Understanding the situation

Posted on 11/16/2020 @ 5:11pm by Lieutenant T’Lanna Vali
Edited on on 11/20/2020 @ 5:17pm

Mission: S3E1: Time of Change
Location: XO’s Office
Timeline: Day 80 at 1400

Making her way to the First Officer’s Office, she wanted to speak with those who’d been on the away team with Lieutenant Syndel to get the fullest possible picture of what had occurred. Arriving at the door she pressed the chime and waited for an answer.

Jodon was sitting at his desk catching up on personnel reports while nursing a mug of a warm tumeric latte when the chime to his office broke his concentration. He was not used to having visitors. "Enter," he called out to allow the doors to open.

He was not able to recognize the woman, evidentially with a child in the womb. She did not look familiar at all, not someone that served on the Crazy Horse. "Why hello there," he said pleasantly. "Are you new aboard, lieutenant?" he asked unaware of any new personnel arrivals at least not any lieutenants in medical or science.

T’Lanna smiled warmly. “I am but I’m only here for a short duration, I’m T’Lanna Vali Chief Counsellor and Psychologist from the USS Standing Bear. I’m here as expert witness for the case against Lieutenant Syndel. I was hoping to talk to yourself and Lieutenant Gallagher about what happened.”

"I gave my statements and turned over all information I could to the Starfleet Criminal Investigative Service agents," J.J. explained. He was cautious about disclosing too much. "I can provide you with some information, but I do not want to say or do anything to that would muddy the investigation itself."

“I have no intention of muddying the investigation, I’m here to help if I can. I’m not intending to be on either side, I’m purely impartial in this.” T’Lanna offered a smile. “I’m just trying to get the full picture of what happened, I won’t be swayed by other people’s opinions.”

"Good," he replied simply. "Though I was not alone with the individual. There were other individuals present for the incident, including the ship's Chief Science Officer. I'm afraid I can't be as unbiased as you given what I witnessed."

T’Lanna nodded. “That’s fair enough, all I want to hear is what happened from your perspective.”


Jodon nodded. "Then, I will have the lieutenant come join us," replied the First Officer. Jodon took the necessary actions to request that the Chief Science Officer join them.
--

Lieutenant Kiernan Gallagher made his way slowly down the corridor toward the XO's office. He had been off so he had to change out of his casual attire and into a crisp, clean uniform. Though weeks had gone by, he was still plagued by what happened in the Auction House. That place would be forever printed on his memory. Having Oskar with him was a godsend, especially when he would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, a sheen of sweat covering his lithe form, his chest rising and falling as he gulped for air. He had yet to even figure out why he was still feeling it, but yet here he was. Oskar had encouraged him to see a counselor, but he wasn't ready to do that... at least not yet.

He arrived at the office and took a moment to compose himself. He wiped at his eyes, to swipe away the tears that had formed from the turbolift to the XO's office. He took in a breath, sent up a quick prayer and let the air out of his lungs slowly. He reached for the chime and pressed it to announce his presence.

T’Lanna had sensed Gallagher as he stood outside the door, his emotions were all over the place. As the door opened she was forced to clamp down on her senses, it was obvious he was tormented by what he’d witnessed. “Lieutenant I’m sorry, if you’d rather not talk to me about what you witnessed then that’s fine.” She offered a warm smile trying to help him feel more comfortable.

"It's alright Lieutenant Vali," Jodon shot back with a well intended smile. "I am just disappointed in Syndel" he added as the door chimed. "That should be our Chief Science Officer."

Jodon changed the time of his voice a bit, taking on one that was a tad bit more commanding yet not gruff. "Enter," he called out to Gallagher. When the doorway opened, J.J. stood from his seat. "Lieutenant Gallagher, this is Lieutenant Vali. She's here to question is about Lieutenant Syndel."

The office doors had parted and Kiernan stepped into the small compartment. His blue eyes did a sweep of the place before landing on the individual that Lieutenant Joral had indicated. This Lieutenant Vali wore the uniform that indicated medical or sciences and she wore the same number of pips as he and Joral. That was wear the commonalities stopped because Vali had sported a prominent swell to her belly.

"Alright," Kiernan replied. He stepped forward but didn't go much farther than that.

T’Lanna nodded politely to Gallagher and offered a smile. “Forgive me Lieutenant I didn’t realise you were finding this situation so ... stressful. I promise I won’t make either of you go over your written statements, I just wanted to get a feeling for what happened. I’ve read your reports but I prefer to cover all the bases myself.”

A bit of anger flared before it simmered. This was more than just stressful, it was sickening. "It's not everyday I see a Starfleet officer murder someone in cold blood, so I am more than just stressed." He took a calming breath. "Sorry... sorry..." he apologized, he normally didn't raise his voice in such a fashion, he was typically a soft spoken person. The fact he raised his voice and there was a sharpness to it had even surprised him.

“It’s okay” T’Lanna offered an understanding smile. “May I ask have you spoken to a counsellor about how you feel?”

Kiernan shook his head. "No. I mean, I should, I do know that, it's just..." he trailed off, slightly embarrassed to even go further with his explanation. "It's just that I'm not fully comfortable around Counselor Richards." He wouldn't normally say something like that, but he knew the XO's office would be a safe space to vent such an admission.

T’Lanna nodded it would help to have a counsellor that he was comfortable with. “Is there another Counsellor aboard you can talk to?”

"I... I'm not sure," Kiernan replied. However, he wanted to move on and take the spotlight off himself. If there was another counselor, he would find out... maybe, if not not... well, these things would just have to wait.

"I appreciate you trying to help, lieutenant, but I don't want to make this about me. It's Larissa we should be discussing." He composed himself, at least to the best of his ability. "I saw everything, from start to finish, I was next to her when she shot the guard... I had never seen anything like that before in my life. It didn't take an empath to feel the rage that Larissa was feeling and exhibiting."

“So She was enraged” T’Lanna nodded. “So it was a killing done in a momentary fit of pure anger?”

"Maybe. I mean, I don't think she would have killed the guard otherwise, in fact..." He turned his attention to the executive officer, "you both had stunned the guards before we even found Henri. From what I saw of Syndel, she was composed when she shot the guard the first time." He turned his attention back to the counselor. "I don't want to presume anything. All I know is I declared Henri Bourdeaux was dead, the next thing I know, I'm being pushed aside and after a beat, Larissa changed the setting on her phaser and shot the guard." He shrugged. "It was almost like the anger consumed her soul and when that happened, the world fell away. Short of shooting her, I don't know if any of us could have stopped her."

Jodon nodded listening to what Kiernan had said. He looked over at Lieutenant Vali. "I agree with the lieutenant's recounting of events and assessment of Lieutenant Syndel. Larissa has always been a good officer, but in that moment she broke inside. It is not my place to speculate, but this was an Orion killing an Orion. That may have something to do with it."

T’Lanna nodded, that wasn’t an angle she’d considered. “Thank you, both of you. I can imagine this is very difficult for you both and I appreciate you talking to me about it. In all honesty I’m trying to get an all round view of Lieutenant Syndel and her actions, you’ve both been a great help.”

"You're welcome," replied Jodon. "The Captain and I both have known Syndel to be a good officer. We would not have kept her as Chief Operations Officer if we did not believe she was a fine example of what an officer should be. I've had her on my away teams in the past and she performed admirably. To be completely honest, she was on a recent report I was working on recommending her for promotion to full lieutenant in the near future. Clearly, that no longer is the case."

“That’s such a shame. For someone with so much promise to lose everything in a moment of anger ...” she shook her head.

Kiernan frowned at that. "It really is," he said. "I don't condone what she did, but this is as much of a loss for her. She now will be labeled as a murderer, a moniker that will stick with her for the rest of her days. All because of one stupid mistake."

“Well I thank you both for your honesty, I appreciate you answering my questions.”

Kiernan nodded slowly. He didn't have anything else to say, all he did now was wait to be dismissed by the XO.

"Dismissed," J.J. replied with a nod to his officer.

**

Lieutenant Kiernan M. Gallagher VII, PhD
Chief Science Officer
USS Crazy Horse

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

Lieutenant Jodon Joral
Executive Officer
USS Crazy Horse