Matters of the Mind

Posted on Sat Oct 15th, 2016 @ 1:30am by Counselor Melony Taylor & Captain Tim Williams

Episode: Lost Property
Location: USS Highlander - Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: MD05 0830hrs

"Captain I wonder if I could pick your brain a bit?" Melony asked as they left the briefing room.

"Of course," the captain answered, indicating for the counselor to lead the way to his ready room. He followed her across the bridge, and once they reached the ready room, he headed over to the replicator. "Can I get you a drink?"

"Green tea with honey please." Melony replied smiling moving to take a seat on the couch.

"Coffee, black, extra sweet, and green tea with honey," Tim said, turning to the replicator as the two drinks hummed into existence. Taking them from the recessed shelf, he brought them over to the small coffee table positioned near the couch that ran under the view ports in the ready room, and took a seat, his back to the stars. "I'm guessing you have some concerns about the crew of the DeSalle over there, given this whole situation?" he asked, getting the obvious out of the way early.

Melony reached and took her drink from the captain before answering "I'm afraid so Captain, even bringing over the crew to the current DeSalle its going to be a shock, they are going to lose everything."

She looked at him worry evident on her face now "You've seen yourself the current condition of the ship, however that’s not how they see it right now, all of their possessions are still there, even having their own ship it won’t quite be familiar just a bit more than here. I'm worried that losing everything seeing it succumbed to time and the knowledge that everyone they knew not on board their ship is dead will break more than a few peoples will to even try to acclimatise to their new life."

"Yes, I can see how that might be a bit of a shock," Tim agreed, as he tried to picture what it would be like if he were to suddenly return to this ready room after 200 years of it being exposed to space. The picture that filled his mind was quite grim. "What do you suggest?"

"Well I have no basis for comparison for this situation. No way to say for sure what would help, the only thing I can think may be of use would be to talk to and warn the crew of this predicament before it occurs." Melony paused taking a sip of her drink.

"Captain Chandrakala and her crew know the broad strokes of their situation." Tim said. "But they've not had long for it to sink in yet. I might be worth spelling it out what being out of time actually means for them. They might not have had time to think about the fact that everyone they know are gone... or that all of the technology they see as top-of-the-line is now considered out of date by a couple of hundred years."

"It may ease a bit of a shock just being informed of the situation. Also I'm not sure how possible it would be or even if it's fair to give engineering more work, but if they were able to bring a single personal item through it might help them adapt a little better. I don't mean anything that big, just a picture or a small personal item."

"A personal item?" the captain asked. "Most of their personal items would still be present on the DeSalle in our phase. Wouldn't that be enough of a home comfort for them?"

Melony looked the Captains ready room her eyes landing on a perfect example "Yes you're right everything would still be there but not in the same way they know it, were it this room for example do you think your daughters picture would still be there? I think it would probably break apart as soon as you tried to pick it up." She said gently watching the captains reaction to her words, seeing what she said sink in.

Tim nodded for a moment as the thought sunk in. "A couple of years exposure to space will preserve matter, but the cold will make it very brittle, you're right. We'll have to see what sort of solution Ryan and Jean come up with, but so long as the items are relatively small, they shouldn't affect the atomic balance of the two phases that much. Any other suggestions?"

"Its not something I say lightly Captain but I also want the crew of this ship that are interacting with the DeSalle to have a crash course on some aspects of depression, PTSD and shock just so they can recognise the symptoms." She smiled sadly. "I don't want to miss anything but I may be quite busy and don't want anything or anyone being overlooked."

"I'd say that's reasonable," Tim agreed, nodding. "Engineering and medical staff are your most likely candidates; presuming we can successfully phase-shift them, we need to make sure that they're going to be alright, and we still have a ship in our phase in need of repair. I'll have Grif and the Doctor forward you some recommendations."

"I don't think they will need much just an outline, I mostly just need a few more eyes on the situation, I can't keep track of everyone, unfortunately." She smiled taking a sip of her drink.

Tim nodded. "I'll get their recommendations to you as soon as they're done with their current assignments," he said. "Anything else?"

"No Captain, not really. I'll keep you informed though if I come up with any other ideas" she replied.