[Showcase] Geoffrey Teller - The Cruel Lash of Nature

[Karrod Niac]

Mercifully alone after hours in sickbay, Geoffrey John Teller stood in his quarters and wept openly for the first time in his adult memory.   Wracking sobs shook his torso as he supported himself with one hand against the bulkhead, peering through tears at the indifferent stars beyond the viewport.  He’d maintained his composure through all the debriefings and the mandatory counseling sessions but now, in the safety of solitude, Geoff let the feelings he’d been tamping down pour out unfiltered.  Tears ran down his face and onto his uniform unchecked as the events replayed in his mind once again.  It started, as it always started...with the children.  

Their smiling, delighted faces.  Their giggles and laughter.  Their pure, innocent wonder.  Their screams of terror.  Geoff tried to shake the memory away but it would not be restrained anymore and he collapsed to his couch, hunched over with head in hands.  A renewed series of sobs made his entire body shudder.  

It was several minutes before he could compose himself, and even then he was far from settled.  His mourning had given way to a fierce anger every bit as unrestrained as his grief.  With a hoarse bark he called out to the computer, his mind growing dark with increasingly violent thoughts.  

“Give me all the atmospheric surveys conducted on Telstrus 3 prior to beam down, along with the names of every officer and crewman responsible for their research.  Someone is going to pay for this if it’s the last thing I do.”

The computer's polite request to have him restate his query led to a shattered display and four broken bones in Teller’s right hand, although he didn’t know that.  At the moment, the pain was strangely satisfying and helped focus his incoherent rage down to a fine, precise edge.  He dug into the research for almost two hours as his hand throbbed and discolored, subsisting on a diet of cold coffee and even colder rage, but he came away with his answer.  

“Lieutenant Kowalski, report to my quarters, now!”  

The comm successfully conveyed the acid in his words because moments later his door chime rang.  

“Get in here and stand at attention, Mister.”  Geoff’s tone was harsh, his quarters a mess and his own appearance far from uniform standard, but none of that mattered to him at the moment.  The sole thing on Geoff’s mind was justice but at this point he’d happily settle for a violent measure of revenge.

“Lieutenant Koawlski reporting as ordered.  Sir, may I speak freely?”  The tension in Koawlski’s voice was thick enough to land a shuttle on, but Geoff wasn’t in a mood to be compassionate.  

“No you damn well may not, Lieutenant.  And I thought I told you to stand at attention!”  Kowalski’s already rigid posture became ramrod straight, their unblinking eyes fixed on a far off point on the bulkhead.  Geoff finally turned his attention away from the console and stood, closing the distance to Koawlski until they were nose to nose.  Geoff’s eyes were frantic, red and bulging.  A passing medical officer could have checked his blood pressure from the hallway.   

“Lieutenant, I am going to ask you a series of questions and you are going to respond Yes Sir, Commander Sir or No Sir, Commander Sir.  Is that absolutely clear?”  Geoff’s tone made it clear what answer he expected.  

“Yes Sir, Commander Sir.”  To Koawlski’s credit, they weathered this volcano of rage without flinching.  

“Good.  Were you the planetary meteorological officer on duty when we arrived at Telstrus 3?” Geoff knew the answer but he needed to hear the man say it to his face.  To admit it was him and not some incomprehensible computer error.  

“Yes Sir, Commander Sir.”  Again, it was the answer Geoff had expected, and it did nothing to quell his anger.  

“Were you responsible for preparing the atmospheric survey the Captain used to judge the coordinates of our beam down?”

“Yes Sir, Commander Sir.”

“When the Captain asked you to prepare that survey, were his instructions in any way unclear or subject to misinterpretation?”

“No Sir, Commander Sir!”  

“Do you consider yourself competent at your duties, Lieutenant?”

“Yes Sir, Commander Sir!”  

“In that case, Lieutenant, perhaps you’d like to explain why the Thor’s first children's kite flying contest was such a massive disaster?!”

“Sir, I...the wind...it was supposed to be gentle...favorable...nothing in our models suggested hurricane force wind gusts!”

“Perhaps you’d like to explain that to seventy-three primary school children who just saw two months of their hard work turned into high altitude confetti while they suffered scrapes and boo-boos the likes of which I’ve never seen!”  

“Sir, I can’t...I...I’ll resign...or...or you can file charges...you can’t possibly….”

“Oh yes I damn well can, Lieutenant.  As of now, you are assigned to serve as a class mascot until such time as I feel you’ve learned an important lesson.”  

Kowalski’s voice went up several octaves in shock.  

“But Sir!.....”

“But nothing, Mister.  Now get into that Flotter costume and get down to Deck 12.  Those kids are getting blankies and juice boxes and they expect a visit from their new pal real soon....”  

Kowalski sputtered in incoherent shock but retreated in defeat, leaving Geoff alone again in his quarters.  He’d always loved the wind but after today...he’d never be able to think of it without remembering Telstrus 3.  

[Meidra Sirin]

I can’t stop laughing. When I do, I’ll tell you how brilliant this is. Well done, sir.