Saffiya admired and appreciated medical staff in general, but Counsellors in particular. Health – no matter whether it was physical or mental – was the very foundation that made a functioning and effective person. It required not only advanced skills and fields ranging from xeno-biology to diplomacy, but also the ability to set ones personal feelings and struggles aside for the benefit of the patient.

Yes, Saffiya appreciated Consellors. She just didn’t appreciate working with them.

Or rather, they were fine to work with if the attention was on someone else, but it was infinitely more difficult to open up about her own feelings.

Luckily, today, it wasn’t about those pesky little emotions. It was about welcoming their newest Counsellor to the crew, and Saffiya was absolutely looking forward to doing that. Uncharacteristically, she was choosing her ready room to do that – mostly because she hadn’t been able to make it to the shuttle bay on time.

And so, she simply waited for the doors to slide open – one of the rare moments she had an actual open door policy – and greeted her new officer with a “Ah, Lieutenant Anderson. It’s good to finally meet you.”

Rob’s journey to the Valkyrie was, to say the least, uneventful. He would have welcomed some action at least then, his mind would be occupied. Sitting alone in the shuttle, he had nothing but his own thoughts for company, and there were times when too much thinking wasn’t a good thing.

The trip to the ready room was quick. Sovereign-class starships were relatively common, and once he located the nearest lift, it was a straightforward ride up. Meeting the Captain was the next step, one that new officers often dreaded. Those initial encounters were always awkward: would the Captain be rigid and demanding, or approachable and supportive?

Rob looked up, realizing he hadn’t yet spoken. “Lieutenant Robert Anderson, reporting for duty.” He paused. “Captain.” He stood still, remembering one critical piece of advice from training: never move until the Captain spoke first.

Saffiya motioned to the chair opposite of her. “Please, take a seat.”, she added, and allowed herself a moment to glance at the Counsellor’s personnel file. He was one of a large number of new faces that were joining the crew of the Valkyrie, and the Captain found herself wondering just how much work that would mean for her counsellors.
While she didn’t exactly pry into people’s personal life, she did make note of things that needed to be kept an eye on – a difficult family situation, or a traumatic away mission.

“Welcome to the Valkyrie.”, she said eventually. “I hope you made it here without too much inconvenience. We have had several new crew join us in the recent weeks, and there will be a few more going forward.”

“The trip was rather pleasant, long but pleasant,” Rob moved to a chair and sat down. “That seems to be the normal life of a Starfleet Officer.  Always coming and going, one never is able to adjust and settle too long. Hopefully, our Chief Counselor has been here long enough to help in the adjustment period.”

The Captain nodded. “That’s a fair assessment. At the moment, we do not have a Chief Counsellor to facilitate that, and you would be working with Lieutenant Karev to organise the group of mental health specialists we have available at the moment.” She paused. “In the meanwhile you would be reporting to Commander Frisco, our Chief Medical Officer.”

“Wonderful,” Rob smiled, “I had hoped to meet Doctor Frisco to discuss picking up a shift here and there to keep my medical skills in check.”  Rob took a moment to look around the room, “I must admit my first position and still green; I wasn’t expecting a Sovereign-class starship.  I figured I would get something smaller to get my feet wet.”

He sighed, “But recent events have changed a lot of things for us all.”

“I know exactly how you feel.”, Saffiya admitted. “My first posting as Captain was a California-class vessel, the USS Cupertino. It was pretty much what I expected, but barely spent a month on it before I was transferred here. This is… very different.

“I can only imagine, going from a California to,” he gestured, “well this.  It’s quite the upgrade. Did the previous Captain, retire?”

She shook her head. “Oh no. The previous Captain had never meant to retire – his resignation was forged by a half-sentient artificial lifeform that had lodged itself into the ship’s computer. He returned to the ship and I came here.”

She left out the part where her first mission aboard that vessel had been absolutely horrific.

“I haven’t been in Starfleet for very long,” Rob said with a smile, “but I’ve picked up on one thing: they really like to keep everyone on their toes. After Frontier Day, everything shifted some changes were positive, while others were just plain necessary. Yet, through it all, change appears to be the only constant.”

He took a deep breath to calm himself. “So, what’s our current mission? I have to admit, I didn’t get much of a chance to review the details.”

“We are headed towards an area for which he have received reports that hint on an alien presence – perhaps even a visitor from another part of the galaxy who came her when the subspace apertures opened.”, Saffiya explained. Truth be told, she was excited about this – it was, after all, an opportunity for First Contact, and having been stranded in Underspace herself, she could very much relate to how frightening the experience could be.

“Sounds very interesting, returning to the Federation mandate,” Rob paused, “seek out new life,  the motto that started it all.”

“In the meanwhile, I suggest you familiarise yourself with the ship, and in particular the places crew like to frequent on their time off – that’s not only important for you, but I have found that being a casually approachable presence on the ship helps to foster good connections.”

Rob stood up with a nod, sensing the end of the meeting.  “With your permission, I will head to medical get that part out of the way, then maybe a tour of the ship,  mingle.”

“A good idea.”, Saffiya nodded. “There will be plenty time for us to catch up.”

Mostly because there was a good chance she herself would need to consult a counsellor sooner or later. Probably later.