Knowing When To Talk

Posted on Sat Sep 5th, 2026 @ 1:18am by Lieutenant Sornax & Lieutenant Lanna Alexander

2,124 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Echoes in the Triangle
Location: Counselors Office

Why was it that every time you transferred to a new vessel, you ended up with a never-ending list of meetings to complete before you could truly get to work? Not that Sornax had anything against the medical staff he had to check in with, but it simply took away from his productivity. He had been at Starfleet Medical for the last six months; surely they could have just given the Arcadia's medical staff the okay for him? And in his new role, with so much to do, he could now see why some officers tried to avoid reporting in to the doctors and counselors until they ended up with a very stern notice waiting for them at their personal console. So now, as the end of alpha shift was nearing, the senior science officer found himself back on deck seven, just in the opposite direction of Sickbay.

He wasn’t sure why he had stood outside the counselor's office for as long as he did, but here he was, anxious like he had gotten into some kind of trouble. He shook his head and reminded himself that there was nothing wrong and this was a simple formality. Finally, he reached up and pressed the chime on the panel next to the door and waited to be let in.

Lanna was sitting in her office; her attention had been drawn to the door when she sensed someone anxiously standing outside. Not wanting to scare off whoever it was, she gave a few moments to see if her door chime would ring, smiling as it finally did. Walking to the door, she smiled as she greeted the new arrival. “Hello Lieutenant, please come on in.”

Sornax had to admit to himself that he had not gotten to read up on all of the senior staff before reporting to the Arcadia, as much as he had wanted to. He was familiar with names only in some cases, as he had heavily focused on his own department first and then senior staff second. To him, Lieutenant Alexander looked like just another humanoid; there were no spots, pointed ears, cranial ridges, etc that distinguished her from other species. So he went with the ever-human concept of offering his hand out for a shake as he was welcomed to the office. "Thank you, Counselor; it is a pleasure," he offered before stepping inside.

Lanna accepted the handshake with a warm smile, ever the professional Counsellor. “Thank you. Please come in and make yourself comfortable.”

Once inside, Sornax took a look around and tried to familiarize himself with it, knowing he would be seeing this place on a semi-frequent basis if he had to guess. He had taken note of the familiar arrangement of a couch and a chair across from it; clearly, counselors all had the same interior decorator. Interesting. No matter, though, the Denobulan made himself comfortable on the couch, sitting down and waiting for Lanna to join him. "Counselor, I apologize if I interrupted anything you were doing, but I needed to report in with you. I'm Lieutenant Sornax, the new Chief Science Officer for the ship. And also a regular attendee of counseling sessions with Starfleet Medical for the past six months, as it were."

“Ahh, I see.” Lanna nodded as she took her seat. “I’m not the a-typical Counsellor who’ll go over everything from scratch; I’ll simply say, give me the general idea, and we’ll go from there. I doubt your file will have caught up yet; it always takes a little while. Also, just so that you’re aware, I’m a Betazoid.”

“You know that’s amusing, actually, Counselor. Apologies, it’s actually Lieutenant Alexander, right? You’ll have to forgive me; I didn’t get to study every bio as much as I wanted before coming aboard.” Sornax offered briefly before continuing. “My last counselor, though, he was a Tellarite who was rather skilled at getting you to talk and come to self-discovery through confrontation and argument. It was certainly the most unique form of therapy I’ve ever encountered.”

The scientist tried to get a little more relaxed, leaning back into the couch and placing his hands on his lap as he scanned the room some more. Lanna had mentioned she was Betazoid; what could he recall about her species from his academy days? Early members of the Federation, humanoid, semi-matriarchal society…no, there was something else; he just couldn’t put his finger on it. Oh well, it would come to him sooner or later.

“As I was saying, I was required to attend therapy for the last six months in addition to the physical therapy I was undergoing as well. See, my last posting was the Yggdrasil, and it was destroyed by the Klingons at the beginning of the year. All because they were paranoid and did not believe that we were on a mission of exploration. I lost my left leg during the battle while trying to help get the injured to escape pods.” He made a show of patting the leg, which has clearly been replaced with an advanced prosthetic of some sort. What he failed to bring up for the time being was that he had also lost his best friend, in fact, many friends with the ship's destruction. But he was sure a counselor would be able to surmise that anyway.

“I have not been discharged from therapy and was told to continue my sessions once I was aboard the Arcadia, so here I am.”

Lanna nodded. “I’m sorry to hear about your injuries, but I’m sensing there’s more to that story. You didn’t just lose your leg; you lost crewmates, friends, and you lost more…” She gave him a studied look for a moment. “Who did you lose that meant so much to you?”

Sornax blinked at the more than accurate assessment of what happened with his former posting and its destruction. She claimed she didn’t have his file yet, and he hadn’t mentioned the loss of friends; he had only thought it. Suddenly it came back to him, and he snapped his fingers and leaned forward on the couch. “That’s it, I remember now! Betazoids are telepaths, are they not? Are you proving my mind, Counselor?” He asked, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable with the thought.

“Not at all.” Lanna shook her head. “I don’t need to read your mind, just your emotions. Plus, I would never violate your privacy by reading your thoughts without your permission. You’re still hurting; I can feel it.”

“Alright, if you must know, her name was Lieutenant Yeenfera. She was the Chief Engineer on the Yggdrasil and recently became its Second Officer. But more importantly to me, she was my best friend on the ship. We were the only two Denobulans onboard.” Yeenfera and Sornax had never been romantic, though admittedly he had thought about it in the months before the ship's destruction. Alas, he would never know if she would have been open to exploring a new phase of their relationship.

Lanna nodded as she listened. “I’m sorry; she obviously meant a lot to you. It’s hard to lose those you care for, especially when it’s unexpected.”

The Denobulan let out a small sigh; it felt like he was starting all over again. He took a few deep breaths and focused. "I've been told that many times, Counselor, no offense. But you're right, she did mean a lot to me. We were best friends; she was an assistant department head just like me when I came aboard that ship, and I watched her move up the ranks and get promoted. She busted her ass off so she could have a good career, and it was taken from her. For what? Some sort of perceived honor in guarding a border we had never even crossed? It's bullshit."

“Agreed.” Lanna nodded. “There’s a whole lot of bullshit happening these days, but we have the shit end of the stick, and that’s how it is.” She offered a wry smile. “Doesn’t mean we have to accept losing people. So, back to now…how do you feel about this current assignment and mission, especially as we’re dealing with Klingons?”

“Honestly? It was not what I was hoping for upon my return to active duty. I had dreams of exploration, discovery, helping others when I joined Starfleet. Now we’re in two cold wars, one with the Gorn and the other with the Klingons. Except each flare-up, and we end up with ships getting destroyed, commanders getting kidnapped, planets being annexed. All that jazz.” Letting out a deep sigh, it felt good to at least share his frustration with someone new. He just hoped that wouldn’t bite him in the ass with notes in his personnel file or to the ears of the command staff.

“At least you understand. I highly doubt you signed up to be a counselor on a ship that was always at risk of conflict. Who does the counselor talk to when she’s worn out from all of, well, this?”

“A loving husband and friends.” Lanna smiled warmly. “I didn’t plan on my son and our unborn being put at risk every two minutes, but that’s how it goes. Exploration will come; we just have to be patient and get through this.”

“Your family serves with you aboard the ship?!” Sornax was taken aback by the thought of this. While Starfleet discouraged couples from serving together, it wasn’t unheard of. But a family all on a ship like this? That must have been quite the string pulling. But he kept that part to himself. “Do you not worry about the safety of your children? Especially with the risks a ship like the Arcadia faces?” He asked her. It was nice for a moment to take the heat off of questions focused on him, at least until she figured it out.

“I do, but is anywhere truly safe right now? When necessary, children and non-essential personnel are sent off ship for a short time. I’d rather be with my son and my husband here than be separated from them for who knows how long.” Lanna offered a smile. “We know the rules about serving together, and we live within those rules.”

The Denobulan frowned; it was not something he could agree with. But he did not have to live with the decisions made by families or command staff about such things, luckily. Besides, Lanna seemed to have thought this through quite a bit. He hoped the day would not come when a family would regret such a decision in the face of a crisis. "Forgive me if I spoke out of turn, Counselor; clearly this is something you have thought long and hard about. So then, bi-monthly sessions okay with you going forward?" He asked, trying to awkwardly move the conversation along.

Lanna smiled, feeling the awkwardness. “It’s okay, I take no offence to your question. It’s each to their own, and this is what works for us. As for your appointments, bi-monthly sounds okay. If you have any problems in between sessions, then all you need to do is let me know, and we’ll talk right away.”

“Thankfully, I think the only expected issues I’m planning to run into right now are remembering my way to my quarters or the mess hall.” Sornax offered with a trademark Denobulan grin. “Thank you for seeing me unannounced. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Lanna grinned. “You’ll soon get used to the layout, but if you’re stuck, you can ask the computer or any of the crew.”

"It hasn't been that long since I served aboard a ship; I remember how to ask around," the Denobulan said with a wink as he stood up from the couch. He reached out and offered his hand one last time before preparing to depart. "Again, thank you. And if the Sciences team can ever do anything for you, please let me know."

Lanna accepted the handshake with a big smile. “I will, and thank you.”

With the departing handshake made, Sornax turned and left the counselor's office, heading off to finally go and relax after having made so many stops checking in with people throughout the day. Luckily enough, the last one for the day had not gone as badly as he worried it would go. Definitely much easier than opening up to a Tellarite, that's for sure.

[OFF]

Lieutenant Sornax
Chief Science Officer

Lieutenant Lanna Alexander
Ship's Counselor

 

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