Subject: Grail: "Thank Q"- `Staff Meeting' - Lunch break discussions

After being dismissed, Corvette quickly raised from his seat, but before he left the room, he went over to the captain, just to say hello. Even when he was as angry and irritated as he was now, he had learned that good manners, and good behavior were a very good mask against those other not so healthy to show emotions. Besides, if he was about to let himself be driven by his primal and not very cultivated emotions, he would end up in one of the worst assignments available for a starfleet officer.... And although he was in what probably was one of those worse than hell assignments, he had always known the motto: "There's always gonna be something lower that what you think to be the lowest of them all.", and he wasn't going to let his emotions guide him into that very worst.

After saluting the captain and exchanging some small talk remarks, he headed out of the room. He was about to go for a walk to cool his temper down, when he bumped into the newly promoted Lt. (jg) John Parker. Not only that, but he had been double promoted and now he had become his assistant chief of operations. Corvette just approached him, grabbed his hand, and told him, "Congratulations. Seems like we are about to work very closely from now on...." and without waiting for an answer he headed for the door and left the room.

Walking around a ship had never soothed him down, but walking around the Grail was far even worse than his previous experiences. He hated it. Perhaps now accentuated by the fact that he had been holding his anger for the past 20 minutes, until he couldn't resist himself no more. Hunt headed back into the conference room, and approaching Cmdr. Terrakian, he spoke to his ear: I think we need to talk, and we need to talk right now...

Cmdr. Terrakian excused himself from the person he was talking and they both headed into the a corner of the room.

"What is the problem Mr. Hunt?" asked Epic warmly.

"Permission to speak freely, sir!" said Corvette in a highly militaristic and obvious angry tone.

"By all means." was Epic's response, now more focused and worried on what Corvette was about to say. Last time he had spoken to him, all he could feel, were small traces of emotions within his officer, but this time it looked he wasn't even trying to conceal his emotions, and he felt a swarm of all sorts of negative emotions coming out of his body.

"Look here. I can understand that you don't want me to work on the surface, that you don't need, as the captain's words were, 'Now, before I hear anything about rank, John Parker is the officer I chose. Live with it. Look at his record and you'll agree he is the man for the job.'. I can 'live with it'."

"Go on" said Epic.

"I can even understand when he indirectly said to me or my department that "...if they are not as disclosing as we hope. Nothing clandestine. We ask questions. We smile politely at the answers....'

"I see." said once more Epic, holding himself to whatever would come next.

"But what I could never understand is WHY THE HELL has Parker being promoted, double promoted, not only from ensign to a junior grade lieutenant, and also appointed as MY assistant chief of operations, without any consultation, without any planification, without even I being informed of this going to happen?" Corvette was enraged, but he wasn't out of control as he thought he would be. Although he turned around to see that several officers had turned in his direction trying to overhear whatever they were talking about.

"All I can say, is that it was the captain's decision. Nothing more, nothing less." responded calmly Epic.

"I would appreciate it sir, that in the future, any departmental changes, like in any other starfleet's vessel to be consulted first with the head of it's department, and not let it be an unilateral decision."

"Your request has been noted, Hunt. Is that all?" Epic asked relieved not to have to continue this argument any more that he had already done so.

"Yes sir. Excuse me sir, I have some work to do, and I'll return for the rest of the meeting shortly."

Corvette excused himself and once more he headed out of the conference room, only this time, he went into his quarters to relax and calm down for whatever hold the rest of the meeting.