A Bridge Officer Too Far (Part 2 of 2)

Posted on 27 Jan 2013 @ 10:34pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Command Master Chief Markum Quinn & Petty Officer 3rd Class Justin Smoak (KIA) & Senior Chief Petty Officer Anthony Davis

3,458 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 03 - Frontier
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1, Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD -02: 0058 hrs

Previously...on the Starship Galileo:

Lirha nodded with approval as he seemingly accepted his new orders, albeit with a hint of reluctance. She was about to dismiss him when the dog's whining reminded her of a final order she needed to give him. "Yes, Lieutenant, you are dismissed. And for the future, I would prefer that Sidious not be on the bridge during your shifts. I appreciate your connection with him and my XO and I are pleased that you have taken a liking to him, however he is not able to operate a LCARS console or terminal, and therefore has no practical function in the command center. Most importantly, I am afraid that he might be a distraction to the other bridge officers. I'm sorry."

And now the conclusion...

[ON]

As she said he could leave, he shot out of the chair in a rush to leave, however her words stopped him. He turned and scowled, looking from her to Sidi and back. He stiffened to hear her so summarily dismiss a member of her crew, one of his officers. He could take being punished, unfairly, he could take being chewed out. He could take yet another example of how he was going to be considered the problem no matter what the situation was. When they came after him he could take it and move on. It was what he had become used to. But this was different. "Sir, with all due respect that is unfair and...and..." he shook his head wanting to stop himself but couldn't, "It's bullshit. Commander Holliday gave me this big speech about how this is a ship of opportunity for all people regardless of species, now I'm being told that a member of my department is to be considered second class merely because of his species? That's just plain wrong, sir. I explained to Holliday that he's not a 'pet' but a security officer in his own right, who has to be assigned to a handler. I was told by Holliday that he and you understood the ramifications of bringing a working dog aboard the ship. Now you're telling me because your flight officer is so incompetent she can't do her job with someone standing next to her? How can I feel confident with her in that position when the ship is in trouble? You tell me I need to learn to be polite and respectful, but she can demand his removal without any other cause than her dislike of his species and where is the respect in that?"

He stopped for a moment, to take a breath. He wished he could stop, just turn and leave and revisit it for another time. "Alright, sir, he barked, once but...sir...that's my fault! Not his. I should have brought him up earlier so he could familiarize himself with the Bridge so he understood his role better. But, sir, it's his first Condition Blue and he got excited. How can you blame him for that? His first day assigned to a starship and he gets to experience a starship launch, an event that many people never get to experience in their careers? I've been in Starfleet for over a decade and...for as long as I've kept records, this is my first planetary launch as well."

He wanted to stop himself, to get himself to stop but since he was done on this ship, he wasn't going to let it be said that he rolled over and allowed one of his people to be treated the way everyone thought it was okay to treat him. "If you're going to be honest about the situation, sir, he wasn't the only one that was excited and spoke his excitement. If I were to complain that your own excitement was a distraction to me, would you be summarily dismissed from the Bridge, for just one occurrence?

"Give me a chance to show that he's not a 'distraction' and he has a purpose even if it's just as additional security on the Bridge, which is part of his function. But, sir, I was told that you and Holliday understood the ramifications of his, and conversely, my assignment. I was told he'd have the same access and duties as myself. If that's not the case, I wouldn't have accepted his assignment, nor should you have allowed his transfer.

"Unless Holliday was just giving me a line of bullshit about opportunities and equal treatment and consideration for all species, then I think you should treat him as equally as any other member of the crew. He's not a 'pet' sir, to be locked away in quarters while I'm on duty, or a piece of equipment to be trotted out only when he's considered to be of use, but a member of the crew with duties and responsibilities."

He shook his head and stopped. "I know I've lost your respect, just now, sir, but I'm not going to let another suffer the same ill-treatment I get. I can take, I will take the disrespect and unfair treatment I suffer because I don't have a choice, Starfleet is all I have, and I'll gladly bear whatever punishment you now wish to dole out, sir, but I'll have you know, if you continue to enforce this order to remove him from the bridge, I will take this complaint to your superiors. It's speciesist and discriminatory and I won't be a part of it, sir."

He stood, with Sidi at his side, hands folded behind his back and waited to find out what would happen to him now.

Lirha's green eyes became wide as she suddenly began to boil with anger. Never in her career as a commanding officer had she ever dealt with such a seemingly over-opinionated series of statements. Had he just called her chief flight control officer incompetent? The same skillful woman who was a joined Trill with hundreds of years of experience, who managed to land Galileo in one piece on Vega's hard and dry terrain after several of their landing thrusters had failed? And then just ranted to Lirha with inappropriate language and accused her of being a 'specieiest'? She couldn't take it anymore. She had tried to be nice to the man; Calm and understanding, and had even given him the benefit of the doubt...but now it had suddenly become crystal clear to her why he was constantly receiving complaints. He was rude. Rude as hell.

She didn't even bother to respond to his statements, and if she had wanted to, she didn't know where to begin. His apparent lack of understanding regarding the chain of command was too worrisome, and she greatly feared for the rest of her crew if suddenly had another similar 'outburst' as he had just done. Tapping her commbadge, she summoned her COB to her ready room. "Mister Quinn, please report to my ready room immediately." she said with a bit of urgency, then stood from her chair and walked around the desk until she was standing directly in front the gold-collared man, albeit nine inches shorter than him. Looking up at his broad frame, she forcefully quipped at him. "Lieutenant Stone, you are out of line." she said in a loud and firm voice. "Stand at attention!" she ordered.

He made sure Sidi was sitting then complied. There was...he closed his eyes. He would endure captivity of the brig to show his outrage at how a member of his department was being treated. If that's what she ordered. He would endure it. He'd been a captive before for a less noble purpose.

He waited.

Quinn was working with one of the new Boatswain's Mates when he was ordered to the Ready Room. HE gave a quick scan and realized that Stone and his mutt weren't present. He tapped his combadge as he moved with haste to the bridge's small armory of phasers. =^=Aye-aye.=^= Quinn entered his command code and the compartment opened. Quinn quickly grabbed a hand phaser and checked the charge and setting. Full power, medium stun. He then grabbed a holster and side-armed the weapon to his right hip and shut the door hearing the security latch seal close as he walked towards the CO's Ready Room. The doors opened as the CoB approached. The MCPO's hunch was right. Stone and his furry friend. Quinn walked past Security Chief and stood to the side of Lirha's desk; facing both the Captain to his right, and Stone to his left, he came to a parade rest with his hands behind him. "Yes, Skipper. Is there a problem, ma'am?"

At Quinn's entrance, Sidi stiffened, his eyes locking on him and a low growl starting from the back of his throat. Jeremy scowled as he hissed down to Sidi. As Quinn spoke, Sidi stood, the growl becoming much more noticeable. Jeremy turned and knelt before him, grabbing his snout and pushing it to the side, trying to get him back into play mode. Sidi's lips peeled back in a snarl as he looked past Jeremy to Quinn. "No!" Jeremy hissed, grabbing his ears and ruffling them. "C'mon, boy, it's okay," he said trying to imitate the praise voice.

Sidi looked from Jeremy to Quinn, still growling. Jeremy reached into his pocket and brought out the tug rope. "Play, boy?" he asked as he shook his head. "Sir," he said, not turning but addressing the Captain, "He's reacting to the level of hostility in the room. I need to get him out of here and into a calmer place. Where are you sending us?"

He continued to ruffle Sidi's ears, trying to get him to calm. He was determined that Sidi would be protected from all this, even if he had to find a way to make sure he stayed calm locked in the brig.

Lirha watched as Quinn promptly entered the ready room with his weapon on his hip, and then noticed Sidious' subsequent agitation. She sincerely hoped that the animal could control himself, for his own sake. Small to medium sized creatures did not often fare well after being stunned, even on the lowest setting. Nodding curtly at her COB, she replied to him in an unhappy voice, "It appears that the lieutenant here," she flicked her eyes towards Stone, "feels that his fellow bridge officers are incompetent and 'speciesist'." she explained.

Quinn eyed the two security officers, only really caring for one of them, but unfortunately it was the one that was on the leash currently. "Aye, Skipper. The Lieutenant has a habit of running his mouth before his mind can catch up."

Jeremy glanced at the Captain appalled but not surprised that she was so willing to lie about what was said in order to make him look worse. If it were anyone other than Petty Officer Quinn, Jeremy would want the record set straight, however, his estimation of Quinn was less than he felt about diplomats.

Jeremy had to quuickly dodge out of the way as teeth came at him. Sidi's jaws snapped together, biting nothing but empty air but it had come close. He now had to use strength to keep the dog back and the barking directly in his hear wasn't helping.

Looking up at the tall security officer, Lirha eyes were still ablaze with anger. "Lieutenant Stone, you are hereby relieved of your duties for inappropriate conduct befitting an officer, and you are confined to your quarters until further notice." she said firmly, then looked over to the master chief. "Mister Quinn, get this man off my bridge and escort him to his room."

Jeremy didn't wait for the captain to finish after she ordered him to his quarters. He grabbed Sidi and left the room, heading straight across the bridge, Sidi still growling and agitated, looking behind him every few feet. He managed to make the turbolift.

"Happily, ma'am." answered Quinn as he noticed Stone leaving in a hurry. Quinn followed after, but kept a step behind as he was smart enough to keep a barrier between him and the angered dog. The door on the turbolift closed before Quinn could enter.

"Deck two," he ordered watching the door close. Fortunately he made it into the turbolift alone because it was all he could do to keep Sidi under control. It took only moments for the 'lift to deposit him at Deck Two and the door to his quarters straight across from the turbolift.

His priority was getting Sidi into the kennel to prevent any further problems.

The COB looked and caught the eye of the Boatswain's Mate he was working with. "Mancuso, give me a site to site beam in to the quarters of Lieutenant Stone...now."

"Aye, Master Chief" he replied as he worked a terminal quickly. He looked back up to Quinn and nodded.

Quinn returned the nod with one of his own as he answered while drawing out his phaser.. "Energize."

In all but a few seconds he was materializing behind Stone as he was entering his quarters. Quinn followed behind. "Get that mutt under control, Lieutenant or I'll do it."

"You touch him, or even try it," Jeremy said, pulling the barking and snarling dog through his quarters, "And the Doctor will be fitting your for a second arm, cause I'll use your good one to beat you within an inch of your life." He glared at Quinn, "then go a foot further."

Jeremy put Sidi into the bathroom but knew there was no way he'd be able to get the dog into the kennel with as agitated as he was...not without losing several pounds of flesh. Instead he slammed the button closing the bathroom door and locking it. "Now, you've followed your orders, you've proven what a big man you are by waving a phaser around. Now get the hell out."

Quinn holstered the phaser and turned for the door. "Yes, I have followed orders. Better than you have anyway." Quinn stopped at the door then turned around. "You know, Lieutenant. It's not that I, or anyone else on the ship dislike you, personally. It's your attitude. It sucks. You walk around with this big chip on your shoulder, and the first person that you think is trying to give you a hard time, or question your authority, even if it is genuinely unintentional, you have temper tantrum and feel like you have to throw your position around, like we all owe you for something. If you'd quit being a dick, and just shut up long enough to listen to reason..hell, even I would like you." Quinn put his head down for a moment and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment. "Despite what you may think, I didn't enjoy this and I hope some quiet time will give the Skipper a chance to cool off and you too. I'm..." Quinn sighed. "I am sorry, sir. If you get lonely, I'm around." He quickly turned and pressed the close button on the door. The pneumatic hiss of the door closing filled the COB's ears as he entered a command code into the door to lock it.

=^=Computer, this is Master Chief Petty Officer Markum Quinn, Chief of the Boat. Lieutenant junior grade Jeremy Stone has been relieved of duty and has been confined to quarters until further notice by Captain Saalm. This door is not to be opened by anyone except Captain Saalm, Commander Holliday, and myself. Authorization-Tango-Tango, Sierra, One.=^= The console on the door chirped and a command lockout was shown as being engaged on the door. Quinn tapped his combadge. =^=Quinn to Captain Saalm. The Lieutenant and his partner have been secured into their quarters. ma'am.=^=

Still standing in her ready room, Lirha angrily paced back and forth when her communicator chirped. She tapped her commbadge and quickly replied to her COB, "Understood, Chief. Thank you for your help." she said, then wandered over to her couch. With an incredulous shake of her head, she couldn't believe the temper tantrum that Stone had just thrown. It was almost like watching a small child be denied his favorite toy, and ironically, although the man had insisted that he 'did not run away from his problems', he literally had just run away from his problems. There was obviously much work that the man needed to do to improve himself, and Lirha was unfortunately not optimistic that he could adjust to his new assignment.

Jeremy grabbed his PADD and flicked through several screens until he found the one he wanted. He stared at the display then began tapping several commands. He listened as the door slid open, then closed again. Nodding, he turned away, going back to do what he could to take care of Sidi, already dismissing the petty officer and his attempts to mitigate his own lack of respect and sense of entitlement.

Several long moments later and back in her ready room, the terminal on Lirha's desk chirped with a soft warning sound. Quickly moving to the chair and taking a seat, she opened the display and quickly identified it as a security breach alert. Further investigation revealed that, although Quinn had apparently locked the man in his own quarters as ordered, the door had just been overridden and had opened and closed...by a PADD belonging to Lieutenant Stone. Grinding her teeth as more anger consumed her, she input a series of operations commands into her ship's computer, effectively removing Stone's entire security clearance and LCARS access, and reinitialized the security lock on the door. As a precaution, she encrypted it with her own command codes, then tapped her commbadge once again to speak to her COB. "Saalm to Quinn, it seems that Mister Stone has overridden the security lock on his door. I have removed his computer access and encrypted it with my own command codes, but I would also like a guard posted at his door. If that man opens his door again...shoot him, cuff him, then take him to the brig."

Quinn was just stepping back onto the Bridge when the CO contacted him. Quinn shook his head and grinned. =^=Happily, Skipper.=^= Quinn pointed to a security officer. "You, with me."

The Petty Officer nodded and walked into the turbolift. =^=Quinn to the Brig. I want an armed guard outside or Lieutenant Stone's quarters, ASAP, per direct order of Captain Saalm. And two there on guard on a rotating shift.=^= The lift's door's opened and the two stopped in front of Stone's door. "If this door opens, you shoot with phaser on medium stun, then you shoot again. After the target is no longer a threat, you cuff them and send them to the brig. If someone other than a member of the Command Staff attempts to open the door to Mister Stone's quarters, you shoot them, cuff them, and take them to the brig. DO you understand your orders? Mister Stone amd his K-Nine, Silva are relieved of duty until further notice by either myself, the XO, or the Captain."

Davis sighed - he thought with Stone leaving the Bridge he was safe from being in the middle of it between him and Holliday but apparently the Chief managed to climb the ladder and piss off the Captain. "Sidi, CoB," Davis said, correcting him automatically. "His name is 'Sidi'."

Davis waited for Smoak to step off the Turbolift and hand him a phaser. "What'd he do this time?" Smoak asked.

"Damned if I know," Davis said adjusting the fit of the phaser on his hip. "But when's the last time you stood as armed guard and got dubious orders to shoot people on sight?"

Smoak grinned at that, then frowned as he remembered the conversation he had with the Chief earlier that morning and how the chief knew of his involvement in the Soup Nazi signs but still hadn't said anything about it. He looked at the closed door and wondered if there was an opportunity here to get on the Chief's good side.

[OFF]

--

CAPT Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Suspended Chief Security/Tactical Officer/K9
USS Galileo

MCPO Markum Quinn
Chief of the Boat
USS Galileo

Senior Chief Petty Officer Anthony Davis
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

PO3 Justin Smoak
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

Sidious MWD 7223
Security Canine unit
USS Galileo
NPC'd by Jeremy Stone

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