A Problematic Relationship

Chapter 4: Disobeying Orders

The captain called all the senior officers to the observation lounge. He said he got an urgent call from Admiral Gardner.

As always, Trip was the last person to arrive, running breathlessly from Engineering. Everyone was silent, looking at the Captain, whose face was flooded with concern. He kept glancing at you, so you wondered if this had anything to do with you.

"Alright. I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Lieutenant Reed and the crew of his ship was kidnapped by Romulans. They took them to Alpha Onias III. Many died, the others escaped. The only one who we certainly know is still there is Malcolm." He finally spoke out.

As you heard those words, you started feeling light-headed, as if you were about to faint. Your heart jumped to your neck. Trip saw this and grabbed your arm, offering you stability, but also just a calming feeling, that someone was watching out for you.

"We have to go after him!" The commander spoke out, saying the exact words you would've said if you weren't on the brink of falling down unconscious.

"Well that's the bad news. The Admiral specifically ordered us not to go save them. It's too great of a risk, we already aren't in a really flourishing relationship with the Romulans and causing a fight could start a war." It was painful for him to say this , knowing what it would cause to you. His last words knocked you back on your feet. You were no longer nauseous, your vision started clearing up, just because you didn't believe what the Captain had said. Is the Admiral out of his mind or what? Leaving an officer to die is not the way Starfleet did things, at least you thought so, up until that point.

"An attempt of rescuing Lieutenant Reed would be considered as an act of war by the Romulan Star Empire." T'pol explain in the calmest voice possible. Damn, you wanted to be a Vulcan sometimes.

"But doesn't the Coalition of Planets consider kidnapping a whole ship's crew an act of war?" Hoshi's tone, on the other hand, was much more agitated.

"Kidnapping them is one thing," Travis added. "but killing a bunch of them? Surely that's over the line!"

"We are a peaceful group of species, we don't engage in battle unless it's necessary." Archer explained.

"Captain, I'm not accepting this!" We have to-"

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant. This time, I have to agree with the Admiral, as much as it hurts." Archer interrupted you.

"Cap'n,"Trip tried to help you. " understand her, she's been through a lot-" Y

"With all due respect, Captain, we're near that planet, so if the Romulans wanted a war so bad, they would come an attack us, so-"You cut Trip's words short by bursting all of your emotions out.

"Dismissed." He shouted and he started walking away. He was followed by T'pol, Travis and Hoshi. You dropped on your knees, laid you head on the table, arms crossed over the back of your head.. You couldn't accept that the Captain gave up on one of his best friends. If your suffering wasn't bad enough, this just salted the wounds.

Trip's warm hand started running up and down your back.

"I know that whatever I say, you're not gonna like it. So if you wanna talk, I'll be in my quarters." He said softly, trying to make you feel better, even though he knew there was nothing he could do.

You glanced up at him, eyes read from trying to contain your emotions. Trip understood: you needed time alone. Even though time alone was all you had during off-hours since Malcolm left.

You weren't going to leave it at this. You weren't goig to give up on the person that mattered the most to you now. You were determined to get him back, no matter what kind of reprimand that meant. You couldn't care less about the Admiral's orders; you didn't like hi anyways.

They would definitely court martial you. Relieve you of duty. Maybe put you in prison. If you made it back, that is. You were well aware that the possibility of it being a one way journey was high. But you were wiling to risk it, because you knew Malcolm would have done it too, if he had been in your place.

You had every kind of security clearence needed to escape without anyone noticing: perks of inheriting Malcolm's post as Chief of Security. Your piloting skills were decent, you managed to learn a few tricks from Travis. Thanks to Hoshi, the universal translator was fluent in Romulan, if there was any need of communicating with them. And in terms of combat, you were taught by the best: in long-range and in close-range, with a rifle, phase pistol and your bare fists. You had everything needed to formulate a plan.

Next morning, 0700 hours, you were going to be departing. Shuttlepod one was just perfect for you.