Question of Duty by Junior Lieutenant James Monroe Monroe paced the length of his table as the monitor blinked with the word, "transferring." He had contacted Intel, using an indirect line that Captain Holden had showed him in case of anything that may prove serious. For Monroe it was serious enough, and waiting for the last thirty minutes went to further this belief. The screen went blank again and then replaced by his mentor. The Captain looked a little surprised but he sat back. "Monroe, this must be serious if you?re using this particular link," Holden said as he placed a PADD down. Monroe looked back, the pacing had gotten most of his attention. And what he wanted to state was also more to the point. He quickly took a seat, "you?re going to be pissed once I tell you why I contacted you." "Do I want to know?" Monroe looked at him, a serious face showing, "yeah. It?s here. On this ship. Captain, I have nothing to do here. I mean, I run regular duties which are fairly simple enough. And half my shift is pretty much a double check on all weapons. I have free time. I?ve never had free time since I joined Intel. This, this is... too much." "What are saying Monroe?" "I?m saying, is there any other place I can go? A planet wold be good right now..." Holden smiled, "that?s exactly what you?re supposed to be avoiding. Planet hopping. And orders are orders." "Yeah, I get that. But sitting about and doing nothing is not my idea of a day?s work. I don?t know Captain, being transferred for a set amount of time, and I can?t wait to get out of this place." "Don?t speak so soon. You?ve only been gone for about a week or two. It?s not as bad as you think it is." "Bad enough." "No. Just because you?re not in the middle of things doesn?t mean you come running back." "I didn?t say that," Monroe glared at him. Holden nodded, "which is why I said it for you." Monroe gave a sound somewhere between a chuckle and a sigh, "how goes the Dorvan mission?" Holden looked at him, "we weren?t talking about Dorvan." "I?m changing subjects." "I know, why?" "I need something better than whining about boredom to come back to Intel." It was Holden?s turn to smile, "yeah, but you?re not returning. Trust me, they want you out there. As for the mission, as far as the last update came about, it?s running as smooth as it could be. Considering that Dorvan is one of the more devastated colonies of the Cardassian Union, I?m a little by the smooth pace." "Bite your tongue, Capt, things never turn out as Intel or anybody would like. Especially with that kind of attitude." "Speaking of attitudes..." "We weren?t..." "I?m changing subjects." "Alright." "Look, Monroe, stay awhile. I already told you that us Intel don?t go on long durations of space flight. Most of us got the basic requirements and then settled somewhere behind the desk or began planet hopping. Since your requirement for space flight was met, Intel extended it a little longer so that the requirement was caught up. But I?m asking you to stay. If you really believe that you?re at the wrong place, I?ll have you transferred." "Back to Intel." Holden shook his head, "no kid, another ship. One way or the other lest you resign, you?re going to have to complete this." Monroe shook his head, but then Holden spoke up, "something?s up. I?ve got to go. Remember what I said, Monroe. Stay." The screen went black as Monroe could only see his dark outlines. Well, I certainly made my point across, he thought. It wasn?t the ship. It was him. A planet hopper like Monroe had no clue what to do at times like these. Intel always had something for him to do, and if there was spare time, a planet was more than adequate to immerse yourself in. But one a ship, he felt as if the world had shrunk, and his choices cut to almost nothing. Not to mention, the only one he knew of was Lissi, and even she was busy enough to keep herself occupied. He looked out the window and sighed. He would stay, and that was that. --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.