Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek, Lieutenant Kawakame Shin, & Crewman Borq: A Price to Pay Part II
Yroc Llah
((Rosek’s Office, USS Montreal))
::Lael’s gaze shifted to Shin, her expression softening. She shifted her stance, making a conscious effort to appear less intimidating. Borq had ultimately cooperated, leaving Lael to focus on Shin. Though Borq had instigated the incident, Shin was the higher ranking individual. She expected him to have more restraint. It raised the question of how he'd react in a life or death situation with his team depending on his objectivity and leadership. .::
Rosek: You're to report to engineering tomorrow morning to assist with cleaning the plasma manifolds. When you're done with that, you'll report for a gamma shift in the security office. I need all hands on deck to monitor Warvan.
:: Shin hung his head a moment. He was lucky she hadn’t demoted him and the gamma shift didn’t bother him much, but having to assist in engineering bothered him a great deal. Shin could not stand having to gear up to deal with hazardous materials and getting lubricants and oils all over himself. No matter how clean a starship seemed one would still find themselves caked in a large amount of gunk cleaning in engineering.::
Shin: ::beat.:: Yes ma’am.
Rosek: Lieutenant?
:: Shin brushed off his feelings about cleaning in engineering and looked up at the commander.::
Shin: Well ma’am, I’m just not sure what to make of all this…
::She remembered very clearly standing in a similar position in her early days aboard the Veritas. Besides being humiliating, it had been hard on her knowing that she’d disappointed Captain Rahman. More than anyone, she could sympathize with Shin. He was a excellent officer who had made a poor judgement call. He’d let his emotions get ahead of him. They all did it at some point or another. But what distinguished a decent officer from a great one was whether they chose to embrace the inherent lesson or to ignore it.::
Rosek: ::grins wryly:: Not that I expected this job to be all rainbows and lollipops, but I never imagined a situation like this either. ::gaze meets his:: I expect you’ve learned from this?
Shin: Well ma’am I do hope so. ::beat.:: I think I’ll need to reflect on it a bit yet. :: Looking at Lael in total seriousness.:: Can I have permission to speak with Warvan?
Rosek: ::sighs:: For the moment, Lieutenant, I don’t believe that’s the best idea. ::pauses:: But when Commander Mei’konda and I speak to Warvan, I’ll make Commander Mei’konda and Commander Tel-ar aware that you wish to be present.
::Despite what had happened, she had a good deal of respect for Shin and didn’t have it in her to deny him a reasonable request, especially since she had an idea of why he was asking. It was more personal than professional. And yet it would be a good learning experience for him in not only dealing with prisoners, but in putting aside those personal feelings in the interests of doing his duty.::
:: It would seem that he would have to learn about Borq and her father elsewhere until things settled down. Shin swallowed his emotions and stood at attention.::
Shin: If that is all, may I be dismissed?
Rosek: ::brow furrows:: I don’t believe you were aware, but I spoke to Commander Mei’konda at the awards ceremony about your future with Starfleet. I expressed to him my confidence that you would be ready for full Lieutenant soon enough. Was I wrong, Lieutenant?
:: The commander’s words struck him hard. He had been so cocky and caught up in himself since arriving that he had given little thought to his career as a whole. He knew that he needed to clear this mess up and prove that she was not wrong, but it was looking like it was going to be the hardest thing he had done since joining Starfleet. Until now he had never had personal problems affecting his duty.::
Shin: No ma’am, I will not allow this sort of thing to happen ever again.
::She could see in the way he tensed that the words had made the impact she’d intended. She’d learned during her time as Chief Engineer that the best way to get a man’s respect and to increase his dedication was to appeal to his sense of honor and duty. Men, above all, sought respect and feeling like they’d lost that drove home a particular lesson harder than anything else could.::
Rosek: ::nods:: I believe you, Shin. ::pauses:: Though I’ve offered what I believe to be a fitting consequence for your choices, that doesn’t mean that Commander Mei’konda won’t view this differently. I will have to speak with him about this incident. However, I will also inform him the professionalism you displayed during our conversation and will encourage him to factor that in when he’s making a determination.
:: Shin knew she was absolutely right. He had avoided a worse punishment from her, but the captain had presumably not learned of this incident yet, and may very well choose to go harder on him and Borq and commander Rosek had been.::
Shin: Thank you Commander. :: He nodded to her as he took a more relaxed stance again.::
Rosek: ::nods:: You’re dismissed.
Shin: Ma’am. :: He nodded again.::
:: Shin turned to leave and stopped when the commander spoke to him once more.::
::She just couldn’t resist. Though she’d had to be stern with him from a professional standpoint, she did find the whole situation a bit amusing in that she’d had her share of wild intimate experiences in her twenty-something years, though the brig of a starship had never been one of them. Mei was going to be less than pleased.::
Rosek: ::pauses:: Lieutenant?
Shin: Yes, ma’am? :: He asked her looking back at her again.::
Rosek: ::smirks:: The next time you’re feeling...amorous...might I suggest moving it to your quarters during your off-duty time.
Shin: Of course, ma’am. :: He smiled shyly at her and turned to exit the room.::
::She watched him go, shaking her head and chuckling to herself. Despite the immense amount of PADDwork that this incident was going to cause her and how much she disliked disciplining officers for their poor choices, she had to admit...this one was going to be a fun story to tell someday and it certain made her job more interesting.::
===
Lieutenant Commander Lael Rosek
Executive Officer
USS Montreal
I238110RH0
&
First Class Crewman Borq
Science Administrative Assistant
USS Montreal
V239507GG0
&
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Montreal NCC-64297
V239503TD0