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Posted on Thu Oct 2nd, 2025 @ 11:26pm by 1st Lieutenant Kayleigh London & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Price

Mission: Those who are left behind

Kay felt extremely nervous as she stood outside commander Price's quarters. She had had little to do with the man until now and did not really have a personal opinion about him. Toni had not talked about him at all, but scuttlebutt on the ship said that the first officer was not a fan. And she had seen the grim faces on the XO and the captain and Melor clamming up around her as well. So she decided that it was time that she got to know Price a bit better herself.

Exhaling she hit the chime.

Ryan had a portable workbench set up and his rifle was sitting on top, partially disassembled he wanted to get ready for whatever was next for him, "It's not locked!" was all he could say has he delicately removed a module from above where the power cell would have been. The leaver clicked out as the module slid out. 'Hopefully this is new orders and not something else...' Ryan thought as the door slid open.

Kay came in a bit hesitantly. She was not in uniform and her red hair was in a high ponytail. "Oh nice." She said looking at the setup he had to dissemble the rifle. "I should get one of those. Nice and sturdy." Her hand slid over the workbench. "I guess taking it easy and rest is not your hobby either."

"Not exactly, The power cycle module needs to be serviced every so often based on usage, which up until a few days ago was daily, plus the under slung shotgun was filthy." there was a click as the module popped out of the housing "What can I help you with?" he paused assessing Humanoid, female, early to mid twenties, security or marine based on physical training, no visible phaser rifle burns on either hand.

"I know. But I always make a mess of my quarters when I do." Kay grinned shyly. "I ehm don't do it in my office in case I am not as fast doing it as the people serving under me. I have been made acting chief of security and I am not even in the navy." She exhaled. "Sorry, I blabber when I am nervous." She hesitated some more. "Do you know what is going on with the XO?"

Ryan didn't miss a beat with his work picking up a tool to make an adjustment, "Civilian law enforcement is throwing out some...We'll call them questionable accusations aimed at her father, over some thefts at a Daystrom facility, which one I haven't been told." He set the tool he was using down and carefully slid the module back into the rifle and waited for the click "After I called in a few favors when a pile of incriminating images turned up that proved they were faked..." Ryan snapped the first part he removed from the rifle back in and closed the cover "Admiral Ross in an attempt to not look biased asked me to fail the ship on a readiness evaluation, which wasn't hard." Ryan slid the iron sight back into place, snapping the under barrel shotgun back into place "Then again Lieutenant London...." he paused as he turned to face his guest "I do more sneaking round than the average marine..."

"Nice job." Kay said approving. "I am glad that you are helping Toni." Her smile was brighter now. "This will hit her hard." Then her smile dimmed a bit. "I get it with the readiness report. You know I am only a lieutenant and not even navy and they threw me in the deep end running security while the chief is away. I am doing what I can."

Ryan picked up the power cell and slammed it into place flipping the safety on with his thumb "She needs to see a psychiatrist, the counselor is too distracted and the Doctor doesn't want to pull the preverbal trigger on pulling her off duty." He set the rifle back into the case "I don't think this is the turning of the tide, this is the closing part of the first act."

Kay had been about to say something about the rifle, as she had never seen something exactly like it before but what he said stopped her in her tracks. "Excuse me? Are we talking about the same commander? There is nothing wrong with Toni. And I am a counsellor. Don't ask long story. Does Sky think Toni should be off duty? And you do know what department Toni came up through right?" There was no hostility on her face, just disbelieve.

Ryan side eyed the visitor, "she's twelve for twelve on the PTSD check list, she even hides better than most and she's never attended the mandatory two counselling sessions after a family member dies," pausing to close to close the case "and her belligerent behavior towards me at all times is enough to invoke article fourteen paragraph twelve, plus an additional three sections in fitness for duty alone, There are ways out of the more extreme measures if she goes voluntarily it even reduces any punitive punishments to verbal warnings, so if I wanted to be the bad guy she'd be in handcuffs and the Resolution would be grounded right now." he paused again deciding to shed light on some things.

"Two years ago I was asked to investigate something not too far off of this and while the evidence was much different from this case, that officer was very guilty during the court martial the suspect escaped custody and committed a murder killing my wife instead of me in the visitor quarters at HQ, during the struggle I threw the officer out of the third story window." he said with a mechanical almost detached voice.

The young marine counsellor blinked. She was normally a hothead but something told her not to react to quickly or hotly right now. "I am so very sorry, sir. You have my sincere condolences. How... how long were you in counselling?" She suspected that how ever long that had been, it had not been long enough. She could come back to his interresting take on Toni later on in the discussion.

Ryan paused "Not very long, Layton staged his coup a month later, then the Klingon war, the Dominion, in the last three years I have stopped, I even threatened to resign when I was assigned here to which Admiral Rittenhouse's reply was give me six months and you can leave."

Kay felt pity at that moment. "Doesn't sound you have been treated fairly or even with any respect. You have given a lot over the years and you have not had the chance to heal. Being in intel can be very lonely, on a lot of ships the rest of the crew can be hesitant to trust. You sound like you can use some friend and some rest before you make any more decisions."

"I'm part Illyurian I'll never be treated fairly." Ryan said as he sat at his desk looking at his guest.

"You underestimate us, sir." Kay said. "The counsellors on this ship don't give a damn what races someone is from. Everybody deserves a fair chance."

"i'd believe you but that hasn't been my experience for the most part." Ryan said

"Have you tried to open yourself up to other people and let them in? We are not all bad you know."

"there's a reason it's called a personal life." Ryan said trying to avoid the questions about his only relationship.

"True. But it is a very lonely personal life without friends. And in case of therapy it helps a lot more if you open up a bit. I would strongly suggest it, sir." She even knew the ideal therapist for him but by the sound of it, they were not a match in personalities.

Ryan sat back in his chair a crooked smile on his face, "The best therapy is a good workout, maybe a trip too the firing range, a nice meal and maybe the company of someone special." Ryan said reaching into his desk pulling out a bottle of whiskey setting it on the desk " there are days you sit back and remember that your alive and not living it is letting those dead friends down."

"And yet you think it is the solution for others." Kay grinned. "That is interesting. But I can assure you that if you find the right therapist, it can help you. I have seen it happen more than once. I am just a simple marine counsellor but my mum works with severe trauma cases. I have seen people come back from the brink. And most of them did not believe therapy would do them any good."

Ryan didn't blink, "I didn't say it was for everyone, I feel better, I feel...." he paused ensuring the point was made "I've been to a couple of different councillors over the years and I took that time, But I also didn't let personal feelings cloud my judgement, I've learned to separate my personal feelings from the job, there's a place for compassion and a place for critical thinking."

"There we disagree." Kay said softly. "I have found even when working as a combat marine that there is always a place for compassion. It's what makes us humanoids and what is at the core of the Federation. And I think it would make a world of difference if you sat down with Toni and used that compassion for each other, both of you."

Ryan decided to water down what he wanted to say "I could reply with something childish here but I won't."

"Thank you for that." Kay smiled. "But what have you got to lose by trying?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow "What makes you think I haven't? go down your PTSD check list, she ticks all ten boxes right down to obsessive behaviors, violent outbursts and engaging in intentional confrontation, all of which have happened in front of the chief counsellor and chief medical officer," trying to keep his tone level he continued "She openly and falsely accuses intelligence officers of murder, a false accusation, there aren't enough JTF operators let alone enough field agents to waste there time with the Stoffels family, in case you've forgotten there's a war going on everywhere but aboard this ship."

Kay thought for a long time before replying. "With respect, something is not right here. It almost sounds like someone has set you against Toni and her family. I am a therapist and I can tell you she is not exibiting any of those signs. Nor do I get the impression that Sky or RJ think this. We are all highly focussed on the war. Yeah Toni can be a bit hard on Intel officers, I have seen that but she usually gives them a fair chance, I have seen that with my own eyes as well. No offense but it sounds like someone is playing you."

Ryan wasn't going to play around anymore, "The most mentally unstable do their best to hide it." he said almost as if he'd read it.

"Where did you get that knowledge?" Kay asked neutrally.

"A few years ago I did a prisoner transfer of a former Captain who'd gone rouge blowing up a number of Cardassian ships in the process using it as an excuse to get revenge for the death of his family at Setlik three, when he was confronted by another captain he finally cracked under the emotional strain, that's the thing." He looked at the marine "When anger at a tragic loss becomes second nature its like a pair of old shoes until one day when you can't contain it and it turns into something..."

"Let me see here. You are comparing a captain who cracked under strain, a captain how probably did not have much if any therapy in his life and would not want it to a psychiatrist who specialized in complicated trauma cases and has therapy and supervision regularly to keep her license valid?"

Ryan was tired of the mind games now, "When you stop thinking everything is about you, we can resume this conversation."

She blinked for a moment and then burst out laughing. "I guess I should feel honoured that you think I have done all that but hell no. I am just starting out as a therapist. I was talking about Toni."

"She's close to a full break down." Ryan said. "The only thing keeping civilian security from boarding the ship in force is the rifle case behind you and the fact that they think Baba Yaga is here." Ryan slid a bronze challenge coin across "I'm the guy that the boogey man fears."

"Ok, ok, I am afraid I am not following you at all." Kay said. "Besides you evading my question. Why would security arrest a starfleet officer for having a mental breakdown?"

"Her father is accused...Key words here...Accused of being part of a number of high tech thefts including a break in at Daystrom, the evidence is crazy flimsy but because civilian law enforcement is involved it's become of massive mess, it's become inflamed because of her families allegations against Intelligence who until a week ago only knew of the thefts not the charges civilian security is making, there's further allegations intelligence murdered several family members, which is false, I've seen the security footage, it wasn't intel, most surviving Joint Task Force teams are accounted for at the time of this incident," pausing to grab a glass of water Ryan took a drink "Every time she tries to contact any of her family it adds charges of aiding wanted criminals and interference in a criminal investigation, plus anything else they choose to throw out to shut her up."

"Since I got here and presented the charges to be investigated I've been harassed to the point that the Judge Advocate General has become involved, no one in Starfleet wants to touch this beyond appeasing civilian law enforcement, my superiors made it clear to investigate and report, when I filed my reports there wasn't enough evidence to justify further investigations, but due to her poor mental state I can't justify her continuing on active duty until she gets help." he paused again "On the outer edge of the system USS Osiris was ordered to take the XO into custody by force if necessary, I've left it too the captain to ask her to step aside at least until she can be certified able to return to duty, unfortunately several officers have resisted and are potentially facing professional sanctions."

Kay had to take a couple of very deep breaths before she replied. She knew she could not speak her mind or this conversation would be over, so she gave herself time to take in what he was really saying. "You... you are using words like crazy flimsy, does that mean that you don't believe the accusations are true? And why do you think officers on the ship are backing her and not you?"

"I was ordered to investigate, I've been trying to do that, investigate, remain impartial as much of possible and follow the evidence to a reasonable conclusion, when the key evidence is not only a very sophisticated fabrication, it's got indicators that someone used Federation technology to do the fabrication with with techniques used by a ...Well thought to be... Jailed Orion data forger, and one of the best too." Ryan said, "You can contact Lieutenant Commander Horowitz at Starbase five to confirm that."

"I believe you. What I am asking of you is to work with the captain and the commander to get to the bottom of this. Nobody on this ship is guilty of treason, I would stake my life on it. Help them prove it. Work together."

"If treason was involved we wouldn't be talking."

"You are evading the question." Kay folded her arms.

"Am I or am I following orders." Ryan said his stare going cold.

Kay came to her feet."I would get your priorities straight. You are now part of this crew, We are willing to welcome you as one of us. But you have to give an inch."

Ryan looked up at the marine "My priorities are..." Pausing as he put his feet up on the desk "I plan on retiring if I get out of this war alive, I'm done with the violence, the politics and a few other things."

"You deflinately need a break." Kay agreed. He showed a lot of signs of battle fatigue. "Don't make any life changing decisions now."

"I give up if you take everything I say the wrong way. Just remember that not everyone is your enemy." With that she left Price behind.

End