Confession

Posted on 18 Sep 2015 @ 7:59am by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Commander Norvi Stace & Jynn

1,981 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 09 - Empires
Location: USS Galileo; Deck 1; Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD04 1615

ON:

No more dancing. No more flight. No more meeting myriad people. Just cuffs and chains. The gallows. Jynn was done for. Or at least his career was. Maybe both. As he stood in front of the captain's ready room he felt as though the door in front of him would have been better where it an airlock. It'd certainly be less painful.

He had asked captain Holliday if they could talk in private. “I would like to file a report,” he had stated to him, but the meek and somber tone of his voice had implied so much more. When the captain had stepped into the room Jynn had froze at the door as it closed in front of him.

Holliday on the other hand was his usual stoic self. Having helped himself to raktajino from the replicator, he has taken up residence behind his desk, waiting for this supposed report that one of his officers wished to file.

With a slow raise of his arm Jynn was about to touch the door with his hand, feeling it with attention to its every detail as though it would be the last door he would ever see, but instead it recoiled from him, opening swiftly to display what felt like the last man he would ever see. Did he have a phaser under his desk? Was there an emergency escape hatch to be thrown from? He slowly stepped into the confession booth. Or was it a funeral home, going in to make his own arrangements? A second later and the door closed, sealing in an eerily quiet room with two polar opposites mere steps away from one another.

"Enter." Came the captain's emotionless voice, as the doors split open he could clearly be seen perched in his chair, arms folded, coffee steaming in front of him, and all the time in the universe to wait.

Jynn slowly walked over to the captain's desk. Sit or stand? He sat down in the chair across from the desk, bringing himself eye to eye with his superior. There was a few moments of silence as a thousand thoughts of varying importance shot through his head at once. Why was the captain always drinking coffee, no matter the hour or occasion? That one was thrown out. When were they ever going to get home? He thought no one at the moment knew that answer. Thrown out. The errant and distracting thoughts where whittled away fast until only a few remained. No more distractions. Am I done for? How do I tell him? Both very important thoughts, but he had to get there, first. Chief amongst his thoughts was how to even begin talking to the captain. What would he say first? How do I break the ice? Was there any possible way to ease into the conversation? How's the coffee? How's your day? That uniform looks good on you.

“I broke my oath, sir."

Holliday took a sip of his coffee, somewhat unphased by the announcement made in front of him. Putting down the cup he looked up to his officer and tilted his head.

"Oath? What oath would that be Lieutenant?"

Was the captain serious? What, could it have been Jynn's oath of cleanliness that he broke? His oath of enlistment? His thoughts started to multiply again, straying away from the subject at hand as his mind attempted to escape fate. Stop, he thought with a visible wince. He took his eyes off of the captain's, staring down at the desk before him, seeing his own judging eyes in the curiously reflective desk. “My oath of celibacy, sir.” He then anticipated the captain's next question to assure he understood just what he meant. "With a human, sir."

The captain said very little. Instead he reached into a drawer beside his desk and withdrew a PADD, tapping in several commands as he remained perfectly silent.

"You realise the seriousness of what you are telling me? That you have broken a fundamental law not of only Starfleet but of your own creed also?"

And now the atonement begins, Jynn. Stand up; Turn around; Run! Tell him it was all a joke. 'Just joking, boss. You know me, boss!' 'Objection!' The trial had already begun, or at least it felt so to Jynn. No more running. The thought of doing so was impossible now, anyway. “Yes, sir,” he replied meekly, staring into the defeated eyes still reflecting back at him.

"And you realise my course of action is extremely limited in these matters?" Holliday added, already searching for any other options that might have existed in the Starfleet database regarding Deltans serving aboard starships.

"Your position not only aboard this vessel, but in Starfleet as a whole is very much at risk."

Tears began to well up in Jynn's eyes. How common of an occurrence it was becoming. It felt like his soul was being pressed to death. Each word the captain spoke a stone set upon the board. The weight already felt like too much to bear, but he knew it was only the beginning. He looked up from his own damned eyes, moving his view to the captain.

“I know, sir. And I don't want that. What I want more than anything else is to continue my service to Starfleet. I already owe it so much for what I have been shown in my short career. You can't discharge me. You can't send me home. To be shunned by my own people. Interred on a world where no one will love me. I'd as soon step out the closest airlock...”

"Perhaps something you should have thought of before breaking your oath Lieutenant." Holliday replied in his usual uncaring tone. He was simply unable to comprehend that someone would break their oath to anything - for him it was no different than him breaking his dedication to Starfleet and going to work for the Romulans.

"I'm relieving you of duty pending an investigation. I will have Commander Stace lead. You are to report to your quarters and remain there - is that understood?"

"Y-, you can't do that, sir. I have teams to assemble. Missions to run. I have a ship to take care of. You can't confine me to my quarters. Not now. We don't know where we are and the ship is in dire need of any help it can get. To put the duties of myself upon an already overworked individual can only lead to problems. I need to stay." There was evident urgency in his voice. Borderline panic. Locked away during a crisis? There was no way he would not at least voice his objection. "Can't I just continue my duties pending investigation, sir?"

"I can do whatever I feel is necessary Lieutenant" Holliday replied with a glare, focusing intently on the last word of his sentence as he reeled from the audacity of a junior officer trying to tell him what he should do aboard his own ship.

"You need to report to your quarters and await Commander Stace, otherwise I will be having security escort you to the Brig - a far less pleasant location I can assure you. If you were so worried about avoiding problems, perhaps you should have taken your oath a little more seriously. You are dismissed."

Jynn stood up without another word spoken. He knew there was nothing else he could say. Since he admitted what he had done there was probably nothing else that needed to be said, but at least he had attempted to make a case, however feebly he had done so. Without so much as a nod of acknowledgement or an affirmative he left the ready room to go to his quarters. He'd just have to get used to the solitude.

Sighing as the doors closed behind him, Holliday slapped his commbadge, resigning himself to the fact that he had just caused extra work for his XO.

=^=Holliday to Stace.....report to my Ready Room. On the double. =^=

Stace automatically looked from the command chair to the captain's ready room doors as they closed behind Jynn as he was heading to the turbolift. She knitted her brow in a curious, thoughtful furrow as she ran through the possible reasons why the captain would call to see her and with such an expression of haste. She clicked her combadge back and indicated her proximity as she stood, looked to Min and informed her that she would now have the bridge.

Stace made the casual stride over to the ready room as the doors breathed open and she stepped in. "Captain?" she questioned with a cocked head. "Is everything all right?"

"No Commander it is not." Holliday replied, bringing a hand up to rub his temple as he tried to organise the thoughts in his mind.

"Lieutenant Jynn has been confined to quarters pending an investigation I would like you to lead. He has confessed to breaking with his oath as a Deltan and engaging in unsanctioned activities with other members of the crew. Needless to say, I am not impressed."

Stace simply closed her eyes for a second in disappointment as she too tried to process what she'd been told. "Well, I've got to give Doctor Mott credit for bringing at least his suspicions to me about this," Stace confessed, shaking her head. "I was going to come to you about this myself once all of the repairs were out of the way," she then clarified. "But our bumbling assistant chief medical officer approached me yesterday about the ship's sexual activity in general, but personally singled Lieutenant Jynn out for his suggestive and wandering looks. It wasn't really the right time to act of circumstantial evidence, especially from Mott. But now I suppose we have no choice."

Stace paused a moment and then took in a deep sigh, shaking her head further. "I had a Deltan serve on the Gilmore for me when I was captain. But I never once doubted their commitment to their oath. She was so disciplined in every aspect of her life that I actually marveled at her dedication." Stace then nodded her head in agreement for the investigation. Changing the topic of conversation, the Trill brought her attention back to the current day.

"Who was the crewmember Jynn broke his oath with, Captain?"

"I will leave that question in your capable hands Commander. If a Deltan breaks their oath that easily, we may find we have more than one. I suggest questioning the Lieutenant as you see fit. I want a report on my desk as soon as feasible.....so I can decide how to proceed."

John knew his options were limited, in fact there was virtually only one course of action he could go down, but until his XO had done her duty and he had been given time to examine the facts, there was little he could do without appearing impulsive.

"More than one?" Stace parroted with a dejected look and a tilt of her head. "I'll retire to what's left of my own office, do a bit more research through the ship's database about this and then call Jynn to an official meeting." She stood and then widened her eyes at her captain. "I've left Min on the bridge, so just you know. But I'll stop by sickbay on the way to my office. I'll need to liaise with our counselling department once this breaks. There may be some intervention needed for the sake of the non-Deltans embroiled in this."

[OFF]

CAPT Jonathan Holliday
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

Commander Norvi Stace
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Jynn
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Galileo

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