Looking through the piles of paperwork that she’d been assigned as the Attending Psychologist, she let out a large sigh. With no Deputy Director, she felt that the majority of the work from that office fell onto her shoulders. Looking at her Chronometer, it was 10-hundred hours. She had a double orientation for two new counselors.

“Right!” Minh said outloud. Trying to step over one of the crates left over from the move, she didn’t quite make it, and she fell over. “Shoot that hurt.” she said laying on the ground.

Her combadge chirped, it was the assistant on the first floor, Freddie, “Hey Minh, Orientations are here hun.”

“Thanks Freddie, I will be there in a minute.” she tapped her combadge laying on the floor. She pulled herself up off the floor and made her way down the stairs. Freddie’s new hair, stretching the rules a bit, was neon pink, and their ears had a huge punk piercing stretching their lobe out.

“Freddie what the hell! Your earlobes are going to need reconstructive surgery! Be Careful!” Minh almost slapped them. Freddie was a sweetheart, their intentions were in the right place, and their heart was too, just liked being unique.

“Oh I know… it is just, I wanted to try them Boss.” Freddie smiled.

“Just be careful hun,” Minh frowned, “where are the new charges?”

“They are waiting in your old office. 302.” Freddie said.

“Thanks hun.” Minh Smiled.

Stepping behind the office door and heading towards the office number 302, she straightened her uniform and opened the door, “Hello.”

Stepping onto Starbase Bravo for the first time, Counselor Jeela Lurae was very excited to be out in open space again.  it was a long three year retirement but now, the call to duty came to her once again.  After the long flight from Earth, she was feeling more and more excited by the minute.  The large starbase came into view as the runabout entered the dock bay doors and set itself down on the landing pad.  Instantly upon her arrival, there were two crewmen that were gathering her luggage and taking them over to where ever her new quarters would be.  She was able to take a small look around the dock as she let out a soft smile.

“Prophets.  I hope that you are knowing what you are doing and leading me to the right path.”  She whispered to herself in her hopes.  The only thing that she was carrying in her hand by this point was a PADD that gave her the instructions of where to go and who to meet.  The bad part was that she didn’t have time to study the map of Starbase Bravo… but with the technology of the day, she figured that it would be easy to get there.

“Computer, direct me to the deck where the Counseling offices are.”  She commanded.  Instantly, lights came up on the side of the wall in an arrow like fashion as the computer chimed back.

“Directions set.  Welcome aboard Starbase Bravo, Counselor Jeela.”  The soft sound from the computer chimed back.

Following the arrows through hallways and turbolifts, she looked at her PADD once again, mouthing off the instructions to herself very softly.  “Meeting at 1000 hours with Lieutenant Commander Minh Nao for orientation.”  She finished before looking up at the turbolift doors.  Seeing the time on her PADD, she knew that she only had seconds to spare to make it to her meeting.

“Computer, show me the fastest route to Office 302.”  She commanded.  The lights went up again as she looked at her PADD once again.  “Prophets!  I have to hurry!”  She started to run her way through the hallway as fast as she could as she found the office that she was looking for.  Opening the door to the office, she was panting and letting out a couple of coughs before finally settling down.

“Made it.  Thank the Prophets.”  She softly spoke while catching her breath.  She didn’t have enough time to see if she was either alone of if someone else was in the room with her… but if there was someone else already inside, than that particular person would be in for quite an arrival and spectacle upon her entrance into the office.

Stepping off the Citadel she nodded to her friend and made her way to the central turbolift matrix. It was huge. There were several tubes, massive turbolifts, and several attendants waiting for their respective turbolifts to fill up. A bit overwhelming. She looked down on the padd and saw she was to take A6H directly to P9U.

“Okay I got this!” she said getting onto A7D.

She noted all the yellow shirts around her, and quickly asked where she was headed.

“You are headed to Maintenance.” said one of the superior officers.

“Aww Shit.” she tapped her combadge to Dr. Nao and informed her that she was going to be late.

Office 302

“Acknowledged Ensign, well looks like our colleague got lost, and it will give us a chance to get to know each other a bit. Tell me, why did you become a counselor?” the Psychiatrist asked, sitting down.

As she saw Dr. Nao taking a seat, Jeela decided to do the same to get a little more comfortable.  With her breathing getting back down to a more normal level, she placed her hands together and moved them to the top of her thighs before starting to recall the biggest rescue of her life… her own.

“There is an old Earth saying that ‘what comes around, goes around’.  That’s what happened to me as a little girl on Bajor.  I don’t remember much about the entire incident except that both my mother and father were shot dead by rogue Cardassians.  I was alone, afraid… wondering how I would ever survive.  I prayed and prayed to the Prophets that someone would come and rescue me.”  She was shivering at first while recalling the day that changed her life but eventually, that shivering changed to a look of hope on her face.

“It turned out that my prayers were answered.  A man in a yellow Starfleet uniform saw me crying in the rubble near my old dwelling was.  He reached out with his hand to me.  I was scared at first but eventually, I noticed that he wasn’t there to attack me… he was there to help me.  He took me away from the rubble and the uncertainly.  That same man… is now my adopted father.”  She let out a wide smile before finishing up her story.

“He taught me about caring, love and most of all, listening to other people and be there for them when they are feeling sad, alone and afraid.  What he did to help me shaped who I am and why I want to be a Counselor.  I want to honor his teachings to me by being the person that people can talk to, without any fear or repercussions.  I want people to feel safe when talking to me about whatever problems that they have in their lives.  No matter how mundane or outrageous the problem is, I want to be there for them… no matter what.”  She ended her story hoping that by now, Dr. Nao would have a better idea about who the person that Jeela Lurae actually was inside her heart.

Minh smiled, the story was very moving, “I just want to give you a hug.” she said with a nervous laugh. “I would recommend lining up with another counselor or a psychiatrist for yourself. It is hard for us not to take on our caseloads as personal matters. Personal attachment is very well. Psych-101 don’t befriend your patients out of practice. It will result in many mixed feelings and unprofessionalism and potentially a mess. But I don’t have to tell you that, I am sure they covered that at the courses at the academy.”

Jeela let out a soft smile upon hearing that advice. “Yes, they did.  I believe that was covered in Psych 201 if I recall.  Not exactly sure what class it was, though.”

With that the doors burst open and a sparkling green Orion with green skin came in … “I am so sorry. This base is massive! But I surrender as tribute!” Shil attempted to make a joke.

“Welcome Ensign Na’hl.” Minh said, “I am Doctor Minh Nao, you both can call me Minh. I will be conducting your orientation and answering your questions, I was just going over some finer points of Psych 101. Like not befriending your charges, having a counselor or a psychologist of your own. Things like that.”

“Ah I see, yes. About that, do we get assigned one? Or do we find one ourselves off the system?” Shil asked.

“Freddie, the communal personal assistant, whose look changes daily, will assist you with that.” Minh smiled.

“Acknowledged Ma’am.” Shil nodded.

Jeela was met with a small shock as it seemed that Shil burst through the doors just like she did.

“And I am Counselor Jeela Lurae… but you can call me Jeela.”  Jeela introduced herself to Shil.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.  I am sure that I can find the proper way to fulfill your tribute somehow.  I’ll figure out something.”  She mentioned with a small giggle while running with the attempt at Shil’s humor.  During this time, she decided to wait to see what else Minh needed to talk to both women about.

“That is it really unless if you have any questions? Oh did I mention you two will be sharing this space for now, we are limited on space, until the expansion is done. All of the counselling staff had to double up, or sacrifice their personal quarters. You will not be on the same shift, but opposites.”

“I see.  I don’t mind sharing with Shil if she can get used to a few Bajoran trinkets here and there around the office.”  Jeela offered.  “I think that’s all the information that I need for now.  I will be sure to ask some questions later if any come up.  For now, I think that it’s time to explore more of this starbase.  Thank you so much for helping us get set up.  I shall talk to the both of you soon.”  Jeela offered before she got up with a small smile and started to head out into the vastness known as Starbase Bravo.