Territorial Dispute

Posted on 01 Nov 2015 @ 7:25pm by Captain Harvey Geisler & Commander C. Kos & Lieutenant Commander Roget del Rosario & Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

1,644 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Rude Awakening
Location: Ready Room

~This is a continuation following a nearly-complete Geisler/Kos JP. Kos is already in the room~

Harvey sighed, finishing his coffee. "I miss the simpler days." He stared at the bottom of his cup for a minute. "Let's just get this over with." The Captain tapped his combadge. "Captain Geisler to Commander del Rosario and Lieutenant Bast. Report to the Ready Room."

"I don't envy you," Mac said honestly.

* * *

Temerant looked up from the Operations console on the Bridge at the sound of the Captain's summons. He logged out of the panel, and tapped his combadge.

"This is Lieutenant Bast. On my way," he replied.

A relief officer replaced him at the Operations console, and he pressed the door chime at the door to the Captain's Ready Room.

"Come in," Harvey instinctively said, walking back over to the replicator to trade his empty mug for a glass of water.

Temerant walked in, and saw the First Officer seated across the table from the Captain, with two empty chairs next to her. He gave her a smile and a curt nod.

"Commander, Captain," he said in greeting, turning his attention to his commanding officer.

Mac nodded in response to the recognition from the Trill Lieutenant.

"Lieutenant," Harvey acknowledged, taking his glass of water over to the desk.

Shortly after Bast was inside, the doors chimed again, prompting Harvey, who was now moving back to sit behind the desk, to again say, "Come."

Roget walked in through the doors and saw that not only were Geisler and Bast there, but Kos was also present. She is seemingly everywhere, he thought.

"Reporting as ordered Captain," he stated, standing, as usual, ramrod straight.

"Good," Harvey said, sitting in his chair and placing his full glass of water on the desk. He looked at both Bast and del Rosario before continuing. "Let's talk about the current arrangement in regards to computer security. Who's first?"

Roget placed his PADD on Geisler's desk. "You signed off on my proposal Captain, thereby authorizing this restructuring of duties. I remain committed to the overall security of this ship, and that includes the computers. If Lieutenant Bast wishes to be part of the computer security division, I'm sure we could expedite transfer papers for him."

Even though she had issues with del Rosario's methods, he had a great service record, and a reputation as a fixer. He'd turned around the security department on both Starbase 312 and the Huron. If he could help the Black Hawk prevent another hostage situation, or another computer compromise, she would do what it took to work with him.

"You're missing the point entirely," said Bast. "I don't think the Captain was presented with both sides of the issue when he approved this... restructuring. As I stated in the briefing, there are operational concerns, which should be taken into consideration, in addition to the security risks. Those risks will be addressed, and the security updates will be performed, but they have to be coordinated with other departments, and planned carefully. Some security updates require restarting entire systems."

He produced a data padd, and showed it to the Captain. "Engineering systems security update 2562178, released two weeks ago, which identifies potential issues with the power relays on the antimatter containment field generators. Installing the update requires shutting down the containment field generators, which means that additional auxiliary generators need to be put in place beforehand. The Chief Engineer needs to set up appropriate measures."

He tapped the data padd, switching to another update. "Medical systems security update 6258412, released last week, which identifies an issue with the quarantine field. Installing the update requires shutting down the quarantine field for fifteen minutes. I'd hate to think what would happen if some Security officer decided to install this while Doctor Kij is performing surgery."

He tapped the screen again. "Communications array security update 999725, released two days ago, which identifies a potential security risk with the packet transmission buffers. This update should be installed on all Mark VII buffers; ours is a Mark VI. If some overzealous security officer had installed this update, it would have disabled the communications array entirely, and it would have taken us 48 hours to restore the system.

"These kinds of operations have to be carefully planned, scheduled, and coordinated with the appropriate departments. Which is the whole purpose of the Operations department. Now if Security wants to set up a division to identify potential security risks, run intrusion tests, and find security holes, they can do so. But once they've identified those risks, it should be passed on to Operations so that a maintenance cycle can be scheduled and coordinated with the affected departments."

Roget was furious, but kept his outward appearance calm, cold even. For the first time since arriving in the Ready Room, the Security Chief looked directly at the Trill officer. "There is nothing that prevents my team from performing those updates. They are just as capable as your staff. My team is, after all, made up of operations specialists and engineers. None of them would have been so reckless as to cause the disabling of the communications array, despite your hyperbole."

He returned his gaze to Geisler. "Captain, you read my proposal. You know that my team is designed to be a defense against potential computer threats. In order to do that, they need to be the front line. Any computer patch needs to be vetted by my guys before it gets deployed to the computer. Installation would, as outlined in my proposal, continue to be carried out by Operations personnel, with assistance from my team."

Harvey sat in silence for a few moments, eyeing both of the officers in front of him and ignoring the PADD set on the desk in front of him. "Gentlemen," he said, leaning forward and interlacing his fingers as he placed his hands on the desk. "I don't think I need to tell you how critical I consider security to be on this ship, especially in this dark hour of the Gamma Quadrant. This ship in particular recently fell to a weakness exploited by a lack of security, one that I am charging Commander del Rosario to ensure we do not repeat.

"Lieutenant Bast, the maintenance and all matters of the computer cores still fall under your purview. That certainly hasn't and won't change."

Harvey paused for a moment, then continued. "With that all said, Mr. del Rosario, your proposal does indicate that Operations personnel will carry out all updates and patches, once they've been reviewed. To me, it sounds like it is the promise of team work that is what prevents your cybersecurity department from immediately applying those patches. I expect the both of you to maintain open lines of communication with each other, just as every department head is expected to do aboard this vessel. There are measures of accountability, sure, but I will not allow dividing lines to be points of exploitation for this ship. Not again."

The Captain glanced over at Kos. "And, regardless of what I or Commander Kos approve, staff briefings are not the place what for you both displayed today. You have a problem with each other? Fine. Duke it out privately between yourselves, or bring Commander Kos in help settle it. You're Starfleet officers. I expect you both to act like it."

Temerant nodded. "Aye, Captain. I apologize for the inconvenience."

As everyone started to rise from their chair and end the meeting, he held up a hand. "If I might change the subject for a moment, I'd like to take advantage of the Chief Tactical Officer's presence to make a recommendation our for plan of attack on the O'Carroll."

As he reached for the glass of water on his desk, Harvey glanced at the tactical officer. The Captain did prefer to hear suggestions, no matter from whence they came, and there was no better way to learn how his newest chief would react to these suggestion.

"What is your idea, Lieutenant?" Roget asked. Despite his interaction with the Trill Operations Officer, del Rosario was committed to the safety of the ship, and was willing to hear any ideas about how to best accomplish that.

Throughout the exchange, Mackenzie had restrained herself. As much as it pained her to say it, she had to respect del Rosario's dedication to the security of the Black Hawk.

Temerant picked up the data padd he had set down on the desk. "During my review of the security updates, I came across this one, released yesterday. It mentions a vulnerability in the Mark VIII port ventral shield generators, the specific model that the O'Carroll has installed. A specific subspace harmonic, trangulated from two very specific set of coordinates, would cause the shield generator to cycle for 0.3 second - meaning that the ventral port shields would drop for that specific duration. Since the correction code was issued only yesterday, and with the O'Carroll being on the run for the past several weeks, I doubt they would have had the opportunity to even learn about the security update, let alone install it."

He considered the information presented by Bast. "That is good information. We might be able to use that. I'll make sure to bring it up in my planning meeting."

Harvey nodded his head as he set the glass back on the desk. "It's an option," he told the Trill. "One that I'll consider as I hear the proposal from Commanders Rosario and Walsh. I know O'Connell well. While you may be very right about the flaw, he may have other hinderances in store for us. Best to be prepared for anything."

The Captain sat in silence for a moment, waiting to see if there were any further comments. "If there is nothing more, then you are dismissed."

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