Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger

Posted by Captain Grayson Rhodes (Commanding Officer) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger

Posted by Cadet P’Mala Dawes (Doctor) in Counselor’s Office - Cadet Dawes Reporting on USS Challenger
Posted by… suppressed (1) by the Post Ghost! 👻

Snip

P’Mala had thought about this question often.

“You know, counselor, I joined the Academy a little later than most of my peers. A lot of these cadets are still in their 20s. I’m 35,” she admitted.

“Really? I would never have guessed!” Klein responded with a look of surprise on his face.

P’Mala broke into a wide smile, brief and quick like a flashlight beam. “The perks of being half-Vulcan is that we keep relatively young-looking until we hit 100,” she admitted.

She took a sip of her tomato juice, it’s nutrition taking away some of her hunger pangs.

“I’d already recieved degrees in xenobiology and medicine from the University of Kentucky, had worked for an ER, and I knew there was something more out there for me.”

She paused, a little hesitantly. “To be honest, shuttles and small ships make me a little motion sick, but I am deeply interested in other species in their sociological contexts, other planets–their plants and animals.”

Her eyes twinkled ruefully. “In another life, perhaps I would be an anthropologist or a diplomat. But medicine informs my perspective.”

She shifted in her seat. “How about you? How’d you end up in Starfleet, Counselor?”

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“I joined Starfleet to escape hitmen from the Orion Syndicate.” Klein said easily, then laughed. “Okay maybe not the syndicate, but I got into some trouble in my youth, made some bad choices and hung around with the wrong people. As a result, when the law caught up with me I had to spend some time in one of those seats,” he pointed at the seat Dawes was sitting in.

“Who knew that the experience of being counseled, would light a fire in me for being a counselor? I did my time in the seat, did my time in community service, then took night classes to get the grades and recommendations I needed to join Starfleet. I could kill two birds with one stone, I thought. Launch a career that would help me and other people, and take me places I would never see if I stayed around the wrong people.”

“Counselor, I do understand.” P’Mala said thoughtfully. “It must be nice to find your aptitude for something naturally. My parents always pushed me towards medicine, even though they left greater society to write books about cults.”

Picking up his glass, he finished the iced tea in one long, drawn out swig. “So you joined to see the galaxy, as it were? I guess you are looking for a position on an exploration vessel to see what is out there, or are you hoping for something closer to home?”

NE Klein, CNS

P’Mala polished off her tomato juice. She considered the question as the counselor finished his tea.

“To explore strange new worlds,” she said. “Like Admiral Janeway said when she spoke at our graduation. If that’s as a Doctor, a scientist, or a diplomat, that is where I want to be,” she replied. “Or if not, I guess there’s always the Orion Syndicate…”

This was her attempt at joking.

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“The syndicate can always do with a decent doctor,” Klein nodded. “Or any doctor really. I doubt they are picky in most cases.” He understood the humor she used, and showed it with a grin.

“Okay, now I’m going to kind of do the counselor thing. Your parents pushed you towards medicine? I’m going to make the assumption that they may have felt it was a better career than getting involved with cults, are you close to them?”

NE Klein, CNS

“When I was younger, they were my world,” P’Mala said. “We do talk occasionally. We’ve got hectic, sequestered lives.”

Nodding, Klein understood. Many families were experiencing that in these times.

She rolled her head around her neck–it cracked audibly. “It sounds like I need a massage. To be frank, Counselor, we’re not close in the immediate way that humans are close, but I do think we are a touch closer than Vulcans tend to be. It’s complicated. And quite a bit more in-depth with the telepathic connection.”

She paused thoughtfully. “One benefit of living over 200 years is the comfort of time,” she said simply.

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“And endless re-runs of Friends I have no doubt over that time frame,” the counselor joked but then realized that Dawes may not have a clue what that was. “It’s an old entertainment program from years ago,” he explained off-hand. “Once, you could see it on a view screen but then they made it in holo-novel format. It’s been popular for centuries.”

“I am familiar with the “Smelly Cat,” P’Mala said. She’d spent some time studying late 20th century media, but more of a Will & Grace stan.

“So you lived on Earth for a short time?” He skipped backwards slightly. “How did that experience take you? I imagine it was a world apart.”

NE Klein, CNS

P’Mala crossed her legs, restless. “It was certainly a transition at first–getting used to communicating. I was quite lucky. I stayed with my maternal grandparents in Kentucky through college and medical school and got to live a small-town life.”

She leaned forward just a little.

“You’d never know how diverse a small town can be! I met Romulan and Pakled refugees, worked with a school of Xindi Aquatics… but what surprised me most was how green everything was.”

-Cadet P’Mala Dawes

“Of course, Vulcan isn’t exactly a Risian resort is it?” Klein grinned slightly. “I’ve never been to Vulcan myself, aside from holodeck programs showcasing some of the more popular and significant locations.”

“I would imagine being able to meet those other species on Earth in that small town would have given you ample opportunity to study them sociologically. Especially out of their native homes. Did that maybe encourage you to seek a path other than the career in medicine that you’re parents preferred?”

NE Klein, CNS