The Bottom Line

Posted on Tue Jul 24th, 2012 @ 1:03pm by Captain Alexsa Kendrick

669 words; about a 3 minute read

Mission: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder
Timeline: Current

And with that, it was done.

Numbered, categorised, filed, duplicated, stamped with approvals, and sent to those with the need to know. As Kendrick put the final touches to the communication with Starfleet Headquarters and the Office of Internal Affairs, she logged off of the workstation, and headed out the door with a view to exploring what Starbase 116 had to offer, before carrying out her intention of packing what few belongings she had and disembarking the USS Ranger, hopefully for good. This investigation was over.

Alex paced the halls of the ship deep in thought on her way to the docking port, thinking back what she'd wrote in the summary of her report:



Summary Board of Inquiry: Captain Elsie Halliwell, Commanding Officer, USS Ranger
Report by Captain Alexsa Kendrick, Office of Internal Affairs

In summary action from this report, my arrival on the USS Ranger was met with immediate disapproval, questioning, and hostility. Over the coming weeks, this did not change, and in fact all actions taken to increase flow of information were met with disruption and conflict.

During the time the Ranger was working with who remained of the Archimedes crew in the incidents with the so-called Queen Anne's Revenge, while some questionable decisions were made, there was very little disruption to the success of the mission, the return of the artefact, and the safety of the crew of the USS Ranger. However it is the belief of this officer that the conclusion and success of said mission could have been accomplished using fewer resources than relying on the assistance of two other starships, one of which was operating with an inexperienced skeleton crew, and it's systems were not up to the task, causing an unacceptable risk to life. For details regarding the questioning of Captain Halliwell and her responses on this incident, see the addendum transcripts.

Due to the situation on the Ranger, my time and investigation was to continue to their survey of the Taylforth sector, and it was here that I was forced to step in and suspend my role as a plain observer. With Captain Halliwell's insistence at commanding the Ranger seemingly at the will of her subordinates, her actions and orders led to the ship being submerged under the ocean for some time, leaving three shuttles in orbit with the risk of Romulan interference. This presented a situation in violation of Starfleet General Orders without regard for the dangers of possible first contact before the Taylforthian's were ready, to say nothing for the continued endangerment of Starfleet personnel without due cause.

The root cause of this inquiry was to assess and determine the stability and quality of command leadership of Captain Halliwell, and if these actions were not enough, the inclusion of the USS Pelican on a simple and small scale survey mission could spell the reasons why this inquiry was necessary. At first impressions, along with second and third, I would be forced to conclude that Captain Halliwell is not ready for the command responsibilities that have been bestowed upon her, despite her apparent experience in her current post.

After questioning several key officers, including Captain Halliwell which turned into a several hour interview, my initial views on her command ability were subject to change however. I know from personal experience that commanding a starship, or any team of Starfleet personnel requires a matter of trust that does not fall squarely in the realms of regulation, and it may require the rules to be bent to achieve the mission objectives.

Despite the methods employed, or the roadblocks set up to curtail this investigation from taking place, I believe that Captain Halliwell has, on the whole, acted properly, and in accordance with her duties as a Commanding Officer of the Federation Starfleet. I am therefore forced to conclude that Captain Halliwell should remain in her current post, and that this investigation be concluded.

 

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