flesh instead of clockworks.
G: So, wrong that makes him? Doctor, you know heâs right. You finagled your way onto a ship that didnât have a counselor. I canât prove it, but you know it and I know it. I can only assume thatâs because you donât want to deal with your problems, and I can respect that up until the point where they become my problems. And a nonfunctional CMO is my problem.
L: So what are you going to do about it?
G: Well, thatâs another problem. Standard operating procedure would probably be to have you taken off active duty and sent for a psych workup. But that would require us getting you to a counselor who could do that, and probably would entail leaving you at the nearest starbase for a month. Either our scheduled maintenance visit to Shermanâs Planet would have to be delayed or Iâd have to give you a shuttlecraft, and we only have the two. Either way, Iâd be without a chief medical officer for who knows how long, and youâd almost certainly be reassigned, with a nasty mark on your service record. Your career might never recover. I donât want to do that and neither, I suppose, do you. So weâre going to try and avoid the whole magilla.
L: Sir?
G: Instead, weâre going to have our own little counseling sessions right here. You and me, at least once a week for the foreseeable future, in this office, with all conversations kept out of the official record as long as things go well. And weâre going to talk and try to get to the bottom of this.
L: Youâre no doctor, and youâre not a counselor either.
G: No, Iâm not. But Iâm your commanding officer. And Iâm the one you have to convince that youâre not just going through the motions, that you really are in shape to serve on board my ship.
L: Fine. Whatever.
G: Youâre resenting this.
L: I donât have to talk to you.
G: Actually, yes, you do. Complain all you want, this is what weâre going to do.
L: I could invoke my Seventh Guarantee rights.
G: You do that and Iâll make all this official, and have you transferred off this ship, downchecked for active duty, and sent for an immediate psych exam. Playing this by the book is not the way you want to go, believe me.
L: You realize that I could have you removed from command for medical reasons.
G: Youâd have to show cause eventually, Doctor, or face charges of mutiny. And before that, youâd still have to deal with GomezâI guess youâd have to throw Gomez into the brig too. And then Duffy. And so on. But you know, it doesnât even matter. Youâd never even go as far as relieving me of command. I know it and you know it. But I donât think you know why, do you? [Pause.] Itâs because you donât want to take the responsibility for making the decision.
L: Maybe Iâll just be happy getting rid of you.
G: Our first session will be tomorrow at 0800. Dismissed.
L: Iâ
G: Youâre dismissed, Doctor.
TRANSCRIPT ENDS
Well ⦠that was fun. I can just imagine how our sessions are going to go.
CHAPTER
2
S hermanâs Planet (so named, according to conflicting stories in the Memory Alpha databanks, either to repay a staggeringly large bar tab, to serve as a warning that a particularly obnoxious individual lived there, or to impress a woman) was in an area of space first mapped by Terrans in 2067 by John Burke, the chief astronomer of the Royal Academy of England. There had been a battle in orbit around nearby Donatu V in 2242 between the Federation and the Klingons over settlements in the sector, with inconclusive results which didnât really become clarified until the Organians came along and imposed a sort of unilateral peace between the two sides twenty years later. It was colonized by the Federation under the dictates of the Organian Peace Treaty. There had been a bit of unpleasantness with the Klingon Empire involving espionage, a famine, and a poisoned grain
G: So, wrong that makes him? Doctor, you know heâs right. You finagled your way onto a ship that didnât have a counselor. I canât prove it, but you know it and I know it. I can only assume thatâs because you donât want to deal with your problems, and I can respect that up until the point where they become my problems. And a nonfunctional CMO is my problem.
L: So what are you going to do about it?
G: Well, thatâs another problem. Standard operating procedure would probably be to have you taken off active duty and sent for a psych workup. But that would require us getting you to a counselor who could do that, and probably would entail leaving you at the nearest starbase for a month. Either our scheduled maintenance visit to Shermanâs Planet would have to be delayed or Iâd have to give you a shuttlecraft, and we only have the two. Either way, Iâd be without a chief medical officer for who knows how long, and youâd almost certainly be reassigned, with a nasty mark on your service record. Your career might never recover. I donât want to do that and neither, I suppose, do you. So weâre going to try and avoid the whole magilla.
L: Sir?
G: Instead, weâre going to have our own little counseling sessions right here. You and me, at least once a week for the foreseeable future, in this office, with all conversations kept out of the official record as long as things go well. And weâre going to talk and try to get to the bottom of this.
L: Youâre no doctor, and youâre not a counselor either.
G: No, Iâm not. But Iâm your commanding officer. And Iâm the one you have to convince that youâre not just going through the motions, that you really are in shape to serve on board my ship.
L: Fine. Whatever.
G: Youâre resenting this.
L: I donât have to talk to you.
G: Actually, yes, you do. Complain all you want, this is what weâre going to do.
L: I could invoke my Seventh Guarantee rights.
G: You do that and Iâll make all this official, and have you transferred off this ship, downchecked for active duty, and sent for an immediate psych exam. Playing this by the book is not the way you want to go, believe me.
L: You realize that I could have you removed from command for medical reasons.
G: Youâd have to show cause eventually, Doctor, or face charges of mutiny. And before that, youâd still have to deal with GomezâI guess youâd have to throw Gomez into the brig too. And then Duffy. And so on. But you know, it doesnât even matter. Youâd never even go as far as relieving me of command. I know it and you know it. But I donât think you know why, do you? [Pause.] Itâs because you donât want to take the responsibility for making the decision.
L: Maybe Iâll just be happy getting rid of you.
G: Our first session will be tomorrow at 0800. Dismissed.
L: Iâ
G: Youâre dismissed, Doctor.
TRANSCRIPT ENDS
Well ⦠that was fun. I can just imagine how our sessions are going to go.
CHAPTER
2
S hermanâs Planet (so named, according to conflicting stories in the Memory Alpha databanks, either to repay a staggeringly large bar tab, to serve as a warning that a particularly obnoxious individual lived there, or to impress a woman) was in an area of space first mapped by Terrans in 2067 by John Burke, the chief astronomer of the Royal Academy of England. There had been a battle in orbit around nearby Donatu V in 2242 between the Federation and the Klingons over settlements in the sector, with inconclusive results which didnât really become clarified until the Organians came along and imposed a sort of unilateral peace between the two sides twenty years later. It was colonized by the Federation under the dictates of the Organian Peace Treaty. There had been a bit of unpleasantness with the Klingon Empire involving espionage, a famine, and a poisoned grain
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