Obedient Puppy

Posted on Thu 6th Dec, 2012 @ 1:46am by Lieutenant Colonel Tallus Karikkar & Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller

1,255 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: http://sb109.sim-station.net/index.php/sim/missions/id/3
Location: Tallus' Office

With the surgeries over, her patients well mended, and her emotional patience drifting back to normal, Nyx took a deep breath and headed toward the Marine quarters on the base. Finding Tallus would be easy enough; standing in his office and listening to him smugly give orders or berate her for whatever it was he thought she'd done would be a different story.

Rounding the all too familiar corner to the man's office, she stopped for a moment and then chimed the door.

"Entrance is permitted Lieutenant Adanyxia." Tallus said with his back to the door as she entered. "And before you say anything, no, I did not read to see who was there. I looked at that." Tallus said pointing to a console with a image of the door on it.

"Your turf, your rules." She conceded. "I just prefer my thoughts be left alone instead of used against me. But that isn't why I'm here, is it?" She folded her arms in front of her. "What can I do for you Major?"

"How does Commander Birdsong fare?" Tallus asked still not looking.

"He's recovering. He should be back to business in twenty four hours." She answered him a bit leery that he was concerned and not hounding her. "The others will be back on duty this afternoon...although they deserve what they got." She shook her head again trying to keep her anger at Devyn in check. She'd save that for him.

"And how do you fare?" Tallus said with his back still turned.

"Me?" She asked confused. "I think they took undue risks but I wasn't there so I don't know. Maybe they had no choice."

"So you would have done things differently?" Tallus asked turning to look at Nyx.

"I'm a doctor not a strategist but I think they rushed into things...isn't there some thing about waiting on back up?" She shrugged. "I asked you to turn off my collar so I could go in and help..."

"Had I done that then he may have died. It that what you want? Are you telling me that you can control it?" Tallus asked standing up.

"I've .." She knew it would be futile to lie to the man. He'd read her thoughts and know. "No. But there was a chance the creature wouldn't have hurt anyone but those holding the commander." She folded her arms in front of her to show that she was not intimidated by him...yet anyway.

"There is also a chance that I will die in the next moment. That doesn't necessarily mean that I will fall over dead." Tallus said getting a slight vibe from Nyx. "Despite what people might wish. If you take unnecessary chances then things are much less likely to go the way you want them to. Think about how you would have felt if you had been released. Lets go through the list shall we." Tallus said going around his desk.

"For one, your and my career would be over. I would be court marshaled and most likely executed for incompetence and you would have been hunted down like an animal. Lieutenant Commander Windsong would be dead. Ripped apart by his own crew mate. As would Lieutenant Commander Kell, Lieutenant O'dell, and Major Treia. How would you feel then? I would be out of your life. Permanently." Tallus said keeping his face.

"I'd never hurt Kell!" She lashed. He'd never been able to control her beast, but he'd been able to hold his own with her until a sedative could be used on her. Nyx liked to believe that her love for the half-klingon and not his warrior skills were what kept her from injuring him. She knew better deep down and so did everyone else. As for having Tallus out of her life...she'd thought of that on many occasions. She was still unsure of why the man wanted to help her, what was in it for him?

"Not on purpose, no. But while you are the beast do you have any conscious thought?" Tallus asked.

"You know I don't. If the beast takes over, I don't exist -cognitively that is." The man was infuriating when he was correct. She could see how smug he felt about it too...even if it was her imagination.

"Do you have different levels of the beast?" Tallus asked curiously.

Nyx shook her head. "No, I don't know if other Chameloids do or not. I haven't learned enough to control when I change let alone how far I go." She answered. "As far as I know it's much like the fabled werewolves of Earth. Although my form is much more like a large bear, I either change completely or not at all."

"What do you know of other Chameloids?" Tallus asked motioning to chair.

"I know that they can shift at will and then when shifted into their beast form, they have control and consciousness. My people can shift their dna to mimic anything, once they've learned to control the shifting. I know that training begins at the age of 4 Earth years and by the time the first shift comes at the onset of puberty, most Chameloids can already control their beast."

"Well, you are obviously not a normal Chameloid, through no fault of your own. Thank you for coming Lieutenant. You are dismissed." Tallus said nodding.

The man was still infuriating. She had no idea why he'd summoned her to his office unless it was merely to prove that she would come...as she had no choice. Symbolic or not, he held her leash and she was forced to respond to every tug of it. She felt like his prisoner.

"If there is something that you wish to say Lieutenant then by all means." Tallus said.

She looked at the man and contemplated how to say what she wanted to say. "I understand on your planet that you are not considered fully adult until your thirtieth birthday or until you've completed your Norn-La-Hal but where I'm from, I've been considered an adult for nearly 5 years...and I don't appreciate being called to the principal just to see if I'll obey." She said. "You've already made it clear that I have no choice. I'm to come whenever you dictate. If you had questions about my patient, you could have communicated those questions through the vid screen."

"Lieutenant, everything that I do, I do for a reason. A vid screen is an inadequate way of communication. This is more efficient." Tallus said.

"It may be efficient for you but I've had to leave my office to come here to answer questions I could have answered over the comm or through the vid screen. That is time away from my work for your personal convenience." She argued mostly just to be difficult but how dare he think his convenience more priority than hers.

Tallus shook his head. "I can see that I am not getting through. Lieutenant Adanyxia, it is not your place to countermand what I tell you to do."

"Yes and only you would consider it appropriate to pull the Chief Medical Officer from her duties at your whim just to prove you can." she shook her head angrily. "I didn't countermand you. I came when you called...just like the obedient puppy you want me to be...and now I'm leaving!" She stormed out not even listening to his voice in her head.

Tallus gave a little chuckle. This was better then he had expected.

 

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