Back On the Bridge (Part IV)

Posted on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 9:41am by Commander Grace Vetur & Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii & Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova & Lieutenant Commander Aaron Marcus & Lieutenant Amanda Rose & Lieutenant Percival Bálor Ph.D
Edited on on Fri Mar 1st, 2024 @ 9:50am

1,322 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Standing By
Location: Bridge

[PREVIOUSLY]

Yiv looked at the others and continued. 'Luckily, due to Percy's inventiveness and Chernova's team's diligence, we were able to knock Haruna out and retrieve her without too much delay.'

[CONTINUED]

The Efrosian sighed. 'In complete honesty, I hadn't called the medical frigate here for our previous Commanding Officer. I called it here for Haruna.' Looking over at Grace and Aaron he shrugged, 'I consider her case, from a personnel perspective, too complicated to deal with the resources of one ship, far from home. She should be sent back to Earth where she can be cared for in a facility which prevents her from being a danger to herself and others.'

"Far be it from me to disagree with mustache man over here, but I am a Doctor if that helps." Aaron began with nowhere near as much sarcasm as he could have given. "But it sounds to me that your engineer has a personality issue, that is to say something that a fair amount of counseling and some minor medication can do. I do believe that this ship carries a Counselor. Of course, I have to examine the patient and make an official diagnosis. However, either way it is my understanding that a crew is a family. Which means I must ask a question. Would you send your mother away? Your brother or sister?" Aaron may have had the façade that he did not care, but it was exactly that a façade. He cared immensely for those that needed attention.

"I don't believe we should send her away, it’s possible it could make things worse. I'm no doctor or counselor, but I believe Haruna maybe neurodivergent and requires our understanding and not our condemnation." Anahera said.

"I believe a good portion of the crew is technically neurodivergent, myself included," Grace said, turning to Anahera. "I've read her personnel file and there is nothing to indicate she has any problem that would lead to her having a breakdown. If anything, she's too smart and thinks that it gives her the right to do whatever she wants. This has been noted by every professor in the Academy and every captain she's served under. Even Captain Michaels said he heard someone moving behind his bedroom wall. She needs help, yes. But the question is, can the counselor and doctor deal with the matter here, or does she need to be transferred planetside where she can get long-term treatment and do the work she likes best?"

Grace then turned to the doctor. "If both you and Lieutenant Rose believe she should stay on board, she will have to be removed as chief engineer until you are both certain she will not suffer another relapse. That is not something that can be determined in a day or even a week."

Amanda looked at the prickly Doctor. As far as she was concerned, Haruna suffered from Oppositional Defiance Disorder and a strong dose of Peter Pan Syndrome. How she got past the psychological tests in Starfleet was beyond her. The tired Counselor simply said, "I think that the Doctor should look at her first, to rule out anything biological or external affecting her behavior."

In all of Aaron's years this was the first meeting that he actually enjoyed, so much so that a smile was on his face. As a Diagnostician he rather enjoyed bouncing ideas off of people until the answer would come. The Security Chief may have hit the proverbial nail on the head. Of course, there were any number of diagnoses that could fit. However, he also was not happy with what had been said thus far. "Lieutenant Commander..." his voice trailed off as he realized he did not know her name. "...Green Eyes over here is quite possibly correct. If neurodivergence is the case then there is no reason to send her away, or even remove her from her position." He held his hand up toward the Captain before she could chime in. "I agree that while she is being diagnosed and treated you are going to need someone else to run the department. That is until we get everything under control. Or rather than remove her it may be best to leave her, and have her work supervised. I believe that a full removal from her work would be detrimental to treatment."


Aaron began to walk around the bridge as he spoke. He really seemed to come into his element, the sarcasm the walls that he put up seemed to come down as he walked and spoke. Clearly this was a different side to his personality. "I would like to add that all of this sending away talk, and possibly not being able to be treated in this vessel, her home is quite disturbing to me. It seems to me that throughout her years in Starfleet this, whatever it is has been ignored by those around her. That to me is a tragedy, it is time that her family takes a stand."

'Forgive me, Doctor, but she will not be Chief Engineer while she is undergoing treatment.' Yiv stated firmly. 'We do not have a diagnosis for her, and she remains a risk to the ship if she displays the behaviour she did when she broke the Counsellor's door and smashed holes in the corridor wall,' he emphasised. 'We cannot risk her having access to the ship's systems in high-stress situations. I will not allow the risk of an intentional overload of the warp core.'

'Starfleet is not a civilian organisation, a lawyer's firm where staff can run amok and damage the photocopier with zero repercussions. We're a military and exploratory body, and the Ontario has access to some of the most potent and terrifying weapons and power systems that have been yet devised. Putting access to those systems in the hands of someone potentially dangerous is a dereliction of duty and is patently unfair to her.'

'As the Captain has said, it's return her to the Federation for proper treatment and assessment, or allow her to remain aboard and be treated by yourself and the Counsellor while relieved of duty.'

"I do not want her completely relieved of duty if she stays on board," Grace countered. "But she will not be chief. She needs something to do or she'll go stir crazy and we all know that only leads to more trouble." The doctor had yet to see Haruna when she got bored, and it wasn't something Grace particularly wanted to happen again until--IF--she could be treated. "I suggest a research project that will give her a bit of a challenge while she is under treatment." She looked at Yiv. She agreed that it might be best to send her planetside where she'd have more space to explore and to build, but she had to give the doctors a chance.

I like it when he takes charge thought Percy as he walked off the lift and onto the bridge, but he quickly pieced together that conversation was about Haruna. "She can work with me," Percy said trotting towards the assembly of people. "Let her be my responsibility" he said looking at Grace and to Yiv.

"There's a plethora of seeds and bulbs i have in storage, and several I'd like to get my hands on that require specific equipment and conditions for them to grow. It would take an engineering crew forever, and I'm not about to pull them away from more pressing matters" he stated.

(To be continued...)

Lieutenant Commander Yivliph Ra-Gruvloveii
Acting XO
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Aaron Marcus
Chief Medical Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Anahera Chernova
Chief Security Officer
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Commander Grace Vetur
Acting CO
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Amanda Rose
Chief Counselor
USS Ontario

Lieutenant Percival Bálor
Chief Science Officer
USS Ontario

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