Posted by Lieutenant Kate O’Neill (Chief of Security) in Counselor’s Office - Kate’s CNS check in

Posted by Lieutenant Kate O’Neill (Chief of Security) in Counselor’s Office - Kate’s CNS check in

Posted by Commander Morganna Salazar (Counselor) in Counselor’s Office - Kate’s CNS check in Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻 Kate walked to the counselor’s office and took a deep breath before activating the door lock. Pysch never scared her. You have to be either mentally sound or a certified sociopath to be cleared for duty. This was just all routine. You said hello, had a cup of coffee, and then they sent you on your way with the knowledge they were always there to talk if you needed to. Kate never needed to past the initial intake. With a family as big and nosy as hers plus a counselor brother, she just kept her issues in-house so to speak. It worked well that way because 99.9% of her problems always dealt with her family. The only time a counselor visit went bad was during her cadet cruise on the Discovery. If Hunter had any reference about that in her file and the subsequent trip to sickbay looking for hallucinating drugs in her system, Kate would ring his neck the next time she saw him. Palming the door controls, Kate waited to be let in. : : : : : : : : : : : : Lt. (j.g.) Kate O’Neill, CoS : : : : : : : : : : Morganna stood up “Enter.” She said as she came around her desk to greet whomever was on the other side of the door. “Welcome…” She said as Kate walked in “I’m Lt. Cmdr Morganna Salazar. The Odin’s Counselor. How can I help you?” : : : : : : : : : : CNS : : : : : : : : “I”m Kate O’Neill the new security chief. I was hoping I could pop in and get my counselor check in finished,” Kate said. “Well that and,” she swung her backpack around, “to drop off this.” From the bag, she pulled two cellophane bags filled with pretzels dipped in chocolate. The candied pretzels sparkled with various colored icing drizzle and sprinkles. “I thought your girls might like this. They are homemade and not sushi,” she let out a small chuckle remembering poor Riss. “I got bored last night and made way too many. I thought that your girls might like some and then hoped I could kill two birds with one stone by delivering them and checking in with you,” she smiled warmly. “If it is a problem I can come back later but the pretzels are best when eaten fresh.” : : : : : : : : Lt. (j.g.) Kate O’Neill, CoS : : : : : : Morganna accepted the treats with a smile “Of course, please have a seat. Would you care for something to drink while we chat?” She asked walking over to the replicator and getting herself a glass of water and waited for Kate to give her order as well. : : : : “Coffee large with cream and sugar please,” Kate asked taking a seat. : : : : : : Moganna sat down in one of the chairs “Where are you from originally Lieutenant?” She asked after taking a small drink of water. : : : : : : CNS : : : : “A small town in Pennsylvania called Waynesburg. Population three thousand nine hundred and ninety-three,” she laughed taking a long draw on her coffee. “Nothing but farms, shotguns, and football,” Kate admitted, “but it was a nice place to grow up. My dad was the Captian of the Ticonderoga-B. I actually was lived on the ship until I was six.” Not sure if the counselor knew the history of the ship, she decided to give her a brief backstory. “That was when it blew up. Starfleet wanted my Dad to test out a new warp core design they built at Uptopia Plantia. The small jumps worked perfectly. It was the long-range jumps past warp 6 that showed the design flaw.” Kate took a small sip of her coffee. It was not that she hated talking about the event but she didn’t relish talking about it either. “The breach occurred about 0230 hours after one hour of engaging the engines. I don’t remember much except for some security officer pulling me from my bed and carrying me to the shuttle.” Kate did remember more but often feigned her age as a factor for not remembering the details. Morganna looked at Kate “Is that all you remember?” She asked sensing that there was more to the story “Remember I’m a Betazoid.” She said with a slight smile. “I remember being scared,” Kate said feeling a small embarrassed flush rise to her cheeks. “I remember holding this silly stuffed dog named Henry so tight and a voice off the security officer telling me to put my face into his neck to black the smoke.” Kate’s face took on a slightly far off look as her eyes focused across the room but not actually seeing anything there. Shaking her head as if to clear her thoughts, Kate gave Morgana a smile. I will save you some time with the diagnosis of Basiphobia,” she laughed. “I can go up anything and it doesn’t make me think twice but coming down off of something more than about 10 feet,” Kate let her voice trail off with a half laugh. “The best course of action is just to push me. I don’t hold grudges,” she laughed hard. “Now the trick is when that developed. On the night the ship went down I remembering looking when the security officer told me to keep my eyes shut. I mean who doesn’t look when someones says don’t look. He had to jump and I was fine in his arms but it was a looooooooong way down. There were also a ton of trees I got stuck in as a kid so who knows. I am fine for the job. I subscribe to the solid advice of don’t look down.” It was not that Kate wanted to hide anything from Morgana but she wasn’t sure how much the counselor wanted to know exactly. So Kate continued. : : : : “Needless to say my mom freaked and refused to bring the family back on the ship after the event. My Dad had a choice, go alone or find a new career which he did. See the XO was hurt badly helping the crew get to shuttles. He and my dad were close so they decided to open up a whiskey business. My Uncle Conner had the recipe and my dad the equipment to mass produce it. They moved from Ireland to America and bought the farm directly behind us. The brewery straddles the property lines.” : : : : Looking at the glass in her hand, Kate took a deep breath. “It was a terrible accident but living proof about the Law of Unintended Consequences. As a result of the accident, I met Shaun who became a doctor after seeing his dad get hurt. His sister Fiona became an engineer and works at Utopia Planitia making sure nothing is ever rushed into production. My brothers all went into Starfleet and eventually my brother Dave, got the XO spot on the Ticonderoga -C. Growing up in the sticks of Pennsylvania I got to do all sorts of things I could never do on a starship and found out real quick I was one hella shot,” Kate let out a laugh. “I can pretty much-hit anything dead on at any distance given the right scope and a half second to aim. So even though the event might not have seemed fortuitous, I introduced my family to the Grecken’s. I can’t imagine a life without them or Uncle Conner and Aunt Molly. : : : : Lt. (j.g.) Kate O’Neill, CoS : : Bump Morganna nodded “What do you think was the biggest factor was in you coming a security officer?” Morganna asked as she took a drink of water. CNS

“The guy that rescued me oh and my four brothers,” Kate said jokingly. “One inspired me to be brave and the other tough. If you have any brothers you will know which one did which.”

Lt. (j.g.) Kate O’Neill, CoS

BUMP
Morganna nodded “What do you see as your biggest challenge aboard the Odin?” She asked looking at Kate.

CNS

“Not being indicted for involuntary manslaughter against Shaun,” Kate shot back instantly before realizing the Morganna may not know everything about her and the handsome new doctors past. She also remembered that the counselor might not be in tuned yet with Kate’s brand of flippant humor. “Shaun and I are…were engaged,” Kate quickly corrected her statement before turning a bit red from embarrassment. Scratching her forehead to give herself a moment to think, Kate tried to figure out the best way to explain things. In the end, she just decided to go with the truth.

Morganna gave her a odd look but smiled at the flippant attitude “Well, let’s hope you can keep from killing him.” She said lightly.

“To be fair I don’t know exactly what he and I are at the moment. Ten years ago he was my best friend. One year ago he was my fiance. Between June of last year and now I think I have gone from pin-up model on his wall to the bullseye for advanced hypo-throwing 101,” Kate made a joke of their past. “It was more than a shock to find him riding the shuttle with me to the Odin. I would have preferred wresting a targ at one point in my medical check in but,” Kate sighed. “I don’t know how to live without Shaun in my life. I have known him since I was six. I guess what I see as the most challenging is figuring out where he and I are going. The job I can handle but losing him again might kill me,” Kate answered honestly. This probably wasn’t the first or the last time Morganna had heard the broken heart speil but not answering truthfully would be a kin to lying to the counselor. The job would work itself out. Her personal life was another matter.

Lt. (j.g.) Kate O’Neill, CoS
Bump

Morganna nodded “So perhaps you need to figure out where you are and build from there.” She said “Everything I have heard about Shaun is he’s a good guy and a good doctor.” Morganna added “So how do you think that you will work out this situation with Shaun.”

CNS

“I have no idea,” Kate slumped back running her fingers through her hair. “Shaun is a great guy. He seems to want to get back to where we were but I am not sure it will happen. Not because I don’t want it to but because some things you don’t come back from. Our families are close. My brother is marrying his sister. Even if he and I were not back together we would still have a tight relationship. I guess the weirdest part is Shaun and I don’t talk about last year. It is like we picked up and just moved forward. Like with everything as if nothing happened,” Kate looked at Morganna hoping she understood how all-encompassing the word everything was meant to be. “Again…not complaining but at times it makes me wonder.”

Lt. Kate O’Neill COS

Morganna nodded “Well, maybe you need to find the right time to reminisce about your past, and just go over happy times and then bring up the things that happened.” She suggested “Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something new about Shaun and yourself.” She said

CNS

“Maybe but Shaun is all male. He suffers from selective mutism unless the conversation revolves around cars, Marvel, or movies,” Kate ticked off a finger labeling each one. “I mean it is not his fault really. Guys just never tend to talk. They tend to agree but only listen half the time,” she started to laugh. “You’re married. You know what I am saying right.”

Lt. Kate O’Neill COS

Bump

Morganna smiled “I am married and maybe I just got lucky, my husband does listen and we can talk about anything.” She said thinking about Rivar “Interweve the conversation into those three topics. You might be surprised how much he retains.” Morganna suggested.

CNS