Another Day, Another Order

Posted on Fri Aug 4, 2017 @ 9:30pm by Captain Madelina Weisz & Lieutenant JG Jacob Hartley

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Various
Timeline: MD 28 || 1400 Hours

Standing in front of the punching bag, Jacob launched one attack after another on it. Each time he struck it, he felt the firmness of it beneath his fist, and yet he also blocked out the feeling at the same time. After all, for him, blocking out feelings let him do his job better, didn't it? Or was there something else that he was trying to block out? He had found out that Holly, his friend, had been assigned to the ship only for her transfer to be a mistake, so she had been sent somewhere else.

It was probably for the best, because if he let anyone get close...Well, that never ended well. Wasn't it better to consider himself alone? He struck the bag again with such anger that it finally gave way, and split. How long had he been striking it in the same place? It was meant to take a lot of damage, but at the same time, he had been very precise with the strikes, attacking the same spot with perfect precision.

Maddy powered down the interactive screen on her desk and rose to her feet, adjusting her uniform as she stood. This was rather troubling, but sadly, wasn't her issue to deal with. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't help in some way if she was able to, but that would only happen if it didn't interfere with their current mission. Time would tell. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Jacob Hartley."

"Lieutenant Hartley is in Holodeck 1." Came the reply.

At the same time as the question was asked, Jacob had put up a new punching bag. He preferred the holodeck for a workout session, so he could set himself new challenges. He had started in the gym, but his preferred workout routine would include challenging all of his skills. He hadn't expected to need them on the ship, but the last mission they were on showed that anything was possible, including the computer attacking them. He was still going over the coding for the holo guards in the intel department, because he didn't want to have them try to him him a rectal exam again. As he stood in front of the bag, he began to punch it again, but this time, he began to add in the occasional kick. He then leapt up, spun around and kicked the bag angrily as he thought of the last mission, and of his shore leave, which hadn't exactly been pleasant for him.

The holodeck? The Commander wasn't one to invade the holodeck when it was in use. She tapped her combadge. "Weisz to Hartley... report to my office as soon as possible."

Jacob frowned as he heard the summons. He grabbed a towel and wiped off sweat from his forehead. "On my way Commander." Jacob replied, as he quickly finished wiping the sweat off, at least as much as he could.

He quickly made his way through the ship, and found himself at the Commander's Office. He hadn't had much cause to speak with her, but he knew her to be a decent officer. He rang the chime and waited for a response, wondering what this was about.

"Come in," the Commander called, now sitting behind her desk once more. While she waited for Hartley to show up, she decided to get a little more work done, but now that work was saved and would be waiting for her to be able to return to it.

Jacob walked into the office, and looked at the woman. "Reporting as ordered ma'am." Jacob said, standing to attention. He wasn't sure if it was a moment for formality, but as his old professor at the academy taught him, it never hurt to play it safe.

"At ease, Lieutenant," Maddy said, gesturing for him to take a seat across from her desk. "I'm still not quite sure why I'm the one who received the message, but it seems as though one of the ships your shipping company owns was recently attacked by pirates."

Jacob thought for a moment. "Oh." He replied. "Sorry Ma'am, I didn't realise I'd still get messages from them, least of all directed at you." Jacob said, putting the thought out of his mind, or trying to at least. He had spent too long trying to forget the whole company, especially since he didn't like the fact that he owned it.

"Don't you think this is something you should take care of?" Maddy asked.

"Permission to speak freely, ma'am?" Jacob asked.

"Granted," the XO replied.

"This may seem cold ma'am, but I have no attachment to that company whatsoever. It belonged to people who chose not to upgrade parts of their ship when they knew there was a chance of failure. They chose to be tight with money, and they chose to put lives in danger. They chose to not raise me, leaving me with questions as I grew up. Frankly, if it wasn't in their will that it couldn't be sold or owned by anyone but family, I'd have sold or scrapped it long ago. Instead, others who care run it, and give me money which hasn't been touched ever." Jacob said. He knew by now his personal funds were quite excessive, but he had always refused to use them for anything. He had spent a long time ignoring everything, including that shipping company, and in return, he had gotten a bitterness he hadn't shared with anyone.

Maddy listened as he spoke. On one hand, she could understand where he was coming from, but on the other... "Mister Hartley... while I can understand your current plight, you need to understand that they've contacted me because you have chosen to make yourself unavailable," she stated in a tone that was beginning to portray her annoyance. "Your shipping company is not my concern, and when I have to stop what I'm doing to contact one of my crew because they have chosen to ignore their responsibilities for whatever reason, it puts me in the most foul of dispositions."

She paused for a moment. "You say you can't sell it or scrap it... I call bullshit. You can scrap it, but you don't wish to do that for whatever reason. It's time for you to step up, Mister Hartley, and take care of whatever business you need to before it interferes with your position on this ship. And, should that happen, you will find yourself facing serious repercussions for something that was totally within your control. You're an adult, Lieutenant. It's time to start acting like it."

"As you say, ma'am." Jacob said. He wanted to say something else, but he didn't want to be disrespectful. He'd handle the situation, but he didn't want to deal with the ship or the people. Scrapping the business...part of him knew she was right. Why hadn't he sold it or got rid of it? Did he care more than he let on? He wasn't sure about that, but it wasn't something he had cared to think about...until now. "I'll take care of it, and ensure you aren't bothered with this again ma'am."

"That is appreciated, Mister Hartley. I'm ordering you to mandatory counseling as well. As we are without an actual counselor presently, you will be seeing Ensign Walsh," the Commander stated, leaving zero room for argument. "You clearly have some things that you need to get worked out, and should you protest, I assure you the alternative will be worse. I'll be checking in with Mister Walsh to see to it that you've made an appointment." And since there was zero room for Hartley to argue with her, she added a clear order. "Dismissed."

With that, she activated her desktop once more and got back to work.