Ready Room Check In
Posted on Sun May 19th, 2024 @ 2:41pm by Captain Mikoto Misaka & Lieutenant Harper Matthews
975 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission:
The Search
Location: Ready Room, USS Ermiana
Harper hadn't been chief counsellor for very long but she'd been a counsellor for a long enough time to know when someone needed a check in.
Events of late had been stressful for even the lowliest of ensigns, the most hardworking of enlisted and the Captain was no different. Harper could see her eyes were a touch bloodshot, some tension in her hands as she sat on the bridge or spoke to others, the tiniest forming of bags under those dark brown eyes.
The captain was in her ready room, her inner sanctum. It was a very fitting place to have a chat and get a sense of how she was. It was also her safe space, somewhere she should feel comfortable enough to speak freely... but it was also a doubled edged sword in that it was also her 'office' and one of the places she would be the most professional.
Harper rang the chime and waited to be called inside.
"Yes?" Misaka's voice called from inside, the tone seemed rather stretched or irritated.
That tone said all Harper needed to hear. The Captain was indeed under some pressure and hopefully a small chat would help alleviate some.
Entering the ready room Harper walked up towards the desk with her usual grace and stood by the two chairs that spit from left to right. "I just came to see how you are Captain." Harper said honestly. "The situation we are in can stir a lot of emotions and thoughts..." she tested the waters gently.
Misaka looked up from her desk, there were clear bags under her eyes. "I'm doing fine. I'm just annoyed that I fell into that obvious ambush, and now the Maquis have the Gul who was under my protection, disabled my ship and now the Cardassian warship is ahead of us on this goose-chase!" she slammed her fist onto the surface of her desk.
Harper internally jumped. She'd managed to make it not noticeable but the clear burst from the captain did show she was under a lot of strain and that was why she had came in. If there was anyone that she would be able to open up to without fear of judgement and in complete secrecy.
"I can understand your frustrations ma'am. A situation like this can always make you see the negatives when there have been some positives. Okay we walked into an ambush, but we had a job to do and that was looking for the Bismarck. They chose the Badlands for a reason and that was the sensor interference. We would have had to come in anyway. Ambush or not you were never going to sit outside and hope they came out. Were you?" Harper asked rhetorically.
"If they have the Captain of the Bismarck then they have access to codes that could effect more than just us. The crew of the ship needed us and you went in to rescue them. Yes, you are in command and overall the buck lies with you but there are other people who could have advised you on how this would go. The guilt you feel shouldn't be solely yours." Harper added.
"The crew follow you because they trust you, believe in you and have faith that you will lead us out of here. Every mission has risk and this is no different but knowing they have faith in you means they will follow you and help us achieve what we are here to do." Harper realised she'd went on a bit of a speech when she hadn't meant to.
Misaka took a deep breath. "Yeah, I know all that. It just pisses me off that we got caught with our pants down! This starship is meant to be one of the most advanced and best ships in the whole damn fleet. To get taken out by what was once a glorified freighter, its embarrassing!"
"Even the most advanced ships can be caught off guard with a lucky shot or two." Harper replied. "There are others who feel the same as you, that embarrassment, its only normal and can be used as a learning experience. Next time we are in a similar situation we won't be caught out like that again. All we need to do now is focus our attention on getting the Bismarck back and getting out of here."
"Well, luckily we have intelligence about a potential Maquis base. According to reports its a supply depot. I have a feeling that the Bismarck would be taken there at some point. They did take quite a lot of our supplies. I intend to take back what was ours and shut that base down" Misaka explained.
"Hopefully there will be intelligence in the base as well that will lead us to the Bismarck. Also the base gives people something to focus on, a mission to complete and get some sense of accomplishment from when we get our supplies back and, as you say, shut it down." Harper spoke with conviction, the kind that would instil confidence and belief in anyone.
"That's the plan," Misaka replied. "Plus, I want to see if they may have any intelligence we can use. Our little attack might even flush them out."
"Here is hoping captain. I'm sure their computers won't have the same level of encryption that ours would and we can crack anything they had tried to hide." Harper nodded. "But I've taken up enough of your time when you have things to plan."
"You're welcome anytime," Misaka said giving her a smile. "Thankyou Counsellor. We may need more if these 'venting' sessions in the future..." she added.
"I'll be sure to have plenty of 'refreshments' for those times ma'am." Harper nodded and left the room.
Captain Mikoto Misaka
Commanding Officer
USS Ermiana
Lieutenant Harper Matthews
Chief Counsellor
USS Ermiana
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