A Briefing to Forget, Part 2: Someone is Angry

Posted on Thu Jun 20th, 2019 @ 4:17am by Captain Kelly O'Connor & Lieutenant Commander Magnus Grey

903 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 7 - Aenerth for an Earth
Location: Meeting Room
Timeline: 2296/02/17 - 1050

After the last of the crew left, Magnus looked at his Captain with a slightly confused expression. He recognized her tone and knew that she had some problem with what he’d done. But to his mind, all he did was issue specific commands to execute her wishes, something he’d seen the XO on his last ship do constantly. Perhaps Captain O’Connor preferred to work another way. He would soon find out.

“Captain?” he asked.

"Explain yourself," O'Connor told Magnus with a dangerous tone in her voice. Her eyebrows were furrowed. Her face was tinging pink.

“About what, Captain?” Magnus replied defensively. “For just now? Because I understood my role was to help execute your orders. You gave us our mission parameters and I issued specific orders to put the wheels in motion.” Unless there’s something else I did? I suppose I’m about to find out.

"Your role IS to execute my orders," O'Connor replied turning more red, her voice rising. "Your job is NOT to undermine my authority!" Her voice rose louder than anyone would expect the diminutive woman's voice to be capable of doing. "HOW DARE YOU give orders or even suggest that Pendragon give you classified information? Who the hell do you think you are, Mister Academic? I gave no specific orders. I gave a briefing. How dare you do anything without discussing it with me first?!"

Despite wanting to be on her good side, Magnus wasn’t going to be yelled at for this. Not without defending himself. “Okay, Captain, first of all, the way that mission was being discussed, there was no evidence it was the least bit classified. Its details were brought up, by you, and clearly as a joke. If that’s a classified mission, then I’m not the only one in the wrong. As for the other part? We apparently need to figure out our dynamic. Because the way I read that situation, you set out what we were doing in general terms, and I provided some specific instructions for getting us there. If that’s not how you like to work, then tell me what you’d prefer. Because I don’t think I undermined your authority, and I don’t think anyone else thinks that either.”

"If you had paid any attention, Commander, I warned you about that mission being classified in our first meeting. As Pendragon said, what is not classified is available but you will not bother Pendragon about it. It was quite the experience for him and only T'Pruk probably can fully understand it. As to our dynamic, that's obvious. I'm the Captain. You're the Executive Officer. You execute my orders, to the letter. When I want you to do something, I'll let you know. Nobody in this room would dare to have started issuing orders like you were the Captain. If you have thoughts, you bring them to me. You don't just make decisions." All the while, O'Connor was beat red when she responded angrily to Magnus. She was red hot and settling her down appeared nigh impossible. "Do I make myself clear?!"

Magnus considered her words and the obvious feelings behind them. “Mostly,” he answered. “I hope you’ll forgive me because what I did was exactly how my last Captain and his XO worked on Avenger. I do have questions though. Were any of the orders I gave different to ones you would have? Because to me those seemed benign and implicit in the briefing you provided and the exchange you overheard. Oh, and given your strong feelings on mission classification, would you approve a reprimand on Pendragon’s file for bringing it up in the first place, in such a way that raised several questions by myself and others in the room?”

O'Connor marched right into Magnus' personal space, not quite touching him but making it clear that she did not fear him in the least. She looked straight up at him with green eyes that burned, "DON'T YOU DARE get smart with me. Pendragon referred to the public files. And until you've actually suffered out there, you have absolutely no right to judge how things work here or anywhere else, Mr. Grey. You're not on Avenger. You're on America. Get used to it or get off."

Magnus knew when he was beaten. He could hold his head high and accept the situation. He was still certain he’d done nothing wrong, and would not have been so...upset? annoyed? angry?...with his own inferior for doing the same thing. But she was in command here. “Understood, Captain,” he said calmly. “Request permission to return to my office to begin reviewing information on laws and customs, and request permission to take Lieutenant MacLeod with me.”

Sated, O'Connor silently fumed, "Permission granted."

Permission obtained, Magnus pushed his chair slightly back so he could get up and out without bumping into his Captain. He walked purposefully, though not angrily, out of the meeting room. He remained unconvinced he did anything wrong. She didn’t want him there and was picking at straws. But that didn’t matter. She was in charge and he would follow her lead. He’d decide later if he was going to be passive-aggressive about it. Certainly not on the bridge though. He could play ball, and now that he understood the rules, he would do well.

 

RSS Feed