Messages

[[Counselor's Office]]

[USS Discovery - Deck 9 - Counselor's office]

What Tess heard was slightly concerning to her doctor's brain. But that part was not in the foreground right now so she refrained from commenting in any way. She tried a small smile this time but it came out more like a grimace.

When Jess carefully started to broach the topic Tess started to worry her lower lip with her teeth, something she did when she was nervous or uncomfortable. She nodded slightly at what she said towards the end.

"I'm familiar with counseling", Tess replied quietly. "Both from my training - I'm a doctor - and from personal experience. I had a couple of counseling sessions back on Katra station via video." As she spoke her voice was very soft.

[Counselor's Office]

Jess offered a small nod before she spoke. "Good. Then you're not starting from scratch. I want you to know before we begin that this office is always open to you assuming I don't have a patient. If you ever just need a quiet place to sit and get away from everything else you're safe here. If you need me, even after hours, you can page my comm badge and I'll be happy to come and meet you wherever you'd like." She shifted slightly, clasping her hands in her lap. "Even if all you need is a good cup of coffee. I have a secret stash of actual coffee beans I've sourced from Ethiopia and Sumatra. I try to pick them up when I visit home because it's much better than the stuff you get out of a replicator. No matter what you need I'm always happy to be here to help."

Jess' posture relaxed slightly as she shifted to put her left elbow on the armrest. "You mentioned Katra station, you were stationed there yeah? What was that like?"

[[Counselor's Office]]

Vila tried to keep her tone in check. This woman was trying to help....

"Thank you." She sat, but not all the way. She sat at the edge of the chair, legs straight-body language ready to flee.

"I think that's a good thing-not forming a first opinion. I'll try to keep an open mind, as well. So...yes, I was ordered here. I have...personality issues," she said. "I just...I don't understand why it's so important to everyone that I make friends. Can't I just do my job and go back to my quarters and be left alone?" She asked. "That's all I want-to be left alone. I have plenty of friends, I don't need more. I have....my ex-husband has reappeared in my life, too. I don't know why. I don't know how. I just...I can't function like this anymore. Too many people who are in my business. In the militia, they left us mostly alone, in groups of three to five, to do our work and go home."

She stopped speaking...she hadn't really meant to reveal so much just yet.

[Counselor's Office]

Jess smiled slightly as she took a seat at a distance that indicated that she was there but not a threat. She could tell that the Bajoran felt like she overshared. "I'll let you in on a secret. We all have personality issues. Some of us just hide it. My job wouldn't exist if that wasn't the case. We have to embrace that about ourselves. For instance, I have a serious tendency to use work as a crutch to avoid putting myself in uncomfortable situations. But it's important to push ourselves sometimes out of our comfort zones."

The counselor leaned back in her seat and crossed her legs. "Why do you think it is that you want to be left alone? Do you think it's a habitual thing or avoiding uncomfortable situations?"

[[Counselor's Office]]

[USS Discovery - Deck 9 - Counselor's office]

Tess was glad that the counselor didn't directly jump at her with the topic of why she was here. Although she didn't have it in her to reply to her light remark or even do as much return a small smile, the tension in her muscles left her a little before Jess offered her a spot to sit and get her something to drink. She walked to one of the chairs she figured would be for the patients and sat down.

"No, nothing for me right now, thank you", she said quietly. She sat in the chair leaned forward, her legs together and her hands squeezed in between them. Anyone who saw her likely wouldn't believe that she was a former Starfleet Captain who got through some quite nasty battles in the past.
She looked at Jess and then - almost as an afterthought - gestured to the meal sitting on her desk.

"Please, feel free to have your meal, I don't mind that at all. I didn't meant to interrupt you."

[Counselor's Office]

Jess made her way over to the couch near where Tess was sitting and sat. "Oh don't worry about that. My brain has a way of acting like food doesn't exist and isn't a requirement anymore when I'm working. When I was doing my master's I would regularly get in bed after classes and work on my thesis to realize I hadn't eaten for the full day. At least I don't do that to myself anymore." She cut herself off before she could add "usually" to the end of that sentence.

The counselor's smile softened as she continued. "So you're aware, I'm loosely aware of what you're dealing with. I had considered reaching out several times to let you know my door was always open even without an appointment. I don't know if you're familiar with counseling but know this is a completely safe space. I may ask follow-up questions, but you control the conversation."

[[Counselor's Office]]

[USS Discovery - Deck 9 - Counselor's office]

Tess stood in front of Ensign Willard's office. The tears in her eyes had not yet dried completely as she raised her hand to chime the door bell. With slight embarrassement she thought back to her breakdown at the doctor's appointment just minutes ago. It had been a check-up Tess had requested because she had been in pain, which was nothing unusual so short after the miscarriage happened. Rayek had insisted that he comes with her, but Tess had declined his offer but asked him to stay with Fvienn. She didn't want their son to be looked after by someone else again, but that he had the comfort of a parent. She could see that Rayek didn't like it, but he respected her wishes.
During the doctor's appointment then, she had a complete breakdown which promtped the doctor to book a last-minute counseling session for her. Tess didn't really want to go, but the doctor was adamant. Deep down Tess knew that was a sound decision, but she didn't really feel like talking right now. On her way to the office - it was just a couple of doors down the corridor on the same deck - she informed Rayek of her new appointment. She had tried to make her voice sound normal and not like she had cried violently just minutes before, but he likely picked up on it anyway.

Taking in a deep breath, she waited a moment longer until she heard the permission to enter. She did so and slowly walked into the room. She moved hesitantly, almost like a deer that would turn and run any second. She had her arm wrapped across her middle section, her right hand glutching her left arm as her eyes found Ensign Willard at her desk. Tess had only been on the ship for a couple of weeks, and she here as a civilian, but since she had been pregnant, she had visited the sickbay often and in passing had seen the counselor on the deck, but never spoken to her.

Tess noticed the meal on the desk and realized she likely had interrupted her lunch. Oh, great.

[Counselor's Office]

Until this moment Jess hadn't looked to see who the new appointment was for. In her panic that escaped her entirely. As she saw a face she'd only seen in passing she glanced down at the new appointment on her calendar to confirm. Her eyes returned to Tess and followed her gaze until she realized the woman had taken note of her lunch. A soft airy laugh passed her lips quietly. "I apologize, I breezed through school quite easily but there was one thing I could never quite figure out and that was time management." Jess said lightly.

A friendly smile spread across the counselor's face as she made her way out from behind her desk. Of course, she had noticed that the woman had been crying but simply acted like she didn't. "You're Tess, right? It's nice to finally meet you. You can call me Jess, counselor, doc, or whatever you'd like. Have a seat anywhere you'd like. Is there anything I can get you? Tea, coffee, cookies?" Her head tilted to the right slightly as she waited for the response. Jess had heard the gist of what she assumed brought the other woman to her office. Truly, she was simply glad that Tess was open to talking about it.

[[Couselor's Office]]

Counselor's Office

Vila really, REALLY didn't want to be here, but she had no other options. She knew if she didn't at least appear to be doing things to help herself, the powers that be would recommend her to have her commission taken away, and that would be WORSE than whatever this held.

She walked into the office, but didn't immediately sit. She was too keyed up-she was always tense, and on high alert. Some counselors before had called her neurotic. She called it prepared for danger.

"I am Ens. Lorut Vila. You can call me Vila," she said. "Most people do. My ex-husband was human and could never quite get the hang of the Bajoran naming customs," she said. "I assume you've had a chance to read my file? Hopefully you'll be better than the last counselor the Fleet forced me to see," she said. That woman had been incompetent at best-an abject failure at worst. Vila didn't trust counselors much, and doctors? Even less.

[Couselor's Office]

Jess smiled at the woman softly and nodded her head to acknowledge the woman. "Vila. A lovely name. It's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Jess, doc, counselor, or whatever makes you feel most at ease." She said warmly. "I did...skim your file. But only skim. I find usually reading someone's file too intently can cause you to form expectations for a patient before you even meet them and those do nothing but get in your way."

The counselor paused a moment before shifting the subject slightly. "I want to set an expectation for these sessions with you. You've been ordered to be here, I understand that can be frustrating for many. While it is my want to help you, I also want you to feel comfortable here. Never feel pressured to talk about things with me. I have snacks and tea on standby, if you ever don't want to talk we can just sit and drink some tea together." A sudden realization that they were both standing occurred to her causing her to imperceptibly jump. She motioned to the furniture in the middle of the room before speaking again. "Speaking of comfort, have a seat. Would you like tea while I'm up?"

[[USS Discovery (still docked at DS9 - just prior to leaving for Katra) - Counselor's officer]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[USS Discovery (still docked at DS9 - just prior to leaving for Katra) - Counselor's officer] (Last day of his bereavement leave)

A week of mourning was not enough - that was his overall feeling as he approached the counselor's office exactly on time for his appointment.

Tess' miscarriage resulting in the loss of their unborn daughter whom Tess and he had named Lacendt meaning 'tiny' during a naming ceremony earlier that week, had hit the Romulan First Officer hard and had him questioning if remaining in Starfleet was the right thing for him.  He wanted to do what he could to protect his family and he was torn as to what that looked like.

He didn't trust planets to be any safer than a ship.  Tess' experience on Ba'ku and the destruction of Romulus only proved that.  But the loss of Lacendt had him wondering what, if anything, he could have done to protect her on the ship.

He knew Tess didn't blame him.  He blamed himself.

Rayek's stopping in front of the counselor's office doors activated the door chime inside, and the Romulan waited for the doors to open.

As he waited he ran a hand over his recently washed hair.  He had let his grooming lapse over the week and only made himself presentable at the very last moment before this session.  He hoped he had trimmed his weeks worth beard evenly.  He needed this session to go well.

When the doors eventually opened, years of training had the Romulan looking over the room as he stepped in, assessing it for other exits, threats and individuals within.   There was just the Counselor.

Rayek inclined his head in polite greeting. "Counselor."

Despite having experienced years of counseling both with Dr. Eastman, and Counselor Beja, each counselor seemed to have their own method of conducting session, so Rayek was a little uncertain as to where Counselor Willard preferred to greet her patients.

There was a chair by her desk; but the dominant furniture in the room was a livingroom set of sofa, chairs and coffee table.   Rayek by-passed these to head to the seat by the desk first, where he sat to get the formalities of the counseling session over with before delving into his issues.

[Councelors Office]

Jess's eyes scanned the man slightly as he entered the room. They had only met shortly before and admittedly there wasn't a "getting to know you" time. "Commander. It's good to see you." Her eyes watched him as he went to the chair by her desk. "So that's where we're doing this?" It always fascinated her to see where patients went first. Silently she followed him, taking her own seat behind her desk. Jess subtly relaxed her posture as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs under the desk. A small sympathetic but inviting smile appeared on her face as she began to speak. "Before we get any further, how would you like to be addressed? While you are technically a superior - many patients prefer being referred to by their name rather than rank in sessions."

[[Counselor's Office]]

[Counselor's Office]

Jess had arrived at her office earlier than usual for once. She'd had so much on her plate between consults with other counselors and her new patients she'd neglected time to do the basic admin part of her job. Finally, she was taking time to get caught up. Almost half an hour later she'd made serious headway on getting caught up with the paperwork of her job. Unfortunately for her, she'd gotten lost in her work and when the chime sounded at the door it made her jump slightly. She glanced at the time, then her schedule, then the door. A first-time patient first thing in the morning. She stood and called out for Vila to enter the room as she made her way over to the chair on the far side of the room.

[[Counselor's Office]]

[Counselor's Office]

Jess had once been told that the life of a counselor on a Starfleet ship could be frustrating because crew members would regularly resist getting counseling. She now realized that the person who said that was a dirty filthy liar if the Discovery's crew was indicative of anything. She at least managed to schedule a lunch this time...for once. She was on the final appointment of the day so she made her way over to the chair on the far side of the room as the door chime chirped. "Come in." She called out as she took her seat.

[[Counselor's Office]]

[Counselor's Office]

Jess sat at her desk, finally a moment. She took a deep breath in now that she had a moment free to eat. One thing she'd never gotten a handle on was scheduling. She'd managed to schedule out her entire day and never even gave a gap for herself to get lunch. But she was following her passion for helping people so to her it was worth it. She stood, her stomach grumbled, and almost as if in harmony the door chirped. She froze for a moment not really grasping why. That's when her calendar caught her attention. A new appointment had been added without her knowledge. She supposed food would have to wait for now. She really needed to talk to someone about scheduling things for her so she stopped scheduling days to where she had no open time.

[[Counselor's Office]]

[Counselor's Office]

Jess checked through her calendar notes to see what was on her schedule today. Barring some act of god or borg her schedule was packed for the day, but her first appointment of the day fascinated her. It was rare that a command officer had the motivation for counseling, and even more rare that they had the time for it. It made her perk up a little, she was glad the first officer was making time to take care of their own mental health. That's when she noticed when her first appointment of the day was to start. It was only 15 minutes away. Quietly she began clearing her desk in preparation for the appointment. More than likely they wouldn't be around the desk at all but instead, they'd probably meet using the furniture in the middle of the room; but she still didn't want any clutter on her desk for when the first officer entered the room.

[[USS Discovery-B | Counselors Office]]

[USS Discovery-B | Counselors Office]

Jess sat quietly in her office. She could hear commotion outside her office, but she knew what the ship's orders were. There wasn't much a counselor could do admittedly outside of having her doors open for the crew that needed it at the time. Of course, she'd be lying if she said that the orders sat well with her; but she couldn't let the people that sat across from her know that. She was to simply listen to the concerns of the crew and guide them so they could continue performing their day-to-day duties.

[[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[Breen Base - Emergency Stairwell & Service Tunnels] - AWAY TEAM (DAY 3 16:30 hrs)

Rayek nodded, acknowledging Lieutenant's candid answer.

A radiation leak would certainly explain the sealed off service tunnel.  These service tunnels the away team had been keeping to were the 'jeffries tubes' of the Breen base.   Rayek was surprised the Breen had sealed it instead of just repairing it.  It begged the question of why?

He was also surprised at Ensign Gohun's suggestion to spacewalk around the radiation leak -  like as if an airlock was something easily accessible and not monitored by sensors and cameras.  No.  It was likely all airlocks would be monitored more stringently than a mere sealed service tunnel.

"Thank you for those suggestions Mr. Gohun. I think we'll stay inside the base for now."

Rayek turned to the teams Ops officer.  "Ensign Lorut, any chance you might be able to fool the sensors on this sealed hatch so it doesn't alert the command center of this base if we do open it?.  And if so... roughly how long would it take"  If it would take the same amount of time.. then they might as well just back track. He hoped not.

Yes, his preference was to open the hatch and go through but first he needed to know how dangerous the radiation leak was.   The Romulan turned to the teams Medical officer.  Yes, she was more of counselor but would have taken the same basic medical training.   "Ensign Willard.   What can you tell me about the type of radiation that Ensign Gohun has noted?   Do these suits give us any protection at all from it? Or is there a possible inoculation that you can give that will negate its effects if exposed for only a short time?"

[Breen Base]

Jessica's eyes scanned the corridor for a moment as her mind scanned through all the possibilities. "The suits provide a very small amount of insulation from radiation. But I'm putting a strong emphasis on very small there. If we were able to get to a med bay it's something I could absolutely treat safely very quickly..." Her voice trailed off for a brief moment as she thought of all the variables. "Short term exposure won't do any damage we won't be able to treat later, assuming we're only exposed very briefly I should be able to make an innoculation that delays most side effects at least until we're out of danger. Long term damage won't be an issue so long as we all get treatment as soon as we're home. Likely the worst of it will be some added discomfort until we're safe. Then...it will be worse but we can cross that bridge when we get there."

[[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge] - AWAY TEAM ONLY

Rayek had expected to be on the Bridge alone with the Commanders.  However, miscommunication occurred again and instead of his team waiting for him in the Cargo bay with Challengers Team members,  several of Discoveries Away Team made their way one at a time up to the Bridge where Rayek met them with a stern frown - which unfortunately because of the Breen suit couldn't be seen.

Because the suits altered the sound of each team member's voice, it took Rayek a moment to recall which team member had that particular suit's design and coloring.  Willard? he queried in Federation standard while nodding in acknowledgement.  The Romulan then leaned in to reply back. "Good to know.  Hopefully you will be equally proficient in reading an actual Breen."

Despite Cloten having several suits on board, Rayek knew from his scan prior to boarding that there were no actual Breen on board. Or at least none in an area he was capable of scanning.  He had yet to check the ships' smuggling area (which would of course be hidden from scanners) but planned to do that as soon as he could slip away from Cloten and his watchful crew.

Of course, Rayek had doubts. It was only by being open to all various ways his plan could fail, did the Romulan discovery ways to improve it.  Though he knew Tess always professed honesty,  Rayek had learned that his silence was a better response most of the time, when honesty showed weakness to others.  Rayek looked to the Breen-suited team member - Dersch he believed - and gave a slight scoffing noise before addressing his team members who had invited themselves to the Bridge.

"Anyone of a rank less than Lieutenant, should NOT be on the Bridge. Wait for me down in the Cargo Bay." he called out, the vocalizer making his words sound even more cold than usual.

Gohun would be disappointed to realize after but a few short moments that the engineering of the ship he was on (Cloten's ship) wasn't anything like a Breen warship or a Breen base for that matter.  And moreover Cloten had his goons keep the Starfleeters away from anything that could be useful.  Gohun would be 'escorted' back to the Cargo Bay and told to stay there.  Bunks and were set up in the Bay for the Away Team members.  It wasn't comfortable but it wasn't any worse than boot camp.
[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge]
Rayek was hesitant about removing his helmet while surrounded by Cloten's men.  All it would take was one to sneak a message to Sherem and their plan would be foiled.   Reluctantly, Rayek pulled off the helmet.

Learning that it would take three days to reach the station, Rayek's suspicions of a trap grew.  However, the Antican's justification for taking his time..  made sense.

Commander Said's query about Morse Code seemed amusing to him.

At this point in his career, Rayek didn't think there was a single Starfleet ship that didn't use the old Earth code at some point or other.   In truth,  it was a rather simple code to break following the simple alpha-numeric switch.  Yes, it was archaic and likely not known to the Cardassians or Breen (much like it hadn't ever been encountered by him prior to joining Starfleet) but any decent code breaking software with enough of a sample could figure out the code.

So when it was Rayek's turn to send his message, Rayek added a layer of complexity to it.  A child's code that Saqa7 had introduced him to - Pig Latin.

..-. --- .-. / ... .- --.- .- --... ---... / . .-.. .-.. - .- -.-- / .... . - .- -.-- / .- .--. - .- .. -. -.-. .- -.-- / .... .- - - .- -.-- / .... . - .- -.-- / --- ..- .-. -. . -.-- - .- -.-- / .. .-.. .-.. .-- .- -.-- / . -... .- -.-- / .... .-. . . - .- -.-- / .- -.-- ... -.. .- -.-- .-.-.- / -.-. -.- . -. --.. .. . -- .- -.-- / .. .-.. .-.. .-- .- -.-- / .. --. -. .- .-.. ... .- -.-- / .... . - .- -.-- / .... .- ... . -.-. .- -.-- .-.-.-

When Rayek, once more fully suited, finally made it back down to the Cargo hold he found that cots had been set up - one for each member of the Away Teams.  It seemed Cloten wasn't inclined to give them even basic accommodation during the three days.

He did a quick glance about and frowned when it seemed that they were missing one member.  It took a moment for him to figure out which teammember.  Gohun.

Using the Breen comm system Rayek called the El-Aurian back to the Cargo Bay, for an update.

Once everyone was gathered, Rayek tested the new translators to get across the information as he had the suit translate his Federation standard to Breen.

"Phase One plan has begun.  Smuggle fleet is moving - we aboard are Breen mercenaries.  I know suit is unhappy,  however wear at all times... until mission done.  ETA to Breen base and Melek Nor...  three days.  How understood?"

Turning off the translator Rayek had one more thing he needed to address and he didn't want to risk miscommunications.  He lowered his voice as he spoke so that ideally the sound wouldn't travel any further than their close group in corner of the large bay.

"If we encounter difficulties on the Base and I need to issue orders privately - I would like advance permission to contact each of through telepathy. I am a trained telepath - though my ability has a limited range"

[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge]

Jess nodded in response to Rayek's first question. She'd had almost no exposure to the Breen, so it'd certainly be possible that she'd struggle somewhat to read them in comparison to the species she was use to, but she'd found that most humanoid species share the same tells of course. Then Rayek asked about contact telepathically. It was nothing new to her so it didn't bother her at all, she did however appreciate him asking for express consent before just doing it instead. "Of course sir. Non-verbal communication techniques are incredibly important. It's part of why I've learned sign, thoughI suspect that would be rather...difficult in these suits."

[[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Cargo Bay One]]

Commander Rayek tr'Lhoell
[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Cargo Bay One] - AWAY TEAM ONLY (twelve hours later)

Rayek had donned his suit without comment or complaint.  This by far not being even close to the worst attire he'd had to wear for a mission.

He could understand Commander Sisko's frustration at all the evidence of criminal activity they were being asked to ignore - but it was for a greater good.

At Commander Said's query, Rayek nodded.  "Yes, I have."  His PADD, he had tucked into a storage compartment in his suit.  Also in the compartment, was a Romulan designed device that would mask the power signature of the PADD and give off false bio readings for those within a 10 m radius of it.  Setting it to resemble a Breen lifesign had been tricky, but he'd had some help.

[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge]
Rayek, in his role as Breen team leader, had been anticipated on the Bridge of Cloten's ship.  When Mackenzie dropped his act,  Rayek was tempted point it out to the Only that he should remain in character in case one of Cloten's subordinates thought to spy on his superior to learn his secrets, but the Romulan thought better of the idea.

[SS Abandon-All-Hope - Bridge]

Jess had put the suit on with no complaints, at least no verbal complaints. It was not only her first away mission as an officer, but it was also her first mission as an officer. So she wasn't going to be the one to complain about discomfort, even if she felt it. Instead she tried to focus on the body language of those around her. If she could study the way her people moved in the suit compared to their baseline and find nervous tells that overlap that she could still read through the suits she could find what to look for when they were talking to Breen. She had a pretty firm grasp on it pretty quickly and walked over to Rayek. "I think I'm ready if we get in a bind. If we get into a bad situation with them I just need you to stall for a few moments while I observe them. Then I think I can figure out how to exploit." She said in a hushed tone so only the commander could hear her.

Character(s) affected: Jess Willard
Assigned ship(s): Disco
Period of time absent: 3 days
Date returning: June 18th

Any relevant comments: Just dealing with a couple urgent things IRL that have made it hard to find the time to post. Back in a few days when things slow down