InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "non-defined non-conventional"

Jilleen Adel Simmons (absolutelysheba) wrote in kobols_legacies,
@ 2008-04-27 17:04:00

Entry tags:

( a completed scene), (c) jilleen simmons, (l) avalon

Proactive
“Frak, what have I done?” she said as she looked at herself in the mirror above the sink in the empty uni-sex rest room. Her little talk with Lt. Lancelot had accomplished no favor. The pilot was one of those who still believed in the honor code, like Jilleen once had before the start of the war. Her view changed after the start of the war and her experiences on the ground back in the Colonies.

If honor was so important, she should have stayed behind on Leonis with the un-selected and let someone else do the dirty work. Instead, she did her duty, like the rest of those with her on the ground to follow orders and to move on to the next assignment. Be that assignment to gather supplies or round up survivors to be rescued. There was no honor in what they had to do, nothing noble about leaving the un-selected, those un-important people. It did not make up for the fact that they did indeed rescue a good deal of people. Jilleen chose to live with that disappoint of having to leave.

How could a viper pilot understand that, one who saw things from a cockpit way above the ground, they did not have to live in the dirt. Lt. Lancelot and others can live with their honor intact.

Jilleen retrieved a tiny mint box from her pocket, and flip open the top. Small green mints were inside the box, along with two slightly darker green pills. It was those pills that Jilleen picked out of the box and then swallowed to help her get her mind straight. A minute passed as she took in some deep breaths.

She had to do something to prevent the whole situation that occurred with the civilian pilot from escalating out of her control. Jake could not be counted on to help her. He would automatically side with Anika without question. Jilleen could not talk to him.

Perhaps, Commander Burk could help; he was a Praetorian like herself. Yeah, she could go to him, but wait Jake would be a problem. Jilleen really believed he would go straight to the Admiral with this because Anika was his…She slapped her hands onto the counter. In a whisper she said to herself in the mirror, “How could he?”

A few seconds later someone came into the rest room and headed straight for one of the stalls. Jilleen straighten her hair and uniform, gather up her black binder and left the room. She had no choice, if she wanted to have some control of her fate, she would have to go directly to Admiral Sinclair. There was no where to hide, she had to take the chance and be proactive about this.

Jilleen made her way up to the upper levels of the Battlestar to meet the Admiral. Passed the marine sentries, she found the hatch open to the Admiral’s cabin suite. She took one step inside and without seeing the Strike Group Commander and stood at attention. “Admiral Sinclair, its me, Major Simmons, may I speak with you…Sir?”

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-28 04:56 am UTC (link)

Having given permission to enter, Sinclair had glanced up at the woman who entered the room. "Major," she greeted in a smile, "good to see you."

The blonde's face, however, did not seem to indicate this was a happy occasion. Something which, in turn, caused the Admiral to frown. The last time they had conversed, she had ordered the woman to get counselling sessions. She had no idea about the chemical addiction at work.

This did not bode well.

"OK," she urged, "I'm listening."

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absolutelysheba
2008-04-28 05:27 am UTC (link)

Jilleen broke from the position of attention and turned herself to face the Admiral. She looked around to see if anybody else was with her and found no one else there, except for Sinclair looking up at her from a chair a few steps away.

“Sir…uh.” She stopped to wet her lips. “I don’t know how to begin, I’m at a lost of words.” She squirmed a little where she stood as her mind seek for the words to explain her behavior. Without a thought she next moved to sit in a chair opposite of the admiral without asking permission to do so.

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-28 06:13 am UTC (link)

Sinclair was on the verge of saying something. The only reason she did not, was due to how the Operation Officer's expression registered an obviously distraught frame of mind. Desperation, indeed. Claudia had a job, but she was also versed in diplomacy.

"Take your time," she suggested.

The visitor seemed more like a schoolgirl trying to report a bullying session, than anything else. At least, that was sniclair's visual impression. It could literally be about anything. Because she had no idea what it was about, however, there was no indication of whether to offer affection or annoyance.

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absolutelysheba
2008-04-28 06:34 am UTC (link)

The moment gave her the extra time to get her head straight. She took a deep breath and focused her eyes upon her superior officer. “I’ve disgraced myself, I lost my cool with a civilian down in the hanger deck in front of others. I’ve…I let a personal matter interfere with my judgment, and all of it got out of hand, sir.”

She sighed. “I thought it best you heard it from me, first before a compliant was filed.” She felt better now admitting her fault, and glad as far she knew, Sinclair was hearing of it for the first time directly from her.

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-28 06:47 am UTC (link)

"I see..."

Leaning back in her seat, Admiral Sinclair eyed the woman with a mixture of disappointment and... Something else. A whole range of emotions, really. Because this was now a disciplinery matter. Something apparently dreastic enough to potentially cause an official complaint. Not just something private, but in front of others, too.

"Major Simmons, I've been asked to speak about a matter with your appointed counsellor, so, I want you to answer my next question truthfully. In light of this, I can only imagine they want me to be aware of your sessions not going well or... Just plain haven't been going, at all."

A pause.

"Which is it?"

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absolutelysheba
2008-04-28 07:20 am UTC (link)

Jilleen could see the disappointment on Sinclair’s face. It was like she had disappointed her mother when she was a child and done something that could have brought discredit to the family name. She felt like that child at this moment, that had a school teacher call home about her being a brat in class.

“I never show up for the appointment,” she admitted but felt she had to add an excuse other than she was not ready. “It was after the warning order was issued…I'd forgotten about my appointment time.” She swallowed remembering that she had not attempted to re-schedule it. “I mean to go.”

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-28 07:41 am UTC (link)

It was not loud, but Sinclair acted on the need to sigh. She had seen this sort of problem before. Obfuscation. Not something necessarily deliberate, but certainly a breach of conduct which would only continue to get more and more serious. "Firstly, I'd like to say I appreciate your honesty. It will be logged. You did the right thing, Major." Sinclair adopted what could be termed as a kind expression, when she said it. Claudia knew it was important to act with a maternal or sisterly manner, at times such as these. However, that did not mean to say her stance would necessarily soften. There were much harder decisions than these, which she had been forced to take. Still was, in fact. "Tell me... What happened with the civilian?"

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absolutelysheba
2008-04-28 08:36 pm UTC (link)

Jilleen brought her hands together, warming them by rubbing them to give her the sense of comfort. She was worried of the repercussions. There had been people their who witnessed her actions, a few could claim to had seen most and at least some of the things that occurred. It was a working hanger.

She cleared her throat to begin to speak of what happened, from the start. “Sir, it started when I went over to introduce myself and explained I was there to give her a visitor‘s briefing and explain why her ship was being held.”

“Her reply to me was ‘Why?’” She began to play in her mind the order of events and not her personal thoughts at the time which no one could know. “It was her tone or something, that I became suspicious of her. I had already been told that Major Sykes had already explained why her ship was being held. It was a ship that had special modifications that could evade detection, that could be useful for the upcoming close reconnaissance mission of the…tomb ships.

“The only civilian ships in my experience that used such capabilities were either government ships or used for smuggling.” Jilleen brushed back a strand of hair away from her face. “It peeked my interest, so I took it upon myself to probe a little.”

She stopped for a moment to allow the Admiral to ask a question or ask her to keep on with her version of events.

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-29 10:45 am UTC (link)

"Well, yes... I'd be interested to know that, too."

It made little sense to the Admiral. Surely, something which escaped DRADIS, IR and other standard detection methods, would need special clearance and flight plans, while shuttling between ships? To make sure it did not go off course or collide with something else, would be the main reasons, to say nothing of the confusion which should have already taken place, by now, in the heat of battle.

Now Sinclair most definitely wanted this fact verified. Why had she not been made aware of it before now, if it was actually true?

"Go on."

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absolutelysheba
2008-04-30 05:16 am UTC (link)

Jilleen was encouraged by the comment of the senior officer as a validation and so continued.

“I’d countered her question with several of my own. Firstly, I’d asked if she was perhaps hiding something aboard her ship, contraband maybe. I’d then added something in the line of letting her know that her ship was proof of her illegal activities.” In the back of Jilleen’s mind she knew that what she confessed could be damning to her, but the semerald in her system released some of her inhibitions. “I gave examples of what I could imagine she might have done as a smuggler, from transporting illegal narcotics to running guns for Sagittarian terrorist.”

Jilleen’s eyes shifted to the right for a moment and then back again on the commanding officer. “I must confess, I’ve watched one too many bad cop movies. My line of questioning had gone over the top, like some very poor customs agent or obnoxious traffic cop.” Her lips form a thin line of a smile for a brief moment finding that image amusing.

“I’d realized I had deviated from my purpose. It wasn’t my place to interrogate. None the less, this caused a strong reaction from Miss Jereldsen, the owner and pilot of the ship. She flew into a blind rage, raised her voice, and cursed for all to hear in the immediate hanger.” She thought of the scene in her mind.

“She warned me that I would regret what I had said to her, and that I would require a lawyer. She pointed her finger at me, threatening to jab me with it.” Jilleen mimicked the same with her finger in the air, then used both her hands in a gesture of mini explosion near the face. “Her face had turned into a crimson eruption, her eyes swelled with anger added to the horrific scene she made for everyone there to see. She then declared that she was going to take me down.” She sighed.

“Lieutenant Lancelot could testify to that, she was standing near by as surprised as everyone around, and I dare say she was ready to come to my assistance if the woman escalated to the level of violence.” Jilleen knew that Slingshot could not deny that no matter what she believed occurred right before. The testimony from the young lieutenant that she had worried about evaporated once she past this point.

“I stood and remain silent not wanting to dignify the woman’s threats with a reply, not in the state that she was in. I thought it best to wait for her calm down before I proceeded with the reading the order of compulsory acquisition, to hold her ship for service.”

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admiralsinclair
2008-04-30 10:59 pm UTC (link)

What had, at first, seemed like a legitimate concern now was revealed to have become something completely different and, as Sinclair listened, so she found reason to gradually sink forehead into hand. The whole thing really did sound like a mess. The last thing they needed was to ferment distrust amongst the civilian population, at a time like this.

"Major, asking a few cursory questions is one thing. Casting outright accusations without proof, is quite another. Especially if you're doing so in the capacity of a Colonial warrior. If her property was impounded, then it's no wonder she was in a foul mood..."

She was glad for the woman's honesty. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of something very unpleasant having been revealed. Tapping one finger upon her desk, the Admiral came to a decision.

"I suggest you write this up in a formal report, while it's still fresh in your mind, along with locations, times and the names of any witnesses who can verify what was said and by who. If the civilian does see fit to register an official complaint, you might find yourself in need of it. However... For disobeying direct orders and, considering how this seems to have resulted from your not attending said-counselling session, I have no choice but to place you on temporary leave. You are to report for the first of these session, as soon as possible. Immediately, if able. Tomorrow, if not. When you've worked through some of these issues, hopefully you can return to your job... I don't say this because I enjoy it, I say it because it's necessary. Am I understood?"

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absolutelysheba
2008-05-01 12:08 am UTC (link)

“But…” She wanted to protest that she was needed in operations, but the Admiral’s had made her decision. She would not be able to participate in impending operation. What else could she had expected? She regretted ever going down to the hanger.

“Understood sir,” Jilleen came up on her feet and stood at attention. “I’ll relinquish my duty, write up a formal report, and see about beginning…therapy, immediately.” Her hand came up to salute with a slight tremble.

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admiralsinclair
2008-05-01 12:21 am UTC (link)

"Courage, Major," the Admiral advised. For disobeying direct orders over such a prolonged period of time, she was getting off lightly, all things considered. Perhaps Sinclair wanted her around to jump in, at short notice, should something go wrong with the upcoming mission. Or maybe she felt that, with all the other probloems apparently in the young woman's life, too much might push her over the proverbial edge.

Whatever the case, it was said and, now, done.

If a complain was filed, however, that might just change things.

"Dismissed."

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