Post 492: Just What the Klingon Ordered

Stardate:71012.1430
Title: Just What the Klingon Ordered
Authors: Fox Margolis and Zanh Liis
Scene: The Brig aboard the USS Independence
Time: Following "Adrift" (The night before "Welcome to Yensul" One and Two)
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Outside the brig in the main security office, a warning alarm sounded. Somehow, the force field surrounding Corbinsky's cell had just dropped.

N'Dura drew her phaser and ran through the doors, nearly knocking Fox Margolis to the ground in the process. Much to her dismay, Margolis was not being held captive or worse, and Corbinsky was still laying on the cot in his cell, motionless despite the fact that he was now free to exit.

"What is going on!" the Klingon bellowed. She moved to the panel and she reinstated the force field. "Who lowered the force field?"

"I did." Corbinsky said, jumping up and moving toward the invisible wall of currant. He did not want her to know that Fox had offered him a 'get out of jail free' card; it could mean her career.

"Should I review the security logs, Lt. Mar-go-lees?" N'Dura persisted in mispronouncing Fox's last name, something that the human woman had long ago given up trying to correct.

"That won't be necessary." Margolis replied, ready to take her punishment. "I did it."

"Excuse us," N'Dura said, sneering at Corbinsky, knowing that the dampening field around the entire brig would prevent him from using his implant to escape the ship even though Fox had lowered the force field which held him in his cell. He'd have had to get past her first, to get far enough away from the field for transport. "This way, Lieutenant."

Corbinsky sighed as he flopped back down onto the bed; he hadn't meant, truly, to cause Faustine so much trouble.

"Is there anything you wish to tell me, Lieutenant?" N'Dura asked. Fox shrugged. "Such as why you tried to set our prisoner free?"

"He shouldn't be in a prison cell. He belongs in a laboratory, conducting experiments."

"He has interfered with the operations of this ship and of your life, Lieutenant, are you forgetting this?"

"I'm not forgetting anything, Commander." She sighed, quite dramatically. "I'm not forgetting that he is here because of me. This is all my fault."

N'Dura paused before responding, not exactly expecting such a simple, and almost child-like, answer. She then verbalized the rest of Fox's thought. "And if he would just leave, then everything would get better."

"Well, they sure couldn't get any worse."

"Whether or not things can get worse is a question that is better left unasked." N'Dura continued. "As long as one is still breathing, things can always get worse. It is my job to prevent them from becoming so, if possible. So, Lieutenant, what am I to do with you?"

"You tell me." Fox shrugged again.

"I will need to notify the Captain, but not tonight." N'Dura sighed and paced a few steps away. "Since no harm has been done, and since she was not in a good mood the last time I saw her, I think it best to let that sleeping dog lie. Tomorrow, after she returns from the surface, I will speak to her and she will decide whether or not to place a formal reprimand on your record. In the meantime, you are to stay away from the brig, and Dr. Corbinsky. Am I understood?"

Fox sighed, but there was nothing dramatic about it. "Yes, I understand." She knew she was in trouble, but she was quite frankly more resigned about it than angry.

More than anything else, she suddenly felt tired, very tried.

N'Dura turned, signaling the end of the conversation, but she stopped herself and turned back toward the other officer. "Have you spoken with anyone about this incident?" she asked.

A puzzled look fell across Fox's face; this 'incident' had just happened. Who could she had had time to speak with? And then in struck her; N'Dura meant in general, the entire 'Corbinsky affair.'

She had first brought the problem to N'Dura's attention...but that seemed like ages ago. And she had also notified Zanh of the issue as well. But those had all been formal occasions, and Fox had to admit that she had really never stopped for long enough to give this situation much thought, let alone speak about the entire affair to someone else.

"No," she simply answered.

"Then perhaps you should find someone to speak with."

It was not an order, just a simple statement, one that came from N'Dura's own personal interactions, and even her personal faith.

"Talking about this incident won't make it go away, it won't solve any problems," Fox lightly protested in response.

"No," N'Dura agreed, "only action will. But there is no harm in seeing this situation from another perspective."

Who could she talk to, Fox wondered as the Klingon walked away. She had never been terribly fond of counselors due to some very bad experiences as a child.

Then it occurred to her. Perhaps the silent man with the garden full of flowers and eyes full of compassion was just what the Klingon had ordered.
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Lt. Fox Margolis
Operations Officer
USS Independence NCC-90791

and
=/\= Zanh Liis
Acting CO
USS Independence NCC-90791