The Officers and A Gentleman

"...produce these beams and install additional EPS conduits to the dish," said Lieutenant Barker

"Good, I'll get Engineering to start on all that. Dismissed." Captain Devore said sitting back in his chair. He despised what was happening. He hated the Borg with every nuance of his being, and unfortunately it was his duty to defend the Federation from all enemies. First it was the Klingons, then the Romulans, the Cardassians, the Dominion, and now the Borg. Devore just wished he could stop this fighting and do what he had always wanted to do and that was to explore. Exploration, the test of man's ability to learn, was the driving force of the Federation for many years. Captain Kirk was one of the Federation's leading icons in exploration and charted numerous star systems. Then with the expanding universe came the inevitable possibilities of conflict, and through the hundreds of years tens of hundreds of wars. *For once, I wish that we can go somewhere and not have to fight for the sake of knowledge.* Devore thought.

[Dr. Clairidge to Captain Devore] His combadge said.

"Go ahead Doctor." The beautiful Dr. Barbara Clairidge. Since the moment that she came on board and was standing at his door, something had clicked inside of Devore that said, *Woah!* However from the countless of woman that Marcus Devore has romanced and swooned, Dr. Clairidge has seemed to be the hardest nut to crack. Slowly but surely, he has been chipping at the block of ice that wore the medical uniform and called him "Captain," and now he finally felt that real progress has been made.

[Mark? Are you busy? I am on my way to the forward lounge and was wondering if I could have a word with you over lunch.]

"Lunch?" *It was lunch time all ready? But I just had breakfast.* "Um, sure. I will meet you there in about 10 minutes."

[Okay. See you in 10 minutes. Don't be late, Captain. Clairidge out.]

For the past month, Devore has been wanting to win Dr. Clairidge and now she was initiating "First Contact". "Well I guess I can't keep the good doctor waiting." He rose to leave and the door chimes rang. "Enter."

"Captain. May have I quick word with you?" Lieutenant Rashad asked holding a PADD in hand.

"Well Lieutenant, I was just on my way to the forward lounge for lunch and ......'

"Good then I will join you," she said nonchalantly.

Now feeling uncomfortable, Devore looked at her. *She is sort of cute. That tint in her skin is quite appealing.* "Lieutenant.."

"Sir, Rashad. Please call me Rashad."

"Well... Rashad, I am actually having a lunch date with Dr. Clairidge. Can what you have to talk to me wait?"

"Oh." Rashad said forcing a smile. "But of course sir. Go ahead and enjoy your lunch. When you come back I will talk to you then."

"Fine. Thank you." Devore walked passed her and out of the ready room.

Rashad turned and watched him leave. As the door closed, Rashad walked over to Devore's desk and without touching any visually inspected it. On his computer, was a crew manifest with personnel files of the entire crew. This was pay dirt for Rashad considering that each time she tried, the computer would not recognize her authorization codes. She figured that this was something that would take a few hours if not days, to have her command codes recognized by the *Leviathan's* computers. So she took advantage of it. This would facilitate her compilation of the crew's action and information for the report. Rashad activated her PADD and the information was copied.

On the Bridge, Lieutenant Toran noticed Lieutenant Rashad going into the ready room to talk to Devore, but about 10 minutes later, Devore left, not followed by Rashad. Toran went ahead and wanted to check it out. So he walked over to the door and didn't ring the door chimes. The door came open and noticed that Ready Room was empty.

*I swore I saw Lieutenant Rashad come in here ?* Toran thought to himself. *Must be my imagination.*

In her quarters, the materialization process was complete. Lieutenant Rashad had initiated the site to site transport with her personal transporter, SI issue. "That was too close." Rashad said softly as she sat down and began reading the information she downloaded.

During mid-lunch, Devore and Clairidge sat in the corner, having a Cretian dish, Lei Ma Se, a succulent mixture of vegetables and fruits seasoned to perfection. A hot salad was what it ended up being. Clairidge was devouring her meal while, Devore was playing with a small vegetable resembling a carrot.

Wiping her mouth so that no food would fall, she replaced the napkin. "Mark? What's the matter? You haven't said but a few short sentences to me and you haven't really eaten. What's the matter?"

Devore put his fork down and looked at her. "It is really nothing."

"Nothing! Mark you haven't said a word or eaten a bite. There is something wrong. Tell me." She said reaching over and grabbing his free hand. Like a spark that suddenly was conducted by the touch, Devore looked up and smiled. Clairidge returned the smile. "Okay. It is this thing with the Borg." Devore said putting down his fork and looking her in the eye. "I don't like this. I hope Toran and Harris come up with something fast."

"Okay....."

"You see I am terrified of the prospect of losing."

"There is nothing wrong with that."

"But this is different. You see if we were fighting a conventional war, there is a 50/50 chance of just being killed or surviving. Well against the Borg there is no 50/50. Either we prevail by destroying them or we are assimilated, and the prospect of that is worse then death."

"So you are afraid of losing to the Borg."

"Yes. But not just for me, but for everyone on board. You see, I still don't understand why I was assigned to command the Leviathan. She is the most advanced ship in the fleet, but the crew is mostly green fresh out of the academy or lacking in experience. Toran, my first officer, and I are the only ones with any kind of real time battle experience. I am sure that Starfleet knew this, so why did they give us a SI Officer and send us against the Borg?"

"Mark. You are a fine Captain and your crew trusts you. I have seen some magnificent things come out of the month we have been out, now I am prepared to see a lot more. Give yourself credit... give your crew credit. They all took the same oath you did, to obey, serve, and protect because the believe in the Federation. Most of them are prepared to die to honour their oath. So don't worry."

"Maybe you are right. But it just doesn't seem right that StarFleet Command could do such and irrational thing."

"Don't worry everything is going to turn out fine," Clairidge said piling her dishes. "I have got to get back and so do you. Dinner my place tonight?"

"Uhh, sure."

"Okay. Good. See you then." Clairidge said leaning over kissing him on the cheek. Devore looked at her and smiled. She returned the smile.

Devore got up and walked through the ship before returning to the bridge. As he entered the turbolift, he began to wonder just what did Lieutenant Rashad want earlier. "Bridge."