Getting All the Ducks in a Row

Posted on 07 Mar 2015 @ 7:12am by Lieutenant Benice Gyce Ph.D. & Commander Norvi Stace
Edited on on 07 Mar 2015 @ 5:14pm

2,008 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Episode 08 - NIMBUS
Location: USS Galileo - Chief Science Officer's Office
Timeline: MD -03 - 14:52hours

ON:

Today was a good day, or so Gyce hoped. Now there was more than a few instances of Seleya being where she was not supposed to be. Coincidences, sure. But that was how things started. An official investigation, sanctioned by command staff would allow Gyce to assign Security personnel to shadow the Romulan woman.

With a huge sigh of relief, Gyce hit the door chime and waited for permission to enter.

Stace looked up from her console and moved the cup of coffee aside, training her eye on the door as it opened to reveal the Bajoran security officer. "Come in," she said with a smile., now powering down her console. "Ah, Lieutenant Gyce. What can I do for you?"

"Lieutenant Benice," Gyce corrected with a smile. "Or Gyce, if we're being informal, Ma'am... But I wanted to discuss our Romulan friend once more, if you had the time."

"Ah," Stace waved her off with an apologetic smile. "I always get them a little mixed around. So many memories and customs I've met throughout the years and lives swimming about my head, I am sometimes proud that I can remember my own name when I wake up in the morning!" She scoffed at her own jest and then offered the seat in front of her. "Sure, I have a few minutes. What can I help you with?"

"I've been keeping my eyes on her, actually." Gyce handed Stace a PADD from her messenger bag. "She's been spotted near several security trips. Mostly picked up by me. But the Master-at-Arms caught her a few days ago, trying to gain access to someone else's quarters. It was written off as a harmless, new arrival being lost. But considering what you and I know, I'm wanting to compile with you and push for an official investigation now."

"Now, hold on a minute," Stace replied with a warm and disarming smile, holding up her flat, open palm from the table in front of her. "I don't know anything concrete, Lieutenant Benice. I just have a feeling and a strong distaste for the woman. We have, unfortunately - since our last meeting - had another run-in. But I shut her down within my own authority. For both professional, and admittedly, personal reasons. I - uh," Stace hesitated for a moment, "thought that Commander Blake insisted that nothing official take place. If this... security transgression was deemed accidental, there is no further basis for an investigation." Stace locked her hands and then leaned a little closer to the Bajoran.

"I don't like this woman any more than you do, Lieutenant, and I am most certainly not an investigative officer, but what if we're wrong? Disliking someone isn't grounds to pry into their life. In fact, despite what we discussed last time, I decided to try and steer clear of her. We're toxic together and that mainly boils down to my lack of arse-hole toleration. It comes after several lifetimes of meeting people just like her. And entitled arrogant woman placed on an - to her mind - ill-equipped, small science vessel, unworthy and unnoticing of her academic prowess. She's nothing more than a spoiled child. Do you have anything concrete?"

"No," Gyce answered. "Just the one run-in where my Master-at-Arms caught her. And right now, I don't really trust Chief Inyo. Since she derailed my last case... Which is frustrating. The older people in Security treat me like I'm a bulldog that will pounce on any opportunity to do my work. XO thinks I have nothing but bad intentions on the crew with my random searches."

"Random searches?" Stace parroted with a surprise. "Sorry, I'm a little lost." She took in a breath, but then continued in the same inoffensive tone. "Lieutenant," she cocked her head to the side, "these sound like intra-departmental rifts and grievances, something that I have no authority over outside of Lieutenant Wyatt and certainly not Commander Blake. I understand that the chain of command can sometimes be a little frustrating. But this is Starfleet. We are nothing without those rules and regulations. Please, won't you sit down."

Gyce did so, slinging her bag over the chair. She she was comfortable, she unconsciously started to rub her throbbing right thigh.

Stace inhaled and then cleared her throat, taking her combadge off of her breast and laying it on the table. "Hi, I'm Norvi, Gyce. Pleased to meet you." She extended her hand across the table and broke into a genuine smile. "Let's leave rank and position out of this. What's really bothering you? I'm no counsellor, nor do I pretend to be. But you're sounding unhappy and disgruntled. And that can't be fun for you. Or your colleagues."

"My work is my life," Gyce began, after she shook Stace's hand. But then she went back to rubbing her thigh unconsciously. "Doctor Voutilainen is like me. Handicapped. But she gets her job done. But not me... It feels like I'm just supposed to sit around at the desk and be a glorified brig officer."

Stace's face dropped as she understood the frustration that Benice might be struggling with. She sighed audibly and then scrunched up her nose to address her reply. "I suppose we're at completely ends of the swimming pool, Lieutenant. Science being the deep end of the Nova class pool, and security being the shallow. With so few officers and crew, and so little tactical or and security mission types to follow, I can well imagine that you're twiddling your thumbs a little. But I suppose that's the luck of the draw. We get tasked to do what we're equipped better for. And there's not a lot of phaser-fire and hand-to-hand combat that goes on on an eight decked ship."

"Combat isn't exactly something I crave for," Gyce laughed. "It's that I'm a detective. I'm supposed to investigate strange and out-of-place things that happen on the ship, but every time I try the XO or someone else either in my department or outside of it stops me or hinders the process."

Stace winced, and then took in a pause before she tackled the delicacy of what she was about to say. "Perhaps, then, if you're performing your duties as you see right, it's not what you're doing, but how you're doing it that your department and the command staff disagree with. If the common denominator in these situations is you, then maybe that's something that we can work with. Take for example these random searches. What are those about?"

"The XO feels the privacy of people would be in jeopardy, even though I explained that it's protocol, and not something I like doing," Gyce spoke with a frown. That was not a pleasent conversation to look back on. "And she didn't want to work with me on the matter. Just threw it out and tossed it aside and my instincts tell me she was going to say no the moment I walked in the office. Because even though the searches are done to limit unregistered weapons and illegal narcotics and goods, she thinks it'll upset people. She thinks a ship like this is impregnable to that sort of thing, and my searches will only cause inter-departmental rifts... Which is complete rubbish."

"Ah," Stace replied with a broken frown. "I have to admit to you, Lieutenant, that if you selected my quarters for a 'random drugs and weapons search, I would be severely upset and uncomfortable. I have spent years of my life working towards a position of respectability in an institution that I value. We're not a starbase with free passage to and fro. We are Starfleet officers. And if you challenged my integrity, I wouldn't like that at all. Why do you think such a science specific vessel is in need of such stringent protocols?"

"It shows that anyone hiding good that could potentially harm the crew, that no one is above the law," Gyce explained gently. "They see a senior officer's quarters getting inspected, then they will get nervous... The inspections themselves are not meant to be seen as accusatory. More so if there's nothing to be be found."

"Then, unfortunately, those values are not a Starfleet that I want to be associated with: Suspicion around every corner, a witch-hunt without evidence. It sounds as though you're punishing the innocent and fostering an unpleasant environment to exist in without any cause. I understand that we are the military arm of the Federation but this is not the Federation that I have known and come to cherish. This isn't just a job to me. It's my life. And I certainly don't want my right to privacy challenged. Under anyone's orders but the captain's."

"Our quarters are assigned to us. Not leased. Not deeded. They are the property of the military and the Federation," Gyce spoke respectfully. "If we were on a military base, it would probably be different. More so with people living in housing units instead of barracks. But this is a military posting, and what one is entitled to, privacy wise is largely different. And because ships have so many nooks and crannies, it makes finding hidden illegal drugs harder."

"It sounds as if you're out to find something, Lieutenant. And in all my years of service, this is a complete shift to what I'm used to. We're not the marine corps. We're a vessel out to explore space, not be interrogated or shoved under suspicion without due cause. Have you any reason to believe there is a drugs-ring operating aboard the Gally?"

"No, I'm not. But it's not happening now, so debating the matter is moot," Gyce shrugged. "Maybe in time people will understand my logic. It's the best I can hope for, anyway."

Stace took in a breath and released it, relaxing back into her chair with an exasperated yet supportive expression. "Your superiors are here to support you, Lieutenant. Not hinder you. I completely understand what it must be like to have such little to do on such a small ship. But sometimes you only find the darkness after you've put out all of the lights. Sometimes you only find out what you set out to look for. You've been with us long enough to know most of the crew quite well. All of us have worked so hard to be apart of this great exploration of space, and some of us have requested the smaller, quieter assignments in order to practise what we love. Please," she protested. holding out her hand across the desk, "don't be discouraged here. I know that you have a keen investigative charm. And I'm not saying that you don't have cause to suspect Qellar. Hell, despite have experienced nothing but an intellectual jostle with her, she still gets my back up. And although we have nothing concrete, that doesn't mean that there's nothing to discover. I can't... professionally condone your investigation into her until you uncover something that warrants an official investigation. Bring me something that we can use, and I'll go to Lieutenant Wyatt and Commander Blake with you."

"I can work with that, Ma'am." Gyce felt a little better. "You are also the only one who's reached out to me on any level. Most seem to avoid me like the plague. So I wish to continue blossoming this friendship too. If that's all right."

Stace's face warmed through with a beaming yet soft smile. "Of course, Lieutenant. We're a small ship and that's one of the wonders of serving on a sardine-can. You get to meet all kinds of people and develop friendships that you might not on something bigger." She paused and then scrunched up her nose. "If you're ever struggling with anything, Lieutenant. Then please come and tell me. If I can help, then I will."

"I shall, Ma'am." Gyce promised.

OFF:

Lieutenant Commander Norvi Stace
Chief Science Officer & Second Officer
USS Galileo

Lieutenant JG Benice Gyce
Security Investigations Officer
USS Galileo

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