The Spy

Posted on Mon 17th Apr, 2017 @ 12:57am by Commander Paul Graves PsyD
Edited on on Mon 11th Dec, 2017 @ 12:38am

839 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Wrongs Darker Than Death Or Night
Location: Chief Counselor's Office, Deck 83

Hunt had arranged to meet Paul when they went out for lunch, but the past few days had been a whirlwind. So much so that he had to rearrange his appointment for later down the line. He felt like he was a nuisance when he had to move stuff around, but sometimes it couldn't be helped. Inside, Hunt was feeling anxious, something he never really felt, but seemed to more and more lately. Pressures inside him had started to build up, so much so that he knew he would lose his temper sooner or later. He was hoping he was able to get bits off his chest. He sighed as he approached the Counselor's room, now to see what someone else actually thought about the situation he was in. He pressed the chime.

Paul pressed the button that overrode the privacy controls on his office door, and the door slid open to reveal Commander Hunt standing in the doorway, looking lost in thought for an instant before his expression cleared.

"Commander, good to see you," Paul said. He waved a hand toward his desk. "Have a seat. May I get you some orange juice?" He already had a cup of hot tulsi tea on his desk--the real kind, from Signs of the Prophets.

"Not today, thank you," Hunt said smiling towards Paul. "I believe a congratulations is in order!"

Paul chuckled. "For the promotion? Thank you! I was quite surprised." He gave Hunt a curious look. "I was even more surprised at being asked to serve as Second Officer. I thought that kind of thing usually went to people like the Ops chief or Security."

"Yes, yes the promotion. It was only recent since my promotion, which I was surprised at also," Hunt raised his eyebrow and smiled, "Perhaps so, but usually there isn't someone on board who would make such a fine Second Officer as you. You were naturally the first choice!"

"Flattery will get you somewhere, but I'm not sure where," Paul said with a laugh. "In any case, thank you for the consideration." He sat down. "So what's on your mind?"

Hunt laughed back, "It may be flattery, but it is the truth!" He paused.

"I'm sure you've noticed anyhow, but things between myself and Drake are reaching a bit of a boiling point. He doesn't trust me, and to be fair, he has good reasons not to. I can see he's figuring it out in his head but has yet to say anything, instead a lot of anger is just directed towards myself. Most of it I deal with, but recently it's just getting harder for me and I'm not sure what to do. I have a lot of respect for Drake and I'm not sure how to position myself," He told Paul, avoiding any of the finer details he was sure to spill a bit later.

Paul nodded. "You've mentioned he doesn't communicate with you much about some issues that have frankly shocked me to learn of. I have to admit, when you congratulated me just now, a part of me wondered if Col. Drake had discussed the promotion and the second officer assignment with you beforehand or if you were just as surprised by them as I was."

Hunt hummed in agreement, "To be fair I only heard about the promotion through someone else, and when I spoke to Drake about it, it was only then he mentioned about the second officer assignment."

Paul frowned slightly at that news. "When Col. Drake mentioned filling the Second Officer position to you, was it a decision he had already made and decided to inform you of, or was it an invitation to discuss between the two of you who would be best suited?"

"You know the answer of that already," Hunt quipped quickly and uncharacteristically.

"I see," Paul said. This is bad, he thought. What is Drake thinking? "In that case, I can only say that I'm relieved you agree with Drake's choice, if not the way he made it." Paul looked back at Hunt. "You impress me as being a perfectly capable XO, and I've observed you to be good at the job--yet you said Drake has good reasons not to trust you. I suspect you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to tell me what's going on, so talk to me. It is too dangerous to everyone living on Vanguard for you and Col. Drake to not communicate with each other. If he distrusts you so deeply that he would not even discuss with you his candidate for a high-level command position here, and if his distrust is justified, then that issue must be resolved."

"Oh yeah, in my opinion he has definitely made the right choice. You're a pure asset for Vanguard," He paused, thinking about his reply. "Are you ready...

"With baited breath, whatever that means," Paul assured him. "Start talking."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Commander Zachary Hunt
Executive Officer

Lt. Commander Paul Graves, PsyD
Chief Counselor

 

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