Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO

Posted by Commander Dira Myqian (Executive Officer) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ever Zeanar (Chief of Psychiatry) in SB 157 Zeanar’s Quarters Avoiding the XO
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(snip)

Dira drew in a deep breath and nodded. “It was, yes. This is my first command role after doing the Command training program. So it’s the first time in twenty years I’ve not been a therapist. It’s…”-she smiled a bit-“a bit awkward and I’m still finding my footing, but so far the crew has been very receptive to me and I think it’s going to be a good assignment overall.” How deep they wanted to get into any one thing depended on a large set of variables. For the moment Dira was good with revealing small things at a time. She was glad to be moving on and had been making sure not to dwell on what had been.

Commander Myqian, XO

Neither woman seemed eager to reveal more than was needed at this time. Small changes in facial muscles, a smile that wasn’t a smile. An effort to attempt to remain neutral in her answers. Even the briefest of expressions did not pass Ever’s scrutiny. Waiting for the next conflicting emotional and verbal response, she held her gaze for a few seconds, listening closely. Wondering if the XO was finding this type of communication as difficult as she was herself, Ever considered her next question. Clicking her tongue lightly against the roof of her mouth she asked,”Not a unheard of career move, but not a particularly common one either. What led to your decision to make the change from counselling to command?” 

Lt Commander Ever Zeanar, CoP

Dira allowed a moment of silence to fill the space before them before she answered. “I was a manager of people, as a senior officer, but I only ever had to made tough decisions that affected a single person, or those immediately attached to them. But I had a moment on an away mission where I had to be the leader, where I to make tough decisions that would ultimately determine fi we could make it out of the dangerous situation we found ourselves in alive.” Myqian shrugged. “After a lot of reflection, I felt like I needed to delve into this side of me. So I applied for Command school.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Hesitation. What was the root of the pause? Uncertainty or fear? Dira did not strike her as the type of person who lacked words or courage. Ever waited patiently to see how the XO would choose her words, whether those would be telling or carefully constructed to hide truths which would rather remain silent. When words finally followed, filling the space between them, Ever listened intently. Snippets of truth revealed slowly, red flags waved unfurling waiting for a guest of wide to raise their sails. Goddess why could this woman not been simple and uncomplicated? If Ever rushed through the process, not pushing, not questioning, she would appear incompetent or reveal her own truth hiding. 

Shrugging of the shoulder usually indicated the other person was uncomfortable and ready to end the session, lack of understanding in self or others or lying. Ever watched the other woman and let the silence hang long enough to be intentionally uncomfortable. Leaning forward and titling her head to an exaggerated to degree, Ever asked finally, “what happened on the away mission?” 

Zeanar, CoP

OOC: Joe and I are working on nailing down the last few details for their story. Hang tight and I’ll to this as soon as we’ve sorted it all out. ~Linds

OOC: No worries. Take as long as you need. Absolutely no rush. Sorry if I jumped the gun –Ty

OOC: Not at all! We just had to coordinate a few things we hadn’t worked out yet and migraines had returned in full force last month. Got it sorted now. :)
IC:
The simple answer was too much happened. The records on the matter were very clear though and that’s where she would begin. Dira exhaled. “Well, we were answering a distress call from a mine on an asteroid and we couldn’t make contact, except that as a telepath I could pick them up. So I was sort of a homing beacon for the away team. We had to take a shuttle because the magnesite was obscuring sensors and the explosion had shifted the asteroid’s orbit. We had only two hours to effect a rescue before the asteroid would fall into a gas giant. Our first officer became a liability after he misjudged the landing and crashed us.” Dira had to fight the urge to roll her eyes, even after all the time that had passed. “Afterwards he was rattled and kept making bad decisions so I was forced as the counsellor to remove him from duty. As the next ranking officer on the team, that put me in charge and we then proceeded to rescue the miners. By the time we made it back to the shuttle the ship had sent another shuttle and we were all able to make it back to the Calypso and tractor our damaged shuttle back.”

Listening and sitting silently, Ever’s only response was a raised eyebrow. How could a seasoned and senior officer make such a horrendous mistake as a simple shuttle landing? Though it was not a routine event, the landing should have been manageable without incident. And then to continue to make inadequate decisions because his nerves were “rattled” to the point of being removed from duty, sent a large red flag. Not many first officer’s who found themselves in that situation would just hold their hands up and step aside to be relieved of duty. And particularly not by the ship’s counsellor. More than likely, such a situation would be career ending or at least, ensure any opportunity at the captain’s chair would be nonexistent. Something else was under the surface of Myqian’s story. Ever wondered how much the woman would reveal of that day and how much she had omitted from the official transcript or at least, had taken creative liberties. 

Myqian shook her head. “As you can imagine, the XO was not happy about my decision and demanded an investigation. He declared it mutiny, insubordination at best. But he put the lives of the entire away team and those miners in danger, and having previously been his therapist I understood his reactions to be overreactions. The more he tried to display competence, the more risk he was willing to put everyone in and someone was going to end up dead. As I was confident they would, they deemed my decision to be the right one and our XO was actually put on probation afterwards. But like I said, afterwards I had a lot of reflecting to do and something on that mission shifted in me. I needed to understand and explore it better.”

Commander Myqian, XO

Bump

There was the body language again. Shaking her head. Possibly disbelief. Whatever had happened, from Myqian’s perspective, she seemed to believe her decision had been the right one. To her credit and probably relief, Starfleet had agreed with her. Making that stand could have been disastrous and not only ended her own career, but Myqian could have been sent to a penal colony for a very long time. “The shift being liking making the tough calls and taking control? Having a god like need to have the power to make life and death situations? Have you lost someone close to you and felt powerless to prevent a death?” 

Zeanar, CoP