Kelly typically wore one of two expressions. The first was a bemused one where some thought was occupying her thoughts that had a fifty-fifty chance of being inappropriate. The second was her more neutral expression when she was doing the more mundane aspects of her daily job Sitting in the conference room, waiting for the officers to arrive, Kelly’s mouth was drawn into a thin-lipped tight line. There was none of the casual banter in the room nor were there snacks: Only her and the JAG officer John “Lucky” McDevitt.

A few weeks after taking command of the Atlantis, Kelly has assigned Jacen to rip out the customary rectangular table and replace it with a round one. Her decision was controversial and earned numerous jokes about it being a starship with officers or Camelot with knights. She had intended to eliminate the bias of rank as much as possible. With a round table, there was no head however that did not mean it could mistaken as to who was in charge. If she needed to remind an officer this, they probably didn’t deserve to be sitting there. Kelly always prided herself on having open lines of communication with all her crew regardless of how shiny their neck was. Today the rounded table served another symbolic purpose. Idylly she wondered if this was another first for the Atlantis crew. Had another ship’s entire command crew get summoned with court-martials simultaneously?

The charges were all irrational and without merit but when did logic or ration come into play when Admiral Perkins had an agenda? Kelly took a long sip of coffee waiting for the officers to arrive at the unexpected summons to the conference room.

Kelly Bordeaux CO