Chapter Text
"I think your biggest problem, Gage, is that you've not even given him a chance," said Munoz, looking across to the chief engineer over their respective drinks. They were both seated in the ship's wardroom; the officer's mess. While Munoz and her fellow chiefs had their own designated lounge, as a senior non-commissioned officer, her presence in the officer's sanctuary often went overlooked.
Halley Gage did not say anything in response, brooding over her mug and keeping her eyes upon the table.
Heather tried another tactic, "I know you wanted that promotion, but you're really good at what you do. No one knows this ship better than you."
"One more reason why I would have made a better first officer," Gage tossed back with a sharp tone.
"Damn it. He hasn't even been here a whole day!" Despite her friendship, Heather's patience was wearing thin. "You're acting like a child."
Gage's eyes narrowed, "Watch it, Chief."
Heather stood up, "Kiss my ass, Lieutenant. When you're done pouting, I'll be in my transporter room."
"Heather, don't go, please," the chief engineer rose from her seat, instantly feeling remorse over driving her away.
Chief Munoz shook her head; "I think you need to be alone with your thoughts, now." She began to move toward the corridor, when the new first officer entered, carrying a stack of PADDs in his arms. Heather twisted on her heel and returned to Halley, "Besides, I think this would be a nice opportunity for you to build a bridge, instead of burning one. See you later."
Once Heather left the wardroom, Gage shot fleeting glances toward James. He took a seat at the other end of the long wardroom table, unknowingly sitting in what would come to be his regular seat at wardroom meetings. She watched him out of the corner of her eye, as he poured through each PADD. After nearly five minutes of glancing at him, her last glance locked eyes with him.
"Something on your mind, Lieutenant?" James tried to start things out on a good note, wearing his most charming smile.
Gage took her time in responding, curbing her immediate response in the negative, followed by an abrupt departure. Instead, she decided that Heather was right. She had not really given the new officer any sort of a chance to earn her respect. "I just wanted to apologize for my demeanor in the transporter room, Commander."
The olive branch was extended, and he recognized that it must have cost her more than a fair share of pride to do so. "There's nothing that needs apologizing," said Commander James, returning his gaze to the PADD in his hands. "Although, I will admit to being taken a bit off my guard at the utter lack of protocol around here."
"Yeah, well, this isn't the devil-may-care explorer fleet, with all the pretty little uniforms and pristine starships," Gage snorted. "Here in the border patrol, Commander, we find ourselves face-to-face with the leanest and meanest ships. We've fought the Jem'Hadar, the Breen, the Cardassians…"
"In case you haven't noticed, Lieutenant, we wear the same uniform. Just because the war's over, didn't mean that I sprang into existence on that transporter pad back there," James replied. "Fearless was involved in a lot of the same situations that you faced."
"Fearless is an Excelsior-class battlecruiser. Eight hundred in crew, state-of-the-art weaponry…"
"She's sixty years older than the Agamemnon," James rolled his eyes, but spoke with a jovial tone. "Sure, she's a little more polished, but she's old. I figure by the time I make captain, they'll probably be scrapping her for parts. But that does not detract from the fact that you have nothing to prove with me."
Halley fell silent, appearing to think over his words. Why was her blood running all of a sudden? What was it about this man that made her feel as though she was threatened? Her self-confidence disappeared and anxiety and insecurity began to overwhelm her. "Once again, I offer my apologies, Commander," she said in a quiet tone.
James looked at her, "I'll consider it, Lieutenant. If you can bring yourself to saying ‘sir.'"
"What is your problem?" Gage asked as she stood up suddenly, knocking her chair back. She was no longer able to contain her anger.
"I would recommend that you watch your tone, Lieutenant," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
"This is the wardroom, Commander. If you want to pull rank over me speaking my mind, you can take it to Hank and see what he says." She challenged him and his authority.
James counted to five in his head, thinking that she was incredibly lucky that they were the only two officers in the wardroom right then. There would have been no other option but to enforce discipline to prevent any damage to his authority. "Lieutenant," he said, as calmly as he could, "I don't really care about how much slack the captain gave you. From here on in, you report directly to me."
"We'll just see about that," she turned to leave.
"Hold it right there, Lieutenant." His voice rang as loudly and as filled with authority as he could muster. James rose from the wardroom table and advanced on the still chief engineer, holding her position just before the exit out into the corridor. "If you decide to go over my head on this one, I'd imagine that in spite of the captain's good graces, he's going to get more than little upset with you. When he sends you back down here, you'll have two superior officers to deal with. Is that what you want?"
She appeared to consider his words, but the damage to her pride was obvious as her cheeks flushed. "I came to you to apologize."
"And I appreciate that, Lieutenant," he conceded with a slight nod. He sighed. "I realize that protocol has been pretty non-existent around here, but that's about to change."
"Aye, aye, sir," said Lieutenant Gage, deciding to stand at attention in a mockery of respect toward him.
He nodded approvingly, "Well, your attempt is pretty pitiful, but at least it's a step in the right direction." Commander James let out a long sigh, looking up and then down as he tried to figure out how best to proceed. "I am not here to be anything more than the best executive officer for the Agamemnon. I know you carried out those responsibilities in the past, and the captain was very pleased with your willingness to step up and take on the extra duty for the team. As a point of fact, I was actually hoping that you would be willing to help me go over the paperwork so we can get caught up."
"Oh," she replied, giving up her rigid posture to go slack. Her shoulders slumped slightly, and she turned around to face him. "I'm sorry about that. It's just that with trying to oversee engineering along with the duties of a first officer, all of the reports and logs sort of fell through the cracks."
"I'm not blaming you," he said instantly, raising both hands. "Starfleet isn't going to send out a firing squad just because you forgot to file an energy consumption report. But all of those loose ends are going to end up tangling us up if they decide to put us through an inspection."
Gage wrinkled her nose, "An inspection?"
James asked with incredulity, "You mean, you've never undergone an inspection?"
"Not in the four years I've been aboard."
"That's… very interesting."
"That's how things are done in the Border Patrol."
He frowned, unable to really make any sort of a comment. "I don't suppose you would accept the reasoning that perhaps an inspection is due, would you?"
She shrugged. "As much as it pains me to say this, you are the executive officer, now. If you want to catch up to a point where you feel comfortable, that's your prerogative." Halley's voice got a little too quiet for him to hear what she mumbled.
"I'm sorry, what was that last?"
"I said," Gage raised her voice, "I will support any new policies you want."
James smiled instantly, but he brought his hand over his mouth and coughed. "I appreciate that, you have no idea." He was silent, moving away and returning to the wardroom table once more. "The first thing we need to start with is the engineering section's requisitions for the past year…"
Guardian Six, also known as Rear Admiral Elizabeth Davies, looked across her desk at the commanding officer of the Agamemnon as her flag lieutenant laid out the appropriate information to process her query. She was a woman of presence; that is, every room she entered automatically acknowledged her. The very pillar of authority for the Border Patrol service, she was a two-star flag officer who reported directly to the chief of Starfleet Operations on the status of her group. For a captain of a light cruiser to be seated in the same room meant that either he was being reassigned, under review, or about to receive orders of the highest priority.
Commander Grayum had even more cause to be nervous. While Admiral Davies was enough to make him fidget in his chair, the fact was that he was only two feet away from Deep Space Four's commanding admiral, Rear Admiral (lower half) Edward Porter (Barracks One). His presence there was one of courtesy, as Admiral Porter was the sector commander, as well as the ability to mobilize the entire Ninth Tactical Fleet at a moment's notice. DS4 was located at the juncture between the neutral zone of the Romulan Star Empire and the Typhon Expanse.
This much brass in the same room began to make Hank Grayum very nervous. What had originally been thought to be nothing more than a friendly little chat with Admiral Porter had turned into a briefing. Once the flag lieutenant withdrew to the small anteroom, Guardian Six leaned forward in her chair, bringing her fingers into a Vulcan-like steeple before her. "Commander," she said, her voice cold and harsh, "am I correct in my understanding that the Agamemnon is at full operational status?"
Grayum cleared his throat nervously, "I, uh, yes, sir, that's about right. We can pack up and be anywhere you want us to be."
"May I also further assume that you and your vessel are cleared for X-Ray activities?" Guardian Six asked, wishing to know if his ship and crew were ready to undertake a class two priority assignment, which would require a level of readiness that should be maintained on vessels of the Border Patrol. Alternately, it would also give Grayum the opportunity to decline, if he was simply being prideful and wished to not put his ship or crew at risk.
He nearly leaped out of his chair. This was the opportunity he was waiting for. Despite all outward appearances, he was eager to perform a task worthy of promotion. To be able to retire as a Captain would allow him a higher set of benefits. It had been a long period of service for him, enduring both the Cardassian War and the Dominion War. He was willing to settle for retiring a Commander, but the chance to reach a little further made it just a little bit sweeter. "Absolutely, sir."
Admiral Porter spoke up, immediately following Davies' nod to him. His clipped British accent always made him seem like something of a snob to Grayum. He listened to the admiral as he spoke, "Commander, as you are no doubt aware, certain sects of the Breen Hegemony have ignored the peace accords signed by the Dominion. Starfleet Intelligence has been able to determine with a fair amount of certainty that they have arranged mobile command centers located between the Black Cluster and the Typhon Expanse."
Guardian Six continued the briefing. "We have reassigned elements of the Ninth and Twelfth fleets to augment the patrol ships along this part of the border." She turned her desktop display around to illustrate. The "north" border, which ran from the "west" border of Cardassian territory and Deep Space Nine to the "east" border with the Romulans, had the Black Cluster in the "northwest" corner and the Typhon Expanse in "northeast" corner. Points began to be marked beyond the northern border, each one seemingly equidistant from one another. "Based on the information from Starfleet Intelligence, and on orders from Fleet Admiral Nechayev herself, we are deploying several light cruisers to each of these theorized locations of where each mobile base is. Agamemnon will be deployed to provide information on this command center, which we have designated as Objective Epsilon."
Hank Grayum nodded eagerly, "I see. You want us to go take a look and report back on what we find out?" If that was truly the extent of the mission, then he was assured of that fourth pip and his retirement. In his mind, he was already plotting out the little strip of beach he wanted to buy on Risa, maybe build himself a pier where he could put that little fishing boat he inherited from his great uncle back on Earth. It would not take much trouble to beam it up to a cargo ship, pay them to make the long trip out…
"Not exactly. Each cruiser will be outfitted with a Romulan cloaking device, and each vessel will also be carrying along a Romulan officer to oversee its use and operation. This is one of the stipulations outlined by the defense treaty with the Romulan government," replied Admiral Davies, interrupting his train of thought and bringing him back to the present. "In exchange for the device, we will provide the Romulans with limited Starfleet resources and personnel, along with detailed information about the Breen's current military capabilities."
"Just like with the Defiant and the Gamma Quadrant all those years ago," Grayum noted.
Porter added, "In the same spirit, yes, however unlike the Defiant missions, this time we shall be looking to bring back a little more than basic information."
The captain of the Agamemnon pressed his lips together, having heard all of the bait. It was time to bite down on the hook. "Admirals, would you mind being a little more specific?"