Joint Duty Log | CEO & CNS | Lt Cmdr Rhodes & Lt Odan | "So how does that make you feel?..."

Posted on 241403.09 @ 7:56pm by Lieutenant Orson Odan MD, PsyD & Acting Captain Mark Rhodes

Mission: Where no man has gone before.
Location: Counselling Suite, Deck 10

Counselling Suite, Deck 10
USS Enterprise

After talking to the Chief of Medicine and getting her seal of approval he had to go talk to the Counsellor. He hit the chime and waited for an answer within.

Orson had found his office, after an hour of trying and after an awkward dinner with the commanding officer. Needless to say, when you're expecting a stoic Vulcan and you get a bumbling non-Vulcan it throws you. The room was a mess, the therapy room at least was far more organised. Stepping out into the room he heard the chime. "Well Kellian, time to work" he muttered to himself checking the room over.

"Enter!" he called out, immediately the bumbling nature fading away as the consummate professional took over.

Mark walked in on the doctor sitting behind his desk. "Hello, I am Lt Cmdr Mark Rhodes, Chief Engineer, I need to speak to someone, I guess, to get a psych evaluation."

Orson raised a brow “A psych evaluation?” he pondered for a moment and indicated to the sofa “please make yourself comfortable Commander, may I call you Mark? There’s no need to be formal in this room” the Trill said with a semi-awkward smile. “I’m Orson, Orson Odan, the Chief Counsellor” he explained by way of introduction. “I apologise if you were expecting someone else there was a last minute change”.

“Now, why do you need an evaluation?” Orson asked taking his own seat in the room.

"Hell if I know," Mark said taking a seat. "I suppose it’s to make sure the person who is keeping this flying bucket of bolts from flying apart is stable? Don't feel bad, I just came from medical where I had to have a thorough check up and they didn't find anything. I suspect the Captain is a whole lot on edge.

"I dropped my fork at dinner, because my hand locked up from recent nerve damage that I received when I got a little to close to a faulty plasma tap. So I am at dinner and my hand locks up. I pick my fork back up and continue as if nothing happened, because I was admittedly embarrassed at that point."

Orson couldn’t help but smile “you dropped… your fork, got embarrassed so the Captain referred you?” he mused for a moment it was certainly interesting. There he was believing only he made the connections between small, insignificant moments and full psychological meltdown. “The incident in engineering, had anything like that happened to you before?” he asked casually.

"I’ve had accidents before, if that's what you’re asking," said Mark. "Accidents happen, we would prefer that they don't, but they happen."

“Quite, one cannot help but get into accidents. Would you say you often experience accidents?” Orson asked following up on this path.

"No. This is the first time I have gotten injured in the line of duty in years. The part failed, not me. I did everything right. Burning my hand was a more favorable outcome then losing my hand, which was a possibility, when the plasma tap exploded and started raining super heated plasma."

“Yes, quite nasty, very nasty in fact. At least it was a minor injury in the circumstances” Orson mused. “When you were injured, apart from the pain, how did you feel about the situation?” he asked. He could only assume the Captain had believed the engineer to be reckless, so far that did not seem to be the case at all.

"I was displeased with the fact that I hurt myself. I was glad that it was me rather then someone who had gotten injured. I was unhappy that I had to take the time to get to sickbay and take care of the injury, which was time I could have spent working in Engineering."

Orson mused “all natural feelings to experience. You understood the seriousness of the situation though it appears, to seek treatment? How was your time in sickbay?”

"It was fine. It was sickbay," said Mark not mentioning the cute red headed doctor. "Fixed my hand and sent me on my merry way."

“Sounds straightforward at least. You were happy with the treatment and any cautions offered by the doctor who saw you?” Orson asked. “What went through your mind during that appointment?”

"The treatment worked. And what I was thinking about? I needed to get that plasma tap fixed, I need to run through the slipstream drive start up procedure again, I need to get over to the USS Aquarius and start inspections, I need to get my quarters squared away before to long, and countless other things dealing with my duties," said Mark, again 'forgetting' to mention cute doctor. He knew it was inappropriate to speak about a fellow officer like that.

“So, in a moment of pain, seeking comfort from the medical staff, all you could think about was duty? Interesting” he commented making a note on the PADD he reached for. “This is a private and safe place Commander, if there is anything else please feel free” he added with a smile getting up from his chair guessing there was something else. “Would you care for a drink?” he asked.

"No I'm on Duty Doc," he said with a wink. "Sure, I’ll take a coffee black please. It’s just somewhat stressful getting the post when I did. One would think you would bring the person responsible for keeping this ship together, sooner then 2 days before launch. Now I am rushing to get caught up," he took the cup and saucer from the Doctor. "It’s just some bothersome they didn't bring me into this project sooner."

“More stressful than I suppose you would have liked, but you seem to have done a good job despite the injury and circumstances” Orson commented as he handed over the coffee cup. He paced a little before getting himself some tea; he had become quite fond of tea since arriving on Earth all those many years ago. It seemed it was a trait he also shared with some of his previous hosts. “So, Chief, how are you planning to escape the stresses of the job when your shift ends?” he asked sitting down.

"Sleep," said Mark as he took a sip. "Or maybe find out if the pub is any decent on this boat."

Orson smiled “both perfectly adequately reasonable suggestions” he added. “Now, I just have one last topic to broach with you… your personal life. Did you leave people back home?” he asked knowing this issue could be sensitive for most but would also be the most telling.

Mark raised his eyebrow at the doctor, "And here I thought I was going to get out of here without the cookie cutter 'so tell me about your childhood' mamby pamby wishy washy nonsense. Mom and Dad live on earth, when I worked on Jupiter Station I would make a point of getting home one a month for dinner with my folks."

Orson smiled “I can assume you had a good childhood then, really childhood memories are rarely interesting enough to discuss” he said bluntly with a grin. “How does leaving them for this long assignment make you feel?”

"Not sure," said Mark. "Since I left the academy I was on the USS Genesee as Assignment Chief 8 years, can't be any more difficult then that. We only got back to Earth 1 time during that 8 years, being out in the middle of nowhere Gamma Quadrant. We have learned to make the most of subspace communications."

“Very good. Close family? Wife? Husband? Children?” Orson asked as broadly as possible.

"I was the only child, but I was close to my cousin who I grew up with. Cormac Durand, he beat me not only to Lt Cmdr, but being Chief Engineer of a boat before me. But its alright I always remind him my aptitude testing was always higher then him. It’s why they gave me a desk job," he said.

Orson made some notes, nothing too unusual there. "And is there a partner in your life currently?" Orson asked.

"Not currently," said Mark. "That's not to say I am not looking but I have learned most of the time my work comes first... I’ve learned most women don't quite care for that."

“Ok… some simple answers to the next questions please Orson said. When starting a new undertaking you A) doubt its success B) weigh up the pros and cons before starting or C) feel it is worth taking the risk regardless?”

"B or C," said Mark. "Leaning towards B but I understand the merit of jumping in and getting your hands dirty to get something done."

Orson made some notes before starting again “when persuing your goal you A) follow the rules B) sometimes infringe the rules on minor matters and think nothing of it or C) are likely to break the rules if you see others doing it and aren’t likely to be punished?”

"A, Whats the point of establishing a rule if not to stick to it?"

“Games of chance, you A) don’t play B) play, but never above your level of solvency or C) when playing you may stake your all if you believe the odds are in your favour?” Orson continued.

"Again, B or C, depending on the situation. I'm not reckless Doc, but Ill do what needs to be done to stay safe and get us from point A to point B in one piece."

Orson nodded to himself “Thank you Mr Rhodes for indulging me there. You’ll be pleased to know, in my professional opinion, I don’t think you’re overly reckless or a risk to the ship and crew. I’m more than satisfied you can be cleared for duty which should alleviate any concerns of the Captain. Just perhaps… hide your feelings better for whichever lady in medical has caught your eye” he said with a knowing smile. “And, if you ever want to discuss your childhood, my door is always open”.

Mark's ears turned red when the doctor mentioned the lady in medical. He stood up, "Thanks for the bill of clean mind Doctor," ignoring the fact that he did use the qualifier 'overly reckless'. He put his hand out for a hand shake. "Nice to meet you. I can't promise that I’ll be down here every day to talk about my feelings but knowing I have a listening ear is nice."

Orson shook the man’s hand “any time, any time” he said simply as he watched the man leave. Returning to his chair and his tea he looked over to the now empty couch. “Well Kellian, you were right, there was nothing wrong with him. Hopefully enough to satisfy the Captain’s concerns”.

Breaking the hand shake Mark left the office and headed for Main Engineering to finish his shift.

=/\=

Lieutenant Commander Mark Rhodes
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F

And

Lieutenant Orson Odan
Chief Counsellor/Diplomatic Officer
USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-F