As Captain Fitzgerald and Lt. Cmdr Ares headed back toward the Centurian,
Colin's face was very neutral, a sure sign that something was brewing inside
that typically good-natured Irish head of his.
The walk through the station had been quiet, which was not what Ariel was
used to when spending time with the Captain. "Is there something wrong,
sir?"
"The politics," he said simply. "I could do without them. The
service asks that we do our jobs, and do them to the best of our ability.
To do anything less is unacceptable. To tolerate anything less is
unacceptable."
She had to admit to herself that she had no interest in politics.
>From what she had seen through out her life, politicians often had good
intentions, but the system did more to corrupt and change the results and cause
harm than if things had been left alone. Unfortunately, there was little
that she or anyone else could do to change things in that arena. It seemed
to be a problem that was cross-cultural and timeless. She waited for him
to continue.
He sighed, and shook his head as if to clear it. "But that's over now,
and we get to go back to our ship, where its hand-picked crew has never done
anything *but* its best. Likely never thought of doing anything less than
its best, I would imagine."
She could now see where things were going with the conversation. "I
am sure that you can expect the best from all of us, sir."
"The prisoner is entirely under your command, Commander. In areas of
his security, no one's orders supercede yours, not even my own, am I
clear?"
She nodded her head. His statement was clear. The question
would be what would happen if outside agencies wanted to get involved.
Station Security, Starfleet Security, and Starfleet Intell all seemed to be
deeply tied to the prisoner, and from what she could see, they were all
represented by officers that outranked her.
"I don't see any reason why any Centurian personnel outside of your
security force should have to interact with him. Therefore, only with both
my and your consent may any other crewmember come into contact with the
prisoner."
Again she nodded. It seemed like a logical solution to one of the
problems that would be facing, though she doubted that Admiral Smallwood would
be put off if he really wanted to see the prisoner.
"And to prevent the curious from getting too... curious, only essential
personnel will even be allowed into the brig. It shall not become a
loitering spot."
"We should be able to implement all of those procedures without
difficulty. We are going to have to make special arrangements for Mr.
Jorgensen's lawyer as well as people like Commander K'Tael and Admirals
Smallwood and t'Llhweiir. I am sure that they are going to want open
access to the prisoner either for themselves or for some of their staff."
(Cap'n?)
AJ
