Fitness For Duty, part 2

Posted on 08 Mar 2017 @ 11:42pm by Commander Marisa Wyatt & Ensign Miraj Derani

1,036 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 14 - Statecraft
Location: IKS DuJa'Q - sick bay
Timeline: MD02 0800

[ON]

Miraj had just finished with ALyndra, when fate threw some kindness her way, in the form of the new counsellor walking into the sick bay, instead of Miraj having to wander aimlessly around until she found her. Not wishing to let the opportunity to get away. She dashed over to the part Vulcan woman, and said a breathless "Hi!" she gave the woman a smile. "I'm Miraj. Can I have a word?"

Marisa raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Hi. Sure." She looked around for an empty room she could use. "This way." She led Miraj to a small treatment room and indicated one of the chairs with a wave of her hand. "It's not great, but it'll do. Have a seat and tell me what I can do to help you."

Miraj looked miserable. "The admiral," she realised that the new counsellor might not know who she meant. "I meant the general, well, she relieved me of duty for two days. She ordered me to get a psych eval."

That brought up a lot of questions, but Marisa felt it was best to simply take one at a time and see where the conversation went. "What action of yours led her to tell you that?"

Miraj looked even more miserable. She wanted to tell the counsellor, but feared the consequences even more. It was only her word against Lirha's. And who would believe an ensign over an admiral?

Marisa leaned forward. "Talking to a counselor is like talking to a doctor. Everything you tell me in confidence stays between the two of us. I will not force you to tell me, if you don't want to, but I can promise you I don't divulge confidential information." She sat back again. "If you would rather talk about something else, that is fine, too."

Miraj didn't look up. "I didn't do what she wanted." she admitted.

"That's not always a bad thing," the counselor said quietly. "You are not required to do whatever a senior officer tells you." It was hard to give her the right kind of advice without knowing the circumstances, but Marisas would try with a more general answer. "You are not required to follow unlawful orders or do anything that makes you uncomfortable just because you are asked to do so." She looked at the other woman for a moment. "I take it this was not a case of following an order?"

Miraj nodded. "No." she didn't want to look at the counsellor. "I just want to get back to the helm. I'm not tense. Or jumpy. Not normally."

"Okay," Marisa said, dropping that line for a different approach. "Why did she think you needed counselling?"

Miraj shrugged. She wasn't sure how to articulate her real thoughts - I didn't want to sleep with her so I must be mad. "I don't know. I'm not mad. I don't think."

"I don't think you're mad, either," Marisa assured her. "But on the off chance there is a problem, we can likely take care of that without much trouble. So, let's start with something simple: tell me about your time on Kreanus."

"Thats quite a lot," Miraj admitted, and launched into a brief outline of her last three weeks. Of her grief and despair of the death of Galileo and of Luke; her encounter with the General when he had stolen her clothes; of discovering a man who had known her mother, and how he had demanded payment in flesh for his information, and how her refusal had almost ended very badly; her joy of finding Luke alive afterall, but so badly injured he couldn't fully recover whilst on Kreanus; the frustrations of not being able to fly and the sleepless nights it brought. "I've just had the best nights sleep i've had in three weeks," she concluded. "There's nothing wrong with me. Is there?"

"No," Marisa said, smiling. "You've been through a lot--we all have. Now that we're away from Kreanus I think we'll all start healing. I think what you need most is to know that dealing with the sort of life you had on Kreanus does not make you mad. You likely only need time to heal, mentally and physically. If you still have problems in a few weeks, then we should talk."

"So you'll tell the admiral I'm fit for duty?" Miraj begged. She didn't want to be away from the helm one more second than absolutely possible.

Marisa looked at the woman carefully for several moments. "First, tell me why you want to be fit for duty."

What sort of a question was that. Why wouldn't you want to be fit for duty? "Because I'm the pilot. I need to be flying her. I like flying. Its what I do. I haven't flown anything in almost three weeks. She knows I need to fly, taking my off duty is just cruel!"

"I can't address why she told you to come see me," Marisa said, "But from what little I've seen so far, I think you're sane enough--or as sane as any of us." She paused for a moment. "If you agree to come see me in a couple of weeks so I can make sure you're still doing okay, I can clear you for duty."

Miraj wanted to jump for joy. "Of course. Definitely. Absolutely. thank you!"

Marisa laughed at the other woman's excitement. "You're welcome. I think getting back to work is the best thing for you right now. That is my official diagnosis. Just be careful, okay? We may be off Kreanus, but we're not quite home yet."

"I'll be good as gold," Miraj promised, "You won't hear a peep out of me. I promise."

Marisa chuckled. "Well, I hope I hear more than a peep. Just stay out of trouble and you should be fine."

"Yes Ma'am." Miraj grinned at the counsellor. "Thank you. And I'll see you in a couple of weeks, officially I mean. I'm sure I'll see you before then. Its a smallish ship."

"It is. Good luck," Marisa said, dismissing the other officer.

OFF:

Ensign Miraj Derani
Chief Flight Control Officer
IKS DuJa'Q

&

Lieutenant JG Marisa Sandoval
Chief Counselor

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