Subject: Grail: "The Great Brightness"; "Team Players"

"Team Players"

-- Team players should know that if one member of the team loses, everyone

loses. --

A Joint Post By Lt. Cmdr. Hargen and Lt. Brennan.

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Lt. Cmdr. Janice Hargen entered Engineering with an attitude on her

shoulders and a stern expression on her face. It was nothing short of

comical seeing her superior in a disposition that suited her so poorly, and

if it were not for the fact that Janice didn't so much as crack a smile,

Kaitlyn would've sworn that Janice was faking the act of having a temper.

Kaitlyn was in no mood for sparking any more unnatural responses out of this

engineer. In fact, she was growing quite disinterested.

"Lt. Brennan, in my office, now," Janice Hargen commanded with the utmost

air of authority that this superior officer had ever concocted. She ran

into her office so quickly that Kaitlyn had doubts as to whether her

superior intended for her to actually follow.

Unsure when walking in, Kaitlyn was greeted not with a hello, but with a

""Lt. Brennan, it is my duty to inform you that you need not collaborate in

this endeavor. The captain wishes to have no one involved unless they wish

to be. Is that understood?"

"No, sir," she smartly replied. "In fact, I do not understand. I admit

that my behavior was a bit harsh towards the captain, though it was not

unfounded, but your behavior now is outlandish and unjustified."

No longer as disinterested as she was, Kaitlyn started to become more

agitated. "How dare you waltz in here and berate me as if I were a child!"

Janice stood up at her desk, her rage apparent on her face. "That is ENOUGH

Lieutenant! How dare I? How dare you treat your superiors with such

obvious disrespect?" Her eyes were wild with anger - she had finally found

someone to unleash it upon.

"Sit down, Lieutenant. You have a lot to learn about Starfleet, obviously.

If you have a problem with the captain, you take it outside of the meeting.

That meeting was not for your own personal beliefs about other people - it

is and always will be a place where you can air your concerns - about the

mission. Otherwise, you take it outside."

Kaitlyn totally disagreed with the first point, but she did not answer it,

since Janice was saying it only out of her anger, and not as a true opinion.

Kait knew that she was knowledgeable enough about Starfleet to run it if she

wished. And Kait knew how to twist the rules, just as Starfleet did when

it

suited them. However, Janice was completely right that she should've taken

it outside. Kait had come to that realisation a long time ago, but still

it

had taken too long for her to come to it.

Kait had written an apology to the Captain admitting to what Janice said,

but when accused of it, she would not willingly admit it.

"Sir, I said nothing of a personal nature, and what I said were not my

personal convictions. This case does not fall under the jurisdiction of

special order 30, but it should be observed in accordance with the prime

directive. Mind you, I did not even lose my temper, which I most certainly

could have done after the Captain's behavior, but I kept my cool. I even

excused myself once things got too far. As near as I can tell, the only

thing you object to is that I disagreed with your lover," Kait said the last

word rather derisively, but it was something she had already begun to

suspect as evidenced by Lt. Cmdr. Hargen's behavior.

Janice nearly fell to the floor when she heard the last statement.

"Lover??" she sputtered, shocked. Her heart nearly stopped in her chest.

She couldn't believe what she had just heard. *Is that what the crew thinks

about us? About my behavior in the meeting?* She had to grip the edge of

her desk and sit down. Her heart was beating madly. "Epic and I are not

lovers, Kaitlyn," she said quietly.

"I didn't see anything in the meeting, Janice, but I sure as hell am seeing

something now. You are the last person on Earth to go off like this, and

the only reason I see is because the Captain is upset. You are being

protective and even vengeful when it comes to him. Now, you tell me... what

does it look like to you?"

*My God... is she right?* was the first thought that came to her head. But

she shook the thought from her mind. Of course she wasn't. She couldn't

be. Besides, she had to concentrate on this conversation.

Janice took in a shaky breath. "I support Epic - he is a friend of mine,"

she said slowly, choosing her words carefully. "I don't like seeing my

friends browbeaten."

Now it was Kaitlyn's turn to be shocked. "Browbeaten? I hardly think you

could call my objections in the meeting that."

What could Janice say? She did care for him - that she did know. But

lovers? It was ridiculous. The thoughts kept slipping into her mind, as

much as she tried to block them. "It might has well been, Kait," Janice

said, her voice softer and quieter than it had been before. The anger had

died away slowly, siphoned off by her shock.

"The whole meeting was against him. What could he do? Almost looked like

he might have a heart attack," she added quietly.

Kaitlyn looked dumbfounded for a moment. Could she have caused that much

trouble? Unlikely, was the logical answer. "Janice, please, you know full

well that simple objections, no matter how harshly they're put, cannot cause

someone *that* much anguish. If it does, what if a real problem ever came

up? He'd probably faint, if that's the way you wish to portray him. The

Captain is fine, he's a grown man, and I'm sure he'll get over it."

Janice sighed sadly. "Kait, this isn't what I wanted to discuss with you.

All I ask is that you take it outside the meeting next time, okay?"

Kaitlyn wanted to reply, but she didn't have a chance. Janice, without

waiting for an answer, continued: "And all I want to know is - are you still

in this, or not?"

"Of course I am," Kaitlyn replied. "I had my objections, and I even went

so

far as to say I would quit, but waiting this out will do no good, and it

will not ease my conscious to know that I sat in my quarters." Kaitlyn did

not add the part about feeling a need to keep an eye on the people of this

ship, even Janice, before anyone started to get even more out of hand than

they already were.

Since Janice did not respond, she added, "Besides, I am not completely

inhuman. I am sympathetic to the Kerestians, yes. So, if this is the

course of action the Grail is set upon, then I might as well help to make

sure that it succeeds, because I would sure as hell hate to see if you guys

broke the prime directive and the Kerestians still died."

Janice smiled tiredly. She was getting very tired of this conversation.

It

had taken a lot out of her today. It was good that she wasn't leaving - not

only because there was so much to do, but because she would have missed

Kait's presence. She was an excellent engineer. She had just seemed so

troubled lately.

"Thank you, Kait. I do appreciate it. Welcome back." She stood and hugged

her quickly, a small smile on her face.

"Now, before we both get to work... are you okay? You seemed upset before

the meeting - and I'm sure I didn't help much. What's up?" she asked.

"Up? Why nothing, sir," was Kaitlyn's immediate response. Then a flash of

sharp pain hit her, her leg, and it nearly knocked her to the ground. If

it

were not for the wall that she hit upon backing up in reaction, she would

have been on the ground. Janice stood up, not sure if she should run over

and help her, or if Kaitlyn was fine, as Kait tried to make it seem by

struggling to a standing position again.

Kaitlyn took a deep breath, and then said, "I was wrong," Kaitlyn started.

"This is what's up."

Janice looked utterly bewildered, and she simply muttered, "What?"

Kaitlyn felt a pang of guilt at having to tell Janice this, but she was

already committed into continuing now. "Do you know where that instant of

sharp pain came from? It was where I was shot... with a disruptor blast."

"Disruptor blast? My God... the away mission...." she said, shocked.

"It's not that the doctor's couldn't heal something like that, because in

fact, there is not a mark on my leg from the disruptor blast. The doctors

did release me, and even though others had contracted the virus from the

blast, the scans showed that there was no sign of it in me."

Janice sighed, relieved. "Thank God. I was afraid you were going to say

that you had the virus."

Kaitlyn looked down for a moment before continuing. Janice looked at her

encouragingly, but did not say anything more so that her assistant could

continue what she was saying.

"I can't say that those scans were accurate. You see, I didn't want to be

stuck in Sickbay, so I made sure that the tricorder and the bio-scans would

show me as in stable condition. And, for a while, I started to feel better.

I even convinced myself that the scans I forged must have been accurate,

because I had not fallen in the coma-like state. But you want to know

something? All I've done while off-shift is sleep."

Janice sighed. "Kait, maybe you had better sit down. Rest up." Her face

was drawn and tired. "Okay, first thing to do is to call sickbay. We need

to get you into confinement." She sighed again. "Don't worry about the

probe - I'll get it moving on my own. You need to rest."

Janice was speaking so fast, and Kaitlyn was too much in shock to say

anything right away. Confinement? Why hadn't she realised that confessing

to having forged the scans would have sent her to confinement?

"I'm not tired," Kaitlyn protested.

Even then, though, she began to realise that the only thing keeping her

awake was the adrenaline rushes from fighting, and now that Janice had quit

the argument, there was nothing.

Janice looked at Kait as if she were a child protesting bedtime. Kaitlyn

half-laughed at this and said, "Alright, alright. You're right in more ways

than one. I just wish it didn't take me so long to realise it. How many

people have I been in contact with since after that encounter with the

Romulans? I'm sure it must be every senior officer, engineering officer,

and countless others that I came upon."

"Don't worry, it may be that the virus does not spread quite so easily as

you think. Besides, it is expected that we'll find a cure at Kerestia in a

matter of days," Janice offered optimistically,. "However, we cannot be

overconfident and should take the most precautions as possible from here on in."

"Right, I'll emergency transport to sickbay, so that I don't chance

infecting any others on my way to sickbay," Kaitlyn offered.

"That sounds like a good idea. I hope you'll have a speedy recovery. Take

care, Kaitlyn."

"Thanks... Janice," Kait almost whispered. Kait tapped her comm badge, and

said, "Lt. Brennan to Sickbay, requesting an emergency transport."

"And I'm sorry, too," Kaitlyn added as she was being transported away. Kait

was sorry for exposing her superior to the virus, and sorry for provoking

so

much negative emotions in such a kind-hearted person. Janice did not make

an attempt to respond to this, not only because she couldn't have known what

Kaitlyn meant, but also because there was not a chance to.

So, instead, she remained standing poised, until the sparkling blue lights

and Brennan were completely gone. The office returned to an uneasy quiet.

Janice sat down in her chair, weary of the emotional strain that had been

placed upon her in the last few hours. She didn't regret much of what she

had done - but she did regret the reaction she had given Kaitlyn. She would

have to take it easy on her. Leaning her head on her hand, she sighed.

A blinking light caught her eye. *A message?* she thought. She hoped it

wasn't from Kait - but how

could it be? She had just sent her out. Tapping the console, she played

the message.

[Commander, I most sincerely apologize for any ill feeling between us.

Perhaps we can have a little

chat together some time? Let me know.]

Janice's eyebrows furrowed. *What in the world?!* she thought, confused.

*Is this the same Brinn that

was in the meeting less than a half-hour ago?* She tapped the console

before her hesitantly, signaling a

reply, the burning feeling welling up in her chest again.

"Sure, Major. I would be happy to meet with you. Just tell me when and

where. I'll be there." Her

voice was cold. "Computer, end and send message." She stood and left her

office. She had a probe to prep.

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