Psych Eval

Posted on 30 Apr 2014 @ 1:12pm by Lieutenant Teth Miir & Ensign Branwen Martell-Darby

1,520 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Episode 06 - Legend of Souls
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 3, Counselor's Office
Timeline: MD -10 - 1612 Hours

ON:

Teth sat at his desk, staring at the purple fern on the corner, some days he related more to that plant than he did his patients. Just sitting on the desk, watching everyone file in and out. Passively listening, offering little in the way of actual help. Just gentle direction like leaves seeking sunlight. Hoping that they will eventually work things out through enough discussing and introspection. It felt like counselors were about as helpful as plants. In the end, everyone has to save themselves.

He picked up his PADD and pulled up the patient file for his next appointment. An Xenexian by the name of Martell-Darby. It should be interesting, or so he thought. He had never encountered a member of her species before. But with the excitement of meeting any new race, came also the many unique and unknown cultural landmines to try to find and diffuse. He remembered his first time treating a Klingon and he managed to enrage her so much that she challenged him to a fight to the death. Fortunately he was able to decline and she was ultimately sedated with the joint efforts of medical and security services.

At the end of her shift aboard the Galileo, Branwen had a counselling evaluation scheduled. They were usually mere formalities - seriously psychiatrically unhinged people did not generally make it to starship duty in Starfleet, but she enjoyed, if nothing else, the opportunity to get to know someone new. She shook out her hair from her headband, long about her shoulders, and entered the office with a glide in her step.

"Hello, I'm Branwen. I'm so happy to meet you!" she began enthusiastically. The greeting was perhaps a little informal - except, it wasn't addressed to Lt. Miir. She gave the seated Caitian only a cursory glance; her attention was instead captured by the colourful fern in his office. She introduced herself to the plant, standing in front of it admiring its vibrant foliage. "You're so beautiful, aren't you? Yes you are!" Still talking to the plant...

Teth just sat quietly and watched her talk to the fern. She looked more or less like the other smooth faced humanoids on the ship. There was a great deal of color variation among them, but little else, save an occasionally wrinkled nasal bridge or pointed ears. And so many of them were so short, the young woman standing in front of him being no exception. He wondered if her people had some kind of fixation of plants, or if it was just unique to her.

"Please have a seat, ensign." he motioned to a cushy chair to one side of his desk, "I take it you like plants?"

Reluctantly, Branwen tore herself away from the plant, trailing her fingers through its fronds as she moved to take a seat. Addressing the Caitian for the first time, she nodded wistfully. "Plants begin their life in the ground, and spend it growing towards the stars. I think we could all learn a lot from them, don't you?"

"I just find them aesthetically pleasing. Gardening has always been a hobby of mine."

Teth took a sip of his tea and picked up his PADD, still displaying the ensign's personnel records.

"So why don't you tell me a little about yourself. I can see that you have an appreciation for plants."

Branwen would rather have talked about plants than herself; nonetheless, with a resonant sigh, she resigned herself to the tedium of imparting her insignificant life story. "An appreciation for plants, yes, and the ground they grow in. And for space, and everything between the two. I am a cosmologist. Plants..." Her violet eyes flitted back to the fern. "...are but one small aspect of my realm. I am a much smaller part indeed."

"Are plants of some spiritual significance to you?"

"Spiritual?" Branwen's eyes, widened, snapped back, blinked. "Absolutely not, no. I was simply ... reflecting on their symbolism. But I do not hold to the Old Ways; they are less nothing to me," she said, dismissing her Xenexian heritage with the hint of a grimace.

Teth accepted the answer with a nod.

"So how does a Xenexian come by having a Terran name?"

The answer was in her personnel file, naturally, as well as a great deal more information on the ensign, including previous psychological evaluations. But Miir always preferred to hear the patient history from the patient. Sometimes the differences of accounts could be startling.

"My birth name was Br'n'n," she said, glottal stops clicking. "But most humanoids have difficulty pronouncing Xenexian names. So my parents, who are human, decided to give me a human name: Branwen is a name from their ancestral home, on Earth." She omitted an explanation of why she considered her 'parents' to be human: though she could well imagine that it would provoke curiosity, she chose not to dwell on such matters unless prompted.

"So you were adopted. Do you have any information about your biological family?"

"Biological family is such an ugly term, don't you think? We are all members of the biological family of nature on some level. You, me ... even our friend the fern!" Branwen was smiling at the plant as she then admitted, "No, I do not known anything of my biological family. They were of Xenex, but of which tribe, I could not even tell you. They did not want me. I am not sure there is anything more to know." Her voice was low.

"Your family medical history is about the only thing i was curious about. But that isn't nothing that can't be determined by some simple genetic testing, so forget I mentioned it.... Tell me, do you have any telepathic or psionic abilities I should be aware of?"

Branwen looked at him, and did not answer for a moment, blinking slowly. Then she broke into a broad grin. "It would seem not. I just tried to telekinetically make the plant pot fly across the room, but it doesn't seem to have moved very far." Her smile faded away. "Very few Xenexians are psionically active; it is as rare as among humans, perhaps even Caitians."

"You must forgive me for my lack of knowledge on your species. I obviously should have done further research, but I didn't realize you were an Xenexian until I pulled up your personnel file about fifteen minutes ago. I'd assumed by your name that you were human."

He put down the data file.

"So are you the type of person who only speaks to counselors when required to for your yearly evaluation?" his tone was a joking one, though he wondered if she would catch on.

"Oh, not at all," said Branwen - oblivious. "I always enjoy a good natter with the counsellors. Spending all day exploring the mind: it's almost like you have something in common with cosmology, really, both of us lost in such vast realms we can never truly understand."

Branwen was telling the truth: she did regularly speak to counselors, and in fact listed on her history file was the evaluation of one Academy psychiatrist, which said only: "Please, make her stop talking. Please."

"Well, I suppose that's a fair enough analogy. Though your course of study is a bit more expansive and complex than my own. In my opinion, at least."

Teth leaned back in his desk chair and put his hands behind his head. Suddenly feeling more relaxed and relieved in the knowledge that she didn't want to discuss relationship dilemmas or all of her life traumas.

"Well, since you seem to be mentally healthy, and we have a bit of time left during this session, is there anything specifically that you wish to discuss today?"

"I was wondering whether you could tell me a little about the rest of the crew, actually," said Branwen. "So far I've met the other scientists, but not outside of formal meetings. I'd like to know more about the space I'm living in, the people I will be sharing my voyage with."

"Well unfortunately, I am not very well acquainted with the crew myself." the counselor said with a sigh, "I have been doing crew psychiatric evaluations, but most people don't feel very comfortable talking to me. They do seem to be a tightly knit group. They just had a run in with the Borg, so a lot of them are still reeling from that. Everyone here seems to be horribly scarred or traumatized in some way."

Branwen thought that was true of just about every ship in Starfleet. It always amazed how virtually every officer seemed to have some traumatic past, some blighted present, some troubled future. "I am sorry to hear that. I will try to be - tactful - in my dealings with them."

"A wise precaution." he agreed, "And never ever imply that they might still be recovering from the whole ordeal. That tends to make them very agitated."

[TRUNCATED]

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ENS Branwen Martell-Darby
Cosmologist
USS Galileo

LT Teth Miir
Counselor
USS Galileo

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