Posted by Lazol (Chief Science Officer) in Summoning the Captain

Posted by Captain Zachariah Cobb (Commanding Officer) in Summoning the Captain

Posted by Lazol (Chief Science Officer) in Summoning the Captain
The message was very brief, but keeping with Lazol it was on point for him. The message would appear to Cobb as follows:

Ready Room, 1200 hours. Come alone. Utmost secrecy.

Lazol

Secrets. By the gods did he hate bloody secrets! Should probably have chosen a different ship to command then, eh, old chap?
There was a time when he had hated Ferengi with equivalent zeal. But since the interaction with Olash, who continued to send highly useful information from time to time (and continued to be reasonably well compensated for it too), the captain had grown fond of the large-eared ones’ penchant for plain-speak when it came to money and profit. Even if all else was an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a…well, you got the idea.

But DaiMon Lazol was a different matter entirely. There was some truth to the rumour that Cobb was suspicious of any individual who outranked him on his own bloody ship. Also that Lazol’s proclivity for material accoutrements was something wholly alien to one so…unrefined as Zachariah. But mostly it came down to this - for all of his effort, Cobb could not gain the measure of the man. And that troubled him a great deal.

And so it was a somewhat irritable captain who entered the ready room at 12:00 hours on a hurricane-strength, steadying breath…

• Captain Zachariah Cobb

Lazol looked up at Cobb and just glared, the old man didn’t have time for games and he was certainly going to be the weaker of the two in the room when it came to a bargaining position. He clicked his tongue in his mouth before standing to greet the man and offer a chair, always the host as he tried to prepare himself for the conversation ahead. “Captain I know that you’re trying not to drink on duty may I get you something such as…what do you hoomans call it… lemonade? Or tea perhaps?” He said as he went to replicate a pot of hot water and a clear glass followed by a simple green tea bag.

“Who told you that?” the captain shot back, as if Lazol’s mistake regarding Cobb drinking when on duty had been a deliberate attack. “And anyway, I am not on duty at this precise moment so…”
Without attempting to explain further, Cobb simply produced, from his inner pocket, his customary hipflask, and enjoyed a long sip.

He poured the water into the glass and gently dipped the bag in as the tea began to steep. “Take a look at this Captain, the scientist in me understands the thermodynamics of the water coupled with the weight and specific gravity of the tea being brewed but if I take a step back all I see is chaos, a swirling cloud of tea taking over the clear water inside.”

“Aye. It is the same reaction I experience when I see a Ferengi orchestrating my science labs” Cobb replied silently, although thankfully kept the commentary to himself. To the Leviathan’s CSO, he merely nodded.

He set the glass down and let the tea brew. “Captain” he began, a deep breath in followed by a slow exhale. “Casela recommended that I come talk to you and you alone. Now before you assume I have another angle or I’m trying to bargain please understand this is going to be the most honest and upfront thing I’ve probably ever said to you. I’m not seeking profit, I don’t want power, I don’t want you to concede anything, I don’t want to make a deal. I simply want you to understand, and dare I say, help me.”

Lazol, CSO

“I see,” Cobb replied. “Well Mr Lazol, I am your captain as much as I am anyone else’s on this ship. So please, let me hear your request and then I shall provide you an honest response. Even if that is all I can provide you with.”

• Captain Zachariah Cobb