PNPC LTJG Dukul Nibar — Cards on the Table

[Kali Nicholotti]

((Captain’s Ready Room, Deck 1, USS Arrow,)) 

Nibar: ::nodding:: On that PADD is a formal request from Starfleet for your consent to accept assignment of one Ensign Imogen Lacy onto your roster. She also goes by “Ginny.” As a matter of procedure and law, sir, you’re well within your rights to reject this request, and Starfleet would be likely to honor your refusal.

Cayden’s eyes settled on the captain. Dukul’s eyes did the same.

Adyr: I suppose Command has reason to believe that there are redeeming factors involved.

Nibar took it as a question, which was, to his mind, an opportunity. The Captain seemed less likely to say “No” than have a stroke.

Shayne: Are they high?

There was no way Dukul was touching that one.

Nibar: She's ranked fourth in her Academy class. Her aptitude tests make her an ideal command track officer, and perfectly suitable for any department.

Adyr: When are they wanting to onboard her?

Nibar: She's currently completing a multidiscipline rotation on DS33. You've got twenty-four hours to respond from the time I file my report of this meeting. I can drag my feet on that. So… call it thirty-six hours.

Shayne: Are they drunk? 

Adyr: Seems a bit last minute.

Shayne: Are they out of their skulls? 

There was only so long a Lieutenant Junior Grade could ignore the protestations of a Captain. A little bit longer when the Captain in question wasn't in the Lieutenant's direct chain of command, but always a limit in any event. Dukul sympathized with the man, but the sympathy didn't change anything for either of them.

Nibar: Starfleet's official position is that the Libris catastrophe was a failure of judgment at every level. And given the number of officers—Captains included—required to get it as far and as wrong as it went, it's hard to place the blame on cadets. And, of course, Admiralty rarely blames itself. ::beat:: Unofficially, they want to sweep it under the rug, and drumming a wunderkind out of the ranks after everything else that's happened would raise too many questions.

Adyr: Response 

Dukul nodded to the Commander, and searched the Captain's eyes as the man processed everything said so far. He'd given the Shayne a day and a half, but on ships like the Arrow it was Lieutenant Nibar’s experience that the men and women who occupied the “big chair” weren't often given to prolonged philosophical musings. That sort of thing was reserved for the Enterprises and the Sovereigns—flying cities with room for long pensive strolls, not a vicious little destroyer like this.

Shayne: Can you tell us why Starfleet wants to assign her to Arrow? I can’t think of a greater conflict of interest. 

Nibar: No, sir. They haven't given me that information, just that it was “determined” to be in the best interests of the fleet.

Adyr/Shayne: Response

Dukul grimaced and nodded.

Nibar: Best guess, it's a promise. They want to sweep things under a rug, but if they can't manage that, they'll need a scapegoat from this ship. Two, actually.

Shayne/Adyr: Response

Nibar: Dewitt is the second. There's a colorable, if not totally compelling, charge of Sabotage they'll lean into.

Shayne/Adyr: Response

Cardassians weren't known for getting flustered, and Dukul was no exception. But he was known for being forthright, both relative to his species and his profession. And this JAG officer wasn't about to shy away from an uncomfortable truth, especially when it already came with considerable ethical questions.

Nibar: That... would be me, sirs. I was assigned to report on theories for criminal culpability, based on the facts as I had them. ::beat:: I also strongly urged Starfleet to leave the matter be. I felt the case would be a challenge to prove, with minimal deterrent effect even if it were successful.

Shayne/Adyr: Response

TAGS/TBC

———

Lieutenant Junior Grade Dukul Nibar

JAG Officer

Deep Space Thirty-Three

as simmed by 

Lieutenant Junior Grade Nolen Hobart

Engineering Officer

USS Arrow (NCC-69829)

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