Star Fleet Admiral Drake Kaldeck sat at his private table in a secluded alcove in the dining room of the Four Palms Hotel and Resort. Two other officers, both lieutenants, sat across from him and took notes furiously as the Admiral delicately cut his steak and sipped his wine. “Furthermore, it is a clear indication of the utter lack of leadership of the colony that a distinguished officer of Star Fleet was not only not invited to the ceremony; but directly told they were not welcome.” He took a bite and said around the mouthful “Send that to Command. Priority One.” The Lieutenant simply nodded. Of course he knew that designation was reserved for emergencies. But he also knew that most correspondence from his boss was marked thusly.

“Belay that order, Lieutenant. And why don’t you and your partner there go to the bar. The Admiral and I are gonna have a chat.” said a voice from the doorway. The speaker was a human male with deep reddish-brown skin. Long, jet black hair hung in a cascade down his back; and he was dressed in a military dress uniform. Major General epaulets sat on his shoulders and his expression was flat.

The Lieutenants looked at the Admiral and the man said “That’s an order, gentlemen. And I very sincerely doubt the good Admiral here wants you privy to what is about to be discussed.” The Admiral took the figure in and said simply “Dismissed. Return in five minutes.” The two officers stood and left the room wordlessly.

The Major General stepped forward and sat down in a chair across from the Admiral who scowled at him. “Do be seated.” he said sarcastically. “Already am.” the man said with a smile. “You know who I am?” The Admiral began to cut another bite of steak and, without looking up, said “Major General Charles Tenkiller. Vice Commander of the Oed V Colonial Customs and Defense Agency. A wholly unrecognized and unapproved organization, by the way. But playing soldier is fine out here in the middle of nowhere. Just call us when you need a real organization to do what needs to be done.” He gave Tenkiller a smile of haughty superiority and daintily ate the steak, his eyes alive with condescension.

Tenkiller didn’t take the bait. Instead, he returned the grin and leaned back in the chair as if he had not a single care in the whole galaxy. “I appreciate that offer, Admiral. It’s always good to have a strong ‘B’ team to back you up from time to time.” A flash of anger showed in the Admiral’s eyes, but Tenkiller continued before he could speak.

“Now then… I’m here to discuss this whole gala kerfuffle. Seems you wanna go, but aren’t on the guest list… right?” The Admiral swallowed his steak and glared, but said “Of course that is right. Why else would they send you?” There was an edge to his voice and inside Tenkiller smiled. “Oh no… I wasn’t sent. I’m here because I wanted to come talk to you.” he said and then leaned forward and crossed his arms on the table. “See, I heard about your ‘discussion’ with Lt. Watts… and her family. And I’m here to tell you personally, Admiral that that dog don’t hunt. You don’t get to do s#!t like here… Admiral or not.”

Kaldeck looked at him a moment, his superiority overshadowing his ire for the moment. “Mr. Tenkiller, let me te-“ “That’s Major General Tenkiller to you, Admiral. I am being professional here. You will do me the decency of doing the same.” The Admiral chuckled. “Of all the… wait. You are serious?! You expect ME, a full Admiral in the largest and most powerful organization in the Federation, to actually pretend like your ‘rank’-” and he gestured air quotes around the word, “- is a real thing? Really?” and he laughed and shook his head. “No no no… I am going to tell you how this is going to work, Mister Tenkiller.” and he slid his plate to the side and leaned in. “You are going to go to your Governor and tell him I will be arriving at the gala in exactly two hours. I will be received as my rank is due. I will be introduced to the Vren delegation as Star Fleet’s senior representative. And I will be included in all diplomatic functions and talks from this. Moment. On. Do you understand me, Mister Tenkiller?”

Tenkiller was silent for a moment and then said “I hear you, Admiral. And I would be more than happy to do that, except for the fact that I’m not… so I won’t. So I’ll give you a counter-proposal, okay? First. You will go back to your ship and file all the formal requests like you should have done anyway. Two. You will apologize to Lt. Watts in person the next time you see her. Three. The next time you see her will be at the Senior Command Staff meeting day after tomorrow. Four. You will shut your pie-hole from here on out, and I won’t punch you in it. And finally, you will do all of this with a smile on your face and a polite tone to your language when you deal with anyone from here on out or I will make sure Command receives this about an hour after the press does.” and he tossed a micro-PaDD on the table.

On the vidscreen was a single audio file which started playing softly. “That, Admiral, is you talking to CCDA space control on your approach and the bridge crew of your ship. You remember that? When you called Oed V a ‘backwards backwater cesspool with delusions of grandeur’? And the Vren a ‘contingent of needy toads’? Oh, and let’s not forget my personal favorite. ‘Lieutenant Governor Dasca is a washed up has-been whose only real contribution to Star Fleet was retiring’.” and he shook his head and leaned back. “Admiral- and I use the term loosely- you done screwed the pooch pretty hard. And I’m pretty sure that your comms staying on when you thought it was off is because your ship’s crew probably hates your ass almost as much as I do.” The Admiral stared at Tenkiller, caught between bluster and calculating. “Lemme stop ya right there, buddy.” Tenkiller said. “You can’t get out of this. Oh, you may have rules and regulations that you can bend to get your butt outta this sling… but I don’t intend to fight you in that arena, no no. I’m gonna throw you to the wolves of the public. The Oed V public, to be exact. The same public that has a pride streak a mile wide. The same public that has something like a ninety-four percent approval of their Governor and Lieutenant Governor… you know, the one you insulted. The public that really doesnt like Star Fleet very much to begin with anyway. The same public who has killed multiple governors because they didn’t like them. Thats where I’m gonna fight ya. And trust me, big guy… those folks are gonna eat you alive. Maybe even literally.” he added excitedly. “And even if they don’t… think about this. What do you think is a bigger priority right now at this moment? Your career and name and reputation? Or these talks going well?” He leaned back and smiled. “Tell me, Drake… you willing to risk your own ass on the chance that people will side with you over this entire colony AND the Vren? How big an ego you got? Now’s your chance to see…”

Kaldeck was livid. Red faced. Sputtering softly. But he also wasn’t stupid. “Do you really want to start this fight with me?” he growled softly. Tenkiller chuckled. “Oh, this ain’t a fight. This is an old-fashioned ass whippin’. And you’re doin’ the takin’, not the givin’. So come on… push me. I honestly would really like’ta see what happens. How big of a boy are ya? Thank-you can bluster and threaten your way outta that?” and he pointed at the PaDD.

There was a long pause. Kaldeck finally folded his napkin and set it on the table. He stood up and began to walk to the door. “This isn’t over.” he said down to Tenkiller. Tenkiller reached over and took the bottle of wine and poured a glass. “This isn’t over what…?” he asked without looking up. The Admiral’s jaw clenched tight and his face turned almost as red as Tenkiller’s. “This isn’t over… Major General.” Tenkiller grinned and lifted the glass to his lips.

“Yeah. It is.” and he took a drink.

Tenkiller, VC CCDA