The Hired Gun

Posted on Mon Mar 25th, 2013 @ 5:57am by Ensign David Brody

643 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Mission 82 - The Aggressor
Location: USS Durga - Bridge
Timeline: Following "Doing a Little Thinking..."

The Durga cruised towards Earth, humming as it was propelled through space via the slipstream drive. Ensign David Brody stood at attention at his Tactical station. He surveyed the bridge, taking everything in as a Security professional should. Admiral Bremmer had left the bridge, leaving K'Temoc in command. It was clear to Brody that the Admiral was distracted by the mission at hand and was glad to have an officer of K'Temoc's reputation aboard to sit in the Captain's chair while the Admiral was away. Brody's mind wandered briefly to a terrifying thought of having to invoke Starfleet Regulation 619 on his first mission with a new crew. But if Admiral Bremmer's service record taught Brody anything, it was that, despite the current circumstances, he would keep his feelings in check and would not be emotionally compromised by the mission.

Captain K'Temoc looked up from the PADD he had been scrutinizing. He went around the bridge asking for a status report from each station. He followed up each status request with an order for some sort of menial task to be completed. Brody knew that is was important for a commanding officer to keep his crew's mind sharp and attention focused at all times. The Captain made his way around the bridge to Brody, barely looking up from his PADD. "Ensign, Tactical report please."

Brody tapped a few icons on his panel. "Sir, all phaser banks fully charged, torpedo bays locked and loaded, and long-range sensors detecting only four Federation ships proceeding along registered trajectories."

"Thank you, Mr. Brody. I recommend you take this opportunity to customize your Tactical layout. I don't expect the Durga to be involved in a firefight, but nonetheless I don't want my new Tactical officer scanning a ship when he should be shooting at it." Ensign Brody detected what he believed to be a smile, but until he got to know the crew better he would make no assumptions. Either way, Brody found it uncommon for a commanding officer to allow an Ensign the autonomy to alter Starfleet standardized configurations. K'Temoc leaned in his chair slightly towards Brody, still not looking up from his PADD. "Might I suggest something from your days on the Tomahawk?"

"Aye, Sir!" Brody could hardly contain his surprise. If K'Temoc was aware of his Tactical intricacies aboard the Tomahawk, he had not only read his service record, but read his Starfleet Academy dissertation as well. When Brody wrote 'Winning the War: Overcoming Starfleet Design', it was as thought provoking as it was controversial. Brody felt his theories had been tested and proved during the Tomahawk's many skirmishes along the Cardassian border during the Dominion War.
"Computer...", Brody said followed by acknowledging chirps and whirs. "Reconfigure Tactical layout to Brody-Tomahawk-Alpha-Two."

The computer whined and beeped in disagreement. "Layout is not within Starfleet parameters. Unable to comply." Brody could see Captain K'Temoc move from his PADD to the console on his armrest. After a few swipes of his fingers, the computer returned and was more enthusiastic the second time around. "Tactical override initiated. Tactical layout Brody-Tomahawk-Alpha-Two accepted." The Tactical station went dark for a fraction of a second and returned with a familiar pattern of inputs that had Brody itching for some target practice.

This brief exchange aboard the bridge make it clear to Brody that his posting to Starbase 400 was not the dead end to his career that he had thought. He hadn't been buried in career limbo by his former Captain, but instead had been recruited by his new command structure. Anyone can fire a phaser, but it had become apparent that Admiral Bremmer and the others were looking for someone that could phasers and photons with his heart and not his fingertips. To Brody, he was more than a mere Tactical Officer, he was, as the old Earth adage indicated, a Hired Gun.

RSS Feed