Der Vredestichter

Posted on Fri Mar 26, 2021 @ 12:31pm by Lieutenant JG Sydney Friedman Jr & Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Lieutenant AJ Taggart

3,649 words; about a 18 minute read

Mission: Archangel
Location: Sydney's Office

Sydney checked her chronometer and stood up, moving to the center of her office. She moved a chair to face her couch, set out a pitcher of water and three glasses, and as she got her padds arranged, her chime sounded.

She turned and walked to the door, opening it and giving a professional smile. "Thank you for coming," she said, stepping aside. "Please come in."

AJ walked into the softly lit office, a confused expression barely showing on his face. He could count the numbers of times he had been ordered to see a shrink in his Starfleet career on his fingers "Lieutenant, you summoned me?" he asked in an apprehensive tone.

Sydney gave what she hoped was a calming smile. "I'd prefer the term 'invited' rather than 'summoned,'" she said, gesturing to the couch. "It's been brought to my attention that there's a...shall we say, wrinkle, between yourself and another crew member, and I'm here to mediate the discussion to help smooth things out."

AJ's lip curled slightly at this. Here was another one of Nicole's machinations in full swing and he was now expected to play along happily while he pretended that she wasn't trying to get her own way. "You know, Counselor. I think I'm going to leave this for now--" AJ managed to say before he was interrupted.

The chime went off again and Sydney took a breath. "And, speaking of." She went back to the door, opening it. "Please, come in."

"Thank you," Nicole said, quietly, stepping inside, not quite looking at AJ.

Sydney immediately noted the drop in temperature between the two. "Please have a seat, AJ," she said to the seething bull.

AJ noticed that Nicole surreptitiously avoided looking him in the face as she walked right past him. The annoyance flowed through him like a river, his feet remaining planted firmly on the deck. He could also vaguely feel his jaw clenching. Hearing the distant sound of Sydney's voice, he sat down on the furthest end of the couch that he could.

"Please sit," Sydney said, this time more firmly. "And Nicole?" she gestured to the other end of the couch.

"I'd rather not, but fine." Nicole sat down on the opposite side of the couch from AJ, legs crossed and arms folded tightly.

"Good, we've reached our first agreement: Neither of you want to be here," Sydney said. "Finding common ground is important." She turned to AJ. "AJ, you seem to have an idea of why we're here. Why don't you start by telling us what you feel?"

AJ's jaw unclenched slightly. "It seem the good doctor here thinks my methods of instruction are abusive- to the point that she puts me through pointless exercises to try to prove that someone isn't as good as one of her precious nurses." he said, no shortage of venom in his voice, the sting of each syllable amplified by the fact that she was trying to now play the victim.

Nicole bristled, her eyes flashing red and she glowered at him.

"I see," Sydney said, nodding. She paused and waited until AJ looked her directly in the eyes. "But what I asked was, how do you feel about it?"

AJ huffed “I feel that the good doctor is overstepping her bounds by a wide margin and should stick to her specialty--medicine.” he said, placing emphasis on every syllable.

Nicole rolled her eyes and sat back, scowling.

"So we've got some boundary issues, and clearly some unresolved interpersonal problems," Sydney said, looking at Nicole. "And I take it you don't feel his anger is justified?"

"I feel like he's being completely obtuse, needlessly difficult, and purposefully pigheaded!" Nicole growled. "All I asked is that he treat my staff with a bit of understanding that they aren't soldiers they're nurses in a military situation, and he goes off on me! So I give him a taste of his own medicine, treat him like a nurse in a military situation, and he decides I'm being unfair!"

"Is he wrong?" Sydney said. "This isn't a science vessel, nor a civilian passenger liner. It's his job to ensure the crew is prepared for military engagements, and from what you've described to me, he wasn't over the line asking those crew members to shoot at a few targets."

Nicole huffed and looked at him, then at Sydney, then at the wall. "Great now I've got two people missing my point."

"It's not that I've missed your point, Nicole," Sydney said, "it's that I disagree with the method of making it."

AJ kept a straight face, taking care not to toss a well timed verbal jab as he turned and looked at Nicole as if to say. 'What can I do?'. He'd never admit it now but he felt a little pang of sadness at Nicole's scowl. In all honesty, he hated this- he'd have preferred to just have them fight this out and move on but now that Sydney was involved, they were stuck talking.

"Now, AJ," Sydney said. "I've heard Nicole's side of things. Why don't you tell me more about what happened during the incident. You had a class of five there. How did you instruct them?"

AJ fought the urge to bare his teeth. "You were there for the entire exercise, Lieutenant but I'll humor you. Individuals were positioned in a designated firing position in the center of the bay and automated launchers fired synthetic bio- capsules containing either blue, oil based paint or a mix of paint and a small amount of Retepsian Pit Viper venom at random intervals and flight vectors. Enough to cause an intense stinging sensation, then followed by numbness. Not enough to kill but enough to cause discomfort if you happen to take a hit. Each shooter was provided a Type III phaser rifle to eliminate each target. If the designated shooter took a hit or missed the target, I provided guidance on the spot before directing my Leading Petty Officer to fire additional rounds to ensure that the technique I taught was retained. Ensign Cromwell experienced difficulty with basic weapons handling- something I want to emphasize is taught at the Academy and is required for graduation and required every year thereafter. Obviously, Nurse Cromwell was not up to par as she was delinquent in her qualification for most of this year and didn't take time to renew it until her department head ordered to attend my training session. After being provided with spot guidance, she continued to miss multiple targets. Following that, she elected to decline further participation in the training evolution." he said, his voice cold and clinical. To him, this was the same as another report.

"Very methodical," Sydney said. "I know I was there, but perspective is important, and I don't want you to feel like I didn't give you a chance to offer yours. Your viewpoint is just as important as anyone else's here."

She sat back and took a breath. "That said, I'd like to offer my own." She pulled her padd out and pulled up her notes. "While I appreciate your attempt to give us a more 'realistic' appreciation for target practice, I'm worried that using actual venom to assault your shipmates may have been a tad overzealous."

Nicole started to sit forward with a victorious look.

"However," Sydney said pointedly, looking at Nicole, "putting AJ through your little 'tit-for-tat' plot to give AJ some of his own medicine wasn't very kind either. You're angry, that's obvious. So is he."

She held up her hand to AJ when he looked like he was going to respond.

"The two of you have now thoroughly stepped on each other's toes to the point where I'd say you're even. So, I'll offer you a choice: Stand up and duke it out right now, or shake hands, admit that you," she said to Nicole, "need to respect AJ's position, and you," she looked at AJ, "need to know when to ease on the reigns."

She crossed her legs and looked at them both. "And both of you need to learn to use this like-mindedness to work together, not against each other."

AJ glared at Nicole. "Fat chance at this point. She's proven that she's determined to be right and we're not going to be having beers anytime soon. If I'm forced, I'll take the fight." he said, smirking.

Nicole scoffed. "Oh, like you're any better!" she said. "You dig your heels in about something and nothing can move you! Not to mention you have the emotional range of a lightbulb! You're either on or off, angry or--" she stopped, mouth half open and blushed hard.

"Again," Sydney said, "common ground is important. You're both stubborn, you're both angry, you're both convinced you're right. So you are both going to sit and look at each other and find more common ground, and we're not leaving here," she said, looking at AJ, "until you both get an 'excellent' rating. Now, turn and talk to each other, not at each other.

Nicole's body didn't move, but her head turned a bit and she glanced at AJ. She felt awful at how angry and hurt he looked, and she could feel the guilt burning on her cheeks. She knew she should say something, but she didn't know what.

AJ wheeled around and faced her, his eyes narrowed. “Don’t stop now, Nic. Finish your sentence- I’m sure this is something we all want to hear.” He said, pushing for some sort of answer.

Nicole flinched like she'd been slapped. "So much for 'to me, not at me,'" she growled, her dander rising back up. "But since you insist, you are either angry or you're withdrawn. You can't ever just say what you feel. You always shut down! It's like pulling teeth to get a reaction out of you, unless you want to shout at me!"

AJ scoffed at this. "Well I'm sorry I don't let me emotions rule my every waking moment and I shout at you because when you're deciding to go off on a tear, high volume seems to be the only thing you understand!"

"Likewise!" Nicole shouted. "And you don't 'let' emotions out, let alone rule! You can't even answer the how you feel question!"

“That’s not my job, Nicole. You have the luxury of freely expressing your feelings- I don’t. My decisions aren’t made using emotions- everything we do requires criteria. The moment we introduce emotion to this job is the moment that people start to get hurt. I’m sorry that you’ve forgotten that.” AJ said, more softly now.

"Nicole, I would appreciate it if you gave AJ and I a moment alone," Sydney said quietly, but firmly.

"Why? Why am I being sent away?" Nicole said.

"Please," Sydney said, standing up and gesturing to the door. "Have a seat and wait please."

Nicole scowled, but stood up and swept out.

Once the two of them were alone, Sydney sat back down.

"AJ," Sydney said, evenly, "in this place, your job is to be honest with yourself, but I also need you to be honest and forthcoming with me. I've asked you how you feel about all this twice now, and both times, you've talked about her. She's asked you, and you've responded about her. Why are you using her as a cover for your own feelings?"

AJ stood. “Because I’m not here to talk about my feelings. In fact, I don’t know why Nicole couldn’t be a big girl and figure this out on her own. It’s beyond fucking irritating when someone starts a fight but tries to involve others to try to finish it. Now, I’m going to walk out that door and I’m going to ask you not to stop me.”

"She's outside that door," Sydney said, staying in her seat. She let the moment breathe. "She means a lot to you, doesn't she."

AJ smirked a little. "How could you tell?"

Sydney gave him a small smile. "Everything you've said here has been about her," she said. "And until you change that, you're going to keep being angry." She clasped her hands in front of her. "From what I see, you two had some unique dynamic where your fighting was more flirting. You argued, but there was always some undercurrent to it. But now, whatever dynamic you two had that made the fighting work...it's fractured. You need to repair it."

She turned to face him. "Sometimes, it's not easy to figure things out on our own," Sydney said. "Sometimes we need a sounding board, a confidant. Someone we can speak to freely." She looked up at him. "Someone who isn't here to judge you, just to support you." She shrugged. "Frankly I'm shocked either you showed up here. You're both the same type of stubborn. But if you want to be the adult, then you'll sit down and start acting in your own best interest, not reacting to her."

Leaning against the bulkhead, he looked intently at Sydney. "What happens if I don't?" he asked. "I can just walk right out of here- what can you do?" he asked her, his eyes narrowing once again as doubt filled his mind.

"Oh, absolutely nothing," Sydney said. "I can't order you, I definitely can't restrain you, and sealing the doors would, ultimately, be counterproductive. All I can do is remind you that on the other side of those doors, you are Lieutenant Taggart, our SRU leader. In this room, you're just AJ, and that lid on your anger that you're sitting on so hard can be allowed to loosen, and you can get some perspective. If you want that pressure valve, it's here and it's yours. If you want to keep fighting with her in all the wrong ways..." she shrugged and gestured. "There's the door."

"It's cute that you think this is some well of untapped anger but I'll humor you." he said, sitting down on the couch.

"I appreciate your humor," Sydney said. "And I think it may be a shallow well that you only tap in certain company, but it's there. Your fuse is extremely short when it comes to her. I'm curious why."

AJ leaned back on the couch slightly. "Have you met Nicole? She's intelligent- and she knows it. She's stubborn, especially when she goes off on a tear. She’ll defend her people, no matter how misguided her opinion is. I can respect that to a point but not when it interferes with my overall mission.” He said succinctly.

"Your overall mission?" Sydney said. "I hadn't heard about that. What is it? How is she interfering?"

"Are you dense?" he asked tersely. "My job is to ensure the security of this ship from external security threats and advise the Task Force Commander of the same so we can prevent crews from getting smeared on the goddamn bulkheads in the face of a superior force. A large part of that is training personnel like yourself in basic and and advanced defensive operations. Most ships in high risk areas undergo the same training--apparently Starfleet learned some hard lessons during the Dominion War and we're determined not to repeat them. At the risk of repeating myself, she wants to treat her people with kid gloves. If it gets out that one person can get out of it by whining to their department heads, my authority is actively undermined and will prevent me from doing my job and that's not something I can abide."

"I apologize for misunderstanding the meaning of 'overall'," Sydney said. "The way you said it, I assumed you had something other than that on your plate. That said, transferring your hostility and animosity towards her to me won't help us." She kept her voice even, taking the blow and keeping her composure. "So, I suppose I misunderstood the situation. What you're describing sounds like she asked you to give Ensign Cromwell a pass, despite her failing your objectives? That is something I would need to report."

AJ shrugged “I’ve got a whole bay full of witnesses that saw her little tantrum, so I have little to nothing I need to defend. Now, this exercise is becoming tiresome, so I’m going to step away. Something tells me the good doctor is itching to tell her side of this as well.” He said succinctly as he rose from the couch and strode towards the door.

As the panels pulled apart, Nicole leaped to her feet and walked to the doorway with an "about time!" that was abruptly cut off as she walked right into AJ trying to leave.

Sydney stood up and put her hands behind her back, standing beside AJ. "Nicole, did you ask AJ to pass Ensign Cromwell, despite her failing his exam?"

"What? No!" Nicole said, scowling. "I told you, I asked him to reevaluate her." She looked at AJ, her eyes ready to shoot sparks. "Did you tell her I tried to do that?"

AJ narrowed his eyes. "Her re-evaluation was dependent upon a lopsided wager that was designed for me to lose. Also, allow me to quote your request. '"All right. Could you give her another chance, maybe? I know those don't always happen in life, but join me in my fantasy world on this one. Give me one week to try and have that head-shrinker rewire her, and let me give her some pointers, and give her another chance to make a first impression. Could you do that?"' he said, in an uncanny mockery of Nicole's tone.

"AJ," Sydney said, slowly, "if what you're saying is accurate, then you aren't being entirely truthful. She didn't ask you to clear Ensign Cromwell, she asked you to give her a chance to improve and try again. She asked you for a week so Maggie could practice, and then she asked for another exam, not a waiver. Is it possible that, in your anger, you took what she said the wrong way?"

"Then what do you call coming to my quarters unannounced and making a rigged wager that I had no fair shot to win even though I did everything correctly?" AJ said, the acid apparent in his voice.

Sydney looked at Nicole. "And why did you feel the need to manipulate his emotions with a holodeck simulation?"

Nicole bristled. "Because he's possibly the only person on this ship who is more stubborn than I am."

"And so you tried to get around that, by doing something he could consider taking advantage of his feelings and your friendship?" Sydney said. "Do you see how that could make him resent the situation?"

Nicole opened her mouth to respond, then clacked it shut again. She looked at AJ, her eyes watering. She felt her cheeks burn and looked down. "I'm sorry," she said to AJ.

Looking at Nicole's face, he tried to maintain his anger but her tears seemed to render him virtually helpless. Even after everything, he couldn't explain the power than Nicole seemed to have over him- all she had to do was look at him and he'd go to the ends of the galaxy for her. Letting out a soft sigh, he fought the urge to place his hand on Nicole's shoulder and try to comfort her.

"Thank you both for working through the anger," Sydney said. "Now, if we can speak from a position of working together, I have two more questions. One: Nicole, is Maggie willing to apologize for her behavior and be professional about this? And Two: AJ, is there truly a regulation that says someone can't have a second chance to test?"

"Technically, regulations leave that up to me as the detached instructor. However, I'll be honest, I'm hesitant about her unprofessional behavior while handling a weapon. The last thing I need is her tossing a Type III and causing an accidental discharge in the cargo bay."

Nicole folded her arms and wiped her eyes. "I had a talk with her about her behavior. I've already written her up. I'll lay down the law again." She glanced at AJ. "Maybe this time, skip the venom. She had a bad reaction to it; that might have contributed."

AJ thought for a moment, his eyes narrowing. "Fine. If I can't use the balloons, we have to use seeker drones. Part of the combat qualification is hitting a moving target that exercises negative reinforcement if you miss or hesitate. All these do are fire low powered sting bursts and maybe numb the limb for a minute. Are we going to have a problem with that?" he asked.

"I suppose if I've shot you with my stun gun, shooting her with a stun drone is only fair," Nicole said, giving a small shrug. "When we arrive at DQ8...she'll be ready."

AJ gave Nicole a slight nod. "I'll expect her to be." he said.

Nicole's eyes got misty again. "I'm really sorry," she said. "I got....overzealous. I didn't mean to be such a bitch."

AJ frown eased slightly. "You did what you thought was best for her and I did what I thought was best for the ship. Have dinner with me some time and we'll talk. Next time, let's leave the headshrinkers out of it. Deal?" he asked.

Nicole gave a slight glance at Sydney and nodded. "All right. Dinner sounds good. Soon as we're done with business at hand." She looked at Sydney and gave a polite smile. "Thank you for your help."

"Happy to shrink whatever swelled heads I can," Sydney said with a small smile and opened the doors again, letting the two of them be on their way.

 

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