Some Closure

Posted on Sun Mar 23rd, 2025 by Lieutenant Choyi Zaimu & Lieutenant JG Elle Hayashi

1,122 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M01 - The Hooke
Location: Counselor's Office, USS Hooke
Timeline: Present

Zaimu had returned to the ship with the three girls and had immediately went to her office. She found the report she had wanted to read regarding a dispute between Aval and Doctor Hayashi. She thought it was prudent to speak with Elle about this, in the interest of Zaimu not losing the trust of the crew that Zaimu was meant to watch over. Zaimu made a point to dispatch a message to Elle, then went back to reading the report.

Elle had barely sat down in her office when she received a message saying that Counselor Choyi was back on board and wanted to speak with the doctor. When Elle arrived outside Zaimu's office she had pressed the chime and was told that it was okay for her to enter. She stepped in and saw the Counselor sitting on the sofa reading some report or something, Elle assumed, "You wanted to speak with me?"

Zaimu smiled warmly, "Ah yes Doctor." She answered and placed the PADD down on her lap. "Please sit down."

Elle did so, "What's this about Counselor?" Elle asked. This was the first she'd spoken to Counselor Choyi besides the staff meeting when the ship first came to Terra Nova. Elle was actually rather relieved when she found out that Aval had left the ship even if it did leave certain problems unresolved for her.

"Well," Zaimu began, "I wanted to touch base with you Doctor. I figured this would be the best time to do so as well, so I apologize if I'm interrupting important work on your part. I've just went over the reports that the Vulcan counselor I replaced didn't quite fan out very well."

Elle sighed, "I don't know if I would call it that Counselor." She answered. Though, if Elle was being entirely honest with herself, she should call it that. "I would say it was more or less a strong disagreement to her methods. Also, I don't believe a Vulcan would make a good counselor."

Zaimu continued to smile warmly as the other woman described the situation a little more diplomatically than perhaps expected. "I understand that," She answered. "I've been reading over a few things about Aval and she seems like a very intelligent person. Though, I'm not entirely certain what she'd hoped to gain when she came here and began addressing the mental wellness of the crew in a public setting."

Zaimu thought about what she was trying to get at for a moment then continued, "I am hoping, regardless of your feelings toward Aval, that we will have a far better working relationship than what you may have had with the previous counselor?"

Elle shrugged, "Well I think that would depend."

Zaimu's expression shifted to one of concern, "On what Doctor?"

It was Elle's turn to smile slightly as she found the words, "Are you going to corner me in the crew mess while I'm trying to eat and tell me that nervousness is a perfectly normal reaction then proceed to berate me about it?" Elle had leaned forward and lowered her voice as she asked the question. Once she'd finished the question, Elle leaned back in her chair once more.

Zaimu's grin slowly returned. "No," She answered honestly. "My methods are a bit less..." She paused as she tried to find the right word that fit the given situation. "My methods are a bit less intrusive." She concluded with a slow nod of the head. "I apologize for Aval, a Counselor shouldn't do that especially in a public setting. I can certainly understand why people found her to be rather abrasive."

"That's being too nice," Elle remarked. "She certainly was a poor choice for a ship's counselor. Though, I hear she had some family emergency?"

Zaimu nodded, "I don't want to dig too far into the weeds on that one Doctor. Suffice to say that, yes the former Counselor Aval's father was in poor health. Her mother could no longer take care of him and as such Aval decided it would be in her best interest to leave the ship to care for her ailing father. That's all I can say on the matter, and Starfleet was quick to find a replacement for her."

Elle found that to be rather interesting, "I see," She answered with a sly grin. Elle leaned further into the sofa and rubbed the bottom of her chin for a moment as if deep in thought. "Well, I'll say that I like you already."

Zaimu didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, what she did know was to just go along with it. "Thanks." She answered. Though there was an implied I think at the end of that, which had gone completely unspoken.

Elle nodded and placed both hands on her legs, "How was your adventure? I heard you went back to Logan City with the three youngest members of the Hooke crew?"

Zaimu's expression had changed once more, "Oh it went just fine. They kind of did their own thing at the coffee shop, and I just kept an eye on them. I didn't want to intrude on them too much, they had wanted to go by themselves after all." She shrugged, "I was just happy to assist the Captain in making sure they had some sort of adult supervision."

Elle nodded once again, this time with a grin on her face, "I'm glad they got to go as well, someone mentioned it to me when I got to sickbay earlier. I pretty much spent my time making sure sickbay was well organized and ready to go, I think I've got everything in order now." She was beginning to sense that the two of them could eventually become friends, Elle was starting to trust Zaimu a lot better than she trusted Aval.

"Thanks for taking the time to speak with me," Elle told her. Elle then stood up preparing to leave the office.

Zaimu stood up as well, "No problem Doctor. If you need anything I'm always here, we can chat any time. Though, I prefer to do more private conversations here in the office." She didn't mean for it to be a dig against Aval, but she was still questioning the other Counselor's methods.

"Of course," Elle answered. It was a breath of fresh air, and Elle had a slight smile on her face as she left the office.

Zaimu watched as the Doctor left before returning to her desk and settling down. She still needed to review the psychological evaluations from before the crew arrived on board. And, there were quite a few of them for her to go through as well.

 

RSS Feed