After the Fallout [Back Post]
Posted on Tue Dec 31st, 2024 @ 7:49pm by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brix Saad & Lieutenant Kevin Bianchi Ph.D. & Lieutenant JG Rosalind Paget
2,136 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Short Treks
Location: USS Intrepid: Counseling Suite
Timeline: MD2: 1330 hours
Brix was nervous. She was being seen by the new counselor and his aide today; by order of Commander Lorut. Stepping out of the turbolift, the Orion woman felt bright green, but hoped she wasn’t showing that outward level of emotion. During her first year at the Academy, the mean girls called her ‘Highlighter’ because she shone so bright during tests and quizzes and speeches…and really, everything.
She had dropped out of the Academy because of the bullying, but she always saw other kids who got it worse. She just felt like a failure then. Now she served the captain coffee and gave him documents for signature or fingerprint. She is a glorified receptionist.
’For a powerful man,’ she remembered quickly.
Stepping up to the reception area, Brix offered a pleasant if questioning, “Hello?”
A slim woman with dull, red hair appeared in the doorway of the nearest room.
"Hello," she replied walking forward, her right hand held out ready to shake. "Petty officer Saad? I'm Rosalind Paget."
Nothing showed the unease that Rosalind felt with extending the greeting except perhaps that a warm smile or indeed a smile of any kind was missing.
“Please, it’s just Brix,” the Orion answered, shaking the other woman’s hand. “Everyone just calls me Brix,” she added for clarification.
"Brix," Rosalind confirmed. "Please…step this way. Lieutenant Bianchi is in his office." She indicated the direction which was but a short distance.
Brix stepped into the office and settled on a small light blue couch. It was one of the few rooms with light wood floors on the ship, designer wing back chairs were in taupe and light blue with some generic artwork on the walls and some empty shelves.
She tapped her foot, a nervous habit.
"At least he 'was'" Rosalind murmured, staring at the yawning gap where she had expected Kevin to be sitting waiting for his patient.
A moment later, Kevin returned to the counseling office, his arms laden with a stack of old leather-bound books. The volumes were an eclectic mix - some were clearly antiques with faded gilt lettering on their spines, while others appeared to be more recent publications printed on digital paper. Titles ranged from "Vulcan Meditation Techniques" to "The Collected Works of Sigmund Freud" and even "Ferengi Rules of Acquisition: A Psychological Analysis."
"Hey Rosalind," Kevin called out cheerfully as he entered, carefully maneuvering around the furniture with his precarious stack of books. "I was thinking more about those colour changes we kicked around earlier. What do you think about a warm sage green for the walls? Could be pretty soothing, right? Oh, and I picked up these old psychology books from my quarters - you're welcome to borrow them anytime. Just be careful with the thick Bajoran one... it's starting to fall apart and needs to be rebound."
"I think that will be a perfect choice and soothing as you say." Rosalind replied with a glance at Brix. "I'll enjoy looking at the books too but for the moment...we have...a visitor...."
His eyes fell on Brix sitting nervously on the couch in his office. "Oh! Petty Officer Brix, I apologize for keeping you waiting," he said, quickly setting the books down on a nearby side table with a soft thud. "I'm Lieutenant Bianchi, the new chief counselor. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Kevin moved to take a seat in one of the wingback chairs across from Brix. Picking up his glasses from the table, he slipped them on and offered her a warm smile. "So, how are you doing today?"
“To be honest…oh! Just Brix is fine. Anyway, I’ve been having trouble processing the entire day that that building fell in the capital of New El-Auria. That a Q would bother to talk to me, let alone help, basically, everyone is mind boggling,” Brix admitted, talking really quickly.
Kevin leaned back in his chair, his expression attentive as he listened to Brix's rapid-fire response. He nodded slowly, processing her words.
"That's quite an experience you've been through. It's completely understandable to have trouble processing something so... well, extraordinary." He paused, removing his glasses and absently cleaning them with the edge of his uniform as he gathered his thoughts.
"Let's take a step back for a moment," he continued, placing his glasses back on his nose. "Before we dive into the specifics of that day, I'd like to get to know you a bit better. Tell me a bit about you, something I won't find in your file."
Brix was thrown off track. She hadn’t come to talk about herself interests, she had come to process what happened on New El-Auria. “I don’t know…I’m just the captain’s yeoman. I fetch coffee and signatures or thumbprints. I’m not interesting or unique in any way.”
"It can be anything," Kevin added with a slight smile. "Don't think too hard about it, just whatever comes to mind that you'd like to share with me."
Brix blew a stray hair from her face. “I guess I read a lot. Not just Starfleet updates, but some of the human and Orion classics. I have a hard cover of the Winter Assassin. It’s one of Orion’s best non-fiction books - though the holovid version laid too heavily on an intimated romance,” she shrugged. She liked paper books.
"I haven't read the Winter Assassin, but I've heard of it. I like books myself, as you might have guessed," Kevin replied with a wry smile, gesturing at the assortment of books currently stacked in random locations around his office. "They're a good way to unwind, or just escape for a while... take us out of the present and follow someone else's story." His eyes grew distant for a second and then focused back on her. "It almost sounds like a Q decided you'd make the ideal character for their story. Did they ever give you any indication as to why they were doing what they were doing?"
Brix shrugged. “To be honest, she sounded bored but also like she was duty bound to protect their weird building. The El-Aurians never gave us access to the last standing building of their Capitol building,” Brix answered. “Why do you think they’d think I’m worth being anything ideal for any story? I’m just a yeoman, a glorified secretary.”
"Who knows why the Q do anything they do," Kevin replied with a shrug. "Trying to make sense of their motivations can be like trying to solve a kal-toh puzzle. Without knowing their goal — their desired order, if you will — you'll just be lost in the chaos of it all. And like most characters in a story, your arc and your part in it may only clear by the last chapter."
“Damn. That’s a cryptic answer. Are you sure you’re not a Q in disguise?” she asked, but also considered seriously. It was one of her annoying traits, being direct to hide her suspicions.
Kevin chuckled softly. "I promise you, I'm as human as they come. Though, I suppose a Q would say that, wouldn't they?" He leaned forward slightly as her mention of the building in the El-Aurian capitol struck a chord in his mind. "You say it seemed like the Q was protecting the building that was off-limits. Did the El-Aurians ever explain why you weren't allowed access? Did the Q maybe drop any hints as to why the building could be important?"
“The El-Aurians like to give pointed advice, at least as much as I’ve observed, but they don’t like to give direct answers. You know, I heard a rumor they had some kind of Cold War. How could a civilization like the El-Aurians possibly war against the Q?” Brix wondered.
“Also, the building was protected by that wall of interlinks that the Q like to use when they’re blocking something. So maybe the Q had something valuable in there?” The Orion woman shrugged her hair. “Now I wish I had pushed harder to get inside, or get some answer that makes sense.” Truth be told, she thought herself a persistent presence, but she had been easily distracted by the El-Aurian elder’s responses.
“El-Aurians that live a long time would be the best liars, don’t you think?” Brix asked, pausing for a moment to let the counselor consider her word vomit.
Kevin raised an amused eyebrow. "Lying is a skill like any other — practice makes perfect, and having centuries to perfect that skill... You might have a point, but usually there's a reason for a lie. If the El-Aurians did in fact have a cold war with the Q, it's possible they possess some kind of technology — or maybe an artifact of some kind — that we don't know about," he speculated. "It stands to reason that the El-Aurians would want to keep that information secret. But if that's the case, what interests me is why would the Q want to protect it?"
Brix considered the question for a moment before letting out a small chuckle. "If I can't tell an El-Aurian is lying to me, I definitely can't tell you why a Q would want anything to do with protecting an El-Aurian building.
"Captain Picard describes the Q as an entity of pure chaos, bordering on anarchy. Captain Sisko's log entry on his time with Q was a bit more direct. He simply said, 'Q is an absolute pain in the ass'," she paused for a moment, collecting herself for Sisko's next statement, "But it sure felt damn good to punch him in his smug face. Captain Janeway seemed to mellow on her opinion opining that 'Q is an absolute threat to any and all who meet his and his kind' to 'Q has somehow wormed his way into Voyager's journey, becoming, if not family, at least, a possible friend'," Brix completed the bits of logs she could find on the subject.
"Whatever, right?" she said. "All I know is that the force field I saw was the same one that Q used to slow the Enterprise-D on its first mission to Farpoint Station. A Q force field big enough to stop a starship was protecting a small building that was once attached to the larger capitol building before the rest of it was crushed.
Kevin was quite impressed with Brix's extensive knowledge on Starfleet's encounters with the Q, but for someone with her curiosity and fondness for reading, it didn't surprise him too much that she would go digging for any information she could find on the Q after her experience. He stroked the stubble on his chin for a moment as he considered all that she'd said. It definitely seemed like there was a lot more going on than met the eye with the Q and the El-Aurians. The question, though, was whether it was any of the Intrepid's business. At the very least, finding as many details from eye witnesses as possible would help the command team decide whether it was or not.
"Did you put all of this in your after action report on the incident?" Kevin asked. "Your description of the force-field?"
Brix nodded her head. “I did, but no one is going to read the report of a yeoman who helped out a crew mate,” Brix decided. “I’m the lowest rung on the ladder, Counselor. The only thing that matters in my job is that reports are signed, the CO gets the message of where to be and when and that the coffee is hot and in hand without being asked.
“Pshhh. My after action report was filed away by me for ‘later review’. You think I don’t know what that means?” Brix tried to keep her tone level and even, not loud and angry or soft and sad. It was the reality that rank meant a lot and she didn’t have much of a rank at all.
"I get it, Brix. It’s easy to feel like just a cog in the machine, especially in Starfleet. But that report? It’s more than just paperwork. Even if it feels like no one’s paying attention, sometimes these things take time to surface. What you witnessed could become important later, even if it doesn't seem like it now."
He gave her an encouraging smile. "You’re not the lowest rung. You’re part of the crew, and every role matters, whether it’s signing documents or witnessing something unusual. Your perspective is valuable, even if it hasn’t been recognized yet. Sometimes, it’s the quiet voices that have the most important things to say."
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