08-20-2024, 12:03 AM
Tyra's blue eyes had remained on Omdor a fraction of a second longer than necessary before dropping back to the PADD in her hand. She tried to ignore that aching feeling under her breastbone, tried to not associate it with the Artemis' acting Chief Engineer and failed utterly. Of course, they would need to replace Elias and of course, it would need to be before the next outing but she hadn't had any desire to witness it occur. No, that was one consequence of her decision that she hadn't quite wanted to face and yet, here it was in all its nauseating glory.
None of this is how it was suppose to be…
She felt that stinging feeling in the back of her throat as if she could actually taste the guilt and tried to drown it with a mouthful of coffee. And when that failed, she forced herself to pay attention to the questions being asked, anything other than that tiny seed of self-pity that always accompanied the guilt. She'd paved this road after all; there was no sense in pitying herself for it.
Fortunately, despite her earlier outburst, Mara managed to keep her questions on point and directed. Coleman, clearly having been briefed earlier, easily answering each of her questions with ease. Calleja seemed to accept the answers as they were, indicating her willingness to be prepared.
Givens spoke up to add a point of clarification, "Truthfully, no one has paid the Hugora Nebula much attention since the fall of the Maquis. Not until the Cardassians became a sore subject again. Hence the lack of recent surveys."
The mention of Cardassians caused another crinkle of her nose, though it was masked by her coffee cup traveling to her mouth this time. She'd never particularly been fond of the Cardassians, not when she'd grown up in the shadows of their war, but recent memory had turned distaste into something much closer to hate than she wanted to admit to anyone.
“I don’t have a question. More a highly indavisable suggestion. If I’m remembering correctly Ensign Han knows a drinking game involving soju and candy. If there’s time and if Lieutenant Commander Mayfair is willing to provide medical assistance after the event, we could get through a few rounds. Kind of a pre-mission icebreaker, something to clear the air, and an opportunity for bragging rights. If there is an agreement.”
Tyra didn't need to look down the table to know who had spoken up and it took everything in her power not to look at Coleman. Instead, she found herself looking at Givens, who was clearly waiting for some sign from Tyra on who exactly needed to address that particular idea. It was the slightest twitch of Tyra's free hand that seemed to settle the matter, the younger captain making a motion that seemed to say 'your problem, not mine'.
And yet, Tyra couldn't think of a place in existence that she wanted to be less than where she was currently sitting. In fact, she was tempted to confiscate whatever alcohol Devereaux planned to use for her little icebreaker and find a dark corner to escape to. Because even the worst hangover ever had to be an improvement on what was turning into her own personal Hell.
They didn't cover this in that command refresher. Shocking.
Tyra set her coffee mug down with a little more force than was needed before leaning back in her chair, her now free hand tapping on her crossed knee.
"I don't know what has happened here in the weeks since I left and quite frankly, I don't have the emotional capacity right now to care. I also understand that I am not the strictest of commanding officers; I have let a lot of things ride over the years and quite frankly, that is probably a large part of why we're in the situation that we are in," Tyra stated dryly, the last part with more than a healthy dose of self-incrimination.
"However, the level of circus in this room in just the five minutes I have been back is through the ******* roof, even by our standards. We have petulant tantrums, we’ve got freaking popcorn like it's an afternoon matinee, and now we have drinking games…. And that's not even counting what was going on before I walked in." She dropped the padd from her other hand, letting it clatter loudly to the table in her exasperation. "There are cadet cruises that begin and end with less non-sense and y'all are suppose to be our best and brightest."
"Get your shit together or get out. I don't care what you do in your free time or how much you drink but when you wear that uniform, act like adults. If you want me to run this ship like I ran my security department, I will and not a damn one of you will enjoy it. Understood?"
== Tag! ==
None of this is how it was suppose to be…
She felt that stinging feeling in the back of her throat as if she could actually taste the guilt and tried to drown it with a mouthful of coffee. And when that failed, she forced herself to pay attention to the questions being asked, anything other than that tiny seed of self-pity that always accompanied the guilt. She'd paved this road after all; there was no sense in pitying herself for it.
Fortunately, despite her earlier outburst, Mara managed to keep her questions on point and directed. Coleman, clearly having been briefed earlier, easily answering each of her questions with ease. Calleja seemed to accept the answers as they were, indicating her willingness to be prepared.
Givens spoke up to add a point of clarification, "Truthfully, no one has paid the Hugora Nebula much attention since the fall of the Maquis. Not until the Cardassians became a sore subject again. Hence the lack of recent surveys."
The mention of Cardassians caused another crinkle of her nose, though it was masked by her coffee cup traveling to her mouth this time. She'd never particularly been fond of the Cardassians, not when she'd grown up in the shadows of their war, but recent memory had turned distaste into something much closer to hate than she wanted to admit to anyone.
“I don’t have a question. More a highly indavisable suggestion. If I’m remembering correctly Ensign Han knows a drinking game involving soju and candy. If there’s time and if Lieutenant Commander Mayfair is willing to provide medical assistance after the event, we could get through a few rounds. Kind of a pre-mission icebreaker, something to clear the air, and an opportunity for bragging rights. If there is an agreement.”
Tyra didn't need to look down the table to know who had spoken up and it took everything in her power not to look at Coleman. Instead, she found herself looking at Givens, who was clearly waiting for some sign from Tyra on who exactly needed to address that particular idea. It was the slightest twitch of Tyra's free hand that seemed to settle the matter, the younger captain making a motion that seemed to say 'your problem, not mine'.
And yet, Tyra couldn't think of a place in existence that she wanted to be less than where she was currently sitting. In fact, she was tempted to confiscate whatever alcohol Devereaux planned to use for her little icebreaker and find a dark corner to escape to. Because even the worst hangover ever had to be an improvement on what was turning into her own personal Hell.
They didn't cover this in that command refresher. Shocking.
Tyra set her coffee mug down with a little more force than was needed before leaning back in her chair, her now free hand tapping on her crossed knee.
"I don't know what has happened here in the weeks since I left and quite frankly, I don't have the emotional capacity right now to care. I also understand that I am not the strictest of commanding officers; I have let a lot of things ride over the years and quite frankly, that is probably a large part of why we're in the situation that we are in," Tyra stated dryly, the last part with more than a healthy dose of self-incrimination.
"However, the level of circus in this room in just the five minutes I have been back is through the ******* roof, even by our standards. We have petulant tantrums, we’ve got freaking popcorn like it's an afternoon matinee, and now we have drinking games…. And that's not even counting what was going on before I walked in." She dropped the padd from her other hand, letting it clatter loudly to the table in her exasperation. "There are cadet cruises that begin and end with less non-sense and y'all are suppose to be our best and brightest."
"Get your shit together or get out. I don't care what you do in your free time or how much you drink but when you wear that uniform, act like adults. If you want me to run this ship like I ran my security department, I will and not a damn one of you will enjoy it. Understood?"
== Tag! ==