Mindo's Game, Part 2

Posted on Mon Dec 23rd, 2024 @ 2:51pm by Lieutenant Commander Caradan Eunidas & Commander Mindo

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Kip's Diner, San Francisco, Earth

Previously, on Star Trek: Pandora...

"Is there something you're trying to tell me? Something you can't tell me? About my crew? My mission? I can see you mean well. If there is something specific, I gotta know right now."

"Oh there is plenty I cannot tell you," she said matter-of-factly. Whether it was specific or not, involved him and his crew or not, there were many things she could not tell him. "It gets..." she looked away briefly, not at anything in particular. Simply collecting thoughts. "It gets difficult at times in social situations with me, I have found out. Getting out of counselor mode when in it, which I find it easy to get into that mode, can be difficult. It has actually caused a strain on some friendships of mine. People tired of me 'reading' them and trying to fix things when sometimes they just want to vent and want a listening ear. You know what I mean by that?" Stazy shook her head and smiled. "I do apologize if I seem to lead you on, thinking I know something I may or may not know. You know what?" She waved her hand as though clearing the air. "...no more counselor out of me today. I'm Stazy. Not a counselor, not Dr. Lauda. But Stazy, your old friend. Um..." and she did not know what to say next to get the conversation back to its jovial, social beginnings.

"I'm perfectly fine to talk to a friend instead of a counselor," Mindo said. "In fact, let's play a game together. Just two friends playing a game. It's called Help a Friend..."

* * * * *

And now, Part 2

"The rules are simple," Mindo continued. "Both friends take turns asking a Yes or No question. That friend must answer honestly. The game goes until both players help a friend, so in the end no one loses. Whoever most recently said, 'There is plenty I cannot tell you,' has to give the first answer. Ready?"

Anastasia was familiar with Mindo's games; she recalled his games from before. Never this game, however. And because of his rules, she could only surmise that he already knew what he wanted her to affirm. Besides that, this was a game called 'Help a Friend' with help being the key word. So, "Why not. I only require 2 addenda," she said as she reached into her pocket. Retrieving a small field device, she placed it upon the table and started tapping away at the few buttons it had. "I need to use this. It is not a recording device," she assured him. "It provides privacy as it translates what we say into Xyrillian. How many people know Xyrillian fluently? There is a frequency embedded in the translation matrix that prevents other translators, within a radius of 50 feet, from re-translating it back into standard." She finished setting up the device. "There, the ancient Xyrillian tongue. And, secondly, if either of us asks a question that is not a 'Yes/No' question, we forfeit our turn. Deal?" She held a hand up and extended only her index finger pointing in Mindo's direction. She already knew that Mindo was familiar with Xyrillian ways, that Xyrillians touching the tips of their index fingers together was akin to the human handshake.

Mindo held up his hand and winced before the shock from the spark that came out of her fingers once their hands were close enough together, linking the two together. Mindo somehow knew he was going to get some kind of tongue from a Xyrillian today.

Stazy rested her hands on the table, went back to her food. "Considering your rules, it seems you get the first question." She felt she already knew the question and wanted to say 'yes' before he could get his first question out but decided to wait. Mindo was typically full of surprises and he might have had quite a surprising question up front.

"Do you like the food here?" he asked trying and failing to suppress a mischievous grin.

"What?" she asked. "What does that have to..." and she sighed and paused. "Yes," she answered after collecting herself. "And it appears that I have to forfeit my turn." She forked another mouthful and waited for him to continue being mischievous or get serious.

Mindo maintained his grin, but the next question was more serious. "If I asked you to be my Executive Officer--and I'm not--but if I did, would you trust me as a CO?"

"Yes," Stazy said. She did a quick scan of Mindo's profile and service record after he had contacted her. Considering all that he had been through and the experience he possessed, "I would trust you in that position. My turn. The person you did ask, are asking or will ask, to be your Executive Officer...have you been in bed with them at any point in the past?"

"Yes," Mindo said without hesitation. "Do you have a specific person in mind with that question?"

"No. Just wanting to remind you to keep your priorities straight, especially when it comes to being professional with someone you have been intimate with or are being intimate with." Stazy's turn again. "Other than this potential Executive Officer, has at least one other person on your crew caught your eye?"

Mindo sighed. The answer was obvious, but he still had to say it. "Yes," he said. "Have you ever treated a past or present member of my crew?"

The answer to that could have easily been 'no' and for good reason. Though Stazy did not, in fact, know who all was on Mindo's current crew she did know whom he had previously served with. And though the crew of the Tornado was technically not 'his' crew, she got the idea of what he was asking. Besides, the game was 'Help a Friend' not 'Help but Beat Around the Bush.'

"Yes," she said. Stazy's turn. There was something she had been wondering about; a previous student who changed focus then disappeared. Though the odds were extreme, "Of course you know the saying that there are things you may tell your bartender that you won't tell your doctor. Parallelling that, I am sure there are things you would tell your...let's go with Intelligence Officer...that you may not tell your counselor. Given that, you would not, by chance, have an Aenar on your crew, would you?"

Mindo's brow furrowed and he was taken aback. "How did you know about... ah, dang it." Mindo realized he'd forfeited his turn. Now Stazy had the upper hand. Where the hell was she going with this?

"I didn't really," she said after deciding to provide answer to Mindo's unfinished question. "Just trying to keep track of my former students is all." She thought about her next question, the best way to word it, and the best way to provide him with helpful information without actually providing him with helpful information. "Of course, you know people change. Some of us change more than others. Some change not as much. Sometimes change is for the better and sometimes people change for the worse. Those who change for the worse can oftentimes be helped to change for the better again. And you may realize I am using the word 'change' quite a bit. Given that, if a patient of mine, current or former, were to end up serving on your crew, can I trust you to do what is best, and to your best, to help this individual...change...for the better?"

Mindo felt a sudden chill go through him, and the temperature of the room seemed to drop in a major way. "The Aenar on my crew is one of the most skilled and competent officers I've ever known. She trusts me and I trust her. I will help her any way I can."

Mindo thought for a second. The chill left him suddenly, though he was only slightly aware of it. "Is there more than one patient of yours in my crew who needs to be changed for the better?"

"No," she said. "Only one patient that I know of, who is either on your crew now or was, in the past, a member of your crew. In fact, if your Aenar is who I think it is, she was taught by me before she switched focus away from counseling. Still, you would be wise to accept her counsel. Then again, she was only my student. Never was she my patient." Stazy gathered a forkfull of food. "If she is the Aenar I am thinking of, of course. As for my patient, I remind you again of the number of times I used the word 'change'," and she finished that off with an exaggerated mouthing of the word, 'ling,' as though tacking that onto the last word she spoke.

Mindo's eyes went wide. So, his initial guess was correct. Stazy knew Caradan. In fact, Caradan was a former patient. Or perhaps a present patient? Mindo remembered the order he'd given to Caradan, about socializing. He said that with hope that she would continue counseling as well, but had not brought that up.

"Will the intimate relationship this... patient... and I... no," Mindo stopped mid-question. The original question had been a yes or no, but he needed to rephrase. "Can my past with your patient affect the course of this patient's change for the better?"

"Yes, it can, definitely," Stazy responded immediately and without having to think on it. "Whether said affect is positive or negative is entirely up to the approach." She knew that did not help him much at all, but Stazy did have more to add. "I know this all too well. When someone cannot move forward because of a particular hangup, it does not help matters if said person were to avoid the subject of that hangup." She readied another bite of her food. "Or if the subject of that hangup realizes this and stays away. You also may not want to get too involved. Sometimes the best medicine is just being there."

Stazy chewed on her food and did not show any sign of readying herself to ask another question of her own. It was, however, her turn but did not have a question to ask.

"I guess that's the help I was looking for," Mindo said. "Regarding your Aenar friend, who I assume would have to be Ensign Aenardha Sh'vastarth, I'd like to know your impression of her given she's a former student." Mindo knew her thoughts on Ensign Sh'vastarth as a student would be in her public record, but he needed to know a little more than what would be in a report. As he asked, he began to feel cold again. He took a gulp of coffee that didn't help.

"Well, she is determined," Stazy said, "and loyal and hard working. Aena was fully set on becoming a counselor. There were 2 things though. 1, she was, may still be, hiding something...something dark. I cannot make this assumption with full confidence but I have made it a career to read people and she reads like one with something to hide. This hidden thing about her can be willful or forced. I say that because, 2, the Andorian ambassador, to Earth, himself stepped in and made Aena change her focus from Counseling to something else, which she chose Intelligence. I do not know why she had to change her focus. I asked but never got an answer. Can 1 and 2 be related?" she asked with a shrug. "I do not know. Nor do I have the resources to find out."

Mindo nodded. "I quickly grew to respect her as an officer. I believe her talents would have been wasted on Counseling. Her abilities and--forgive the pun--cold demeanor are definitely more suited for Intelligence. Determined, loyal, and hard working are all correct. And yes, secretive." Mindo shivered for a second, silently cursing the lukewarm coffee. "I recently shared a mind meld with her. She was giving me information she had received that could help in our upcoming mission that she didn't feel able to explain; like thoughts, feelings, images. It's taken me three months to untangle it all."

"It is the mental makeup," Stazy said in reply. "And the reason why we see so few Aenar breeding with anyone other than Andorians. Mental development breaks down and pregnancies fail. It is understandable that your brain is possibly working overtime to translate and better understand these memories."

Mindo shivered again before continuing. "I found the result unexpected. Fesarians can hide feelings from most empaths, but their minds are a little different when it comes to telepathic abilities like mind melding. A Betazoid would have a hard time gauging my feelings, but things like a Vulcan mind meld... well, it's easier to cause a Fesarian brain damage, especially when off the drink. I don't think she knew that, but she reassured me that no harm would come." He smiled then. "I wasn't going to bring this up. I didn't want to turn this into some therapy session, but your mention of Ensign Sh'vastarth made it inevitable... Every time I think of the mind meld, I get very cold. I know Aenars live in cold environments, so maybe that's part of it but I also get... sad. But I don't know if it's because I'm sad, or if she is."

"If she is hiding something, then she may be sad to some degree. Of course the Aenar are nowhere near as powerful as the Talosians but that does not mean telepaths cannot be dangerous, whether they know it or not. The Aenar are famous for being pacificists so I am sure there is no ill-intent on her part." Stazy chewed on her thoughts as she did her food. "My best guess is this. If you are suffering any side effects from a telepathic connection, then it could either be a seepage of thoughts and feelings during the connection or this could be a silent cry for help." She leaned in on Mindo, making her words more pointed. "The Aenar do tend to hold their kind accountable. In that, they also restrict, sometimes forbid, certain telepathic connections, especially among the lesser trained. That being said, you may have more trouble on your hands than you know. Ensure she does not overstretch herself. Aenar can stretch out over vast distances, lightyears even. They can astral project to anyone they have met. I know her enough to know that, though you have an adult on your crew, she has been sheltered all her life. Starfleet is her first experience away from home. You remember when we met," she smiled at the thought just as he did. "Well I was only a year away from Xyrillia, out on my own, experimenting, finding myself."

Mindo smiled and nodded. "Me too, for the most part. I'd been away from Fesaria for almost two years."

Stazy only looked at Mindo and nodded minutely as he brought back to mind his first years away from Feseria, his relationship with Stazy, only a year away from her home, what it all lead to, the drama, the result. "You may not want to change anything but do imagine this. You are Aenar, female, sheltered all your life, highly telepathic, now out on your own. What choices are you going to make? How much risk will you dare?" Stazy sat back. "I am sure she has a good head on her shoulders, with the best intents, with utmost attention to discipline. If she is on your crew, then she has done well for herself, made good choices. Do me a favor and make sure she keeps making good choices please."

"You can count on it," Mindo said.