Consequences and Truth

It was as Jureth was reaching the door of the Lotus Fleet war room that the stern voice called out to him.

"Captain Oseno, a word." 

He turned around facing both Allen Samji and Rear Admiral Kotari. The look on the admiral's face told the Bajoran that he had no clue what this was about, but Jureth didn't need to be told.

"Yes Sir?" 

"Not here," Fleet Captain Samji stated "My office, ten minutes." 

"Aye Sir." 

Jureth left the room and immediately began preparing his own defense. He knew he'd have to answer to Samji eventually and it seemed it was time to pay the piper.  The actions he'd taken after the Omega message had appeared on the Alsea's bridge consoles has caused a station wide alert, and lockdowns on all of the other moored vessels. Cat had grilled him mercilessly when he'd finally come back to the base, but of course he hadn't been able to tell his fiance anything about what had happened. The walk to Samji's office didn't take Jureth but five minutes to complete and so he waited coming up with all of the responses he could possibly think of to anything the Fleet Captain might throw at him. Part of him still expected security to show at any moment but then he realized they'd just given him command of the Omega mission so locking him up would be counter-productive. 

Samji finally came striding down the passage way, notably without Rear Admiral Kotari. His strides were quick and full of purpose and as he didn't speak until he was almost past Jureth.

"With me Captain." 

Jureth fell in behind the senior officer who turned to the  junior grade lieutenant sitting at the reception desk.

"The Captain and I are not to be disturbed Lieutenant." 

"Yes Sir." 

Again Jureth followed behind Samji into the inner office. He had been here once before, when he'd been given command of the Alsea, and that of course had been a much more pleasant meeting than he new this one was about to be.

"Have a seat Captain Oseno." 

Jureth nodded and sat himself in one of the two chairs in front of the Fleet Captain's desk as Samji walked around behind it seating himself and sitting for a moment in silence before he finally spoke.

"Captain...do you have any idea what an upheaval you caused with that stunt you pulled? I had to put this entire station on alert. The other vessels that are docked here had to be locked down, security teams deployed to every vulnerable space, a message sent to fleet command all because of you. Now tell me, just what in the name of the Bajoran Prophets were you thinking? I would really like to know."

Jureth hesitated, but only for a moment to compose his thoughts "Sir, the Alsea was compromised. She had little crew on board, civilians in some of her vital spaces, and when that message appeared my first instinct as a security officer was secure my ship." 

"You are not a security officer Captain, you are a command level officer in the most respected division of Starfleet. You compromised the operation of this station because of your instinct!" 

Samji wasn't yelling, but his voice was stern and cold. It was a posture that Jureth had never seen before from the normally easy going Lotus Fleet commander. 

"With all respect Sir I disagree. What I did was secure the Alsea, and give myself time to take the steps that I was trained to take to respond to that message. I did what was necessary Sir." 

Samji looked at Jureth for a long moment "Necessary? You call raising the ship's shields in space dock necessary?" 

"Yes Sir I do. It prevented anyone outside the ship from interfering with the Omega Protocol which you know as well as I do required me and only me to verify the detection and contact Starfleet Command." 

"I know exactly what it requires Captain, and it damned sure doesn't say anything about practically hijacking a Starfleet vessel."

Jureth was insulted at the insinuation behind Samji's statement, and the stubborn Bajoran let the senior officer know it in no uncertain terms.

"Had the Alsea been operating away from the base Sir I wouldn't have had to take the steps I took. I stand by my actions Sir, whether you like them or not." 

"Watch your tone Captain, you are very close to being insubordinate." 

Jureth opened his mouth to reply and then stopped for a moment to compose himself finally only managing a rather tame "Aye Sir," in response.

Samji sighed "The fact is Captain I considered having you detained, but Admiral Nova wouldn't allow it. It seems our CNO holds you in high esteem, so consider yourself lucky." 

As he finished Samji pushed a PADD toward Jureth 

"This is a formal letter of reprimand from myself and approved by Rear Admiral Kotari. Sign it and it will be placed in your permanent record." 

Jureth looked at the PADD and then pushed it back at Samji.

"I'm not signing that Sir." 

"Excuse me Captain?" 

"I'm not signing it because to do so would acknowledge that I acted improperly, that I did something wrong. I did nothing wrong Sir." 

"Your actions Captain-"

This time Jureth didn't hold back and cut Samji off

"Were valid given the situation Sir, and if I had to do it all over again I would react the exact same way." 

The anger in Samji's eyes was quite evident to Jureth just as it had been in the war room, and he wondered if he'd finally pushed the Fleet Captain too far. It was a long moment of tense silence before the Hindu man finally spoke again.

"Fine, have it your way Captain. The reprimand is going into your record with or without your signature, your objection will be noted and if you'd like to dispute it further you are entitled to a court-martial trial. The truth is Lotus Fleet and by extension Starfleet needs you Captain Oseno whether I agree with your methods or not. We cannot afford to throw you in the brig right now. You are the most experience command officer left on this station. Now you have a ship to look after and a mission to prepare for. I hope for your sake we don't meet like this again. You are dismissed." 

Jureth rose and left the office letting out a sigh of relief as the doors closed behind him.