Posted by Lieutenant Commander Ever Zeanar (Chief of Psychiatry) in SB 157 The Last Post Lounge Meeting Dr. Grayson
Dr. Mariah Lee Grayson. Human, female. Average height etc,. Born on Earth. Funny how humans claimed that right to call their planet that exclusively.  Ever scrolled through the PaDD, glancing at the woman’s childhood history. Normal, more or less. No one had a perfect childhood. Introvert? Maybe, maybe not. And again, not unusual for a psychologist. Or was it psychiatrist? Scrolling quickly to Grayson’s education section, Ever stopped. Medical doctor and a background in forensic psychology. Well, they had that in common at least. Glancing through the remainder of Grayson’s record, Ever let out a low whistle. Pretty impressive service record.  She was more interested in the whys, why nots and hows behind the report. What made Dr. Grayson tick? Ever blew absently across the top of the steaming mug of coffee before taking a small sip. 

Technically, Ever wasn’t expected to report for duty yet and still had a few days on leave left to burn. Though she had planned on extending her holiday on OED, taking in the local sights, once she had dug up the box, leaving quickly had seemed a safer option. Hidden away, locked with an encryption code only a former intelligence officer understood, Ever relaxed knowing the secret remained hidden and undisturbed. Sneaking it onto the Ogawa would be much easier since the ship was docked. Sense the Ogawa was nearly empty of crew and not ready for departing Ever was without an office. It had taken a bit of tracking down a way to contact Mariah, but she had managed in the end to extend an invitation to her junior officer to meet her for a cup of coffee and an informal meet and greet with the department in general.  

Sat at a table for two as far away from the the bar and door as possible, Ever sat wearing a loose fitting grey long dress that extended to her ankles and sensible shoes. The bar itself was ironically named. Loudly coloured decorations covered every inch of bulkhead space. Strings of multi-coloured lights darted back and forth across the overhead. Candles with false flames mixed with them providing the only lighting in the room. Ever rubbed her eyes wishing someone would increase the illumination. Shifting her foot, she accidentally kicked one of the many oddities that served as decor. Strewn throughout the bar were objects objects that appeared to be from every known culture in the quadrant. Furniture was equally mismatched. Two of the chairs at the table next to hers looked like the had been stolen from a Klingon warship bridge. The place looked was a mess and looked like many people had arrived, dropped their belongings and left them behind. Oh well. Rumours of having the best coffee on the starbase had proven to be completely true.  Ever sipped her coffee loudly, watching the door intently. 

Lt. Commander Ever Zeanar, COP

It took some help from the computer, but Dr. Mariah Grayson eventually found her way to the Last Post Lounge where she had been invited to meet Dr. Zeanar. After hearing its name, Grayson was met with another twinge of regret that she hadn’t done more to explore the starbase. With names like that, there had to be a story worth exploring. Still, she’s always found the stories of people to be more compelling than even the stories of places, which is why she found herself working more than exploring.

Except, of course, now, when work actually allowed her to cross paths with interesting people and places. As she entered the lounge, her senses were overwhelmed with all she saw, the randomness of it. She found herself wondering about the proprietor and the people who contributed to the decor, assuming this wasn’t an intentional design choice by the owner.

Making a mental note to inquire about that further later, she searched her memory for the picture of the woman she had seen in the file she had reviewed before arriving and she did her best to scan the face is in the room as unobtrusively as possible. Spotting, finally, the familiar face further in the room then she expected, she approached with a polite but sincere smile. ” hello. Dr. Zeanar, I presume?”

~Dr. Mariah Grayson, Psychiatrist