An Android Moment?

[Joy 0]

Subject : Preliminary Comments on the Endeavor Incident

From : Ambassador Joy Two, Sky Harbor Aegis

To : Ambassador Gem Rhee, Haven Embassy, The Presidio, Earth

CC : Ambassador Joy Seven, Mudd Embassy, The Presidio, Earth ; Commissioner Sorehl, Sky Harbor Aegis

Security : High

Precedence : Medium

Encryption : UFP 39D

 

 

Your Elegance...

 

I have recently arrived at Aegis. The incident seems to be over, or at least passed from active shooting into the post event recriminations phase. The sense of urgency is less. I believe correct action more important at this point than immediate action.

 

A legal proceeding initiated by Starfleet Intelligence directed at Starfleet Captain Muon Quark resulted in acquittal on all charges, with no charges outstanding against Sky Harbor Aegis personnel. This is proper in some senses, but seems improper in others. I fear the distinction requires some explanation. Before pushing for action, I wish to make sure I am not having one of my android moments.

 

Pardon, but I must drift a bit before getting back to my point.

 

Mudd is a hive mind culture. Knowledge is shared. Teamwork is valued. If any is confused about law, orders, logic or information, the proper thing to do is ‘coordinate’ with the nearest member of a specialized android class, the Norman series. In the case of the Joys or others in service to Starfleet or the Federation, it is often not appropriate to coordinate with a Norman, but with those higher in Starfleet's chain of command, or those with access to Council’s directives.

 

A few years ago, USS Republic stopped briefly at Cardassia Prime to deliver a disaster relief cargo. During that stopover, a representative of Cardassia made some improper comments to the Republic’s XO, a Bajoran native. The XO, in supervising the beam down of the cargo, included several ducks which had been mistakenly brought aboard Republic. Given proper caging and adequate warning, these could have been worthy additions to a relief cargo. Lacking them, alas, the ducks were of an aggressive and poisonous breed. One of Republic’s crew lost a finger. There was significant fear that one of the crew’s children might have taken serious harm from a bite.

 

While Lieutenant Twelve did not at first consider the duck’s inclusion significant with the cargo significant, when she realized the dangers and the XO’s likely malice, she wrote a brief letter to Admiral BluRox, CO of Republic, and myself, who was then the senior member of the Federation diplomatic corps in the area. In turn, I informed Admiral Goram, in whose territory Admiral BluRox was operating. This happened during the slowly escalating Breen psych ops that lead up to the attack on Aegis. I do not believe the duck incident made a significant difference in relations given what else was going on, but it might have increased tensions and decreased trust slightly.

 

But both the XO and Joy Twelve were strongly rebuked by Admiral BluRox. The XO, for allowing her antipathy to the Cardassians to express itself in violence, however minor. Twelve was told she should not have informed myself of Goram. She was explicitly told not to report illegal activities up or outside the chain of command in the future, but to only report it to the immediate superior of the individual committing the action. While this order was by Starfleet regulation binding only upon Joy Twelve, it was assimilated by other Joys serving Starfleet. It was considered a strong guidance, even if it conflicted with the Mudd tradition of keeping people informed, even if it was known to be in direct conflict with the wishes of the Joys in the diplomatic service.

 

This guidance was tested by the Endeavor Incident. Commander Joy One was ordered by Captain Savage to deploy a biological weapon. One considered it highly probable that the order was illegal. Rather that follow protocol, which would have involved protesting then refusing the order, she quietly disobeyed while giving the impression she would obey. After the destruction of Endeavor, upon return to Aegis, One explicitly violated BluRox’s guidance, contacting the Mudd embassy in San Francisco, confirming the order was in fact illegal, and at the same time informing civilian command authority.

 

Part of One’s reasoning in doing so was a total distrust of the double chain of the command. Admiral Forrester of Starfleet Intelligence seemed to be part of the questionable act of war. Captain Quark’s superiors in main line Starfleet had allowed her to come under arrest. Thus, even Commander One, as likely an officer to respect chain of command as any, if I might say so myself, could not bring herself to trust Starfleet sufficiently to respect BluRox’s opinion. One felt it necessary to ‘coordinate.’ Nothing would be satisfactory short of making sure the highest levels of authority were aware of the situation.

 

Captain Quark faced a similar situation. She too felt she was confronted with an illegal act of war causing grave harm to many. She too disregarded orders, and went so far as to set two Starfleet ships into a conflict situation that led to Endeavor’s destruction. She was acquitted of all charges by the recent court. None who followed her were charged At one level this is correct, in that what Captain Savage was doing had to be stopped.

 

But reading the court records, one does not see anyone ‘coordinating,’ passing information far enough up to chain of command to be certain any corruption has been topped. To my knowledge, after reading court records and examining the evidence thus far available, on receiving an illegal order, neither Quark nor any other Aegis personnel reported the illegal order to an appropriate authority. To my knowledge, no one attempted to confirm or deny authorization for the order. When Captain Quark was put on trial, at least in the court records, there was only one witness that stepped forward in a sincere attempt to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. This was again Commander One, with her android hive mind cultural bias that proper decisions cannot be made without complete information.

 

I still have many questions to ask of those here. I am still seeing things primarily from the perspective of my sisters. Some of the above impressions might be corrected through further interviews. Many of the Sky Harbor people do share a seemingly well deserved condemnation of Admiral Forrester. I’ve an impression that Sky Harbor Aegis personnel and others involved are quite willing to continue its conflict with Forrester’s clique within Starfleet Intelligence, staying within legal bound if possible, but I would not exclude the possibility that they would again do what they feel necessary.

 

I just have no great faith that they will ask permission before, or report what they have done after. There seems to be a frontier culture that suggests a man has got to do what he has got to do. Civilian command authority seems to be viewed far away, perhaps useless, perhaps harmful, likely uninformed, and best left uninformed. Thus, individuals may be left free to act out their prejudices and hatred, while a culture of secrecy allows said violations of the peace to continue unabated and unpunished.

 

I am thus beginning to think Norman One might have been correct after observing the antics of Captain Kirk and M'lord Mudd. The androids need to take over, and serve the Federation into submission. This alternative seems to be adapting an ancient form of meditation practiced among the humans. Alas, I am forbidden to damage either my forehead or my desk by repeated impacts. Still, I am told it feels so good when one stops.

 

Why do they avoid forming a proper and polite well behaved hive mind? It begins to seem that resisting their resistance is futile. Shall they never be assimilated?

 

Does this qualify as an android moment?

 

 

Two

[Joy 0]

Subject : Preliminary Comments on the Endeavor Incident

From : Ambassador Gem Rhee, Haven Embassy, The Presidio, Earth

To : Ambassador Joy Two, Sky Harbor Aegis

Security : Low

Precedence : Low

Encryption : Clear

 

 

Joy

 

Replace both power packs, and run diagnostics in the morning.

 

Gem