Rescue

The Morale Issue

The Calivon situation was coming to a head. In the Planetary Union there was unrest, as the citizens in the many systems that comprise the Union are clamoring for something to be done. Of course, Halsey was pretty sure what instrument the Union would use in order to fulfill that demand. The threat of retaliation by a superior force has kept the Union at bay up to now. But that was before the Calivon transgressions have been exposed for all to see. Now,in the eyes of Union civilians, the fleet not responding would be seen as cowardice. He remembered Gordon Malloy at his court-martial, vehemently accusing the fleet of just that! It gave Halsey a taste of Gordon's influence when news of his passionate soliloquy made the rounds, despite all attempts to prevent it. Reports from high-ranking officers of increasing awareness of an undercurrent of tacit agreement by their subordinates with Gordon's denouncement of fleet inaction had been regularly occurring ever since that, Halsey read from a quote, "travesty of a trial" took place. Halsey understood the reasoning behind Gordon's involuntary discharge, even though he knew it would fan the flames of discontent, and the demand for action would continue to grow.

Now the videos showing exactly what the Calivon is doing are like throwing gasoline into the flame, threatening the discipline of the fleet the longer it took to do... something! But what?

'We are heading into a buzz saw,' Halsey thought to himself. Inaction would be tantamount to allowing ourselves to be run roughshod over, in the eyes of many civilians, and in the eyes of much of the fleet. But any action would be almost certainly suicide for the Union as a whole.

More intelligence was needed, Halsey realized. 'In every sense of the word,' he reflected, sourly. Thoughtful planning and infiltration to figure out the pressure points of Calivon society was vital to any strategy that sought to hold them to account, and to get freedom for those they captured, now apparently displayed as novelties to be gawked at by random passersby.

In a way, if the Orville had defied orders and rescued Captain Ed Mercer and Commander Kelly Grayson, this issue could have been contained, it being a fleet operation. If the news of the zoo came out, the fleet could point to this operation and claim that it took action, the inconvenient fact of it being in defiance of standing orders would be swept under the rug. If it failed, well, at least the Fleet could claim, "We tried."

But the orders were followed and the result was a stain on the fleet's reputation. Oh, it was for good, practical reasons, and those following the orders were not responsible for that stain, as much as some in the fleet bellowed otherwise. No, the responsibility, the blame, rested solely on the shoulders of the admiralty, and the politicians who decreed that no action ever be taken, no matter what the reason.

This was a conundrum, and the fate of the Planetary Union itself rested on its resolution.

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Ed, Kelly, John and Isaac were taken to the Xavier to start their duties. Ed met with his officers and introduced himself and Kelly, then talked to them to get their history. He met the ship's doctor, who seemed competent enough, but reminded him how much he missed having Claire, even though he barely knew her. After settling in, the Xavier's new officers went to their posts and the ship started underway.

Ed was bemused that almost everyone on the ship seemed to look forward to having Gordon serve on the ship. He'd become something of a folk hero for daring to attempt a rescue, however ill-advised it was, and the scuttlebutt was his court-martial was a travesty of justice. He was worried about how Alara would be greeted when she came on board, but there didn't seem to be animosity towards her now. It apparently had been refocused on the Admiralty, which at least was a more appropriate target for their ire than a beleaguered young lieutenant, or now, lieutenant commander. Whether it was due to her being with Gordon or her role in the rescue, both of which somehow became known all over the ship, he didn't know or care. He felt relieved that whatever animosity toward Alara that had existed has seemed to have gone by the wayside.

"Did you tell someone that Gordon and Alara are together or that they were in on the rescue?" Ed asked John. Along with Kelly, they were in his office trying to contact either one of them to see how they're doing.

John chuckled. "Somebody told me! I asked how they knew and was just told the news is all over the ship. They probably didn't realize I knew them."

John continued, "His court-martial was endlessly discussed on the Orville, with a lot of people thinking he got a raw deal. They blamed Alara, but I always defended her and said that it was on Gordon, so eventually they stopped talking to me about her. But they still talked about Gordon!"

"Well, now it seems the attitude about Alara is positive," Kelly noted.

"Yeah," John agreed. "The scuttlebutt now is that it was a secret operation and that was Gordon's and Alara's cover. Now they'll probably wonder why he's a civilian when he comes on board."

"What the hell happened, anyway?" Ed asked. "You know what? Never mind," he added as John was about to speak.

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Halsey had Gordon's civilian status in mind when he talked to admirals at the six-month review meeting. The topic became how the fleet status is being impacted by this revelation about the Calivon zoo.

"I'd like to revisit reinstating Gordon Malloy and maybe promoting him!" Halsey declared, much to the consternation of Admiral Perry.

"Jesus, Tom," Perry retorted, looking at Halsey, "You were the one that argued against reinstatement, saying that due to the court martial adjudication it would endorse reckless disregard of hierarchy and chain of command, or something of that nature! You advocated for the court martial, instead of the shipboard hearing and a few weeks' suspension with an incident file entry that I proposed, you may recall. I assume you gambled on at most a formal reprimand instead of actual forcible discharge."

"I recognize that," Halsey admitted, nodding, "but the rescue and the public disclosure of the zoo's existence changes everything! We have to recognize that sometimes things are fluid, much as it pains me to say it. There're whispers all over the fleet that this was a clandestine operation, something we could use to our advantage."

"How?" Tucker asked.

"I think this fleet's going to tear itself apart with the rancor about how we're feckless and cowards for allowing them to stay in captivity," Halsey conjectured, referring to Ed Mercer and Kelly Grayson. "If we reinstate him, then promote him, we can appear to be acknowledging the rumors without explicitly saying so."

"You mean lying!" Ozawa retorted. "We don't have to blatantly lie, just let the fleet assume it."

"It's something to consider," Tucker said.

"I can't believe you're on board with this!" Ozawa exclaimed, looking directly at Tucker.

"This is bigger than us, bigger than the fleet!" Halsey declared. "The administration is scared, and a scared chief executive is a dangerous thing, unpredictable."

No decision was made, but Halsey knew it would be revisited, and often.