Reasoning with Security

Posted on Thu Jan 19th, 2023 @ 3:59am by Lieutenant Flowerpetal Sheme & Commodore Mardel Shayron-Connor

2,526 words; about a 13 minute read

"Reasoning with Security"
A Joint Duty log betweeen Commodore Mardel Connor and Lt. Flowerpetal Sheme

Commodore Andrea Hunter looked at her assignment. She didn’t mind doing debriefings and she did enjoy meeting the various officers from different ships and getting to know how things worked on these ships. She had been curious about the Aldrin and her command crew for some time and this would give her the chance to see it worked first hand. She set up her office for the one she was to interview and then beamed to the security offices of the Aldrin. “Lieutenant Flower Sheme? I’m here for you for your debriefing. Please come with me.” She said to the only one who looked like a cat and took the woman’s paw and beamed back to her office. “You may have that love seat to stretch out on if you wish, Lieutenant. May I call you Flower?”

Lt. Flowerpetal Sheme walked over to the love seat, as she was feeling like she didn’t really want to be here. She felt like no one could really understand how she was feeling. How do you explain to anyone what is happening in your mind without falling apart yourself? “As this is a debriefing Sir, I would prefer if you would address me as Lt. I can see that you are trying to make this as painless as possible considering what I went through, but I don't want special treatment.” Lt. Sheme answered respectfully.

Andrea nodded. “As you wish, Lieutenant. However, I should inform you that this is not a debriefing on what has happened, this is a debriefing about what is to happen next. We have read all of your reports and logs during this time, we have seen all the records and recordings taken. I am not sure if you understand just how thorough your commanding officer is, not a single detail has been left off. For the record, Starfleet Command is impressed and is grateful to the crew of the USS Aldrin for what they did and went through. And as this is also an assessment on just how much counseling you will require before being allowed shore leave on Earth, it will make it easier if you relax and not take such a formal tone. But again, the choice is yours to make and I will make my assessment based on what I see and feel during this debriefing. I would like it if you would call me Andrea or Andi, the choice is yours.”

“So you know that I was attacked by the Fury… I rather just have some down time with my special friend, Lt. B’Raitha of Starfleet Intelligence. Sometimes Andi you just need some alone time with your significant other for events to be put into clear sight. I also have support from my crew as while I was on light desk duty, they ran around doing all the footwork,” Flower looked at her paws, “I apologize for my rash behavior.”

Frowning, Andi shook her head. “That will be a negative, Lieutenant. You will not be getting time with your friend if you keep up this attitude. Yes, I know you were singled out and attacked by the Fury and that others covered your duties while you were recovering. I am aware that you run from your duties when you feel you have lost your ability to do them to your perceived standards. I am aware that the only subject that can hold your attention is your special friend, or should I say Fiancee. From where I am sitting, you are the biggest danger to Starfleet we have at the moment.” She sounded sad and disappointed. “And that, Lieutenant, means until this is resolved, you will be detained and if you never resolve it, then that detainment will last forever. We cannot let any risk to the Federation to be loose out there and wreak havoc.”

Flower looked at the Admiral and was shocked with what she just said. It was true that talking about a certain furry companion was one of her best topics to talk about and a great stress reliever. But she was still dealing with some nightmares after being attacked. Maybe she shouldn't be so rash in her actions, “I understand Admiral. Again I apologize for my rude behavior. I guess that I am still having some nightmares from almost being lost forever after the attack.” she admitted openly.

“So, let’s start again. I’m Andrea, or Andi. It is nice to meet you, may I call you Flower?” She gave a slight smile to see if this time, Flower would be a bit more cooperative.

Flower gave a nod as she relaxed a little more on the love seat, “Yes Andi, you may call me Flower.”

“Thank you,Flower.” Andi relaxed a little more. “Now then, according to the records, you have had a great deal of trouble dealing with your interactions with the Fury. Can you please tell me why?”

“I think it's because of the fact that I had to suspect everyone including my best friend, Lt.Sineade Darnell, and it put me in the most awkward position. I also hurt my friend for not believing her. And while I was attacked, I had a really bad nightmare about how I failed to protect the crew, as that was my job.” Flower meowed calmly.

Andi nodded. “Let me ask you this then, Flower. Isn't it part of your job to always suspect everyone? I mean, a security officer isn’t any good if she doesn’t suspect everyone and then eliminate those who couldn’t have done it for different reasons?”

Flower nodded again, “Yes it is my job, but it was still difficult to do. Sineade and I have gotten to know each other after a mission where both of us were injured and had to stay in sickbay for about a month.” she explained.

“That makes sense. Do you trust your own instincts, Flower?” Andi asked, really wanting to know.

“I do trust my own instincts, and when I heard that I would have to spy on my crew as a Fury had been suspected to have impersonated one of my crew. My first instinct was to run to Sineade and tell her, as while we were in Sickbay, we would talk to each other. I couldn't believe what I was being asked to do! I wasn't too happy about this, but orders are orders and I tried to be sneaky and wanted to help her with engineering repairs, as she's been helping me to learn how to fix things, for cross training.” Flower looked at her left paw for a moment, then looked back up to Andi.

Taking a moment to make notations on a padd, and then looked at Flower in all seriousness. “Flower, if you trust your instincts, then why didn’t you follow them? That is part of Starfleet training. Blindly following orders gets people killed, not that you are to question orders, but you are to use your best call in how you follow them. If you are ordered to go into a life and death situation, you are able to take precautions with you to help you survive, you are not asked to go in naked without anything. If you are ordered to do something impossible, you are still allowed to use tools and even at times with others to assist you. So when you got the order to spy on your own crew, something no one in Starfleet would ever order without you being specially trained in Intelligence techniques, you should have spoken with at least your CO and either gotten her back up orders or her counter orders. Next time, if something like that happens, use the tools you have and follow the instincts you profess to trust.” Andi explained.

Flower looked again at Andi. “I asked the Admiral why he didn't ask Intel to do this spying instead of me, and he said that Intel had their hands in the matter too deep for him to trust them. Again I wanted to tell my captain what was going on, but he warned me to not do that for fear that they could be the imposter and would try to kill me if I exposed them. Now how I ruled out Sineade was a very clever way and that was with a set of specialized tools made just for her palmprint and if anyone else tried to hold the handle, they would have gotten a small shock. I asked her to hold one of her special tools, and when she did, nothing happened, and then I knew it was the real Sineade.”

“So you trusted yourself to a point but no further. Flower, you are smarter than that or you wouldn’t have been able to graduate from the Academy. I am not condemning you, Flower, I’m only pointing out what I see. Next time, trust all of your instincts. You know who is an imposter and who isn’t simply by the habits and mannerisms you have observed. Imposters don’t know those even if they look and sound like a person, they don’t move like the person, or use the little things that make each of us unique. Do you understand what I am saying? I am trying to help you and to make you see that your instincts are good and should be trusted.”

All Flower could do was nod, “I do understand. Also even if someone tried to convince me, I should have clawed at him immediately. I was too emotionally involved with the crew to even be considered for this spy mission. Sineade and I have since then put what happened aside and remained friends. I think what made the mission so hard to accept was after the meeting for the senior staff was over, the Admiral had given me the assignment,” she admitted again.

“You are very lucky he didn’t mark you. He must have felt your hesitation when he gave you the orders, which means he didn’t fully trust you to follow through. That right there should also have been a red flag for you to notice. And I do not recommend attacking anyone who gives your orders you do not like or agree with as that could land you in hot water that you do not want to be in. Do you understand?”

Flower’s tail curled up real fast to show she was laughing, “Yes Andi. I feel really bad for suspecting my crew who I have been with for almost 5 years now. I have been with them long enough to know them and how they tick.”

“So, now you have another tool to use to enhance your instincts and training. Now I have another question for you. Do you feel better now than you did when you came in here?”

“Maybe a little. The nightmares are still real, I did fail in my duties and because of that, we lost the Captain's Yacht,” Flower shook her head as if to clear the fog creeping into her head.

“Don’t worry about the Captain’s yacht. It was a very small price to pay for the entire ship and crew of the Aldrin. And if you ask, I am certain that Commodore Connor would tell you the same thing. And you didn’t fail in your duties, you did the best you could with a situation that had already left hundreds dead and took out an entire Vulcan crew. Do you understand and accept that?”

“I guess I have to accept it. Will the nightmares go away?

“That will depend on the work you do with your counselor. I am recommending you spend the full 10 days in counseling, Flower. This is not as punishment, this is for sincere want and need to help you get over the nightmares and this trouble you have trusting your instincts and to help boost your self-confidence. Do you understand this?” Andi said and asked.

Flower nodded again, “I re quest to stay with my Fiancee as I attend these sessions please?” she asked politely.

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t possible, Flower. Here are your orders, and these are to be followed without question. The entire crew is getting the same orders, so you are not alone in this. It is because anything and everything about the Fury is fully classified and has to remain that way so it doesn’t get out to the public and cause mass panic and all the chaos that follows such terror. The orders are, you are never to speak to anyone about the Fury again, except with Starfleet Command Personnel, which means you can speak with me about it or your counselor. You are not to speak about it with anyone else, living or dead. If anyone asks about this mission, you are to tell them it was a new covert attempt by the Borg to assimilate the Federation. And that you and the crew of the Aldrin exposed them and brought it to light so that the Federation can be put on defense against such incursions in the future. Do you fully understand these orders, Flower?”

“As clear as a bell. And may I ask why I can't be with B’Raitha during counseling”

“Because for the time being, you are still under the communication blackout. B’Raitha understands about the classified status of the Fury and knows not to ask you about it. But until your counseling is over, you must remain on site at Headquarters, the entire crew has to. After the counseling is over, you will be released for Shore leave, which will last about three weeks. During Shore leave, what you do and who you spend it with is up to you. Do you understand these orders and accept them?”

Flower nodded her furry head, “I do.”

Andi stood up and held out her hand to Flower. “It was an honor and pleasure to meet you, Flower.” She handed her a padd. “These will be your quarters while you are here at headquarters. If your counselor is satisfied, your communications blackout can be lifted after your first session, but you still have to stay in these quarters the entire counseling time. After counseling has finished, you will be granted Shore leave, hopefully about three weeks of it here on Earth. Flower, if you need to talk to some other than your counselor about the Fury, my door is always open to you. I wish you the best of luck and all the happiness you can have.”

Flower takes the PADD and shakes the hand of Andi, “Thanks Andi. I will follow these orders to the letter as I don't want to leave the Aldrin and I really want to see my mate to be.”

Andi waved to the door. “You are free to go to your quarters and settle in and contact your assigned counselor.” She stood aside and let Flower leave

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