Meeting the Captain

Posted on 15 Jun 2016 @ 8:15pm by Commodore Harvey Geisler & Jadzia Melcox

1,076 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Risky Business
Location: Ready Room
Timeline: MD 1 || 1000 hours

Having just gotten aboard and settled into her quarters, which was now filled with crates of booze stacked to the ceiling, Jadzia figured it was time to get to know the ship and crew. She was on a pretty big ship now thankfully, so there was plenty to do. First on her checklist was the Captain.

Well, no time like the present! Grabbing her padd and buttoning her flight jacket up, she headed out of her quarters and made her way to the bridge. Soon she was pressing the door chime of the ready room and waiting for it to open.

Harvey had just returned from Starbase Unity. There was much to do in the short window they had, but what he had carried over from the Starbase couldn't just be left anywhere. The chime sounded just as he was sticking the cache of isolinear chips into a desk drawer. Harvey waited for the drawer to close before calling, "Come!"

As the door opened, Jadzia headed in and offered the PaDD to the man behind the desk with a polite smile. "Captain Geisler, I presume. I'm Jadzia Melcox, your new counselor. Thank you for having me aboard."

Harvey offered a smile. When he first took command, there was not a single civilian aboard. Now he had a barkeep, children, a teacher and now a civilian counselor. He'd put in a request to Unity for additional counseling staff during their last crisis. After all, how could anyone emerge from the near-death situation at Yolvanda without an emotional scar or two?

"Thank you for coming to our aid," he replied to her, taking note of both her spots and the Borg technology exposed on her face. He was sure that would be an interesting story.

"It's a pleasure." Jadzia said with a lopsided grin. "Though my first love is piloting, I'm here to help in any way I can and given my own brush with death, I think I might be able to help a lot of people here."

"Be careful what you volunteer for," Harvey cautioned, thinking of the mission at hand, and wondering if that brush of death had anything to do with her implants. "Though, to be honest, I've never seen a pilot who enjoys counseling. Or vice versa."

"Well, when the Borg try to assimilate you then nearly kill you because they think you're infested with a contagious parasite, you tend to reassess your life. Besides, I can't go around risking myself in shuttles and stuff. Thanks to the Borg, I might be the last host possible for the Melcox symbiote so we need to make sure we live as long as possible." Jadzia replied.

"Last host?" Harvey echoed. "Did the nanoprobes injure the symbiont?"

"Not directly, really..." Jadzia started, thinking about how best to explain this. "But the compatibility formula has changed drastically so it'll be a miracle if one is found and we run the risk of the nanoprobes killing a new host upon joining if they are. On top of that, if the symbiote were to rejoin one of the pools, the nanoprobes might kill other symbiotes."

He nodded, circling around the desk, destined for the replicator. "I'm sure, given enough time, some sort of treatment could be found. I'm sure the Commission has already done their part, but you might visit Doctor Kij in sickbay. She's a joined Trill and might be able to help at least somewhat with this. Care for a drink?"

"I plan to. If nothing else, she might be able to at least understand where I'm coming from." Jadzia replied, thinking a bit. "As for that drink... Does that thing make a decent Andorian ale?"

"I've never tried," Harvey confessed. "One Andorian ale," he requested of the replicator. A glass materialized a moment later and he passed it to the Counselor. He then requested a mug of coffee for himself.

Downing the glass of Andorian ale without a second thought, Jadzia nodded and set the glass aside. "Not bad, though it definitely lacks that smashing your head into an iceberg feel."

"Sounds like synthehol," Harvey replied, sipping the coffee as he moved back towards the desk. "Well, you couldn't come at a better time. Over half the crew, including myself, were inflicted with a nasty virus on our last trip out of port. Hallucinations, destroyed spirits, you name it. It claimed six of my crew and nearly killed the rest of us."

"I read the official report but I'm sure it doesn't do the event justice. I'll just start helping those I can and go from there, if that's ok. I'd also like to place the command staff at the top of my priority list for appointments. Including you." Jadzia said insistently.

Her tone was impossible to miss. While he had been seeing Counselor Stuart on a regular basis, he figured it wouldn't hurt to visit with the new arrival. "Anytime other than the present will work for me. I'm sure you'll find the Black Hawk to be an interesting cross section of Starfleet out here in the Gamma Quadrant."

Jadzia gave that lopsided grin again. "I'm counting on it. You have to keep life interesting and the more diverse the crew, the more interesting life is."

"Indeed," Harvey confirmed. "I would chat more, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until our appointment. We shove off in about an hour, and I'm sure you have almost just as much to do as I do."

"Yeah, I still need to see medical and get my weekly checkup and make sure my records came in ok." Standing, Jadzia nodded and smiled pleasantly. "Please let me know if there's anything I can do. And if you want some real Andorian ale, let me know - I brought a case with me."

"With the way things are going, I shall plan to take you up on that," Harvey said with a smile. "You also might find yourself at home at Talons. It's a popular lounge on Deck Six, and it serves the real stuff."

"Then I have a feeling that'll be where I spend most of my downtime." Jadzia quipped back, her smile widening.

"Sounds like you'll be right at home on the Black Hawk," Harvey replied, thinking her jovial spirit could rival both Doctor Kij and Lieutenant Cooper. "Welcome aboard, Jadzia."

"Thank you, Captain. I look forward to my time aboard." Jadzia replied cheerily before heading out.

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