It May Have Been Disobedience, But I Don't Think it Was Wrong.

[Rebecca Talon]

She laughed, but there was no humor in it, "Lt. Commander. I didn't have that fourth pip very long did I?" She reached up to her collar and pulled off two of the gold pips and stared down at them in her palm. "Oh and under no uncertain terms would I get to command a ship again." She sighed and flung the pips across the room in frustration. "I think the only reason I'm not spending three years in a penal colony is because Commander Tomarah and Senetor Cretak went to bat for me. And poor Ben sitting up there. You could see on his face when Admiral Ross read the verdict it was killing him. He had the same expression when I tried making him jambalaya."

[Nick Ryder]

"Ever since Odyssey and Enterprise were destroyed... losing a Galaxy class has been like losing the royal crown or something. I think the line was 'they represent the best of Starfleet and the Federation and the loss of one is psychologically damaging to everyone." Nick said as he reached into his case and pulled out one of the spare half pips that were in his case onto Becca's collar. "Hey they busted me down to Lt. Commander when I lost that ship last year, but I got back up. Even though I'm Admiral May's ferry man. V'Pier in SI has been telling me that if I got tired of engineering he'd find a nice field office to head up. So there are ways back to that four pip life and a Captain's chair." he sat down and looked at the padd she was given. "Although this does give you an excuse to come work with me. The Independence project is going to start as soon as we get the mothball fleet rebuilt. That Battleship they want... that'll kick start some more building, because we need to match size for size, but if nothing else we need to know more intimately what we're up against."

He ran his hand through his hair. "I just got word, that out of our graduating class... there's only about a dozen of us still alive, out of 200. This war is bloody and it's just getting started... do you remember that ship concept you were playing around with? We could use something like that. Something big, fighter focused and multi vectored. A battlegroup of one almost." Nick gave her a look. "Hey Ben Sisko developed the Defiant when he was just a Lt. Commander. Now look at that thing, it's the ship of the war. We're already building more variants of it, if my own ship loss taught us one thing, was what did work out of the new design. Solidarity 2 will be sturdier. My dream ship, the Independence would actually be able to build them in the field, or at least take unfinished space frames and finish them en route."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Always the dreamer," Rebecca said with a smile. "And oddly enough you usually make it happen eventually. Look, I know you're trying to cheer me up. In truth, I don't even know how I feel. Angry of course. I saved an ally. I helped someone in need, and I was betrayed, now I'm embarrassed, shocked. On one hand after Wolf 359 I never wanted to put this uniform on again. I had wanted to be a starship captain ever since I was a little girl. My mom was my hero even if she was just the XO. But, I'd made me peace, but then I was given a second chance. A second chance I wanted no part of, but I fulfilled my dream kicking and screaming, and now... proof gone. And even that's bitter sweet. I can walk away from Starfleet at the end of the war and be done with it."

[Nick Ryder]

"Yeah but you'll be bored." Nick replied. "Every single CO at some point goes 'oh it'll be sooooo nice to retire..." then it happens and they're bored out of their fucking skulls and either end up back in the black as a freighter captain, they beg for their commission back and find some way to get re-activated or they turn into dust and go on the missing roster." he put his hands on her shoulders. "And I care too much about you to see you go on the missing roster. Besides if I let anything happen to you Nancy and Noella and Tom are going to kick my ass from Alpha to Delta Quadrants." he put an arm across her shoulders. "C'mon Becca, let's get you good and shitfaced. You kinda earned it either way. I'll just have Quark put it on SIsko's tab."

"I really wish you wouldn't use me for that kind of thing Nicholas." a holographic blonde with a padd in her hand said as she materialized. "Sorry to butt in but Chief O'Brien is requesting an extra set of phaser coil couplings and as many quantum torpedo guidance boards as he can get."

"BECKI..." Nick closed his eyes and groaned. "If I give him as many as I know he wants, then I'll have to short the other stops." he shook his head and did some mental calculations. "We can do the extra coil couplings but the most we can give him are twenty boards, I can't give him that many because the Defiant isn't built to hold that many and the others are going to bitch."

"It's for DS9..." Becki replied.

"Oh frak it all... that's right... ugh. Fine. Forty but he's gotta give me at least a crate of isolinear control boards that I can have the bots repurpose. The Captains hate them but what'll ya do?" Nick said and looked at Becca. "And this is why we need carrier battleships... we can have them ferry more shit. Or mobile drydock ships... tell you what... get drunk with me and the sister in law and whoever else wants to. Give it a day to mull over and then... if you take that assignment with Julie and Ru... I'll see what good will I can generate with Scotty and whoever else you haven't managed to make mad at you and I'll get you on a project. This is the farthest out from Sol I've been in months, BUT I miss seeing the rug rats. Mom has them at the clinic in Poland, her XO's got the Hope doing medical relief. Federation smartly decided to keep any VIPs that need medical care out of the main medical centers." he whispered. "Don't let it get out but... we've had a rash of Dominion hired bounty hunters going after high level officers and government officials. I didn't believe it until I saw the headless bounty hunter my mother in law killed that was going after Japan's counsel members."

[Rebecca Talon]

"That doesn't make sense. The Changlings have proven on several occasions that they just can go just about anywhere." She waved a dismissive hand, "Not my circus, not my monkeys. That is definitely above my pay grade. Especially now. Now, I'll take a rain check on the drink. I'm going to find your wife and see about that fiasco and get it over with, and see if I can find a chief engineer's opening in the fleet."

[Nick Ryder]

"Yeah but a Changling will fail a blood check... a bounty hunter on the other hand... these are confusing times. I would not at all be shocked if there's an open attack in the Sol System at some point." Nick replied. "Julie's going to be at the bar anyway... so you're getting a drink with one of us one way or another. C'mon... it's not like I'm going to get you wasted. Hell, I can nurse a single drink most of the night. Not even about the drink, it's the venting."

[Rebecca Talon]

She threw her hands up in defeat, "Fine. I'll go."

[Nick Ryder]

"That's the spirit! Reluctant resignation to having fun!" Nick chuckled. "Hey, I care about ya... depressed drinking with friends is way better than depressed drinking alone." he walked with her toward the turbolift. "And Julie will be on her best behavior. She's been seeing a counselor... working out some of her issues. Although she's got more issues than the National Geographic. It's like there's two women in there, one that's decent and friendly and one that's just an utter hell beast. Which has put her at odds with her family as well as mine." he shook his head. "Her father, who hates me... actually stopped talking to her. Her mother... she's indifferent. Probably because Julie's a carbon copy of her. Right down to the biting, overly honest barbs she'll toss out." he whispered. "Why do you think I'm only spending a day or so here? Last time we spent more than two days together since this war started, we either argued back and forth or she just wanted to have sex... like every where. Therapy does seem to be helping."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Yeah... helping. I've heard that before," Rebecca said dryly. "Just ask your daughters about that." She hesitated as they approached the lift, "I should change. Dress uniform might not be appropriate for the setting."

[Nick Ryder]

"I'll wait until their old enough to really understand what mommy does for a living..." Nick winced. "Daddy builds cool things. Mommy... does bad things to bad people." he shook his head and glanced at Becca. "Yeah the dress uniform is a bit formal, I'm just stripping down to my t-shirt. And no it's not the 'Engineers do it in Jefferies Tubes'. It's my Bowie one. We can be heroes... just for one day."