[Crosspost] PNPC CPO Ral Shaw - Hopefully no one is missing some decouplers/Where did they make a mistake on Betazed?/Snitches get stitches, so don't tell Sherlock - Part 1
Lhandon Nilsen
((OOC: The following three sims were made by Jaseb Chevalier from the USS Artemis-A. We are both working on a story together and this is the first part to give you all the context. Go and send Chevalier some love and please don’t credit me for this sim. The next part will feature the OEB…and of course our favorite HCO. Enjoy!))
PNPC CPO Ral Shaw - Hopefully no one is missing some decouplers
(( Ship corridor - Deck 2 - USS Artemis-A ))
Chief Ral was leaning against the wall of the corridor, watching her poor little puppy as he left the XO's office. He looked half dead, exhausted, with those sunken eyes and dark circles underneath them. The face was paler than the Federation white he used to dye his hair. At least his uniform was neat and clean, a little insignificant plus. Maybe this wasn't time to load him up more, but on the other hand, she had no idea if what was written on the PADD, nervously spinning it around like a spinner, was even a problem to bother ACOO.
oO Just showing him this won't hurt anything. What will happen? He takes a look at the manifest, dismisses my worries, and I'll go after ACOO, or he will send me after him directly. One way or another, I'll give myself a break for not going behind his back… Oo
Chief disengaged from the wall, stopped spinning the PADD and walked purposefully towards Ensign Chevalier. She tried not to startle him as she addressed him with one of her smiles.
Ral: Good morning, sir.
Chevalier turned towards her, observed her for a brief moment, and then gave a nod of acknowledgement.
Chevalier: Morning, Chief Ral. On the way to the XO office? Some problems in the below deck paradise of yours?
Ral: No, sir. Not for XO, I was waiting on you. There is a problem with the inventory in cargo hold 2.
Ensign chuckled in surprise as he looked at Ral.
Chevalier: I’m not sure if you missed the memo, Chief, but SCM is no longer part of my duties in the division.
Chief shrugged and then extended her hand holding the PADD towards the ensign.
Ral: You made the order, and signed the allocation after delivery. It’s about one crate we loaded on Betazed.
Jaseb let out a sigh and then took the PADD from the Chief's hand.
Chevalier: I do not know what the problem is, but okay. So, tell me what am I going to let myself be scolded for this time?
Ral: Last night, the engineering team needed plasma line decouplers, but we didn't have enough of them in the interim engineering hold. We had to take another decouplers from the cargo hold, as they pushed for parts ASAP - as always, you know it yourself how everything with them is a critical ticket.
Chevalier: And?
Ral: We opened a crate Alfa-55799-Epsilon-Delta-Bravo from the newest load on Betazed, because it was nearest to entry and there was no time to rearrange the cargo hold to take the couplers from the older load. Long story short, those manifested decouplers weren’t there. Crate was… let's say empty.
Ensign looked from the PADD at the Chief.
Chevalier: Let's say… empty?
Ral: Not empty, like completely empty. Empty like decouplers weren’t here in the first place. Guessing by the foam filling it was loaded with circuit boards of some kind.
Chevalier: Did you scan the crate again, is the registration correct?
Ral gave the ensign THE GAZE, indicating she was not a first year greener, like someone she knew.
Ral: Of course, sir. Registration was correct. I checked the loading scan done by crewmen P’Tar, his scan was the same. Same as registration on delivery manifest.
Ensign Chevalier took a moment to scroll through the data on the PADD, and then appeared to reconsider something.
Chevalier: Yeah, P’Tar scanned the crate on arrival, and petty officer Earl when they were putting it in cargo hold. Couldn’t they just mislabeled the crate at Betazed hub? Send us an empty crate, and then our couplers to whatever place that empty crate should go?
Ral: This would not pass through the cargo transport. The weight would not fit and the transporter checks it.
Chevalier: Not necessary. If the filling was for circuit boards, it would be heavier as circuit boards are fragile cargo. Those couplers are light enough to overlap somehow somewhere ::turns the screen to Ral:: You see? Although the weight did not match, it was still within an acceptable range, so the transporter accepted it as correct.
Chief Ral nodded. Although she seemed unconvinced, the ensign's argument had some logic, which made her think. In the meantime, the ensign turned the PADD back and started digging into the data.
Ral: Okay, let’s say you are right. So, now what, contact Starfleet Operations, ask them to find our lost decouplers and inform ACOO about this?
Chevalier: Like, we can, but ACOO just drops it back on us to take care of it. And if we're going to bother SFO, it would probably be good to know if this one box is the only spoiled one we have in the cargo hold. Because if someone mislabeled it at Betazed, yes, it could have been an honest mistake, or someone over there was sloppy, and we can have more crates like that on board. Take a full inventory of the Cargo Holds 1 and 2, Chief, and then we can report it as a whole package. If we will sit on this day or two, what will happen? Ship will not explode.
This time it was up to Chief Ral to let out a "delighted" sigh. The prospect of rearranging the entire cargo hold, scanning and opening all the crates, and checking the inventory excited her more than a dental appointment.
Ral: I see two major issues with this proposal, ensign. First one, we start a new unload and load in five hours, and making a full inventory will take like three days by two shifts.
Chevalier: Okay, then unload whatever we did not load on Betazed, and what we load, we can send later. There will be additional orders from deck five, so those can wait for another exchange. While you will be unloading, move Betazoid crates from Cargo 1 to Cargo 2 to have it all together. Crates will be scanned, put aside, and then during the inventory the only thing left is to open them and check the contents. That should save some time.
Chief Ral appreciated the concept, but was not fond of the implementation.
Ral: And for this idea of yours you needed to study four years at the Academy? And what then should I say to deck five, when we start inventory check?
Chevalier: Damn Ral, can you accommodate me a bit? You are the quartermaster. We have just traveled through time and reality, so if you say that you need to reorganize the cargo hold, the cargo hold will be reorganized. And don't tell me that whoever replaced me in the hell of signing the reports didn't sign your hand already at least once, when you looked at them with that look you kept throwing at me when I was in that chair.
Ral chuckled at Ensign's theatrical performance.
Ral: I should have thrown the crate out the airlock and pretended it never existed. I take a vacation - do you know how beautiful the Eastern Province is at this time of year?
Chevalier looked at Ral with sympathy and handed back the PADD to her.
Chevalier: I checked the delivery manifest. There was no order for any circuit boards from Betazed logistic hub. That crate shouldn’t be there. It’s your inventory, and you are the quartermaster responsible for its correctness, Chief. You came to me, and you felt there was something off. So… follow your guts. Ok?
Ral: Ok... ::sighs:: I’m going.
With a swift turn on her heel, Ral strode off down a dimly lit corridor, leaving Ensign Chevalier standing alone. He watched as she disappeared around the corner, tired already, as his day was just beginning.
TBC
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Chief Petty Officer Ral Shaw, PNPC
Simmed by Jaseb Chevalier, A240009JC1
PNPC CPO Ral Shaw - Where did they make a mistake on Betazed?
(( Cargo hold 2, USS Artemis-A ))
Chief Ral pondered over the open crate in deep thought. The first two layers filled with EPS control units lay next to the box, and the third was still inside.
Ral was baffled. A quick scan revealed that the box in question did not contain what was listed on the manifest, but the reason was beyond comprehension. Fuzes for fusion power generators were not considered classified or restricted technology. In fact, the use of fusion generators had been slowly phased out by Starfleet and other Federation planets that had been members for at least five years, and their technology was something that the Federation had generously distributed to every colony in the Beta and Gamma quadrants - even the most remote ones. Therefore, it seemed absurd that someone would go to great lengths to smuggle such a common technology. The question that remained was: why bother?
The solution to the riddle was beyond her level of expertise. It seemed more like a job for someone from the Security team, and she didn't feel competent enough to investigate further. However, this discovery indicated something significant - the crate containing the circuit board fillers they had found earlier was not a mistake. Both crates were intentionally placed there. Moreover, the fact that the contents of the first crate were missing suggested that they had already been taken from the ship long ago.
Ral looked at the chronometer and saw that there was still an hour left until the Chevalier returned from the surface. Although there was still time, Ral had completed her mission. The mission is what raised more questions than satisfied them.
Chief picked up her tricorder from a nearby crate, where she was examining the Betazed cargo, and scanned the ID tag once again.
Delta Victor Three Five Seven Zulu Zulu. It was picked as a filler for transport to the first vessel Artemis encounters, either SB118 or USS Oumuamua. On Betazed, someone else wrote off the item. On Artemis, it was accepted and manifested by a different person. The weight was correct. On the Betazed hub, both crates arrived as part of a different tracking chain. Those crates have nothing in common. They had never met anywhere before, now, and even after. After.
Ral: Smith, can you look into the system at 55799-Epsilon-Delta-Bravo?
Smith: Yup, boss. What do you want to know?
Ral: At this point, everything.
Smith sighed and nodded. Ral’s crusade had the right roots, but repeating the same things would not help. They had a limited number of steps, and they did all of them. There was no need to go through the known facts again to discover nothing, as they knew all.
Smith: So, 779-EDB arrived from Betazed Hub as ordered. A crate is on the delivery list and listed in order… Artemis was the final destination, the materials inside were for interim use. Two hundred fifty pieces of plasma line decouplers. Hm…
Ral raised her eyebrows. Petty Officer's reaction sounded interesting, as if he had ... found something.
Smith: This is weird, Chief. You never tell number two fifty. Aren’t those delivered like five hundred minimum? Let me see the order confirmation. ::changing page on his PADD:: Ah, flow supply crate, that… Chief?
Petty Officer lifted his eyes from PADD and looked at Chief Ral, who was not paying him any attention.
She watched a young human girl, one of their new additions to their little warehouse keepers club, push the crate into a vacant spot, place it there, scan it, and tick off in PADD that it matched the entry in the delivery manifest.
Ral: Crewmen Novak, may I see what you brought?
Chief stepped over to her subordinate, who was putting her tricorder back on her belt. Crewmen Novak nodded and handed her her PADD.
Ral: I wanna see your tricorder, the data you scanned from the crate?
The crewmen looked tired and disgusted, but wordlessly she took out her tricorder and handed it to Ral. Ral opened it and took out the data. She checked them for a moment, then closed the tricorder again and returned it.
Ral: You did not scan the material inside the crate, crewmen one. Novak, did you have any reason not to follow regulations? You had a great recommendation and service report. You want to step up and become a petty officer, right?
Novak: Yes, ma’am. For my reasons, the Bajor hub had already scanned and confirmed the contents of the box before transport, so I just paired their confirmation with the crate ID scan. Chief.
Ral: Scanned in the hub or not, the regulation clearly states we need to scan the content as soon as we take over and store the cargo, crewman. Let me tell you what happens next, ok? Tomorrow, when your shift begins, first thing in the morning, you will go to Cargo Hold One to scan all the crates there and confirm their content. After you are done, you will send me the result to my station. And I then forget to write you up for this. Are we clear, crewmen?
Novak: Aye, ma’am. As ordered.
Ral nodded her in understanding and let the crewmen leave. As she pivoted, she strode over to Smith and unleashed a piercing, wrathful yell that caused the petty officer to wince.
Ral: ::upsetly:: It’s ok, Smith. Where did we end? You were telling me about that crate…
Smith: You could cut her slack, Chief. You know we all do it? I saw you once to do the same.
Ral: ::angrily:: I KNOW!
Smith: OK, OK, just saying. No need for yelling.
Chief took a deep breath, raised her hands as if to the sun, and then lowered them to her body, along with a deep breath. She tried to calm down. She had access to a phaser and a baseball bat in her office, and what's more, she had a short fuse to run before she started to beat people. She definitely needed to smoke. The doctor told her it was absurd and health-damaging, but it was that or beating people.
For some reason, Starfleet was less critical of herbal smoking used for "religious" purposes than of non-commissioned officers running, screaming, and beating their subordinates below deck.
oO Calm, peace, unicorns, kittens. Calm, peace, unicorns, kittens… Oo
Ral: ::amicably:: Sorry. Of course, I know. Now. I’m just angry at myself for not realizing sooner. This is how this… ::points at the open crate:: …happens. But we are still missing something. Like everything. But that crate. Seven Niner Niner. What did you find?
Smith: It was flow supply. Betazed hub was out of stock for distribution, so they took the material back out of their own division and repackaged it for us as a safe backup until we can get a full delivery at any other logistic hub we end up with next time. Those decouplers are fast-moving material, but the practice is that a new one is ordered as soon as the last crate has been removed from the cargo hold. Which means that there is still a supply far beyond the possibilities of consumption during a standard mission all around the ship. Better to be safe than sorry logic. They are used a lot, but basically, they are in each engineering supply box on the ship… so we would probably not touch that crate anyway and offload it on our next stop with a load of what we ordered, in numbers we ordered.
Ral: So, basically, you say we were defrauded? They knew what they were doing, knew we would slack, and used things no one could ever control for that…
Smith: Yea?
Ral: ::gesturing angrily:: Yeah, that's great. Perfect. Wonderful. And you know what? That’s criminal and over our pay grade. We are done here. Chief Ral smiled. It was not her problem anymore. Ral: Send me that order confirmation and have this crate moved to the restricted section. I will go to my office and start with the report for the security and fifth deck. It’s their problem now.
Petty Officer nodded to Ral, who turned on the spot and stepped toward the doors out of Cargo Hold 2. As she was out and the doors closed behind her, Ral hit the bulkhead and let out a hiss of pain.
Ral: Prophets, give me strength…
TBC
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Chief Petty Officer Ral Shaw, PNPC
Simmed by Jaseb Chevalier, A240009JC1
PNPC CPO Ral Shaw - Snitches get stitches, so don't tell Sherlock - Part 1
(( Cupboard called Boatswain’s Office, Deck 6, USS Artemis ))
There are good days, and then there are Mondays. Technically, it was Wednesday, but Chief Ral's carpal tunnel hurt like every Monday did. In Operations, there were two kinds of people. One who actually saved the day with important work they did aboard Federation ships, and the second, a more feral, more wicked gang hidden in the shadows of their fancy, comfortable offices tucked away on Federation Sector Headquarters, Divisions, and Fleets Commands.
Paper pushers.
Those who were born, lived, and died in the name of a sacred form pushing through the Federation bureaucracy. And their masters. The people responsible for creating sacred forms for their brothers and sisters in a bureaucratic hamster wheel, giving all those regulations and directives the guidelines, and circulars. Forms to fill. Reports to report. Circulars to forward. Newsletters to sign up to.
Cult of paperwork.
Operations Compliance department.
When Shaw saw their header on the form for the twenty-fifth time this evening, she almost started to cry. Every step meant two or three forms to fill out. One specific step meant FIVE forms, just for Starfleet Operations. The end was near, somewhere in September 2421.
Chief stared into the self-audit form and wondered if this was it. This is how she will die.
Maybe they will find her in her office in a few days, like a cobwebbed skeleton gnawed to the bone by tribbles from ventilation, still trying to finish all the paperwork to report their findings in Cargo Hold.
She saved the concept and closed the form she was filling out. Tomorrow was a good day to die, too. She filled out all the necessary paperwork needed for a crime to be reported for inter-division investigation.
Audit reports, remediation actions reports, risk assessment reports, monitoring reports, compliance measures trackers - all these things could wait now. There was more, as Chief checked on her PADD - she honestly hated herself for not refreshing the guideline on reporting and handling the incident before she started to act; otherwise, she would have simply thrown the box into space and pretended that nothing had happened - around fifteen steps to do, plus eight more reporting tools to report into.
Ral sighed and checked the chronometer in her office. It took her a while for her brain to rewire itself into the mode of a living, breathing creature, but after a couple of seconds, she realized she was late.
Ral: =/\= Chief Ral for Chief Nemik, question?=/\=
Nemik: =/\= Nemik here, ask, Ral. =/\=
Ral: =/\= Did Kerynitis already landed? I need something to play with the band on board that shuttle. =/\=
Nemik: =/\= Negative, Kerynitis is still not here. Let me check… no, their TOA was just informal; they have some science expedition ongoing. I can call you when they will contact us for arrival. =/\=
Shaw looked at the stopwatch again and thought. Their expedition was supposed to be an exercise, so there was absolutely no reason for them to be late. On the other hand, it was a scientific exercise, so scientists.
Ral: =/\= Can you - please, please - do me a favor and call them when they plan to return? As a busy woman, I have a schedule to hold, something that you people in traffic control can relate to. =/\=
Nemik: =/\= Push up the ladder that a guidance tractor beam calibration I asked for three weeks ago as a priority, and I will even send a security team to pick them up if you want... =/\=
Ral: ::laughs:: =/\= Ah, no, not needed. Just call them and tell me what they told you after. I will look into that request of yours; where did it get stuck. And talk with Engineering. =/\=
Nemik: =/\= Thank you. I always knew the well-being of the lower decks was in good hands. Boatswain. =/\=
Ral: =/\= Always. So call me when you know more. Ral out. =/\=
Chief Ral closed the channel and looked back to PADD on her table. She needed Savel and Chevalier. She needed to kill two birds with one stone, as she did not want to have anything to do with Article V of the Guideline on Starfleet inter-division cooperation in criminal investigation downwards…
TBC
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Chief Petty Officer Ral Shaw, PNPC
Simmed by Jaseb Chevalier, A240009JC1