"What a pile of vekesh droppings!" He thought. He almost said it out loud. He continued listening in on the admiral's verbal tirade against the commander. Had he not read the report? Was this human just completely clueless to what they had been through? The crew had just received an award for their bravery and this Arkelian swamp slug was treating him like a criminal. Dorrin saw the look in the commander's eyes. Obviously, he wasn't going to say anything. This admiral must part of Stephen's chain of command. Eventually, the admiral concluded the attack by saying, "Enjoy the party." With that, the commander headed for the door of the reception hall.
Well, this admiral may be in Commander Kirk's chain of command, but by the insignia on his collar, he certainly wasn't in Dorrin's chain. It's time someone put this idiot in his place. "And I'm just the person to do it," the doctor thought. Grabbing a glass of the revolting liquid called 'champagne' from a nearby catering station, he headed over to the admiral.
"Good evening, doctor," the admiral stated with a smile.
The doctor smirked. "Well, it was... " he started. "Might I ask your name?"
Somewhat taken aback, the admiral answered almost instinctively, "Admiral Wellington... Admiral Jason Wellington. And you are Doctor Rass, are you not?"
Dorrin took a deep breath. "Yes, I am. I overheard your discussion with Commander Kirk." His eyes narrowed a bit.
Wellington almost stumbled backwards. That conversation wasn't meant for witnesses. "Well..." he started, guarding his words while trying not to sound panicked. "discipline can sometimes seem harsh..."
"Oh, that wasn't discipline, Admiral." Dorrin replied with an all-knowing smile. "You and I both know it." The admiral tried to say something in his defense, but Dorrin interrupted. "Actually, as a doctor, my initial assessment would be someone with anger management issues, and potential psychological issues like psychosis. Tell me, Admiral... how many times have you lashed out like that to people?"
"Doctor," the admiral was seeing where this was going. "You don't know the whole story. I suggest you..."
"You'll suggest nothing. I can see your persecution issues with Stephen Kirk. He is, apparently, the focus of some deep-rooted inferiority issues you have." He cocked his head to one side, trying to get under the admiral's skin.
"Doctor Rass," his nostrils flared a bit, his gaze became more intense, "you're overstepping yourself. I'd be very careful about what you're doing..."
"You know something, Admiral?" Dorrin stood straight up and looked down on the admiral. Clearly, Doctor Rass had at least ten centimeters on this admiral and he intended to use them. "Your threat would have a lot more weight if my chain of command had your name in it somewhere. Pity... but it doesn't." Once again, the admiral tried to say something, but Dorrin cut him off. "Now, let me tell you something. I am being very careful in what I'm doing. I'm noticing a high ranking officer in Starfleet showing signs of mental instability. For the record, I will be noting this in my medical logs. If I see any regularity to this behavior, I'll have no choice but to recommend a full psychiatric evaluation be performed on you. And, unlike you... who probably doesn't have a friend to his name... I have several on the Starfleet Medical Board."
"Things change, Doctor," Admiral Wellington said slowly, through gnashed teeth.
The doctor smirked. He had gotten under his skin alright. "Not that much, they don't." He rebuked. "Now, hopefully, this behavior is an isolated incident... and it won't happen again. Perhaps a good night's sleep will do you some good. If you like, I can prescribe some mild tranquilizers to help you rest." The smirk twisted into an all out smile.
"That won't be necessary, Doctor," the admiral said mockingly. "and you've just decided to stand on the wrong side of a fight."
"Actually, no I haven't." Dorrin said flatly. "I've decided to defend a man who saved my life, the lives of most of his crew, the lives of the Enterprise crew, and however many more people would have died at the hands of those thaloron weapons we destroyed. I would say your psychosis is forcing you to see demons that don't exist any more... if they ever did." The admiral glared at him. "Now, remember, Admiral... for your own sake... I'll be watching you." The doctor raised his glass, having successfully accomplishing his mission. "Enjoy the party." He mocked.
The doctor walked off and took a drink of the champaign. "Hey... this stuff doesn't taste that bad after all." He thought.
