Meeting the Counselor

Posted on Tue Oct 13th, 2020 @ 6:43am by

Mission: Season Two - Incidentals
Location: Counselor's Office

Frank returned to the ship from his meeting with the Commodore. An Ensign Doe had already boarded the Pennsylvania and was to become the crew's counselor. As someone who would be assessing and assisting his personnel he felt a personal responsibility to go and meet the new Ensign and to welcome them to his ship.

Walking purposefully he arrived quickly to the Counselor's Office adjacent to her quarters. He stepped in to the office to inspect things to make sure they were prepared for her arrival, he was hoping to make a good impression since she would be with the ship for awhile.

He was greeted by the sweet smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies. They sat upon a platter on the office table still radiating there warmth. It was accompanied by a vase of colorful flowers and on the wall behind the couch was a poster with the image of a frog getting swallowed by a pelican. The fronts hands were clamped in a firm grip around the birds throat. The caption "just hang in there" was scrawled across the bottom.

Jane came in a similar poster of snowflakes having been retrieved from her personal stockpile. Each had been given to her by various friends throughout her training. They all had a deep meaning for her. She stopped surprised to see the unexpected guests. "Hello Captan, what a pleasure to get to meet you. I would have reported to you sooner however the quartermaster informed me that you were absent from the ship." Shed moved while she spoke setting the poster down she scooped up the plate of cookies and approaching him she asked. "Would you like a chocolate chip cookie? And please if you like find a comfortable place to sit."

"Thank you," Frank said as he took a cookie and sat down. "I know you're setting up your office, and I hate to intrude but I wanted to meet you instead of summoning you to my Ready Room or my office. I prefer to meet my crew in their spaces as it were. Don't tell the First Officer, but I hate being stuck on the bridge all of the time."

"Your secret is safe with me. This is our safe space." She said with a wink. She sat the cookies down on the table in front of him. Then she headed to the replicator her voice trailing back to him from over her shoulder as she moved. " Would you like something to drink?" She asked.

"Coffee, would be fine Counselor," Frank replied. "I'm glad the quartermaster was able to get you settled in so quickly, is there anything you need?"

"You mean besides the trust of the crew?" Jane asked her voice full of mirth as she set about getting a coffee tray laid out instead of meddeling with the replicator. Someone from engineering had just done a test of sorts on the systems in the room and informed her that due to repairs being done that she could expect a few minor things to happen including but not limited to power drops or outages, so on and so forth followed by a verbal quiz on how to escape the room in the event that there should be an emergency and the power was off. Where she should report too. Pair that knowledge with coffee caffeine intake and Jane was sure she could survive just about anything. She put cream, sugar, lemon, and the pot of thick black coffee on the tray. "So Captian is there anything on your mind aside from the obvious?" She asked sweetly as she set the cups and napkins and spoons on the tray as well.

Taken aback Frank wasn't sure how to answer. Usually before meeting with a counselor he had time to prepare himself and sh caught him by surprise. "I guess just the obvious at the moment. My crew has sustained losses, so manning is not 100% the ship took Major damage and will most likely not be fully functional when we depart. So I have a lot on my plate and feel guilty about not seeing my wife and daughter as much, but they understand why, so I guess I'm lucky there."

"It is great that they are understanding. It's in these times of high stress though that we need to often times remind those important to us that they too are a priority. Perhaps you should make some time, a meal maybe set it aside for family time? You have very capable officers and crew that can keep the ball rolling for a little while as you take care of yourself and your loved ones." She suggested as she took a seat on the couch near him and began to serve out the beverage. "So before I get into asking you how I can be of help to you. First I have to ask you the deep questions first." She smiled over at him. "Such as do you take cream and sugar?"

Frank chuckled, "No thank you, black is fine. Before this incident we had found a planet and we named it Tabula Rasa, it is Latin for New Beginnings. Arianna, my wife, and Hannah a girl we adopted spent some time on the beach there. It was so refreshing to take off the captain's had for a time and just be a husband and father. With my wife being the Chief Engineer we are both busy right now but we've been able to meet up for dinners with Hannah and we rotate lunches. I am being quite talkative Counselor, forgive me."

Jane handed him one of the steaming cups of roasted bean juice. She absolutley loved the smell of coffee. It was such a happy smell in her opinion. "Talk all you like sir. I enjoy it I promise." She responded with an encouraging smile as she added cream to her own cup gingerly.

"Unfortunately I don't have much time today,Counselor," Frank said before taking a sip of his coffee. "We have a lot going on and I'd like to set something up where we could talk more in the future. In the meantime I would like to get my senior staff in here to speak with you, especially Doc Trallos. He saw a fair amount of death a few days and I want to make sure he is ok."

"That's understandable. I have a sluth of files that I need to attend to imedently as it is. So let's give it a day or two and I will check in with you for a more agreeable time stamp." Jane said with a soft sigh. Yes she understood. "However should you need me in the meantime please do not hesitate to call me. I know right now the work load is keeping you busy and you and your family seem to have a good support network in place. Still your ship has suffered serious losses and my door is always open. If only for a friendly chat and some coffee."

"Thank for your time and the coffee, I appreciate both. I need to get back to my office and review the Ops and Engineering Reports. If I can do anything for you while you're aboard just ask," Frank said as he stood up. "Welcome Aboard Ensign, I'm glad to have you here, I just wish it were under different circumstances."

Jane had also gotten to her feet. "It was my pleasure sir. Just remember that I am here to help you as well." She offered her hand to him.

Frank shook her hand, "Thank you Ensign, I will be back." Frank nodded to the Ensign pleased she was already making herself at home. He stepped out of her office feeling better, because he had been successful at obtaining help for his crew.

Jane watched him go glad to have had the opportunity to meet the Captain. He seemed to have a good strong support system in place. Still she made a mental note to check in with him again soon.


Captain Frank Kamar
Commanding Officer

Ensign Jane Doe
Counselor