Why was Rom attracted to Leeta physically?

[Timo]

He is most certainly not. Bashir is the Chief Medical Officer on DS9. That puts him up there with the CO. That's nothing to sneeze at!

Literally speaking, that's exactly what it is: Bashir deals with the Real Heroes sneezing. Yecch.

I don't remember if he's a Lt Jr. grade in Emissary, but he probably was commissioned a full Lt. upon completion of Medical School. At least, that's how it usually works in the... in contemporary applications.

So he got demoted right off the bat? Nope, MDs are cannon fodder in the future, getting no perks beyond those a Doctor in Tri-Isophasic Physics (aka Engineer's Mate) enjoys.

Of course, some of this is Bashir's own choosing: he knows he's Superman, so he deliberately fumbles his final exams so as not to finish first, then requests assignment to the far frontier so that nobody of note will have to interact with him, and then turns the obnoxiousness knob to twelve when circumstances conspire to put him together with an attractive female (see "Crossover", say). Perhaps his hitting on model-standard chicks is part of the strategy, maximizing the chances of failure before things get serious - but it's all in vain...

In many of these instances, O'Brien is there saying "Isn't this wrong?"

And since O'Brien is Everyman, we feel compelled to... think about it.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Prax]

Everytime someone says "O'Brien is an everyman" on here I'm going to take a shot.

O'Brien is questioning his Bashir's ethical subroutines because he calls it like he sees it, and he knows his buddy really well and sometimes has to be that voice of reason. Julian does, after all, get a little carried away sometimes.

As for "Chief Medical Officer," let's go back to TOS. Who are the Big Dawgs on the Enterprise? Who are the guys that strut around like they own the place?

MAC-coy, Kirk, and Spock.

Who are the big Dawgs on Voyager in Caretaker? It's Janeway, the CMO, and the XO(I don't remember their names). They're large and in charge.

The only disadvantage Bashir has on DS9 is his age, It's not like he's stuck working for the Allocator on level Red. He's one of the 3 or 4 most important, and highest ranking dudes on the station.

 

[Timo]

Hmh? McCoy is a main character of high rank. Bashir is a sidekick of low rank who only gets important stuff to play with once S31 drafts him. Being MD or CMO isn't particularly relevant to that.

OTOH, Crusher and Pulaski were sidekicks of high rank, the EMH is a main character of no rank whatsoever. What makes or breaks a Trek character is largely unrelated to his or her social or hierarchical status; rank pins just get associated with it because the heroes are officers and the officers are the heroes, more often than not.

It's Janeway, the CMO, and the XO(I don't remember their names).

Which is sorta telling. The XO was named - we heard "LtCmdr Cavit" a grand total of one time. But the CMO never got a name, and never appeared outside the sickbay.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Nyotarules]

The Federation thought so little of DS9 they sent a Commander to be in charge with a LT jg as its CMO. All other starbases get Commodores as bosses (Pike in STB, Diego Reyes in the Harbinger series, and the TOS episode where Spock 'kidnaps' Pike) and Lt Commanders as CMO.
The Bajorans should have complained lol

 

[Timo]

...DS9 never was a "starbase" except when Sisko wanted to bluff his way through Gamma Quadrant bureaucracy (and in those cases, his runabouts were "starships").

Note how Bashir gets to play CMO from the start, but Elizabeth Lense at same rank and better marks apparently becomes but a generic low-rung medic aboard the big Lexington. Bashir's assignment choice probably would have been the better career move even had the wormhole not been discovered.

Now, how did Quark choose his "assignment" (and thus Rom's, too)? What options were available to the former ship's cook? Was it easy or difficult to get work within the Cardassian Union? And was Rom a chick magnet back then already, only we never got to properly ogle his Cardassian conquests?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[kkt]

There's more to being important than rank in Star Fleet. O'Brien is an NCO, and every time anything breaks, from the stapler to visiting ships' warp cores, he's the one they call.

 

[Prax]

Even though it's referred to specifically as "Starbase Deep Space 9"?

EDIT: O'Brien's pretty high ranked. His equivalent rank in the Army would be Command Sergeant Major.

 

[kkt]

But a command sergeant major is still junior to the greenest 2nd lieutenant. (Most 2nd lieutenants are bright enough to listen to the sgt. major anyway.)

 

[Prax]

CSM's are scary people...

 

[Bad Thoughts]

...DS9 never was a "starbase" except when Sisko wanted to bluff his way through Gamma Quadrant bureaucracy (and in those cases, his runabouts were "starships").

Even though it's referred to specifically as "Starbase Deep Space 9"?

Calling DS9 a "starbase" was likely just clumsy writing that reflects half-hearted attempts to nail down terminology or a desire to make it seem as if the series were more clearly in the same setting as TNG. I think it carries the same weight as Kirk's clumsy descriptions of the Earth fleet to which the Enterprise belonged.

And even if the station were designated a "starbase," I'm not sure that we can invest too much meaning about how prestigious the posting was. Most starbases we saw were large facilities--far larger than the ships that came to be serviced. And the number of people it could service was far fewer.I doubt DS9 had the scope of Starbase 133, for instance. Subsequently, it would not need a crew at the same level as those other starbases.

If we are to invest meaning in the designation, I think it would be more political than operational or hierarchical. It either appeased the Bajorans or put the Cardassians on guard--or both. It suggests that the Federation would protect it like either Federation assets.

ETA: It's worth keeping in mind that Bashir was not originally intended to be the super-genius science guy--the Spock archetype, if you would. However, that space was vacated by other characters, and Bashir assumed more of those qualities.

 

[Kor]

As far as Starfleet knew before the wormhole was discovered, DS9 was just a remote outpost in some backwater sector.

Kor

 

[Prax]

Is there a definition for "Starbase"? I believe DS9 is referred to as "Starbase Deep Space 9" in both TNG and DS9. Like whenever a character is giving their title to command or an outsider, they'll say "Miles O'Brien, Chief of Operations, Starbase Deep Space Nine." I think they've all said it. Then there's those other Starbases referenced throughout DS9 that are nearby, and in S6, they operate out of one.

Or does the station fall under a different category?

 

[Tuskin38]

"Starbase Deep Space Nine" comes in up in dialogue 4 times in 4 separate episodes of DS9

http://scriptsearch.dxdy.name/?page=results&query=({line|Starbase Deep,})

O'Brien says it once, and Sisko says it three times, however one of those times Sisko is reading off a list nominees which includes names and places of residence/postings, so it wasn't his words.

Not counting those mentions, I only see the word 'starbase' used by itself to refer to DS9 once. All other times the term is either used generically ("at a starbase" "Starbase out") or referring to another Federation Starbase by name. (Starbase 375)

Most of the time DS9 is just referred to as 'space station' or just 'station'.