The Lieutenant stood, just for a moment, by the Captain’s door before reaching down and turning the knob. He slowly opened it and stepped inside the Captain’s office. Reaching over, he turned on the light and shut the door behind him.

The office was empty and the Lieutenant smiled. He walked around the desk and pulled out the large chair and sat down. Today was the first day of the Captain’s vacation and he, the Lieutenant, was in charge! Leaning back in the chair, the Lieutenant closed his eyes and rubbed his hands across the desktop. It was going to be a good week because there was nothing that could go wrong!

Last week, the Lieutenant had worked hard getting everything cleared up. He’d gotten the Captain to sign off on everything that was being finished, being worked on or possibly pending. The Lieutenant leaned back and put his feet up on the Captain’s desk. This week was a clean slate and there was nothing that could go wrong!

Then, there was a loud knock on the door. For a moment, the Lieutenant’s mind went blank but he managed to stammer, “Yes?”

“It’s the Sergeant, sir! May I come in?” Quickly, the Lieutenant pulled his feet off the desk and sat up straight in the chair. “Yes Sergeant,” he said in his most authoritative voice. “Enter!”

He heard the knob turn and then decided he should at least look busy so he grabbed a pen from his pocket and held it like he was poised to write something. As the door opened, the Lieutenant realized he had a pen in his hand but no paper, nothing to write on. So, he dropped the pen on the desk and went to push it out of his way. He must have pushed it too hard because the pen whisked across the desktop and launched itself into the air, coming to land at the Sergeant’s feet.

Without batting an eyelash, the Sergeant bent over and picked up the pen. He marched to the desk and snapped to attention. Almost in the same motion he set the pen on the desk without comment. The Lieutenant looked at the pen and was tempted to reach for it but decided not to. Instead, he looked at the Sergeant and in his very best command voice said, “Yes Sergeant? What is it?”

“We have received a communiqué from the High Admiral, sir! It is marked High, Urgent, Tip-Top Priority!” the Sergeant said and then snapped back to attention and into silence.

The Lieutenant suddenly found his heart in his throat! A communiqué from the High Admiral! There were not supposed to be any problems this week! This was supposed to be an easy week! The Lieutenant fidgeted and raised his eyes to the Sergeant. “What does the communiqué say, Sergeant?”

The Sergeant, who was a grizzled veteran of 30 years in the forums; who had more medals on his pocket than any two other soldiers; who was just biding his time, waiting for retirement, managed to smirk.

“The High Admiral is concerned, sir!”

“Concerned about what, Sergeant?” the Lieutenant wanted to know. Well, he really DIDN’T want to know but he knew it was his job to ask.

A ghost of a smile crossed the Sergeant’s face and he answered, “It seems that the High Admiral is concerned that Commander Boop is spending an inordinate amount of time at Pinblue’s Saloon. The High Admiral would like to see more of Commander Boop in her Forum. The High Admiral suggests we ‘look into the matter and resolve the situation!”

The Lieutenant’s heart sank! “How in the bloody, blue blazes am I going to get a full Forum Commander out of a saloon and into her Forum?” The Lieutenant looked up at the Sergeant with bewilderment and fear in his eyes. “How Sergeant? Tell me how?”

The Sergeant bit his lower lip and looked at the Lieutenant. “Lieutenant, I’m just a Sergeant,” he said, reaching over and touching the chevrons on his sleeve. “I just deliver communiqués, sir. I’m not expected to act upon them.” The blood ran out of the Lieutenant’s face and he lowered his head into his hands. The Sergeant thought he heard crying.

The Sergeant stood looking at the Lieutenant. He grimaced and shook his head. He almost felt sorry for the Lieutenant but as an old veteran, he didn’t have any sympathy for a young officer who fell apart under pressure. The Sergeant did an about face and took three steps toward the door and stopped. He stood for a moment listening to the sobbing and he did another about face. He marched back to the desk and stood at attention. The Lieutenant didn’t look up so the Sergeant cleared his throat loudly.

"Ummm, Lieutenant. If I may speak sir?” The Lieutenant raised his head and wiped the moisture from his face. His look of befuddlement was all the Sergeant needed. Everyone knew that the Sergeants ran the forums. The officers were there but the Sergeants managed to work around them and still get the job done. Experience, honed on years of making decisions and then convincing a young officer the decision was theirs, took over.

“Might I make a suggestion, sir?” the Sergeant asked, forcing himself to look straight at the wall, not at the Lieutenant’s pleading eyes. Not waiting for an answer, he pressed on. “It would seem to me, sir, that a certain Forum Commander may just go to Pinblue’s Saloon for the express purpose of playing darts! The rumor has it that said Commander would rather throw these darts than eat or sleep. It’s just a rumor you understand sir but I might suggest that if you were to alert the forum and have them post darts and dartboards that may just get the Commander back into her Forum, as the High Admiral suggests. But that’s just a suggestion, you understand sir. Shall I pass the word?”

The Lieutenant began to breathe normally and he managed to nod. And he kept nodding and nodding until the Sergeant could stand it no more. “Good thinking, Lieutenant, “the Sergeant said. “We can call it ‘Operation Dartboard’! With your permission, I will alert the section heads to have the darts and dartboards posted here!”

With that, the Sergeant made another about face and marched out of the office, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Bob	Boop	Boop

Candy	Dana	Jeri

Louis	Mary Lou	Barlekis

Boop	Dana	Nick