"A Heart to Heart and a Surprise"

Posted on Mon Jun 19th, 2023 @ 2:30pm by Captain Jordan Warren & Commander Kathryn "Kat" Mercer

Mission: Klingon Troubles Part 1
Location: Ready Room

Kat rang the bell to the ready room, knowing that Jordan will be furious at him, but he has to get the record straight, she had no intent of hurting his feelings at all.

"Enter" Jordan said, in his usual manner, As he saw Kat Walking in he looked at Kat and then continued to look through his records, while trying to avoid Kat's Graze. "Yes, Commander Mercer How May I Help, please do come in" He did said it in a warm manner, though he was trying to maintain his anger from bursting out.

Kat sensed Jordan's Anger but she stepped inside far enough for the doors to close. When they did, she spoke. "I'm sorry," she began, sincerity in her tones and manner. "I didn't mean to hurt or insult you with the way I asked that." Her words were coming in a sort of rush now, tumbling over one another before she could stop them. "i mean, you totally deserve the promotion, and I'm pleased that Starfleet sees that too. I was just surprised because they normally don't do field promotions unless the situation is really dire, and..." Here, she paused and lowered her head just a tiny bit. "I was... trying to keep my professional demeanor on the bridge." She looked back up at him then. "I'm... I'm sorry."

Jordan looked up at Kat, his eyes full of tears "Sorry?" He said, his voice wavering, between sadness and anger "Do you think that those 4 words will return the dignity you stole from me at the bridge? Do you think that those four words will ever make up for the humiliation you gave me in front of the whole bridge crew? Is this the behavior I expect from my New First officer?"

At first, Kat stood frozen, her expression shifting between several things before settling on stunned confusion. The first thing that went through her mind was related to the first things he had said. Humiliation? Lost dignity? When had she done that? And had she not just explained why she'd phrased her question the way she had? She had, in that second he'd accused her of that, wanted to respond, to defend herself.

But his last sentence caught her before any words could come out of her mouth and stunned her. Confusion returned, but this time, it was because she didn't understand why he would select her if she had indeed done what he'd said she'd done. Thus, her expression was stunned confusion for a moment before she mustered her wits to speak again.

"As I said, Sir, that was not my intention at all. And no, I will not make that mistake twice." She paused, really wishing she could make it up to him. "And I'm honored that you'd select me as your First Officer." It was all true, and that shone in her eyes and resonated in her voice.

Jordan smiled, nodding her to sit down. "Well, then Congratulations, Commander Mercer", Handing her a box. "I hope you serve your new position with honour, as I am mine" He paused and waited for Kat to digest what had happened before he continued "Good that you are here since I have something important to discuss, Kat"

Kat took the box and sat down as he indicated. Her mind was whirling. He switched moods so fast; was this normal for him? Did it even matter right then? "Thank you," she almost said 'sir' but noted the familiarity that he was using by calling her Kat and reciprocated. "Thank you, Jordan. What is it you need to discuss with me?"

Jordan turned his console and showed Kat all the information she needed to know about the mission, which he had learned from Admiral Haywood. "I hope you understand the nature of this mission, Its not the type I usually like, but since starfleet command has made us a covert ops ship...Well. Back to the trenches it is" he said. you could see that Jordan was bitter about his previous boss and her hiding cititical information from him. "Also, I need names for your replacement at the Ops station and we need a new Chief of security. Since Kerr seems to have refused to join. What do you think about Lt. Adrian as Chief of Security?"

Kat read the information on the screen and frowned. Covert Ops? Weren't those guys usually specially trained? This crew was regular fleet. Damn, but this could get ugly really quickly! She did see the look in his eyes and knew what it meant. She appreciated that he was not keeping critical information from her as Shaw had obviously done to him. How could a First Officer do their job without all the pieces, after all? They couldn't. So she was very grateful.

As to his questions, she thought about it. "I can go over my department and give you a name by the end of shift if that's okay? And as to Security..." She felt a bit guilty about that. She had fully intended to check on their new arrival and had totally cocked that up. She sighed softly. "It's too bad that he didn't stay, but yes, I think Adrian would fit nicely. He seems to be on top of his game whenever I've seen him. And..." she tilted her head slightly, her eyelids going to half-mast as she accessed the database, then opened fully once more, "he has a good record."

Jordan Nods. "Very Well, I shall inform him about his new post. Thank you Number one." Dismissing his XO while starting to prepare his mission.