Drama and Regrets - Part One

Posted on Fri Sep 30th, 2022 @ 5:12am by Captain Jordal Hunt & Commander Kurt Bishop

Mission: Mission 108: Grains of Sand
Location: Various Locations - USS Heart of the Tiger
Timeline: 0930Hrs - December 3rd, 2393

Captain Jordal Hunt and Commander Kurt Bishop were in the ready room, doing their weekly meeting while the ship was presently tied up to the Starbase for the next eleven days. The USS Heart of the Tiger had returned only two hours earlier and now most of the crew were off the ship, enjoying their leave time. Hunt lifted a PADD before he sighed softly. He then slapped the PADD down as he let out a long sigh. "Dammit, Kurt. I need to replace them both."

Commander Kurt Bishop nodded his head in agreement. "Would you separate them again.?" he asked as an almost rhetorical question. He shrugged his shoulders in a manner that said much. "Would I leave my spouse because I got promoted?" he commented, even though he was not married. "Not a chance."

"No. You're right." Hunt answered. "Ennis is our best Doctor and Rachael's service since she got here was impeccable. I really don't wanna lose them because the regulations say so." he then let out a soft sigh. "But they have families and the issues with the Tholians are getting worse."

"I wish it wasn't quite like this skipper," Bishop answered with a soft sigh. "But I doubt Rachael Yamaguchi-Cullen would leave her husband simply because of their children." he sighed. "Or because we ask her to do so. She would not take it well."

Hunt nodded as he lifted his drink to his lips. He drained a mouthfull in silence. "Alright. Let's start looking into replacements for both Rachael and Ennis. He will be easy whereas she won't be."

Bishop gently turned the small display that was on Hunt's desk to him. "Alright. I'll get started." he closed his eyes, his body language said he really didn't want to do this.

"We can always get Ennis or Rachael to help us both decide their replacements later," Hunt commented. He turned in his chair while he regarded the large map on his wall. It was a map of the Federation as displayed from above. "At the end of the day, it makes little difference. Ennis is due for his promotion. That means I need to reassign him because he outranks just everyone except me and you." Hunt commented. "Besides. Ennis's service is exceptional. Speaking for myself, I've never had cause to have issues with him or his mindset with anything." as he sat back in his chair. He took a moment to make himself comfortable while he did so.

Bishop smiled. "Ennis is one of the few officers that I can honestly say that I want for my own command. He will make a fine first officer if he wants to go there and he'll make a fine skipper someday," he explained. "Rachael. She's a woman that I can only say. I fear." he commented. "While she's learned much from various people and one only needs to watch how she goes about matters to see that she has her own unique style and grace."

"Rachael is many things. She will make an excellent engineer. That is where her heart lies... She makes things work. She and her husband make things and create things." Hunt explained. "I served with the woman she calls mom for a couple of months. Torilla Yamaguchi is a heck of a woman." He sighed. "She went through a real meat grinder while we were assigned together on the Roanoke. I don't know how the fuck she dealt with it." Hunt let out a soft sigh.

Bishop regarded his skipper as he simply shook his head. "I've heard the stories. I dunno skipper. Many of them seem a little out there."

"Oh. They are all true." Hunt answered with a nod of his head. "In fact. I'm willing to bet that the stories you heard are all sugar-coated."

"Skipper. That statement is truly horrifying in various ways that I honestly, have no idea of how to articulate." Bishop commented. He then sighed as he shook his head. "That's just insane."

"Yeah. I lived it. I survived the Roanoke and it was what got me this assignment here." Hunt suddenly smiled, but there was no happiness or joy in that smile. "The Roanoke was where all of the refuse went. Some of the officers were good people who got screwed around. We also got a lot of shitheads who frankly had no business being in the service. That's on any level whatsoever." Hunt then laughed softly. "Some of those failures were outright retarded and I had to wonder how they were able to get into the service in the first place."

Bishop lifted the glass of fruit punch to his lips. "I'm not sure how to answer that." he then sipped his drink which he honestly found a little too sweet for his tastes.

"You don't need to answer anything Kurt," Hunt answered with a smile on his face. "It is, what it is." as he shrugged his shoulders. "Things got interesting when Zara Tane was moved from command. That's when Teval took over and he was everything that Tane wasn't. You wanted shit done. He was your man."

Bishop regarded his skipper. "Teval. Wasn't he like some really small Caitian or something?"

"He was an Akurian actualy." Hunt commented. "While he could be harsh and abrasive at times. He was honest and he was fair. Which for me. Counted for a lot." he slowly smiled. "He got me my rank back too, which also counted for something. He made it clear that we were done being the garbage dump of the fleet and he dammn well meant it too."

"I did hear that tale. That was one of the more credible tales. At least to me, it was anyway." Bishop sighed. "Shall we call Rachael in and deal with it.?"

"Yeah." Hunt sighed as he sat back in his chair. "Let's do this," he added.