Discipline

Posted on Mon Feb 16th, 2009 @ 10:14pm by

1,670 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Citadel Prime
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: current

[Sickbay]

As the pain meds finally took effect Dhindara sighed in relief. She looked up at the doctor. "So tell me, how bad is it?"

Catherine smiled a little at the younger woman, looking over her vitals quickly. "It's not that bad at all; honestly, considering who it was, I'm sure things could have been much worse. The damage isn't too bad. To tell you the truth, I'd be more worried about whatever the Commander has planned than your wounds, at this point."

Dhindara nodded. "Well, I did what I had to. And I'm sure it would have been worse, but I learned the ability to project pain, fear and terror on Betazed."

Sighing a little, Halsey delicately examined her handiwork with the laser suture, and, satisfied, took a seat beside her patient. "I'm sorry," Halsey said quietly, "For whatever she decides, if that counts for anything. But I know her. And the sad truth is, whatever she decides to do, it's going to be terrible. The war changed Rowena Arkham. It's sad, but it's true. And one thing is for certain -- it's made her far colder than she otherwise might have been."

"Yes, it's done that to most of us", Dhindara replied, "I know the effects in myself."

It was then that Arkham entered the sickbay, looking older and more distinctly careworn than anyone had ever seen her. It was not a look that ever boded very well on officers -- and old Arkham especially, with her ruined jaw and hardened expression, looked all the more cold and forbidding.

"Catherine, why don't you go up and see if Mrs. Gray would like your assistance with Rory this afternoon," Arkham said coldly, not even making eye contact with the good Doctor, who looked up at her through half-moon spectacles with semi-pleading eyes.

"Commander, really, I don't think that you--"

Arkham did not look at the doctor as she spoke, instead staring off into the distance, her steady cobalt gaze sending chills down the spines of every person in the room. So, this was why she was called the Arkham Horror -- something in that determined gaze wasn't quite right, wasn't quite sane. Perhaps that's what war had done to old Arkham.

"Doctor Halsey, with all due respect, this is a Starfleet matter, and it will be dealt with as I see fit. I will not have a civilian doctor telling me how to handle my staff, and I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You have no business here, and if you continue to interfere in this matter, I will dismiss you without a second thought," she said coldly, a hint of malice in her metallic rasp.

Halsey looked at Arkham with a deeply sad expression on her face -- she had rarely seen the Commander like this, and it had never gotten any easier to accept with time. Nodding a little, moving to exit the sickbay, and with eyes watering slightly, she said, "Of course, Commander. I'll...go see if Yvaine would like my help this afternoon."

As she left, Arkham sighed. It never got any easier to snap at her like that, and she always felt terrible upon doing it. Taking a seat next to the biobed, Arkham said quietly. "What am I going to do with you, Master Chief?"

Dhindara turned her head, more disturbed by what she had just witnessed than by the prospect of facing the consequences of her recent actions. She looked at Rowena, wondering how to respond as her mind had just been occupied otherwise. "There is no easy answer to that, I'm afraid", Dhindara said, "I realise that I was angry, and possibly overreacted shooting him with the training phaser after having been hit myself. However, when he threatened my life my best defence has always been my telepathy, I used it because I saw the need. He is savage, and he would have killed me had I not used all my skill against him."

Arkham smirked, rubbing the suture line on the side of her face with a pale hand that had picked up the tiniest bit of a shake in these past few years. "He's a savage, and I will never argue that point with anyone, even you. But the fact of the matter is, he's still an officer of Starfleet, even as savage as he is. And your behavior will probably be viewed as excessive."

Arkham smirked a little. "I cannot allow my personal opinions, however, to be involved here. The fact is, if this goes above my head, chances are a black mark will be put on your record, if you aren't arrested on the spot. Because self-defense or not, you could have killed an officer."

Dhindara shook her head. "I tried to minimise that risk, while defending myself", she said. "But I understand the consequences."

Arkham sighed -- she often wondered if anyone had any idea how hard it was to make the decisions she'd made on a regular basis these past few weeks. "Ensign Turoc will be confined to quarters for the next thirty days -- he will be allowed out to perform his duty related functions, but will otherwise be restricted on which areas of the ship he is to be on. You will be on restriction to limits yourself for the next thirty days, with extra duties for the next forty-five."

Dhindara nodded. "I accept that."

Arkham ran a hand through her gray hair, looking older than ever -- this entire thing was becoming quite a weight on her, and even more than that, the look that Catherine had given her as she had left the sickbay was grating on her. "I punish you worse than him because he's an animal -- he has no more sense of reason than my dog. But the fact of the matter is, you're a Master Chief Petty Officer; you should damn well know better. I do this because he won't learn. You might. Fair enough?" Arkham said quietly.

She nodded again. "Yes, it is, Commander. I'll try not to make it any harder on you or the Skipper than I already have." She sighed. "I'm sorry, for what it's worth."

"You do this, I will do my best to make sure no formal reprimand is filed. Probably risking my job in the process. But the fact is, this is up to my discretion. If you don't cooperate, I'll bring you the discharge papers, and you can be off my ship in the next half hour. If you're going to stay, I expect you to be a Master Chief Petty Officer. A damned fantastic one. Are we clear, Master Chief?"

Dhindara nodded. "I will cooperate", she said, "you need not be worried about that." She paused, thinking about how to phrase her next bit. "Uhm, as to the extra duties, is there anything specific you have in mind? If not, I would like to request spending the time working with you directly."

Surprise crossed Arkham's features for a moment. She thought over the entire proposition, smirking a little as she did so. Finally asking the question that she was wracking her own tired mind trying to answer. "I was going to leave it to your department head, Lieutenant Larkin, to manage. Who is by far the more lenient human being. Why would you want to make your own life harder and take your extra duties with the Executive Officer?"

Before the Master Chief could answer, Arkham smirked a little, adding, "It's simple. You wouldn't, unless you hoped to get something out of it. What are you getting out of this, Master Chief? Answer me honestly, I'll consider your request."

Dhindara swallowed, to give her time to come up with an explanation that was both honest and tactful. The latter part was hard. "As you know my telepathic senses are a little stronger than average" she said, "even though I am not prodding I can sense things from you. I could sense, for example, that you and the doctor have just about broken each other's hearts. I am feeling sadness from both of you, and that dampens my mood just as well as it does yours." She looked up at her superior, hoping that what she had just said was understood correctly. It was the truth, but as so often it was difficult to put the truth into words that were understood the way they were intended.

Arkham frowned, looking at the younger woman. Suddenly any good humor that Arkham possessed toward the issue of the Master Chief was gone, and with it the light in her steady cobalt gaze. Coldly, she said, "I think this has gone far enough. Dr. Halsey and I have a very...complicated relationship. In that there isn't one. The fact is, I'm a highly respected officer -- and I will always put my duty first. I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and Catherine has always accepted it. I fail to see how you could improve the situation, telepathic ability or no, Master Chief."

Dhindara held a level gaze right into Rowena's eyes. "I cannot give you an answer to that just yet", she said, "and I don't know the two of you well enough for that yet. But even as a highly respected officer you have the right to a private life, Commander. And I feel that you are denying yourself that. Why I do not know. But it eats away on my peace of mind."

Arkham smirked, rising to leave and turning away toward the door. Not even turning back to face the young Master Chief, Arkham smirked a little, pausing in the doorway. "You'll be reporting to my office for the Beta Shift, Master Chief -- and don't you dare be late."

Dhindara smiled. "Yes, Ma'am." She slowly got up from the biobed. She had several other things to do before she could turn into the confinement to quarters for the night.

 

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