Meeting of the Minds

Posted on Fri Jun 13, 2025 @ 11:52pm by Lieutenant T'Lul & Ensign T'Vren

2,518 words; about a 13 minute read

Mission: Time After Time
Location: Chief Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD13 - Late Morning

The first half of the day found T'Vren outside the Chief Counselor's office. The Commodore had requested she meet with her, though T'Vren was not clear what assistance she would be able to offer a counselor. Perhaps there had been issues with the universal translator, given the ambiguous nature of counseling and the number of species and their various cultures, languages and dialects that passed through DS5.

T'Lul had noted the time on the chronometer. She expected that her latest patient, T'Vren would not ring her chime until the precise moment that the appointment was set. Anticipating the issue, T'Lul opened her door and saw T'Vren standing there. "Ensign T'Vren, I have expected you. It is time to conduct your psychological fitness exam." T'Lul excluded any normal words that would be used to calm a non-Vulcan or polite phrases that would make her seem less Vulcan. "Can I interest you in a beverage before we begin?"

"I am not thirsty." T'Vren had made an appointment intending to discuss the Commodore's concern about the counseling department's linguistic needs, not to complete her own counseling intake. It was expected that the intake happen before one took up the responsibilities of a new position, but it was not required. She found counseling to be an inexact field and not of much use, but it seemed unlikely that the Chief Counselor was going to allow her to postpone. The most logical choice was to complete the intake as quickly as possible so that she could continue with her actual work.

"Very well. Take a seat wherever you are comfortable. Tell me what brings you to Deep Space 5, Ensign."

T'Vren blinked and considered the Lieutenant. "My assignment is in my file."

Am I losing my preciseness in this field? T'Lul wondered. "I understand that your assignment is in your file. My language was imprecise. Let me clarify: Tell me about your personal history, including your personal interests, and why you decided to come to Deep Space 5."

"I am a communications officer with a background in linguistics. My first assignment out of the Academy was at the Federation Consulate on Regulus. To ensure staff avoid becoming overly involved with local politics at the expense of the Federation and Starfleet's interests, such postings are limited to a maximum of three years. My term there was nearing its end, and the position on Deep Space 5 was the first appropriate opening to arise. The position allows me to utilize my skills and ensures their growth, so there was no logical reason to decline it."

"Yet, you are still an ensign. That is rather unusual after three years. Can you explain that?"

"Two and a half," T'Vren corrected. "Consulate staff transfer somewhere between two and three years. Such postings offer little chance for promotion if you are outside the Diplomatic Corps. But it is more logical to focus on the advancement of one's skills than one's rank."

"Why do you believe that is more logical?" T'Lul asked, tilting her head slightly to the side believing that this was an interesting point to discuss.

"A promotion is the purview of Starfleet, and therefore dependent on factors I cannot control, and which vary in my ability to influence," T'Vren said. "By contrast, development of my skills lies entirely within the choices I make."

"The promotion may be the purview of Starfleet, but it is a reflection of your efforts. Also, with greater rank comes greater privileges and more freedom to make choices as to your own self-improvement. As an ensign, you are at the whim of anyone higher ranked, and there are a great many higher ranked."

"As my primary interest is in the linguistics side of Communications, advancement would likely reduce my chances to expand my skills by placing me in an administrative role." Fussing over one's rank struck T'Vren as a waste of time and energy better put towards other endeavors. For instance, the time spent on this discussion could be used to examine Xi'Cadian, as the Commodore had requested of her.

"Yet you are now one of the Assistant Chiefs of Operations. By your logic, you should have less time to do what you desire. Yet, I suspect that you will have more. I believe that you should reexamine your logic."

"If I am Assistant Chief of Operations, it would appear that focusing on my skills rather than advancement has not had a negative impact on my career. However, rank is not an adequate measure of usefulness. Were the station's plumbing to be damaged, the repairs would fall to enlisted crew members, and we would find their work more vital than any officer."

"You do not know the position for which you are assigned? And you are not the only Assistant Chief of Operations. Ace Cannon is the other."

"I am quite aware of my position. I had intended it as an if-then statement of basic logic, but perhaps I should have phrased it 'As I am' rather than 'if.' In truth, it is not clear to me what relevance my rank has to my psychological fitness."

"It has little to do with your psychological fitness. However, the discussion reveals much about you. Though, I am surprised that someone as precise as yourself would make such a careless error as stating, 'if' rather than 'as I am.' I must wonder why that is."

"I would not call it a mistake. The if-then structure is common across multiple languages. However, language is an organic structure and as such some ambiguity is inherent." T'Vren considered T'Lul. "If you are attempting to provoke a response from me, I would request you cease. It is.... tedious."

The Counselor nearly smiled. It was something she had been working on to make her patients feel comfortable. However, she knew if she did that, she would lose all credibility with T'Vren. "I am perplexed why you find testing logic to be tedious."

"I am not here to test logic. I am here to complete my psychological fitness exam. You have admitted that this topic has nothing to do with my psychological fitness. The only reason I can hypothesize for pursuing an irrelevant topic during a psychological exam would be to determine if you are able to provoke an emotional response such as annoyance from me. However, I recognize that psychology is not my field of study, so if there is an alternative explanation, I would request that you share it."

T'Lul countered, "I do not believe that I said it has nothing to do with your psychological fitness. I said it 'has little to do with' it. However, I am beginning to believe that this avenue has been particularly interesting and I find it does have more to do with your fitness than I originally conjectured."

Would it be speciest to request a non-Vulcan counselor when she, herself, was a Vulcan? Betazoids had some fascinating grammatical constructions to indicate a verbal response to telepathic information. "Please explain why my rank is of relevance to my fitness to do my job."

"Why do you switch the topic?" T'Lul asked. "I was referring to your imprecise language and your insistence that I said things which I clearly did not. Your reactions to my questions, while you claim that I am trying to provoke an emotional response, are doing just that. I wonder why my questions bother you so, or as you say, 'are tedious' to you?"

"I have not changed the topic. I asked the relevance of my rank to my psychological fitness, and you admitted it was of little relevance and in your follow up statement claimed to be 'testing logic' despite your failure to recognize the most basic if-then structure of logic when stated by implication rather than by declaration. I recognize that this is your work; however, it takes time away from my own work, and, as such, yes, I do find it tedious. So, I again ask the relevance because if you are unable to explain its relevance, I would request we move on."

"Your work is not as great as the crew's safety. So, while your desire is noted, we will continue on the path that I have set, as tedious as this might be to you."

And still she did not answer T'Vren's question. And for someone who was so concerned with T'Vren's "imprecise" language, her use of "great" was vague. Contextually, she likely meant great as in importance or value, as size, intensity, or quality would be an unlikely metric by which to compare work and safety. There was the question of how one measured the value of safety. Vulcans often said that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, but that was contingent upon assuming that needs of each were comparable in quality but not in size. Ferengi had a great number of terms to denote the value of non-tangibles that allowed one to distinguish between the value of one's own safety and the safety of others as reflected by the value of the potential lose of the relationship should the secondary subject take offense at the value placed on their safety. They also had words for unavoidable expenditures. "Very well. Continue."

"Why do you believe that you are qualified for the second Assistant Chief of Operations position?" T'Lul prodded.

"Staffing at a consulate is minimal. Other than overlapping with my predecessor and successor to avoid interruption of duties, I was the entire Communications department. We had a single Chief officer overseeing the entire support staff, and when he was unavailable, we were expected to maintain operations to his standards, necessitating a high level of familiarity with administrative policies concerning both Communications and all other aspects of Operations, as well as familiarity with the duties of the Consular staff."

"Still, a big role for an ensign to fill. Have you met with Ace Cannon yet?"

Once more with the fixation on her rank. Had T'Vren refused the Consulate position and requested a more traditional posting, she would likely hold the rank of Lt. Jg., while also possessing fewer skills. "I have not yet had a chance to meet with Lieutenant Cannon, though of course I do plan to do so."

"I would suggest that you do," T'Lul answered simply. "If you think that I am tedious, your opinion may change with your co-Chief. I do not know why you did not go to him first."

"This is how the scheduling worked out." T'Vren was skeptical of T'Lul's assessment. Would Lieutenant Cannon be as fixated on her rank as the counselor? Besides, humans tended to make a fascinating use of colloquialisms and idioms. Their everyday use of language rivaled the poetry of some cultures.

In other words, Ace had some conquest and pushed T'Vren here so he could finish doing whoever he was doing. T'Lul thought to herself. "I see," she responded simply. "You mentioned that your specialty is communications. Do you have any other skills that make you qualified for the Assistant Chief Ops position?"

“Communications is not, itself, a singular skill set,” T’Vren said. “Many of the skills I utilize there also have application to department leadership. Like all graduates of the Academy, I was required to show that I had the skills to oversee enlisted crew members. And I have found that the tenets of logic are applicable to all positions. Still, as the poets have said, ten years to sharpen a sword. It would be irrational to think I have nothing left to learn.”

"Indeed," T'Lul responded neutrally. "But how will you handle those people underneath you who do not function solely on logic? Those, who say, may have a 'gut feeling'?"

"I am now curious as to what you think Consulate service consists of," T'Vren said. "It is a very human phrase. 'Gut feeling.' The intestines of many species have a high number of nerve cells, but few would make use of such a vernacular to describe it. I have found that they mainly use it to describe the concept that I believe psychology calls 'thin-slicing.' In which case, one must consider if there is evidence to disapprove their assertion, as well as their ability to find evidence supporting it."

"You are correct, 'gut feeling,' is a human phrase. I prefer the phrase to 'thin slicing.' Psychology has proven that those who 'have a gut feeling' about something on very little evidence is often more accurate than decisions made with a plethora of information. So, I am curious, how would you reconcile that? How do you dig for such evidence if such a being cannot explain it themselves?"

"There can be no definitive answer to that question, as it is not a defined question. Each situation must be evaluated individually, as each situation is unique." T'Vren remembered something her Academy roommate had once pointed out. "Indeed, if things could universally be reduced to logic, all Vulcans would eat nutrient paste designed to exactly meet our needs. We do not. Is a preference an emotion?"

"And once again, someone has proven my dissertation. Logic cannot be used to solve all problems. It is something that you should remember if you are going to be a department head."

T'Vren had never said that logic could solve all problems. She had said it was applicable to all positions. And while she had not read T'Lul's dissertation, she had her doubts about its interpretation of Surak's works. It was illogical to believe that a language had not shifted in its nuances in 2000 years, yet many Vulcans persisted in mouthing the words of Surak's writings without studying the pre-Awakening context of them. During her last posting, she had been able to obtain a Romulan collection of pre-Awakening Vulcan poetry. The differences in interpretation were fascinating, showing both the common roots of both languages as well as how they had diverged. Though it seemed unlikely T'Lul would be interested. "Are we done?"

If T'Vren were not Vulcan, T'Lul would conclude that T'Vren was impatient. Vulcan or not, it was clear that T'Vren did not want to be here and could not understand the value of the advice that she was imparting upon T'Vren. She took a deep breath. While T'Lul had her concerns about T'Vren and her ability to lead, there was nothing that prevented her from going on duty. "Yes, for now."

T'Lul was the first Vulcan counselor T'Vren had encountered within Starfleet. The session had been unusual, seemingly more about T'Lul using T'Vren to prove some point to herself about logic than anything else. The mandatory counseling sessions were always an activity of little interest to T'Vren, and she had heard similar views from other Vulcans at the Academy. But this was what Vulcan counselors were like, next time she would request a non-Vulcan. They, at least, were not inclined to lecture her like an inexperienced child who had never interacted with anyone off the Vulcan homeworld.

Ens. T'Vren
Assistant Chief Operations Officer - Communications
DS5

Lieutenant T'Lul
Chief Counselor
DS5

 

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