Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"-'Pep Talk'

<<Stardate:47307.30- 09:ish>>

<<Observation Lounge>>

> "We can do this. Together. We just need a little faith in us."

Janice had been watching the whole charade curiously throughout the

meeting. Silently observing, she thought that perhaps she would be able to

understand more about the situation before she spoke, but it seemed she

needed to speak up now anyhow. Finally, she began, softly, so that the room

could barely hear her. It went silent in the group's effort to hear. This

was a trick she had learned from her previous captain - people always strain

to hear the soft voices, but ignore the loud ones.

"Epic is right," she stated simply.

The room erupted like a volcano. Arguments regarding the Prime Directive

were shouted wildly.

Janice looked at them, her stare alone making the group go silent again. "We

are arguing like a bunch of three-year olds. This is ridiculous. No wonder

Starfleet sent us out in the middle of nowhere. We can't even make a simple

decision without taking a temper tantrum," she said, eyeing the Ambassador.

"Being overly sarcastic," she said, staring coldly at Francois, "or being

extremely rigid in Starfleet ways," she finished, glancing at Hunt, who eyed

her coldly back.

"We need to work together to make this work at all. We can't fly off the

handle, letting our tempers get the best of us. We can't make jokes about

this. And we most certainly can't be so strict in our beliefs that we can't

comprehend the fact that there are exceptions to every rule. The Prime

Directive is not the 'be all and end all' to Starfleet. I understand, it

can't be ignored, and yes, it applies to a large number of situations, but

this is most definitely an exception. This entire ship is a mass of

exceptions," she added, grimacing.

As she spoke, she looked at each member of the group, both standing and

sitting. "We are all of the Starfleet presence in this area. We are

Starfleet. We can't run home to mommy, or call home to ask for advice

anymore. This is it. We are the decision makers. Let's start by acting

like it." Her tone was harsh. She hated to be so cold and demeaning, but

it seemed the crew needed it, and Epic was certainly in no position to do

so. Brinn looked as if she wasn't even paying attention. Janice completely

expected the majority of the crew to dislike her after this. But it was

better that they disliked the Chief Engineer rather than the Captain. She

shrugged to herself. *I was never that social anyhow,* she thought, trying

to console herself.

"I am willing to put my time and effort into trying to find a solution for

this planet. To save them. Let's put all this wonderful arguing talent to

work and argue ourselves a way to save Kerestia. If you are so selfish as

to think of it as a method to keep us alive, keep us alive from the Borg and

the virus, so be it. If you think that we need to prove Starfleet wrong, to

prove that we aren't just a congregation of untrained beasts, and want to

make it through this mission and return home, then so be it. Or if you feel

that leaving this planet to die when we could have the opportunity to save

it, to save millions of people, then so be it. Whatever your reasons, let's

stop acting like children and act like the Starfleet officers we were born

to be." Janice leaned back in her chair, shaking from her outburst. She

didn't know whether much of it made sense or not, but she had said her part

anyhow.

"It might just work!" Eve exclaimed out of nowhere. Janice peered at her

curiously, but she had already spent her energy before.

"What would, Lieutenant?" It was Epic that finally broke the confused

silence.

Eve looked up, then seemed embarrassed by her shout. "To reverse the

supernova, Captain. By reversing technology in the Device built and used by

Doctor Soran." She shrugged. "It's a long shot, but worth investigating."

Janice smiled at Eve, proud of her. She knew that if she could count on

someone, she could count on Eve. Janice returned to being the quiet

observer that she had been before, content to sit and observe once more.