in the Dog house part 2

Posted on 18 Jan 2020 @ 1:16am by Lieutenant Harry Stevens & Lady Sif & Lieutenant Commander Rafe Cassidy (Jan 2389 - TRNSFR After Gorn War)

Mission: Hahai i na pilikua nui - Hunting Monsters
Location: Mess Hall- Uss Hawaii

Having been demoted again, Lieutenant Harry Stevens sat in the Hawaii's Mess Hall with a beer in his hand and began to drown his sorrows, as he thought to himself oO What the hell have I done to deserve this? Oo as he still hadn't known why he had been made acting chief, now all of a sudden he was now just a Security Grunt. as he picked up the beer and took a swig of it, he caught a glimpse of Lady Sif who lay quietly next to her bowl of water, he looked at her for a minute and hoped that the new chief would not remove her from his side.

Just then the sounds of the Mess hall doors opened and Harry wondered whom it was that had entered here, he turned round to see who it was as he noticed Sif prick her ears up at the sound of the doors and then waited for anything.

Cassidy had made it to the bar and got his own drink before he looked over and spotted Harry - and the beer. He headed over, gesturing to the other man's glass. "Mind if I join you, or are you working through that on your own?"

"Yeah you can join me, but I doubt I'll be much talkative," replied Harry as he took a sip of the beer once more, He continued, "I got Demoted again and I don't know why?" as he picked up the glass and took another sip, he finished, " I'm gona get myself drunk," as he knew that it had upset him badly.

"Okay." Cassidy took a moment with that revelation. Then sipped his drink. "Not sure what I can do to help about that. You certain getting drunk in here is your best bet?"

"What would you do then Rafe?" replied Harry as he took another gulp of the cold liquid and then motioned to the waitress so he could order another beer. he continued, " I just don't know where I went wrong?" as the waitress came over, he said to her "same again please,"

Cassidy took another slow sip of his drink. "If you don't know what you've done, then that sounds like step one to me," he said philosophically. "Hate to sound like someone starched my collar, but this is Starfleet. There'll be a reason; go up your chain of command and ask. But..." Another swig as he eyeballed the other man. "How old are you, Harry?"

As the sounds of laughter rang around the Mess hall, Harry looked at the frosted glass of beer and responded, "23, why do you ask?"

"This is a Sovereign-class starship with a crew of almost 800, 150 of which are officers," Cassidy reeled off calmly. "She's one of the most advanced classes of ships in the fleet on a major war front. That makes Hawaii a prestigious assignment. It isn't just an achievement for you to have served as a department head this soon out of the Academy. It's astonishing. And it could only be temporary."

"So, what you are saying is take it on the chin," asked Harry picking up the frosted glass and looked back at Cassidy, he finished," and work at it so that I make it mine for good next time,"

"Taking it on the chin's pretty much your only option. You can make a formal appeal, but Harry - we're in a war-zone. I don't think you'll find much sympathy for a junior officer on a prime posting disgruntled because he got passed over for advancement." Cassidy shrugged, but gave a sympathetic smile. "It's hard to take. But you get to do the job you love. Maybe this is just 'cos I'm not much one to think about career advancement, but isn't that the important thing? Doing what you're good at?"

"Then it looks like that's what I have to do then," replied Harry as he took a sip, he continued, "Maybe this will let me get better," as the laughter continued to ring out around him. he finished, "Thanks Rafe, I just needed someone to talk to,"

Cassidy had a swig of his beer. "It's what the lounge is here for; talking," he pointed out. "We've got huge careers ahead of us, so just relax a bit. Enjoy the ride. Except for the whole war front, I guess."

" I guess," replied Harry as he knew he needed to do something to take his mind off of things, Maybe even take Sif to the Holodeck for a run and exercise, he finished, " I know I haven't been the best person here lately and am sorry for it," as he said that his combadge chirped.

To be continued.....

Lieutenant Jg Harry Stevens
Security, K9 Division

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Lady Sif
SFWD, K9 Division

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