Meeting the New Counselor

Posted on Sat Feb 5th, 2022 @ 9:49pm by Willian Targaryen & Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Tlotz & Lieutenant R'relle

1,342 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Short Treks
Location: Private Dining Room, Starfleet One
Timeline: 0000-00-63, 21:00

Captain Willian Targaryen sat in the Private Dining Room off of the Bridge on Deck One looking at data displayed on his HoloPADD. The Away Team had not been on the surface for long, but he was growing more and more concerned by how little he had heard from them. With the Admiral being a prisoner of the Emerald Chain they would have to make this quick because the Chain would love to have acquired their stockpiles of Dilithium and Benamite to power their ships. If they did not hurry it was growing more and more likely that they would be discovered.

Ever since they were transported forward in time to this post-Burn galaxy he had felt more and more isolated than ever. He had always been the type to keep his crew at arms length because he had to as an Admiral. Now he had nothing to say because he really did not know anything and that scared him. It was one of the hardest realities of this universe they had found themselves in. Now he had to try to find a way to cope with it.

Ironically, the person he was about to meet with could have made that possible. If only he was willing to actually talk with a Counselor himself. He knew that the crew needed someone that they could confide in, that could help them overcome what they were faced with. He knew deep down that was not him and whoever that would be would certainly have their work cutout for them. When they accidentally got moved forward in time Counselor Rigby was not one of the people to make the trip with them. Yet another thing that the crew had to confront. So many were missing, so many were dead, and the answers just weren't there. It had been five months and he had avoided appointing a new Chief Counselor, but the reality was he had no option at this point.

He heard the door chime, "Enter."

The door slid back to admit the Caitian Counselor. "Hello Captain. Counselor R'relle reporting as ordered." She said with a smile. It hadn't been easy with all that happened, but she was resilient. She knew she had to persevere and the crew did too. Her tail flicked back and forth.

"Counselor," the Captain greeted from his chair at the old wooden table, "I hope that my invitation at this late hour didn't catch you too off guard. Please feel free to get a meal from the replicator if you haven't eaten yet and join me." He glanced down at his own half eaten meal.

R'relle smiled at this invitation. "Why thank you Captain. I believe I will do just that!" She went to the replicator and ordered rasharrr. A Caitian dish consisting of spiced meat from an animal on Cait. With it Caitian spiced drink. she took her meal and sat down across from the table. "Well this is an unexpected pleasure. To what do I owe said pleasure, Captain?" She said with a smile. One thing about R'relle, she was usually smiling. Even in her eyes.

Not one to waste time the Captain got right to it, "As you know the accident that brought us to this timeline led to most of the crew vanishing or being killed - Commander Rigby not being excluded from that number. This has left us without a Chief Counselor and, due to the extreme nature of our circumstances, I have selected you to serve as the Senior Counselor aboard this ship. Effective immediately."

Her smile got even bigger. "Oh I'd love to Captain. I accept most wholeheartedly. Thank you so much!" her tail wiggled back in forth rapidly in response to her excitement and joy at her new position. This was what she had hoped for, to be Chief Counselor!

"Glad to hear it, Lieutenant. While we are being totally honest with one another though there is a lot more that we need to prepare the crew for. What I am about to tell you is entirely confidential and cannot be disclosed to the rest of the crew as of yet. I need to have your assurances that you will not share what I am about to tell you with them," he took a drink from his glass after saying his routine cloak and dagger spiel.

"Of course Captain. I will not tell anybody if that's what you want. Being a counselor means knowing how to be discreet." Now R'elle was intrigued. What was on the captain's mind?

Setting aside his own food the Captain pressed back into his chair. "I have been running a series of experiments and simulations regarding returning this ship to its own time. So far every simulation has resulted in the same thing: this ship fails to successfully jump back to its own time. I've completed dozens of simulations using every method known to our science. Each fails."

The smile faded from her face. "I..see. Well that is disappointing news. I know I was hoping to get back to our own time and see my family again." She sighed. "Well we knew there were risks when we joined Starfleet. I try to look at the bright side. We are alive. It's going to be a tough pill for a lot of people to swallow. Thank you for letting me know Captain. I will prepare for the people who need my help." R'elle would control her disappointment. She missed her sister and their parents. Still hopefully they all had good lives!

"I wish that I had better news to share, Counselor," Willian added as he rested himself against the back of the chair. "I regret that your first day on the job is going to be dealing with this. Hopefully, when we connect with Starfleet, things will get better quickly." He hoped that he could believe that for himself. It still had been odd to him that they had spent so much time in this reality already and, so far, they had yet to have any real contact with Starfleet or its remnants. They had salvaged all the technologies they could from Cold Station 12, but even that had not gotten them to full capacity and their deuterium stores were nearing depletion.

"I understand Captain. It is what it is. It's going to be difficult, however, we have a good crew and I think they will be ok. When do you plan on telling them?" R'elle said.

He knew the answer to the question, but it was one that was a lot harder to share than he'd expected, "When I feel that they'd be able to handle it the best. Probably never," his dark humor kicked in, "most likely when we reconnect with Starfleet and the Federation."

"Captain, they're going to figure it out sooner or later. I appreciate what your saying and I get where you are coming from but it would be better if it came from you." R'elle replied.

"You're probably right, Lieutenant," the former Admiral relented as he took a drink from his tumbler. "I suppose..."

"Bridge to Captain Targaryen."

He looked at the new Counselor, "If you'll excuse me a moment, Lieutenant." He walked across the room over to the far side, "Targaryen here."

"Captain, sensors are detecting atypical readings from near Svian."

"What kind of readings?" The Captain asked as he glanced back at the new Counselor.

The sound of console beeps in the distance could be heard, "It almost looks like a Cloaking Device."

"Looks like they've come for the Admiral," Willian announced. "I'm on my way up there now. Let's go to Red Alert. Targaryen out."

Willian looked at Lieutenant R'relle, "We may have to cut this short. I'm needed on the Bridge."

"Of course Captain. Thank you for the dinner. I enjoyed it. Good Luck! If you need me you know where to find me." she smiled at him and then turned to leave.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, I'll remember that," the Captain answered as he headed for the Bridge.

RSS Feed