I'm A Doctor, Not A...

Posted on Fri Feb 14th, 2020 @ 1:04pm by Rear Admiral Gareth Tau & Lieutenant Commander Jonah Wilson MD & Ferrofax

974 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: S1E4: The Hills Have Eyes
Location: Overwatch Station
Timeline: MD 1

Three goldshirt petty officers chased after Jonah, each with a PADD in hand and a petition in their mouth. For all the automated processes on the station, they seemed to pick a perfect day to go on the fritz. And, as a brief glance at the service log would show, they were not all at once. Systems were failing somewhere in the pattern of a train of dominoes and Whack-a-Mole.

"Commander!" called out the Ops tech in the lead. "There's been another one!"

"And I told you, you, and you, all three of you in point of fact, that it was not an issue worth bringing to anyone's attention," Ferrofax said as he materialised into his avatar between the three gold shirts and Jonah.

"But the replicator matrix!"

"And septic reclamation!"

"And environmental control!"

Each of the three Ops technicians fought to be heard against Ferrofax's protest.

Jonah stopped in his tracks and turned to face the four of them, "Obviously if you're incapable of keeping the systems online it is worth bringing it to my attention," Jonah said, looking at the AI. "If I recall you seemed to think pretty highly of yourself and your ability to manage without a human... but yet, here we are," he said, with a pause. "Perhaps we can dial the ego down a notch or two until everything is working."

"Wait..." one of the Ops techs said diffidently. "You mean, he is the one responsible for the malfunctions?" Each one turned a look of horror on Ferrofax and quickly ran their separate ways.

"He certainly is responsible for fixing them," Jonah said, to Ferrofax as the others had left. "Tell me, though, are they your fault?"

The senior ops chief stopped on his heels and, regained his courage, walked back to the commander and the infernal avatar of evil.

"Yeah..." said the CPO. "Is it? Because... I will log a complaint in your record." The poor senior NCO realized that threat sounded idle and hollow against the attendant AI.

"Just in case anyone was interested, there is an incoming priority one transmission from Admiral Tau's ship the USS Megaera. I can spin up a proxy or two to fool him with an 89% chance of success if you'd rather continue your debate. I can send the Admiral your regards," Ferrofax piped up.

"I don't require a proxy," Jonah said, with a roll of his eyes. "Acknowledge the transmission and send it to my office, I will answer it there," he said. "In the meantime, if you have been creating these issues knock off the crap and get things working again. As for you, Chief, check system logs, run a diagnostic on our friend here or figure out who can, and if there is an issue let me know immediately," Jonah said, looking from the chief to the hologram.

Satisfied with the contentment of an executive order, the CPO marched away to perform it. He departed with a crisp, "Aye, sir."

In Jonah's office, Gareth's rigid glare was far from amused. "Who are you? Where is Captain ben-Avram?"

"I'm Doctor Wilson," Jonah replied. "Captain ben-Avram is on a mission with the team and I have been left in command of the station, sir. Can I help you, Admiral?" Jonah wasn't particularly impressed by brass. While he was quite well aware of the respect he was required to show them, it was because it was what the rank required, not the person wearing it.

"Doctor Wilson," Gareth repeated slowly. "I was unaware that Captain ben-Avram was undertaking field missions these days." That did add context to Administrator ch'Vihron's protests. "In that case, I will contact the Phantom. However... I am required to ask if you are a command-rated officer. Most Medical officers are not."

"I concur most are not, however, this is a station not a ship. I wouldn't want to be in command of a ship... but I think while we're here sitting still I have it quite under control. It's not my first rodeo in a leadership position outside of medicine, with all due respect, Admiral."

Tau scowled at the doctor, considering his words. "You will report directly to this office if anything goes awry. In fact, I want you to report regular status updates to this secure channel every eight hours until Captain ben-Avram returns. Is that understood?"

The holocam dome in the corner of the office offered no opinion, quip or sardonic zinger. It did though make a full recording of what was being said, and the implications.

"Admiral, there is no reason to think something is just going to go awry. Nor is there a need to give direct status updates every eight hours. With all due respect sir, there is a chain of command, and I will report to Captain ben-Avram if there are any issues," he said, sternly.

"Am I to understand," Tau said slowly, "that you are refusing to follow a direct order, Doctor Wilson?"

"I believe, sir, that I'm perfectly within my province to question things I find questionable," Jonah protested. "I am also perfectly capable of reporting any issues within my own chain of command such as this request. If you'd like sir I can contact Captain ben-Avram and inform him?" he asked, something told Jonah, and of course, he could be completely wrong... but he doubted Tau wanted him to know.

"That will be unnecessary, Doctor. I will be contacting Captain ben-Avram forthwith... right after I place a letter in your personal file." Gareth folded his hands, obviously pleased with his handling of the situation. "One other thing. Ferrofax: initiate Starfleet Special Order 2-3-3, authorization Tau-Sigma-9." He smiled mirthlessly at Jonah. "Farewell, Doctor Wilson."

"Special Order 2-3-3 confirmed and initialised," Ferrofax said, the desk terminal's menu screen suddenly losing a handful of options.

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