Joint Duty Log - CO & CMO - aCapt Rhodes & Dr Rogers

Posted on 241407.09 @ 10:04pm by Acting Captain Mark Rhodes & Lieutenant Scarlet Rogers MD

=*=Captain's Ready Room=*=

After his talk with the Executive Officer and giving it a little time for him to think on it acting Captain Mark Rhodes decided it was time to speak with the Chief Medical Officer who left the staff briefing in a very off-putting way. "Doctor Rogers to my office," he said tapping his chest. He did not add a please, it wasn't a request, and he did not allow her time to answer before closing the channel.

The young doctor was just putting her shoes on at the time and responded quickly, tapping her badge, "On my way, sir." She shuffled in her shoes to make sure they were on tight enough and walked quite chipper to the Captain's office.

The doctor appeared at Mark's door. "Come in Doctor, have a seat," he said gesturing towards one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Anything to drink?" he asked as he stood up and approached his replicator "Coffee, black," he called. A second later he had his beverage.

"No thank you, sir," she smiled, clearly a little sleep deprived.

"To each their own," he said picking up his cup on a saucer then taking his seat again. "I want to talk to you about your behavior in the meeting yesterday. We can both agree that it was unbecoming of an officer, correct?" asked Mark.

"I believe it was better than if I had stayed and truly spoke my mind," Scarlet said bluntly.

"You were about to walk out of a meeting. You were going to turn your back on your duty and leave a briefing. You showed a disrespect for me, and you showed disrespect for the other members of the crew in that regard. If I was still Chief Engineer and you did that in my Engineering Briefing, I would have you scrubbing plasma regulators for the next 3 months. But now that I am your Commanding Officer I do not believe corporal punishment is necessary in this matter. I am new to command, so forgive me. I don't think its appropriate for my first act for the crew to see is me keel-hauling the Chief Medical Officer for storming out of a meeting. You are the Chief Medical Officer, you are one of the senior staff members on this boat, we need to be setting good examples for our respective staffs," said Mark.

"I was by leaving," Scarlet sat back in the chair, "I'm sure that me staying and speaking my mind about your idea for getting turncoats in on all of this, would have had a worse outcome." She paused a moment before hissing, "And I did not turn my back on my duty, sir, I am loyal to my ship as a doctor. Being a doctor is my duty, nothing else."

"What we need to remember is that we can only take about half of what Rinehart is saying as fact," said Mark. "I for one have never trusted Intel. They speak in half truths and falsehoods. You never know what they know. But I can say this, if Rinehart did not give us assistance during the Battle of Catalpa Nebula, we all would have ended up in little bitty pieces getting lodged into the USS Interceptors manifold. She put her neck out to protect us, granted it may have been an act of self preservation, but she helped saved us all. Until she gives me a reason not to trust her, I have to trust her. It is in the best interest of this crew to use her knowledge. Will I use it all? No, but I will use it when I deem necessary."

"Why not just ask her "people" for all of the equipment we need instead of just asking for a ship and what not so we have to go in search for the stuff ourselves?" Rogers questioned.

"With an auxiliary ship we can go into foreign ports covertly and keep a low profile. If we get too much through her contacts, it creates a paper trail that may lead back to us. We are only getting a ship. Ships are easy to come by within black market circles, lots of medical supplies draws attention," said Mark. "I want all of you to go on this mission because you all have utility. You have the ability to get the medical supplies we need, maybe find something else of use while you are in a new port. Chief of Intel can open her ears and see what kind of news is floating around on official and unofficial channels. Chief of Security will keep you all safe, and keep an eye open for any problems that may come up, and maybe see some new defensive systems or weaponry. And Commander Dhej is going to command the mission. I would lead this mission myself if it wasn't for protocol, I can assure you of that. Also me staying back with the ship will give me a chance to work with Thelin, finishing up our repairs."

Mark took a sip of his coffee and looked back up to the Doctor, "See, if you look hard enough there is a method to my madness. Believe it or not."

"Please," Scarlet began giving a somewhat sarcastic smile of enthusiasm, "Enlighten me."

"You all have a reason to go on this mission. And it is my belief if we execute it correctly everything will be fine, in a manner of speaking," said Mark. "We are explorers, consider this a mission of exploration to see what is out here, and get some information covertly along with our much needed medical supplies. We don't want to give ourselves away."

"Take the damned ship if this is one of our missions then," Scarlet said dully.

"Alright Doctor, lets do it your way," said Mark getting slightly frustrated now with the Doctors insistence on not listening to him explaining himself. "Lets roll into a foreign port, banners flying high, with god-knows-who watching. Go in, and just beam up the medical supplies we need, right? Maybe send a security detail down to pillage the landscape while we are at it? Also while we are there we should broadcast our exact coordinates to the UFP so they can come pick us up?" he paused a second taking a deep breath.

"What are we not getting clear here Doctor? If we do not keep a low profile, at least until we know if news of the Enterprise being on the run is out there, whats the point? If the UFP find out where we are at we are in more trouble then any of us think. They took Captain Carpenter, you remember that right? If they find us we are all dead, no questions asked. We need to keep our presence quiet, at least for the time being until we know what the hell is going on."

"Do not talk down to me, Captain" Scarlet snarled, "I am merely saying that if this was any other situation we would use OUR ships." She breathed, "You need to see what I am seeing. By using our ship, we send a message we are not to be messed with. By going undercover, we risk a lot worse. Not many people will want to fight a ship like the Enterprise or even a scout ship from the Enterprise because it means the Enterprise isn't far behind. We would not be giving our co-ordinates our willy nilly. What the hell is your problem? You suddenly gone power mad and not even considering other options, only your way or the highway?"

"With all due respect Lieutenant Commander," he said her rank not her title of Doctor. "I am in discussion with the Executive Officer about using the Aquarius. But to outfit it will take to long. The first time we enter into a new port we will do it undercover," said Mark. "Do you and I have a problem Doctor?" asked Mark bluntly.

"Only ones that I'm sure you will attempt to iron out without success," Scarlet said just as bluntly.

"You don't seem to realize, I can bust you back to a nurse just as quickly as any other option," said Mark. "This is my ship now and if I need to cop out and replace you, I will. I am trying to work with you Doctor. Believe it or not I like working with you, but we need to have some give and take. You need to cut me some slack, I am trying to do my job. If you don't want to give me the time of day and let me try to do my job, so be it, I can find a Chief Medical Officer who will. But when I give you an order it is your duty to execute that order. We are getting to the point where neglecting your duty will get people killed," said Mark.

"I am not neglecting my duty," Scarlet stood up slamming her hands down on the captains desk, "My duty is to protect the individuals on this ship, which is what I am doing. Your duty now is to protect the ship and to explore. You may threaten to replace me, but you will not find someone like me on board this ship who is fit enough to take my place. I am trying to train them up though as I will not be working for long if I can help it, I would like to settle down. I can just as easily title you 'unfit for duty' as well. You must remember that whilst the captain may have a lot of control over the ship, it is the doctor's call as to whether the ship is fit. Do not cross me Rhodes."

"Starfleet Order 104: Section C. I am familiar," said Mark coolly and calmly with the heated Doctor now standing in an offensive position. "You will need to provide proof that I am indeed unfit for Command, first and for most. And I can assure you that I have passed both physical and mental examinations, just 2 months ago by your own hand. Now if you want to try to raise hell like that, by all means. We are 1800 lightyears outside of the sphere of influence of Starfleet at the moment, I'm sure it will have a lasting effect for your career. This is Starfleet not ancient Rome, we are not just to stab each other in the back to get our way. Et tu, Rogers?" he smirked as he took another sip of coffee. "If you would like to settle down, I can drop you on the first rock we come across that is habitable. But until then I expect you to continue doing what you are doing, and give me the damn professional decency for me to try to do my job. Understood?"

"I have not got in your way before, and nor will I," Scarlet sat back down, "I merely voiced my opinion. Do not try to tell me how to do my job."

To be honest, Mark was surprised that she sat down rather then turning out of the office. "I will never claim to be a Medical Officer, but I do need to be able to voice problems I have towards you to see to them being taken care of. I am in a new role. I have gone from dealing with my Engineers to every man women and child on this boat. I am trying to learn as quickly as possible and I may step on peoples toes because I am not Captain Carpenter. Everyone else is staying where they are, not I have to get caught up and learn a new role. You are a brilliant Doctor, I'm just asking you to work with me a little bit. Cut me the slightest amount of slack," admitted Mark.

"I agree that you have to learn, but everyone is adjusting, every captain is different. My first, Vokar, was a caring man though he was mostly Vulcan, he taught me that a ship is just like a big, somewhat dysfunctional, family. Though I did not know Carpenter for long, he taught me that professionalism will always get in the way of personal affairs. You are new, You will teach each and everyone of us something. A new pair of shoes will often leave blisters, but after a while, they will turn out to be the best pair you will ever wear. You need time. I will have my disagreements because of a conflict of interest. I have the safety and health of the crew as my priority, your have different priorities. Neither one of us are right, yet neither are wrong. We need to work together and I think that getting to know each other personally as well as professionally may be a good idea. I'm not saying we will be the best of friends, but we need some sort of way in working together," Scarlet said calmly crossing her one leg over the other, sitting quite lady-like, as she brushed her trousers with her hand to iron out a crease.

"Understood," said Mark. "So let me do this mission the way that I want to do it. I want to keep us fairly quiet the first time we make contact in a trading post. Accept the help I am sending you, accept the ship we are getting and accept the ship we are getting. I would appreciate your compliance in this," said Mark.

"I accept everything, I just wash my hands of how we get said ship," Scarlet shook her head, clearly the captain had not listened to her to start with.

"Noted," said Mark. "I will document it in my log."

"Good because WHEN this goes tits up, I refuse to take the fall. The only part I play in this is requesting the mission to begin with and actually taking part in eventually getting the supplies we need," she said cocking her head to the side a little.

"I signed off on this, its success or failure in on my shoulders alone. As you have been so keen to mention you worry about her people I worry about the ship, and in the end its my problem to worry about this mission, not yours Doctor," said Mark.

"I worry for the people that because of my request, are being forced into a potentially life threatening situation. It will be on my shoulders regardless," she sighed, "This all comes down to me. If anyone gets hurt on this expedition, I will feel guilty that it was because of me that they were there to begin with."

"False, it was my choice to send people with you," said Mark. "And you need a detail with you."

"Regardless, I requested the mission," she looked to his eyes.

"And I decided to move forward with it, and send a staff," said Mark. "Now we are splitting hairs, no point in doing it. Thank you for stopping by, you are dismissed Doctor."

"An order to get out of your office because you don't like that I am right," the doctor stood up grinning, "Interesting, good day sir." Scarlet walked out slowly, grinning.

Mark knew she was just trying to raise hell, like most women do when they know they are wrong. He ignored her comment and started to pour over PaDDs.

--

Acting Captain Mark Rhodes
Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F

&

Dr Scarlet Rogers
Chief Medical Officer
USS Enterprise