Levels 6: Decompression

Posted on 15 Jan 2013 @ 12:28pm by Captain Jonathan Holliday & Chief Warrant Officer 4 Cyrus Kiwosk & Crewman Indri Chara & Senior Chief Petty Officer Anthony Davis & Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Smoak (KIA) & Lieutenant Kiri Cho

3,958 words; about a 20 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 4, Medical and surroundings
Timeline: MD 16 0400

[ON]

Jeremy paced the corridor outside of Medical. He felt...ashamed...to be in Medical at the moment, but he wanted to be close by for when the word came out on Smoak's condition. He barely knew the Petty Officer, but he was one of Jeremy's officers and it was important that he be here. It was important that Smoak knew his Security Chief valued him enough to be nearby when he was woken and repaired.

He could almost stand being inside Medical, but for the amount of people in there. So, he waited in the corridor outside, pacing.

The short Tellarite officer who had accompanied him down the hallways approached, offering a mild salute. "How's he doing?" she asked promptly.

"Last update he should be fine. Stunning seemed to be the worst of it, but the head injury didn't help. Senior Davis is in there now," Jeremy said, nodding to the doors.

"Good," Chara said with a nod. Smoak was her superior. She didn't know much about the guy, really, she'd barely even met him, but he was one of theirs and that injury still stung. Fortunately, he was going to be okay, or so it seemed. "You heading in?"

Jeremy frowned. "Not just yet. I'm..." he looked at the doors. "I'm waiting."

Having left the Bridge as soon as he could do, the XO stepped out of the turbolift on course for Sickbay. Members of his security teams had acted to defend the ship from intruders, and if they had been hurt for some reason, then he wanted to know.

"Lieutenant Stone....how are your men?"

Jeremy glanced between Chandra and Kiwoski, nodding for them to leave.

Chara gave him a nod in return and headed in to see her boss, ducking through the doors almost unseen and letting the rest of them have it out. Honestly, this whole thing had been a nightmare. Yelling, squabbling, locking one another in access hatches... and people called her the greenhorn!

"Commander," Jeremy started, placing hands behind his back as he looked over the Commander's shoulder. "I'm being told Smoak is going to be fine. A minor cerebral hematoma, effects of stun, slight fracturing of the skull. But he's young and resilient and should be able to recover quickly. Not that he should have to. Not if we knew what we were dealing with."

"I wish I had known myself Lieutenant." John replied with a solemn look on his face. If he had been given even the slightest indication that Intelligence were willing to go to such extremes to accomplish their goals, he would have taken far more direct countermeasures.

"Your team did well. I'm grateful to you and to them."

Jeremy looked around the halls, making sure they were empty and giving himself time to pull back. "Sir, you did know. Unless your CoB is a liar, you knew what was going on and you failed to inform me or my department. You left us blind...you let my men walk blindly into a situation. We're fortunate, sir, that Smoak was merely stunned and not killed outright. Not to mention the ramifications from allowing Lieutenant Cho be taken hostage. There is a reason Security is posted to every ship in the Fleet, sir, and that's to prevent people from playing amatuer detective."

He hoped he kept himself as tight and controlled as he felt he did but he was oftentimes...mistaken...by how sharp he became.

"I had my orders Lieutenant. We couldn't risk a security breach and those operatives finding out we were onto them by telling more people than we deemed absolutely necessary."

It seemed that Quinn had let a little more slip than John might have wanted him necessarily to have done. Whilst it would have been extremely convenient to simply tell everyone aboard exactly what was going on and use the resources of the whole crew as a countermeasure, but the risk outweighed the benefits.

"If you want to lay the blame at my feet, then I gladly accept it."

"Sir," he said keeping himself standing just where he was at. It came down to it now didn't it. "Whether you like it or not, I am still the Chief of Security on this ship. I am not "more people than deemed necessary". The safety and security of this ship is my responsibility. What happened to Officer Smoak is my responsibility, that Cho was taken hostage falls onto my shoulders. But I cannot do my job when I'm kept in the dark because of your contempt of me."

"Contempt? Lieutenant I harbour no contempt towards you. I might find you..overbearing, callous, and inflexible at times, but I certainly do not doubt your capabilities as a senior officer on this vessel."

John was surprised that the man in front of him would think that the XO would deliberately think of him as contemptuous. If anything Holliday appreciated having someone else on board who followed regulations, albeit sometimes a little too far.

"We have disagreed in the past regarding shipboard behaviour but make no mistake about it, I have no desire to remove you from your posting."

Jeremy blinked as he took a half step back. He considered Holliday's assessment and the only thing he could honestly disagree with was 'overbearing'. "You have overridden me at every opportunity. Undermined every decision and action I have taken aboard this ship since the moment we met. You have allowed enlisted to disobey orders, display complete insubordination and participated in an event that had me so twisted up that I...that I took steps to actively forget it. Your contempt, sir, is obvious."

"Lieutenant my...contempt, as you put it, is born from a desire to maintain a sense of order on this vessel that maintains the regulations and rules of Starfleet for the most part, whilst not bordering on a prison camp. I realise that you want to make your mark on the posting here on Galileo but you have to understand that flexibility is required if you are to thrive here."

John took a moment to clear his throat, moving his body weight from one foot to the other as he tried to come up with the next part of his sentence. He had no idea that Stone was so negative towards him after such a short space of time on board.

"I have no desire to see you feel this way."

"I'm not a Nazi!" Jeremy said, going sharp. He took a mental step back. "I'm not trying to run a prison camp either. I'm trying to keep order aboard this ship and bring some respect back to this department. I don't care about leaving a 'mark' if it doesn't make this ship better for the crew."

"Let me tell you a story Mr. Stone. When I first stepped aboard this ship...I hated it - I mean I really hated it. Half of me wanted to simply about turn and walk straight back down the ramp and go back to the Academy and teach for the rest of my career. It was a ship of scientists, civillians, people who had never known the discipline of the tactical or security disciplines that you and I have trained in."

Sighing for what seemed like the thousandth time today, John fought back a wave of emotion as he moved to continue on with the example that he hoped would show Stone that Holliday was no monster, and was here simply to maintain status quo.

"But I've served with these people whilst Klingons threatened to blow us up at every turn, and now, I understand their points of view, I understand their nature. I still maintain dsicipline, I still maintain a command structure, but I know when to be flexible and when to yield - something that I hope you will come to understand by the time you have spent some period in service here."

Jeremy sighed as he stared at the wall just to the left of Holliday. "Sir, I know what I'm like and I work on it. I'm working on it now. The incident in Medical has shown me just how far I've regressed and I'm trying to get back to the person that earned this position. It's a learning curve for me - as well as the crew. I'm not perfect and I'm making mistakes, I know that. But, sir, the more you undermine me, the more you override me, the more this crew will know that I'm ineffective and you have no faith in me. I want to prove that I'm more than just overbearing or callous." He sighed. "I'm working on being more 'flexible'. You, sir, actually showed me a lesson in that regard the other day."

"How about we put our own personal opinions aside for now and check up on our teams?"

John was more than willing to play the blame game at a later point, but right now there were better priorities to look at right now.

Jeremy tripped the door sensors, opening the doors to Medical and then allowing Holliday to proceed him. His stomach knotted as he walked through the doors, giving him yet another indication that something had happened in here but he wasn't sure what it was. The second was the way the staff looked at him, some actively scurrying away as he followed the Commander to the small group gathered around a bio bed.

"Sir," Jeremy said as they showed up. "I will be remiss in my training if I didn't suggest that Lieutenant Cho should see a counselor for a trauma debrief. When I saw her earlier, she looked as if she could use someone to talk to and to help her get through the events of this evening."

"Agreed - I'll submit the order to Counselling before the end of the day." The XO commented, making sure that he made a mental note to complete the action. There were certainly going to be more than one member of the crew needing the attention of the counselling team.

"How's Officer Smoak?" Jeremy asked in general.

"The doc says he'll live," Chara answered gruffly. "Concussion's the worst of it." And he's damned lucky that's all, she thought to herself sparing little kindness, even as she still remained standing over him watchfully.

Cyrus wasn't overlly worried about Smoak. The guy was tough, but it was the blow to the head that really bothered him. Had it been a simple stun bolt, the former marine wouldn't have thought twice about it. "Boss...Lieutenant, if you want to head back and get some rest, I'll wait here for Smoak to come to, I doubt I'll be getting much sleep in either case.
"He got lucky, real lucky, they could have easily made those shots to kill... "

Jeremy scowled at Kiwoski but didn't immediately say anything. The two of them together, Kiwoski and Holliday, seemed to remind him of something. Whatever it was that he didn't remember must be bad for him to have forgotten it and not leave himself notes.

However, he knew that if he did leave it would be held against him that he didn't care about the people in his department. Kiwoski would make sure that the crew knew that Jeremy failed to even stop by to visit an injured officer. He understood the importance of the department head showing his people he valued them by spending the time with them in Medical when they were injured in the course of their duties. "I was already awake and prepared to start my normal duty shift at 0400, Chief Kiwoski. I am prepared to stay as long as necessary before beginning to process the crime scenes. Which will hopefully remain under security control."

Cyrus nodded. "I was still awake myself. I was just..." It didn't matter what he said, Stone would take it the wrong way. He simply nodded once more and let the matter rest. "Understood, sir." He looked over to the Green horn and smiled. "Thanks for the rifle by the way kiddo, good work down there too. How long have you been in?"

Chara looked up at Kiwosk. She was not a child, but once again, she let it slide, because Kiwosk was the chief here, not her. She nodded in acknowledgment of his thanks. "Since we got back," she answered in usual curtness.

Cyrus nodded listening, "I figured as much. You've got a good shot." He replied off handedly. He turned to Stone and nodded. "What's your take on all this boss. Obviously that data rod was important, but was it really worth Starfleet to go all out on us like that..." Cyrus still was having a hard time coming to terms that Starfleet would send operatives to retrieve something that would have been given to them eventually via files and personal logs. It didn't make any sense to him.

"I don't have the all the details regarding this incident," Stone replied. "However, it would seem that Starfleet is very interested in how this drive would work and what effects it would have on the crew." He sighed as he subtly turned, to keep the conversation low and out of earshot of Lieutenant Cho. The science officer looked as if she were held together only with a thin strand of guilt. "In a case such as we've seen, with the effects we've already noted, perhaps Starfleet didn't trust the crew to be honest regarding their experiences?"

Jeremy was still bothered by the idea of his organization acting in this manner. Every time he tried to have faith that the organization would do the right thing, he was confronted again with evidence of the rot at the core of Starfleet. "Though, I agree, this incident was overkill. Without someone being more forthcoming, we may not be able to determine what happened." he glanced at Holliday to see if the Commander would be that person. "At this point, I think we deserve it."

"That's at the Captain's discretion, Lieutenant, not mine. Suffice to say, information will be provided on a need to know basis. As things stand, all data regarding this event has been secured to senior officers and above access only."

John cleared his throat to reinforce the point. As much as he might have wished to divulge all the details of this event and exactly why members of his crew were laying in Sickbay lucky to be alive, the XO knew better than anyone else that he had to, for now at least, keep the details of their engagement confined to only those who need to know.

"Commander," Jeremy said as he failed to turn to look at him, but keeping his voice low. "I'd like to remind you that as the Chief of Security, I am a senior officer on this ship. But to do that, sir, I'd have to remind you that you - and others - engaged in a conspiracy to fail to inform me of your plans." He sighed. He was screwing up the conversation they just had. "Understood, sir," he said, glancing only briefly at Holliday.

"Like I said Stone - take it up to the Captain. I'm just following her orders." John was beginning to get a little enraged that he was taking flak from his subordinates simply for following the instructions of his commanding officer. Saalm had insisted that he keep the exact details of the situation under their hats, and there was no way the XO would be foolish enough to break a direct order simply under peer pressure.

"If she changes her order, I'll happily tell you all everything, but she makes the rules, I just follow them."

Jeremy merely nodded as he stood, hands behind his back and accepting the rebuke. Maybe they hadn't settled their differences like Jeremy had hoped.

"Hey," a tired voice said from the middle of the crowd, "if you're all fighting on who's going to work, anybody mind if I go home?" Justin started to sit up.

Cyrus breathe a sigh of relief and could only imagine how Kiri could feel at this moment. "Hey..." He nudged his Trill friend slightly. "Go to him, he's awake."

She was elated that he was okay, that he didn't die in front of her. Someone else had that night though and that made two since she joined the ship. It so easily could have been her and this was meant to be an even safer place than before. Gingerly she stepped forwards, ignoring the fact the she caught her hip on the corner of the bed. Her voice showed how close to tears she still was, "Thank you, for saving me." If he hadn't called for her then she would be the one here, or dying.

"Great job I did of it," Smoak said, trying to sit up.

"Whoa there, kid," Davis said, placing a hand on his chest to keep Smoak lying on the bed. "Doc says you shouldn't be moving around. Might break something else in your soft noggin."

"Naw, his noggin isn't soft at all, he took that concussion like a champ." He turned to Smoak and grinned. "You have a good nap? you know...if you wanted out of Gamma shift, you only had to ask Justin. Don't you think this was a little much?"

"Like I'm going to ask you to trade shifts, you get fired every other hour so I'd end up working doubles all the time," Justin winced as he smiled.

"You take it easy, and no trying to come back early unless the Doctor tells you. Good to have you awake Petty Officer."

"Petty officer?" he said, "I got promoted to Senior Master Chief Warrant," he laughed. "I think you got hit on the head, Kiwoski."

Kiri was rather lost with all the talk, they were making the situation seem very, um, un-serious. It wasn't a joke, he could have died. There was nothing she could say though, moving back as everyone else seemed to come closer.

"Lieutenant Cho?" Smoak asked, "Is she okay?"

Jeremy pulled Kiwoski aside to speak to him. "Things on this ship are unsafe. It occurs to me that several policy changes will need to be made, the first starting with your tactical team." He frowned. "You need to make sure that the team or plan doesn't get screwed up."

As Cyrus was lead away he had been nodding from the beginning. "Agreed, sir. We'll have this team in ship shape before you know it. As long as you can handle the politics, I'll get them all trained in no time."

Jeremy glared at Holliday, suddenly thinking it would be better to trade the 'politics' with someone else. But tonight convinced him more than ever of the need to increase their training and response. He was also formulating additional measures. These ones would be more complicated and require much more in the way of 'politics'. "I'll take care of it."

"I know you will, sir. Well, we didn't totally screw up tonight. At least we got Lieutenant Cho back and Smoak woke sooner than i thought he would." He kept his voice low once more. "I'm sorry that we didn't get the other one Lieutenant." Kiwosk finished.

Jeremy scowled at that. "My fault," he said simply. "I'll deal with it. However, training needs to become a priority for this department. And ship." He thought of Quinn and the interferences that kept happening, not to mention the admin keeping them all in dark about what was happening. He sighed. Smoak was awake and the prognosis was good. Cho was...he didn't know what Cho was. Until tonight he'd never even seen her. He had no idea if this was normal behavior for her. "Lieutenant Cho will need watching. She seems...fragile...to me and these types of traumatic events take a toll. She may start to experience signs of depression or anxiety. Holliday says he'll order counseling for her but, until she can talk to somebody, it needs to be passed on to watch her."

"Noted, I've already told her, I'll be around, so long as Lieutenant Panne doesn't take it upon herself to look after Kiri." Cyrus sighed. "I'm sure the Lieutenant will be well looked after."

Cyrus motioned for Kiri to partake and talk to Justin now that he was awake. He mouthed a silent ' it's okay' to her when he had finally caught her attention.

Kiri had spoken to him, she had said the words that she felt she needed to. Now he was with his friends wasn't he? What more should she do? She didn't him or what to say. Taking a shaky step she was really struggling, "How are you feeling?"

"Hell of a headache, I must have been in a science lab. Science classes always made my head hurt."

If it was a joke it fell very flat to Kiri, wincing slightly she nodded, at least he didn't seem very hurt. All these strangers were making her uncomfortable though.

"Yeah, kid," Davis said, laughing slightly, "I've often seen you having thinking problems. Maybe a crack on the noggin will have put some sense into it! Though, fess up, there never were any intruders were there? You just saw a pretty lady and thought you had a chance. Never realized how good she was with a stun phaser did you!" Davis laughed.

Cyrus made his way up to the three of them. And chuckled. In a low voice he whispered to Kiri. "Sometimes, when people have dealt with someone scary in their life...humour helps them cope. That's why everyone seems to be making jokes."

She sort of understood that but this was the first time she had really seen it, "Oh." It wasn't helping her cope, she would much rather everyone take it seriously, so she knew where she stood.

"Well, kid, you're getting the day off anyway. Though, you might want to rest up cause we launch tonight and you won't want to miss that. It only happens every so often..." Davis chuckled, "or once a month on this boat."

Jeremy had enough, the room was confining and the staff staring at him was bothering him. He looked at his chrono and realized that most of his department was here in Medical, which left the bridge station unmanned. Slipping away quietly, he made the decision to leave. He'd go finish up the shift on the bridge so his people could have their time together.

Cyrus watched Stone leave, but didn't respond or make any mention of him leaving. The mission was weighing on everyone, the fact that Starfleet had sent two SFI operatives on board to do... this was beyond most of them, including Kiwosk.

Davis returned from a chat with one of the nurses. "Sorry, folks, I'm being told we need to leave. Smoak is going to be released later this morning. We can all crowd his quarters then and give him a hard time for being the biggest screw up on the ship. Until then...you don't have to go to your quartes, but, respectfully," he nodded to his superiors, "you can't stay here."

[OFF]

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Ltjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Kiri Cho
Assistant Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo

CWO Cyrus Kiwosk
Security/ Tactical
USS Galileo

SPO Anthony Davis
Security/Tactical officer
USS Galileo

PO3 Justin Smoak
Security/Tactical officer
USS Galileo

Crewman Indri Chara
Security/Tactical Officer, SFS
USS Galileo

RSS Feed