Mutiny or the Madman

You are an officer onboard a modern naval vessel / renaissance galleon / the starship Enterprise.

You step onto the bridge / ship's wheel / Captain's ready room.

The Captain and the First Mate / Quartermaster / medical officer are the only ones in the room.

The Captain looks at you and orders, "This officer is inciting a mutiny. Take him into custody."

The officer looks at you and orders, "The Captain is unfit for command. Take him into custody."

What do you do? Why?

Take them both into custody and figure it out when we get to port.

Hmm. That's a tough one. I guess I'd want to understand more about the protocols in the given navy/starfleet etc.

My natural inclination would be to obey the Captain, because, he's the captain. It would take a LOT to convince me to go against him. The captain would have to be visibly acting immorally (for example, in Babylon 5, when the crew mutinied because the captain was illegally firing on civilian targets).

I imagine in any organisation, there would be a strict process for relieving an unfit captain of Command. The officer in question would have to have followed this procedure. It would need to be clear to all that this officer is now the legal captain of the ship.

Basically, I'd need a lot more information on the situation, and the character of the people involved to make a firm decision.

mindspike wrote:Y

The Captain looks at you and orders, "This officer is inciting a mutiny. Take him into custody."

The officer looks at you and orders, "The Captain is unfit for command. Take him into custody."

What do you do? Why?

I say, "Um, I'M unfit for military service. Sorry, I don't know how I got here... But, uh, you guys clearly have some stuff to work out, so I'll let you get to it. I'll be on the holo-deck!"

More serious answer: I'd pull my weapon out and say, "Sirs, I'm going to need more information before I can take action. What's this about, Captain?"

Then I'd try to get both sides. If time is of the essence, then I'd get them both secure in custody before making a final call.

This is an exercise. I'm not certain there's a "right" answer.

New wrinkle: If you back the wrong party, you will lose your commission, possibly your life. A critical event is threatening the ship, making any sort of delay potentially disastrous.