An Unpleasant Encounter

Posted on Mon Sep 2nd, 2019 @ 12:17pm by Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi & Ensign T'Lara

1,122 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Acts of Contrition
Location: USS Endeavour - Bridge

Isabella walked out onto the bridge of the Endeavour, pausing briefly to glance around and take in the sight of a fully restored bridge that was (finally!) fully staffed. Making her way from the turbo-lift doors down to the command seats, she frowned slightly at the sight of the unknown woman sitting at the helm. Isabella had known that the Endeavour had received a lot of new crew, and she had yet to meet them all, but she had tried to make an effort to at the very least meet everyone assigned to a bridge position. Granted, there were some who would have slipped through, thanks in part to the amount of traffic that had passed throughout the ship over the past few weeks. Deciding to take the opportunity, Isabella walked over and smiled.

“Hello, I’m Commander dei`Silvisi, the first officer,” Isabella said.

T’Lara had ignored the goings on behind her as she sat at the helm. She had been assigned to a ship full of illogical beings, and while she disagreed with them she had decided that it was best to simply ignore the majority of them and follow her orders. So when someone walked up behind her and spoke, she was unprepared. Standing, she turned towards the woman who had spoke, looking down at the short human. The commander wore the teal collar, not red, and from what she had learned the first officer also was the Endeavour’s chief of science. “So you are,” T’Lara said simply and without emotion. “I am Lieutenant T’Lara, helm officer.”

Isabella raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side just slightly at the detached and emotionless monotone the lieutenant spoke with. She had served with Vulcans before, and most had been easy enough to serve alongside with, but she had literally just met T’Lara and she suspected that the helm officer would fall into a different category of Vulcan. “I haven’t seen you on the bridge before,” Isabella said, retaining a small smile.

“That is because I have been assigned to Gamma Shift by Lieutenant Quint, the little Ferengi Troll whom management of the flight control department was given,” T’Lara said.

“And you disagree with the decision?” Isabella asked as she mentally started to sort through her memory for any reports surrounding the flight control department. To her knowledge, she hadn’t been informed of any issues, but that didn’t mean there weren’t problems within the department. If there were, then they needed to be dealt with and immediately.

“It doesn’t matter what my opinion of the matter is,” T’Lara replied. “The decision was made and as an officer in Starfleet I must abide by it.”

“Well, having met both you and Lieutenant Quint, I would venture a guess that your attitude was part of the issue, Lieutenant,” Isabella said, the tone in her voice getting hard edged and without the usual politeness she usually spoke with. “And if you’re unhappy, we can always have you transfer back to the Proxima for transport to another assignment.”

“That statement is completely illogical, and shows that you harbor favoritism towards your preferred helm officer, whom happens to be the Ferengi,” T’Lara said. “And seeing how my assignment to the Endeavour was ordered by Starfleet Command, having me transfer to another and at this time unknown assignment shows the lack of quality of your fitness as a command officer and a command ranking officer.”

“Oh? Really?” Isabella said, her smile vanishing completely as she felt something creep up her spine. Her tone had gone to a complete death-like icy tone that even she was surprised by, and she was vaguely aware that some of the bridge staff who was close enough to hear them had stopped working and were now watching them.

“Indeed,” T’Lara continued in her flat monotone, seeming uncaring by the string of insults she was visiting upon the commander. “You speak with the authority of someone who was unprepared to assume the office of first officer and has managed to muddle forward in the position to which you hold by simply being pleasant and nice. I therefore logically conclude that you were the best choice for the position when the office was given to you and no-one had seemed to upset you by removing you from that office simply because they fear for your emotional response.”

“Are you saying that the captain keeps me as his first officer because he’s scared to hurt my feelings by removing me from the position of first officer? Is that what you’re trying to tell me by your logically illogical statement?” Isabella asked her tone suddenly sharp and hard edged. Her eyes narrowed as she stared hard at the helm officer.

“That is precisely what I mean to say, Commander,” T’Lara answered. “I logically also conclude that by knowing the captain is unattached to any female as a mate, he may also desire to keep you close to him for other reasons as well. But that is merely a theory based on observations of other human males in similar positions of authority. Having not observed the two of you in close proximity I am unable to confirm a logical conclusion to this theory.”

“Questo è tutto! Stai zitto e taci!” Isabella snapped in Italian, the hold on her temper that she had always managed to keep in check finally snapping. She rarely allowed herself to show displays of anger, but this Vulcan woman had finally managed to push too far past the line of what Isabella would accept and tolerate and she had done it in the breathe of a single conversation.

“I must admit that I am unfamiliar with that language, and the universal translator did not translate it. Therefore, I must request that you repeat what you said in a language that can be properly translated or in Federation Standard,” T’Lara said, raising an eyebrow.

“Just shut the **** up you impossible bitch!” Isabella snapped angrily, vaguely aware that the bridge crew who had served any time on the Endeavour were recoiling in shock at the display of their first officer, whom normally was quiet and polite towards everyone, finally losing her temper. “As of this moment, you’re relieved of duty and will accompany me to the captain’s ready room for a formal disciplinary hearing that will take place immediately.” Turning, Isabella motioned for the relief officer to take over the helm before she stormed off towards the ready room, where she knew the captain would be waiting.


Commander Isabella dei`Silvisi
Executive Officer
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant T’Lara - NPC
Helm Officer

 

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