"An Encounter With A Holliday"

Posted on 30 Jun 2012 @ 6:38pm by Lieutenant JG Delainey Carlisle & Captain Jonathan Holliday
Edited on on 30 Jun 2012 @ 6:48pm

1,120 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Episode 01 - Project Sienna
Location: USS Galileo - Deck 2 - XO's Office
Timeline: MD07 - 1400hrs

[ON]

Delainey exhaled slowly as she pressed the chime outside the Office door, taking the time to tuck an errant blonde strand behind her ear. She was an experienced officer and healer, but it was always a bit nerve-wracking to meet the leadership at a new posting.

She briefly wondered if she would receive more or less respect because this was a science vessel. Social science, of which much of therapy was derived, was often considered a soft science.

Their arrival at Starbase 152 had been so far, uneventful. In fact so far John was beginning to worry if his earlier fears about Klingon aggressions may have gone unfounded, there had been no sign of any ships, no out of place readings, and all the new crew assigning aboard were as expected. The chime at his office door quickly snapped him back to reality.

"Enter," he called out, waiting to see who was waiting on the other side.

The doors swished open upon John's verbal command and he was greeted by the sight of a pale blond in counseling teal. "Dr. Delainey Carlisle reporting for duty, sir."

It took the XO a moment to mentally work back through the list of newly assigned officers that he had received only a few hours ago. It was still new to him to have to recall quite so many names and faces, but so far, the Commander was getting the hang of it. Saying nothing for a moment, his mind quickly came across the information for their new Chief Counsellor, and John smiled both in welcoming to the new woman, and also in silent appreciation to his memory doing it's job.

"Welcome aboard Doctor, or would you prefer Lieutenant? Please, take a seat."

Carlisle sat in the chair before the desk. "Thank you, sir. Doctor or Lieutenant is fine, though I suppose I most identify with Doctor." Delainey looked around the office and felt herself relaxing a bit. Talking about her work helped.

"Doctor it is in that case. You probably already know, I'm Lieutenant Commander Holliday, First Officer of the Galileo...I get the honour of welcoming everybody on board this time around whilst Commander Saalm is busy overseeing the personnel and equipment transfer from Starbase 152."

It never seemed to get old to John, no matter how many new officers he had welcomed aboard since they launched, he always found that he enjoyed having those extra moments with each of them, to get a feel for their personality and their abilities before sending them out into the field as fully commissioned officers onboard the latest member of the fleet.

"How are you settling in on Galileo? Finding your way around? She's a small ship but you'd be surprised how easy it is to get lost even with only a few decks to contend with!"

Lainey smiled. "Good to know, thank you. I haven't made time for much exploring as I came here after dropping off my things. I wanted to report in and get your take on how the crew seems to be fairing psychologically? Are there specific personnell issues I should be aware of?"

Looking a little distant for a second, Jonathan took a moment to compose himself. As much as he loved keeping himself up to date on all ship's business, some things were just a little too specific for his areas of expertise .

"I'm afraid that's not something I have knowledge of - although Dr Ni Dhuinn should be able to bring you up to speed - if you swing past Sickbay she's usually free for a chat?"

Delainey nodded. She wasn't asking for specific clinical observations, but rather a general overview of how the crew was doing and any specific personnell concerns that may have been brought to his attention. "I will definitely speak with her for specifics, sir. I was just wondering about the state of the crew overall and whether you were aware of any particular crew issues?"

"As far as I'm aware....the crew is operating at peak efficiency....not that I'm exactly trained to be watching out for any members of the crew suffering a nervous breakdown in the middle of a mission...that's strictly outside my skill set....but if I notice anything...I'll know exactly where to come."

Delainey nodded. "As I said, I wasn't looking for a clinical report. I just thought I'd get your assessment of the crew because as the Executive Officer, I know you get all the department reports and interact regularly with the department heads. I'm not ashamed to admit that you, as the gate-keeper to the Captain, will probably be told about personnell issues more regularly. Many people avoid being truthful with a counselor out of fear of the repercussions. I appreciate your willingness to keep me apprised, sir."

"Not a problem Lieutenant. If anything crosses my desk I'll have it passed onto you. Similarly, if anything comes to you that is likely to affect the ship's performance during this particular mission I need to know - our orders are too important to have a weak link in the chain."

John leant back in his chair, joining his hands together in front of him as if milling a situation over in his mind. Sienna was going to be the first test of the Galileo and her crew, and as XO, Holliday was damned if it was going to all fall down around his ears.

"Was there something else, sir?" Delainey noticed he had gone silent and was looking at her, it seemed, expectantly.

It took Holliday a few seconds to bring his mind back into the room, having allowed it to wander for a short while after musing on the current state of the Galileo grew.

"Sorry Lieutenant...I was elsewhere for a moment....no no, everything is fine....if there's nothing else you need from me I won't keep you any longer. Dismissed."

Delainey stood, carefully hiding her surprise at the strange conclusion to the meeting and the abrupt dismissal. She hated being formally dismissed as a rule because it made her feel like an insignificant servant rather than a colleague, but she absorbed the reaction like she did most Starfleet rules and regs.

Turning back, she offered, "I'll contact you to schedule your psych eval as soon as I'm settled, sir."


"And I'll do my very best to avoid it Doc!" John called after her as she headed out of the doors. Psych evaluations were never his fondest memory on board a starship, and with a new counsellor, came a new challenge to avoid.

[OFF]

Lt Cmdr Jonathan Holliday
Executive Officer
USS Galileo

Lt. JG Delainey Carlisle, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Counselor
USS Galileo

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