06-02-2024, 08:23 AM
Peter was well aware that an "invitation" of this kind was not really an invitation at all.
So he had of course donned a freshly replicated uniform, made sure it fit, and headed towards the mess hall. Upon arrival he saw that he was not the first to arrive, and so he greeted everyone politely and with a smile, before taking his seat eventually at the Captain's right side, and awaited the start of the show.
As he had suspected, this was not just a dinner, a social occasion, but also served as their mission briefing. And the mission is question was hardly worthy of this crew. Updating star chats? He frowned for a moment before he caught himself and returned his face to the proper folds. Just in time, too, because the next part of their mission suited him even less. Policing the border for the Talarian resistance.
Funny, thought he, how they seem to not only want to avoid a war with the Cardassians, but to actively help them.
Avoiding the appearance of aiding the Talarians made sense, of course. The Federation wouldn't like foreign interventions in underground militant groups operating on its territory either.
Then again...we aren't a totalitarian oppressive regime who conquer other species and run concentration camps where we use these people as slaves to stripmine their planets, his inner voice reminded him, so that he had to blink to refocus on the Captain's words.
And she was right. Orders were orders. And without the predictability of adherence to the chain of command, things turned to chaos. Which was why Peter had been so conflicted during the last mission, even though he still felt he'd done the right thing. And in the end, he had been proven right: Things had turned to chaos and it'd taken something extraordinary to crawl back from it.
He looked around the table discreetly, noticing the new Midshipmen and forced himself to conceal a smile.
I'd have been scared out of my wits if my first mission briefing had included a dinner with the Captain, he thought, as he looked at the faces in front of him.
So he had of course donned a freshly replicated uniform, made sure it fit, and headed towards the mess hall. Upon arrival he saw that he was not the first to arrive, and so he greeted everyone politely and with a smile, before taking his seat eventually at the Captain's right side, and awaited the start of the show.
As he had suspected, this was not just a dinner, a social occasion, but also served as their mission briefing. And the mission is question was hardly worthy of this crew. Updating star chats? He frowned for a moment before he caught himself and returned his face to the proper folds. Just in time, too, because the next part of their mission suited him even less. Policing the border for the Talarian resistance.
Funny, thought he, how they seem to not only want to avoid a war with the Cardassians, but to actively help them.
Avoiding the appearance of aiding the Talarians made sense, of course. The Federation wouldn't like foreign interventions in underground militant groups operating on its territory either.
Then again...we aren't a totalitarian oppressive regime who conquer other species and run concentration camps where we use these people as slaves to stripmine their planets, his inner voice reminded him, so that he had to blink to refocus on the Captain's words.
And she was right. Orders were orders. And without the predictability of adherence to the chain of command, things turned to chaos. Which was why Peter had been so conflicted during the last mission, even though he still felt he'd done the right thing. And in the end, he had been proven right: Things had turned to chaos and it'd taken something extraordinary to crawl back from it.
He looked around the table discreetly, noticing the new Midshipmen and forced himself to conceal a smile.
I'd have been scared out of my wits if my first mission briefing had included a dinner with the Captain, he thought, as he looked at the faces in front of him.