Punishment Time?

Posted on Mon Aug 31st, 2015 @ 3:52pm by Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Commander Horatio Hawke & Lieutenant Commander Ciaran McIntyre & Lieutenant Commander Jean Reynard & Lieutenant Ryan North

Episode: Lost Property
Location: USS Highlander - Bridge
Timeline: MD01 0930hrs

"OK, so you all know the plan?" Tim asked, looking around at the officers on the bridge. It was alpha shift, but he had made sure to give Mac some work to do elsewhere to get him off the bridge for a while as he talked to the others. He'd just finished telling them what they needed to do once the security chief walked back onto the bridge, and looked around their faces as they nodded their acknowledgements. "Good. Lieutenant McIntyre, report to the bridge," he said, tapping the control on the side of his chair and speaking sternly.

Ciaran McIntyre was at the point of just detonating the torpedoes that the captain had asked him to supervise the inventory of. This is typical. Easy-going up to a point. He thought to himself as he reflected on his punishment for his hangover.

The torpedo storage bay was hot, and the sweat beaded on his brow, threatening to blind him as it rolled down his forehead. When the call to return to the bridge came through, he was out of there so fast that his PADD seemed to hang in the air.

As Mac stepped out of the turbolift and onto the bridge, Tim and Hawke both stood, and turned to face him, stern looks on their faces. As they had been instructed, the rest of the crew either avoided eye contact, or offered up looks ranging from dismay to disappointment.

"Lieutenant McIntyre," Tim started, carrying on his tone from before. "I received some very disturbing information about you just now," he said, waving the PADD he held in his hand to emphasise the point. "Do you have anything to say for yourself before I read this?"

If there was one thing that Ryan was learning, it was that the command structure on the Highlander was certainly a lot...more relaxed than it had been on the Omaha. Not that it was a bad thing or anything his few days aboard had him realizing that there were plenty of benefits to both.

Jean, for his part, tried to keep a neutral expression. It wasn't that hard, since he wasn't entirely sure how to take this little scene. There was a fine line between fun prank and vicious bullying, especially from a commanding officer. He was pretty sure this was meant to be the former, but without seeing how the more experienced crew reacted he couldn't be completely positive. Either way he could learn a lot from how they reacted.

Standing beside the captain, his hands clasped firmly behind his back and his jaw set firmly, Hawke stared at his friend with a severe expression; the same one he used against the junior officers who had committed some lapse in discipline.

Mac knew it. It wasn't the bloody hangover at all - a hangover which had now mostly subsided it had to be said - it was those tests. He glanced at Hawke whose eyes burned into him. Christ. You're up a creek without a paddle now, son. He told himself as he realised that everyone else on the bridge was looking at him. The captain was going to take him apart in front of the new-starts. Great. "Nothing, Sir."

"Firstly, in a simulation designed to test to see if you are fit for a command position aboard this ship, you impersonated a primitive race's god, influencing the actions of the locals despite the Prime Directive."

"Sir, I-" McIntyre began to defend himself but, in point of fact, that was exactly what he had done.

"Second, you threatened to lock a Federation Ambassador - simulation or not - in the brig merely because he was irritating you. And third, you disregarded the engineering systems on the ship and skipped through the point of the engineering test, attempting to get a pass by cheating and beaming a biological organism into an airlock." Tim paused as he looked up from the PADD, before tossing it onto his chair. "You know that there is only one thing that I can do to an officer who has displayed such blatant disrespect for protocols and persons of Starfleet." He picked up a small case from beside his chair and tossed - almost threw - it at the Lieutenant.

Mac let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. It was all true. He'd really screwed up and this was Williams' ship: if he wanted to give him his fail mark publicly before throwing a reprimand at him, then that was his choice. It didn't look good to start blubbing about it in front of everyone.

Tim couldn't help but break into a smile as Mac opened the case to reveal the rank pip inside. "The only thing I can do is promote him, of course. Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander!"

Ryan had to stifle a laugh, mostly because he was sure getting promoted was the last thing he Mac expected. Then again, he had been promoted after he blew out the entire shield grid of a Nebula class starship...

The steely countenance of the first officer shattered into a wide smile that beamed pride in his friend's achievement. He immediately echoed the captain's sentiment, "Well done, Mac."

Lieutenant Commander - yep, that box had a hollow pip in it after all - Ciaran McIntyre stood in silent dismay, eyeing the captain and his first officer. If they hadn't been his superior officers on the bridge of a starship he'd have lamped them both, the tricky gits. He eventually tried to muster up a passable response. "Thank you, sir," was the best he could manage.

Tim chuckled openly. "I have a feeling that we're going to be regretting this at some point later, aren't we? Go on, stick that pip on and man your post. I think the torpedo techs have seen enough of you for one day already."

Sure that his face was now a hideous shade of crimson, McIntyre turned toward his little alcove at the rear of the bridge. "Aye, sir."

Tim grinned at that, before returning to his seat, moving the PADD out of the way as he did so. "Helm; plot in the next set of coordinates for our patrol route today, and engage when ready."