<USS Cervantes> "The Lion's Den"

"The Lion's Den"

Ashne'e Al Kiara, Saskia Lar, Oriana Bell

Ashne'e smiled faintly at Saskia as they hovered together just outside
the conference room. Kennedy was still waiting inside being treated with
the same sort of terrified deference as a bear hiding cubs in her den.
She turned toward Saskia as Oriana approached from the bulkhead, looking
slightly concerned and chewing on her lip.

What did you discover?" Ashne'e asked.

"Captain, Kennedy hates this-what's going on right now. She despises
being out of control, she is embarrassed by the way this situation
forces us to treat her, She'd do ANYTHING to stop this whole situation.
And that's what's bothering her the most--the fact that she is powerless
to stop it, even though she is the cause of it." 

Alone in her quarters, waiting, it had seemed an eternity until Al Kiara
called this meeting. The words flooded out of her with only the
slightest prompting. "We have to find a way to show Kennedy that she
still has control--of her emotions, AND her situation." 

Ashne'e nodded, looking singularly unsurprised. "The problem, I think,
is that she doesn't have control." She sighed softly, a tiny kittenish
sound. "Any suggestions are welcome at this juncture."

Unbidden, an image of the Dwelfin card Gehr-hami popped into Oriana's
mind. A dwelfinology reading wa one method by which Oriana strived to
obtain more information about Kennedy's psyche. Gehr-hami, the card of
choice, figured prominently in the reading. It had morphed, almost
immediately, into hope and possibility, the happy by-products of freedom
of choice. "Admiral, Saskia--" Oriana looked at each of the women, as if
gauging their approval to continue. After all, she was sure Al Kiara
hadn't expected mystic divination methods to come in to play when she
commanded Oriana to "find out what she could." Sensing their curiosity,
she continued, albeit with hesitation. "If I may be so bold--we always
have control. Perhaps not of our situations, but of our responses.
Kennedy's emotions do NOT have to eat her--or the ship, or us, for that
matter--alive." Oriana, speaking metaphorically, hadn't intended to make
such a tasteless pun. "So to speak," she added. 

Saskia pursed her lips. "You're right, Oriana," she replied. "Control of
a situation doesn't always mean you know where you're going to end up.
Sometimes all you can do is keep on taking steps." She stared off
thoughtfully for a moment. "Could Kennedy be afraid to respond? Perhaps
all of this hasn't disappeared because she's afraid, because she feels
like if she doesn't do this the right way, she doesn't have control. But
owning up to your emotions can be very empowering." She shook her head,
a strange smile appearing on her lips. "You'll have to excuse me. I feel
like I'm talking nonsense."

Ashne'e nodded slowly, appearing to consider words grinding through her
head like a script, at a distance. "None of us are psychologists. We're
all doing our best," she said, diplomatically, keeping her own thoughts
to herself.

Oriana smiled. Saskia seemed to have a way of verbalizing Oriana's
feelings in a way the empath could not. Oriana dealt with emotions, but,
living among empaths during her formative years, still hadn't grown used
to the necessity of putting those feelings into words. "You're not
talking nonsense at ALL!" Oriana reassured her friend. "I think we have
to show Kennedy that whatever she does, we are behind her. She doesn't
strike me as the type of person to much care what people think... but
she's definitely worried about how her actions, and even her emotions,
can affect the crew of this ship. Just like you said, Saskia, we do have
to show her that it's okay to own up to her feelings, whatever they
might be."

A moment later, Saskia caught Oriana looking questioningly at her. It
was going to be a handful to have an empath as a friend, but it
certainly wasn't going to do her any good to hide what she was thinking
now, anyway. "I keep thinking, Oriana, of the way we met," she said. "Of
how open you were with me. It made me feel like I could talk to you..."
The possible implications of what she was about to say made her insides
twinge anxiously. "I don't know how well Kennedy would respond to that
kind of...openness...but is it possible that she might trust us in the
same way I trusted you?"

Oriana gulped. Saskia was EASY to get to know. In some cosmic way that
transcends planet, race, and light years, she had immediately clicked
with Saskia. Kennedy Rhune, on the other hand, frightened Oriana. "Don't
you think," Oriana asked Saskia, "that the three of us performing some
sort of emotional intervention might just annoy Kennedy? Especially if
she doesn't WANT to talk about what's bothering her?" True, Kennedy
craved attention. After all, wasn't that what the fire breathing dragon,
the technicolor band, even Kennedy's tattoos and unique way of dressing
were all about? But Kennedy would not take kindly to an intervention,
especially one performed by lower-ranking officers. 

"Luckily," Ashne'e said, "She and I seem to have some sort of repoir. I
realize it is not the most ideal circumstance, but unless someone has a
magical anti-depressant -" She glanced at Saskia with her eyebrows
slightly raised. The Trill scientist shook her head. "Then I think we
may have to try it. Are there any other suggestions you have? Either of
you?"

Oriana heaved a sigh of relief, then shook her head in response to her
commander's query. "Just to say that if there's any way I can help--"
she turned to Saskia, "any way WE can help...well, we'll do all we can."

Ashne'e glanced at Saskia questioningly.

"No, sir," Saskia returned. "I'm out of suggestions. This one may be up
to you."

"I'll do what I can," Ashne'e agreed. She leaned on the door, with her
fingertips tapping restively against the frame, and paused for a moment.
Flickering reflections surged behind her eyes, swirling a private dance
of inner turmoil. "Thank you, ladies."

With a formal but not unfriendly nod, Ashne'e went to beard the lion in
her den.

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