Logic Always Win's Captain!
Posted on Mon Aug 24th, 2026 @ 1:10am by Ensign T'ertau & Captain Adrian Kellan
1,312 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2: Mine of Taurus
Location: USS Scharnhorst, CO Ready Room
Location: USS Scharnhorst, CO Ready Room
Adrian barely sat down in his chair, currently the ship was waiting for something to happen. They were assisting the USS Herophilos with their mission. And the mystery ship was no where to be seen. Which was a good thing, so he decided to take a little time to catch up on other duties. "What is next on my agenda?" Adrian asked his yeoman.
T’ertau raised an eyebrow. If she was providing him with the list of meetings, subspace calls scheduled in advance, why would he need to even ask her? ‘Captains.’ She thought to herself, nothing showing on her face, ‘Why do they need babysitters?’ She tapped her PADD to bring up the schedule, organized with tentative times for things on on side and those that were set in stone on the other, color coded for importance.
“Captain, you have a subspace call scheduled with Conmodore Taarask in one hour and eighteen minutes for an update to the situation here in the Taurus system; You need to draft a message for Admiral Konto for her wedding anniversary, which you attended. She is expecting a son in about two months. An appropriate gift of white orchids is being arranged for delivery, but today is the optimal day to send a message if you wish for her to use your name in his naming ceremony. After that, you are scheduled for lunch, sir.”
"Remind me, is Admiral Konto still on Starbase 870?" Adrian asked, knowing that the Admiral was recently on the station for a tour. If she was, it might be possible to see her in person, versus sending a gift through a transport carrier.
“She will be at the Starbase for another three days, then her flagship is departing for Brentaak.” Detailed notes were important, VERY important, “If you wish, I will delay the delivery until we know if you will be back in time for a personal delivery.” She got a nod and took the note, “Is person is indeed for effective.”
Being satisfied with her response, he started to think about the Commodore. "I'm starting to think Taarask, forgot that the Taurus System is classified. Please tell me our encryption protocols are UpToDate. I wont risk any information on the system being transmitted in the opening." Adrian said as he looked to T’ertau. For the moment, lunch was the last thing on his mind. But he had a feeling that T’ertau would not let him slide on lunch.
If it were in her nature to sigh in frustration, T’ertau would have, instead she raised her eyebrow millimetrically, “We will be transmitting to a secure communications station for retransmission, security protocol Bravo-Echo-Six-One-Eight. Which, as you know, Captain, means rotating encryption every fifteen seconds. Even if someone intercepts and cracks one of our encryptions, they will only gather a handful of seconds of the transmission, likely long after it is useful.” Her tone of voice was singular, there was no inflection at all, “I will make the connection with the Commodore’s Aide two minutes prior to your meeting.”
Adrian thought about what she had said to him. He took a breath, then went on to say to her. "I would not hold up the Admiral, not sure if we will keep our mission in three days. As far as the encryption, that will have to do." He leaned back in his chair, he really hated giving a classified briefing in the clear, even if the communication log was transmitted with encryption.
"How are you settling in, Ensign T’ertau?" Adrian asked, ever since she had arrived, he literally put her to work, and barely even communicated with her outside of the scope of her duties. Now his consciousness was starting to get to him. He was trying to keep his distance from all of his crew. He did not want to get close to anyone. Asking how she was doing, felt more out of obligation than actual interest on his part.
"My quarters are sufficient, Captain, and my schedule ensures that I am never without something to do." She tabbed down on the schedule, "You have an hour of free time after lunch, did wish to schedule some recreation during that time?" T'ertau looked up at him expectantly.
"Things are too tense at the moment, do I have any later meetings, that we can squeeze into that timeslot?" Adrian asked, thinking to himself, that he could not afford to be relaxing when the USS Herophilos, might need their assistance at any given moment.
"You have a briefing by your Science officer regarding the nebula's composition which could be moved up, presupposing they have finished analyzing the scans." T'ertau's voice was completely neutral, "However I do not suggest this. Without complete information, you will not be able to make the appropriate decisions." She watched him instead of her PADD, "If you are too tense, you may make an error in judgement. Perhaps simple card games such as solitaire would be sufficiently restful for your brain to relax, yet keep you full functional and available?"
"Games is not a bad idea, how do you feel about children?" Adrian asked, before she could answer he went on to say. "My daughter, been asking to play cards." He said, with a warm smile on his face. Choosing a non emotional yeoman, was the best decision he ever made. Plus she also gave good advice.
"Children are children." T'ertau said in a tone that wouldn't convey anything, although she didn't understand why the question was even asked, "They enjoy playing games, but aside from some of the basics, I'm not familiar with most human card games."
"My daughter might bother you. Fair warning. She may even ask for you to join us." Adrian said, as he waited to see how she would respond. Children were extremely emotional, and often went days without bathing. And they constantly got dirty. Adrian and Eliana made sure to stay on top of Paislee about her hygiene, but she was a typical kid, and he knew that Vulcan's could barely tolerate the smell of human's.
None of the immediately quashed horror showed on her face at the pronouncement. Invited to play games with a human child? Certainly he didn’t dislike her enough already to require her to do that? Why, Paislee (she had looked the child’s name up) probably didn’t even know any of the proper games that Vulcan children played at her age. She could only guess at the indignity of the child running around screaming like a goblin. “If it is requested, I shall of course participate.” She spoke after a few seconds.
"Paislee can be a bit much to handle, she definitely has a personality on her. She has been the biggest Joy of My Life. She has a unique way of seeing life." Adrian said not really requesting of her to see her, but warning her that the child in this case Paislee may request her directly to play games. In a small way he was giving her an opportunity to bail out before the child came to his ready room.
"I will handle the situation as it occurs." T'ertau stated solemnly, "You are her father, it's only logical that she come visit you here occasionally. I will research her favorite snacks and will make sure that she is well taken care of when she does."
"Have you been around human children before?" Adrian asked, as the scene starts to fade away. He wanted to make sure, that she was fully prepared.
"No, Captain, no I haven't."
"She can be a handful, but I will help you to the best of my ability." Adrian said, as he hoped that Paislee would not annoy her to much. The scene fades away.
End
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