With All Due Respect?

Posted on 08 Aug 2023 @ 8:01pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant JG Karras

2,528 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Episode 18 - Cold Station 31
Location: Regula I - Level 16, Senior Office Quarters
Timeline: MD 16, 1500 hrs

[ON]

Commander Morgan Tarin sat at her desk within Regula I's designated senior office module. Yes, it presented her with glorious views of the surrounding cosmos and the purple world they orbited called Remidia, yet it was a home away from home. With only one mission now under her belt as a commanding officer, the tall New York City-native had tasted the fruits of a captain's life. She'd embraced it as best she could, and despite the peril, she now wanted more. Being back on the research facility made her feel...detached. And so when the notification of a recent personnel transfer crossed her PADD thirty minutes ago, it had evoked a visceral, not cerebral, feeling. She'd stared at the transfer request for many minutes before finally gritting her teeth and slapping her commbadge. "Tarin to Lieutenant Karras. Report to my office immediately. Level 16." The tone of her dry voice was not a particularly pleasant one.

"Acknowledged," came an equally dry response over the comm.

Ten minutes later, Karras found himself standing outside the commander's office. He'd contemplated just stepping in unannounced as the summons had said 'immediately'; however, he had caught that as the passive-aggressive move that it was, and he paused to center himself. This meeting would clearly be about the transfer, and he was certain emotions were likely running hot on both sides. It was his professional responsibility to keep this interaction civil, even as he felt himself spoiling for an argument. Taking a final deep breath, he reached out to press the chime.

"Enter," was the singular reply from the commander inside the room.

Stepping inside, he stood at attention. "You wished to see me, Ma'am?"

When the youthful-looking Ba'ku now stood before her, she was suddenly reminded of the special properties his homeworld had enjoyed for many decades. Despite being close to 90 years old, Karras' facial features and slim body physique resembled that of someone in their twenties. Tarin privately felt a twinge of jealousy before mentally shaking those thoughts from her head. "Have a seat, lieutenant," she instructed. "I trust you've recovered well from the cold station expedition?"

"Recovered well?" Karras mused as he sat. "No. I would not say I've recovered at all. That is something that..." His mind flashed an image of what he'd seen on the away team and he felt his digestive system twist. "That is something I believe will take some time and... effort."

He leaned back, taking another deep breath to clear his mind and settle his stomach. "That's the major contributing factor to why I believe you've summoned me. You've received the transfer and wish to know why?" The counselor met Tarin's gaze. "That's why, mostly. I feel that, personally and professionally, I am unable to treat others for trauma that I endured alongside them."

It hadn't required telepathic abilities to understand why Morgan had called the counselor into his office. He was smart enough to deduce it own his own, and he was entirely correct. She procured the correct PADD from her desk's stack then briefly skimmed it again for the fifth time. "Yes, I read your request," she wiggled the slim silver device in her left hand. "I will never know what you and the others in your away team experienced there. I've read the reports, but I know that isn't the same," she confessed with sympathy toward him. Then she exhaled and held his hazel eyes with her own similar-hued ones. "You'll get over this, lieutenant. Sooner than you think. We all experience missions that affect our emotional fortitude. But you're a counselor with the knowledge and skills to treat yourself and help others. Your experience is invaluable. Transfer request denied."

Karras blinked. "I'm sorry... denied?" While technically an answer to his request that he knew was a possibly when he'd submitted the transfer, in his mind there was no question he would be leaving the ship. "Apologies, but I feel I must ask you to reconsider. I'll still be making myself available to both you and the crew from here aboard the station. But it is my intent to take a support role. The front lines are not for me."

She shook her head adamantly, the loose curls of her dark-brown shoulder-length hair cascading across the top of her torso. "I need you on Galileo, Karras. We all need you." She looked back down at the PADD then pushed it to the side to send a non-verbal message. "I need a full-time counselor, on the ship and available to the crew, at all times. You can't do that from Regula I."

Karras leaned forward a bit in his seat. "With all due respect, I believe I can. I can avail myself to everyone in person while docked. When you are in the field, I can be available via secure subspace communications. The appointments can still occur in the counseling office, in private quarters, or even in your ready room if needed. I can be routed to the conference room for mission briefings if my insight would be required."

The counselor let out a sigh as he searched for ways to strengthen his argument. He hadn't wanted to make this particular concession, but he had to lay out all his cards. "I would even be willing to come aboard as a mission specialist - on occasion - if having a counselor there in person would be needed for that mission's success. Wouldn't that be sufficient?"

The concept of remote counseling was a foreign one to the captain. She, as well as he, knew that much of interpersonal communication was lost over voice and video transmissions. Being able to see a person in their entirety - their body language, surroundings and environment - was irreplaceable. Perhaps he could do his duty, but not to its full extent. Tarin was preparing to refute the concept when he suddenly created an opening...one she didn't hesitate to burst through when it presented itself.

Leaning back in her chair under the pretense that she was capitulating, she slowly nodded to herself with understanding. "Perhaps your remote counseling could work." She gave him a rare, small smile. "Thank you for your flexibility and willingness to still serve with the crew. I'll take you up on your offer; I need a mission-specialist counselor on board the next time Galileo departs. And since you volunteered...I can't think of anyone more suited to the job."

"Really?" Karras deadpanned, struggling to keep his eyes from rolling. "Galileo has already received its next assignment, and the mission requires a counselor? What incredible timing." He gestured towards Tarin expectantly. "Well, don't leave me hanging! A mission requiring an in-person counselor will need as much prep time as I can get. What are our orders? When do we depart?"

Tarin was now the one to actually roll her eyes. "Relax, lieutenant. You volunteered and I took the opportunity. I haven't received new orders from Command yet. The ship's here at Regula I for at least the next week." It was the truth. She was still engaged in communications with Starfleet HQ regarding the cold station's recovered data they still needed transmitted. In the meantime, the main priority was repairing and resupplying the starship for when it was next needed. "We have another day-and-a-half of repairs left then I want to take her out for a quick shakedown. Nothing official. Consider it your last 'tour' on Galileo. Is that too much to ask?"

The Counselor's gaze had dropped to the floor, aware he had been outmaneuvered. "No, I suppose not," Karras conceded. What Tarin lacked in people skills, she certainly made up for in strategy. Suddenly he grinned, the thought sparking an idea of how to use this arrangement to help everyone on the crew - regardless of how petty it might come across. He lifted his head again to look directly at the Commander.

"And you are correct that the entire crew needs a counselor, yourself included. In fact, I think we can use the time afforded during my final tour for us to schedule some regular sessions." He felt himself relaxing a bit. "Given how unexpectedly you'd replaced the previous CO, we probably should have been doing these from the start. I confess my own new arrival likely made me hesitant to insist, but I think it's no secret that you haven't endeared yourself to the crew. We can use our time together to address your.... well, weakness in regard to interpersonal communication. Well, that in addition to any personal concerns you may have."

The tall commander's discreet self-satisfied demeanor quickly evaporated while she blinked several times while repeating his latest words in her head. Tarin stared back at the youthful-appearing man with completely deadpanned features. "Address my what?"

Karras raised an eyebrow, surprised he had to spell this out. "You don't talk to the crew, you talk at them. This meeting for example," he offered, gesturing to her then back at himself. "When you summoned me here, it was to inform me of your decision regarding my transfer request, not to discuss it. There was nothing I could have said to change your mind short of resigning my commission." He chewed his lip as he considered his next words carefully. He didn't wish to be unkind, but he had to be honest. "You saw us through this last mission, but you did so by insisting your officers instantly conform to some ideal you had in your head. You didn't afford them the opportunity or trust to show you what they were capable of, and as a result, you have a crew that obeys you. But they don't respect you."

It was hard for Tarin to resist the bait. So hard. She wasn't well-versed in the art of therapy and counseling but she could recognize a provocative statement when she heard it. In this case, it was one most likely said to draw her into deeper conversation and outside of her element. The Ba'ku man was clever. "Harsh words, coming from someone who spent seven decades living a life of isolated utopian privilege and not knowing any conflict," she retorted.

"Your observation of my past is not wrong, but not relevant. We aren't talking about me," Karras shrugged. "As for 'harsh'? Do you consider it harsh when Ops informs you that shields are at 80%, or when Flight Control reports that the helm isn't responding? I wasn't attacking you, Commander, I was giving you a damage report."

Exhaling through her nose, Tarin attempted to vent some of her rising anger. "A damage report is a situational delineation run by the ship's computer then corroborated by its department heads. It compares standard systems operations with current systems operations." The beginning of her short lecture did have a point, at least she meant it to. "You're evaluating the crew and I as a single system; not as part of the entire vessel. So, let's expand your analogy and let me ask you a question. What do you know about strategic operations in this sector of space over the past 24 months? What do you know about the other Starfleet vessels and crews who came before Galileo to Regula I?"

"Nothing," Karras admitted. "But I'm certain you are about to enlighten me, so please, proceed."

The commander grit her teeth at the counselor's question trying her best to contain an impending outburst. "Enlighten you?" Her torso tensed as she leaned forward in her chair with her elbows on the table and hands fidgeting. "You want to know what a warp core breach looks like after it goes critical? What the blast radius does to escape pods and ejected bodies floating in space within 100 kilometers? Some of whom were your past colleagues and friends? Do you really want to be 'enlightened'?"

Mentally adding anger management and PTSD to the list of concerns to be covered in therapy, Karras stood and raised both hands palms forward in a gesture of peace. "Commander Tarin, I believe this conversation has become unproductive. We've both allowed it to spin a bit out of control, and I apologize for my part in that, but I believe that if we continue as we are we will simply argue. So I'm going to leave."

The counselor stepped behind his chair. "I think you've made some interesting points and raised some valid concerns. Our crew does need an in-person counselor, at least for the short term. I will be seeing to their care and to yours." He paused for a moment before continuing in his most even tone of voice. "In my professional opinion, I would like for the two of us to meet three times a week. I can schedule these appointments with Yeoman Zeror, giving us both a couple of days to calm down before we begin. I will also make myself available to you at that time if you feel the need to meet and address my performance as an officer."

He relaxed his hands on the back of the chair as he continued. "Depending on our progress, the frequency of our regular appointments can be diminished. I simply have grave concern that some intensive work is needed, sooner rather than later. If you feel otherwise, I do have the authority via Starfleet Medical to make this request an order and to relieve you of duty until you comply. I have no desire to exercise this authority, but I will if needed. If you contest my ability to do so on the grounds of my transfer request, I have no doubt that Dr. Warraquim will submit the order on my behalf." Karras returned his hands to his side and stood at attention, an action he hoped Tarin would see as the gesture of respect that was his intention. "Are my suggestions acceptable?"

She continued to stare at the Ba'ku man, now with indignant hazel eyes. How dare he. In my own office, under my own command... She breathed again, slowly in and out. "Very well," she finally relented, privately agreeing to at least some of his demands. "I'm overdue for my annual counseling appraisal as it stands. Three times per week is excessive, but we can combine them with our scheduled PT sessions. Dismissed."

Karras felt the urge to refute the compromise, but knew it was best to heed his own advice. He offered a curt nod and turned to leave.

"Lieutenant. A final word?" Tarin spoke again as she watched him depart toward the exit. She'd now leaned back in her chair and observed him with tented fingers in front of her chest. "If you ever threaten my position or career again, I'll personally oversee your extrication from this assignment on the slowest transport available back to Earth. Understood?"

"See you in therapy," Karras called over his shoulder as he stepped back into the corridor and headed for the closest turbolift.

[OFF]

--

LTJG Karras
Counselor
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Fynn]

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

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