PNPC Lt Vailani Zoyara - Hard Facts
Ava Munro
((OOC - this discussion takes place before Gila Sadar’s crimes were known to Vailani))
((Vailani Zoyara Quarters 1785 - Deck 3 - USS Artemis-A))
Vailani: I think the more important question is - how well do you think you did?
The role of Operations was the furthest thing from counselling she thought you could manage on a starship. You had to deal with the ship's systems, rotations and functions. That, in her view, did not include the mental health of its crew. She felt that the scheduled rest time was more than adequate for each of the crew members and the counselling team, not that she had visited them herself, could handle matters of the mind.
All too often, it seemed, that she found herself being forced into this role. Mentoring. Guiding. Listening.
It was something she would have to do better at discouraging. Even Tho’Bi was coming to her for … what? Help?
Tho’Bi: I…
An awkward silence fell over the corridor, which seemed to be getting smaller with every passing second. The only sound of the clicking of Tho’Bi’s removal of the bolts holding the door - which only seemed to add to the tension she felt.
Tho’Bi: I transferred power from the Inertial Dampeners to the Deflector Array.
Zoyara nodded, she had read that in the report. She sensed that he was leading up to something and she steeled herself.
Tho’Bi: It took a lot of power to fake the warp signatures.
Another bolt came off, and Tho’Bi looked at her.
Tho’Bi: ::chocked:: When the Orion Dreadnaught fired… Our shields collapsed and our Inertial Dampeners were too low to compensate.
Vailani: And then what happened?
The young Ensign turned away and with a shunt, removed the outer doorframe and lent it against the corridor wall opposite. As he turned back to remove the inner frame, he paused. Zoyara instinctively took several steps backwards. To allow space for him but also to place as much distance as she could between them.
Tho’Bi: ::chocked tight:: That's when everyone got hurt.
Here it was, what he had been building up towards. It wasn’t exactly an uncommon phenomenon that an ensign would carry the burden of their decisions - it was one of the most common reasons for ensign drop outs or reassignments. Sometimes the job was just too much.
Vailani: Ordinarily I would tell you to discuss your feelings with one of the ship's counsellors - they will make this sound a lot nicer than me. But for whatever reason you’ve come to me so I suspect you don’t want the nice version. You’ve had one mission and trust me you are going to make a lot of decisions and some of them may get people hurt or killed. And you should care about that but don’t lose perspective Tho’Bi.
She had lost friends. Clara’s lifeless body still haunted her dreams and the fear … the unending fear that she’d lose another friend, like Gila, was sometimes more than she could bear.
Tho’Bi: Response
Vailani: The perspective is that you were on that bridge with a team of qualified officers, you obeyed orders and made a decision based on the available evidence to you at that time. What more did you think you could have done?
She crossed her arms as if to challenge the Andorian. One thing she didn’t do well with was self pity.
Tho’Bi: Response
Vailani: :: points to Tho’Bi :: There. That’s what you focus on. If you can’t dust yourself off, learn the lessons that need to be learnt and take them with you - then, with all due respect, you should transfer to Earth or one of the other Federation worlds where you can fix replicators and DOTs for ambassadors and diplomats. It’s a good life, there’s no shame in that. Predicable, stable and comfortable. Is that what you want?
She worried that her words may have been too harsh, but she figured Tho’Bi needed, no he wanted, to be jarred out of the melancholy. If not, he would learn that the counselling team are the best skilled for a more appetising way to digest hard facts. A win-win as far as she was concerned.
Tho’Bi: Response
