Early Meeting

Posted on Mon Dec 7, 2020 @ 5:29am by Lieutenant Annora Tessaro & Lieutenant T'Lul

1,548 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Si vis pacem, para bellum
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: Day 2 0745 hrs

On:

Deciding to change up her exercise routine, Annora plotted out a course through the arboretum. Despite the relative early hours, she still avoided the more popular areas. Not a fan of the current PT uniforms, she wore a replica of the old version used by Earth Starfleet. A gray athletic t-shirt with the Starfleet logo on the upper left side, and a name tag on the right. This was paired with blue shorts and ball cap. After 3 laps around the makeshift course, Annora stopped at a bench under a Xupta tree.

As she sipped her sports drink, Annora noticed a Vulcan female coming down the trail.

T'Lul's head was full of thoughts regarding her patients. First, she had the Captain, which was a several headed dragon. Between her own need for control, her inability to recognize positive emotions, and her love life that the Captain was making an entire mess of, T'Lul decided that counseling the Captain was like juggling five balls with one hand not only tied behind her back but trying to be wrenched out of her socket. On top of that, she had her friend, the Chief Medical Officer, who had issues with abandonment. The Executive Officer had some sort of issues with his daughter and he was not fully opening up to her yet. The Chief Operations Officer had issues with his heritage, was defensive, and was nearly as much of a workaholic as the Captain. There was an Andorian flight officer who believed that somehow she was at blame for everything that ever happened. On top of all of that, T'Lul needed to find a potential suitor for her pon farr and make her own determination of whether to suppress her emotions again once it was finished.

T'Lul might have talked to Yolanthe, but she seemed rather busy making latinum. Besides, Yolanthe had her own set of issues from being removed from her home and probably being barren. All these problems weighed on T'Lul as she thoughtfully walked into the arboretum.

There, T'Lul spotted another person who had not yet reported in for a psychological exam since the old Chief Counselor left T'Lul with the backlog. She walked up to Annora and raised her hand in the traditional Vulcan salute, "Live long and prosper Lieutenant Tessaro."

As the Vulcan got closer, Annora recognized her as the new chief counselor aboard DS5. Aside from sitting across the table at staff briefings, the two had never interacted. She found the idea of a Vulcan counselor a bit of an oxymoron. How could a species that suppressed their feelings help others? She didn't doubt the woman had completed all the required training, so academically at least she was qualified.

Annora stood up as she returned the greeting. "And to you Doc. How are you this morning?"

"I'm well, Lieutenant. What brings you to the Arboretum at this hour?"

"Just getting in some exercise before the duty day officially starts. Decided to do something a little different and do so in the arboretum rather than the security decks or holodeck. They say it's good to mix up your routine every now and then, helps keep you from falling in a rut."

Who 'they' were, she didn't know. It was one of those pieces of advice that was commonly recited without any regard to the origin.

"Do you believe that you have fallen in a rut?" T'Lul asked curiously. "Or, as you said, is this strictly preventative?"

"Exercise wise? I don't think so. I'd say it's more a preventative measure. You gotta' stay on top of things, especially when working security on a border station."

Seeing as she originally joined the service for the excitement, she couldn't complain too much about the tempo on DS5.

"I see," T'Lul responded. "There certainly does not appear to be a lack of that here, does there? What do you think of the conditions?" she asked open ended to see what Annora's response might be.

"The Conditions?"

It was an unexpected inquiry, but one she answered anyway.

"The living conditions I'm satisfied with. I have the most room I've ever had for my quarters, and there's plenty to see and do on the station when off duty. Working conditions can be a bit chaotic but that's the nature of the beast. There's usually at least one threat to deal with, be it external or internal in nature."

"Do the threats bother you? Or the chaotic working conditions, as you put it? How many hours are you working?" T'Lul wondered, hearing once again how crew-members seemed to put in more time and effort than they should at their jobs. Work-play balance was definitely an issue on this station.

That was a loaded question, from anyone with any sort of authority.
"As I said Doc, when you're in this line of work you come to expect the unexpected. Security concerns don't care much for the time showing on the clock. As for hours, officially it's around 12-14 hours a day. Depends on what's going on. Whenever I'm not dealing with Admin stuff, I try to get in a patrol or two throughout the day, and there's always reoccurring training to run. However, much like when in a combat zone, I'm never fully off the clock. If the Captain decides we need to board a ship at Three in the morning, for example, then I'm going to be involved. As my drill sergeant was fond of saying, 'A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.' At the very least I'm monitoring the situation, if not taking a more active role."

"12-14 on a daily basis? And that's just the official time?" T'Lul responded, quirking her eyebrows. "And if you do more unofficially, when do you have time for yourself?"

Annora motioned to the surroundings. "Times like now. I'm not officially on duty yet. I could sleep in a bit and enjoy a leisurely breakfast but a good run is beneficial in many ways. Although like all senior staff, and many in security, I am on call practically Twenty-four seven. I trust my staff to handle the smaller emergencies when I'm off duty, but if need be I have no problem with them calling me."

She chuckled. "Don't worry Doc, barring a major crisis, I take off at least one day within a 7 day period. Even during the War the Brass did their best to give us some relief. Fatigued soldiers are almost as dangerous as the enemy."

"I am uncertain that a full day off is sufficient given what you have told me," T'Lul responded. "I wonder about the numerous workaholic personalities that I have met on this ship."

"I can't speak for the other departments, but considering recent events I'm sure there's plenty to keep them busy. Aside from the day to day challenges we have the ongoing threat posed by Earth First and their supporters. We've suffered a few losses but there's been no evidence to suggest they were due to an overworked staff. I had an external review conducted a few months ago, but you're welcome to observe the department and make your own suggestions."

In her experience, a voluntary review went over better than one that was mandatory.

"I do not have the authority over your department, per se," T'Lul responded simply. "The Captain and XO have priority over that. But I would not be truthful if I did not say that I am concerned regarding the hours being put in by staff." She then took a moment of silence and in what was an apparent non-sequitur asked, "Are you married or in a committed relationship?"

"Me? No. The life of a career soldier doesn't tend to lend itself well to long term relationships."

So far her posting at DS5 seemed to buck the trend, but old habit's still stuck.

"The mobility of Starfleet can make those things difficult," T'Lul agreed. "But, how long have you been here?"

It wasn't something she'd considered recently, but some quick calculations revealed the answer. "It's going on three years now. Aside from the various training academies, this is the longest I've been in one place."

"And you have had no intimate relations in that time? No companionship?" T'Lul's right eyebrow quirked upwards interested in the answer.

"I never said that Counselor. It's a large station as you know. But don't worry, I'm not a hermit on my off time. Twenty years in uniform teaches you the importance of interpersonal relationships."

It was as much of an answer to the question as she was willing to give.

"That is good to know." The Vulcan gave a nod at Annora. "I know that this has been an informal meeting; however, if you do not mind, I would like this discussion to be utilized for your psychological evaluation. Normally I would not do that, but it has been difficult reaching all the people who are well behind on their exams."

"Works for me Doc. Enjoy your day."

With the conversation wrapped up, Annora headed for the exit. She still had to take a quick shower before the workday officially started.

OFF

A joint post by:

Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
DS5

and

Lt Annora Tessaro
Chief Security Officer
Ds5

 

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