A healthy work environment.

Posted on Thu Mar 14th, 2024 @ 4:09pm by Lieutenant Commander S'hib & Chief Warrant Officer Carol Dolton

Mission: Season 6: Episode 4: Memory Lane
Location: Deck 18 - Security Office
Timeline: Current
1194 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

There he sat, alone in the giant room that served as the hub to the security offices.

This was where he belonged he thought to himself, staring at the Starfleet comm badge in his hands atop the desk.

The same desk he sat at when he first started his career, and the same one he went back to when he refused to take up the responsibility of assistant chief.

This was where he belonged, not in that office down the hall, not in either of them that he was sure of.

He frowned, rubbing a cloven thumb over the dulled surface of his badge, its lustre long since buffed away, a bit like himself and his view of Starfleet as a whole.

Had he always been that naive? or had he just become bitter, he could not tell.

"Chief..." S'hib sighed, not looking up from the desk.

"We can't both be silent and moody, it's not a good work environment..." he added, finally sitting up to look at Carol as she wandered out from the brig and towards her desk in the row in front of his.

Carol simply looked back at S'hib, "I wasn't aware communication was mandatory sir, if I have something to report or request I will of course say so." She placed the PaDD she was carrying on the desk, and turned back towards the brig. Her prisoners were preferable to the atmosphere within the office, she wasn't judging people but things weren't sitting right with her. Having talked to Lia and the other crew when she investigated the case, she had her own opinions about who now sat in the Chief's chair.

As things stood, she had returned to being a simple brig Officer. All that talk about moving up, now sounded like smoke and mirrors to Carol. But at least she could bury herself in the job, she didn't need the others who now swarmed around the "new" Chief. If she made any progress, it would be all her, not bought by kissing butt.

He watched her turn and leave, feeling somewhat wounded that his attempt at humour hadn't found purchase in the ice that gripped the room.

"Is cell four still misbehaving?." S'hib called out before she reached the door to the brig. "I can't remember if engineering got round to fixing the force field emitters or not.

Dolton stopped and looked at S'hib, "Cell four is still playing up, engineering couldn't fix the problem. I moved the prisoner from four to seven, he wasn't happy but that's life in my brig." She went to move forward then stopped, "Is there anything else Sir?" Although polite, Carol wasn't happy with the atmosphere within the department. She wanted to say something but her rank made it difficult, plus if it wasn't done freely S'hib might make her a resident in her own brig.

His face contorted into a pained frown. "Couldn't fix the problem?" he huffed, pinning the comm badge to his chest as he rose from the desk.

"It's been like it for-" S'hib stopped mid-sentence, gritting his teeth together as he looked up at the ceiling, trying his best to remember the things he had learned during his counselling sessions.

"You know what, It's fine... we will make do with what we have, but... if you have any other issues, please just tell me."

He paused for a moment, looking over the rows of desks and towards the corridor that led to his office, both old and new.

"That and I uhh... well I don't have an assistant yet, and I doubt I will for some time."

S'hib looked back at Carol, wondering if the rest of the department was going to be just as withdrawn with him as she was being.

"So, I would appreciate it if you could bear with me for a while, just until I get everything figured out."

Dolton looked at the floor and then back at S'hib, "You had a friend who would have taught you everything she knew, but you threw her under the bus. Now I may end up in the brig for what I'm about to say but, if you want this department back on its feet, you need her." Carol walked over to where S'hib stood, "I'm not Lia Taylor, I'm Carol Dolton ex First Officer of the Enchantress. I'm Welsh and opinionated, and you may find I tend to speak my mind. Taylor found that out, that's why we got on." Carol stopped in front of S'hib's desk, "You want help? Go ask Lia Taylor, she needs help as well. Only this time don't bloody attack her, or by all that's holy. You'll answer to me Commander S'hib." She waited for a second then added "With due respect sir." Carol turned and headed for the brig, "Am I guarding it or joining the residents Commander?"

S'hib stared at Dolton with unadulterated malice, how dare she throw such one-sided accusations he thought. "I don't appreciate anything you just said to me... Chief," pointing lazily towards the main entrance. "In fact, You can leave... and I don't want you back in uniform until you figure out how to not throw baseless and one-sided accusations around,"

He continued to stare at her, unblinkingly as he lowered his hand from the door. "Dismissed."

Carol turned and looked at S'hib, "One-sided accusations? Did you or did you not tell me to voice any issues I had?" She now retraced her steps until she stood next to his desk, "I have been polite and respectful, or as respectful as I can. I was honest and told you I wasn't Commander Taylor, that was a response to your statement that you hadn't figured things out." Dolton now took a breath, "With respect Commander, you engaged me in conversation. I've simply responded as I saw fit, and I repeat. I am not Commander Taylor, negative comments and negative reactions don't bother me. I'm a brig Officer, nothing else." She turned and headed for the door, if this new Chief handled every difficult situation like this. The department may need new staff very quickly because he clearly wasn't a people person.

He looked at her, dumbfounded at her brazen insubordination, he'd traded one Lia for another he thought, scowling at her as the door opened.

"Computer," He announced loudly. "Please notify the Commodore that as of this time, Chief Warrant Officer Dolton is relieved of all active duties," He paused, lifting a stubby hoof as she spun around, warning her not to speak.

He cleared his throat, curling his finger back into his palm as he stared her down. "Pending... disciplinary actions and psychological evaluation citing Regulation Six one nine section two, paragraph fourteen."

Turning round Dolton simply walked out of Security, heading for her cabin she held her head high. *He's an idiot, pure and simple* she thought. In her cabin Carol sat down, now she understood their little game. Silence any voice raised against them, simply delete them from duty and call them crazy. If anyone was crazy it was S'hib, he asked the question but didn't like the response.