“Dismissed, Mr Simmons.”

Those three words were the finale on a very difficult meeting between one Lieutenant Maxwell Simmons and a very unimpressed Fleet Captain Tikva Theodoras. Though calling it a meeting was being generous.

It had been a dressing down of the man, kicking off just after he had entered the ready room, smug and full of himself. The lack of any chairs opposite Tikva’s desk hadn’t dissuaded him, or given him any sort of warning. He’d walked in at her summons, set a padd on her desk, then stood there, hands clasped behind his back.

She hated disciplinary meetings. It meant somewhere along the line she’d failed to nip a situation before it came to a head. Failed to take the temperature of the crew, failed to have done something proactively.

But with this Atlantis being twice the crew of the old, and far larger than any other command she’d ever had, she was bound to eventually loose that hands on approach. She had to rely on her senior officers.

Not that she was blaming Gabrielle for Simmons’ behaviour. She’d promoted the younger woman exactly in an effort to try and settle any departmental issues and establish a firm hierarchy there.

She had merely sat there, glaring at Simmons for a solid minute, the man slowly withering from the heights of confidence to confusion at her lack of any sort of response. Taking up the padd and reading what Simmons had written on it had killed any attempt at taking it easy on him. It hadn’t been a letter to justify himself, or apologise, or provide a counter-narrative. He had instead opted to deliver a notice of intent to press charges for assault against Lieutenant Commander Adelinde Gantzmann.

And more damningly, a letter signed by just himself that Lieutenant Commander Gabrielle Camargo had lost the confidence of the Science department.

The entire meeting from that point had taken only seven minutes, according to the clock, but had felt much longer from her perspective, and likely longer from Simmons’. She hadn’t let him get a word in edge-wise as she ripped into his behaviour, his treatment of his coworkers, his disrespect for the chain of command.

And then, when she’d said her piece, all without ever getting out of her chair, she dismissed him, opting to brood in silence once he left.

Yes, his charges would be considered, as any such allegation would and should, but she didn’t fancy his chances once any investigation started. Atlantis’ was ill-equipped to handle such a matter internally, since all who could were too close to Lin to handle such without accusations of bias. And she didn’t want to reach out to the other ships in her squadron to sort this out, not this early in their working careers.

So Atlantis, and her squadron mates, were all heading back to Deep Space 47, where the JAG were already waiting.

“Hot chocolate, ma’am,” Stirling Fightmaster declared as he set a cup down on her desk in front of her, breaking the brooding moment. “Chocolate chip or shortbread biscuits?”

“Didn’t Doctor Terax eliminate one of those from my so-called diet after my last physical?” she asked, unable to stop herself from smiling at the offer and Stirling’s presence. The boy knew just when to interrupt, and how to break her out of whatever mental rut she’d worked herself into.

“Yes, he did,” Stirling answered without elaborating as to which. “But I should remind you, ma’am, I don’t work for Doctor Terax.”

“Good answer.” She chuckled, lifting the cup and just taking in the rich aroma. “Chocolate chip. And bring the chairs back in, then fetch Gabs, would you?”

“Aye ma’am.”

A quick bit of quiet pottering about and her office was back to normal. Even the collection of padds that had been on her desk for days, removed for her meeting with Simmons, were back and consuming more real estate than she liked, even when stacked nicely.

And then Gabrielle Camargo was before her. Worry lined the woman’s face. Gabrielle was on bridge duty when Simmons had passed through, after all. And it had been nearly five minutes in total since he’d left before her summons.

But this time things were different, at least from Tikva’s own perspective. And she started it off immediately by indicating a seat. “Gabs, please, sit. Can Stirling get you anything?”

“Cup of tea would be great,” Gabrielle answered, Stirling enquiring about specifics before retreating.

“Captain, about Simmons,” Gabrielle started, then sputtered to a stop by herself.

“Dealt with, at least for now,” Tikva said, trying for reassuring. “I’ve relieved him from duty until we get back to DS47 and charges he has brought up are dealt with by the JAG.”

“Charges ma’am?”

“Not against you, but against Gantzmann.” She shook her head. “Lin told me about the nerve pinch on the bridge when Simmons started getting worked up. Honestly, I’m pissed I didn’t get to see it myself.” That admission brought a vague smile to Gabrielle’s face for a moment, which she tried dutifully to wipe away when Stirling returned with her tea before excusing himself and leaving.

 “I didn’t know she could do that,” Gabrielle admitted.

“Neither. And she won’t tell me where she learned to do it either. But aside from that, I really wanted to talk to you about your rather interesting time in charge during this whole commotion.” She set her cup down and could feel Gabrielle’s emotions ratchet up again, like she was expecting some sort of blow. And Tikva couldn’t help herself as she inserted a dramatic pause.

You are being mean. Stop it.

Oh, come on, this isn’t being mean. It’s a gentle tease, if anything.

Gabs is probably expecting us to remove her from Second Officer.

Torture the underlings! Make them suffer!

Okay, and with that, we’re done.

Awww…

“I’m really impressed.”

With just those three words, she broke Gabrielle’s brain. The young woman just stopped, the subversion of expectations being beyond what she was internally prepared for.

“Gérard only had nice things to say. Lin too. Everyone around you that I’ve had a chance to speak to so far, in fact. And frankly, just further reinforces why I selected you for my crew in the first place, promoted you when I did and asked you to be my second officer.” She’d given Gabrielle time to rally, and the praise was starting to be ingested and processed. So she continued. “It’s why I want you to consider taking a look at command courses. And why I’m making your assignment as second officer permanent as of right now.”

“Ma’am, I…thank you.” Gabrielle set her teacup down and Tikva could see her hand a little jittery as she set it down in her lap. “I’m honestly not sure if command is for me though.”

“Good answer,” Tikva said quickly, interrupting Gabrielle’s train of thought. “No, seriously, it’s a good answer. Questioning yourself is important. But right now, I’m not taking a no on the second officer thing. I barely asked you to take on the role before you got whisked off on an intergalactic adventure. And then Simmons decided he’d finally blow up. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a worst first week on that job outside of Captain Janeway being banished to the Delta Quadrant.”

“Thank the Great Bird I don’t have to do something like that,” Gabrielle muttered before blushing, speaking without intending to.

“Oh, I don’t know Gabs, I think you’d have rocked it. After firing Simmons out of a torpedo tube.”

Now that got a laugh out of Gabrielle, just like it was intended to.

“We’ve got a few days before DS47. And I’m intending for all of us to spend at least a week there. Some R&R, some inter-ship activities to build connections. Get both Atlantis and Perseus fixed up after our little shenanigans through Underspace. Take the time to think about it and you can tell me what you think afterwards.”

Gabrielle nodded, eyes shifting side to side in thought. Tikva could just about hear the cogs churning away before they slowed. “I think I need to talk to a few folks first.”

“Naturally,” she replied, then went for her hot chocolate once more. “Now, the dire matter of your career sorted for now, praise given where it’s due, it’s time we turned to other important matter.” And again she could sense apprehension from Gabrielle, before evaporating as she smiled over the lip of her cup. “Promotions recommendations within your department.”

“Oh,” Gabrielle started, then copied her by grabbing her tea to give her a moment to think. “Well, I’ve got a few ideas…”