thor Capt Wes Greaves - Old Words, New Meanings

[Alieth]

@Wes Greaves

has a delightful style and wonderful prose in which he is able to slip in little personal details, leaving room for the scene to unfold around him, while at the same time he is able to mix touches of humour with a beautifully described serious scene.

And, for the record, after this mission Greaves-fly-in-the-wall is canon.

 

____________________________________

 

Capt Wes Greaves - Old Words, New Meanings

 

((Transporter Room 1, Deck 1, USS Thor))

 

Wes had expected to find the skipper on the bridge. As soon as the away team was back aboard he had high tailed it to the turbolift to debrief the man only to find the Captain's Chair manned by a Lieutenant JG and the ready room empty. With a frown and a query of the computer he discovered the Fleet Captain's true location. With Ensign Jehe in tow, they made their way to the transporter room to try and catch the man before he beamed down to the surface.

 

Fleet Captain Kells and Counselor Brodie were climbing the steps to the transporter pad as the double doors hissed open. Wes could see a strained, concentrated look on the skippers face as the pair turned to greet him and Saja.  

 

Kells: Captain, Ensign?

 

Greaves: Fleet Captain, I didn't expect you to be heading down so quickly. And… so absent any security element. I strongly suggest you consider taking Ensign Jehe with you, sir.

 

The Marine frowned. He hoped he wasn't being too direct, but beating around the bush would just waste the skipper's time. Their relationship had been purely professional, and they really only brushed against each other every so often. It was hard to get a read on the man living and working like that. In the moment, he vowed to try and get to know the man a little better next shore leave. Wes caught a frown cross Aron's face and worried a little at its origins.

 

Brodie / Jehe: Responses

 

Kells: Very well. Glad to have you with me, Ensign.

 

He tried to avoid any outward sign of relief, and instead folded his hands back behind him in a respectful and professional stance. In his mind's eye, Wes was the epitome of the professional Marine. Were he a fly on the wall, he'd be able to see himself looking suspiciously like his Vulcan friends he so often joked at.

 

Brodie / Jehe: Responses

 

Greaves: Perfect.

 

Kells: Any last pieces of advice, Captain?

 

Greaves: Just one thing. Don't underestimate Anroc. He's dangerous sir. I can feel it.  

 

Brodie / Jehe: Responses

 

Kells: Try your best to bring Commander Teller and his team back to the ship, and recall Commander Garcia as well. If anything should happen to us, get the Thor away and return to the Alpha Quadrant.

 

A frown crossed the Marine's face again, and Wes made an effort to replace it with one of his more reassuring smiles. The implications of the command were something he didn't want to consider. For a moment he didn't.

 

Greaves: Understood, but I'm sure it won't come to that.

 

Brodie / Jehe: Responses

 

Kells: Very well. Energize.

 

As the trio faded away the room became oddly quiet, just Wes and the transporter chief. A realization came over him. He and Sirok now had command of one of Starfleet's most advanced vessels. More specifically, he had been left in charge, and the Fleet Captain just gave him orders to run away if things went sideways. A memory flashed through his mind from the academy's command school. At the time he had found it strange, and even borderline inappropriate. Now, Wes understood the weight behind that lesson. He could almost hear his professor's voice…

 

 

((Flashback: 2394, Starfleet Academy, Command School, Classroom 2244B))

Professor: This classroom holds nearly 100 cadets, eager to lead within Starfleet.

 

The man paced slowly back and forth in front of the class; the lecture notes projected on the monitors forgotten for the moment. Cadet Greaves idly wondered where this was going. It hadn't been in the pre-class readings.

 

Professor: Of you, nearly all will likely sit on the bridge of a starship. At least half of you will, at some point, find yourself the ranking officer on the bridge. Maybe a third of you will be the ranking officer on an entire Starship at some point.

 

The bearded professor paused his pacing and looked across the classroom. He had an eerie way of seeming to look every single cadet in the eye, all at once.

 

Professor: All of you. Each and every one, will serve some self-sacrificing Captain who will, at some point, give an order to abandon them in the name of the greater good. Sometimes it’s the right call. Sometimes its not. No matter, they are the Captain, and they gave a lawful order. You have to follow it.

 

The man swept his gaze back across the class again, this time more slowly. The entire class seemed to lean in to hear what he had to say next.

 

Professor: There is more than one way to interpret an order. Just be sure as hell you're right about how you interpret it.

 

[End Scene for Greaves]