"Oh he'll come," Kal said. "He'll come whether he wants to or not and goddammit I just realized how bad that sounded."

She noticed it though. How nervous Maggie seemed about taking command. Quickly changing the topic, Kal said, "Anyway, since cap's fucking AWOL, I will officially take on the responsibility of making tactical decisions for the crew until everyone gets their shit together. I may be on permanent shore leave, but I figure I still got more combat experience than the rest of you fucking shit-for-brains put together. So!"

Kal clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Here's the plan. I want a five-man group. Two soldiers, two diplomats, and one that's both. That means we bring Bitchy. We're gonna wanna unleash the beast on this one in case shit goes pear-shaped. Mags, you're with me and Mallory. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid when I'm not looking. Bolts can come with us too if she needs to. If she doesn't, find someone more expendable, preferably someone wearing a red shirt."

Annalynn sighed. "Ms. Rama, three things. First of all, your combat experience is appreciated, but irrelevant to the nature of the mission and nullified by the nature of your discharge from the Marine Corps. Second, you are in no position to take on the responsibility of the ship's tactical decisions, being that you do not outrank any current serving crew member, so again, while your tactical expertise is appreciated, we must still make decisions as a crew. That means co-operation, Kal, not a dictatorship." Annalynn began to sound like a kind, lecturing mother, but it wasn't anything Kal wouldn't be used to. Annalynn had had to look after far too many of the crew as her own children the past couple days.

She continued, "And finally, thank you for so eloquently rephrasing the plan that has already been discussed and developed. Your input is appreciated." Annalynn smiled, quietly hoping that the passive-aggression would be felt in the room and Kal would back down slightly.

On second thought, Annalynn realized her passive-aggression was just as likely to backfire on her as much as it was to work. Shit.

Kal snorted in derision. "Try listening next time us old folks are talking. Maybe you'll learn something. I said we need a five-man group, not four, and we're not bringing you. With the cap'n gone, essential personnel shouldn't leave the fucking ship unless it's absolutely fucking necessary. It's that fucking simple. I need Mags in person to do all the official business 'n shit while we're out there. If we need you, we can just get by using an intern and a livechat app. Little bastards ought to put in the work if they're only gonna be here for a few months before they book a ship back home to leech off their parent's trust fund for the next five years while they write the next great Union novel. You fucking feel me, Bolts?"

Kal got up out of her seat and left to prepare for the drop, stopping by Dr. Annalyn's chair. The super soldier put her hand on the seat. She said in a low voice, "And I'm warning you now, Bolts. If, at any point in the future, you think you've got the fucking right to start fucking talking shit about shit you don't know shit about, fucking think again."

Kal gripped the chair so hard the leather ripped and her hand sunk into the spot just behind Annalyn's head, crushing the metal framing into an imprint of her closed fist. Then, she let go and walked away.

"Fucking science officers who can't even fucking count, what will they think of next..." she mumbled to herself.

"'Bolts can come with us if she needs to,'" Annalynn quoted as Kal left the room, outwardly unphased by the display of force. Inwardly, however, her heart was racing, but Annalynn knew better than to let that show. "Would somebody please remind our head of security that she, too, is listed as essential personnel? If she insists that essential personnel should not go on this mission, then almost our entire ground team should be replaced bar one ranking officer. The lieutenant's pride may get in the way of her critical thinking skills sometimes, and despite what she may or may not believe about my mental capability, I actually do know what I'm talking about."

Annalynn got up from her seat, holding her forehead. "I have a headache. I'll be in my office 'talking shit about shit I know shit about,' as our security chief so gracefully put it. Please contact me if it's urgent." With that, Annalynn withdrew from the meeting room and began to head back towards the science labs.

Kiera could have interjected at any number of points in the argument between the two women but had decided against it, instead watching the back and forth as if in the audience of a zero-G tennis match. “Ah, such an eloquent argument, almost Shakespearean in its intricacies,” Kiera said to herself in an overly relaxed and unconcerned manner. Instead of trying to intercede she instead turned to the doctor. “And how are you today Doctor? If you don’t mind could you give my host the once over when you’re not busy. She’s a little sluggish today, a vitamin deficiency I think,” she said conversationally, unfazed by the now heated confrontation between Kal and Annalynn.

In the spirit of diplomacy Kiera waited until both of them left before voicing her own opinion on the matter. “Kal was a little harsh but she’s not entirely wrong. We can’t run this ship like a democracy. When push comes to shove we need who’s in charge, whose making the decisions. Basically, we a captain. I don’t necessarily think that should be Kal of course. She can be a little…stubborn,” Kiera said in a perfectly neutral tone of voice as she spoke so as not to imply any insult where it was not intended.

Maggie's forehead hit the desk as Kal stormed out of the room. She folded her arms around her head, muttering a stream of impressive invectives in multiple languages as she tried to mentally sort out the shitstorm that was the upper crew. Engineering genius she might be, people person she was not. Ask her to jump the ship from one system to another with less than half a klick of leeway, sure, she could do it. But get people to shut up and work together for thirty seconds? Nope, no can do.

"Please don't tear each other's heads off before we're even planetside," Maggie mumbled, voice muffled by the table. She sat up, pinching the bridge of her nose to stave off the coming headache. "Fucks' sake, how the hell does the Captain do this?" she muttered to herself, standing and collecting her datapad. "I"ll just—fuck, someone else take over, I'm gonna go calibrate the shuttle." No need to use the transporter when the shuttle was in perfect working condition.