Solutions (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 29 Feb 2024 @ 10:14pm by Commander Morgan Tarin & Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle

3,358 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD 01, 2109 hrs

Previously, on Solutions (Part 1)...

The captain's sharp hazel eyes tightened at the unorthodox interpretation the counselor had made of her question. "Lieutenant, let me be frank with you." Perhaps more so than Tarin usually was. "I'm not in the business of 'drugging people without their consent'. Not without due cause and reason. Now, you're new here, and from where I sit? You don't seem to be fully understanding the situation we find ourselves in. I've noticed a problem with some of this crew's behavior and believe it will impact our mission, and I need a solution immediately; not in three days or five days, or a week...I need it now."

Tarin leaned back in her chair and flexed her long fingers before returning them to her lap. "If you can't - or won't - find a solution for me, then I'll find a more practical use for you aboard Galileo at the moment." Her distinctive dry inflection had turned severe and relayed an authoritative intensity lacking in patience. "This isn't an ideal situation for any of us, Carlisle. I don't like it as much as you, but I have limited personnel resources to assign."

And Now, the Conclusion...

[ON]

Carlisle was flabbergasted and might have laughed out loud if she weren't so gobsmacked. How the hell had she managed to get into another tense discussion with the second Captain of the same vessel, years apart? At least when it happened during her first tour, she'd had more time aboard than this. Delainey was not someone who thought herself perfect or beyond reproach, but as she played the conversation between them back in her head, she couldn't for the life of her understand how things had gotten so off-track.

Was the universal translator not working? Were her words not being processed correctly?

How many more ways could she beg Tarin to give her specific symptoms or behaviors that needed to be addressed?

Why was she so resistant to offering this information?

Then there were the threats. Whatever Tarin expected her to offer blindly, or perhaps go along with blindly, the Captain was willing to threaten her role on the ship to get it. Delainey was trying to understand the reasons behind such behavior, but she couldn't understand for the life of her why someone who wanted her help would refuse to identify the problem and then threaten her for not providing the right answers.

Delainey's reply was measured, calm, and soft. "I want to offer solutions, but again, I can't offer effective guidance if I don't know the specific observations that concern you. Put another way, it's as if you've come to me asking me to heal an entire crew of a rare illness that manifests itself in a variety of ways and degrees of severity, but you refuse to tell me anything about how it's manifesting in the crew or how severe it is. To offer you blanket solutions without any information whatsoever, or at best, information based on theory and my speculation alone, would be ill-advised, to put it mildly. Medical and psychological treatment requires tailoring, even at the macro level, to be effective, and I don't know how many more ways I can say I need more information to give you what you need."

Carlisle paused just long enough to take a breath and then offered, "I'm on your side. I don't believe you're in the habit of recommending drugging people without their consent simply because you feel like it. That still doesn't change the fact I can't offer sound professional advice without more information. It's clear you've observed some things I have not and it would help me greatly to know what you've seen so I can offer real, not theoretical solutions. If you can't, or you won't, do that, I fully understand you have the power to use me or not in any way you see fit until such time you can find another chief counselor. I want to be here and I want to collaborate with you and get to know you better, but if that is not to be, respectfully, I've survived after the Gal before and I can do it again."

Tarin fiddled with her thumbs in her lap while she continued to evaluate and judge the new senior officer. Perhaps much in the same way the counselor was most likely judging her. "I'm aware of your service record. But you and I won't be surviving anything if we can't accomplish our mission here," she sincerely cautioned. "The crew needs to be fully functional - both mentally and physically - if we're to return to our time." She glanced back out through the room's large window and out into space before deciding to indulge the counselor with her observations. "In the hours since we've arrived, I've witnessed agitation, denial, anger, subversive attitudes...even insubordination aboard the bridge from members of the senior staff. It was uncharacteristic of this crew. Concerning would be a drastic understatement."

Carlisle barely had a second to exhale internally in relief, but at the very least they were getting somewhere now. Of course, one part of Delaney could understand all of those reactions to Tarin in combination with the current stressors, particularly if the captain's treatment of her was any indication of how she treated everyone else. Even so, the counselor recognized insubordination from the senior staff could not be excused or dismissed lightly no matter the provocation. Certainly, Tarin was proving to be a special kind of difficult, but she wouldn't be the first and she wouldn't be the last based on Delainey's own experience.

"I agree with you - we need to work together if we're going to get out of this. Of all you've described, I would say insubordination is the biggest immediate threat to achieving that goal, and although I've been away from the ship for a while, it's not something I would consider typical of this crew as a rule either. That said, I need a bit more information to understand the factors that may be at play here. Will you tell me the circumstances leading up to the insubordination, what was asked of the crew and how they responded?"

The captain increased her posture and sat up straight, her long torso firmly upright while she held the blond woman's blue eyes. "Very well. You're a senior officer and it's your duty to be informed of this." It had been a fairly simple turn of events from the captain's perspective, without a great deal of nuance. "Our chief of security, Lieutenant Rice, recently defected to Praxis after I sent her over there to inform Captain Kuran of our situation. She defied my orders to return to Galileo and proclaimed she would pursue a mission with the Klingon crew to ascertain some sort of 'truth' surrounding this future's political situation. Shortly after that communique ended, I returned to the bridge and ordered operations to acquire a transporter lock on her and beam her back aboard. My order was then openly belayed by Commander Warraquim, the acting officer on duty, and verbally supported by the COB, Master Chief Vral. The doctor then threatened to remove me from command under the grounds of 'medical reasons' if I wouldn't cease my course of action." Yes. It had happened. And it still remained a lingering, visceral moment within Tarin's thoughts.

Delainey continued to be relieved she was getting information with which to form an opinion. She kept her expression attentive but controlled her emotions as she took in Tarin's words. She didn't know Rice well, though she recognized the name from her previous tenure. Carlisle did however, know the Galileo's CMO a bit more, at least professionally speaking, and it was hard for her to imagine Allyndra taking such an action without cause.

Still, Carlisle was in a tough spot. As chief counselor, one of her responsibilities was to act as an advisor to the captain. First impressions aside, it wouldn't be fair to Tarin to immediately express skepticism of her read of things. Although the senior officer wasn't disclosing state secrets, the counselor was left with the impression the information might as well have been, given that receiving such info details required a process akin to pulling teeth. She also couldn't ignore the fact expressing skepticism would only serve to alienate the captain further from Delainey, something she sincerely wanted to avoid. If she truly meant she was on Tarin's side, she had to show she was willing to move in her direction.

"I'm sorry," Carlisle offered sincerely. "I imagine no Captain expects to confront that kind of public resistance from her own crew. I wouldn't expect the women I knew during my previous tenure aboard to do something like that, but I realize it's been a long time and people change. Am I correct in thinking you believe this change in behavior was brought about from the temporal exposure and not any prior event or circumstance?"

Delainey knew she had to consider the possibility Tarin wasn't telling her everything or was perhaps shading the truth in a way that painted her, if not innocent, at least neutral. She would definitely need to investigate further, finding Tarin's use of threats in their first meeting not indicative of sound judgment. Still, she was willing to withhold her full opinion until she had a better lay of the land.

It was a valid question the counselor had proposed. Was the crew ultimately acting any different than they normally would under such a scenario, or were their behaviors being exacerbated by something else? Tarin's gut instinct indulged the latter, but the former was certainly not outside the realm of possibility...however disturbing such a thought might be. "In the short two months I've been Galileo's commander, I can confidently say this crew is unlike any I've served with in my career. They're sometimes recalcitrant and seem to have no issues violating standard protocols to achieve their goals," prefaced the captain. "Organizing a simple daily PT routine for the officer corps was the equivalent of kicking a hornet's nest. And from the rumors I've heard after I confiscated all ship-wide alcohol, I can only believe there's quite a few lushes within our ranks."

Tarin bit her bottom lip then raised her chin ever-so-slightly. "But despite all of that, we have a capable collection of individuals. When we needed to buckle down and face adversity in our past mission, the crew did it and put their personal feelings aside in the face of adversity. Now? I...don't see the same behavior. Some are angry, judgmental and distrusting, and haven't hesitated to make their opinions known. In my judgement, counselor, we're hanging on together by mere threads. And that greatly concerns me."

It was clear to Delaney there was going to be a lot to unpack in the time she was away. Putting Tarin's comments about PT and potential lushes aside for the moment, she offered, "Thank you for sharing this with me. I realize we don't know each other well yet, and you're taking a leap of faith by confiding in me not just what you think, but how all of this makes you feel. I'm not going to discount your instincts, but scientifically speaking, I couldn't help but notice you mentioned these reactions are present in just ' some ' of the crew. Might that suggest we may not be dealing with cases of TDA as much as we are dealing with different people coping with the same stressors better than others? I only offer this as a hypothesis because if true, it means to be effective, I need to speak to those specific people to address what's really going on in addition to coming up with activities to protect crew morale overall."

The captain let out an internal sigh and rubbed her temples once more while momentarily closing her eyes. Dealing with counselors was almost as difficult as dealing with uppity scientists, and Carlisle wasn't much of an exception to the stereotype. Tarin was sure the woman meant well but the constraints of their current crew evolutions seemed to not carry the same sense of urgency she'd been trying to convey. The red-collared senior officer was becoming frustrated once more. "You seem to be a good officer, lieutenant; someone who cares about their duty and the well-being of those under your care. I wouldn't expect anything less from a counselor, and your reputation's proving well-earned," she complimented Carlisle. Then her tone shifted back to its traditional authoritative, dry inflection.

"But niceties and placations aren't what I need right now. I'm not confiding in you - I'm explaining a serious problem in recent crew behavior which I've identified. My feelings don't matter, and we're not friends. Not yet. I answered your questions and provided details, and now I need your help to fix this before this entire ship goes down by its own hand and takes the entirety of the Federation with it." The words spoken were without geniality and contained only a matter-of-fact inflection. "I can't start pulling essential crew members from their duties for hours at a time to sit with you and discuss their feelings. They have jobs to do and we're on the clock. Every minute counts, Carlisle. I can't give you what you need and that's a shitty deal for you...but I wouldn't ask it if it wasn't necessary." Her Lower Manhattan accent was starting to creep into her voice. "Right now, I need you to do your job to the best of your ability blindfolded and with your hands tied behind your back. ...Can you do that for us?"

Delainey took another steadying internal breath. On the bright side, Tarin did share specifics with her and appeared to recognize the impossible nature of what she was asking. On the other hand, what she wanted was only impossible because she was making incorrect assumptions about what it would take for Carlisle to address Tarin's concerns.

"I can and will always do my best for the crew I'm called to serve with, Captain. I'm also no stranger to tackling difficult problems under to put it politely, 'less than ideal circumstances.' Wherever possible, I do what I can to change those circumstances, or in this case, to clarify any misunderstandings about what it would take to be effective. Nowhere have I said I would need 'hours' to meet with members of the crew. Nowhere have I said 'feelings' and other 'niceties and placations' are all I have to offer. What I am saying is I cannot address issues with individuals without talking to said individuals. To use another perhaps tortured example, it's like asking me to fix the warp core without allowing me to set foot in engineering. While I, like most therapists pride myself on being able to help people by talking to them and doing so efficiently, we have not yet mastered the ability to tinker in people's minds remotely, even when senior officers use words like, 'Because I said so.'"

This time, Delainey did allow herself an external sigh. She didn't want an adversarial relationship with Tarin. "Captain, I hear you. You need answers ASAP and you're afraid of where we'll end up if things don't improve with the crew. I recognize the sense of urgency here and I'm not going to stroll through this issue as I address it, but if you're asking me to address it, I need you to trust me to do it my way."

A short silence ensued, not because the captain was indecisive or questioning her directive to the counselor, but most importantly because - in a strange way - Carlisle seemed to now understand the gravity of their situation. It was a welcome departure from their opening conversation when she'd first walked into the office. "What does 'your way' entail?" she indulged the lieutenant.

"I'd like to meet with the other senior staff members for a *few minutes* each to get their assessments of their people and to identify any specific steps I or we can take to address personnell concerns. Each senior staff member should be able to give me a macro level assessment of their people while also identifying either specific issues or specific people who are undermining cohesion. It's the fastest way I know how to address the crew's needs as a whole while also being able to tailor my approach as needed. It also gives me specific cover to talk with the Doctor about why she supported insubordination, a primary concern."

"A...few minutes each?" Tarin skeptically questioned before folding her arms across her chest. "And what if I told you some of those senior staff members are themselves the subject of my concerns?" She glanced down to one of the random PADDs on Carlisle's desk. "I might not possess your same education and training in the fields of psychology and sociology, but no counselor I've ever served with would be able to perform discovery, diagnosis and treatment involving multiple crew members in such a short period I'm requiring."

Delainey's inner teenager was already rolling her eyes. Another part of her wondered if she was being punked. How did this woman ever manage to get this far? Double talk could be considered a command level skill, but damn, if she didn't feel as if she was being gaslit.

Instead of chuckling hysterically at the absurdity of it all, however, Delainey's voice became softer, and even more even in tone. "I'm glad to know you have an appreciation for what it takes for me to do my job, Captain, as I wasn't sure I was getting that across. Nevertheless, as you've told me several times now, how I normally work is not acceptable under the circunstances in your estimation, so I'm attempting to offer an alternative within the limitations you've presented me. I would never say it was the ideal approach or the one I prefer, but considering I'm not in a position to telepathically fix the crew en mass all without their knowledge while keeping them exactly where you need them to be, the only thing I can limit is who I talk to and for how long."

Inside her bones, Tarin knew what she was ultimately asking the counselor to do was beyond her capability. She'd attempted to convey that, and so instead of wasting more precious time listening to the woman's requests, reservations and explanations, she instead brought the debate to its conclusion. Or so she hoped. "You have 24 hours; 24 hours to speak to those you need to without interfering with their work, then report back to me this time tomorrow evening with a diagnosis if one exists. After that, I'm going to need you to contribute elsewhere on the ship."

It was not the counselor's ideal resolution, but considering how things started, it was a compromise she could live with. As for the mention of being needed elsewhere, Carlisle chose to let the information slide off her back. There was no use getting worked up over such a cryptic statement. "Understood, Captain."

"Good." Tarin quickly rose to her feet from the couch then tugged the bottom of her uniform jacket down to smooth out its acquired wrinkles. "That's all I have for you, for now. Get to work...our clock's ticking." And with that, she rapidly walked out of Carlisle's office with consecutive swishes of the door to punctuate her visit.

Delainey exhaled heavily, this time letting go of all the air she had been holding to center herself. It was not the interaction she had hoped for, but she supposed it could have been worse. Above all, she had to remember the Captain was deserving of her patience and understanding like everyone else, and if her job was easy, more people would do it.

[OFF]

--

CMDR Morgan Tarin
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo -A

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