Season 11: Episode 2 - Diplomatic Disaster

[Jiseth]

The expression on Jiseth's face was one that shamed Zero further.  She hadn't intended to cause the Romulan any distress, but it seemed that she had inadvertantly done so.  Humanoid interactions and emotions, despite all of my studies, remain as elusive as ever.  She rested a hand on Ghost's head, listening to the happy thump of his tail against the deck plates.  At least canine behaviour is relatively simple to decipher.

She was surprisingly astute in pinpointing the dead crewman as a cause for her confinement to quarters, evidenced by a slight raising of both pale brows.  "You are correct.  I was assigned to the autopsy to determine the cause of death and, as the Chief Medical Officer was tardy, I began a visual examination of the subject while refraining from making physical contact as instructed.  It would seem that was cause enough as upon her arrival, she contacted security to have me removed."

[Outside XO's Office]

"Just for that? Absurd!"

Shaking her head, Jiseth ran her fingertips along her eyebrows toward her ears before rubbing her temples in small, circular motions. If an FO did her preflight checks and prepared the craft before her arrival, she was grateful and usually impressed by the act. Emergencies could not be left to those sitting around waiting to be told what to do. Though they were from different fields, the requirements for adequate communication and logistics was one of the overlaps between flying and medicine.

Punishing someone for doing their due diligence was anathema to the standards the two women held themselves to and it made Jiseth's blood heat as if under a gas stove.

"For the future, there are some people who like to be in control at all times. They're terrible at communication and they act like their ideas are the only ones that matter, even if they're wrong. You may refer to such people in your field as bad doctors."

[Zero Alpha]

"Just for that? Absurd!"

Shaking her head, Jiseth ran her fingertips along her eyebrows toward her ears before rubbing her temples in small, circular motions. If an FO did her preflight checks and prepared the craft before her arrival, she was grateful and usually impressed by the act. Emergencies could not be left to those sitting around waiting to be told what to do. Though they were from different fields, the requirements for adequate communication and logistics was one of the overlaps between flying and medicine.

Punishing someone for doing their due diligence was anathema to the standards the two women held themselves to and it made Jiseth's blood heat as if under a gas stove.

"For the future, there are some people who like to be in control at all times. They're terrible at communication and they act like their ideas are the only ones that matter, even if they're wrong. You may refer to such people in your field as bad doctors."

[Outside XO's Office]

Flinching slightly as the force in the Romulan's voice, Zero looked away, concentrating for a moment on stroking Ghost's glossy head and scratching his favourite spot behind his ears.  It only took a second or two before she was able to return her gaze to Jiseth, still unsure whether she was angry with Zero or at the ship's chief medical officer.  Given a Romulan's temper on a good day, and Jiseth's proclivity to go after threats with both barrels until she was in over her head, it wasn't an easy determination to make.

In a very small, hesitant voice, she asked:  "Surely a... bad doctor would not be able to attain the post of chief of medical science aboard a star ship?  I continue to demonstrate many faux pas in my interactions with my colleagues.  How can I be assured that this was not my fault?"

[Jiseth]

In a very small, hesitant voice, she asked:  "Surely a... bad doctor would not be able to attain the post of chief of medical science aboard a star ship?  I continue to demonstrate many faux pas in my interactions with my colleagues.  How can I be assured that this was not my fault?"

[Outside XO's Office]

"All it means is they can pass a test. Tells us little of how they work with others, which in an operating room is what matters most. Far more than some wanton sense that they're the captain of some ship and you must obey every little thing they do. You're a doctor yourself, not a tool."

Her expression softened as she allowed herself several deep breaths to cool down. There was her smirk making a return as well, tugging at the right side of her lips.

"I think you worry too much about how you interact with others. Another idea put in your head to make you feel like you'll never be a normal person, but it's simply not the case. I've seen you with other medical staff before. Hell, you've gone this long in Starfleet and no dishonorable discharge or rank demotion. The biggest problem I have is the CMO won't even speak to you, they're having someone else do their work for them rather than build a functioning team. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, this won't be so bad. We'll just nod our heads, say our yes sirs, and go home. How does that sound?"

[Zero Alpha]

[Outside XO's Office]

"All it means is they can pass a test. Tells us little of how they work with others, which in an operating room is what matters most. Far more than some wanton sense that they're the captain of some ship and you must obey every little thing they do. You're a doctor yourself, not a tool."

Her expression softened as she allowed herself several deep breaths to cool down. There was her smirk making a return as well, tugging at the right side of her lips.

"I think you worry too much about how you interact with others. Another idea put in your head to make you feel like you'll never be a normal person, but it's simply not the case. I've seen you with other medical staff before. Hell, you've gone this long in Starfleet and no dishonorable discharge or rank demotion. The biggest problem I have is the CMO won't even speak to you, they're having someone else do their work for them rather than build a functioning team. I suppose in the grand scheme of things, this won't be so bad. We'll just nod our heads, say our yes sirs, and go home. How does that sound?"

[Outside XO's Office]

Although she still didn't look all that convinced by Jiseth's speech, especially the part about not being a tool to be used, but Zero took a deep breath and put it to one side in her head to be analysed later.  Slowly, tentatively, she reached out a hand to Jiseth's.  Their fingers touched and she withdrew slightly before strengthening her resolve, pressing forward to curl her fingers around Jiseth's until they were holding hands.

Holding hands.  Hardly a great step toward undoing the damage done to her ability to form physical romantic relationships, but it was better than she had been able to do only a week or so ago.  Being able to initiate physical contact... She just hoped that Jiseth wouldn't reject it.

"Will such a response be adequate?  Will it not be considered... flippant?"

[Jiseth]

Although she still didn't look all that convinced by Jiseth's speech, especially the part about not being a tool to be used, but Zero took a deep breath and put it to one side in her head to be analysed later.  Slowly, tentatively, she reached out a hand to Jiseth's.  Their fingers touched and she withdrew slightly before strengthening her resolve, pressing forward to curl her fingers around Jiseth's until they were holding hands.

Holding hands.  Hardly a great step toward undoing the damage done to her ability to form physical romantic relationships, but it was better than she had been able to do only a week or so ago.  Being able to initiate physical contact... She just hoped that Jiseth wouldn't reject it.

"Will such a response be adequate?  Will it not be considered... flippant?"

[Outside XO's Office]

There was a gentle squeeze of Zero's hand and as she looked down at both of theirs together. For a moment she had to remind herself this was not a hallucination brought on by the injury to the face. She glanced at the door for a moment and returned her attention to the Augment.

"Flippant is a good description. Trick is to do it with a straight face. Just look focused like you're working on your research, but don't day dream while standing there in case he asks anything. I tend to go rigid like when I was a plebe cadet at the Academy when I'm at attention and it seems to work because I appear receptive, even when I don't agree with them. Saved my butt a couple times with Grix on the Churchill. Pretty sure you'll have an easier time than I will. A combination of short temper and big mouth isn't the most conducive to pleasant conversation."

[Kyle Briggs]

[Briefing Room]

The Captain was not happy, that much was clear... and something happened.  Were they already aware?

"Sir... en route to the surface, the shuttle had a complete cascade failure.  And I mean complete.  Propulsion, inertial dampeners, life support, all secondary and backup systems.  Everything went dead.  We were able to avoid a fatal crash thanks to Jiseth's expert flying but..."

Nevir still carried the one object that was a serious concern, and pulled it out and placed it on the table.  The scorched, yet directly burned out chip. "Closer inspection showed this chip to be the possible cause.  Sir, the chip fried out before the shuttle itself fried, and the fact that every system was inexplicably rerouted through the relay the chip was located in... we are looking at expert incompetence... or worst.  And to be candid, you know the seriousness of a shuttle incident involving me."

Kyle looked over at his Chief of Security. "I don't believe in coincidences." he said. "Our two situations are related. Let's run the same system logs for the shuttle that we ran for the area where Mister Hobbs was found. Let's see if we can find something there. If that doesn't get us anywhere, then we'll move onto Mister Hawke's plan." He than turned to face the Doctor. "Lizzie. Let's take a closer look at those splotches. I've got this nagging feeling that I've read about them before. And If I did, it had to be Medical. If there are no questions," he said as he stood. "Dismissed."

[Alexander Wu]

[Outside XO's Office]

Alex wasn't overly surprised when he spotted Jiseth and Alpha togehter standing outside his office doors as he approached. Glancing at Zero's dog, he considered telling them to take him back to their quarters before giving up on that particular fight. It wasn't worth it.

"Lieutenants. Inside, both of you." The office doors automatically opened as Alex arrived, and he waited for both to enter before following them inside, skirting around the desk to his chair. Turning to face them, he regarded first Zero, and then Jiseth with a mildly forlorn expression.

One crashed a shuttle and then lost her lid over the deck crew. The other's butting heads with her department. I don't really know which one I want to deal with first. "Sit down." Alex finally stated, gesturing at the opposing seats. "Alpha, please try and explain why Doctor Vaughan found it necessary to confine you to quarters."

[Zero Alpha]

Alex wasn't overly surprised when he spotted Jiseth and Alpha togehter standing outside his office doors as he approached. Glancing at Zero's dog, he considered telling them to take him back to their quarters before giving up on that particular fight. It wasn't worth it.

"Lieutenants. Inside, both of you." The office doors automatically opened as Alex arrived, and he waited for both to enter before following them inside, skirting around the desk to his chair. Turning to face them, he regarded first Zero, and then Jiseth with a mildly forlorn expression.

One crashed a shuttle and then lost her lid over the deck crew. The other's butting heads with her department. I don't really know which one I want to deal with first. "Sit down." Alex finally stated, gesturing at the opposing seats. "Alpha, please try and explain why Doctor Vaughan found it necessary to confine you to quarters."

[XO's Office]

As the first officer turned up with a none-too-pleased expression already on his face, Zero glanced at Jiseth, giving her hand a final, gentle, squeeze before following the commander into his office.  She stood in front of his desk, one hand still resting on Ghost's head, quietly defying Commander Wu to make her leave the dog outside or back in her quarters.  Hardly a huge rebellion against the rules, but it was still a minor show of defiance in the discomfort she felt at the way he was regarding both her and Jiseth.  If felt as if they were under intense scrutiny.

She took a seat when invited to, primly crossing her legs.  What was it Jiseth had said?  Flippant with a straight face?  She could certainly attempt that.  "Lieutenant Vaughan overreacted during the autopsy of the deceased crewman," she replied.  "Due to her tardiness, I had begun to compile notes on a visual appraisal of the corpse without any form of physical contact, which she had forbidden until her arrival.  She deemed this unacceptable behaviour."

[Lizzie Vaughan]

Kyle looked over at his Chief of Security. "I don't believe in coincidences." he said. "Our two situations are related. Let's run the same system logs for the shuttle that we ran for the area where Mister Hobbs was found. Let's see if we can find something there. If that doesn't get us anywhere, then we'll move onto Mister Hawke's plan." He than turned to face the Doctor. "Lizzie. Let's take a closer look at those splotches. I've got this nagging feeling that I've read about them before. And If I did, it had to be Medical. If there are no questions," he said as he stood. "Dismissed."

Briefing Room

Lizzie nodded.

"Yes Captain." She replied, getting out of her chair. "Would you like to accompany me to the Morgue?" She asked.

[Alexander Wu]

[XO's Office]

As the first officer turned up with a none-too-pleased expression already on his face, Zero glanced at Jiseth, giving her hand a final, gentle, squeeze before following the commander into his office.  She stood in front of his desk, one hand still resting on Ghost's head, quietly defying Commander Wu to make her leave the dog outside or back in her quarters.  Hardly a huge rebellion against the rules, but it was still a minor show of defiance in the discomfort she felt at the way he was regarding both her and Jiseth.  If felt as if they were under intense scrutiny.

She took a seat when invited to, primly crossing her legs.  What was it Jiseth had said?  Flippant with a straight face?  She could certainly attempt that.  "Lieutenant Vaughan overreacted during the autopsy of the deceased crewman," she replied.  "Due to her tardiness, I had begun to compile notes on a visual appraisal of the corpse without any form of physical contact, which she had forbidden until her arrival.  She deemed this unacceptable behaviour."

[XO's Office]

Alex regarded Zero's tale with a stoic expression, his lips slightly tightening as he missed none the dropped hints of her passive aggressiveness. She has a conflictive personality at best, but then again, so does Vaughan. Not exactly an easy cause of fault here.

Finally treating Zero with a frown, Alex leaned back. "Watch your attitude, lieutenant. I wouldn't be so quick to accuse a superior officer of being tardy or overreacting. At the end of the day, she's your boss, and the senior medical authority on this ship. You might not like her, but as a Starfleet officer, you have to respect her position."

"As for you," Alex turned his attention to the Romulan pilot, "it's not everyday the deck crew gets chewed out by an officer who's responsible for them now being stuck on two weeks doubleshifts. You were upset. I get that. But if you want to be an officer on this ship, I expect you to lead by example, not by fear and intimidation."

His tone sharpened slightly. "Lieutenant Jiseth, you will first go to sickbay, accompanied by Doctor Alpha, and have your facial injury treated. You will then return to the shuttlebay and apologize to the deck crew for your unprofessionalism and outburst. Report to me directly on the bridge afterwards. Alpha, until I speak with Doctor Vaughan, consider yourself returned to full duties. Report to your post, after you take your dog back to your quarters."

He pulled a blank PADD out from his desk drawer, quickly accessing and downloading the autopsy report. Sliding it across the desk, Alex nodded towards it. "Go over that, and see if anything was missed. If you do find something, please don't rub it in Doctor Vaughan's face. Bring it to myself and Captain Briggs instead. Questions?"

[Jiseth]

"As for you," Alex turned his attention to the Romulan pilot, "it's not everyday the deck crew gets chewed out by an officer who's responsible for them now being stuck on two weeks doubleshifts. You were upset. I get that. But if you want to be an officer on this ship, I expect you to lead by example, not by fear and intimidation."

His tone sharpened slightly. "Lieutenant Jiseth, you will first go to sickbay, accompanied by Doctor Alpha, and have your facial injury treated. You will then return to the shuttlebay and apologize to the deck crew for your unprofessionalism and outburst. Report to me directly on the bridge afterwards. Alpha, until I speak with Doctor Vaughan, consider yourself returned to full duties. Report to your post, after you take your dog back to your quarters."

He pulled a blank PADD out from his desk drawer, quickly accessing and downloading the autopsy report. Sliding it across the desk, Alex nodded towards it. "Go over that, and see if anything was missed. If you do find something, please don't rub it in Doctor Vaughan's face. Bring it to myself and Captain Briggs instead. Questions?"

[XO's Office]

The Romulan's face went neutral, though she was woefully beyond any desire to play nice with anyone.

"Sir... You should know that the away team and I all concur that the Theseus was sabotaged. Nevir is speaking with the Captain as we speak regarding the component which caused us to lose, well, everything. Warp core scrammed, auxiliary power nil, hell if it weren't for the manual standby systems we'd be dead right now. The component in question was not one easy to find nor manipulate..."

Her fists clenched as she kept her eyes on the Commander as an icy rage in her chest began to churn like a Siberian blizzard. Hurt feelings were the least of her problems. As far as she was concerned, her whole damn squadron was grounded until they checked every single circuit and bold on every single ship in the hangars.

"...Then we return to find out there was a murder on board. It means that potentially all shuttlecraft have been compromised and, potentially worse, that one of my people was committed the act. My outburst gave the appearance that I was upset over an accident; it doesn't reveal my hand. However, what bugs me more is that this could have been overlooked. Someone saw something and didn't say anything. I expect to have a long talk with Ferris about our security procedures and for the record, fear and intimidation are poor adjectives. We seek to kill bravery, you know this. We drill the hell out of everything so that when something does occur we're not caught flatfooted. It saves lives, Commander. Now..."

Jiseth leaned forward slowly and stood, the whining buzz of the servos in her legs clearly audible.

"...Will that be all, sir?"

[Zero Alpha]

[XO's Office]

Alex regarded Zero's tale with a stoic expression, his lips slightly tightening as he missed none the dropped hints of her passive aggressiveness. She has a conflictive personality at best, but then again, so does Vaughan. Not exactly an easy cause of fault here.

Finally treating Zero with a frown, Alex leaned back. "Watch your attitude, lieutenant. I wouldn't be so quick to accuse a superior officer of being tardy or overreacting. At the end of the day, she's your boss, and the senior medical authority on this ship. You might not like her, but as a Starfleet officer, you have to respect her position."

"As for you," Alex turned his attention to the Romulan pilot, "it's not everyday the deck crew gets chewed out by an officer who's responsible for them now being stuck on two weeks doubleshifts. You were upset. I get that. But if you want to be an officer on this ship, I expect you to lead by example, not by fear and intimidation."

His tone sharpened slightly. "Lieutenant Jiseth, you will first go to sickbay, accompanied by Doctor Alpha, and have your facial injury treated. You will then return to the shuttlebay and apologize to the deck crew for your unprofessionalism and outburst. Report to me directly on the bridge afterwards. Alpha, until I speak with Doctor Vaughan, consider yourself returned to full duties. Report to your post, after you take your dog back to your quarters."

He pulled a blank PADD out from his desk drawer, quickly accessing and downloading the autopsy report. Sliding it across the desk, Alex nodded towards it. "Go over that, and see if anything was missed. If you do find something, please don't rub it in Doctor Vaughan's face. Bring it to myself and Captain Briggs instead. Questions?"

[XO's Office ]

Zero's eyes narrowed slightly, her pale eyebrows drawing together.  She disregarded the PADD slid toward her for the time being, focusing instead on the words said before the orders were given.

As much as she wanted to defend Jiseth against the harsh words of rebuke, she knew perfectly well that the Romulan was capable of giving as good as she got.  She could handle herself better than Zero could on her part.  Instead, she replied:

"Commander, perhaps you should not involve yourself in matters which require intellect of a certain degree.  Medical had been ordered to perform an autopsy on a corpse for which I was the first responder.  Given the state of emergency on the vessel due to the presence of diplomats, it was imperative to determine whether the death was due to murder, accident or natural cause.  Lieutenant Vaughan's tardiness delayed that determination and as such, I began to make a visual appraisal while in no way compromising the evidence.  For that, I was severely chastised and confined as one would a naughty child.  If Lieutenant Vaughan has no use for me, I would rather she asked for my transfer in lieu of her current behaviour."

[Jiseth]

"Commander, perhaps you should not involve yourself in matters which require intellect of a certain degree.  Medical had been ordered to perform an autopsy on a corpse for which I was the first responder.  Given the state of emergency on the vessel due to the presence of diplomats, it was imperative to determine whether the death was due to murder, accident or natural cause.  Lieutenant Vaughan's tardiness delayed that determination and as such, I began to make a visual appraisal while in no way compromising the evidence.  For that, I was severely chastised and confined as one would a naughty child.  If Lieutenant Vaughan has no use for me, I would rather she asked for my transfer in lieu of her current behaviour."

[XO's Office ]

Jiseth's heart stopped for a moment. Seeing Zero annoyed and, in her own way, standing up for herself harked back to the memories of when they first met. Also of when the Romulan first came to the Discovery to interview the officers and crew about the Augment for potential reassignment to the Churchill.

Emerald eyes looked toward the ceiling as she pondered through her own paranoia. At the present everyone was guilty until proven innocent as murder was rarely if ever justifiable and to be quite honest with herself she did not have much inkling to trust personnel outside of her own department. However, even they were in a poor light given the events of the day.

"Huh... You know, at first I thought it was incredibly suspect that Vaughan had dismissed the only person with a mind within ten parsecs that could meet or exceed her own. To do an autopsy without another medical professional present seems too much like an opportunity to hide evidence, but I suppose the defense of the CMO would be she could have thought the same of Zero. But that's being charitable, I think. Could just as well say that Vaughan didn't want Zero to find something which means she's a possible accomplice. Just speculation."

[citrus_xsinensis]

Back when she slummed it out on that backwater colony on Rigel V, one of the main problems Kali had to deal with was a lack of communication with her 'superiors', though you could hardly call it a chain of command. It was basically whoever least screwed things up for the squatters ended up being in charge. Sometimes information was meant to be classified or kept within certain circles because it would breed discontent otherwise.

Like the time Xereth was in charge of water purification and let it slip that he accidentally let a non-lethal contaminant into the water system because he was an oblivious dunderhead. People might get seriously constipated, sure, but it wasn't disastrous. If they had kept it under wraps it wouldn't have turned into hellfire on a hand-basket the way that information spread. Before she knew it, Kali had been forced to spend the next three nights designing 'hot plates' to boil water from a 'flesh-eating virus' that did not exist but in the minds of hysterical colonists.

The point is maybe the whole murder on board thing was supposed to be classified. A bit chastised that she may have let out information that was supposed to be restricted to ops and personnel, Kali resisted the urge to slap her palm over the strange man's mouth.

"Killer... the toast is killer today," she said stiffly and loud enough to deter any prying ears. "Best coding I've seen on replicator five." God, what did she get herself into? She awkwardly thumped his shoulder twice before making a hasty break for her cornflakes.

He watched her with a dumbfounded look as she walked back to her table, only turning away after she sat down.

Well if that doesn't count as suspicious, I don't know what does.

He shook his head and looked back at his tricorder.

Rats! I should have been recording that conversation ... dang it!

He looked over the tricorder display, trying to re orientate himself to the task at hand. The scanning process was still diligently working away. Blissfully unaware (as most computers were) that anything even remotely suspicious had taken place.

Joseph kept it running, but began typing a message to Lieutenant Hawke:

==/\==
Lieutenant Hawke, Sir.

I believe I may have found a potential suspect for our murder. I was confronted in the mess hall by someone incredibly confrontational. As first, she seemed to accuse me of being the murder, but when I asked her more about it, she ran away, seemingly nervous about revealing something. Pending your further orders, I'm going to complete my scans of the mess hall, and if she's still here, maybe try and talk to her again.

Unfortunately, she didn't really give me much opening to try and bait her in any traditional way, but I think I can still make something work.

If you'd prefer, I can act now rather than later, but with so many people on board, suspicious behavior alone isn't enough to give us a good chance that she actually is the killer. That being said ... she's definitely suspicious.

Please advise, thank you.
Crewman Recruit Joseph Bryan.

==/\==

The last paragraph of his message was purely there because of the way his brain worked. One of his subjects at Starfleet academy had been mathematics and statistics. With about 510 people on board, you had to imagine that at least 5% had personalities that would (at the very least) be described as slightly abnormal by the average person. 5% of 510 was 25.5  Rounding up, that back-of-the-envelope statistics implied that 26 people on board would act suspicious, regardless of what they were doing. That left 26 suspects, assuming that the killer himself would be acting suspicious, which one could only be about 50% certain of in the first place.
All of these things together implied that, with the present evidence (or lack thereof), there was about a 2% chance that the woman who confronted him actually committed the murder.
But that 2% made her 20 times as likely as the average person (mathematically speaking of course).

[Zero Alpha]

Jiseth's heart stopped for a moment. Seeing Zero annoyed and, in her own way, standing up for herself harked back to the memories of when they first met. Also of when the Romulan first came to the Discovery to interview the officers and crew about the Augment for potential reassignment to the Churchill.

Emerald eyes looked toward the ceiling as she pondered through her own paranoia. At the present everyone was guilty until proven innocent as murder was rarely if ever justifiable and to be quite honest with herself she did not have much inkling to trust personnel outside of her own department. However, even they were in a poor light given the events of the day.

"Huh... You know, at first I thought it was incredibly suspect that Vaughan had dismissed the only person with a mind within ten parsecs that could meet or exceed her own. To do an autopsy without another medical professional present seems too much like an opportunity to hide evidence, but I suppose the defense of the CMO would be she could have thought the same of Zero. But that's being charitable, I think. Could just as well say that Vaughan didn't want Zero to find something which means she's a possible accomplice. Just speculation."

[XO's Office]

As Jiseth spoke, Zero had to admit some confusion to herself.  Depending on which way one interpreted Jiseth's words, she could either be trying to incriminate the Augment, or incriminate the CMO.  The latter she had no opinion on.  What humans did or didn't do generally went over the top of her head anyway, so there was no point in dwelling on it any futher.  The notion of Jiseth incriminating her, on the other hand, was somewhat more puzzling.

"I fail to comprehend.  Why would I wish to end the life of a member of the crew whom I have no relationship with beyond being familiar with his medical file?  I was simply performing my duty.  There were no other considerations.  What would I have to hide?"