William waited until the door closed before speaking “Sir I’m going to speak rather quickly and very frankly so I wanted to do so directly to you as this is not!” He emphasised the ‘not’ “me calling your command style out” He looked at him like he wanted a reply but didn’t wait for one “Where and what do you think your doing Commander” He spoke in hushed tones “These aliens have done nothing to show hostile intent and out of the twenty legible words we’ve heard the universal translator managed four, Space, Trespass, Disarm and Surrender.” He counted at the top of his head “We don’t know how hostile they are going to be but to steal your words they have us by the proverbial balls” He pointed to nowhere “And in Ten minutes they are going to be right in front of us and we are not in a strong negotiation position, so you are going to have to decide what is best for the crew, your suicide mission making you a martyr” He put his finger against the commanders chest “Or you standing with us as a leader?” He looked serious yet strangely focused compared to before “If you leave with the Captain still impaired the only senior Officer on the Bridge until Stone or someone else more senior comes aboard is a Twenty-two year old Scientist fresh from the Academy” He sighed “This is a young crew that can’t afford to lose a senior officer, this is what the chain of Command is for”

CSO