Post 535: For Their Own Good Part Two

Stardate: 71031.1430
Title: For Their Own Good Part Two
Author: =/\= Zanh Liis
Scene: Ready Room
Time: Following Part One
--------------------------------------

Jariel and Xhian each took a seat opposite the acting captain.

"Ensign, I'm worried about you." She said simply. "Reports coming in from your neighbors tell me that you are up at all hours of the night, playing music that could depress even the most optimistic of souls. What is going on with you?"

"Sir, I apologize. I will decrease the volume on the music that I play and be sure not to play during overnight hours."

Zanh sighed. She was getting a headache. First Dengar, now this.

"You're not hearing me, Ensign. I'm not concerned about the music. I'm concerned about the musician."

Xhian simply blinked. Jariel decided now was his time to speak.

[[Ensign, what I believe the Captain means, is, that your ongoing depression and isolation from the rest of the crew is a concern to both of us. We would like to see you make an effort to work through these issues in counseling.]] Jariel knew Zanh well enough to know where she was going with her initial statements.

"That is not necessary, Vedek Jariel, I assure you," Xhian objected, easily deciphering Jariel's signs using the enormous database of languages stored within his brain.

"Oh, but it is, Eeyore." Zanh interjected. She rubbed her throbbing temples. "I have talked to several officers who have tried to befriend you in the time you've been aboard this ship. Tried to help you integrate into the crew, and, well, to put it bluntly, who have tried to knock that chip off your shoulder."

"Captain?" Xhian felt angry suddenly. "I do not understand what you mean."

"A starship crew is a team, Xhian. We can't work as a group of isolationists. We're family. We help each other, and we have got to work together as a cohesive body if we're going to be successful. If you persist in isolating yourself as you have been, not only will you deny yourself the happiness that you deserve in life but you will also find that your career will stall."

She didn't mean to be harsh, she was only trying to help him understand that he was the one in control of his own fate. That he could make the future anything he wanted it to be, if he only believed it.

"I don't expect you to be best buddies with everyone on the crew. But I do expect you to try," she paused, "to get beyond your past, to get beyond where you've come from. You're so much more than the sum of your past experiences. I see that in you, I want you to learn to see that in yourself."

"It is not easy." Xhian began defensively, "to just forget the past."

"I know," Zanh was sincere, and she looked at him with sympathy. "Believe me, I know. We all have our ghosts."

She couldn't help but notice the look on Jariel's face. An expression which told her clearly what he was thinking --that if Xhian only knew what she'd overcome in her life to get to this point, he'd be speechless.

"But we can't let them hold us hostage. Otherwise we will never have the life we want. Is a life of isolation and loneliness the one you want, Xhian?"

"No, of course not."

"Then open your eyes and look around you!" Zanh exclaimed. "You have an opportunity here that many in Starfleet wait years for. You're serving on the flagship. Be proud of that. Be proud of what you've accomplished, and look forward, not backward."

[[I would like to talk with you at some length, Ensign,]] Jariel added. [[Perhaps if you can unburden yourself of some of the more traumatic experiences by talking about them in counseling, you will find your energy freed up to nurture a brighter outlook for the future.]]

"I do not suppose that I have a choice," Xhian replied, "Do I?"

"Not really, no, sorry." Zanh replied gently as she could. "This has gone on far too long as it is, Xhian. We can't let you falter. We have to show you that we care, and this is the best way to do that."

"Thank you for caring, Captain." Xhian replied softly. "Vedek, I will make an appointment to see you at your earliest convenience so that we may begin."

Jariel nodded.

"You're on the right track, Ensign." Zanh said in conclusion. "I heard that you were in Seven quite late the other night with Stratton and Briggs."

Xhian turned a deeper shade of blue, and Zanh could only imagine that this was as close as his species came to blushing. "Yes, Sir."

"I hope you'll have many more happy evenings there, with friends." She rose, and Xhian and Jariel did so as well. "You may go."

He turned and hurried out of the door before she could say anything else. The doors slid shut, and Liis closed her eyes. A second later, she felt Jariel squeezing her hand. She looked into his big, brown eyes and immediately felt at peace. How did he manage to do that --ground her so completely-- with merely a glance?

[[Biggs has all the arrangements for the party tonight set to go, Liis.]]

"Oh, you know, I completely forgot."

[[I know, that's why I'm reminding you,]] he smiled gently. [[Have you selected your costume yet?]]

"Ja-ri-ellllll" she complained, "I just don't have the time for this nonsense,"

[[Make the time. This is very important to the morale of the crew, Captain. They want to see you at this party, and they want to see you in costume. It will give them something to smile about- if nothing else. Something to reassure them that this ship and crew are coming together, just as you said, as more than a group of individuals assigned to the same vessel. As a family.]]

"I suppose you already have yours all picked out?"

His eyes flashed mischief, and she laughed. "Of course you do. Any hints for me?"

[[Only this,]] he grinned, and began raising his hands up and down, one after another.

"I'm unfamiliar with that sign. What does it mean? See-saw?"

He laughed. [[You'll see. I'll meet you at your quarters at nineteen hundred.]]

"I'll be ready. I hope."

[[If it's any consolation to you, Captain Zanh,]] his eyes still gleamed with delight, [[I just gave the very same speech about crew morale to your acting first officer when he insisted he could not come in costume. With the same result.]]

"Salvek is going to go in costume?"

[[So he promised me earlier. If that doesn't motivate you to go to the party properly dressed, nothing will.]]

---------------------------------
=/\= Zanh Liis
Acting Commanding Officer
USS Independence NCC-90791