In confidence

Posted on Wed Jun 24th, 2020 @ 3:36am by Captain Nycolas Temple & Lieutenant Krysia Kaleri-Smith
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:55pm

Mission: The Evils Within
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: After Next Stop, Nowhere

ON:

Krysia arrived at the Ready Room, with the recent announcement about the ship's new destination and the sound of frustration in Nyx's voice she thought she'd see if Nyx needed to get his feelings off his chest. Pressing the door chime she waited for an invite to enter.

The Captain had finished the last of his routine duties for the day and was keen to get home to Emilie and Katrine. The ship was well on it's way to the Hesiod system now and though he hadn't enjoyed changing the ship's direction, he had to comply with Starfleet Command's wishes. He had been thinking about spending some time in the gym - on the boxing pads specifically - to work out his frustration but when Lieutenant Kaleri chimed, he was glad for the alternative.

"Come in." Nyx called out.

Walking inside Krysia smiled politely. "Captain do you have time to talk?"

"Of course." Nyx replied with a nod, indicating to the couch. "Please, take a seat and let me know what's on your mind, Counsellor."

Krys nodded and took the a seat, doing her best to make herself comfortable. "Captain I'm concerned about the effect this new assignment is having on the crew. After everything we've all been through the whole crew, yourself included, we're looking forward to some shoreleave. There's a lot of disappointed and upset people especially at the fact that we know next to nothing about this assignment!"

The Captain sighed, "The news disappointed me, too. I'm sure that was obvious. But we've been given orders by Starfleet command and we must follow."

Krysia nodded. "Starfleet are generally more forward with the information they give you regarding our assignments, it seems very...strange that they're not giving us much to go on." She studied Nyx he was one of the few people she couldn't read or sense so she had to go by his body language, which at times could be pretty hard to do especially as Nyx tended to be more guarded in his mannerisms than most. "I heard the disappointment and frustration in your voice this morning. As you know the crew rely on you the most, if they see and hear how upset you are it's going to have an impact on them as well."

"Of course," Nyx said, "I'm human too, though, and I don't like to hide my true opinions from my crew. I certainly wouldn't want them to get the impression they couldn't vent concerns to me about a mission. But as I said in my announcement, I expect everyone to carry on like the professionals they are."

“Of course” Krysia smiled. “We’ll all do nothing less. Sir you know as well as I do that I can’t read you, I have to go by your body language most of the time. You’re a very private man that much I know but now I’m ship’s Counsellor I’m here as much for you as the rest of the crew.” She rested her hands on her rounded stomach. “I just wanted to say anytime you need to talk, about anything, I’m always available.”

Nyx nodded along, "My heritage is Betazoid, on my maternal side. I have no real abilities now, but my grandmother was a proud empath and I spent some time as a child on Betazed. I can sometimes still close my eyes and remember what it felt like to be part of an empathic and telepathic society. It's beyond communicating with each other; it's knowing each other. Something I'm sure you're familiar with, too." He paused and sighed, "But she also instructed me that it was impolite to project onto others without their permission, and certainly never to do so when amongst non-empaths. So I learnt to put up a wall and I guess I still withhold myself out of fear I'll get a grandmother's lecture. If that comes across as distant or withholding, I am sorry, but it's just a learned behaviour by this age."

"I can understand that Captain" Krysia smiled warmly. "On Drax projecting upon others even if it's a mistake is considered punishable, by law if done purposely. As our abilities grow we're assessed over and over again to determine whether or not we're likely to be powerful enough to harm others either by mistake or with intent. I'm one of very few Drax hybrids, I was the only one on Drax Prime so I was always somewhat of a curiosity, they weren't sure if I'd cope with having my abilities so much so they wanted to fit me with an implant but the implant tends to 'mute' your personality too." She shrugged her shoulders. "The Pandora has become more home to me than my homeworld Captain, I have Owen here and, of course, James. Plus our time in the bubble..." She paused. "It was a lifetime I'll never forget."

"Very true," Nyx agreed, "And now you have your father in your life too. That must be wonderful. How was the meeting on Carnwennan Station?"

"It was wonderful!!" Her smile practically beamed. "It was everything I'd been wishing for and a lot more besides! To be honest I wish we could have had longer, but Dad was called back to his ship. We didn't get nearly as much time as I would have liked, but I'm not complaining." Krys smiled warmly. "Do you know how long Owen plans on being away? I know he wanted to take some personal time but it seems strange being back without him."

"That's great," Nyx smiled, "Unfortunately I don't know exactly how long he'll be; he had quite a few weeks leave owed so he may wish to take them all. I won't begrudge him wanting to spend more time with his father."

"I wouldn't expect you to Sir, Owen hasn't had a holiday in years so he definitely deserves it." She rested her back against the backrest of her seat. "I guess Commander Griffin will take over as exec until Owen returns, after we...lost you during our time in the bubble, he became a strong leader in your place. He was there for the rest of us when we needed him."

"Indeed he was." Nyx answered, "We're very lucky to have him onboard."

“Sir might I ask...what are your parents like?” Krysia looked at Nyx curiously.

Nyx laughed a little, "Gosh, Counsellor, how much time do you have?" He shifted in his chair a little and sighed, "My mother was a career politician. Strong, pragmatic, well-liked. But that also made her frequently absent and always trying to catch up on the time she'd miss with us. My dad was no better, unfortunately. Medical scientist, always off-world on a new project. They lived separate lives from each other, and us kids, for a better part of a decade before finally getting a divorce. I guess they were waiting until my brother and I were 'old enough', but we'd long been used to them not being around." Nyx shrugged, "I guess that's why I fought so hard to have Emilie and Katrine come to live on the Pandora. It's typically against the rules, but I couldn't do this without them around."

Krysia looked at Nyx in surprise. “Your family isn’t the only one that’s currently aboard though Captain, this ship is designed for families so it surprises me to hear that you had to fight to have your family aboard. I can understand why those rules exist, after all we do get sent into dangerous situations but to be honest I wouldn’t want to be away from James. Once my maternity leave kicks in I plan to remain on a reduced workload as you’ll still need a ship’s Counsellor, plus I’d be bored witless if I had to sit around our Quarters all day!” She grinned before taking a sharp breath. “Sorry!” She smiled. “One of these two has one hell of a kick!”

There was a short, knowing laugh from the Captain, and he nodded slowly, "Oh, let's wait and see about your workload in future. I'm only speaking as a father of one so-far, but I've been through the new-born baby experience. If I were you, I wouldn't be making any plans to go back to work any time soon. Especially with twins."

"I guess you're right there!" Krys grinned. "I don't have the experience with babies the way you and Emilie do so it's going to take some getting used to! I already feel like a baby space whale and I've still got months to go!" She smiled. "Not that I'm complaining."

"Just don't go 'round thinking you need to rush back to work." Nyx replied, "We have other counsellors onboard who can fill in, you'll have your hands well and truly full with your twins. Relax, take it easy, and enjoy those precious few seconds of quiet - if you're ever lucky enough to get some."

Krysia nodded and smiled. "I can but hope!"

The Captain stood, "I'd hate to cut short our chat, but all this talk of families has made me want to go see mine. But of course, I have a mountain of work to do before I can do that."

"In that case..." Krys slowly got to her feet. "I'll let you get on and finish your work." She smiled warmly. "It's been nice talking with you Sir."

"You too, Counsellor." Nyx smiled as the Lieutenant departed. Returning to his desk with a sigh, his eyes fell upon a photo of Emilie and Katrine, taken at the opening of Little Caesar's. He wanted to get up and go straight to them; but the stack of PADDs and waiting messages kept him glued to his seat. For now, at least.

OFF