=Joint Defense Command=
=San Francisco, Earth=
Moments after Captain Rodgers walked out of Leland's office,
Jefferson's aide, Lieutenant Mandolin's voice could be heard
over the admiral's intraoffice comm. system
"Admiral Jefferson, we have an open, secure line to
Commodore Guzman's office on Starbase UNITY."
"Very good. I'll take it from here."
"Aye, sir," the lieutenant replied.
Jefferson patiently awaited for Shane's image to appear on
his computer screen.
Getting a call from JDC Command on Earth, Shane expected yet
another meeting to be held. It was nice that he had not to
travel to Earth every time a meeting was held, taking part
via a secure video channel was a great thing, but to be
honest, sometimes Shane was really tired of all those
meeting stuff. It almost looked like that the high admirals
on Earth had far too much free time and little real work …
But this time Shane was surprised to see only Admiral
Jefferson on the other end of the screen.
He was still waiting for any news from Terek about the
kidnapper's ship or for a message from the kidnapper (or
Tal'shiar) telling him conditions of return of Rangi and
Martin. He did his best to hide his own fears and hoped
Jefferson will not notice.
"Commodore Guzman, it's good to see you again," Jefferson
said, leaning a bit forward.
"Admiral Jefferson" Shane replied, "the pleasure is
mine. I thought there is a command meeting to attend, but
obviously I am wrong. What can I do for you, sir?"
"I'll get to the point," the admiral said. "I know that it
has been quite sometime since Colonel PontBrillant was
pulled from his duties as your XO, but I've finally found a
replacement. Someone to take some of the pressure off your
shoulders."
Taken by surprise, Shane only nodded: "It's true that
the Colonel is dearly missed here, his experience and
abilities were of great help to me and the Task Force. A
replacement would do very well, whom do you have in mind,
sir?"
"I believe you're familiar with him. Captain Trent
Rodgers. His brother serves as an engineer under your
command."
Shane nodded again. "Aye, we met a few times with the
Captain. He was head of federation council security before
the war and then a ship's CO serving in this sector. But I
believe his ship was destroyed or badly damaged …"
"Destroyed about a month or so ago," the admiral said. "More
than half of the crew survived. Anyhow, what do you think
about him, Commodore?"
"To be honest, sir, I don't know Captain Rodgers well
enough to judge his abilities or experience. I don't want
to say that I do not trust your judgment here, but unless I
am mistaken, Captain Rodgers isn't enlisted in Special
Forces, is he?"
"Not officially, but he does have an impressive security and
tactical background. He's been in a few covert ops in the
past, so he should be able to fit in well in the SSF."
"I think very high about the Captain's brother –
Commander Rick Rodgers, he's an excellent officer and I
know him since both of us served on the Chimera under
General Bretam's command. He's very fond of his brother
and your trust in him ensures Captain Rodger's value, but
I would really prefer to choose an XO by myself"
'The captain doesn't want the job and the commodore doesn't
seem to want him,' the admiral thought as he smiled.
"I understand, and under normal circumstances, I'd be OK
with that. But you've been without an XO for a few weeks now
and have made no inroads in a replacement. Your task force
is critical to our war efforts and having such a key vacancy
on your staff is ..." Leland's smile disappeared.
"...unacceptable. Now, if you have an XO in mind, then by
all means, I'll fill out the proper paperwork and make it
happen. Do you have an XO in mind, Commodore?"
There was no other way then to say the truth: "No, I have
not, sir. It's hard to find a suitable replacement
now-a-days. Even harder when every other week some of my
senior staff is transferred out of the UNITY"
"Then be expecting Captain Rodgers and myself in a couple of
days," Leland said.
Shane raised an eyebrow … in a fashion learned from
Lieutenant Oriana long years ago. "Expecting you as well,
Admiral?"
"I'm making a long overdue visit to UNITY, Commodore,"
Leland said.
Shane sighed in his mind. With all the troubles of late and
failing security on UNITY, the last thing he needed was
JDC's second in command roaming his station. "Of course,
sir" he said after the slightest of a pause, "I look
forward to welcome you on the UNITY."
"I'll see you in two days. Jefferson out."
As the channel closed, Shane leaned back in his arm chair
with a heavy sigh. {Why did I deserve this?} he asked
himself. But no matter the reasons, Shane had to fill some
of the empty seats in his staff very soon. He tapped his
console and started reviewing personal files.
====== End of log ======
Commodore Shane Guzman
CO, 1st TF, SSF Command
CO, SB 234: UNITY
&
Rear Admiral Leland Jefferson (npc by Rick)
Deputy Commanding Officer
Joint Defense Command
