The Heart's Stipulations

Posted on Tue Feb 10th, 2026 @ 3:34am by Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker & Captain William Abernathy

1,635 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Shore Leave - Starbase 1
Location: USS Arcadia | Captain's Ready Room

ON:

Captain Abernathy stood at the viewport of his ready room, hands clasped behind his back as Starbase One’s superstructure slid slowly past the Arcadia’s hull. Docked, tethered, waiting. He was already learning how much this ship reflected the people who served aboard her. Restless, capable, and some carrying far more weight than any one of them would fess up to.

Behind him, the monitor peaking up on his desk, its display dimmed but not forgotten. Lieutenant Commander Sabastian Walker. First Officer. Chief Engineer. Widower.

Abernathy had replayed the decision that he had come to over a dozen times, but found no gentler version of it. Sabastian Walker was brilliant in engineering, focused, decisive, and utterly present in a way machinery demanded. Command, however, required space for others’ mistakes, for emotions to bleed through, for the slow work of leadership that grief did not permit. Not yet. Sabastian was doing everything in his power to resist the vulnerability.

This wasn’t intended to be a demotion, Abernathy had to remind himself of that. It was triage. The chair creaked softly as he sat, steepling his fingers and letting the hum of the ship settle the room. He would need to be precise. Honest, and more importantly prepared for the anger and rage. He did not anticipate relief, but at worse... there could be nothing at all.

A First Officer was the captain’s shadow, his counterweight. Right now, Walker carried too much unpredictability to stand there, a tempest swirling beneath an otherwise calm exterior. The ready room felt smaller as the seconds passed, and then the door chime sounded. It was clear, firm, regulation standard.

Sabastian walker had received a summons that felt ominous. He'd had an inkling. Counselor Alexander was...relentless in her attempts to get him to talk. She'd even hinted in a subtle way that she didn't feel he would be fit for duty. Having studied the CO's record he figured that this meant that she'd probably gone to the CO and this, unplanned summons was that.

As he'd ridden up Gio's words came to him about the XO position on his ship. Captain Rogers had also reached out. He needed an XO/Chief Engineer and so Sabastian had two options.

Part of him hoped this was more a briefing then admonishment yet he was weary, on his guard. He gathered courage as he stood outside the door. His shoes were shined, his uniform crisp still smelling of ocean mist, a sent that Zai had used in washing their clothing and he was clean shaven and groomed. He would fight this... as much as he could and he reminded himself he had options.

At ten seconds to meeting time he rang the chime feeling as if a sword hung over his head.

Abernathy drew a slow breath. “Enter" he said aloud.

He squared his shoulders and entered the office.

Bill Abernathy gave a small nod as his First Officer entered. "Lieutenant Commander Walker, please, be seated. I have come to some decisions that will effect everyone aboard and I wish to review them with you before making them final."

He have a nod. "Yes sir. Welcome aboard, by the way."

"Thank you, Commander. As you can tell, I have come aboard and hit the ground running, and I am thankful that I have. We have a crew that is barely being held together. Doctor McDonald is planning on leaving us if rumor are to be believed. There's a starship Captain out there trying to snag Lieutenant K'Var from underneath us, and if we are not carefully, we may be pulled from the little experiment Starfleet Medical is running with a 'counselor' aboard."

Would that be a bad thing?

"Yes, I have heard rumors of the doctor leaving. Our Chief Communications Officer as well. We are, however, getting a replacement. I have reviewed her record and she is very qualified, trained in several languages and other departments that may be useful. As for K'Var, I had heard that too." He paused. "Any replacement for the Doctor yet?"

"Over my dead body," replied Bill. "Baciami, McDonald, and K'Var... none of them are replaceable. If I can prevent them leaving, I will do so. I don't care if that individual spoke a dozen languages. This crew needs to stay together, Commander, not be driven apart. I did not take this command for the starship, I took it for this crew."

"Well Baciami is a sure thing, there is no stopping her and she is pregnant. I agree with her decision."

Bill had access to personnel files, not medical. He was blissfully unaware of her pregnancy. "I was not aware of her condition. Several months will take care of that. She can be granted leave, but I would prefer she return after that. Any chance of convincing her otherwise?"

"No. Her parents just died, both within days and she wishes to retire with her husband. Believe me I am not happy to see Vance go but it's what is right for them. The New Coms officer is very good, sir. She was trained by Baciami and I have spoken with her along with doing a lot of research on her record." he put a few data tapes on the desk. "For you to review. I have also conducted departmental over views in the last few days." He paused. "And I would be remiss if I did not confess to being approached by two COs to join their crew. Thus far I have not given them an answer."

"That does not make what I have to say any easier then. I have been discussing matters with Lieutenant Alexander. I expect you to undergo counseling sessions with her, regularly scheduled ones. In the meantime, I want you to concentrate your duties as Chief Engineer. This is not a demotion."

"Yes, the ships...rumor mill did say that Alexander would try to have me taken off as XO." He shrugged. "And I would disagree going from XO Chief Engineer to just Chief Engineer is a demotion. Do I have a choice in counselors at least? If I prefer a long distance video session with Starfleet Command can I choose that? Can I appeal this by undergoing an evaluation by the station counselor?"

"You will not receive a reduction in rank, Commander. It will merely be a temporary administrative restructuring to allow you to focus on Engineering and personal matters," explained Abernathy. "You may have any counselor you wish, but Lieutenant Alexander will have final say of you returning to normal duties. I also will state this very bluntly to you, Sabastian. Lanna may have been on the same page, but I approached her about this. This was my decision. Any resentment should be directed at me."

"No I shant. You are the CO. As for the Counselor her recommendation is based on a friendly chat not a full evaluation and I, as a Starfleet Officer should be able to go over he head if I feel her diagnosis is wrong. However, that said I respect command and I shall take the demotion as it may well be temporary. It will, as you say, allow me to focus on Engineering and the personal, which is not my grief as we all grieve in different ways, but my decision of if I shall stay on the ship or not."

Bill nodded. "Then, consider this time for you to assess your career and whether Arcadia is the right place for you. For the time being, I will assign your First Officer duties to someone else, but I will need your expertise as Chief Engineer."

"Indeed. When you have decided on whom shall take over I will conduct debrief. Furthermore I ask that something be logged officially."

"What is that Commander?" asked Abernathy.

"I officially disagree with both your decision and the counselors. I have always been known for my dedication to duty and my ability to preform under stressful circumstances. I understand you are new and do not know me well but I would appreciate you speaking with my previous commanders. I am half Vulcan and half Betazoid, fully in control of my emotions. I wish to request an outside counselor for my sessions as I do not trust counselor Alexander. While your condition is that she clear me for duty I will launch a formal protest with Starfleet and request that her decision be backed by another counselor. I will also be filing my final report as XO before my demotion. I have been asked by Starfleet to review the counseling program as an XO and I will be honest with my assessment. I also will file a formal protest with Starfleet medical." He stood up. "If you will excuse me I am off duty in one hour and wish to complete my final reports. Then I have dinner with Captain Rogers before his ship leaves the station."

"We have orders to leave early, Commander. There's a situation that requires us. Information is still incoming, but I recommend you have your dinner with Captain Rogers, and be prepared for what's ahead. Dismissed."

"Yes sir. As the former XO of the Arcadia I was briefed about the situation. That is why I have not made my decision to leave despite your, and the counselors lack of faith in my command abilities as XO." He stood and gave the appropriate salute.

"Commander Walker, I am only going to say this once more. You are not the former Executive Officer of the Arcadia. You are the Executive Officer until you make a decision otherwise. If I wanted a change in the command structure, you wouldn't be here. Now, go dwell on that fact."

He gave a nod and left.

OFF:

 

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