USS Elysion – The Red Expanse – Part 6
Captain’s Quarters | Deck 4 | USS Elysion – in transit to the Cerne Nebula
17:25 Zulu
Bella had been summoned to see the captain. Her stomach had flipped as she had heard his voice over the comm, but she had responded calmly and professionally, set down the padd of crew evaluations she had been working on and headed from her office on deck two.
McBride had greeted her with a smile which had unnerved her and led her through the drawing room where she and Vos had drunkenly flirted the previous evening into a compartment which Bella hadn’t yet seen. McBride’s study.
As the captain’s new quarters had previously been assigned as VIP quarters, McBride had the benefit of large rectangular windows in each of his rooms. The streaked stars flashing past the window from left to right as the starship continued at warp speed to her destination jarred with the décor of the room that she now found herself in. A room – as she had predicted – that was furnished in the style of old-Earth.
The lighting in the study was subdued, but Bella could clearly see that bookcases lined the three bulkheads which didn’t contain the window. Some of the shelves were partially filled, with most of them still standing empty, ready to accommodate the hundreds – no thousands, more likely – of books which overflowed from the transport crates which covered a large proportion of the floor. McBride led the way through the crates to a large oak desk with a green leather top which stood perpendicular to the window, facing aft. A brass desk lamp cast a golden circle of light across the desk which did little to alleviate the mood of the dark room. He took his seat behind the desk and gestured to one of the two guest chairs which faced him. Bella sat down opposite him.
McBride opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a high-pitched screeching cry, inhumanly loud and coarse in the relative confines of the study.
“Waaaaaghh! Who’s a pretty girl then!? Waaaaaghh! Jonny likes you! Waaaaaghh!”
“Shut your beak!” snapped McBride angrily as a large, red-plumed bird flew from the shadowy corner of the room behind Bella, a wing-tip almost brushing her cheek as it passed, before landing gracefully on the edge of the captain’s desk.
Bella had ducked impulsively as the bird flew by her, then leaned backwards slightly in her seat as the macaw began to approach her, one imperious eye tipped in her direction. It clicked its beak loudly.
“Hello darlin’! Give us a kiss! Waaaaaghh!”
“This is Ozymandias,” McBride explained. “And I apologise in advance for his behaviour.”
“Give us a kiss! Waaaaaghh!”
“You have a parrot,” Bella stated without any suggestion of surprise in her voice.
“No,” McBride corrected her with the air of a man who must correct people about this matter on a regular basis. “I have a macaw. A scarlet macaw.”
“Is he real?”
“Is he real?” McBride almost spluttered. “Well of course he’s bloody real! D’you think he’s a bloody hologram!?”
“Ooooohhh. Now you’ve made him angry. Waaaaaghh!”
“Shut your beak!” McBride barked. He pushed a small container of sunflower seeds across the desk. Ozymandias gave him an imperious glare from the eye on the other side of his head before plunging his beak into the seeds. “That’ll keep him quiet.”
Well, he might have been a hologram, Bella thought with annoyance.
“You wanted to see me sir,” she asked instead, feeling like she might have just walked into the rehearsal of a stage play. Perhaps some sort of Shakespearean comedy… or a farce.
“I did? I did!” said McBride. “Yes, I did. Now…” he steepled his fingers under his chin as if collecting his thoughts. “I’m very conscious that you’ve had a considerable amount to deal with over the last few days. Captain Ransom and Lieutenant Commander Hobbes both being reassigned… me coming aboard… and then finding out that I was bringing my own executive officer with me. I thought you deserved an explanation.”
“Thank you sir.”
‘A considerable amount to deal with’ was a goddess-damned understatement. The old man had missed out the fact that she’d also blacked out, been hospitalised, got drunk twice, almost made a fool out of herself by making a pass at the new XO and challenging McBride on how he had treated Caspian – and somehow managing to get an apology.
A considerable amount to deal with indeed.
“When I was informed that I was to take command of Elysion, I reviewed the dossiers of all her senior officers. Including yours.” McBride explained. “The Pathfinder-class is by definition a long-range science vessel… And I am a brawler. A trouble-maker. A leader who thinks in terms of tactics and strategy, rather than in terms of scientific learning and diplomatic exchanges. In short… I am not an explorer.
“And if Elysion’s captain isn’t an explorer, then her executive officer absolutely must be. Unfortunately, you are too similar to me, Tarabella Borden. You are a fighter, a scrapper. An avenger, a protector. You might think that you’re an explorer – but I’ve read your performance evaluations… the opinions of your commanding officers. Don’t misunderstand me – they are all consistently excellent. You made lieutenant commander at twenty-six years old. You are regarded as an outstanding officer – an inspiring leader. But you don’t think like an explorer. You think like I do. And that’s why I needed to appoint Vos as my XO.
“Vos is an explorer. He’s an idealist. An optimist. He took the Science specialisation track at the Academy, achieving double-majors in astrophysics and exobiology. He graduated valedictorian. His first posting as an ensign was to Enterprise. Vos is a scientist… a wide-eyed explorer, ready to push back the final frontier. The very type of officer that Starfleet needs again… The very type of officer that I’m not. And neither are you. And he’s the very type of officer that Elysion needs as her XO while she has someone like me as her captain.” He paused. “Does any of that make sense?”
Bella exhaled slowly, taking all of McBride’s words in.
“I think so,” she replied slowly. “I could have been your explorer though.”
McBride gave the sort of sad smile that a parent gives to a child to show that they admire and value their dedication and resilience, but they knew that whatever task the child was attempting to do was never going to succeed.
“No Bella,” he said softly. “You couldn’t. You followed the Command track at the Academy and took double majors in strategic operations and warp-field mechanics. You took outside electives in organisational leadership and starship operations. Those aren’t the choices of an explorer. Focusing on the positives though… you graduated salutatorian in your class… your career so far has been truly stellar. You are regarded by all as being a fine officer and an exemplar in terms of leadership ability. Personally, I’ll be very surprised if you don’t end up with your own flag with at least one star on it…”
“You made my life hell in strategic operations class for two whole years,” she interrupted.
“I challenged you to be the best that you could be.”
“I considered dropping out of the Academy because of you.”
McBride was silent for a moment as he considered her words.
“Then I apologise if that is the case. I assure you that… was never my intention.”
“Caspian considered dropping out too.”
“But she didn’t.”
“No. Charlie is stronger than me. She made her mind up to stay. She’s stubborn. She decided that she wasn’t going to let you beat her. And she supported me through it too. Charlotte Caspian is the reason I didn’t drop out of the Academy.”
McBride was silent for several seconds. “I understand.”
“No sir,” replied Bella, her voice clear and confident. “I don’t think you do.”
=/\= Captain, Bridge =/\=
McBride paused for a moment looking at Bella before touching two fingertips to his communicator. “This is the captain.”
=/\= Sir, we are approaching the Cerne Nebula =/\=
“Commander Borden and I are on our way.”
“Waaaaaghh!” shouted Ozymandias. “Red alert! Red Alert! All hands to battle stations! Raise the shields! Launch a full spread of photon torpedoes at the nearest admiral! Waaaaaghh!”
“Shut your beak!” shouted McBride as he and Bella both stood and headed for the door. “How many times do I need to tell you, you stupid bird!”
