You Do Your Job And I'll Do Mine!

Posted on Sun Apr 30th, 2023 @ 6:58pm by Lieutenant Didrea Zade & Commander N'Garzi Zora

Mission: Wrath of the People
Location: Security Offices
Timeline: MD 5 :: Before 'Holding Down The Fort'
2904 words - 5.8 OF Standard Post Measure

This time, it was five people. Five different times during Zade's rounds that someone fell into step beside her and asked about what was going on with the Captain. Five times that she had to explain what she was told and that the crew were to remain on board the Athena until his trial was over. Every time, the person walking with her asked why they couldn't help Kane at all and were instead sitting on the ship twiddling their thumbs. It was exhausting, and Zade was ready to retreat to the confines of her office just to escape it. Not that it would help, because she had also started keeping track of how many people were asking. Reaching the end of the corridor, she pressed the button to call the turbolift. Luckily, the lift came quick, and she was only a couple decks away from security, from the sweet confined of her office. The ride was short, and as she made he way down the corridor of deck 7 she began to think through what she'd dictate into a log.

Zora stood outside of Zade's office as she waited for the young Trill to arrive. She had almost given up hope when the woman appeared around the corner, looking a bit out of sorts. "Are you okay Lieutenant?" Zora asked concern etched on her face.

Pulling out of her thoughts by a voice, Zade saw Zora waiting for her. That was new. "Commander, yes, I'm fine. Though I have to ask you the same question, since you're here." Perhaps like the rest of the crew, the commander was nervous for Kane. She gestured with an open hand to the office door, a silent invitation to enter if she wanted privacy.

Zora stepped into the small office with Zade. "I've been better," she said truthfully, "I'm just checking in with the department heads, making sure that everyone has their head in the game, despite the circumstances."

Zade slowly nodded in silent agreement that things could be better. "Well, there's not much to report on for security," she said, leaning against the desk. "Which I suppose is a good thing. I've been trying to give people things to do, like testing phaser rifles in the holodeck, or having people go on security rounds, or even deskwork, but we're all just waiting. Not much to do when everyone is effectively on house arrest." Reaching across the desk, she grabbed a nearby PADD and activated it, making a quick note of her encounters so she wouldn't forget. "We have had several people asking about the captain, and some of us have been fielding those questions as best as we can."

Zora nodded sympathetically. "I've had questions too. It's bad enough when you don't know what's happening yourself, never mind trying to kill all the rumours too." She sighed. It was tough trying to keep up morale during this, at least she could allow herself a bit of a respite with the senior officers, she could take the mask off. "Keeping busy is a good idea, hopefully, we won't be grounded for too long."

The Trill let some silence settle between them as she finished her quick notes on her encounters. If her task of logging these encounters weren't simply to keep her busy, it was to look for intent to try and save Kane. They couldn't interfere with the investigation in any way, not without making Kane seem more guilty and putting others under fire for collaboration. Zade understood the feeling, it still bugged her that she couldn't do anything either. "I heard we got a new commanding officer," she said, looking up from the PADD. "Any first impressions?"

Zora shrugged slightly, walking that line between wanting to remain professional and wanting to offload. "She seems okay," Zora said eventually, not really giving too much away or maybe giving everything away by such a lukewarm statement. "I'm sure we'll get to know her properly over the next few days." Days, that was all she was giving Lance on the ship, the Captain will be back soon.

The pause was way too long for such a short reply. Zade could tell there was a thought process behind Zora's eyes, and she might have imagined some subtle tension develop in the first officer's shoulders. Perhaps it was just part of her shrug. But her words, while incomplete, seemed true enough from what she could tell. Zade's struggle now was trying to gauge if the unspoken was worth looking into. To her gut, the unspoken felt like something that could help her keep the ship and Kane's crew safe. If there was a potential security risk, she needed to know. "If you want to discuss what's on your mind, Commander, it won't leave this office," she offered, hoping to get her answer.

Zora smiled, "is that Trill intuition tingling? There's everything on my mind Lieutenant," Zora said eventually, not really knowing where to start. "I don't like the idea of Lance being here, it feels wrong. The Captain should be in his office and it should be business as usual, but it's not. It's not her fault," she added with a slight shake of her head, "and I'm sure she's a fine officer. I just can't shrug off the idea that she's here to spy on us, gather intel or set us up. Maybe I'm getting paranoid in my old age?"

"More like security intuition," Zade replied, letting the other woman vent. She nodded along, understanding that "wrong" feeling of having a new captain. If anything, it felt like they were abandoning Kane, leaving him behind to deal with this on his own. For a brief moment, Zade was surprised by Zora calling herself old, but then remembered that despite the resemblance, she wasn't human, and El-Aurians lived for far longer. "I wouldn't attribute your paranoia to your age, Commander. It's an understandable response to a lot of sudden changes."

As she talked, Zade briefly stood from her lean against the desk to walk around it and type something on the computer. If there was any incentive for Zade to read through their new captain's file, a concerned first officer was a good reason. Maybe she could find something to ease her concerns. "For what it's worth," the Trill briefly looked up at Zora, "I feel a similar way with the other new crewmembers. I've mostly convinced myself that the paranoia could be from the coincidence of Kane's trial and filling positions happening in close time."

Zora looked up, Zade's words had intrigued her. She had been so fixated on their new commanding officer that she hadn't considered the possibility that others on the ship may be the real threat; Lance could be the red herring. "Explain?" She said rather abruptly. "Who do you have concerns about?"

"Commander, our new crewmates have yet to do anything that confirms either of our paranoias. Any concerns I have are entirely speculation, and like I said, it's probably coincidence," Zade responded, cautiously redirecting the question as she watched the computer work. The last thing she wanted was Zora to go scare the new personnel and further increase the tension. The last thing their new Captain needed was a hit to morale. "I've been keeping an eye on many people, not just the new ones. I worry more about someone trying to help the Captain and getting him into deeper trouble than what the four new crewmates are doing."

Zora's eyes narrowed as she studied the Trill officer. "The captain has been framed," she stated, emphasising every syllable. "We don't have the fortune of believing in coincidences Lieutenant. You're right, we could be jumping to conclusions but if someone on this ship were helping the culprit, then we need to find them, discreetly." She purposely ignored the part about someone on the ship helping Kane, the truth was she was hoping someone would, something she couldn't, and wouldn't, vocalise.

This was territory Zade was internally dreading getting into. Zora was starting to sound like the five concerned crewmates the Trill spoke to during her rounds, and she really didn't want to add the first officer to her list of people to keep an eye on. The computer beeped, indicating that the file she had requested to view was available, but she ignored it as she met Zora's gaze, refusing to back down. Zade needed to make her stance clear. "With all due respect, Commander, we are not the ones running this investigation. Any interference from us in an official investivation, no matter our intent, will only hurt the Captain's case." Despite the tense staredown and her words, she was trying to keep her tone collected so she could be the voice of reason to the first officer. Zora obviously cared enough about Kane to be this worried about him, and Zade of all people knew how frustrating it was to stand by and wait for the verdict of an investigation. Zade put both of her hands on the desk. "I will do everything possible to keep this ship and its crew safe," she assured. "If whatever threatens that safety happens to relate to the trial, then I'll file a report and the investigators will be the ones to handle it. What my team and I will not do is incriminate someone out of paranoia or speculation."

Zora stared at the Trill, silently, judgingly. "How naive are you, Lieutenant?" She asked, her tone on the blink of condescension. "There isn't going to be an investigation. As far as the brass are concerned, they have their man so why look any deeper? You make it sound as though I'm asking you to plant evidence and frame someone else?" She let the question hang in the air, the very tense air. "What I am asking you to do is your job. Looking into any possible security threats to the crew, to Starfleet, to the Federation. If everything checks out then great! If not, then we have something to bring to Kane's defence."

"Why do you have the assumption that if something doesn't check out, it must be related to Kane's trial?" The Trill sensed the circular direction of the conversation. There was mutual agreement between them that Zade needed to protect the crew, but it sounded like Zora wanted her to run an internal investigation, and she could not agree with that. As much as she wanted to challenge some of the Commander's words, namely when she called her naive, she knew it wouldn't be productive. Zade pointed at the desk, metaphorically trying to drive her point home. "I do my job, Commander. I don't just sit here and twiddle my thumbs. I read through personnel files, I do my rounds, and I keep an eye on people who might cause problems. At the moment, there is. No. Security threat." Zade added emphasis to the pauses in her words. "If there were, believe me when I say that you'd be the first to know."

Almost as if on cue, the computer chirped. It was a different sound than the polite "here is the data you requested" tone, this time it was more like a monotone double beep. It was a tone Zade used to alert her to things she should look into, like if someone's weapons permit was about to expire or if someone got checked in for a couple nights in the brig. She preferred the tone because it didn't blend into the other ship sounds. Turning her attention away from the paranoid first officer, Zade read the warning. After a brief moment of silence, the Trill changed her tone to help diffuse the tension as she asked, "Commander, can you please share what you know about Commander Lance?" She turned the computer around so Zora could see the message. It flagged Lance's medical leave as a cause for concern, and in the notes for the alert it specified a potential security risk due to a reinstatement after a recent medical discharge. Lance's personnel file was visible behind the alert, and the computer had highlighted a section about Obsidian Command and the medical leave.

"Not much more than what's on that file," Zora said after glancing at the computer screen. "I know she was on medical leave after an event and suffered from severe PTSD. Not uncommon for officers in our line of work."

"The concern isn't necessarily that she has PTSD," Zade explained, "rather, it's the short duration of her leave. When you interacted with her, what was she like?" To Zade's knowledge, severe PTSD didn't go away after barely a year. It probably took that long just to help Lance sleep at night. Gauging the mental readiness of someone to return to active duty was no simple process because each person handles trauma in a different way. Whoever decided to put Lance on a warship like the Athena didn't pay much attention. "How did she compose herself?"

"To be honest a little nervous," Zora said thinking of her meeting with Lance, "as though she were overwhelmed. But how does this information help us?" She asked bluntly. "She is here now, it wasn't our decision and I'm sure Starfleet Command know all of this anyway."

Zade turned the computer back towards herself, trying to think of how best to describe what the concern was. "You know what this ship deals with," she began, looking for feedback from Zora's expression. "I know it wasn't our choice, and it probably wasn't hers either, to be posted here. If she's experienced recent severe trauma, placing her back into action on a warship this soon is, to be blunt, a questionable decision. If Lance gets overwhelmed because the mission revives her own trauma," she specifically used Zora's own description, "then that poses a significant threat to the safety of this ship and its crew. If that happens, the situation can --and probably will-- invoke regulation 619." She didn't say it out loud, but it would have made more sense for Command to put Zora in charge of the ship.

Zora had to think for a second on that particular regulation, though when the answer came to her, she felt as though her stomach at turned to stone. "Captains must relieve themselves of command if the mission makes them emotionally compromised," she muttered mostly to herself. Zade's words sunk in and this whole conversation started to make sense. She glared at the woman, her dark eyes locking onto the hazel ones of her security chief. "Lieutenant," she said slowly and carefully, "are you Trillsplaining my job, to me?" Zora tried to keep her tone even but every molecule in her body vibrated with anger. "I suggest you get back to your duties and allow me to do mine!"

For a moment, the Trill thought she finally got through to Zora. There was a brief moment where the first officer's expression changed into understanding, but it was quickly replaced with anger. It seemed that Zora may not be in the right mindset to listen, and Zade knew that if this conversation continued that it would probably escalate further. "I informed you of a potential security risk the moment I became aware of it, Commander. That is my duty." She didn't need to say it out loud, but the implication that it was Zora's responsibility to act on that information as she sees fit was clear. Unless there was imminent danger, the security chief knew it was Zora's call, not hers. Zade slightly leaned into the desk with her hands and, trying to keep her voice diplomatic, added, "If there's nothing else I can do for you, I have reports to write."

"If you think your duty is to regurgitate information I am already aware of, or telling me what my job is, then we may have bigger problems here," Zora bit back. "Your job is to look beyond the file and keep this ship safe." She turned on her heel and made for the door, stopping just inside the doorframe. "Maybe spend less time beating up ensigns and chasing old vendettas," she said, leaving before the Trill could respond. You're not the only one who can read files!

That wasn't even close to what Zade meant. By the time she figured out what Zora meant by 'vendetta,' the woman had already left her office. Zade was glad Zora left, because if she hadn't then she would have been annoyed enough to tell the commander to get out of her office in a tone that did not respect her authority. The Trill hung her head for a moment, trying to remind herself that Zora was just stressed, and she probably didn't mean it. But the nerve to bring up her complicated past, that was a low blow, especially for a first officer. After counting down from ten, the Trill turned her attention back to the computer, looking over Lance's file again. To truly see if her concern had any merit, she needed to meet this woman. Before she did that, however, Zade picked up the PADD she was using to take notes on the people who she thought she should keep an eye on.

Five Six people.