A Good Place to Be

Posted on 05 Jan 2024 @ 7:51pm by Commander Elleese Elloyia & Petty Officer 2nd Class Alizabeth Omari

2,440 words; about a 12 minute read

Mission: Miranda

Elleese was reminded of an old idiom from Earth about frying pans and fires.

While there was much improvement in everyone's health since the treatments began, it was still an absurd necessity to move an entire ship's worth of people--four ships' worth, as a matter of fact--down to the planet surface for two days amid that recovery. It wasn't that she didn't understand the need and the captains pursuing it. She was more just marveling at the ridiculousness of the universe to make it this way. Then again, it wasn't down to the universe so much as whoever had released a biological weapon on them.

That, however, was not a mystery she could solve, and thinking about it caused anxiety. Counselors were certainly not exempt from such feelings. Instead, she focused on being useful. While her department's skills would certainly be needed, others were more pressing at the exact moment. She went to find her friend Aliza...

Alizabeth was pretty easy to track down as she had been on the ship before the illness and then, well she was impossible to lose as she held down the flooring of her space in sick bay very well. Currently she was tracking through shelters noting who was encamped where, there had been a plan as to the layout of the personnel but after the quarantine people decided to swap places to be closer to friends, or to begin to work on projects that they could from outside the ship.

Her constant accessory until medical had been her PADD, the true tool of her job was in her hand and she was chatting with a few people that were in a group relaxing together. A warm smile on her lips and the gold tattoos on her cheeks picked up the sun and shimmered like dots of glitter.

Ell approached, although did not draw in to speak to the yeoman until she finished her conversations with the others. "How are you feeling?" she asked once the coast was clear, socially speaking, for her to come up beside the other woman, offering a small smile.

“So glad to be on my feet again,” Aliza responded with a bright look in her eyes, “and to be useful. Laying on a mat on a floor while the medical staff worked around me was a bit of a struggle. I am not the best at staying still. Did you get the crud as well?”

"Fortunately for me, I did not," Ell said. "That being said, I was...taken out of commission for a while myself, as the humans put it, by the empathic noise of the ship--particularly at the heights of people's delirium. However, the crew is on the mend and we have this intriguing task ahead of us. I came to see if I could assist you at all."

The golden eyed woman looked at Ell. “I am just tracking where people are camped but you are more than welcome to join me, I would be happy for company. I can’t imagine all the emotions that were swirling about during the delirium, I know my levels of imagination were… varied.”

Ell inclined her head. "So it was for everyone," she agreed. "I will be casually checking in with people as we go as well, just to see how everyone is doing. This has all been...a lot for the whole crew, to say the least."

“May I say, I am completely happy that you did not suffer the illness most of us had. Not sure I would want outside influence, my own mind was enough.” Aliza began walking to the next set of shelters with a warm smile and introduced herself to any who had not met her yet. “Just checking in to see if you need anything and setting up a map of where everyone set up.”

The presence of a counselor often seemed to set people a little off their game, so Ell remained as inconspicuous as she could. She helped carry some PADDs and took notes, although she listened and sensed as best she could to check in with everyone as they went along. Despite the circumstances, folks were generally in good spirits--comparatively. Just happy to be receiving treatments and getting healthy again.

After they moved on from one group, on their way to the next, Ell fell in stride with Aliza. "How are you feeling now, by the way?" she asked. "Obviously better enough to be back to work, but are any symptoms still bothering you?"

“Weakness, don’t think I have ever felt this weak, even with trying to get back into the moving habit. And a few dreams that are not like I normally dream. All in all not such a bad result.” Alizabeth smiled, but there was a hint of shadow that she allowed to be seen to match her emotional weight of something aligned with guilt.

"I am sure those will pass soon as well," Ell said, though obviously one with her neurology and training couldn't miss the expression and the feelings. She was cautious about pressing it, though, since this wasn't exactly the moment for a counseling session. "It can be very difficult to deal with the after-effects of illness, though," she commented. "People never realize the emotional toll such things can take. Hence why I am making some round myself."

Golden eyes turned on Ell for a moment with a puzzled look then dawning, “Illness makes people worried about the inevitable result if you do not recover?” The next group was coming up and Aliza turned that true smile she had in dealing with the crew. “Hello. How are you doing? Missing anything you need?” Starting there but she would eventually end up getting everyone’s name so she could take note of where each person would be.

Elleese let Alizabeth handle most of the talking as they went to each group, since she was the one tracking the logistics, although she made notes and popped in a word here and there. She otherwise observed, taking in a surface-level sense of how each person was feeling. As they moved on, she continued their conversation. "Partly, yes," she agreed, "but people who dealt with the hallucinations also struggle with their sense of reality. They may feel unsettled or doubt themselves."

“I still wonder if I will see a baby Klingon on a rainbow horse once in a while, especially upon waking. Luckily I have more than enough to keep me busy so I never have to think on the dreams, or the things I saw when I was in sick bay.” Aliza smiled, “Lieutenant Veera was next to me and for a time I wondered if she was just a hallucination, or her outward appearance was at least.”

"I can understand that," Ell said with a small smile. "After all, she is unique among the crew in terms of her species, and with even the most bland of things being questionable in that state, well..." She shrugged slightly. "Hopefully, you will be able to avoid any baby Klingons on rainbow horses. At least this planet is uninhabited."

The yeoman looked to her companion and grinned, “Uninhabited as far as we know…. With all that has happened, well…” she let the words trail off and then she winked, hoping she had not just cursed them, again.

Ell made a thoughtful noise. She wished she could use her senses to answer that question, but with the crews of four starships down here with them, there was too much noise. Still, she smiled and shrugged. "Starship sensors are usually pretty reliable about if there's life on a planet or not."

“And sick bay usually can cure about anything they come across,” Aliza said. It was not like her to be negative but there was a layer of fear after being ill. “You are right, just dodging at shadows. A good thing I am a good dancer and they can’t really take hold.” Looking down she checked her PADD, “Hmmm no one claimed this camp but clearly people are there, let us see who decided they wanted to hang out together.”

"Most people seem to be wanting to band together," Ell commented, following Aliza. "I think there was a lot of isolation for those not in sickbay and this is a rebound from it. A bit more desire for togetherness than the average for a crew together on a starship."

Aliza looked around the camp with a smile taking down names and actually seeing people from the other ships mingling in, those she took notes of specifically. “I think a lot of the time spent ill would have been better if companions could have chosen who they were suffering with. It was nice meeting those I did though, just I am glad we are loosely keeping to a grouping rather than forcing people into certain places.”

Elleese nodded slightly, looking around as well. "I think the only division is that the different crews are generally staying together, although I have seen a few visitors from the other ships. Primarily the Taweret. Perhaps because they suffered so many losses."

“Yeah we haven't seen any cross ship camping yet.” She looked back to the counselor, “Do you remember when we were on our way onto the ship that we shouldn’t expect a boring tour? Well we started off with a bang.”

Aliza had a gift for communication, when they were in the camp she would focus on each person, not one did not get eye contact or an attempt at conversation, now she turned that attention on Eli, “Have you ever been camping before?”

The counselor considered this, as she made some notes on her PADD. "Not for pleasure," she said, "but I have been on a few cases of shore leave where the conditions were a bit more wild than is usual for starship missions. Even a bit rougher than this situation is, though usually M-class worlds. You?"

“No, people in the Academy would go, but I usually chose to stay and study, or something else was going on in athletics or one of the communities I was involved in. This seems like a good experience so far,” Aliza said, the so far really needed to be there considering the ship so far. “We are arranging for a bonfire this evening. If people want to bring instruments or anything else that is common for such things it is encouraged. Would you like to come out with us?” She looked around conspiratorially, “I got the replicator to make us a crate of marshmallows, I have read in books that burning them is customary.”

"I would happy to attend," Ell said, but her pale brows were already drawn together with uncertainty. "But...what is a marshmallow and why would you want to burn them?"

Aliza laughed, “It is an old world human thing, soft pillows of sweets. It said if you burn the outside it there is a smoky flavor and the middle gets all soft and gooey. Do you play any instruments or sing? I read that is what happens at these times together.”

This...marshmallow thing was intriguing, but she did not pursue the topic further. She'd soon see for herself. "I am afraid that I do not possess any innate musical ability. The monks tried to teach us all some form of music, and I was among those who did not take to it." She smiled wryly. "How about yourself?"

“Oh I understand, my father is a musician, I can sing some, but nothing like a true musician can so if I drink enough and people are playing I might sing, but that would take a lot.” Aliza came to the next group setting up and once again a pattern of behavior, they spoke, she tracked who was where, a mention of the bonfire, and then just the standard talking which might help Ell most if she could.

"How do you feel that everyone seems to be doing?" the counselor asked her friend as they walked away. She knew that Aliza wasn't a trained counselor, but Elleese sensed that the woman was pretty good at reading the things around her--hallucinations notwithstanding, of course--and she was curious how the emotional situation looked to someone else now that they had spoken with and caught up with so many of the crew in their current situation.

The yeoman looked around, “I think there are some that are struggling but do not wish to say anything, some, like me, that are joking, or working, around it and some are dealing well. I think this abrupt change in scenery is making things a bit more chaotic in dealing with the after effects.” The dark skinned woman paused to explain better, “This is a shock to the system after confinement, not everyone deals with shock well, I am guessing a number of people just want to get back to their work and lives as they know them.”

Elleese listened attentively and nodded. "I believe you are correct, although some seem to be taking this break as a way to separate from what happened. Allow them to return to the ship, once we can, with a more refreshed start than the lingering thoughts of the sickness and trials endured."

"it is a reset for some, yes, but I think even those people will have a..." she paused trying to find the right word, "hangover. Some physically from the illness but the mental affects as well. At least that is how it feels to me, there are residual things that will remain after this. I think even more so as it was a weapon, not like a 'ooops we all caught an illness on shore leave' but this was targeted and now people will wonder if every time they feel tired or weak if something has happened again."

"Mm," Ell agreed with a soft sound and a nod. "Many people underestimate what can act as trauma upon the psychological systems. You would have made a good counselor, I think," she added with a small smile.

Aliza laughed softly, “Maybe… not sure my test scores would ever have qualified me for that. I am lucky to have gotten my place at the academy at all. Besides, if I were to follow that track they likely would make me deal with all my issues with my mother, and not sure I am ready to face that. I am just happy for where I am right now.”

Elleese smiled again and nodded. "Then that is a good place to be."

 

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