Right and Wrong (1/2)

Posted on Tue Jul 14th, 2026 @ 2:13pm by Lieutenant Elara PsyD & Lieutenant Noxe (Cogenitor 125) Tome
Edited on on Tue Jul 14th, 2026 @ 2:43pm

1,160 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: The Fissure
Location: Deck 5 - Counsellor's Office
Timeline: Day 1 Post-Launch

Noxe was nervous, as she usually was before she saw the Counselor. Normally, she'd have seen the one that Starfleet had assigned to her after the Frontier Day events, and then again after the loss of the Pegnitz, and her friends and crew there. She left her quarters after having used the restroom after meeting with Captain Jaro. She had also changed her clothes so she would be more comfortable; jeans, a pink sweater, and sneakers. Simple but comfy and she could also go to the Lounge for dinner after. As she made her way down the hall to the Turbolift and down a few decks, she held carefully to the Ruby Cube (was that he'd said?) as if it were a fragile thing, cupped carefully in her two hands.

She made her way to Counseling and rang the chime with her elbow.

"Hello!" she said, aloud.

Elara sat in a chair to one side as she worked through the pile of PADDs on her desk. Just as she manages to clear one set of patients; it seemed that more seemed to appear. While the majority of her work was once off and sign off; each of those people also required admin time. In a way though; it helped to keep her brain focused.

"Enter." Glancing at the appointment diary on her desk, the counsellor noted the name of her next client before moving to stand. "Lieutenant Tome I assume? Thank you for making the time to see me."

Noxe nodded. "Yes, that's me," she said. She sat, a bit on edge, feet facing the door as if she wanted to run out at any moment. Counseling was difficult for her; she had a lot of trauma from her past, and it sometimes manifested as breakdowns in the Counseling office. But this was her ship and she felt mostly safe here.

"No problem. Thanks for seeing me before launch; I know you're not technically working yet," she said. Noxe herself had leaned a lot on the Station crew to run Ops, only checking in a few times a day while she took the time to get some much-needed decompression time. She spent most of her days in the station's Quarks, reading in the back while drinking her weight in tea.

"Starfleet makes me do this once a week," she said.

"It no problem at all.Why don't you take a seat, can I get you something to drink?" As she indicated to the seating area with a couch and chair to allow patients to pick what was more comfortable, Elara took note of the signs of discomfort in her colleague, remembering what she had read in the woman's file. "I apologise that you are facing building a relationship with a new counsellor. It's not easy when you find a place you're comfortable but have to change it because of all's that's going on around you."

"This is for you. From the Captain," she said. "He said you loaned it to him." She extended her still-cupped hands to show the woman her plastic brain teaser. "Ruby cube, huh?" She said, sitting down.

"And it's OK; I went through three at the Academy," she said. "The other counselor moved on to a different posting; she was with Starfleet Medical but after Frontier Day, of course, we're all..spread out." She explained.

Elara hesitated before taking the outstretched object. She found it strange...this had been Jaro's toy, she had just helped him with putting it together. Why was he offering it to her? "It's a strange object I find. Multiple small cubes fixing together to make a great big cube which then requires focus and concentration to get sides to match. I'm not overly sure what the Captain's obsession with it is. From personal experience I can at least say that no cube brings an individual joy."

The counsellor laughed a little at her attempt at humour, as morib as it might have sounded to an outsider given her own situation. As she placed the toy on her desk, she moved to the replicator, requesting two slightly cooled waters. "You and the Captain served together on your last deployment. It must be nice to have that familiarity coming here?

Noxe smiled. She finally understood a joke. Because the other woman was liberated Borg-made sense she'd hate cubes. She wouldn't like the cheese trays in the Mess Hall, then.

"Yes, we did. It is nice...he's really nice and smart...and uh...a good Captain," she said, stumbling over her words a little. She didn't want to sound like she was in love with him or something, but she also had no bad things to say. She needed to strike a balance. "Honestly, he offered me an out earlier, but....I can't take it. I have no where to go. This ship is my home. Starfleet is the safest place for me right now; there's some unrest on Vissia regarding the fate of my...kind," she said. She took the water gratefully and downed it. "The others have decided to move on, and I don't blame them. I am just glad they let me stay. I know the ship and her systems. I know what she likes, how she moves," Noxe explained.

"Wait, how did you meet the Captain already without checking in?" She asked, confusedly. "I was doing the checkins earlier-to help out Captain Jaro because we don't have a First Officer yet...."

Elara left a glass of the water on the table beside her colleague, smiling a little at the question as she made her way to her own chair. "I've actually been on board for a number of days now. I came ahead of most of the crew because of the urgency in needing to ensure all psych evals were completed before our quadrant move. Starfleet needed to know that the people going would be capable of psychologically enduring the stress being away from familiarity and family would cause."

Settling into her own seat, the counsellor looked over at Noxe. "It sounds like you yourself are having a similar strain if your undertaking work that wouldn't normally fall under you?"

Noxe nodded. "I volunteered..." she said. She usually did things like that. "I just...I like to be helpful..." she said. "I really like the Captain, and Commander Litt, too. They gave me an opportunity that most Starfleet captains wouldn't. One of my instructors told me that they were having trouble placing me. Apparently, they were willing to do it. I didn't want to go to Planitia Utopia, running repair systems all day,"' she said.

"You served with the Captain on the precusor to this ship don't you? It must offer some comfort that the faces around you aren't all brand new." Elara smiled a little as she talked, easing into conversation.

[TBC]

Lieutenant Elara PsyD
Chief Counsellor
USS Amazonia

Lietentant Noxe (Cogenitor 125) Tome
Chief of Operations
USS Amazonia

 

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