How to Avoid X, Y, and Z
Posted on Mon Jan 28th, 2019 @ 8:42am by Captain Luka Mahone & Oliver Stone
Edited on on Mon Jan 28th, 2019 @ 10:16pm
2,036 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Groundwork
Location: USS Io, VIP Dining Hall
Timeline: MD 10 - 0829 Hrs
Such became the tone of the meetings Luka found himself having with Civilian Director. The ‘we have this, but x, y, z’ had worn him down to the point of a dull monotone every time he had to give the man another load of bad news. If he had known his assignment upon the Io was going to boil down to appeasing civilian leadership, he may have had second thoughts.
“There’s been a little pushback on sending a smaller ship with the necessary modules and requisitions, which we’ve been working on, but they’re currently on Starbase 43, so it’s a step in the right direction, at least.”
At least he knew to deliver the news over pleasant breakfasts in the Captain’s Mess this time around. If Matthews was not going to deliver the news to the Director himself, Luka could at least roll out what little hospitality he could.
“I’ve gone off and suggested we utilize the saucer section of the Io as a module once this is all said and done,” he added with a humorous tone, “I heard a lot of protests over that, but I’ve got a couple of engineer friends who say it isn’t impossible to accomplish if we’re in need of the space.”
Oliver drank from his coffee cup and nodded back to the comment. “Having used to be an engineer I would agree with their assessment of the situation albeit I don’t see Starfleet giving it the go ahead.” he stated simply.
He had not enjoyed being back on a Starfleet ship as it reminded him of the reasons he left. Too much pomp and circumstance, too much red tape and too many rules to follow for the sake of moving supplies here and there. Every time they took a step forward they seemed to fall 2-3 back down, it was all frustrating to say the least but he had kept professional throughout even if his patience was waning.
“Don’t get me wrong Commander I am grateful to have the Science team off my back, there’s nothing worse than a Geologist throwing insults at you about rocks when quite frankly I’d rather hit him over the head with them than study them but we still have issues with the power distribution net, the agricultural site is barely off its knees and Starfleet has put on hold the equipment I need to fix some sanitation issues that have cropped up in some of the accommodated housing until we get some proper housing sorted for residents.”
Luka had learned to train the look of panic off his face whenever anyone brought up another issue. Instead, Oliver received the trained, nondescript expression that had been mastered over the past month, as he took a sip of coffee from one of Matthews’ various gift mugs. “Of course they have.” He gave pause. There was little he knew about the engineering side of development, but he was enough of a doctor to know how important it was to keep things clean. “I’ll look into it. Sanitation issues will not stand while we’re building this colony up. That leads to illnesses further down the line, and I will not stand for that, not when our medical supplies are also lacking.”
Sighing Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose and stood. He moved towards the window and watched as the stars zipped by, it was the only thing he missed about space travel. “Everything is lacking…” he began. “Starfleet want this colony to be a success, that is why I am here, but at the same time try to prolong decisions on building placements, equipment requisitions and other supplies. If I were uneducated in the ways of Starfleet I’d think they didn’t truly want this colony off it’s feet.” In truth he didn’t mean that, he knew the bureaucracy that followed building up a colony, the hoops that had to be ran at and jumped through whilst on fire and being chased by rabid dogs.
“Engineering problems, structural or technological I can patch up to keep going until the red tape is cut by someone who thinks they need to hold their power over us. I’ve only set foot on Haumea twice and when I left it was beginning to look more like a home, something I would not like to retreat from if people choose to leave us because they can’t take a crap without fear of it trying to get back at them on flushing.” Yes it was graphic but a clear illustration of one problem they faced.
“That’s twice more than I have.” Luka did not hesitate in pointing out the one factor that, while likely known, was not one he cared to divulge, if only due to the immediate reactions he had received from others he had mentioned it to. His gaze on the man weakened, expression flickering to reveal his fatigue on what he had come up against in the past year. He was not inexperienced in these matters, but starting up a colony had become an experience in dealing to the extreme. “Mr. Stone, I don’t have any intention of letting the deskwork get the better of any of us. They assigned me to this ship to facilitate the building of this colony. A little fecal matter won't get in the way.”
“Glad to hear that Commander, I know you have invested a lot in this project as well. We both want this to succeed and I fully believe we will get there once the politics of the fleet die down and we are left to our own devices.” he replied. Taking a drink before eating some more food he looked up at the man and thought of something to ask. “Do you miss the straightforwardness of being a Doctor over the futility of playing middleman here?”
Luka had to stop himself from laughing at the comment, eyes perking upward at the thought. “I don’t believe my job was ever straightforward,” he admitted. “As a Starfleet doctor, it was always about cover ups and red tape, and when I was a civilian… it was always a Starfleet doctor telling me ‘no.’ I’ve discovered that it doesn’t matter who I am or what rank I hold, there’s always someone who thinks they need to exert their power over something. Helping Haumea build from the ground up will just be a larger version of the issues I faced on Leto. I’ll just have to have more patience…” He looked down at his mug. “... And potentially more coffee.”
“Little drop of Irish whiskey in coffee goes a long way.” he replied with a wink and shook his cup. “I do get what you mean about Starfleet, hence why I left their asses in the dust over a decade ago. They seem to have a superiority complex that they know all and that if you question them then you must be a defective gel pack that needs to be removed, or a warp core on course for a breach. Idiots…” His eyes then lit up, “You should try your hand at colony life properly Doc, only person that can tell you no is me, and I don’t do that very often unless you’re planning on releasing a virus that’ll cause mass extinction or are playing Jack the Ripper at weekends for kicks.”
Luka had plucked a piece of fruit up from the plate between them, with it halfway in his mouth when Oliver’s suggestion gave him pause. And the apple slices remained in that spot until Oliver finished talking. Only after Luka had consumed the apple slice, chewing slowly to stall his thoughts, did he decide to open up on the matter. “Tempting as that may be, Mr Stone, I've given my sanity to the goal of… persevering through all this red tape. I have had my fair share of battles on the civilian side, and even on the wrong side of the confidential paperwork. If I can even make the smallest of tears in it all … I intend to. Not that the idea of living on a colony again isn't appealing, it is simply difficult to do so if all I am is a doctor.’
Oliver chuckled in to himself. “Long may your sanity hold out Commander.” he replied. “Oh?” he half asked about the paperwork issue. “Do tell? I don’t think I’ve heard about this?”
At this, Luka gave pause. If Oliver were to have been a Starfleet Admiral himself, Luka would not have thought about being so candid. But this was an opportunity he did not think he would have, to share his own motivations. His gaze hardened, but he continued, with a visible frown. “No one has. Having someone in Command who's sole motivation is to minimize the issues a 'confidential file’ may cause tends to not look good in front of Admiralty. The principles of Starfleet should not be utilized to hide worlds of people who's ethics do not match with the greater society, not at the cost of Federation citizens. Nor should we be into dealing in 'secretive’ experimental technology if such technologies could fold into reality itself. We should be able to keep our secrets, but not from those the secrets stand to endanger.”
Oliver nodded as he digested the information the young man had laid out before him, even if it was a little cryptic. “I’ve often found that ‘we’ can be very guilty of doing what ever we want when we convince ourselves that our goals are justified.” He began. “I knew an Admiral once who created a phased cloaking device, you may have heard of him. He was fine with breaking the Treaty of Algeron, losing most of his crew after a mutiny and had the gall to want to fire the experiments up again.” Oliver continued shaking his head. “It’s a wonder with people like that at the top how we’ve not annihilated ourselves.” He paused for a second, “Don’t get me wrong there are A LOT of good people at the top but most are so buried under red tape and regulations you’d be lucky to ever get an answer out of any of them.”
“If you can find them through the corruption,” Luka pointed out, a bitterness in his voice. “But, for now, I have one good Admiral I can make a case to about the colony, and a small team of quartermasters who have been nothing but a nightmare to work with. I might have to hold one hostage to get anything done. Or just threaten to requisition a fair number of rare goods… do you happen to have a taste for obscure liquor?”
Oliver chuckled a little, he liked this guy. He was a little peculiar in some way he couldn’t pinpoint yet but he was good at judging people and this man was definitely passionate about what he was doing. That was good in Oliver’s book.
“I never shy away from any drink Commander but if you want to hold hostages I’ve got the perfect site for it, just don’t let anyone follow you.” he said with a wink. “Quartermasters think they own the place down there and I’ll be more than happy to knock them down several pegs.”
“I'll… keep that in mind.” Luka replied, with mild hesitence. “But until that point, and I'm hoping we have the spirits instead of the kidnappings, is there anything else I should try to procure, or any other matter I should try to wiggle under lines of red?”
Oliver nodded in agreement. “No Commander, apart from the issues I have mentioned there is nothing else I cannot get done myself. If anything else crops up I’ll let you know.”
Luka slumped back in his seat, finally relaxing in his seat. “Good. After I unstick the Captain from his current endeavors, I’ll get him to help us along as well. Then the party can really get started.”
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