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

[Julie Lei]

"Well, Nick would probably pull for you to get assigned to the ASDB with him." Julie looked at her drink. "Or I could talk to my superiors, they could always use a seasoned CO to run our black ops ships." she put the glass down and looked at Becca. "Or... they're going to fucking promote you and you're going to be behind a desk and giving T'Vol orders."

[Rebecca Talon]

Rebecca laughed at the thought feeling not at all charitable towards the Vulcan that refused to help an ally and then left her out to dry. "The problem with the promotion is that incompetence seems to fail upward. I hope you don't see me as incompe... Never mind don't answer that."

[Julie Lei]

"Rebecca I see you as a great many things, but incompetent's hardly a word I'd use to describe you." Julie replied. "Look, I may have been... jealous of you in the past and we've rarely seen eye to eye, but I do consider you someone I respect. And frankly, you have more sense than half the Admiralty does at this moment. Hell, I've... removed a couple of them personally. The things that go on in the upper echelons of Starfleet at times is despicable and I can understand why the Dominion want to rule us, we're horrible. BUT that's no reason to let others suffer." she crossed her legs and leaned over slightly. "Play their games and then... play it against them. Once this war is over you're going to be needed to pick up the pieces. You're a good woman Rebecca, never let anyone tell you otherwise. Take it from a woman who, and I quote, has a heart blacker than space and colder than the Andorian poles. I found that so poetic I committed it to memory. See even in our fights you maintain the high ground and remain memorable."

[Rumiko Lei]

"There you are!" Rumiko exclaimed as she walked into Quark's and walked over to Becca and Julie. "Dammit Julie you could have told me that you were coming here, I have spent the last two hours in a crawl space waiting for our target and you were going to bring me something to drink... "

"Oh shit... sorry... I was following someone else and then saw Becca..." Julie said with a slight blush. "Sorry."

"Riiight. Well I finished it so now you can pay for my drinks since you already started a tab." Ru grumbled and looked at Becca. "How can you lose a ship, face a court martial and still look gorgeous Rebecca? You look younger every time I see you."

"You trying to turn her to your side sis?" Julie said with a sly smirk. "Ru was trying to get assigned to the Denver as an Intel officer."

"Hey after that last mission, I'm still going to try and get a starship assignment. This is a wig by the way." Ru tugged on her hair. "I am through infiltrating smuggling operations. I want to have hair and wear clothes that don't smell like Targ piss."

[Rebecca Talon]

"Look, Starfleet is experiencing a serious shortage of man power, and even more so with experienced commanders. The most likely scenario I recive a formal reprimand, and given command of an old Miranda or Constellation, and I'll never make admiral. Of course they could bust me down to ensign and I'm spending the rest of the war scrubbing plasma conduits."

[Rumiko Lei]

"I entirely doubt that. Besides, if they do mess with you... they deal with people like us." Ru said and glanced at her hand and reached into her pocket and handed Becca a small disk. "Oh and Nick's on his way, partially to deliver some new warp coils for the Defiant and partially to be in your corner."

"First time I'll have seen him in a month... you'd think we weren't married or something." Julie deadpanned.

"Oh he wants to be around you, just when you're not in spy chick mode." Ru said with a chuckle and stole Julie's drink. "Y'know if the Romulans were to go to bat on your behalf... the worst you get is a slap on the wrist and chalk it to the war. Still, I think you should go to Mars, work with the Engineers there, Nick complains to me that he's overworked."

"Doesn't complain to me." Julie replied.

"Because you give him the 'talky hand' gesture when he does. He's been joking that he's going to teach the kids to hold tools and do repairs for him." Ru chucked.

[Rebecca Talon]

Rebecca crossed her arms and stared suspiciously across the table at both if them, Julie in particular. "Okay Jules spill it. What are you up to? I haven't heard you say so many nice things to me ever. I know you saw me as competition for Nick, but the truth is you were only competing with yourself. So, again what are you up to?"

[Julie Lei]

"I can't be nice to you? We spent most of our adult lives together. I've known you almost longer than her." Julie glanced at Rumiko. "She insisted on going to that boarding school in Kyoto."

"Well I had friends and I liked Japan, I didn't want to keep moving with dad and mom, I wanted to keep going. Besides... out of us Lei girls I'm the only one with an advanced degree." Ru replied.

"And now you blow shit up with me." Julie chuckled.

"Hey why do you think they called that one agent 'lefty'? Because he blew up the entire right side of his body because he didn't understand chemicals and compounds." Rumiko said and shrugged her shoulders. "I also majored in political sciences and diplomacy... would have gotten my Ph.D if some bitch didn't take the topic I wanted to make my dissertation on and I didn't want to spend more time in university... i wanted to get out into the world."

"Which... is why I came to see you... partially to be nice, I mean, we could have lost you. And I'd... miss you if anything happened. And... because Starfleet Intel and the FSS are working together. We're trying to find a way to disable Jem'Hadar ships remotely, we know there's a way. Anyway... while Sisko's 'find' helped us we need something... bigger. Intel thinks if we can get our hands on a Battleship we'll have a bit more to work with, since the Raider that Sisko acquired isn't as robust as the Battleships that launch those fighters. Nicholas is on support but he can't be a part of it. Admiral May has him on another mission after he leaves here. Trust me, I tried to pull him, but May told me to get in line, because she called dibs first. Sometimes I hate that woman." she rolled her eyes. "Anyway... I need an engineer and a seasoned starship commander. A strike team will secure the ship, but it's getting it back to Federation space that's the trick and a half."

"By the time we get to it, the Strike team will have either completed the mission or they'll have failed in which case, we're to pick up the survivors if there are any and try our best to destroy it to keep the mission under wraps." Rumiko added. "That's why I'm part of this insane mission, but V'Pier assures us that this will go off smoothly, but it's the warm bodies to run the ship and start studying it that's going to be the real big risk."

"And I'm only a Lt. Commander, there are Commanders on the team, even a Captain. So... who would they listen to? Me or you? I promised Nick I wouldn't be the seductress anymore..." Julie chuckled.

"And I'm sure as hell not seducing a crew to work for me. I'm only a Lieutenant." Rumiko replied. "Now... whatever way this court martial goes... we'll still have your back, but you may be disobeying orders if you work with us after they bust you down or put you on suspension."

"Or they'll just tell you 'don't do it again' and a long winded speech about 'how crucial all our ships are and how dare you lose a Galaxy class in the middle of a war' and make you feel 2 inches tall. But they still end up doing nothing of note besides a 'nasty letter in your file' which... pfft... you should see mine. Results matter more." Julie said and smirked. "Besides, if this mission goes south and you make it out and I don't... then I got what I deserved for being a bitch to you for how many years?"

[Rebecca Talon]

"Yeah, I figured you wanted something," Rebecca replied. "I'll tell you what. I'll give you your answer tomorrow."


<Next Day, Ward Room, DS9>

Rebecca sat silently at the defendant's table with her hands rest on her thighs. At the judge's table Captain Sisko, Admiral Ross, and Captains Janice Fontana, Lloyd Freedman, and T'rell of Vulcan rounded out the panel.

"Will the defendant please rise," Ross announced.

Rebecca stood and snapped to attention. She stared at the wall above Ross' head where there was a weird looking spot in the paint.

"Captain Rebecca Rose Sandoval. On this stardate:51576.76 in the case of Captain Rebecca Sandoval vs. Starfleet Command this court has come to a verdict in the following charges:

"Charge one: willful disregard for the safety of the officers under your command this court finds you guilty.

"Charge two: dereliction of duty leading to the destruction of NCC-58471, U.S.S. Denver, this court finds you guilty.

"Charge three: willful disobedience of a direct order from a superior officer this court finds you guilty.

"In light of the testimony today given by Commander Tomarah t'Sei, Senetor Cretak, and your former executive officer, and the fact that we are a war this court has decided on leniency. Instead of a three year prison sentence that we could rightfully impose on you, you will remain in Starfleet with a demotion to Lieutenant Commander. There will also be a formal reprimand in your file and it is unlikely you will ever command a starship again. This case is closed." With that Ross banged the gavel signifying the end of the proceedings.

Rebecca returned to her seat and stared blankly across the room. She hadn't been tossed into the brig, but to be honest the demotion was almost as much a punch in the gut. The odd thing was, was she normally had a sense of the outcomes of these things, but this time nothing.

Now what would she do? Well, she was an engineer. There had to be plenty of ships in the fleet that needed an experienced chief engineer. Perhaps she could resign. Would Starfleet let her? It was a time of war after all. It is possible that submitting her resignation could lead to another court martial she mused.

No, it is best she just made the best of a rotten situation, and once this war was over she would go back home to her beloved Rocky Mountains. Maybe even meet a guy and start a family. That had a certain appeal.

[Nick Ryder]

Waiting outside the Ward Room, Commander Nick Ryder was sitting on a crate fiddling with a broken tricorder as he waited to see his friend come out. He was on a time line but he had to be there to support his oldest and dearest friend. He knew Julie and the 'spook network' had a job for her, regardless how things turned out. Still a part of him wanted to take her back with him to Mars to Utopia Planetia, to work with the other genius engineers in the ASDB... even though he knew that working with Intel would also mean a feather in her cap and may regain any lost status. It did help him when he had his court martial for the Solidarity incident, which was why he was still a 'Commander' and not a Captain.

He saw the Admirals leave and basically ignored him, which was fine by him, few paid attention to engineers sitting on crates messing with things, which was one reason why Intel was so hot to recruit people like him.

Rebecca had not left the room so he got up and looked inside.

"Hey red. How did it go?" Nick said as he walked in and crossed his arms. "Since Security didn't escort you out, you're not getting the Brig. How far they demote you?"