Standard Procedure

Posted on Tue Jan 23rd, 2024 @ 11:04pm by Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai & Lieutenant Axod Qo

Mission: On the Road Again
Location: Emni's Quarters
Timeline: Mission Day 1 at 0000

Stepping out of the shuttle, Axod took in the scenery of the Sojourner's shuttle bay, thinking about the new adventures he was about to embark on. It wasn’t as though he expected much difference from his past experiences, but he was eager to get into things. “Top of the morning.” He said to the duty Ops officer who was greeting new arrivals. “Can you find out where my cabin is? Lieutenant Qo.” He smiled widely.

“Deck Three.” Said the spritely woman, handing him a PADD with specifics. “Would you like someone to escort you?”

“No that will be fine.” Ax said, slinging his worn ruck over his shoulder. “But if you could see that the storage bin on the shuttle make their way up, I’d be forever in your debt.”

The woman nodded and watched the Doosodarian head towards the shuttlebay exit.

Axod wasn’t a natural born navigator, but he could find his way around a ship. Usually. Making his way to Deck Three was the easy part, finding the proper cabin was another story. He went round and round the deck searching for his assigned cabin, before finally discovering it, directly adjacent to the lift he had used to come up.

To say the cabin was lacking in personality would be an understatement, they were positively spartan. A shared living space, two separate bedrooms and a shared head. Ax dropped his ruck near the door and then left to find the ship's XO.

Although Emni knew that it was normal procedure to have the quartermaster sort folks coming off of a shuttle, she wondered if she might have accomplished more by being in the shuttle bay when this particular one had arrived. There had been an on and off stream (ok, just a small handful in truth) of new team members coming to report in to her. And so it was that the sound of the chime sounding in the middle of this exact train of thought made her chuckle and shake her head calling out, "Come in," as she did.

She'd been sitting at the desk, terminal open to the shuttle's list of passengers, reviewing dossier's, but as the doors hissed open she quickly closed it and rose. "Welcome," she said smiling. "You must be our new counselor."

Ax entered the room and took in the image of his Romulan superior. He had never served with a Romulan before, in fact he had only ever seen one Romulan in person. He felt a curiosity that made him want to ask a number of personal questions of the woman. He stopped himself and responded to her. "Yes ma'am. Lieutenant Axod Qo." It was less formal than he knew he should have been, but still he extended a hand to her in greeting.

A low chuckle emanated from the XO's chest as she took the proffered hand and clasped it. The wave of curiosity that had followed Qo in the door was refreshing and reminded her, in an odd way, of a few exchanges she'd had with Karim over the months. A small part of her mind chewed on the thought that he might not ever return to counseling at the current pace of his recovery. "It's a pleasure to meet you," she commented warmly. "And please, no need to stand on too terrible much ceremony here. I was the CMO on this ship before I was the XO. You could say I have a particular appreciation for the work done by the medical team. How was your trip? Can I get you anything to drink?" The last two were asked in rapid succession not giving Axod time to answer the first before the second was uttered.

Axod was surprised by the revelation. "I'm fine, thank you." He said to her offer of refreshments. "I'll say this, I certainly caught up on my sleep en route." He had a smile that stretched widely. "I also had lots of time to catch up on some reading, and get to know some of the other transfers. All in all, it was good to have the downtime." There was a glimmer in his eye. He couldn't help but allow his eyes to wander around the office. You can tell a lot about a person by their personal space and the things they surround themselves with. His eyes still looking around, he asked. "Can you tell me about my predecessors in this role ma'am?"

Inclining her head in acknowledgement, Emni indicated the couch and two chairs by the wall. "Please make yourself comfortable," she said, the warmth of her smile shifting to match Axod's own. She watched as he surveyed the room, curious to see where his eyes lit. In general it was a reasonably spartan room. The kal-toh game she kept on hand for Karim was set up on a table and several of the elements she used for meditation sat within a small shrine-like space in the corner. Decor, however, was fairly pedestrian. She'd been meaning to personalize more, but always seemed to hesitate, as if uncertain how those coming to her quarters for meetings might respond to those glimpses into their executive officer's personality.

Qo made his way to the couch, still taking in the space. His eyes fell on the corner of the room, which to him looked as though it was set up for meditation or prayer. He made a mental note to ask Emni later whether she might be interested in some alternative relaxation techniques he often taught to groups on his ships.

"There's really only been one or two of note," she commented before realizing that a claim such as that might seem odd for such a new ship. She moved to take the open seat, angling herself so that she was facing Axod. "Dr. Bracco, who is still aboard until the next transfer to assist with the transition, has held the position for the larger part of the time here. She's been on loan to us, though, a temporary option after the we lost our counselor during our first mission."

She caught the look on Axod's face and hurried to amend. "They're fine, but were injured and we had barely been out of drydock, so Starfleet was scrambling a bit to help us out. There was a range of experiences in our crew and a core group which had been transferred all together from the USS Adelphi which has since been mothballed. Those from the Adelphi had... some traumatic final experiences on her in our return home and a good counselor was needed." She paused, frowining slightly. "That may not actually have been an answer to your question."

"I've spoken with Dr. Bracco at length. She reached out while I was en route, and she's been very helpful in starting to get me up to speed." Axod said, his eyes now trained on the XO. He crossed his legs. Part of him wanted to gently prod for more information about his permanent predecessor. But based on how she spoke about it, he didn't want her to think he was therapizing her. "What are your overall impressions of the crew, from your standpoint as a medical professional?" He wanted to show that he respected her opinion and her past.

For the briefest of moments she expected he might inquire about Karim. Not a former counselor of the Sojourner, but a former counselor on board and under her care nonetheless, he wasn't exactly a secret and she would have been surprised to learn that Bracco hadn't mentioned him. Perhaps there were no questions to ask there.

Instead of dwelling on this for very long she shifted her thoughts toward his question. "Overall they're a competent group," she commented thoughtfully. "A bit fractured with a such a large change over in the senior crew, but that strikes me as something that can only be sorted with time serving together. The second string," She stopped herself here giving Axod an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, we've come to think of the officers who fill in when the senior crew is incapable with this... affectionate... moniker. Really I'm referring to the assistant department heads and several ensigns."

Ax raised an eyebrow as the nickname. One could understand the affection behind the classification, thought the counsellor in him hoped this wasn't in frequent usage, and certainly not to their faces.

"The Second Stringers are fairly solid as a group. They work well together and have a fairly well established off duty community." Her features neutralized slightly then, shifting toward something less positive, perhaps. "Overall several of our crew have experienced some not insignificant traumas. I think you can expect to uncover those along the way, but it's something that I have always kept an eye on... alongside those overseeing the medical care on this ship of course."

Axod made a mental note of the traumas indicated. Bracco had mentioned similar issues in her notes to him. There was something comforting in knowing that the First Officer of the ship was sympathetic to the Medical department, though her use of the 'Second Stringer' moniker wasn't as comforting. "It's always nice to hear that officers have created a community amongst themselves. I've always been a keen supporter of off duty activities to bring people together." He thought back to his previous assignments, where he spent a lot of time putting together extracurricular activities for the crew to enjoy. Everything from movie nights, to holiday celebrations from different cultures, and even sporting events. Just about anything could bring some fun and excitement to a life of duty.

"Is everything ok Counselor?" Emni asked, her tone gentle, but probing. It was, admittedly, a break in her usual careful control to react to an emotional spike, but if she was going to be able to support Qo well she thought perhaps she ought to have all of her cards on the table as she had once done with Karim.

The Doosodarian smiled, "I'm good." He nodded. "What about you? It feels as though there's something you want to say." He allowed his dark blue eyes to meet her brown gaze. There was something hanging between them, Axod just wasn't sure if it had to do with him or Emni. For a brief moment, he shifted in his seat.

In a distinctly Vulcanesque quirk one of Emni's eyebrows raised, an unspoken sort of curiosity conveyed in the motion. "Not so much something I want to say," she commented before pausing and rethinking. "Or more a matter of disclosure, I suppose. One of the perks," this last word was said with a sort of wry humor, as if calling this thing a perk was amusing and not necessarily in an entirely mirthful way, "of being of mixed races, is that you inherit from both sides. In my case, the part of my DNA that is Betazoid left me with some latent and very low level empathic sense."

Before there was any chance of Axod commenting either in surprise or in confirmation that he knew this already from her medical file she plowed ahead. "We can certainly discuss the ins and outs of that particular skill on another day, but the salient thing here is to point out that I have a sense of people's emotional states and have offered this skill as a support to the counselor of the Adelphi, my last assignment, should it be of any use to you. Commander Karim, the counselor in question, is in fact aboard at the moment, but will be departing with Lieutenant Bracco. So you'll not have to worry about either counselor being in your hair, so to speak."

"But it seems only fair as the caretaker of the ship's mental health that you ought to know I have a unique insight into our crew and, should it be helpful to you, it is at your disposal."

Axod nodded enthusiastically. "I'm very thankful for that offer ma'am. I'm sure it'll will prove invaluable." He smiled warmly. "I must say, I'm really looking forward to my time here." The Doosodarian was getting eager to find his cabin and settle in, not to mention continuing to pour through the mountains of files he still had to get through. "I had wondered what kind of shift rotation the crew currently observes?"

Emni nodded at the question, lacing her fingers together and bracing them on one knee. "We have a three shift rotation here. Small ship and small officer complement means we don't have the right numbers for a four shift rotation." She smiled and gave a small shrug. "Is there anything else you need or other questions you have? Otherwise I hate to keep you from getting settled in."

Qo shook his head as he searched his mind for any further questions he might have. "I think that was all Commander." He shifted in his seat and then pulled himself to a standing position. "I am looking forward to serving together." He extended his hand to her once again, "It was a pleasure meeting you ma'am." He started making a mental list of questions to ask the Commander if they ever spoke again socially, he was vastly curious about her Romulan heritage.

Taking the counselor's hand Emni shook it firmly, a warm smile gracing her features as she did. "The pleasure is mine," she said. "Welcome to the Sojourner."

=/\= A meeting of colleagues by =/\=

Lieutenant Commander Emni t'Nai
Executive Officer

Lieutenant Axod Qo
Ship's Counselor