Typhon Pact #3: Rough Beasts of Empire by David R. George III

Author:David R. George III
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gallery
Published: 2010-12-28T00:00:00+00:00

20

Captain Benjamin Sisko sat behind the desk in his ready room, his gaze directed to the personnel file displayed on his computer interface. He read through the record, which began with Lieutenant Sivadeki’s time at Starfleet Academy and continued through her postings aboard Starbase Icarus, U.S.S. T’Plana-Hath, and U.S.S. Fortitude, as well as her two years serving aboard Robinson. As he consumed the details of her life in Starfleet, a hand reached in and tapped at the screen.

“She’s been awarded a Ribbon for Meritorious Service,” said Commander Rogeiro in his lyrical accent. “Consistently high marks for performance at the conn. She’s—”

“Commander,” Sisko said, perhaps a little too sharply. He knew that he’d been a bit hard on his senior staff during his seven months commanding Robinson, but he also understood his reasons for doing so. Sitting back in his chair, he turned slowly toward the ship’s first officer, forcing the younger man to take a step back. Rogeiro stood about the same height as Sisko, with an olive complexion, wavy brown hair, and dark eyes. “Commander, I’ve taken your recommendation under advisement. I will finish reviewing Lieutenant Sivadeki’s record and make my determination.”

“I know, sir,” Rogeiro said. “Pardon my enthusiasm, but it’s just that Sivadeki’s gone far longer than she should have without a promotion in rank.”

“Maybe there’s a reason for that,” Sisko said.

“There is, but it’s not a good reason,” Rogeiro said. “Since I’m relatively new to the ship, and since the time that this should have come up for review more or less coincided with the ship’s transition in executive officers, I mistakenly overlooked it.” Rogeiro had been assigned to Robinson at the same time that Sisko had taken command. Before that, Rogeiro had served as Vaughn’s first officer aboard James T. Kirk, surviving their encounter with the Borg at Alonis.

The mere thought of all those lives lost to the Borg and, closer to home, the effective loss of Elias Vaughn, tore at Sisko’s spirit. He regarded Rogeiro and, knowing what he had been through, suddenly felt sympathetic toward him. Motioning to the sofa off to the left, Sisko said, “If you’ll have a seat for a few minutes, Commander, I’ll give you my answer.”

“Aye, sir,” Rogeiro said, with a smile that immediately made Sisko regret his offer. He turned away from the commander, who quickly and quietly crossed in front of the desk and sat down on the sofa.

Sisko returned his attention to his computer interface, where he resumed evaluating the appropriateness of promoting Lieutenant Sivadeki. The Tyrellian conn officer had an unblemished, if unspectacular, record. Several accomplishments did stand out, though, including several instances where her starship had encountered conditions considered virtually impossible to navigate, and yet she had somehow managed to do so.

After about ten minutes, Sisko reached the same con clusion that Commander Rogeiro had—namely that, given the steadiness and length of Sivadeki’s Starfleet service, she warranted an increase in rank. Sisko made that notation in her file, then said, “Commander.” Rogeiro immediately rose from the sofa and stood at attention before the desk.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.