=Admiral Jefferson's Office=
=San Francisco, Earth=
Leland Jefferson read over the PADD that had just been given to
him by his aide, Lieutenant Rj'sad. His eyes narrowed as he read
before he tossed it to the side and shook his head.
"Who, may I ask, approved sending a convoy loaded with critical
supplies to the Aeran system without a proper escort?" Jefferson
calmly, with his southern accent, asked even though he was clearly
angry.
"That would be ..." his aide looked over his own PADD. "... Captain
Dunsmore. Undra Dunsmore. Operations."
The elder admiral took a deep breath, doing the best to keep his
calm demeanor, before looking up at Rj'sad.
"Please inform Captain Dunsmore that I would like to see him in
my office and I wanted him here ten minutes ago," Jefferson
said.
"Yes, sir," Rj'sad replied as he turned and left the office.
As Jefferson waited for Dunsmore, he contacted Admiral Janeway
and informed her of the situation. He explained, with her approval,
that he would handle Dunsmore.
Several minutes later, Leland's door opened and Rj'sad entered,
followed by another man.
"Captain Dunsmore?" Jefferson asked.
"Yes, sir," the other man replied.
"Lieutenant, would you leave us please," Jefferson said as Rj'sad,
looking grateful, exited the office.
Jefferson stood and walked around to the side of his desk.
"What in the hell were you thinking?" Jefferson asked, remaining as
calm as possible.
"Sir?"
"Sending a defenseless convoy through an area of space near the
Romulan border. So, please explain to me, what in the hell were you
thinking?"
"I was informed by the UNITY's chief engineer that those materials
were needed right away. I didn't have any escort ships available, so
I ..."
Jefferson raised his right hand, interrupting the captain.
"We never ... ever send a convoy of any kind into an area of space
that close to the war zone without an armed escort. I don't care
how bad the UNITY chief engineer said that shipment was needed."
Jefferson walked up to Dunsmore and leaned into his left ear, "You
know better, captain."
Jefferson then walked behind the captain and to Dunsmore's right.
"More than two hundred people were killed. There were no survivors.
Eight cargo ships destroyed. And you, captain, are as much to blame
as the Romulans," Jefferson continued, his calmness becoming more
unsettling.
"Sir, I ..."
"Captain, I understand that mistakes happen. Bad decisions are made.
But this ..." Jefferson shook his head. "This is beyond unaccepable."
Jefferson walked back to his chair behind his desk, but remained
standing.
"I am relieving you of duties until a board on inquiry can hear you
case," Jefferson said. "I assure you, the best you could hope for is
a court marshal and a dishonable discharge. Your dismissed, captain."
Dunsmore cleared the lump out of his throat before he nodded and
turned to leave the office. As soon as the captain was gone, Leland
plopped into his chair and closed his eyes. He knew he would have
felt better if he had screamed and yelled at Dunsmore, but that was
not his way. He was not a screamer, even in the worst of situations.
Then a thought entered his head.
He had never been to Starbase UNITY. Perhaps a visit was in order.
If he could only clear his schedule sometime in the next few weeks.
Rear Admiral Leland Jefferson (npc by Rick)
Deupty Commanding Officer
Joint Defense Command
and
other npcs by Rick
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