Checking in with the Counselor

Posted on Wed Oct 22nd, 2025 @ 11:44am by Lieutenant Commander Sora Bernadotte & Lieutenant Amber Laurell

1,032 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Madre - Short Treks
Location: Medical room just off the bridge
Timeline: 2439-07-03 (while ship is at warp)

With Enterprise underway to her destination, Sora was contemplating the events of the morning. Their mission was leading them to the original homeworld of the Vorta, the Dominion's commanders and administrators. She had to admit to herself, this mission was beginning to intrigue her. She still couldn't figure out why the Kurill sector seemed to tickle the back of her mind, like there was a suppressed memory waiting to be unlocked. Most of what she knew of the Gamma quadrant came from her deployment there with I.S.S. Voyager, and that had been decades ago, in a different universe. The involvement of telepathy concerned her as well. Having been raised as a Terran, she carried a certain distrust in telepaths to begin with, and seeing the pain that the ship's counselor had been in had somewhat reinforced that feeling.

With the ship at warp and everything running at nominal, she switched her console to automated operation and got up. "Permission to take a brief break, sir." Permission received, Sora made her way to the head, before deciding to check in on Lieutenant Laurell in the medical room.

Amber was doing her best to relax, humming a tune to herself as she looked across at the doorway greeting Sora. “Hello Commander” She smiled warmly. “Please come on in, I could use the distraction.”

Sora entered and looked around, before turning to face her. "Lieutenant Laurell. We haven't had the opportunity to really talk, but after all that went down on the bridge, I was a little worried. Are you feeling okay?"

“Better than I was, thank you” Amber smiled warmly. “I’ll admit I was more than a little freaked out by what happened, but it’s a first for me communicating with something that’s obviously powerful.”

"I must admit, I'm still astonished by it," Sora replied. "I've never encountered a being like that before. Still, it does worry me how much its attempts at communication pained you, Lieutenant."

“Well it wasn’t intending to hurt me, its communication was just so strong and so alien that I was overwhelmed by it. It’s happens though fortunately not very often.” Amber smiled warmly.

"That's good. I must admit, I know very little about telepathy and those things, I will leave it to you as the expert. So long as it's only communicating, I guess we don't have much to worry about? It's not trying to exert any control, is it?" Sora looked at the counselor with a hint of concern. A telepathic entity trying to take over the ship would definitely pose a problem.

“Not that I’ve felt, it’s almost like it’s trying to get something across to me but I’m not quite understanding exactly what.” Amber shrugged her shoulders. “All I know is that it must be powerful, to send a message to another telepath across space.”

Sora paused for a moment, considering possible answers as to what was sending the messages. "Powerful, definitely," she finally said. "But do you think it's trying to lure us into a trap, or calling for help? Or maybe something completely different?"

“I don’t feel like it’s a trap” Amber offered as she looked at Sora. “We’re not quite on the same communication level, but I think it needs something.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I could be misreading it, I’m not sure.”

"Still," Sora replied. "We should be careful. Sure, it may not seem hostile at the moment, but that may just be it, whatever it is, luring us in. After all, no ambush succeeds if it's easily predicted."

“That’s very true” Amber nodded in agreement. “I’ll admit it’s easy to get yourself lost when you’re that deeply in contact with something, but I don’t intend to make everyone else’s job harder by allowing myself to get lost in this.”

Sora chuckled. "That would be the opposite of your job, wouldn't it? I mean, as ship's counselor, aren't you supposed to help people make their lives easier, rather than make it harder?" She sighed. "I've had to deal with enough counselors in the last few years to say that that's not always the case, mind you."

“Well I’m not the usual type of Counsellor, I’m the one who throws out the rule book.” Amber grinned. “I don’t go by previous reports, I go by the here and now. People change and so do circumstances, I prefer to give the benefit of the doubt, plus being an empath helps.”

"That sounds nice," Sora replies with a smirk. "Doesn't change the fact that I've seen enough counselors for a while, though. Don't expect me to pop in for a session anytime soon."

“I won’t force you, but I will need to catch up with you sometime soon. It’s regulations I’m afraid so not much I can do.” Amber added apologetically.

Sora shrugged. "Not much I can tell you, unfortunately. The joys of working with Starfleet Temporal is that most of what you do is highly classified. And I have been debriefed on the whole 'temporal displacement' thing so many times, I really don't want to have to go over it again."

“Understandable” Amber nodded. “I guess that does change things somewhat in regards what I’d be able to ask you. Though I’m still responsible for your mental health as well as that of the rest of the crew.” She smiled.

"If I ever need your help, I know where to find it," Sora replied, mirroring Amber's smile. "And if there's anything I can assist you with, of course, just ask. I better return to my station, anyway. I am glad to see you are doing better, Lieutenant."

“Thank you, and I’ll ask if I need anything” Amber smiled warmly.

Sora simply nodded. "Get some rest while we're still at warp, Lieutenant. I have a feeling you will be needed once we arrive at our destination. Whatever we might find there."

Amber nodded. “I will, thank you Sora.”

Sora smirked. "Shouldn't that be 'Commander' to you still?" She laughed. "Take care of yourself, Amber."

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