Attitude Adjustment

Posted on Sun May 18th, 2025 @ 1:33pm by Commander Karl Rogers & Ensign Matt Connor

1,114 words; about a 6 minute read

Matt yawned and tried not to let his anger show. The security guard duty post on deck 8 was a joke. It consisted of standing at the aft control monitoring station on the most remote deck of the ship. To make it worse he had been assigned to guard duty on the night shift, which angered him even more. It was to the point that he barely paid any attention to anything other than the time.

Karl had yet to inform Lieutenant Zalla of anything further to follow up on his previous conversation with her. Instead he had decided to try another tactic before things got too far out of hand. He had sneaked down to deck 8 by going through the Jefferies tubes, which had allowed him to get near Connor without the security officer knowing it. It helped that the ensign was bored and not focused. Waiting for the right moment, Karl struck.

Grabbing Connor by the arm, Karl swept the ensign's feet from under him while grabbing his hand phaser and tossing it down the corridor. Before the security officer could react, Karl heaved him into the aft airlock and followed. Tapping in his command override code, he sealed the airlock and disabled the security monitoring before he turned towards the ensign on the deck. "Alright, we're gonna have a little talk," Karl growled.

Matt was too stunned to move, much less speak at first. His attacker had come out from no where and was clearly skilled. When he finally had a chance, he rolled over on the deck and was surprised to look up and see the first officer. "What the hell?" he started, but broke off when the commander spoke. The tone the older officer used made Matt pause and he took the time to sit up.

Karl sat down on one of the benches that would have normally been used for putting EVA suits on and glared at the ensign. "Your file says that you're supposed to be at least average for intelligence, so I'm not pretty sure you've figured out that you've been placed on shit detail for a reason," he said.

"I figured I ticked off the chief with not having the best Starfleet officer attitude," Matt said. "Can you really blame me?"

"Oh, there's no one else to blame but yourself," Karl said. "You've had quite the attitude for some time, even before you came to the Eclipse. But just because you think it's justified doesn't mean we're going to keep putting up with it. So. You've got two choices."

"Let me guess, sir," Matt said as he looked around the airlock. "Fall in or you'll toss me out."

"No, fortunately we're evolved past such barbaric measures," Karl replied. "Although a really good beating wouldn't be too far removed from the realm of possibilities and your department head thinks you're about to get one, I've decided on something else."

Matt shut his mouth and studied the commander carefully. The first officer was clearly willing to do some off the record things in order to get a job done, the fact that they were sitting in an airlock was proof enough of that. Clearly, it would be a bad idea to try to get a rise out of the guy because it was possible that what happened next would be worse than this. "What is that, sir?" he finally asked.

"You're going to decide your future," Karl said bluntly. "You can report for duty the day after tomorrow with a better attitude, one that reflects your standing as a Starfleet officer and one in good standing with an attitude to match."

"Or?" Matt prompted.

"Or you can face a captain's mast, be found unfit to wear the uniform and stripped of your commission and spend the rest of this mission locked away in a brig cell until we can offload you somewhere to begin your life as a civilian with enough bad marks on your record so that not even the board patrol division would give you the time of day," Karl said.

Matt felt his shoulders slump as he stared down at the deck. The commander was giving him one last chance, and Matt knew that he really didn't deserve it. Sighing, he nodded. "I really have failed to be a good officer, haven't I?" he finally said after several long minutes of thinking.

"And the problem is, no one knows why you've developed this attitude, Ensign," Karl said. "I checked. You had a decent start, but you started screwing up early and when you got passed up for promotion your attitude really went downhill. The thing is, you got cocky, arrogant and when you caused a situation on an away mission that put your crew mates in more danger than they already were in, it counted against you and you blamed everyone but yourself. When you were told to work on improving yourself, you decided to buck the system. So you became a shit officer. And now you've come to this. Sitting in an airlock with one last and final chance to redeem yourself. And this is it, ensign. You walk out of this airlock with the attitude fitting of a Starfleet officer, or you walk out a disgraced civilian with a very dimly lit future."

Matt stared at the deck for a very long time. He finally couldn't help it and he felt himself start to cry. He realized that the commander was right, and he was shamed. He felt even more shameful for the fact that the commander was willing to give him one last chance that he didn't deserve. Finally, after what seemed to be hours, he was finished and he leaned his head back against the bulkhead. "Do you think everyone here will give me the chance to prove myself or do I need to be sent off to another assignment?" he asked.

Karl gave Connor the time he needed. It was only right, and he nodded in approval when the ensign finally spoke. "It won't do to ship you off to another ship," he said. "It won't be easy, but here is where you're assigned, and here is where you'll redeem yourself. I'd recommend you work on proving yourself, be what you are. A Starfleet officer. I also want you to meet with the ship's counselor as well."

"Yes, Sir," Matt said.

"Good, and I'm going to be keeping my eye on you just so you know," Karl said as he stood up. "Welcome back, Ensign Connor." Giving the security officer a parting nod, he turned and unlocked the airlock controls. As the door opened, he headed out into the corridor.

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