"The Chain of Command" A Log from Sema'J and Swan

[Sam_SemaJ 0]

"The Chain of Command"

Joint Log -- Lt.SG Sema'J and Ensign Dr. Swan

SD 10908.17

 

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Sickbay was a fairly quiet place. The hustle and bustle of beaming Tom and Daena from their doomed trash heap in space into sickbay and getting the away team back from what was clearly a slave trading vessel had finally subsided, the chief and other main doctors had gone to their quarters for the night, the nurses and orderlies had finished their rounds and other duties and the main lights had been turned out. It was late in the ship's internal time cycle, but the sickbay area was dimly lit from two sources. The first was a set of two bio beds next to each other. Dr. Katherine Swan checked on Tom and Daena's vital's one last time. She was an assistant medical officer, but since she was on the Away team where the two officers were retrieved, she was their attending physician. All of their tests had returned positive results, and she told them they could finally be released at this late hour. She instructed them to take a day off and rest and assured them she would send a note to their commanding officers stating just that. As the two got up to leave Katherine looked into the darkened room at the rest of the bio beds (some of them temporary cots because of the large numbers) containing Hammarians from the slave ship who were ejected and subsequently retrieved with Tom and Daena.

 

Dr. Swan put her hands on her hips and asked aloud to no one in particular, "How could they just ditch all these folks like that?"

 

The other light source illuminating the room poured out of a transparent door to the side of main sickbay. It adjoined the counselor's office to sickbay and the light was on because the day's events were also working in the mind of counselor Sam Sema'J. He sat at his desk with several padds layed out in front of them. He was doing some light research, basically what he could dig up right after the away mission, on reciprocity and reciprocal agreements in slave trading societies. This Mr. Preto who was in charge of the slave trading ship had been quite insistent that their slave trading ways were beneficial to all parties involved, including the Hammarians on the planet. Sam of course found this hard to believe in practice, and the ejecting into space of all non-fit Hammarians taken for slavery certainly could not be ignored. Still the sociological format intrigued him and he was skimming over some research that had been done on the topic as well as records of similar societies and the results of this kind of structure.

 

Though he would have preferred it to be the case, sociological research was not the only thing keeping the counselor up. He was mulling the actual events of the away mission over in his head and couldn't escape the irksome feeling of how Dr. Swan had handled the situation and how she had acted toward him and more importantly toward LtCmdr Marx, the highest ranking officer and leader of the away team. Sam's peripheral vision nudged him out of an account of a certain planet's history with slavery as through the transparent door into sickbay he saw Tom and Daena leaving sickbay and Katherine standing alone there. He got up and walked to the door and opened it, leaning into the main sickbay.

 

"Dr...could I please have a quick word with you?"

 

Swan turned around, not having been fully aware that Sam had still been in his office, as soon as he beckoned her, she knew what he wanted. She sighed and began to protest, "I don't know why you got upset earlier, I was only trying to help. It's not like I did anything bad."

 

He beckoned silently toward his office and her shoulders dropped, "Fine," she said in a frustrated tone.

 

Sam walked into the office and back to his desk, he tapped a small panel on the desk and the transparent doors clouded to opaque. There wasn't really a need for this as it was the middle of the night, but he was accustomed to doing it anytime someone came into his office. He sat down at the large desk and put a hand out toward the various chairs assembled in front of it.

 

"Have a seat," he said curtly. He would usually pick out one of the other chairs and sit with the person as they conversed, the big desk was a bit authoritarian for his tastes. For this situation however, it was a little more appropriate.

 

Katherine was a bit taken aback by this whole situation, she felt she had completely gained her composure after the entire ordeal that got her here in the first place. She had proven her worth enough that the CO had dropped the charges against her and she was feeling more comfortable with being a crewman on this ship. She did as he asked and sat down in front of him.

 

"Alright, what's up?"

 

"Katherine, let me start by saying that your idea, while bearing risk, was creative and ultimately extremely effective in avoiding conflict with all parties involved. In fact, it's the kind of novel thinking that makes Starfleet and the Federation what they are."

 

Katherine smiled, "All I did was listen to what Preto was saying. It wasn't even WHAT he was saying, it was HOW he said it."

 

Sam nodded affirmingly, "And that is EXACTLY what I'm trying to get at here. It's not what you had to say, but how you said it. I know you were given a field commission here and that it was based on your passing of Starfleet medical and basic duty tests here on Arcadia in deep space. While that's a significant achievement, it's not quite the same as going through four-ish years in the Starfleet Academy. There your professors are your commanding officers. Their educational department heads are their commanding officers. Even civilian teachers at the academy like my mother are responsible for maintaining the command structure."

 

Katherine sat there half shocked but listening to what he had to say and thinking how she would rebut.

 

Sam continued, "In a first contact situation like that, which also happens to be a negotiation, and further more a negotiation concerning other crew members' LIVES, it is totally inappropriate for you to step in front of two higher ranking officers and boldly state your opinion, and then go as far as to INSIST on a course of action."

 

She sprung to a respone, "SIR, neither you or Cmdr Marx were getting anywhere. I heard how the man said what he did and you didn't. So I took action."

 

"If you had asked for a recess when you had your idea and voiced it to me or LtCmdr Marx, the message would have gone up the chain of command and then to Mr. Preto and we probably would have been out of there with a lot less fuss than we ended up enduring. Beyond that, Marx and I would have felt more in control of the situation and I would probably just be congratulating you now instead of this. If you know something a senior officer doesn't, it is almost NEVER your job to simply act on it...it's your job to keep them informed as best as you can so that they can make the decisions and take the action, because that is the responsibility of command."

 

Swan slid forward on her chair and chimed in, "It's a control thing?! You're upset because I took the lead?"

 

"Yes! Not because I have a pathological need to be in control, but because that's simply the way we run things. It's the way things run smoothly on a starship and it's the way they should run on away missions. It's possible that the other side of that table might have looked at your actions and supposed that we have no control over our people, and maybe he would have taken harsher action against Tom and Daena based on that supposition. Who knows what could have happened."

 

"There wasn't time to do the command structure thing. If you had listened, they were getting ready to DUMP their trash, we didn't have the luxury of time, Sir."

 

"Katherine, the chain of command is a very important part of starfleet operations and your complete lack of regard for that was unnerving and confusing and it did not put Marx or me in a very good position. Beyond that, it could have had unforeseen negative repercussions. Marx was the one in command, he'll be the one submitting a report, and it's up to him if he wants to mention your inappropriate behavior or talk to you about it in an official capacity or not. But I wanted to let you know that I felt it was very inappropriate. You've made excellent progress in getting settled with this crew, and you've put a lot behind you. I think that this instance could be a learning experience for you and help you move forward. But if you hold on to only the notion that you were right and that what you did HAD to be done, then I think you're hindering yourself from becoming more of and a better part of this crew as a result of the experience."

 

Katherine once again spoke up, "Preto called me over to him when he heard what I said and he knew we were on the same page. There was no time for diplomacy...not this time."

 

Sam sighed, feeling he was running full speed toward a bulkhead, "I know you experienced a very bad, punishment-based command structure; it made you a nervous wreck when you came on board...we've done a lot of work together on that front, getting you comfortable with the idea that Starfleet as a military wants to generally be a force of good and remain positive at all times. I'm really glad to see your progress there, you've become really comfortable with people and procedures. I think this could be a time for you to start becoming more comfortable with Starfleet protocol and structure. You won't always be right, Katherine, and you certainly won't always have the authority to interject your perceived rightness or act on it. the fact that your idea was a good one this time was a mark in your favor. But what if it hadn't been, what if we'd lost our crewman? In that light, how would your own stepping up and demanding action have looked? If an officer in command of the away mission had ordered a particular action and it had resulted in the loss of crew members' lives, that would be on that officer's head as well as conscience. And that's the responsibility, and sometimes the burden of command. Its a responsibility you have not earned, and I would not like to see you try to seize it again in the future."

 

Swan leaned forward further and placed her hands on the desk. "Sir, I know the structure, I obey it most of the time. There wasn't enough time to run the chain of command. He was getting ready to do away with them. I just acted as I guessed any of you would have. I know I didn't do everything by the book and I don't care if you tell the Commander or the Captain. I did what I saw needed to be done to get our people back. We ALL returned to the ship and no one was harmed. If it wouldn't have gone well, YES, I would have expected to be punished for it. Or whatever. But that didn't happen...Now if you will excuse me, I've been working with patients for hours and I'd like some sleep."

 

Sam could see from her adverse reaction that he was not going to get any further with her. Katherine stepped back from the desk she was now leaning on standing up from the chair.

 

Sam spoke again, "Well I'm not going to tell anyone anything, it's not my place to do so. but the way you conducted yourself concerns me a bit, and I just wanted to talk it over with you and see if you might consider some of the implications of your actions. There is nothing keeping you here in my office. Thanks for listening for THIS long." As soon as he added that last sarcastic bit, he felt he really shouldn't have. He made a motion to the door where she clearly wanted to leave.

 

"Thank you SIR", she gritted, "And as I said this was NOT a normal thing for me. I just stepped up after the two of you were getting no where with Mr. Preto. I do NOT intend for this to be anything normal by any means. Good Day, SIR!" Katherine quickly strode straight out the other office door into the corridor and headed for her quarters.

 

Sam sighed and put his head down on his desk. "Well that couldn't have gone worse." As if her earlier behavior didn't concern him enough, she had just shouted in his face. Sam knew that it was clearly a moot point as far as the mission was concerned. He wasn't in the mood to lodge formal complaints and get into the paperwork. He truly hoped that what she said was true, this was a one time occurrence for her. Sam decided he would keep a causal eye on her, because he truly wanted her to succeed as a Starfleet officer and more so as a member of a Federation community. He took his head off the desk. He had had enough insulting behavior from a junior officer for one day, he stood and left his office, locking it on the way, and headed for his own quarters.

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Edited August 19, 2009 by Sam_SemaJ