Lessons in Command #1

Posted on 11 Dec 2012 @ 8:20am by Captain Jonathan Holliday

2,835 words; about a 14 minute read

Mission: Episode 02 - Resupply
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 1 - Bridge
Timeline: MD 13 2000 hours

[ON]

Jeremy left the security office to go into his office, once again deftly sidestepping the chair keeping the door propped open. He finally fixed the security field destabilization problem when it went to 'privacy' mode and that completed his large assigned task for the day. Lt. Rhodes was on duty, and as it was Beta shift, he was responsible for the day to day operation of the shift which left Jeremy with very little to do.

He checked his PADD and noticed several small problems that had not been checked off. One of them, to contact Ops about the door issue, he slid to tomorrow. The other he couldn't do much about at the moment as it required the presence of Commander Holliday. "Computer, set up personal notification to Lt. Stone detailing when Commander Holliday returns to the ship from shore leave."

"Commander Holliday returned to active duty four days ago."

Jeremy sunk into his chair, staring across the room at the replicator. "Computer, confirm whereabouts of Commander Holliday."

"Commander Holliday is currently located on the Bridge."

Jeremy set his PADD on the desk and rubbed his temple with the other hand. I asked! I went yesterday morning and asked to set a time to meet with him! He'd been told the Commander was not aboard the ship, that he'd taken a trip offworld.

Jeremy frowned as he picked up his PADD and called up the ship's roster, going to the executive officer's personnel file. He looked at the image on the frontsheet and his eyes closed as the breath went out of him. He barely managed to get the PADD set on the desk before it fell out of his suddenly numb fingers. Despite everything he'd gone through medically, he wasn't certain what having a stroke felt like until just now. He was sure he was having one. The image on the frontsheet was the very self-same bleeding heart, idiotic Commander that he had yelled at! earlier this morning. Propping his elbows on the desk, he put his head in his hands and sat just trying to remember how to breathe normally for several long minutes. He had no thoughts in his head other than breath in, breath out to a rhythm.

Finally he shook his head and picked up the PADD. The forms he wanted weren't hard to find, they were saved in a 'favorites' folder that he had developed for the PADD. Filling them out took even less time than for most because he was used to filling them out. Jeremy sighed as he stood and straightened his uniform. Pocketing his PADD he left the security offices, removing the chair and placing it back where it belonged before leaving the office.

Fortunately it wasn't a large ship and he got to the bridge quickly enough. He tried as best he could to make sure he wasn't too dusty or still had large chunks of floor lint attached to him.

The officer at the bridge's tactical station saw him arrive, frowned and started to get up. Jeremy motioned for him to remain where he was as he went to stand in front of and off to the side of where Commander Holliday sat.

"Commander," he said, looking just slightly to the left of Holliday's shoulder, unaware of the slight treble in his voice. "May I have a moment of your time?"

The new Bridge layout was still giving Holliday a little bit of trouble getting used to. In fact it was positively strange that within the space of a few days, the vaunted Starfleet engineering teams had managed to entirely replace the Bridge module and successfully integrate it with the Galileo's systems.

The command chair however, he had to admit, was far more comfortable than it's predecessor, and with his own XO's chair so much closer, separated by nothing other than a rather useful command system interface panel, John felt that it would be a lot easier for him to converse with the Captain over matters that he might not have necessarily wanted to make public across the Bridge.

The duty shift had been relatively quiet. With the Galileo still sat on the surface of Vega there wasn't a huge amount of work to be done, so much so that with the exception of Ops, Tactical, and a couple of the science stations, there were no other duty posts currently active on the bridge. Looking forward, it felt strange that there was nobody on duty at the helm, but then again, it wasn't as if they would be going anywhere fast.

John's contemplations however were quickly interrupted by a voice from over his shoulder; one that he hadn't heard from in a while, but he had a good idea who it was. The encounter in the Brig only a short while ago that had almost led the XO to lose his cool was still fresh in his memory.

Turning his head to look up at the gold uniformed individual, John had to try his hardest not to cast his mind back to recent events. Standing up from the chair, John motioned towards the Ready Room that was positioned just off to one side from the Bridge, and quickly excused himself, expecting the Lieutenant to follow.

As the doors slid shut behind them, John headed towards the newly installed sofa that had been added to Lirha's office during the refit and settled in, offering a seat to the Lieutenant with one hand before even uttering a word.

"Lieutenant Stone. I was under the impression that it was expected protocol to report into one's senior officer upon arrival, I hear you've been aboard our little vessel for a few days now? Care to elaborate?"

Holliday decided to stick with the official line for now, in truth, it had been a rather erratic few days, with he himself having been off ship for a little while, and the almost constant coming and going of new officers. Whilst he usually would have been lenient with one of his own, John wanted to be a little tougher on the new crewmembers to see exactly how they handled it.

Elaborate? Jeremy thought. He hated the word elaborate. It usually had implications and they were usually of the negative, untruthful variety. However, he remained standing, his hands at the small of his back, one holding a PADD. Not his PADD, but one he made for this purpose. "No, sir," he said, looking slightly down and to the edge of Holliday. "I have nothing to elaborate on, sir. I had a misunderstanding which led me to believe you were off ship."

He took in a deep breath and held it as he held out the PADD. "I have created the necessary forms, sir, to have myself placed on report for failing to report to my commanding officer as dictated by standard operating protocol. It just requires your recommended course of..." he trailed off. Mulgrew and the rest of his therapy group had moved away from the word 'punishment' as too negative. "Your recommended course of action, sir."

He held the PADD for Holliday to take, waiting to hear what would happen.

After a moment's pause, John reached up and collected the PADD from his subordinate's hand, taking a moment to review the information displayed on screen. The XO might have had a preference for doing everything by the book, but placing oneself on remand for a minor offence after only recently joining the ship was beyond what Holliday would have deemed acceptable discipline.

"I...think we can forgo the need for a disciplinary hearing this time Mr Stone...I run a tight ship but not so tight that I end up strangling those that I am responsible for. No further steps will be necessary."

With one hand the XO deftly tapped in his authorisation code to delete the data onscreen, blanking the PADD out before offering it back to the Lieutenant to collect.

"As long as you're on time for a duty shift then I have nothing to complain about, understood?"

Jeremy blinked several times at the offered PADD before hesitantly taking it back. "No, sir, I do not. No, sir, that sounds misleading. I do understand to show up on time for duty, sir. I do not understand this. Starfleet Operating Protocol, Section 19, Chapter 3, Paragraph 16, subparagraph 2 clearly states it is a disciplinary offense for a member aboard any starship to fail to report to their supervisor upon arrival at their duty location." Jeremy looked at the now blank PADD. "I have clearly violated this regulation, sir."

John hadn't met someone quite so attached to Starfleet regulations since he was at the Academy and got into a lively debate with another tactical instructor over the relevance of regulations during a combat situation. The fact that he had forgiven this officer for his mistake and had told him to think no more of it usually would have been enough to silence anyone else.

Taking a moment to think, John crossed his arms across his chest and leant back against the sofa.

"That may be the case, but on this ship, discipline is my perogative and I do not feel that this warrants a disciplinary action. If you wish to take it up with Starfleet Command then feel free to contact them but I certainly won't go around the ship criminalising every minor infringement of subparagraph regulations."

Sighing, John leant forward and uncrossed his arms, placing his hands so that his fingertips touched each other in front of him, forming a pyramid-like shape with his hands.

"And please, stand at ease Mr Stone, before you strain something. Galileo works best when we're a team - sometimes the regulations need a little...flexing. Trust me, I learned that pretty fast when I took up this posting."

I am at ease, Jeremy thought, but returned his attention to the matter at hand. "Yes, sir. I am aware it is your discretion to reprimand me for my violation. However, I am now a department head and do not wish to set a bad example to my -" here he had that hated phrase again. He decided to try another one to see how it would work, "- my personnel that I felt I was above following regulations and protocols. Sir."

"Excellent. The last thing I would want to have to go through is having Starfleet send me yet another department head because one on board chose not to agree with my command style."

"Sir?" Jeremy asked, honestly perplexed at that. "I am not at liberty to agree or disagree with orders given that are lawful and in scope with their authority. Speaking of which, sir." Jeremy flicked to the next screen on the PADD and held it out for Holliday. "You may have to adjust the recommended course of actions on this one, sir, I added the first as an enhancement to the disciplinary matrix. However, this is the report of my insubordination and conduct unbecoming based on the..." he stopped to swallow, "on the actions in the brig this morning."

"This once - I'll let it slide Lieutenant. You're new aboard the Galileo still, not quite settled into how I run this boat. Usually I welcome the chance for an officer to voice their opinions, but when I've given an order I expect it to be followed no questions asked. The report is not necessary."

John made a mental note that this individual was probably going to be a little more trouble than his predecessor, or indeed Lieutenant Orexil who had manned this particuar post when they had originally left spacedock. As with all new senior officers aboard this ship, the XO intended to keep a very close eye on this newcomer, until of course, John decided he could be trusted.

"One more thing - prior to us leaving Vega I would like a complete report on the current status of our security systems and protocols - after our last mission I want to make sure that Galileo is suitably equipped to defend herself. Should you find any shortcomings, bring them to me immediately."

"Yes, sir?" Jeremy said, bringing out his PADD now and making a note. "I am also aware that the ship has undergone a refit and/or remodel, as well as repairing damage from a previous encounter. I believe this invalidates the current security threat analysis and a new one should be completed and put into place." He made another note. "I would like to find a future time to discuss a reminder to all department heads that any potential security violations need to be reported to the security department. I believe there was an unauthorized entry into a science lab several days ago. My understanding is that..." he looked at his PADD, "Lieutenant Panne brought the matter to the captain's attention, however a followup report was not filed."

He looked up from his PADD. "Sir, your timeframe for the completion of the security systems and protocols was...vague...sir. By when did you wish to have that report completed?"

The specifics of a report wasn't usually something John had to outline, usually by simply stating a generic milestone, in this case before they departed Vega, most officers would have used their own intuition. However, the Lieutenant had indeed brought up a good point regarding the update of shipboard procedures since the installation of various new systems.

"Very well Lieutenant, carry out a new threat analysis. As for the report...within 72 hours should suffice. Is there anything else you require?"

Jeremy frowned at that. He was the junior officer here, his requirements were secondary to that of his XO. But he had a nagging thought and looked at his notes on his PADD. "Yes, sir. Chief Warrant Officer Kiwoski wishes to file a complaint against me, sir. I do not have the exact allegations regarding his complaint but I," here Jeremy paused to take a breath and steady himself, though could not help making a face as he said the next word, "believe it has to do with his desire to continue his Marine career rather than remain in the Security department. I am being given to understand that this has caused some disruption. May I schedule a time for you to hear the complaint, presuming Chief Kiwoski files it?" Or would you just like to simply override me on that as well? he thought unkindkly considering all things.

A complaint aboard Galileo was relatively unheard of, in fact since they launched from Earth, John had only had to deal with a handful of minor issues primarily related to teething problems with new systems or new crewmembers. The fact that one was being made against a senior officer was enough to pique John's interest.

"Contact me the moment it is placed. And inform the Chief on my behalf that I take all shipboard complaints very seriously."

"Yes, sir," Jeremy said as he entered a note onto the PADD, then flicked to another screen to notify Kiwosk that Commander Holliday was informed of his desire to file a complaint and would review the matter if it arose. Though Jeremy was frowning while writing it. Shouldn't the crew already know the Commander took complaints seriously? Was he known to consider them frivoliously or blow off complaints? This bothered him, even more since he'd been dealing with the lack of strong ethical and regulations backed leadership in the Security department. "Will you require anything further of me, Commander?" Jeremy asked, feeling better now that he was the one asking the question and not being asked by a supervisory officer.

John took a moment to think on the matter, reviewing the ship's most recent status reports in his head to try and come up with anything that for now at least, might need looking at. After a final flurry of thoughts, the XO decided that at present, he was satisfied.

"No thank you Lieutenant, I think that will be all. Dismissed."

"Thank you, Commander," Jeremy nodded as he pocketed his PADD and left the room deeply troubled and confused. He was still...troubled...by the release of the Crewman by the Commander after an arrest and without a sufficient review of the facts. But now that very same Commander had just pardoned him of very serious offenses against regulations. One, that had he wished, could have Jeremy removed from his current position and sent to some distant corner of the galaxy that would make Ebokia look like a paradise.

"Deck two," he said to the turbolift, feeling it best that he go back to his quarters and try to figure all this out before it got too much further out of control.

[OFF]

Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

LTjg Jeremy Stone
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

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