From: Gershon
Date: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 00:04:01 -0500
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Lovebirds
MD 4.2250
11-Forward
Stavay had wondered why O'Graeach's file was suprisingly empty.
"That means you have no successful psych-test in your file. I
will need you to complete one. Could you please come to my office in the
very near future ?"
Ozwald eyed her carefully. He was way behind in his paperwork,
and he had no intention of starting now. "If I find the time. Say, you
must be really busy on this ship. From what I've heared, I'm one of the
few normal people on board. Mind you, Gann's harmless, even though he's
an engineer. Still, you must be really exhausted at the end of your day.
Listening to other peoples problems, and all that. How about a trip to
the Carribean this evening ? I could book the holodeck for us, and we'd
have a relaxing, pleasurable night - I mean, vacation."
Stavay's face suddenly turned brown. , she
shouted, furious with anger!
Every eye in the room turned towards the counselor and ENS O'Graeach.
Stavay suddenly remembered where she was. *He doesn't know," thought the
Counselor, *and he wasn't trying to upset you.*
"I'm very sorry, Ensign. It's uh...been a rough day." She quickly
returned the smile. *Can't have everybody believing that the Counselor has
no self-control.*
"Uh...I'll be talking to you *later*, Ensign. Sorry, mustturndownyourkindoffer
goodday." With that, Stavay rapidly walked out of the bar.
O'Graeach enjoyed the view of Stavay walking out. *Ah...Orion women. They're
so mercurial,* he told himself. *Maybe my approach was wrong. Would dancing
have helped? And by the way...what's a 'hepadi'?*
*******************************************************************************
MD 5.1520
Counselor's Office
Stavay had cleaned up most of the damage. It was now time to sit back and
hunker down over the etiquette and protocol of the Corellians.
Unfortunately, the etiquette encyclopedia Stavay cherished mentioned
over 8000 major and minor cultures, but nothing at all about the
Corellians. It was time to see if FedNet had anything about the
Corellians --
The desk intercom suddenly activated.
Stavay looked down. "Hmm...they're not on my dayplanner. Can they state
what the problem is?"
Damnation. The Counselor checked her mailbox every hour on the hour. This
must be an emergency, she thought.
"Computer, new messages?"
The second one was of greater interest:
*************************************************************************
FM: ENS Aelyria Keyrin, SEC
TO: Ship's Counselor
RE: Referral
The following persons are to be sent to your office for immediate
counseling--
ENS Damien Martiljohni
PO/3 Dana Bancroft
They are being sent here because they have begun a romance which threatens
the stability of my department. As you know, a senior officer having a
love affair with a subordinate in the same division of said officer can be
a cause of scandal, gossip, ill-will, and work disruption. Please inform
Mr. Martiljohni and Mr. Bancroft of the dangers of this ill-advised love
affair. I have let the two know that I will not tolerate such behavior.
ENS Aelyria Keyrin
****************************************************************************
Well.
So much for researching sociology. "Come in."
The two wandered in to the counseling office. "Pardon me...Lieutenant
Tats-Marush?", Damien asked.
"That's my name," answered Stavay with a smile. "Won't you be seated?"
The two sat down. "Well," answered Stavay, "I wish we could have met
under better circumstances." The two observers agreed.
"Well, Mr. Martiljohni, do you wish to tell me what has ENS Keyrin in
such an uproar?"
Damien told the story while Dana listened, not interrupting. How
Damien had been assigned to train Dana in the proper use of the phaser.
How Damien and Dana met and embraced for the first time.
"And your Chief of Security found out about it?"
"Yes. She separated us by putting me on Gamma Shift and assigning Dana
to another instructor. I decided that fine, we would continue the
romance but we would use some discretion. She told us all about the
scandal it might cause if the rest of Security knew that me and Dana were
seeing each other, and I agreed with that. So the obvious solution was that
no one would find out.
"Anyway, I saw Dana in the Security offices and she looked like she needed
a hug. And that's all it was. A *hug*. And then ENS Keyrin sees us and
she just goes ballistic! It's really none of her damned business!"
Dana had an expression on her face as if she were in extreme pain.
"And Petty Officer Bancroft? There seems to be something that you want to
tell me."
Dana remained silent.
"C'mon, Dana, what do you want to say?", prompted Damien.
"I guess this is the best place for it. We can't go on like this. Your
career will be destroyed. I have to break up with you, Damien. I just have
to...stop...." In tears, Dana rushed out of the office.
"Dana! Wait!"
"Close door," Stavay ordered the computer. "Mr. Martiljohni. Let Dana go.
She's in a lot of confusion right now and she needs to work this out alone."
Puzzled, Damien sat down.
His head in his hands, he said, "What's going to happen?"
Stavay leaned back. "Do you *love* Dana Bancroft, Mr. Martiljohni?"
Damien looked the Counselor in the eyes. "Is that any of your goddamned
business?"
"Maybe so. Ensign, I *have* to know the truth to counsel you. How do you
feel about Mr. Bancroft?"
"Dana...well...I don't know if I can say that I *love* her, but the feeling
I have for her is definitely stronger than *like*. But I can't help that
if our old maid of a Chief of Security is jealous."
"Jealous?"
"Yeah. We sometimes joke about her lack of sex appeal. It's not really
that part of her personality that we care about. She works us hard, and
works us well and knows all her stuff. Sometimes, she pushes us a little
bit and we get angry and call her all sorts of names behind her back.
Someone, Mike Derby, called her, "old maid", and we laughed it off because
it was so ridiculous -- the chief is *all* woman but the thought of her having
*sex* with anyone was beyond us -- so we started calling her "old maid"."
"So you think that the Chief is biased? What if she weren't? If you were
in her shoes, could you support a romance in your department?"
"I think I could."
"Could you order Petty Officer Bancroft to her death? If that meant saving the
ship?"
Damien hesitated.
"And if the choice is between Bancroft and someone else...who will you send?"
Regaining his composure, Damien answered, "I would never let my personal life
complicate my command decisions."
"Right. Was your initiating a romantic contact on the phaser range a command
decision, or was it a personal one? Because it was a professional setting, it
*had* to be a **command** decision. Those two lines have to be separated for
the safety of everyone aboard this vessel. You seem to be an intelligent
young man. You should know that before anything else."
Sighing, Damien said, "I can see whose side you're going to take."
"This isn't a personal matter with me, Ensign. I have no involvement in it
as of yet."
"Then what will you counsel...based on what you've heard so far?"
"Well, you could be given one final warning. That depends on how magnanimous
ENS Keyrin wished to be. She wants some type of disciplinary action.
I could hold her off -- but if there were to be a next time, the hammer would
fall."
"Describe that."
"Okay. I would have to talk to Commander Brennan. I would tell him about the
warning I gave you and how you refused to obey Section 20 of Starfleet
Regulations: the non-fraternization rules. He, in turn, since you've been
in Starfleet for less time than Mr. Bancroft, would probably put a written
reprimand in your record and give you an undeserved *third* chance.
"On the other hand, Dana has been in Starfleet longer. She should know better.
She would probably be demoted to Yeoman and reassigned off ship."
"That's unacceptable."
"Is it?", asked Stavay. "All right, Ensign. Find something acceptable that
I can tell ENS Keyrin. Tell her what I can say to make her satisfied."
"You can tell her to keep her face out of her private lives."
"I can't do that because it's *not* your private life. This matter concerns
the entire Security department, and by extension, the CHESAPEAKE."
"I see. Then you're taking her side. Fine. I'll just talk to Commander
Brennan *myself*. We'll see what he has to say!"
"He'll pro--", was all Stavay got out before Damien shouted, "Computer, open
door!" The Counselor muttered, "Computer, open the door", and Martiljohni
disappeared.
Stavay walked over to the still warm seats. Okay. Now what. She walked
over to the replicator and asked the replicator to create a nameplate.
After a few moments, the replicator finished its work and the nameplate was
dropped in front of Stavay's desk.
LTJG STAVAY TATS-MARUSH
Ship's Counselor
Destroyer of Dreams
Stavay sat down behind the desk. , Stavay muttered to herself in Shrevashal.
"Ahem."
Stavay looked up. It was ENS Aelyria Keyrin. "Counselor...a new nameplate?"
"Ahh." Stavay stood up. "No, Mr. Keyrin, I was inspired to create that
name plate after meeting your two Security workers."
"Hmm. You must have used that ol' Counseling charm on them."
"Mr. Keyrin, I didn't treat them the same way that you were treated during
our first session. I thought they would listen to me, but I guess they
didn't want to hear what I had to say."
"Maybe they just didn't like the way you said it."
*And maybe I don't like the way you listen*, thought Stavay. Enough of that.
What did Keyrin want? "Well, it seems I have some time, Ensign. What's on
your mind?"
"I've decided to turn my department around. To be a little "gentler". Since,
as Ship's Counselor, you are an advisor on personnel management, you could
suggest how I could be friendlier." *Or at least*, thought Keyrin, *what I
can do to give that impression to the fickle Security crew*.
"Be friendly to yourself."
"Uh, Counselor, I was hoping for something a bit quicker than that, and
certainly, not something I can find on page 163 of the Counseling Aphorisms
We Know and Love Book."
Stavay sighed. "All right. What happens is that for the next two or three
days, I follow you around. I tape your meetings. I record---"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!, wait a minute! I don't know if I trust you having
that much access to me! You might use it to do a little counseling on the
side--and I'm not asking you for counseling, *never*, again!"
"I don't see why you trust me. I trust you, Keyrin."
"HA!"
"I can prove it."
Keyrin looked at Stavay, almost daring her to do so.
"Stand over here." Aelyrin stood. Stavay turned away from the SEC officer.
"Now, I'm going to fall backwards. You can catch me."
"I see," nodded Aelyrin. "The old *trust* test. What happens if I decide
not to catch you?"
"Then I guess I'll find out in about three seconds. One. Two---"
"--now wait a minute, I didn't say--"
"*Three.*" Stavay fell backwards. Watching Stavay in horror, Keyrin
quickly moved behind the falling woman and stopped her descent.
"Ah. Thank you, Ensign." Stavay bent her knees and righted herself.
"My trust in you isn't displaced. So I don't see why you don't trust me."
"Well...." Aelyrin thought about the display. She didn't know if she wanted
to play, "timber!" with the Counselor.
"How about if I give you some pointers that don't require me to be around?"
That sounded all right. Keyrin would listen to that much, at least.
********************************************************
The first hint Stavay gave was a simple stress-breaker. It
involved putting one's arms up in the "stick-em-up" position and flexing
backward for the count of ten. "One of the first things that happens when
you feel stress is that your body tenses up. The tension makes you tired,
and weakens you, and that opens the door for more stress to come in. You
can think of it as a calisthenic exercise."
Keyrin tried it. It felt much like any other exercise, but she got to hear
her tendons pop.
"Now, you remembered I suggested a relaxation program on the holodeck."
"Oh, yes. I don't see how wandering through green fields for an hour
is going to help me with my department."
"Well, Mr. Keyrin, we'll make a deal. You agree to use this program, and
I'll agree to work with you on fixing things in your department. I'll talk
to some of your department people, and I can take some of the stress off of
you.
"Besides...this program isn't just green fields."
Keyrin gave the Counselor a look of distrust. "Well, do you trust me?", asked
the Counselor.
"I don't know."
"Well, I find that a trustworthy answer. The program is listed under filename
STM/Forbidden/1 in the Holodeck library. Care to try it?"
"I might. And thank you for taking care of that problem with my lovebirds
in security."
"Well, I didn't do much. Both parties stormed out. I hate to see two
young peop--"
"Counselor, did you warn them about departmental romances, or did you *not*?"
"Yes...I warned them." Everyone wanted to take sides, it seemed.
"Thank you. I might give your holoprogram a try. Good day." Keyrin left
the room. Stavay sat on the desk. "Maybe nailing the door shut would be
a better idea," she muttered, after making sure no one was in the room.
***************************************************************************
Respectfully submitted,
James Bowman
LTJG Stavay Tats-Marush, COUNS
USS CHESAPEAKE
jrbowman@london2.skn.net AND JBowman489@aol.com
All: Still alive. :)
Amy, Takako: Care to send me any information about the Corellians? Aren't
those Han Solo's people, by the way? :)
Melvin: The next time someone sends me a post that has Stavay in it with
a long conversation--you might be suprised. :) (cackles evilly, and
Melvin begins to wonder what James is up to)
Fabian: At last. The only member of the CHESAPEAKE crew who Stavay *fears*. :)
More on 'hepadi' in an NRPG.
Lynnaea: This seemed to be a Lynnaea post. I hope I used everyone right.
I'll tell you more about "Forbidden" in a NRPG.
Chris: Didn't start on the Stavay/Catherine conversation. I don't want
to do that until you have a fixed address! :)
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