Posted by Lieutenant Commander Pilar Halcyone (Counselor) in A Much Anticipated Meeting [Tag CMO]

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Dr. Rahm Vesta (Chief Medical Officer) in A Much Anticipated Meeting [Tag CMO]

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Pilar Halcyone (Counselor) in A Much Anticipated Meeting [Tag CMO]
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
~SNIP ~
“Oh, Counselor, I understand,” Vesta said. “As Counselor, it must be hard to balance the needs of the crew and wanting to serve them with the mortal need to be appreciated on one’s own terms. As I’ve gotten older, I have grown more selfish with my appreciation,” she chuckled.

She smiled at the woman pushing the thought of Baptiste out of her head for the time being. “So you couldn’t resist the call of duty from the Challenger, huh?”

Dr. Rahm coughed. “In a way.” She thought about her words carefully.

She continued, “It seemed like you all could use a CMO with some broader experience in field medicine and strange phenomena. Especially after hearing about the accident with Ensign Morton. I thought, perhapsthis would be the next place for me to land for a little while.”

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“Yeah what happened with Morton, I’d never experienced anything like it. To be honest, I was just focused on preparing for the worst. You know notifying his family, helping him get his affairs in order. Your Cadets, now Ensigns, worked hard to ensure he made it through his ordeal. Especially, Ensign Dawes. It was her idea that saved him. Baptiste was prepared to provide the medical help he needed after he brought back from the brink of....who knows what and worked around the clock to ensure his swift recovery. You are coming in and taking command of a great team.”

Halcyone, Counselor

“In what little I’ve interacted with them, they seem a competent pair. Both on to other ships, soon, I hear. And then they’ll be go, and it’ll be just us. To tell you the truth, I have questions about such an incident happening on a Cadet cruise,” Dr. Rahm said, “But that’s another subject.”

She took a gulp of moscato. “So, Counselor Halcyone, tell me a little about yourself!” she laughed, banging the base of her glass a little on the table. “I’d like to get to know who I’m going to be serving with. Together, we really will be able to provide full medical care for the crew, and I include mental health in that!” she said.

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“I am so glad you said that. Most still don’t associate mental health as health care. Its one of the most overlooked as it relates to one’s well-being.”

Vesta nodded. “It’s true. Full body care, including mental health, is one subject I can go on and on about–especially in my earlier life, on Bajor.” Her voice cracked a little. “But excuse me, Counselor. I was asking about you!” she said.

“How about I tell you something about me and you tell me something about you? I want to know all about your time on Bajor and I even heard there was a story about smuggling something in your wooden leg.” She laughed as she said the last few words.

Then....

She took a small sip of her Moscato and thought about the parts of her background she wanted to share with the woman. “Well this is my first station as a counselor so I guess I am still learning the ropes. I do love the job, mostly because I like learning about people.” She shrugged then said, “Married, mom of three. My husband says I have a restless mind. He can give you a very detailed synopsis of my personality. The man knows everything about me, things I am sure I don’t really know about myself. If that makes sense.” She laughed a little then said. “However he is okay with it all and I think that is why I love him so much.”

Halcyone, Counselor

Vesta smiled. “It is nice to have deep connections, especially when you spend all this time among the stars, as we do!” She gestured her arms widely, like the whole universe was between them–then took a gulp of wine. “And your children! What are their names? Are they on board?”

-CMO Rahm

Her face lit up. She loved talking about her children. “Perseus is my oldest. People often wonder about her name. Her godmother was fascinated with Greek culture and decided to give her a Greek name.” She chuckled at how Savid protested the unVulcan name. “Perseus in Greek Mythology was a demigod, a hero before Hercules and he is known for beheading Medusa. Spencer is my boy. My husband allowed me to name him under the condition the named began with an S. He is his father’s shadow. Always fascinated by anything that Savid says or does. His word is law to him so I think he will be just like him.” She took a small sip of her wine and with a thoughtful expression said, “My youngest, T’shyri, is only 18 months. Savid named her and I am not sure about her personality yet. Honestly she seems to absorb different pieces of all of us. I considered having stationed with me however I think my son would rather be stationed with his father instead.” After the fond refectiin about her kids she said, “So what about you? Any family? What did you do before Starfleet?”

Halcyone, Counselor

“They sound lovely,” Dr. Rahm said meaning it. “Older kids are fun–getting to know their uniqueness, and at eighteen months, I understand how you’d want to have your youngest close. A joy and a burden. Little poems.”

Pilar nodded in agreement.

Without asking, she stood and replicated two new glasses of the moscato.

“Now, you asked about my smuggling story so you probably already know about some of my time on Bajor, but that’s probably its own holonovel. I’ll give you the abbreviated version.”

Pilar laughed and said, “One I would definitely read.”

The doctor plopped back down in the chair and rubbed her hands together, a determined look on her like she was getting ready to climb a hill.

“It was during the Occupation. My family was rather lucky–we owned a small theater in a neighborhood outside of the Bajoran capital–and our job was to host entertainments,” she said, seething that last word through her clenched teeth. “Mainly dancing girls. But there was the occasional play or concert. You know what I mean. Bread and circuses for the Cardassian elite and their collaborators.”

“It must have been hard for your family to make nice with the Cardassians. The Occupation was always a sore spot for my Bajorian friend Brey.”

“It was a very bad time,” Dr. Rahm said. “Unless you were able to play along.”

Rahm took a gulp of wine. “Well, as a family, we collaborated too. With the Cardies, the Maquis, Resistance, whoever–anything to stay alive.”

“A little after I lost my leg, a prima ballerina from Jalanda City recieved a gift of favor from a Cardassian officer right before he returned to Cardassia–a gaudy gold necklace, crusted in rubies–and she was to sell it to a Ferengi gentleman named Norb, to earn enough money to get her family on a Maquis ship out of Cardassian space.”

Pilar shuddered at the mention of Ferengi, the one species that made her nervous. She was lucky she’d encountered very few of them while in Starfleet and those she did encounter were always at a distance.

She smirked. “And so that’s how I took the necklace through three checkpoints–hidden in my leg, stuffed in tight with the pink tulle from her skirt.”

“Interesting. Well I know who I can call on if I need something smuggled between galaxies and universes.” She joked as she took a sip of her wine.

“Any time!” Vesta laughed–thick from too many cigarettes past.

She waved her hand in the air, like clearing up smoke. “Now, your turn for a tale,” she laughed.

-CMO Rahm Vesta

Pilar sighed then said, “Well, I had this dear friend, who just disappeared from a Starfleet mission, the one I mentioned earlier. We were at the Academy together and she was one of the first friends I made there and she is the reason I know how to speak Bajoran.” she leaned forward, and whispered, “A funny thing happened after she went missing, I received a package containing her d’ja pagh. You are a wise woman and I would love to hear what you think of that.”

Halcyone, Counselor

Dr. Rahm Vesta touched her own earring subconsciously.

“The d’ja pagh is such a personal item. Its name comes from two words–the pagh being like one’s spirit or soul and d’jah having roots in the Bajoran caste or family structure.” Vesta leaned on her desk with her hand under her chin, touching her heart.

This realization made Pilar a little uncomfortable because of the close friendship she had with Brey and it was definitely a sore spot for her husband. A dynamic that she was not ready to reveal to the doctor just yet.

“I think it meant that she cared for you very much. You know, Bajoran women receive new earrings from their fiancés… I myself have several–d’jah pagh, not fiancés,” she laughed.

“Serveral? You don’t say!” Everytime the woman spoke she became more interesting.

“I’ve always been a wonderful reciever of gifts,” Dr. Rahm laughed. She sat up in a start. “Oh! That reminds me. A Cadet from Engineering brought me a couple packages for me to give you, from a mutual friend, Ensign Dawes, before she left ship.”

Pilar laughed too and said, “Another story I must hear. We are going to have to schedule a lunch.”
“Oh yes. She promised my husband a signed book from her parents.”

Dr. Rahm rummaged under her desk. She pulled our a copy of a fine-bound faux leather book, Religious Murmerations on Delta-Vega and Lethe by Latok and Dawes, signed to a Savid. The other was a silver-plated box about the size of two decks of cards, its top enlayed in chips of obsidian and Vulcan turquoise.

-CMO Rahm Vesta

The box surprised Pilar. “She left this for me?” She asked the rhetorical question as she carefully took the box and examined it. “It’s beautiful.” There were small tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “You know, I am really going to miss her. No offense to you, but I hoped she stayed on as the CMO. A selfish thing because I was only thinking how I did not want my new friend to leave.”

Halcyone, Counselor

“You know, she was their first choice, I believe,” Vesta said. “And I understand how you feel–we do tend to grow close with our shipmates.”

Pilar shook her head, “I know better than to form these close relationships. They tell us, counselors, to avoid them and if we do our jobs are much easier, but being bred from two species that thrive on emotion has always been a challenge for me as I am attracted to personalities.”

She leaned over and looked at the jeweled box. “It seems clear that she values your friendship as well!”

Pilar held the box up proudly as if to display it.

The wine in her glass was getting tepid, so she drained the whole thing and sat the glass down on the table. “I haven’t gotten to know her on a personal level–just a little mentorship on my part–but I wouldn’t be surprised to see P’Mala captain a ship of her own one of these days. She is an ambitious woman–was especiallyso as a cadet,” Dr. Rahm said fondly.

-CMO Rahm Vesta

“I couldn’t have said truer words.” she wiped a stray tear from her eye. “Well Doctor,” she said now with a smile, “I hope we can become friends since we will be on this ship awhile. I bet you make a mean hasperat. I have not had it since Brey made it for me.”

Halcyone, Counselor

“I’m glad to be of your acquaintance and look forward to becoming friends,” Vesta said firmly. “As for the hasperat, I’m not a brilliant cook. Never had the time to learn, but I do have three great replicator recipes for hasperat that would blow your socks off–if you have a free evening soon!”

-CMO Rahm Vesta