The Smooshy Hour

Posted on Apr 01, 2017 @ 1:21pm by Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Edited on on Apr 01, 2017 @ 1:22pm

Mission: In Place of God

“The Smooshy Hour”
(contd from Tiffany’s and Sarah’s ‘Unexpected Visit’)

Location: USS PHOENIX
SD: [2.17] 0331.2106
Scene: The Vulcan Tribble

With her physical completed and Doctor Andersson giving her a clean bill of health, Yu had planned to meet with Dalziel but was then called away due to a disturbance in the Vulcan Tribble. The Sec/Tac made an appointment with Eve for the next day just before her shift started. Jasmine realized as the doors parted with a hiss that this was her first visit to the Phoenix’s version of Ten Forward. Sighing, she spotted Lieutenant Silsby waving at her. Yu’s eyes darted to her assistant holding back two humanoid males, who were both trying to push the blond man out of the way.

As Jasmine approached the trio, she noticed her assistant was gritting his teeth and his facial muscles tensed in his struggle to hold back two men, much bigger in size and weight than him. She frowned, spotting two tables overturned with a chair thrown across the room, some plates and glasses broken into million pieces. Yu then glanced behind her shoulder, where the Bynar, Calvin and Hobbes eyed the security chief with blank looks.

Jasmine turned her attention forward at the dueling guys, itching to swing at each other, while attempting to crush her assistant in the process. Raising her voice, she ordered, “Break it up, you two.”

“He started it,” one of the men, a thin faced Caucasian male, yelled, trying to push at Virgo’s shoulder.

“Hey that hurts!” The aSec/Tac yelled, pushing him back with his shoulder.

“Well, you shouldn’t have said that,” the other man, a taller and heavier Bajoran bellowed.

“I didn’t say anything,” the other man protested. “I just sat at the bar, minding my own business when this thug….” With a quick move, Jasmine grabbed the man’s arm, pulling him away from her assistant. She took the other arm, pulling both arms behind and held it there. Virgo did the same with the Bajoran.

Silsby lifted himself up, his nose just an inch from the man’s mouth and grinned, giving the man a wink. “Smell alcohol from his breath. Looks like you’ve been drinking.”

“This one’s clean,” Jasmine said.

The human squirmed against her grip, “I only had some coffee.”

In a calm, yet professional tone, the Asian American woman said, “Tell me from the beginning what happened?”

“I was just returning from a flight simulator,” the human began. “I was having a nice cup of coffee and a snack, minding my own business at the bar over there.” He nodded towards the bar with his head and then turned to the Bajoran, glaring at him. “This jerk here punched my face and pulled me off the stool.”

Shooting a glance at the Bajoran, Jasmine asked, “Why did you punch him?”

“He looked at me,” came the gruff reply from the tall man. “The chief was daring me to fight him as if wanting to dishonour me again with his insults regarding my work, when I’m an excellent at what I do.”

Virgo whistled, grinning. “Wow, you did have lots to drink if you’re hallucinating things. That guy isn’t your chief.” Eyeing the pilot up and down, he commented in a cheeky tone, “Besides, last I checked, Crewman Weatherford didn’t turn into a Grazerite.”

Jasmine announced, pulling at the shuttlecraft pilot, “Come on, let’s head down to security.” She added a moment later, “You two will spend the night in the brig in separate cells and any disciplinary action will be decided by Commander Crichton.”

Weatherford demanded, “Wait a minute. I didn’t start the fight. Why am I going to the brig?”

“Well,” the Asian explained, escorting him towards the doors, “You did partake in a fight, causing a disturbance in a public space and property damage.”

“It’s the chief’s fault,” the Bajoran growled. “He made me do this by insulting my work.”

Jasmine shook her head, sighing as they reached the doors, which opened to let them through to the hallway outside. “Even if your CO allegedly insulted you, it was you who got drunk and picked a fight with another. Blaming your chief doesn’t really cut it as an excuse.”

-----------------------------
Scene: Counselor’s office
TI: Next morning

“Thank you for meeting me, Lieutenant Yu,” Eve said, when Jasmine entered the room. “Please take a seat.” The Counselor gestured at the visitor chairs.

Jasmine settled down on one of the comfortable chairs and her gaze met that of the other officer. As she was passing through the Counselor’s Centre, she noticed that Eve kept her door open, which was made to seem welcoming to the latter’s patients.

Eve began, giving the security chief a friendly smile, “How are you finding the ship so far?”

“It has been going well so far,” Jasmine said. “Aside from the time in the holodeck, which was not what I expected just after my arrival here.”

“I don’t believe any of us expected the events to unfold the way they did in the holodeck, even though we all knew there was a chance holodecks could malfunction.” She paused a moment to observe her fellow officer. “Which brings up my next question, how were you feeling once you came out of the holodeck?”

Jasmine inhaled a deep breath. “I’d say very exhausted but I could not sleep immediately due to adrenaline rush from the intense physical and mental activity we all endured with the chaos in the holodeck. So I went to my quarters to shower first and then spent some time doing yoga until I was relaxed enough to go to bed.” As she was talking, the ship’s resident pug wandered inside the room and climbed onto the empty chair, next to Jasmine. Smooshy lowered himself, taking on a lying position as its eyes moved back and forth between Jasmine and Eve. “Oh hey there,” the security chief greeted, her hand petting the dog’s head, “We meet again.”

“Don’t mind Captain Smooshy,” Eve said, smiling. “As I have told you earlier, he is a regular fixture here as therapy dog to keep patients at ease. He is there for your comfort, if or when you need it.”

“Okay.” Jasmine smiled, petting the dog again.

“Alright, back to our session,” Eve said, turning to the Asian woman. “How did you sleep that night?”

“Fine, though I did have a weird dream about mazes, evil wizards and office workers from the 21st century.” She then added, “But I felt refreshed the next morning and just had a good laugh over the absurdity of the whole experience. At the same time, I was relieved to be back in reality with no shifting landscapes. I have decided to avoid holodecks for some time though I know eventually I will be drawn back to them, since I enjoy solving a challenging maze or participating in a holo-novel.”

“Was that the only night your dreams contained images from your holodeck experience?”

Yu nodded. “Yes, that experience is slowly becoming a distant memory as I’m becoming busy with my duties and the assignment to the Neutral Zone has now taken all my focus and that is ensuring I and my staff are well-prepared to protect the ship once we reach there.”

Eve asked, when Smooshy was scratching itself with its paw, “How are you adjusting to your duties here? Any problems with your new staff? I know from reading your files that this is your first time as a department head.”

Jasmine took a moment before she answered the question. “I haven’t had any problems with my staff so far, which I’m glad to say and I’m grateful they are patient, while I’m getting used to my role here. I understand it will take some time getting used to a new chief with a different way of doing things and hopefully, we will learn to work together to make this a smooth working relationship.”

“Have you implemented any new changes? If you have, how are the staff responding to them?”

“I haven’t received any complaints from the small changes I’ve made yet,” Yu said. “I don’t plan on just overhauling everything at once. That will be too much on everyone. So I plan on bringing any changes that I believe will improve the running of the department gradually. I have told my staff that they should be free to come to me with any concerns and we can work things out. “

“Okay. So not overwhelm your staff with changes and just take things step by step.”

“I will admit that I’m still finding my way around as a leader. See, when I served as Assistant Sec/Tac on the Camelot, I worked under two chiefs, each with their own leadership styles. I am currently struggling to find a balance in my own style. I don’t want to be this type of chief, so distant from their staff that it makes it difficult for them to approach me, creating a tense atmosphere in the department. At the same time, I’m not sure being easy going and acting like their best friend is a bright idea either. Some would take it upon themselves to take advantage, expecting leniency from me. I want to maintain a sense of professionality so that my staff knows that I’m their boss and my orders are to be carried out but not the kind of boss, whom they hate or fear, enough that they don’t trust me to handle their concerns and that would be unhealthy for the department.”

“Well,” Eve said, sight, noticing the pug opening his mouth to yawn. “It takes time to find a leadership style that works well for you and your staff.”

“I know.” Yu nodded, letting out a sigh.

Eve suggested, “Perhaps we can discuss this again after a few weeks to see how your role as chief is progressing and I can suggest then, where you can improve if need be.”

“Yes we can do that.”

“Good.” Dalziel then inquired, “Is there anything else you’d like to share? Something that is eating at you right now?”

The young woman was silent for a moment and then let out a sigh of frustration. “Actually, yes.”

“Go on.”

Jasmine briefly glanced sideways at Smooshy, who was attempting to roll on its back and whimpering, its tongue sticking out. She returned her attention to the Counselor. “When I was having breakfast in my quarters this morning, I was watching the Fedcom broadcast and a particular news story brought back some uncomfortable memories from my time on the Camelot.”

“What kind of news story?”

“The one about the failed attempt by a former Starfleet Captain to release a bioweapon in the Federation Government building that happened recently.”

Eve raised an eyebrow. “That kind of story disturbs anyone so your reaction is perfectly understandable. I mean, if the perpetrator was successful, what a disaster that would have been and it was fortunate that he was caught before he could kill many lives.”

“True, I was very horrified that such an attempt was made,” Jasmine said. “But that is not what brought about these uncomfortable memories from the Camelot.”

“Okay?” The Counselor arched a brow.

“The perpetrator,” Yu said, sighing. “Well, he was my ExO for a short time there.”

“Did he mistreat you or act in a way that violated the code of conduct?”

“No, nothing like that,” Jasmine answered. “It began more than three years ago, when this intelligence agent, met with my CO. She informed the Captain of a traitor amongst her crew and named him, the ExO. Apparently the agent was undercover on the ship as his PR for about four months I think, investigating him for committing an act of treason during the last Dominion war.”

“Were you at the meeting? How did you manage that?”

“I insisted on attending the meeting as there was an assassination attempt against the Captain by a Neo-Essentialist and I was worried the agent was probably another assassin sent by the Neo-Essentialists to finish the job so my presence was to ensure the Captain’s safety.”

“I see. What happened next?”

Jasmine sighed. “The meeting was cut short when a senior Starfleet Intelligence officer came into the Ready Room with orders to remove his agent from the ship, even claiming she had psychological issues and then that was it. The agent was taken away and we never heard what happened to her. I guess the investigation was shut down. So life went on and he went on to become CO.”

“I’m trying to understand something. Were you feeling disturbed because a traitor managed to fool everyone and gain command of a starship?”

“Yes.” Jasmine nodded. “For months, I couldn’t shake off the bad feeling that what if the agent was right and we were all serving an ExO who could be a traitor, which might have made it difficult working for him. That and he was a very lousy first officer who was not fit to hold the position and I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. The man was very unpopular with the crew and gave very misleading and confusing orders, which often put personnel at risk, especially away teams.” She sighed. “Good thing, most of them were reversed by the CO. We hung on for a few months with him as ExO and I believe it was because we had immense trust in our Captain, who finally managed to get him transferred off the ship. Many of the crew were happy when he left, only to be disappointed later upon hearing he got this own command.”

“That can’t have been good to hear.”

“No, I and many others on the ship felt Starfleet Command disrespected not just an experienced Captain, who commanded starships for close to fifteen years but all the loyal, honest and hardworking officers and enlisted persons in the fleet.”

“I understand, how disconcerting it is to elevate officers who are undeserving of holding such responsibility.”

“Yeah,” the Sec/Tac agreed. “From what I saw on the news, that intelligence agent was right all along – he was a traitor and no one bothered to listen to her. That makes me sad and makes me wonder if only the agent was allowed to complete her investigation, then we’d have caught a traitor much earlier and avoided not just placing two crews in potential danger from him but preventing the man from getting his hands on a dangerous bio-weapon in an attempt to release it in the Federation Government building.” She let out another sigh of frustration. “I cannot beginning to imagine how awful that agent must have felt all these years, when her concerns about him were dismissed and turns out she was right all along. Wish I’d know how she’s doing right now.” She leaned back in her chair. “I feel I should have done something even though I know there was nothing I could have done as all these events were beyond my control, if I’m making any sense here.”

Eve nodded, while Smooshy got to a sitting position.
-----------------
Scene: Yu’s Personal Quarters, Deck 2
TI: Later that evening

It took a few hours per day after her shift ended but Jasmine had finished unpacking most of her belongings and arranged her furniture in her new quarters. Standing near the front entrance, she had an overall view of the living room. Jasmine sighed, taking in a deep breath, a little exhausted from the unpacking and moving furniture around. Smiling, the young woman decided, perhaps a cup of either green or herbal tea would be a nice reward for getting her quarters ready to live in. She moved a few steps further inside, her gaze passing each furniture piece or item to make sure they were arranged to her satisfaction.

Yu’s quarters was a moderately sized unit, comprising of a spacious main living area, a bedroom and bathroom – suitable for a single individual. In the centre of the living room, a forest green couch and two sofas of the same colour surrounded a coffee table, made of mahogany, its surface inscribed in ancient Chinese writing in gold metallic colour. The sofas were placed on each side of the table with one having its back to the main door. On the wall behind the couch was a large window, where one could look outside at the stars streaming by, when the ship was in warp.

On the left side of the window, there hung a painting, whose artwork depicted an ancient Vietnamese structure, the Huong or Perfume Pagoda. On the right side, a couple of framed holos graced the walls, showing mostly scenic views of city of Rochester, where she was born, Lake Ontario, beaches and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, where her parents currently resided. Below the framed holos, there was her desk with a computer console embedded within its surface and a black, swivel chair with a long comfortable back, a cushion rested on it. The replicator is situated on the wall behind the chair. Next to the replicator, stood a small table, where a 3D chess sat atop it.

Shelves, each level broadly spaced, lined up the wall behind the sofa, opposite the main door and there were three levels. On the top shelf, Jasmine placed replicas of the Gong, an ancient Chinese bow and the Gun, a long staff used in Chinese martial arts, both sitting atop support stands. In the shelf space below, a katana, the Japanese blade, placed in its sheath, was held in place by a sword rack. On the bottom shelf, one could find replicas of an assortment of weapons from different cultures, given to her as gifts from friends, which included a Viking shield, its surface painted a plain light blue, a medieval knight’s helmet, a Klingon dagger amongst a few other weapons from mostly Earth and a few alien cultures. Jasmine considered those replicas on the shelves to be used as showcases not as actual weapons.

To the left of the sofa, furthest away from the entrance, there was a green square mat on the floor that Jasmine used for mediation or practising yoga. Further along the wall, away from the mat was the entrance to the bedroom.

Jasmine moved around the coffee table, walking past the mat and entered the bedroom.

Compared to the living room, the bedroom was compact with no windows. A queen-sized bed was found at the far right. On each side of the bed, there were two small nightstands, where holorecording frames playing slideshows of Jasmine alone, her parents and grandparents, Jasmine with her family and friends stood. A wardrobe closet stood off the wall at the left. A dresser with a long mirror in front was found to the right of the closet. The entrance to the bathroom was at the left.

The Asian woman sat on the bed and sighed, briefly glancing at a holo of her and her parents, taken at the Volcanoes National park, when she was fourteen.

*************************************************************************************
NRPG: Jasmine’s quarters description in the post


~*~
Ranjani S.
Writing for

Lieutenant Jasmine Yu
Chief of Security and Tactical
USS PHOENIX