Bureaucracy

Posted on 22 Jan 2018 @ 11:47pm by Lieutenant JG Edward Butler & Commander Scarlet Blake

1,837 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Administrative Services Office, Starfleet Command, Earth
Timeline: MD29+; 1047

[ON]

Lines suck. If Hell were real I think it'd just be a place where you're forced to stand in line just to get into another line. Five minutes later, after having not moved a single step, Edward rubbed one long-fingered hand through his hair and stared disconsolately at the ceiling. He'd been in line for an hour and a half already, and he was still fifteen people from the front of the line.

Several lines snaked through the glass and steel construction of the Starfleet Administrative Services office. There were seven, maybe eight windows open, but it seemed that everyone had had the same idea to arrive before Admin Services opened. After a few hundred years, Edward was fairly certain that the nature of bureaucracy should have changed. Of course, something like that wasn't likely to change for the better.

When Edward looked up, he noticed that the man in the Starfleet uniform behind the glass had closed the shutters.

"Window seventeen will be closed for the next thirty minutes. For your convenience you may move to another open window or wait for the window to reopen." The computer voice was calm. Despite the irrationality of the thought Edward was certain that the machine voice seemed to take pleasure in the fact that the forty or so people in line would either have to stand in place without any help for 30 minutes hoping that the window would open again, or move to the end of other ever lengthening lines.

"You have got to be kidding me!" He said. His voice was quiet and vehement. It was echoed by many others in the line.

"I don't think they are...." a female voice from the line next to his said calmly. It was impossible to tell by the soft tone that she was teasing, but there was a slight glint in her eye as she glanced his way. Scarlet Blake sighed as she shook her head, motioning ahead to her own line. "This may well be a cruel and unusual psych test."

Edward gave a half shrug. "It's entirely possible, I'd suppose. Maybe they're cranking us up to let counseling students work on calming an enraged mob." His deep voice seemed to echo in the cavernous space, despite the fact that he spoke softly. Something about it's tone.

It was at that moment that the window to the next line over closed and a similar announcement was made for that line.

Scarlet half blurted out a word beginning with 'b' that she just about managed to swallow back the last half of. She sighed as she shook her head, her lips pursing in a moment of irritation that reached her features before it was followed by a sharp sigh.

Edward laughed. He couldn't hide his amusement that the woman in the next line, who had laughed at his predicament, however kindly, was now stuck in it too. "Settle in. It looks like we're both stuck for a while longer."

"Perhaps they'll provide drinks and entertainment," she said lightly, her tongue briefly touching the inside of her cheek before she shook her head. "So we can make a starship that explores the galaxy, but we can't make a queue work..."

"I don't think that the nature of bureaucracy has ever changed. It seems to be one thing that bridges species and cultures." He sighed heavily. "What brings you to the most hated place on Earth?" he asked. Though this was a way to keep his mind off the long wait ahead, he was also genuinely curious.

"My time instructing is coming to an end," Scarlet shook her head, but there was a small smile on her lips that betrayed that it was likely seen as a good thing. "I should be returning to a ship. Yourself? Is it anything you can come back another time for?"

"Me? I have to register my end-of-term paperwork with Starfleet Administration before I can graduate OCS. I don't know why the Academy can't just send this over," he pulled a fluorescent orange isolinear chip out of his pocket, "but procedure insists that I be present and that it be submitted directly to an administrative registrar."

She gave a soft tut at the words, shaking her head as she arched an eyebrow and leant up on her tiptoes for a better view ahead. "I'm sure it seemed a good idea at the time...."

"A lot of things look good on the drawing board, but blow up in your face when you actually try to implement them." He counted silently. His height gave him a far better vantage. "You've got something like twenty five people in front of you, give or take a couple. I've got around thirty."

Scarlet sighed heavily, a note of impatience creeping over the features of the woman who was usually good at keeping herself looking calm and neutral. "I'm not standing around here all day. We may as well try another time at this rate."

Edward waffled a bit. He'd already been waiting for so long, he hated the idea of starting over. Despite that, his frustration was mounting. "True enough," he said, "it's coming up on lunch time. Do you have any plans?" She looked to be at least a decade younger than he, but a pleasant lunch with an attractive woman wasn't something he'd miss an opportunity for.

Scarlet shook her head with a sharp sigh of exasperation. Claire would stay with Lily for another couple of hours...and she knew the girl enjoyed her time with her. Besides, hopefully the place would have got itself sorted in the time it took to get some lunch. She'd rather not spend that time, however short, amongst a crowd that was growing more and more antsy by the moment. "Let's get out of here before someone starts a riot..."

"Absolutely," Edward agreed. He abandoned the line, dropping the chip into his pocket. "I was planning on grabbing a bite at Pohlt's. How does that sound?" Pohlt's was a restaurant that claimed to serve Romulan cuisine. Although it was nominally authentic, it had to use ingredients from Earth and Vulcan.

"We can....give it a go," Scarlet nodded to cover her hesitation. It wasn't somewhere she'd braved before, but then again, she'd try anything once. Usually.

"Where do you think you'll be assigned?" Edward asked as they walked across campus to the cafe. He knew where he'd be assigned, but that was only because his commission had come with the agreement that he'd be able to serve aboard the ship he'd spent years working on.

Scarlet frowned slightly as she shook her head, folding her arms as she fell into step at his side. "Not yet. To be honest, so long as it's a ship, I'll be happy. And so will Lily," she admitted openly. It wasn't an unusual thing, afterall. It's what many officers trained for, the chance to live out in the stars.

"I can see that. Even after a couple of centuries in space it still pulls us. It's pretty amazing." Edward paused trying to ask the question he had delicately. "You mentioned that Lily would enjoy being in space. Is Lily your daughter?" It was a geniune question, but asked in a way to give the least possible offense.

Scarlet gave a slight nod, glancing his way with a small smile at the mention of the girl. "Yes. She's only five and she's spent a lot of that time in space. I thought she'd like the chance to run around gardens and parks....it lasted a few weeks before she was talking about the stars again."

"Yeah, it took me a while to get used to planetary living." Before Scarlet could ask, he shrugged. "My mother was Starfleet and raised me aboard ships as often as she could. Do you worry about Lily's safety out there? I know my mom worried about me when I was living with her."

Scarlet nodded slowly as she thought on it. It wasn't something she liked to dwell on. "Yes," she finally replied, honestly. She wasn't one for untruths, she didn't see the point. "But I don't want to wrap her up in cotton wool. And I know that she wouldn't thank me for it if I did."

"I can't argue with that. There's danger everywhere, it's just a different kind." He held the door open for his conversation partner. "Do you care where we sit?"

"Over there looks good," Scarlet nodded to a table that was in the corner. It had a good view of the rest of the restaurant. She made her way over to take the seat that was tucked in the corner, giving her an unobscured view of the room with nothing missed behind her.

Once he settled in, folding into the seat. "Any recommendations on what to order?" He looked over the menu. It had Romulan script as well as Federation Standard phonetics. Although Edward had eaten Romulan cuisine before, he'd never really paid attention to what the dishes were called.

"I...have to admit, I don't think I've ever had any Romulan food. Or if I have, I haven't realised it," she admitted with a half smile. Even to her own ears, it made her sound blinkered. Truth was, she'd always been a woman of simple tastes. "Perhaps we better just take their recommendations..."

"Sounds like a good idea. Which posting are you hoping for?" Edward already knew where he'd be headed, but it was still classified and he couldn't give any details. Despite that, he could say some things.

"I'm not sure what's available yet. To be honest, so long as it takes us away for a while, I won't be too fussy," she admitted with a slight smile, glancing his way. "I've learnt that even so called safer ships have their share of trouble. Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to be on a newer ship, headed for a deep space assignment. It'll be interesting. I'm hoping I'll benefit the mission. I'm still new to the whole Starfleet thing." He shrugged, he was confident in his abilities, but he was heading into something he'd never done before.

The conversation continued, interrupted only by asking for recommendations and the process of eating. The food was good, but had some strange flavors that Edward didn't particularly enjoy. When his plate was empty, Edward folded his napkin haphazardly and placed it on the table. "Thanks for suggesting this. Hopefully the lines have opened up again."

"Or at the very least, they won't dissolve into full scale riots with the frustration generated," Scarlet agreed with a wry smile, shaking her head as she motioned to the waiter that they were done. "I might even get back to Lily before nightfall..." she added with more than a touch of sarcasm.

"Yeah," Edward said with a wry smile, "riots would probably not be the best thing ever."

[OFF]

Commander Scarlet Blake
Academy Instructor

Lieutenant JG Edward Butler

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