Cmdr Niples "Fistfull of Cannon"

Cmdr Niples
JMC Blue Dwarf/JMC Space station
After the meeting with the top brass
 
The commander sat in his quarters fiddling with a piece of paper. it was the piece of paper he had printed out the E-mail from William "Willy" Eckerslike- the bigshot at the Jupiter Mining corporation.
It wasn't that he didn't want to get rid of Captain cannon. Because he did. He just didn't like court procedings, especially within the twisted mining corporation which he worked for. Besides, this bigshot Eckerslike seemed to be an old buddy of Cannon's so he would probably fight to get Cannon's lardy ass back in the Captains chair.
 
The pompous general Anders seemed to have seen sense though. He knew that Cannon was a bad Captain as well as Niples did, but it was difficult to read the General's hardened expression. Years of military training and service had moulded a grim look on his face that was almost impossible to tell what he was thinking. Niples just hoped that Anders would back him up in the tribunal.
 
Seymour realised he was chewing his pen from nerves, he quickly stopped and decided to take a stroll to calm him down. He did have shore leave after all, although some of that would be spent in the Grimsby JMC HQ.
As he walked down the promenade he saw Penny Lloyd with a black plastic bag. He stopped to admire her, she was gorgeous even holding a black bag. The sight brought a bit of joy to him to say the least.
 
The stroll took him off the Blue Dwarf and onto the Space station they were docked at. Standing and staring out of a window at the swirling gasses of Jupiter below he thought for a good few minutes. A firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder and he spun around, momentarily seeing the ANGER beast hallucination which had claimed the lives of Banshee, Cauty and Ventrite. He realised it was only Captain Cannon, but the two things could have been the same thing.
They stared into each others eyes for an instant.
 
"Why are you doing this?" Cannon asked, his voice seemed rough and annoyed. Niples hadn't actually talked to Cannon about the current situation, this must have been the first time the Captain had heard about Seymours complaint.
"Look...I...."
Niples didn't see the fist untill it connected with his jaw with a thud, he swung around and hit the window with his face. He slowly turned again, trying not to show any weakness to the Captain.
"I am only thinking about the crew." Said Seymour, checking his lip wasn't bleeding. "They deserve a Captain who is fully in control."
 
"I AM in controll!" said Cannon, and it only took a flicker of recollection of what he had just done to Seymours jaw to make him hold his tongue.
 
"I have known you for some time and I have never known you to hit me" said Niples.
"Well there was that one time........"
"Well, except that time......."
"And the time when..........."
"Well yes, but I deserved it that time...."
"And there was that one time..."
"okay, point taken........" said Seymour rubbing his chin. He decided on a different approach.
 
"You have just lost your most dearest and closest family. Your daughter and your wife. I think you need time to grieve their deaths....." Seymour started with good intentions but he saw the anger build up in Cannon once more. This was most definately the source of Cannons anger.
"You cannot deal with this kind of emotional stress whilst Captaining a huge mining ship. You need time to relax, go to Earth....."
 
"What is there for me on Earth?" snapped the Captain harshly. "No family. No friends. They're all gone."
Niples would have felt pity at this moment if it wasn't for the fact that Cannnon was forcing these words out of his mouth with such anger. Seymour felt himself backing up against the glass of the window behind him in case the Captain erupted in an emotional outburst of violence again.
After an awkward pause Cannon turned and walked away, fists still clenched with anger, that anger pointing inwards.
 
Semour took a few deep breaths and walked in the opposite direction, following the crowds of people who were trying to book passage on a public transport craft to Earth. Seymour wanted to be there is good time for the tribunal.
==================================Lt. David "Onion" BallAssistant Helm officer/ Pilot  USS Endeavour-ACommander Seymour Niples  JMC Blue DwarfWWW.Home.JMCBlueDwarf.com==================================