Unexpected twist

Posted on 04 Jan 2021 @ 5:36pm by Commander Indi Hawk

718 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Ab Intra
Location: Solaris Station

Without any warning, and through the otherwise silent office, a PADD suddenly came flying and landed against the wall next to the door. Only to land on a pile of PADDs that had obviously shared the same fate before.

"I hate paperwork.. I hate paperwork.. I HATE PAPERWORK!"

The petulant statement could come from any young officer or enlisted person, except for those going the Yeoman route of course. Except, in this case, it wasn't. It wasn't a young person. It wasn't a junior officer. Actually, it was a very senior officer. Senior enough to be the AoW's Liaison between the Terrans and the Andorians.

"These freaking blue monsters should stop making such a fuss!" she continued her rant, which was really only directed at her walls since she was alone in her office. Captain Indi Hawk was used to telling her stories to her walls. Her Yeoman had long given up on barging in in alarm whenever she shouted too loud or whenever she broke something (or someone, even though that rarely happened) in frustration.

She'd been stuffed in a far away office, far enough away to not bother people with her antics. She liked it just fine. She liked the image she had around the Union even better. The more everybody feared her, the better she liked it.

The day was about over though. She was about to be able to go home, to her wife. The thought alone immediately softened her rough edge and she sagged back in her chair. If she could only work through this final proposal and send it on for execution, she could go home. It was close to midnight, but that didn't mean she'd be home last. They both knew what would happen when you married a senior officer. In Indi's case, her wife was even more senior. She'd only just returned from a five week tour.. somewhere.. and she was looking forward to the reunion.

They'd make the time for each other, regardless of the hour by which they were both home. They'd open a bottle of wine, sink in the couch together, and just forget about everything for a while. Yes. She could do that. If only she could get through this last--

..this last proposal. Or so she'd thought. Just as she was about to close out her terminal for the day, another message came in. Seeing the sender, she pulled a face. Nobody could see it, and even if they could, she wouldn't care. That sender never meant anything good. Reluctantly, she opened it to read.

--

Attn: Captain Indi Hawk
Incoming... Orders for Immediate Transfer

Captain,

By now, you will have heard about the "ship out of time" that we have traversing our space: the USS Odin. We do not have the resources nor desire to keep the ship locked down, but they seem to have developed a knack for stumbling onto situations more interesting than we would prefer. As such, you are receiving this transfer order for a temporary station aboard this ship as it's chief of security. Temporary rank suspension from captain to commander shall follow for the duration of this assignment, with rank reassignment upon completion.

Keep things from getting too interesting, Captain Hawk.

From: General Sadie Stanton. Commander, Solaris Sector.

--

By the time she was done reading, Indi sat stunned. And silent, which was quite unusual. And speechless, which was even more so.

Reassignment?
Demotion?

What the fuck?!

A moment later, she'd reopened her messages and started typing a reply. Only to delete it a second later. Too unprofessional.

Reaching out to call the Commander's Yeoman, she once again hesitated. Also too unprofessional.

Why had she grown so much over the years?! In her young days, she would've stormed the Commander's office and demanded the orders to be rescinded. And now, she found herself just sitting there, deflated, angry, and in disbelief.

How was she going to bring this message at home??

Home.

Yes.

Home sounded like a good idea.

Resignedly, she transferred a copy of the message to her personal padd so she could let her wife read for herself because she wouldn't believe her anyway. With the transfer done, she got up out of her chair and made her way to her loved one.

 

RSS Feed