An Unwilling Participant

Posted on Tue Jan 14th, 2020 @ 11:27am by Lieutenant JG Shaille Levine

Mission: Dead Moon
Location: Counselor's Office

The advantage to having been relieved from duty was that Shaille was free to wear whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, sleep when ever she wanted, and eat when ever she wanted. The downside was that not even three hours into what should have been her next duty shift she had found herself bored and restless. Her intent to kick back and enjoy herself, spend the day in pyjamas, eating ice cream and watching bad movies was suddenly not as appealing. Even more so when she learned that a senior staff meeting had been called. That meant shore leave was likely about to be cancelled and they were heading into a new assignment.

Which is why she was now sitting in the counselor office, waiting to be seen. Every aspect of her body language, from the tension etched in her face, the rigidity of her back, the arms folded firmly across her chest, all screamed that she didn't want to be there and was not a willing participant. But the new overlord in Security made it clear she was relieved from duty until she jumped through her hoops, so here she was like a good little minion, a thought which left even more distaste in her mouth.


Styveck checked his schedule and ordered a Vulcan Tea, before bringing the next patient in. "Lieutenant Levine, you may come in and have a seat," Styveck motioned to one of the oversized lounge chairs. "Would you like a drink before we begin?"

Sinking into the chair that had been offered, Shaille crossed her legs and leaned back, watching him, her recalcitrance at being there now mixed with a hint of curiosity. A Vulcan counselor?

"How about two shots of tequila with lemon and salt?" She asked, raising an eyebrow as she watched him.

“Normally I would cite Starfleet regulations but since you are not on a duty status I do not see why a drink for medicinal purposes wouldn’t hurt,” Styveck replied slightly monotone.

She eyed him uncertainly, not trusting his response at all. "I'll just have water," she finally replied quietly. The last thing she needed was to hand him yet more ammunition to hold against her and further delay her return to duty.

Styveck poured two glasses of water and handed the first one to the Lieutenant, after sitting down he Interlaced his fingers and began speaking, “Lieutenant, since this is our first meeting I would like to remind you that whatever is said in here will remain confidential unless it affects the health or wellbeing of yourself or a crew member. My recommendations will assist in getting you assigned back to Active Duty but please do not give me the answers you think I want to hear, you will only hurt yourself and prolong your recovery. “

He laid his hands in his lap as he continued, “I will be perfectly honest with you and I hope you do the same with me. I have to admit Lieutenant, that I have not reviewed your files or records so I have no preconceived notions or opinions. I would like us to begin our session today with a simple discussion. Please tell me in your own words why you feel you are here, and what you hope to receive or learn from our meetings.”

Shaille raised an eyebrow slightly, setting the glass of water down and leaning forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "Are you seriously kidding me right now?" she demanded, her voice tinged with anger. "I'm here because I have no choice, no other reason. Lieutenant St John sweeps into the ship and acts like she knows what's best for everyone and relieves me of duty pending a psych evaluation? The only thing I want from these meetings is to get back to my job!"

"Lieutenant, she is doing her job, I am trying to do mine, your job is to cooperate. She and I have both been trained for these types of situations. Now I will ask again and I hope to receive a response not dripping in anger," Styveck responded in his monotone voice. "Why do you think that Lieutenant St John has sent you here?"

Shaille cast a level gaze at the Vulcan, the only sign of reaction on her face the slightest quirk of an eyebrow that was almost imperceptible. "Perhaps you should be asking her that," she replied calmly. "I don't know what makes her tick, and right now I don't want to. She knows nothing about me, or anyone else on this crew, yet she's jumping in making conclusions based on a few minutes of interaction? What makes her qualified to do that?"

"Her job is the protection of this ship and her crew. What was your first interaction with Lieutenant St John?" Styveck asked, trying to get the unwilling Shaille to talk.

There was a heavy sigh followed by a sip of her water before Shaille settled back in her seat. "She chided me for being 'out of uniform'," she said with added air quotes for emphasis. "It was more over two hours since my shift was over. I was half way back to my quarters when I realised what i'd been seeing on sensor readouts all day. I could have ignore it and gone home, but I didn't. I went back to see if I could figure it out. She walked in, caught me with my boots and jacket off and seems to have assumed I was derelict."

“You were out of uniform in an area that requires proper uniform. I’m assuming that it was not a life or death scenario. According to regulations written by Starfleet you are in fact in the wrong Lieutenant. If you admit your wrong doing to the Security Chief I may be willing to assist with getting you back on active duty status.”

Shaille raised an eyebrow slightly, a look of complete incredulity crossing her face. "Not a chance in hell," she retorted quickly. "She can be as high and mighty as she wants, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I apologise for doing my job in a timely fashion, regardless of the fact that I didn't have my boots on! And next time, I'll bloody leave the sensors malfunctioning and let the damn ship get invaded by aliens again! Clearly giving a damn about my job isn't good enough so she can go rot, and quite frankly, so can you!"

“Your lack of submission to authority is rather disturbing, I believe we should meet again after you have had some time to cool off, as the expression goes. You will remain in an unfit status for three more days Lieutenant Levine, good day.” Styveck stood and walked behind his desk, not bothering to look to see if she in fact did leave his office.

Shaille cast a look of sheer anger at him as she stood up and stormed toward the door, resisting the urge to respond until she was well out in the corridor. "What a complete ass!" she finally muttered as she started back toward her quarters, now even more annoyed and frustrated than she had been when she walked in. Three more days? Now what was she going to do?