Aknowledging orders

"Well people, the Alsea will be the sword... and we will be the shield."

Upon hearing the Fleet Captain's orders, Kheren nodded in silent aknowledgement. Then, as the assembly discussed in reaction to these directives, he spoke softly to his bridge officers.

"Mister Scott; you will increase ship's shields, inertial dampers and implement forcefields over all key areas of the ship. Work with science officer Norbert Baoule on this; energy fields is his area of expertise... and with his brother Robert, the power and propulsion expert from your department. Prepare damage control teams for major work while under fire."

The Andorian turned his white-haired head the other way around.

"Lieutenant Tyvya, Lieutenant Snow; you will conduct together preparation for evasive maneuvers and cover fire so that the Alsea will be able to concentrate on the offensive. Get in touch with the Alsea's own helm and tactical officers to coordinate. Prepare also for insertion and recovery of boarding teams and secure our own antiboarding protocols."

"Aye, Sir," both the Andorian giantess and the Inuit helmsman answered together.

"Doctor Nasaro-Myth, you will have to prepare yourself and the EMH grid for treating casualties; not only from our crew but from other ships as we are the largest one and may be called upon for rescue operations as much as for prisoner containement. Also, prepare for irradiation protocol in case we have to face thalaron weaponry and our metaphasic shielding fails."

"I will have all my department at the ready, Captain," answered the Deltan with a smile. But his smile faded when Kheren shook his head.

"No doctor. You will keep the entire EMH grid operational and only keep two medical field teams. Since we are expected to take the pounding, I want to reduce casualty risks as much as possible."

Not waiting for the doctor or anyone else to recover from surprise, Kheren addressed his chief of ops:

"Mister Brie, you will convert as much of our systems to automation as possible and provide back up resources to the EMH grid, the inertial damper systems and the forcefield matrix. I need the Artemis to be operational with less than a tenth of its normal complement. And I want bypass systems programmed to keep us operational when we will take damage."

The Andorian finally looked at his first officer.

"Number One, you will select seventy-five officers from our crew to man the Artemis and assign the rest to temporary duties here on the starbase. All departments except Security will be reduced to mission-specific essential personnel only. Favor security officers with cross training in technical duties to fill up our crew with as little personnel as possible."

His silvery eyes then looked straight at O'Conner.

"I also want you to thoroughly study diplomatic and tactical options regarding Romulans. Your counsel will be most needed. And if I am put out of commission, I want you to be fully able to face the Romulans on your own, be it accross a conference table or accross a battlefield."

O'Conner paused a moment at hearing Kheren's order to remove 75 crewmembers from the ship. He was shocked by the request and for a moment he began to think of who to turn away but then he just stopped and thought of his sister, his brother, his parents, and Akari. Deep down he knew he couldn't ask someone to watch from the sidelines.

"Of course I will study our enemy but sir, I will have to refuse the transfer order sir. I can't in good conscience turn away officers and crewmember away from a battle to protect that could determine the fate of their loved ones, the federation, and perhaps the galaxy as a whole."

Kheren was completely taken aback by Michael O'Conner's stand. In all the time they had served together, not once did he ever refused an order, even those he had doubts about. But now, he was... and the Andorian completely failed to understand why. What he said was so absurd that it took him a moment just to gather his thoughts and put them into words.

"So, instead, in good conscience, you would prefer seeing seven hundred brave Starfleet officers die uselessly?" the Andorian asked with disbelief in his voice. "This is no time for Human macho posturing, Commander. We do not need a full crew for a one light year trip where we are ordered to be the voluntary target of the most powerful battleship the Romulan Star Empire ever fielded; possibly armed with a superweapon and with only a thin energy shield between us and radiations that dissolves organic flesh in seconds."

With a tone that tolerated no doubt, he declared then:

"I care about the lives of my crew, Number One, not their egos."

Taking a breath to stay calm, the captain of the Artemis looked again at his First Officer.

"They can just as well serve this operation, protect their loved ones as you say, by serving here on the station... or as relief crew for all ships if things go sour... and live on to go and ensure the safety of those loved ones, without coming with us just to serve as meat shields. We only need seventy-five crewmembers to pull this off and probably die trying... any more will not help and only offer more lambs to the slaughter."

As he spoke, Kheren could see that he was not getting through to the man. And to see O'Conner, of all people, risk like this charges of insubordination from his commanding officer that could very well cost him his position, his rank and his career made him pause... long enough to consider this time not the reasons, obviously lacking in this bold refusal, but the emotions behind it.

And the crew of the Artemis was mostly Human... like Michael O'Conner.

Kheren sighed and looked again at him, his voice still hard but completely leveled.

"I hear you, Number One. Now hear me. You will transmit my orders, those of Fleet Captain Samji and everything I just said to you, faithfully, to every single crewmember. Then and only then, if any crewmember openly and without any coaxing freely express his desire to still be on board when we go, only such crewmember will be allowed to. Am I making myself clear, Commander?"

O'Conner was equally taken aback by Kheren's reply. While he understood that the Captain wished to protect his crew but the captain was starting to sound like he already given up any hope of victory or at least survival of the Artemis.

O'Conner wasn't there yet, nor was he going to let the Artemis be a mere meat shield. She might not be the most advanced ship of the fleet but he had full trust in his fellow officer. Wither it be Snow's maneuvers, Scotty's repairs or Nasaro-Myth's medical skill.

"Of course sir. I would not wish to drag any of the crew in to battle, but I fear you might have too little trust in our crew and our Maiden of the Hunt. She might not be the prettiest or quickest girl at the ball, but she turn a head or two. Not just be a hull to take fire that the fleet captain sees us as, sir."

While he did also trust in Tyvva's weapons, O'Conner was still a weapon engineer. So he wasn't about to just well enough alone and become a Romulan target drone. To O'Conner, there are many torpedoes just waiting to be tweaked and tuned up.

"Always hope for the best but prepare for the worst... I learned that one from Humans," said the Andorian in a slightly more relaxed tone. "I do trust both ship and crew; its the Romulans I do no trust."

Kheren took another deep breath and finally conceded to his first officer.

"Hopefully, your faith in our Goddess, or should I say, our faith in our ship, ourselves and each other, might just be what we need to pull this off. I will let you see what our shipmates say about it then."