= Conference Lounge = As Samantha followed the Guzman hurriedly into the Conference Lounge, it was painfully clear to her he was in a foul mood. She had been quite surprised when he'd suddenly appeared on the Bridge. He looked the worse for wear, as if he'd just spent the last month on a deserted asteroid; the wild look in his eyes was unmistakable. "Commander, we don't have time for this," she said sternly, not bothering to ask him where he had been. "We are about to pass through the anomaly and I need to be on the Bridge. In case you hadn't noticed, there's no one at the helm." Not bothering to sit down (or invite Samantha to sit) Shane halted in the middle of the room, next to the conference table. Turning around he pierced the Intel Woman with his gaze and said firmly: "Quiet Commander! You have exact 4 minutes to get yourself back to normal and quit playing your games. What the hell you think of assuming "temporal" command about the Chimera?" he asked with a raised tone. "Your knowledge of commanding a ship is even zero and you think you can just 'handle it'?" he continued with the same raised tone. The time was running short and Shane knew it. To add pain to injury, Shane was still a bit confused in this time line and was not sure who was here alive and who not. {I've seen her dying} he thought looking at Palmer, {rippled into two pieces by an X!Chi}. "I am the Executive officer on the Chimera and overrank you as well. Dont stand in my way or you will regret it". Looking at her he awaited her reply ... he awaited her to comply and bow her head. Samantha took a deep breath before responding, trying hard to remain composed. She was tired, irritated and stressed, and Shane Guzman was starting to get on her nerves. "In case you forgot, Commander, I was the Executive Officer of a Sovereign class vessel for several months; my experience in command is not zero. I took temporary command of the Chimera because it was necessary; I am acting on authority of Bragg and the Temporal Directive. If you have a problem with this, you can take it up SSF Command when we return to the base." If we ever return, she thought to herself. "I fully intend to return command to the General when the teams come back from the Gott. There's no need for idle threats." {You left the General die!} he thought with anger while looking at Samantha. "Nah!" he spoke in a manner of distrust and temper: "I do give a shit of Bragg or your Temporal directive authority Commander. You can initiate a court martial on me or whatever {There was no Bragg where I just returned from!} but I wont let YOU and your Black Ops mess up with this ship and this universe!" he finished. Indeed ... in the other timeline, Harker exposed himself shortly after the've sealed the time anomaly and it was Harker who led oposition towards the plan of returning Shane to his own timeline. There was a fight ... "What are you talking about?" Samantha replied, rather shocked by his outburst. This man knew more about their mission than he was supposed to. Shane laughed loudly and a bit hysterical ... his nerves were stretched to an maximum. "I dont have time for this Commander. If you believe that the crew will take orders from an Black Ops or his lover you are even more dumb as I believed. I am the XO from the very first day this ship was commisioned and trust me ... I KNOW where their loyality lies." He thought nothing while exposing the true nature of Harker and the relationship between Palmer and him .. from where he came it was all known, but it was plainly seen that Samantha was taken by surprise. The temporal physicist just stared at the man in front of her with dumb surprise. How did he know about Nicolas' identity, and why did he call her his lover? They had been involved at the Academy, but that was very long ago. While meeting on the Chimera, they had been very discreet as to not arouse any suspicions. Samantha looked closely at Shane; something with him was not right. Suddenly she remembered him calling security when he left the Bridge in a huff... why had he done that? An unpleasant chill ran down her spine as the Commander's wild eyes gored into hers. "I dont trust you Commander, nor you nor Harker and dont even try to play your psychologists tricks on me. I've seen more then I ever wanted and I wont let it happen again" he said in a dark tone, but with a faint touch of sadness. He looked up at Samantha and anger filled up his mind again: "The time for debates is over and you have now to choose. Eighter you will follow my commands and concentrate ONLY on following MY orders or you and Harker will spend the rest of your short stay on board in the brig." "Time is up" he repeated "choose now Commander, Security is on the bridge and be sure that by declining my offer or by the faintest trace of doing your Undercover Intel Crap you will find yourself talking only to the brig's walls faster then you say "Ups!" "Then throw me in the damn Brig!" she shouted back at him, almost surprised at her own loss of composure. She was growing tired of walking on eggshells, however; between Intelligence and the Chimera crew she couldn't do anything right. "See how far that will get you!" If Shane would be his usual self, he would not even think of arresting her. He would double think even of threating Palmer with beeing arrested and it was more then questionable if he would challenge the SSF Authority with whose Palmer assumed command ... but Shane was DEFINITELY not his usual self. Now he only shrugged his shoulders and said between his teeths: "Your way Commandader" And with that he made his way past Samantha towards the exit door. Once stepping out the conference longue he looked at the two ODA marines that he's called before. Pointing with his finger behind him he said: "Commander Palmer is from now under arrest. Take her off the bridge!" The two marines looked a bit puzzled but marines were trained to obey first and ask later ... so like one man they went for Samantha. Shane made his way towards the CO's seat and added: "Marine Captain Harker is under arrest as well but I need him here to fly the ship, escort him here ASAP". Samantha didn't try to resist the two marines that stood next to her, but her body language made it very clear that she was unhappy with the situation. Without saying a word, she was escorted by the two officers off the bridge. Shane didnt minded the suprised and puzzled looks on the faces of all bridge crew, inclusive Athena. One moment Plamer assumed Command ... and in the another Guzman arrested her. Shane tapped the Comm button and asked in the same harsh tone as before: "Guzman to Engineering, Rodgers are you finished down there?" ===== End of log ===== LtCmdr. Samantha Palmer Mission Specialist USS Chimera & Cmdr. Shane Guzman XO USS Chimera