Chapter 3 – Getting your feet wet
"I thought the Captain just talking when he suggested that I lead this mission to Bajor." Buckley nervously sat in the Saucer drinking an Antarian Mud Slide. The syrupy drink, which blended something that tasted like Kaluha ice cream, Terran coffee, racdijino, chocolate, and a healthy dose of orange, was the only thing keeping her company as she spoke.
"The Captain rarely jokes about who is going to lead away teams." Commander LaForge came up behind the woman, startling her.
"Commander," she settled herself, "I didn't know you were there."
"That's ok. I just over heard what you said and thought that you just might want the company. I remember what it was like to first come aboard this ship. And that was after serving on the other Enterprise for almost eight years. But don't worry, the Captain wouldn't give this to you if he didn't think that you could handle it."
"Would you like to sit down. Until now I didn't realize that I wanted the company."
"I would enjoy that Counselor."
"We're off duty at the moment, so I think Alana will do."
"Ok. Now, why are you so nervous?"
"The Captain wants me to be the one who opens negotiations with the Bajoran religious government while he handles the Cardassian government. That leaves a good day or so that I will be alone, without a net."
"You can do it. You managed to walk onto the bridge your first day of work and go straight to the Captain and tell him to stop missing Deanna, that you were the one he would have to deal with right?" Geordi had missed her reporting for duty, but even Worf had told him that she had guts for being so brash. He also had found out that the Captain had since taken her under his wing the same way he had Deanna. She was almost as good as the woman she had replaced, but in personality they were very different people.
She smiled at him, almost flirtatiously. "That's true. I don't know why I did either, but I had this feeling that if I went straight to him and told him to quit thinking of missing Commander Troi and deal with Lieutenant Commander Buckley he would be better off. I think I reminded him of someone other than Deanna though, now I hink I know who. Besides, Picking out a person's mood or whether they are lying is something I know how to do. What I don't know how to do is tell people how they should believe. That's what these people want. They want someone who can tell them which text should be considered to be their canon. I am not a theologian, nor am I Bajoran."
"I think that is why the Captain chose you. Think about it Alana, you just told me you can pick out a mood. And I happen to think that anyone with a psychology background should know how to work with people to start a compromise."
"But I have never done anything like this before. I am only 29 and I have only had one other assignment before here."
"You got to start somewhere. I will let you in on a little secret, Deanna was younger than you when she took this job, and we were an experiment at that. Galaxy class ships were the first to have counselors posted to them. Deanna was one of only a half dozen when she signed on. And something else, Captain Picard got his first command at 28. From the stories that I have heard over the years from him and Doctor Crusher he spent a very long time trying to figure out how to run a ship. As a matter of fact, he was second officer when his CO and was killed and first officer injured. He went from Lieutenant to Captain literally overnight. That is probably the main reason he works the way he does. He takes into account not just what you are assigned to do, he also thinks about what he knows about you. If he thinks you are the best person to do something, I don't care if you are a civilian cook or the first officer, you are going to be the one he wants to do it."
"Point taken. So, tell me why you have such a good counseling technique and you spend all your time in a pit?"
Geordi did notice that she had begun to loosen up enough that she had at least unbunched her shoulders. That and he was finding himself more than a little taken by the tiny woman. As a matter of fact she was several centimeters shorter than Deanna. For a month they had worked together but until tonight he had not talked to her much off duty. For some reason tonight seemed to be the time to start to see if they could be at least friends. "I think it is because I spend my time in that pit. If you go long enough without seeing too many people when you do see them you have all the witty things saved up."
The next morning Buckley reported for duty to be greeted by not only the Captain on the bridge but Commander Worf. Normally he preferred to be on Beta shift so seeing him at 07:30 in the morning was a bit unusual. "Counselor, we will be dropping you on DS9 in an hour. I know the two of you have met but I wanted to make sure you knew I wasn't joking when I said I want you to be the negotiator in this matter. I am sending Worf with you for two reasons. The first, and foremost, is that he knows DS9 as well as anyone stationed there. This way you won't need an escort from the staff. The second is that he is also an accomplished diplomat in his own right. If you run into any rough spots his advice could help."
"Thanks Captain." And thank you Geordi. I am betting you are the reason I am being given help. "Worf, what can you tell me about DS9 and Bajor? I have never been there before."
Captain Picard watched as the two of them went to the corner of the room, leaving him to think of his own mission. Yesterday he had the first meeting with Gul Legan via subspace. The man was sociable and very polite. It was a welcome change from the way he remembered Cardassians throughout the rest of his career. In the past twenty-four hours he had managed to put a lot of his old ghosts into their graves and continue on, without looking back. The final piece had been when Geordi had visited him last night. Not only did they talk about the changes each of them had been dealing with now that most everyone had gone on their own way, they had talked about the new people in their life. He in turn mentioned that Alana was extremely nervous about this mission. The idea of sending someone with her did not even come to his mind until that point. He had yet again forgotten that he had a green counselor and not his trusted left arm. In a way it was an accolade to the woman. She meshed well with the crew and Jean Luc felt that she was a very trustworthy person.
Jean Luc thought of Worf almost immediately when Geordi had brought the subject up. He had the experience with the station and he knew the commander and several of the senior officers. He might even suggest that Alana meet with Lt. Dax when she was free. Worf never felt very comfortable around her but they were in some ways friends and seeing a counselor that went into command might be something for Buckley to think about. Worf also had several years of diplomatic experience under his belt. He would be able to give her advice and help in tight spots. All in all it would be a good team.
With that out of the way, they would have an eleven hour trip after they left DS9 to get to the rendezvous with Gul Legan. He had prepared what he needed to last night, while trying to sort out the restof his feelings. He hadn't contacted Beverly yet, that was going to happen after he deposited his counselor off into the hands of Elias Vaughn and Colonel Kira. Until then all he had to do was sit and watch the interaction between a very burly Klingon and a woman who barely measured to the bottom of the man's chest.
*****
In her office Beverly sat behind her desk looking at research. This particular project was one of those projects most would have seen as a joke. For once it actually looked like this one might have promise, a true cure for the common cold, or at least this strain. In all the years of medical history no one had ever managed to do that. It might have seemed a joke, but even though science had still to unravel why they couldn't cure a simple viral infection like a cold a lot of valuable research came of the effort. Many other illnesses had been cured through research on the cold.
I should be paying more attention to this, but I can't. Dr. Crusher pushed away from her table and stretched. Currently they were still between semesters and even most of the interns had taken a vacation. There were still only a skeleton staff working and the research department only consisted of four people this week, herself included. She didn't even need to be here herself for another three weeks. If she had thought about it she should have take a bit of shore leave.
I am beginning to think that I made a monumental mistake yesterday. It's been over a day and I haven't heard from him yet. Jean Luc is nothing if not punctual in his responses. Considering from what I understand they are near Bajor there should not even be a lag, he could simply call me. God, I hope I haven't made the biggest mistake of my life.