Making a start

Posted on 11/09/2020 @ 9:16am by Lieutenant T’Lanna Vali & Lieutenant JG Siobhan Richards PhD
Edited on on 11/20/2020 @ 5:23pm

Mission: S3E1: Time of Change
Location: Counsellor’s Office
Timeline: Day 80 at 0900

Having arrived on Earth T’Lanna had settled into guest quarters and freshened up. It felt strange not to be onboard the Standing Bear but she’d be home again soon enough. Changing into a maternity uniform that fitted her seven month bump she picked up a PADD for notes and took a shuttle up to the USS Crazy Horse to see the ships Counsellor Lieutenant Richards. She hoped she wouldn’t be interrupting her shoreleave. It didn’t take long to reach her destination, pressing the door chime she waited for an answer.

Siobhan was sitting behind her desk, not expecting anyone and working on the reports about the progress with colonists. Things were finished and colonists were safely transferred to their destination. However, with the transfer to the new ship, as after-action, there was still a lot to process through and analyze to improve things in the future. The chime pulled her out from her thoughts as she was scrolling over another report. "Enter" She called releasing the lock on the door and as the door opened, she put the mug with half-finished coffee down on the desk and watched an unknown to her woman enter. "Welcome, Lieutenant. I don't think we've met. I am Counselor Richards. What can I do for you?"

T’Lanna subconsciously tucked her hair behind her pointed Vulcan ears as smiled. “I’m T’Lanna Vali, Psychologist and Counsellor from the USS Standing Bear. I’m here as expert witness in the case against Lieutenant Syndel. I was hoping you could give me some insight into the Lieutenant?”

"Crazy Horse, Standing Bear, Sitting Bull... I wonder if there is a Lying Cat." Siobhan commented lightly, pressed the button on the console to turn on sleep mode of the computer, and stood up. "Can I get you anything?" She picked the mug approached the replicator and put it for disintegration.

“A fruit juice would go down a treat please.” T’Lanna smiled warmly as she supported her back with her hand. Her bump was putting some strain on her back muscles, she made a mental note to arrange some strengthening exercises when she got back to the ship.

Siobhan ordered a glass of fruit juice and a glass of water and picking them up nodded toward the sofa, with two armchairs around the coffee table, in the corner opposite to the desk.
"Please, sit down. When are you due?" She asked with a warm smile.

“Well I’ve suddenly shot up to seven months ...” T’Lanna gave Siobhan a grin as she took a seat and made herself comfortable. “Long story short, we encountered aliens who kidnapped crew and experimented on them myself included. The result being I went from four months to seven in a matter of a few minutes! I’m still getting used to it! our ship’s Doctor was helping with the removal of some extra implants I sprouted, it all went pear shaped from there.” She sipped her drink. “So to answer your question ... around two to three months.”

"Congratulations." Siobhan said. "I hope everything will go smoothly. Do you know the sex?"

T’Lanna nodded. “A boy, I’m very much looking forward to him being born.” She smiled excitedly.

"That's wonderful!" Siobahn commented. "Shouldn't you be on light duty? This case might be quite stressful."

“It’s a case of having to cope” T’Lanna paused to sipped her juice before putting the glass down. “It seems the Standing Bear is the only ship within range that has a psychologist onboard. Plus I’ve worked with JAG before.”

Siobhan nodded slightly.
"All right, lieutenant. Before we proceed, there is a matter I would like to keep confident. It could be considered as indirectly connected but not related or part of your investigation. I feel I should share it with you but I will do so only if you promise it will be off the record and not part of the trial."

T'Lanna nodded. "If it's not connected to the trial then it will stay totally confidential. That I promise you."

Siobhan was satisfied. She expected something along those lines but wanted to be sure it would be clear.
"Lieutenant Syndel and I had quite intensive sexual encounter and we were planning to make it a regular thing." She explained. "I think in the light of law that might consider me biased, though I can assure you it does not have any bearing on favoring someone or not."

T’Lanna nodded. “Who She is or isn’t with doesn’t, in my opinion, have any bearing on the case ahead. I’m only here to see you in regards Lieutenant Syndel’s state of mind. I need to know whether, in your opinion, she’s a stable individual or if there’s anything that might sway the case against her. Don’t worry about bias, I’ll sense if you’re hiding anything or not telling me the whole truth.”

"Very much stable." Siobhan replied. "Impulsive yes. So what happened could be reflection of that impulsive nature, but you don't become a lieutenant without facing enough challenges that teach you how to deal with weaker sides of your character."

“That’s true.” T’Lanna nodded. “So in your opinion, off the record, what do you think went wrong? A simple error of judgement or more than that?”

"Unless there were pharmacological factors, or she was injured, or Lieutenant Syndel was in a romantic relationship with Master Chief Boudreaux, I have no idea." Siobhan said after a moment of contemplating.

T’Lanna nodded. “That’s what I was afraid of” she sighed. “I’m trying to find a reason why the Lieutenant would do this, right now it’s looking worrying to say the least, but I will do my upmost to help.”

Siobhan nodded.
"What I can also say... You probably should look into the mission itself and its leadership. It could be a factor in the outcome of it." Siobhan said thoughtfully. "For example, the mission goal and the exact plan of the mission I learned after the mission started. I was ill-dressed for it, as apparently I should be in civilian clothes and yet, I was in my uniform. No one informed me about it, no one checked that before the mission started. Lieutenant Joral made even a joke on the shuttle on the need to improve of his communication skills." She shook her head. "Unable to change I had to offer to stay behind and guard two civilians we captured to not jeopardize the mission." Siobhan pointed out. "That begs the question, was the lack of my presence at the later stage of the mission a contributing factor in Syndel's case? Another question I could ask, what if the XO failed to communicate with Lieutenant Syndel clearly as well, causing her to draw the wrong conclusions leading to killing a man?"

"I can only speak from my own perspective, but this is the first time I see a lieutenant being the XO. That rank suggests lack of experience in high-tier command role." Siobhan finished. "I am too short on board of the ship to have a stand on the matter, but I do find it questionable and also unfair to Lieutenant Syndel.”

T’Lanna nodded. “Thank you, that gives me another perspective to look at. I appreciate you talking the time to talk to me.”

"Anything else I can help you with?" Siobhan offered.

T’Lanna shook her head. “No, I think you’ve answered all the questions I had.” She smiled politely as she got to her feet ready to leave. “Thank you.”

Siobhan smiled. "Thank you as well.”

A post by:

Lieutenant Siobhan Richards
Ship's Counselor
USS Crazy Horse

Lieutenant T’Lanna Vali
Chief Counsellor/ Expert Witness
USS Standing Bear