Loss and levity.

[larkin]

Larkin followed Mishtak into the Ready Room just moments later. HE said nothing, not at first. Moments passed by. Finally Larkin spoke.

"Mishtak, this is difficult to accept, trust me. I know. We have to believe in them now, because I don't think there dead. They will focus on staying a live and we can focus on getting them on board safely." Larkin gave him a friendly slug on the shoulder.

"Remember that Comment I made not to long ago in this very room about you being Captain? Well, your acting Captain now. Time to lead my angry, brooding friend. And I'll be right beside you. You will do fine and we WILL GET THEM BACK. Come rain, come hail, no one shall be left behind. And with you at the helm I never believed that so completely until now. Talk to me here Mishtak, I am not Suroc, like you I feel. Heh heh." Larkin chuckled trying to ease the tension that he is sure Mishtak is feeling.

[Mishtak]

When Mishtak had entered the ready room it was with the intention to collect his thoughts. His Klingon blood said to continue with the mission, leaving the away team behind as empty shells. Unfortunately that decision was impossible to make because he had no proof that they were actually dead and so he vetoed that option right away. He had learned a lot from humans about a different type of honor, the honor of ancient earth soldiers who's motto was 'no man left behind', and he liked it. He sat in the chair behind the desk but couldn't quite get comfortable, so he moved to a different chair where he also found unrest. He eventually took to standing in front of the view port and staring down at the planet they were orbiting, the stellar object that might be responsible for the demise of some of his closest friends. it was no longer a planet in his mind, it had become an enemy...

Larkin entered the room about that time. He seemed to just hover and watch for what seemed like minutes, finally Mishtak turned to face him.

"Mishtak, this is difficult to accept, trust me. I know. We have to believe in them now, because I don't think there dead. They will focus on staying a live and we can focus on getting them on board safely."

Larkin gave him a friendly slug on the shoulder.

"Remember that Comment I made not to long ago in this very room about you being Captain? Well, your acting Captain now. Time to lead my angry, brooding friend. And I'll be right beside you. You will do fine and we WILL GET THEM BACK. Come rain, come hail, no one shall be left behind. And with you at the helm I never believed that so completely until now. Talk to me here Mishtak, I am not Suroc, like you I feel. Heh heh."

It was good to know his first officer had faith in his command ability, he too had faith in himself but he had already made one poor decision and it had injured one of the members of the crew. He could not let that happen again...

Finally Mishtak decided to speak on the matter.

"I could have gotten us all killed, had everyone rushed to boost the sensor's power I could have been responsible for the destruction of this entire ship."

It was a very sobering thought indeed.

"We need to find a way to get safely to the surface and see for ourselves what has happened to them. I'm hoping that at the end of these two hours we will have some viable options from the current department heads."

It was then that he realized he wasn't sure who was running the science department or astrometrics, he knew there were some civilian scientists on board that might be able to help out. He tapped his combadge...

"Mishtak to T'eyla and T'pyla please report to Astrometrics and assist our science department."

That should take care of any openings in that department for now...

Turning to face Larking Mishtak's mood brightened up a little

"Thank you Number One..."

Felt a little weird to say that out loud...

"...you attempt to lighten the mood has been noted, but we have bigger concerns to worry about right now then whether or not I'm going to growl out my next orders. We need a plan..."

He moved back behind the desk and turned on the computer terminal on the desk as he sat int he chair behind it, he motioned for Larkin to sit as well.

"...even if we get an increase in sensor range we still have no idea what it is we are dealing with, whether it was a natural phenomenon or they were attacked, seeing as we cannot read life signs through the atmosphere it is entirely possible that an attack could have happened. Astrometrics was performing detailed scans of the planet before we lost the shuttle, we just need to be patient and wait for the reports to come in..."

as if that were going to be easy at the moment...

"...the last thing we need to do is show the crew that we have a good working command structure and are all on the same page..."

He produced several pips from a drawer in the desk and handed a solid one to Larkin, he also took two solid ones for himself.

"When we leave this room again I will in fact be the captain and you a commander and XO, we need the crew to see us as such in order for them to cope in the event that we cannot retrieve the away team."

He clipped the pips on his collar and waited for Larkin to do the same...




TAG: Larkin

[Xena]

//"Xena to Mishtak, report to the bridge. We're under attack."//

[Mishtak]

//"Xena to Mishtak, report to the bridge. We're under attack."//

Great, just what they needed...

"Larkin, I want you in the first officer's seat when we go back out there..."

He did not wait for an answer of any kind, as he was done speaking he was already halfway out the door...



END Mishtak - Move back to bridge

[larkin]

"Larkin, I want you in the first officer's seat when we go back out there..."

"Aye sir I understand." larkin said going out right behind Mistak.

Tag: Move back to bridge