lfvoy wrote:I'm curious as to why you feel this way, Cogito. In my mind, the reason the episode is somewhat related to believable is because I think the MACO would have fired had Phlox and Trip attempted to press the issue. In other words, I saw the back-down as a strategic retreat (and they certainly didn't give up, after all).
Regulations are only as effective as their enforcement mechanisms.
I don't remember whether we saw Archer give the orders, but we saw MACOs guarding the hatchery, and later on they were also guarding key areas of the ship. I assume Archer ordered them to do that. That would have been within his authority as captain and the MACOs were right to follow his orders. I don't think they had any other option, in fact.
I don't know whether any of the senior staff had the authority to relieve the captain of his command. Since none of them did, I think it's fair to assume they didn't have the authority. But we know that Phlox
did have the authority. Here's what he said in the shuttle bay:
Captain, if you won't come with me then I'll be required under Starfleet order 104 section C to relieve you of command.
So, according to Starfleet regulations as I have guessed at them based on the clues we were shown, the proper action if the captain became unfit for command was for Phlox to carry out a medical assessment and declare him unfit. I suppose that the second in command would them assume command. The only way that regulation could make any sense would be for Phlox to have the authority to demand the captain undergoes an assessment regardless of the captain's objections. If the captain could legally refuse his CMO's order, then in effect the CMO actually can't remove the captain and the regulation giving him authority to do that would be pointless.
So, when Phlox and Trip were in the shuttle bay I believe that Phlox had the authority to override the captain's objection. In fact I think he had a duty to override it, because it was the only way for him to remove the captain legally. He even said as much. "I'll be required...". He had a duty to carry out the assessment and the captain did not have the right to refuse.
If Phlox had insisted, then it would have been against regulations for the MACOs to prevent him from carrying out his duty. In fact I believe they would have been obliged to support him, using force if necessary. But since Phlox backed down and did not assert his authority, the MACOs continued to obey Archer's orders.
With Phlox failing to take the legal route to remove Archer from command, the only other option was an illegal one: mutiny by the senior staff. The MACOs were duty bound to oppose that, even if they may privately had doubts about the captain's sanity.
So, Phlox's cowardice left the fate of the Enterprise and its mission hanging on that mutiny, which could easily have failed. As the only person with the authority to remove the captain from command, it was a clear breach of his responsibility that he failed to act.
The moment this incident was reported to Starfleet, I imagine the first question was "Why didn't the CMO relieve him of his command under Starfleet order 104 section C?"
No, actually I suspect that first question would be "Why was that idiot wandering around in an alien environment without an isolation suit on in the first place?" And the second question would be why the CMO failed to do anything about it when the captain was suborned by aliens.
Somebody writing a missing scene for this episode might have wrote:"I can't believe you were actually going to let me dump a third of the antimatter reserves. What the hell were you thinking, Trip? You know damned well how hard it is to replace that stuff. It could have cost us the mission right there."
"Well, to be fair Cap'n, we tried to stop you. In the shuttle bay, if you remember? And you locked T'Pol up when she tried."
"So, why the hell didn't you stop me then? You were there, Phlox. Why didn't you invoke section C?"
"To be honest, Captain, I rather thought you might shoot me."
"That isn't good enough, Phlox. If you thought I'd been suborned, you had a responsibility to do something about it. You're the only one who can do it, and we're all counting on you. Next time you think I'm unfit for command, do your damned duty!"
"Very well, Captain. If you'd come with me please, hmmm?"