Commander Shane Guzman Commanding Officer USS Chimera NCC 96899-A - Lt Commander Samantha Palmer CONN Officer USS Chimera NCC 96899-A = CO's ready room, USS Chimera After Cortez left the room, Shane tapped the little console on the desk and asked Foster to send Commander Palmer to his ready room. With Major Walsh beeing set off-duty till full recovery the position of the ship's Second officer was vacant and Shane seeked for a replacement. There were many promising talents among the crew but most of the officers were quite young and lacked the needed experience for holding the position of the Chimera's Third Commander. He's talking with Rangi about his choice for the position and to be honest ... she was quite surprised. Not that her worries would be related to Palmer's experience ad ability to Command, she just remained him about her past and his own bad feelings towards her. She asked if he as CO could cooperate with Palmer in a way as as CO should with the 2XO. Rangi was of course true and Shane wasnt sure ... but one of the reasons he agreed almost a year back with Samantha's aplication for the HELM officer was that he wanted to give her a second chance. Everyone deserved a second chance ... even an Intel operative ... Samantha approached the door and pressed the chime, waiting for Shane to answer. "Enter," he said, and the door slid open. She stepped inside and nodded to the Captain sitting behind his desk. Looking at the blonde woman he motioned at a free chair and said: "Please sit down Commander." After Samantha sat down on the chair he scratched his chin and asked: "Commander ... I'll go straight to the point. Commander Summers told me that you would be interested in a position in OPS or tactical and I would like to learn about your reasons." "Oh," Samantha said, rather surprised. She didn't even remember mentioning it to the XO at all. It must have slipped out at the Christmas party when she had too much to drink. "When I applied for a transfer to the Chimera, Flight Control was the only position available at the time. However, I have since been thinking of the possibility of moving over to a department head position were one available," she confessed, "and Ops and Tac have current vacancies, it seems. I have some experience in Tactical. I didn't want to seem presumptuous, though; I do enjoy CONN." Samantha felt a bit like a truant schoolchild in the headmaster's office when it came to discussing her position on the ship with Shane. She knew her history didn't allow for much trust between them. "Your records says the same. Or at least those" he looked again at Sam and paued for a moment "which are not classified". Habit is an iron-shirt ... and Shane could still well remember the week in the alternate reality during the X!Chi mission where Palmer assumed Command over the Chimera. "True is that you overrank most of department heads and we do really lack an experienced officer for Tactical, but please answer me one question." Shane paused for a moment again and looked in Sam's eyes. He knew that she will expect a question like this and was interested in her answer. "How can I ever trust you again Commander?" Samantha probably should have known he would ask this question. "Captain, I don't believe that my loyalty has any reason to be questioned," she stated. "I have always been loyal to my commanding officers; you can check my records for that. I regret, however, that my loyalty to Starfleet Intelligence meant I had to keep information from you... if you were my CO then and had asked me to do the same, I would have. Perhaps my loyalty was misplaced, but the whole Federation was at stake. You of all people know the manipulative games Intelligence can play... just ask your father." Shane noded ignoring the remark about his father: "Thats an honest answer Commander. I do really know what it means when you have to hold back informations that could save lifes." Shane paused for a moment before continuing: "Lets make one thing clear Commander. You are now a crwmember of the USS Chimera and your loyality MUST lie with this ship only. The next time Intel should issie orders to you, I want to know. When you think any power outside the Chimera will force you to do anything that might endanger the ship, I want to know. Please dont make me regretting my decission about taking you on board." "Aye, sir," Samantha replied, swallowing rather uncomfortably. Shane noded. "Thats settled now" He stood up from his chair and moved to the wall replicator: "Anything to drink?" he asked. He replicated the requested drink for Sam and a cup of hot green tea for himself. Placing the cup in front of Sam he went again back to his seat and took a sip from his tea. Looking again at Sam Shane put the cup aside and said: "Lets talk about Tactical then. Your records are outstanding for the position but first please answer me one question: "What will you do when I issue an order to destroy a civilian passenger ship. Will you discuss my order or do what I've ordered you?" For a moment she hesitated, wanting to ask him why he would want to kill civilians, then thought better of it and said, "No, sir. I will follow your orders implicitly." She looked at the cup in front of her and picked it up, more out of courtesy than anything else. Shane nodded: "Dont forget that Commander. But I do seek more in you then an officer who will blindly follow orders without thinking about them. I might have very good reasons for ordering you to destroy a ship of innocent civilans, but maybe I might not. Saying that you have just followed orders is the most easy excuse. Understanding what I've just told you is the key for a Chief tactical officer.” "Yes, sir," she replied, having often thought to herself if she should not have questioned her orders from Starfleet Intelligence before the Chimera was deployed to the Marsh Shane smiled and stood up from his chair. He loved this part of talks like this. "Attention Commander Palmer!" he said and waited for Sam to stand from her chair. Samantha rose and stood straight up, her hands clasped behind her back. Shane came closer to the blonde woman and said: "I hereby appoint you as the ship's Acting Chief Tactical officer and Second Executive officer. Do your best and serve and protect the Chimera with honour. Congratulations Commander" "Thank you, Captain," Samantha said, giving him a salute and unable to help the smile that came to her lips. Shane noded still smiling: "Looks like your uniform is a bit out of date" he said hinting at the yellow colar Sam was not supposed to wear. Please dress yourself properly and talk with Commander Summers about all open Command issues. Please don't forget that the Command team on the Chimera works as a single body. Do not question my orders while in front of the crew but in private you are free to express your opinion. If you think that I've done Bull-shit ... then I expect you to tell me that. Furthermore I expect initiative from you as the ship's 2XO. I am a busy man and Commander Summers can't be everywhere on the ship, so I expect you to help her to watch over the ship and handle things that need attention." "I will do so, sir... I won't betray your trust again." "Dismissed" said Shane and watched his new 2XO leaving the room. He knew that it was a bit of a risk to appoint Palmer as ACTAC and 2XO ... but only those do not win who do not risk. Samantha nodded to him and then turned on her heel, heading to the door. A strange mix of elation, anxiety and relief washed through her. Again he'd shown that he was willing to trust her; it was more than she expected of Guzman. But now the pressure was on and she couldn't let him down again. Her greatest hope was that Intelligence would leave her alone. Even if she loved temporal science, she had to leave it behind her, otherwise they would just come looking for her again. = -- ___________________________________________________ Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/