After action debrief

Posted on Thu Dec 8th, 2022 @ 4:12pm by Senior Chief Petty Officer Mason Malone & Lieutenant Didrea Zade

Mission: Scylla and Charybdis
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Several hours after return to the ship
2081 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

He allowed a few hours to wind down, and get some rest, but eventually he did need to speak with his boss about what had happened on the Avalon. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Zade."

"Lieutenant Zade is in sickbay," the computer answered.

"Thank you." Mason sighed softly to himself as he pulled on his boots.

===
Zade sighed, rubbing her face with two hands as she sat next to one of the biobeds. Who knows how long she sat there. On the bed in front of her was Iska, the one who got shot in the back while on the Avalon. He ended up with a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, but fortunately the doctor was able to repair the damage before he got worse. The Bajoran was currently asleep, the monitor on the wall tracking his vitals with quiet beeps. The Trill leaned forward, her arms resting on her thighs, and let herself stare into space. Ever since the fight on the Avalon, her senses had been on alert and it was difficult to ease up.

Quietly, Mason approached and watched the two from a slight distance for a moment, before gathering the courage to walk up. "How is he?" He asked slowly, eyes drifting back to the Bajoran. "Lieutenant Dash was already released? He's alright, right?"

When a voice broke the silence of sickbay, Zade looked up, seeing Mason standing nearby. "On the road to recovery. The doctor said he should be released in the next day, but it will be a couple days before he's back to active status," Zade responded, sitting back in the chair and letting her hands rest on her knees. "Dash is fine. He and I will probably need some training, make sure our performance isn't affected, but his injuries were minor."

"That's good to hear," Mason answered as he got even closer. "Ive never shot a friendly before," he added after a long pause, "and I can't help but wonder if it could've been avoided. It could've been far worse for sure...." He paused again. "After all... I didn't obey the order to set my weapon to kill..."

Zade sat in silence for a moment as she replayed the fight in her mind. Mason's phaser not being set to kill did help Kevan spend less time in sickbay, but at the same time it wasn't what she had told him to do. "It could have been avoided," Zade agreed. "Lieutenant Dash could have- no, should have communicated over comms before entering our line of fire." Such details would be included in her final report, which she'd then use to gauge her own response as the department head. "Now you have me curious... why didn't you change the settings on your weapon?" The Romulans were definitely not showing the same kindness in return.

For a moment, Mason remained silent as he considered his next words. "I don't know," he finally admitted, "I've never killed an opponent before, and I've never fired to kill either, only to disable. Innate reluctance to kill, I suppose?" The more he considered it, the more he also considered that to be likely. "If I had, Dash would be very much dead right now, and I'd be detained for murder."

Knowing that Mason was right made that ugly knot form in Zade's stomach again. It was the doubt of her own decisions rearing its head yet again, the hesitation starting to show on her expression as she stared at Iska on the bed. "You didn't intend to hurt him. If Dash had been killed, I would have taken full responsibility," she said quietly. It would have been, after all, the consequences of her own orders. Yeah, Mason probably would have gotten into some trouble for pulling the trigger, but she knew his actions weren't intentional. He wasn't targeting Dash. "But he wasn't."

"He wasn't," Mason agreed, "but I am still glad my phaser wasn't set to kill and I'll take responsibility for disobeying that order. I just hope he won't take having shot him out on me ...I did have orders to fire first, which makes sense at any given time in a hostile environment." He paused, looking troubled. "I guess...I just feel hurt more because any chance of mending my friendship with him is probably forever ruined now..."

A long sigh escaped the Trill's lips as she set her face into her hands. This turned into a bigger mess than she first thought. Mason disobeying orders but that decision saving Kevan's life, Kevan not properly communicating and putting himself and Zia in danger... she knew an incident report was inevitable, but how the hell was she to approach it? Who was really at fault here?

"First of all, if he retaliates against you, tell me immediately because I will not tolerate that while I'm in charge," she said, her voice slightly muffled by the hands. Knowing that Mason was already fearing retaliation over something not entirely his fault didn't sit well with her. If Kevan was so butthurt by his actions having consequences that he takes it out on a fellow officer, he'd just end up getting himself into more trouble. Lifting her head, she looked at Mason and added, "I can't deny that you disobeyed orders, and I don't think I can keep that off your record, but you did prevent another casualty and I think that's meaningful when considering how to handle this." Small discommendations were often overlooked or dismissed, so maybe she could find a way to reduce the impact it would have on him. "As for your friendship with Dash... I can try to offer advice if you want it, but that's ultimately your terrain to navigate, not mine."

"I think I should keep my dealing with Dash to a professional level," Mason said quietly though firmly, as if he'd put some resolve there, "and I already said I'll accept the consequences of disobeying that order." If any training had taught him anything it was that action always had consequence."

Zade simply nodded in response, turning her attention back to Iska. If Karav were handling this, he would have chewed them out for not thinking and assigned the two of them to engineering to clean exhaust manifolds or something else mundane for a few days. She knew he wouldn't have tolerated the behavior of either of them, and inside she knew she shouldn't either, but banishing them to engineering felt excessive. She wasn't Karav. "How are you doing, otherwise?" Zade asked, hoping to divert the conversation but still check in.

"I'm fine." Mason nodded as if needing to confirm it for himself. "Hope George is around later on so we can hang out, maybe watch a movie, or go to the holodeck to unwind. If he isn't, I'll probably go to the gym to do so myself." He was feeling a little restless right now, even though the adrenalin high had long since passed. "Either that or try and get some more sleep, I'm still on duty early in the morning. What about you?"

"I've been here since we got back, if that means anything," Zade responded in a poor attempt to lighten the mood. She was free to go not too long after the security team made it to sickbay, around the same time Kevan was released, but she was too worried about everyone else to go anywhere. It didn't matter where she was, she was going to worry. "I might go-" she paused and winced, feeling the implant act up and sting at her throat like an angry wasp. Her incomplete sentence contained static that wasn't there a moment ago. Don't tell me... she thought.

"Ma'am?" the former marine queried, arching an eyebrow at her as he noticed the wince. "Should I call a doctor to come check on you? Are you alright?"

Zade shook her head at the mention of calling a doctor, holding up a hand signalling to wait as she reached into her pocket. As she pulled the backup translator out of its case, she spoke again, mainly to test what was going on. "Th... mplant is h...ving pr...lems." Like before, her voice was heavy with static, as if trying to speak through interference. As she spoke, she felt the small device sting her again, making her wince but not as much as the first time. That was a new one for her... usually it completely disabled itself, which meant only one small surprise zap. Knowing that something was not right, the Trill opted to stop speaking until she could get it fixed.

With the backup translator perched at the foot of the biobed, Zade set the small case on her lap before signing. "The radiation must have affected the implant," the translator repeated. It sounded normal, perhaps with a very faint hint of static in the background. "I'm fine. The implant usually stings when it disables itself."

Turning his head, Mason looked towards the back-up device, then towards Zade. "It turns sign into speech?" he queried, "that's genius ma'am. But don't worry, I understand sign and not just from being a marine. Having been a marine, I mean. Sorry, it's still hard sometimes not to think of myself as such. Anyway, as part of my linguistics training, I did learn standard sign too, just on the side because I thought it might be useful. I'd be happy to help you out if needed ma'am...I mean, if you can't carry that around and need a bit more...finesse?" He smiled sympathetically, even though the worry for his own predicament didn't leave his eyes. "Unless you'd prefer someone more professional, like Mister Van Rijn? I'm sure he'd be happy to help too, it's kind of his job I think?"

Zade shook her head at his offers, smiling slightly at how eager he seemed to help. "Thanks, but the backup is enough," the backup translator repeated. "I'll get the implant fixed in the morning." Briefly glancing at the backup perched on the bed, she continued. "You are correct, it turns sign into speech so I can still communicate in real time. It took several years to teach it to do this, but it pays off. You can look at it if you wish." She then gestured with an open hand toward the device in a silent offer for him to inspect it. Knowing he could understand more than field-specific hand signs, she was more comfortable letting him handle the device.

"Nah, I don't want to risk damaging it. Maybe another time... perhaps we can improve on it somehow at some point, perhaps with Finn's help? Could be a fun project to ah...bond over?" He studied her for a moment. "Are you going to stay here in sickbay? Do you need anything? Can I get you anything while you wait?" If she was going to have it looked at later, she might not want to bother going home first.

"I'll consider it. The biggest challenge is making sure it doesn't break at the smallest thing." At his offers, Zade shook her head again. As much as she appreciated the offer, she could just as easily go get something if she needed it. "I'll stay a little longer, but I think I'm going to go for a run before I turn in," the translator repeated. She needed to clear her head and sitting in sickbay wasn't doing it. If anything, it was starting to set her more on edge, as if she were waiting for something else to go wrong.

"Sounds like a good idea ma'am," the young man agreed with a nod, "maybe engineering can compact it a bit more for you, and make it more durable. but what do I know, I'm no engineer am I?" he grinned at her, offering a brisk salute. "With your permission ma'am...I'd like to get some more rest too..."

As she grabbed the translator off the bed, Zade gave him a nod to dismiss him. "Get some rest," she signed to him. She was relieved that the backup worked. There had been only one other time when both were disabled from a power disruptor, and navigating the ship afterwards had sucked. Pocketing the small case, the Trill leaned back in her seat and watched the steady rise and fall of Iska's chest.

"Yes'm," Mason answered smartly, then turned on his heel to walk off.