, and the Federation is more centralized and internalized more than ever. It’s already been hell getting ships, resources, personnel… you name it. And now, I’m supposed to tell them that I have to decommission one of their top-of-the-line starships?”

Harvey could not help but allow a wave of surprise to flood his face. He had anticipated the dressing down and this diatribe. But he had not expected to lose his ship. In his surprise, his gaze changed to meet O’Connell who had turned around to see if he finally broke through Geisler’s vain attempt at protest.

“That’s right.” Zachary picked up another padd from his desk and handed it to Harvey. The Captain broke his stance and accepted the device to read the orders for himself. “I signed it just before you came in. The damage to your ship is so significant that it would take our engineers at least two years to fully effect repairs. I don’t have the resources, much less the time. Next week, the Black Hawk will be towed back to the Alpha Quadrant to Andor to determine if she will be repaired or salvaged.”

The Captain stood in stunned silence, still staring at the decommission order.

Zachary sighed and waited a moment. “Despite your history with ships, you’re a damn good Captain. You’ve handled threats and situations better than anyone here in the Gamma Quadrant. And while Command wants me to plant you behind a desk and run one of these task groups from there… the truth is, I need you in that center seat. So, I have to take it out on your crew. Many of them are going to be reassigned. Ships like the Altai need good officers, especially a first officer.”

Harvey looked up as the Admiral continued. “Walsh. Djinx. Rhula. Stuart. Rasputin. Alexander. Those are just a few of the names that are going to be reassigned. I have a face to maintain, Harvey. And it’s either they stay with you and all of Starfleet in Gamma takes a hit, or I satisfy Command while still trying to siphon necessary resources that all of Gamma is begging for. I’m sorry, Harvey, but this is what I have to do.”

The Admiral picked up another padd and thumbed through it. “Tomorrow, I have a new ship arriving from the Alpha Quadrant. She’s fresh out of dock and the paint hasn’t dried yet. It’s smaller than the Century, but, uh… I think you’ll find it acceptable.” He handed the padd to Harvey.

Captain Geisler reached out and took the device. On the screen was the image of a familiar image, one that he hadn’t seen in a couple of years. Circular hull, no secondary or engineering bulb. Two catamarans that led to a rear pod and two nacelles.

“You should take time to read the specs on that,” Zachary noted as he returned to his seat. “The uprated Akiras are a beauty, and it makes me wish I could take a grade reduction and fly one again.” He picked up another padd and extended it to Geisler, which he accepted. “This is a manifest of people coming with the ship, including a few officers being assigned to your command. It also contains a list of candidates that you can pull from your old ship and from around the Quadrant.”

The Admiral then picked up one other padd, looked at the screen for a moment, and then handed it to Harvey face down. “This one is, uh, something for you to look at after you leave. Like I said, we’ve got an image to maintain out here in the quadrant. Our resources are stretched, and I need good people out there. People I trust. People who aren’t going to go anywhere. And names that pirates, the Dominion, and others will recognize so that they know Starfleet means business and that we’re not going to slack off out here and let them get away scott-free. Take a look at that one when you can and let me know what you think.”

Harvey added the fourth padd to his stack. Now that the stun was starting to wear off, he wished that he’d taken a different approach in this debriefing. Perhaps it was time now for that alternate approach in this new command. Perhaps it was time to make a lot of changes.

Zachary waited for a moment before adding, “That’s all I have, Harvey. If you’re up for it, I know Jillian would love to have you and Joey and the kids over for dinner. Just let us know. Dismissed.”

Captain Geisler turned and left the office, passing the Admiral’s Yeoman, Tanika, on the way out. As soon as the door closed beside him, he paused in the empty reception hall and sighed. How was he going to tell of this to Joey, much less his crew? What exactly was he going to do?

Putting the questions aside for now, he looked down at the padd he was handed last. He turned it over and blinked twice in surprise.

“Special orders for Captain Geisler,” he murmured, reading quietly, “to rename and commission new command as USS Black Hawk with registry 63554-B…”

Harvey finished reading the contents, then turned the device off. There was much to do in the next few weeks, and hopefully, he could start putting this depressing path behind him and turn his future into something better.

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