Stress & Humour

Posted on 23 Mar 2009 @ 4:56pm by

1,776 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: M1: Prepare for Battle
Location: Bridge
Timeline: In The Midst Of Chaos

Counselor Elek had been standing quietly for a few minutes, observing the frenetic and mildly chaotic activity on the bridge. He glanced over to his right, where an NCO was standing over the tactical console, his frown buried and merging with the Bajoran ridges of his nose. At Ops, Engineering, even Science, crew members were working hard, clearly desperate to finish their tasks. The Senior Conn Officer, who Elek had not managed to speak to yet, was in his element, dealing with any issues that arose with a very laid-back attitude that Elek liked. The El-Aurian hybrid smiled - yes, he and the flight controller would get on.

Elek released a breath and closed his eyes. Opening his Betazoid telepathic senses, he felt the high stress levels of the crew, the tension, the worry at the recent Romulan activity. He wanted to just ... reach out and calm them, soothe their tense minds with a whisper. But Elek resisted ... his telepathic training on Betazed and Vulcan had been tempered with many years of ethical training, insttructing him when to respect privacy.

He felt a painful knot of stress and frustration emanating from in front of him. He automatically began walking towards it, without even looking. When he opened his eyes, he was standing near the exec, Lieutenant Rodriquez. He watched her carefully for a moment, seeing her coordinate the bridge's activity. Superficially, she wore a layer of calm, but that layer was very thin indeed. Beneath was a bubbling mass of tension and pressure, and it concerned Elek. He knew that the counselor would need an exec who was calm and collected. He wondered if he should approach her here on the bridge.

Mari was entirely absorbed in everything going on around her and hadn't paid much attention to the man who'd been observing. She thought she recognized him as the counselor but she didn't have time for that right now. She had a job to do and was apparently the only one there who would do it. She was a brand new XO, but even so, she knew that an XO was *supposed* to have a commanding officer telling her what to do rather than winging it like this on her own.

Elek could feel a painful degree of anxiety emanating from the lieutenant, and knew without opening his telepathic senses any wider that it was performance-related. He knew he had to offer his advice. Stepping forward, he stood to the immediate right of the command chair, looking straight ahead.

He almost smiled as a felt a tweak of curiosity come from the exec, and also some annoyance. After a moment, he looked round.

"Ma'am, we have briefly spoken already. I'm the ship's chief diplomatic officer and counselor."

"I remember," Mari acknowledged, "What can I do for you?"

"Sir, I wonder if I may have a few minutes of your time?"

Frowning, Mari looked around at the chaos on the bridge and hesitated, "I need to be available...we have not yet been assigned a commanding officer in case you have not noticed..."

"I had noticed, Lieutenant," Elek replied calmly, "and you are having to deal with an increased workload with no additional support. The crew can just as easily speak to you in the captain's ready room as they can out here. And I promise I won't keep you long."

He could feel the conflicting emotions within the exec and hoped that she would see sense.

Mari hesitated only a moment more before nodding, turning with a general statement to those on the bridge, "If I am needed, I will be in the ready room briefly," before turning back to the counselor and saying, "Alright, follow me..." leading the way to the ready room and entering her command code to allow them entrance. Once inside she moved to the desk and rested in a half-sitting, half-standing position on its edge. "You have my attention, Lieutenant." She didn't have time to break down or panic or try to figure out what in los cielos was going on.

Elek took his time - the last thing his superior needed to feel was that she was being rushed or pushed to one side. He moved to the sofa and sat down, leaning back and crossing his legs, but placing his hands in his lap.

"This must be a difficult time for you, Lieutenant. An appointment as exec, a ship to bring up to scratch, and no captain."

"It is, which is why I'd like to get back to it so I don't have to explain when a captain does arrive why I was sitting on my pompis when I should have been doing my job," Mar responded.

Elek kept his face neutral, but nodded. "I wonder if you realize the huge amount of trust that has been engendered in you already?"

This stopped Mari short and she asked, or rather demanded, "What do you mean?" with arms crossed over her chest, almost looking like a parent about to scold an unruly child.

"Starfleet chose *you* as this ship's executive officer," Elek went on. "That means senior levels in Command felt you were the most trustworthy person they could find to run a lot of the day-to-day minutiae of this ship until they appoint a captain. They obviously recognize you have the ability to get things done ... else they would be breathing down your neck every few minutes."

Mari grudgingly grumbled her acceptance of his statement as truth. She leaned back and sighed, saying, "Alright...I can accept that, I suppose..."

Elek nodded. "I have watched you interact with the crew. You have built up a good initial rapport with them and you have a good command voice." He smiled as he caught the exec's eye. "A command voice is incredibly important when building up your command authority. And you've got it."

This made Mari pause and do a double-take, contemplating whether he was being truthful or merely flattering but finally she gave in and graced him with a truly room-brightening grin, "Gracias. I'd say I work hard at it but it wouldn't be the truth. It seems bossing people comes naturally to me..."

Elek laughed out loud at this. "Hence the command track, I assume."

"No," Mari stated, tossing her long, dark locks back over her shoulder, "I couldn't make up my mind what I wanted to do so I went for command because I figured, if nothing else, it would be a little bit of everything."

Elek went on. "Look, Lieutenant, I'm not here to lecture you. I'm fully aware that, as counselor, I've got to earn your trust. But the last thing I'd want to see is the Freedom's new exec to be burnt out before the captain even arrives. I'm here, if you want to talk. If you don't -" he spread his arms expansively and smiled "- it's a free galaxy." He became serious again. "But give yourself some slack. You've got the authority, you're building the respect ... you're getting the job done. Stress is good, to a degree, but too much of it can make anyone incredibly ill. There's a good team onboard this ship - at least, that's the way it seems so far - so let them take some of the stress away from you. I guarantee - it'll make you feel a hundred times better, and you may even start enjoying yourself." An ironic smile formed on Elek's face.

Chuckling softly as she shook her head, Mari admitted, "The stress has been getting to me...from two directions in particular. The orders given by the station's chief ops to prep as if for departure but to be ready for battle as well because we're not to leave. Conflicting message if you ask me and very frustrating. Secondly...I know the chief intel is just trying to lend a hand and all...and he's doing a damn good job of it but por el amor de dios, he needs to let me do mine!" she exploded at the end with a burst of temper.

"Perhaps you need to tell him that?" Elek suggested. "After all, you *are* his superior? I'm sure he wouldn't take offence if it was ... said nicely. Perhaps with that command voice of yours."

Mari laughed, a bright and joyous sound, "Perhaps. I make no promises. My temper is good at getting the better of me sometimes."

Elek was secretly thrilled to hear her laughing, even for a moment. "Lieutenant," he said with a smile, "you don't have to promise me anything. You're my superior, too."

"Hmmm..." Mari grinned mischievously, "I'll have to remember that," she said with a wink as she stood fully again, "Alright, I suppose we should head back out there. Shall we?"

Elek matched her grin. "Indeed." He stood. "Thank you for meeting with me, Lieutenant."

"Not a problem, Counselor," Mari said, playfully taking his arm as if he were escorting her to the door, "You are welcome to interrupt my busy bridge life any time you please."

Elek almost flushed. *Stop it,* he thought. *You're five centuries older than her. You shouldn't get flustered like this. And anyway, she's the exec.*

"My door is always open to you, ma'am," he said. Then, throwing caution to the wind, he said, "I think I owe you dinner, when all this is over. To help you unwind after all this stress."

"Oh reeeeaaaally?" Mari asked with a playful smile and a twinkle in her eyes before she nodded, feigning seriousness once more, "Si, you definitely do owe me dinner, Counselor. As soon as the captain arrives and I actually have a chance to eat! I'll be famished and I may just have to make a huge feast of homemade enchiladas, tostadas and all my other favorites from home...that is, if you'd care to join me."

"Far be it from to decline an offer like that. I'm always keen on trying new foods."

Flabbergasted, Mari stopped just short of the door and turned to Elek with a look of pure shock, "You mean you've never tried Latin American foods?!"

Elek shrugged. "I've never got round to it, I guess. In my defense, I have tried a three-course Klingon meal, *without* being innoculated, and I've survived to tell the tale."

This made Mari laugh wholeheartedly and she gave the counselor an impulsive squeeze of the shoulder as she said, "Vamonos. The faster we get out there and get our job done, the faster we can get to that big Latino meal."

Lieutenant (JG) Termin Elek
CDO / Counselor
Uss Freedom

Lieutenant Mariposa Hernandez Rodriguez
Executive Officer
USS Freedom

 

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