Analyze This!

Posted on Sun Apr 21st, 2024 @ 5:47am by Lieutenant JG Rowena "Rena" Campbell & Lieutenant N'vok Holv

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Counseling
Timeline: MD-01 (pre-launch)
1177 words - 2.4 OF Standard Post Measure

Rena was bustling about her office. As she wasn't the Department head, she didn't have much say in what the decor around here was, but she tried to make the otherwise spartan office more homey-she had added some wallpaper border with flowers on it to the walls, and hung up some art pieces she'd picked up over the years.

Across from her desk was a shabby orange couch she'd had brought in. It was what the humans called "antique"-she'd found it in an oddities bazar on Campor III during a short shore leave excursion. There was "her" chair across from that, a matching overstuffed armchair in the same shabby orange mohair type fabric. In between the two pieces was a battered old table from her previous posting. It had been made for her by the Assistant Chief Engineer, with whom she'd had a short lived romance. She had a toss pillow on the couch, freshly replicated because, in her opinion, an old one was icky. Finally, she'd added a fake Guinea Fig tree in one corner, and Porkchop's bed in the other corner. Porkchop was her therapy cat, a furry, black, house panther.

She quickly gathered her PADD and a notebook-she preferred to write things out the old fashioned way sometimes-and made her way to the door. She left it open when she wasn't with a patient, in case someone wanted to come by for a casual talk. She stepped out into the hallway.

"Lieutenant Holv? I can see you now!" She smiled.

The Vulcan had been staring out into space, lost in his own thoughts, a datapad held loosely in one hand. The voice snapped him back to the present. "Just N'vok, please," he said moving toward the open door. "How would you prefer to be addressed, Counselor?" he asked politely,

"You can call me Rena," she said. "My full name is Rowena, though, so you can call me that, if you'd prefer," she said. "In here, we can be more casual," she said. As casual as a Vulcan could be, she supposed.

He looked around the room with a critical eye. He noted the decor and took a seat on the edge of the couch. "Just a routine check-in, I recommend my staff visit counselors on a regular basis so I should set a good example, yes?"

Rena smiled. "That's a good attitude," she said. "Feel free to get comfortable," she said, settling in herself across from him in the armchair. "Routine check in. Ok. What would you like to tell me today?" She asked.

"It is both reassuring and slightly disconcerting to be back in Starfleet after a twenty-odd year absence," he began. "So much is the same, institutions change slowly, but occasionally something will be different and it will stand out. But overall, it has been a simple matter to reintegrate back into the formal structure of Starfleet. Science is one of the less rigidly structured parts of the fleet which makes it easier to maintain a collegial attitude with my fellow scientists."

Rena nodded wisely. "I understand. What was your absence for?" She asked. Partly because it would help her to help this man, but also because she was nosy. "If you don't mind me asking. And I agree with you about old traditions dying hard. When my father was killed on duty, my mother made us see the Ships' counselor and yes, it's very much the same," she said.

"At the time, pursuing academic work and raising a family seemed more important," said N'vok. "But my children are on their own paths now. I learned much in a variety of fields. But it seemed that Starfleet might again have need of another Vulcan science officer, so I returned."

Rena nodded again. "I see," she said. "My mother shares your view that raising a family takes precedence. She was a nurse in the Fleet, and my father was an Engineer. When he died, she left to raise us on Sol, so we could know our father's heritage. He was human," she said. "What drew you to the Sciences?" she asked. That seemed a safe enough topic, and she was glad to hear that there was nothing of major note that kept him away.

"I am a Vulcan," he said. "We have built our culture about trying to understand the universe. It is a mission I approve of and a tradition that was easy to follow. There is still so much to learn. As each new discovery gives us new questions to ask."

Rena nodded. "You could argue that that could happen in any job in the fleet, though," she said. "But I understand. I have always been curious about things myself," she said. "I need to have answers about how and why things work the way they do," she said. "I suppose that's why I became a counselor-part of it, anyway. To help people, yes, but also to UNDERSTAND people," she said. "What's your favorite thing about the Elysium?" She asked.

"That, as chief science officer, I get a private office," he answered in a perfect Vulcan deadpan. "In all seriousness, I have only been aboard a few days and I have barely learned what the Elysium has and can do."

Rena chuckled. "That's good," she said, impressed that a Vulcan had picked up sarcasm. "I see," she said. "Well, we can learn together!" She said. "I find that the best thing about ships is the camaraderie; you don't necessarily get that on Starbases because they're so big and there's so many people!" She explained. "My most recent posting was a giant Starbase, and while it was fun, I wish I had gotten to know more people," she said. She had missed the more close-knit feelings of her first two ships.

"Well, as long as you do not mind my over-loquacious way of speech, I am always happy to talk," said N'vok. "I hope to gather a group to discuss all things under the stars over food. I find people are more relaxed and willing to talk after a good meal."

Rena shook her head softly. "I don't mind," she said. "You haven't heard loquacious until you've heard a gaggle of Betzoid women together in one room," she said. The tales of such colorful people as the Troi family, and the Said family, had been passed down for years. She hoped she could, someday, be so secure with herself and her people that she, too, could be flamboyantly free of other people's opinions. For now, she was merely half-human, and still bothered by some things.

"Excellent, I look forward to having you join us," said N'vok. "Now, if there is not anything else. I have supplies to organize and lab use to schedule." He stands. "Thank you for your time, counselor."

Rena smiled. "Thank you!" She said. "For coming by to welcome me. I hope we'll be able to work together in the future," she said. She closed her eyes briefly. Why had she just said that? Christ, embarrassing!