A Soul in Need

Posted on Tue Apr 13th, 2010 @ 4:11am by Commodore Edward Fannin & Commander Dhindara Vrel

1,097 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Preparing The Fleet
Location: Counsellor's Office
Timeline: Current

ON

The short stocky man entered the Counsellor's office and spoke with the receptionist. Dressed in civilian clothes he appeared to be in a mild form of emotional distress. "Hello, would it be possible for me to talk to a counselor today?" He handed over his Starfleet ID card and was looking around furtively.

The young man looked up from his desk, then at a PADD. "You can go right in. She's in there doing paper work, probably going to be happy for the interruption."

The door opened and saw the commander sitting at the desk. "Hi, are you busy Ma'am?"

"No, come right in, take a seat", Dhindara said. "Care for a cup of coffee?"

"Sure, that would be nice. It's been a long day and I didn't get any sleep last night at all."

Dhindara poured him a cup identical to the one that as already sitting on her desk, steaming and filling the room with its aroma. "Well, why don't we start with introductions? I'm Dhindara Vrel, and in case you don't know, I'm Betazoid. I prefer to make that clear, so you won't feel tricked and betrayed if you find out later."

"I'm Don Gold, Ensign in the Air traffic department. I hope I'm not barging in on you."

"Not at all", Dhindara responded. "Tell me about yourself, and your reason for coming here of course."

Don took a sip of his tea. "I feel very funny at times, I thought it was caused by my rotation to the late shift at work. But I have been having my doubts about that now."

"Describe that funny feeling, please", Dhindara said.

"Several nights ago I had a very real dream, but it didn't feel like my dream, it felt like it was someone else's. I woke very Ill and vomited several times. After that I've felt very shaky."

Dhindara raised her eyebrows. "Describe the dream, please."

Don was very nervous. "I'm afraid. It was so real and horrible. I was hurting someone very badly. I have never done that or had a dream like that before."

"It's a dream", Dhindara replied. "There's nothing to be afraid of now. Telling me won't do anything to harm anyone. But it will give me a clue as to why you had that dream."

"I was running through a field, I was very young. I couldn't see what was chasing me but was frightened out of my wit's. suddenly I turned and I was years older... I pulled out a large knife and charged my attacker and saw it was another man of my age and size. I caught the man off guard when I turned and rushed him. I stabbed him repeatedly. It was awful."

Dhindara nodded slowly. "Try to focus on the images you saw", she asked. "If you permit me to take a look in your mind, I might be able to see something your consciousness can't identify."

Don let his head fall back into the chair and closed his eyes. He felt very uncomfortable but gave it a try.

Dhindara focused on his mind. "These images really aren't your own", she said. "Someone, I believe, had been influencing your dreams."

"How can I stop them? I feel very destructive and afraid."

"How often have you had them?" Dhindara asked. "If it's the first time, they might not come back at all. Those things can be caused by a telepath nearby having emotional or medical problems, and as soon as that person's no longer broadcasting it would stop..."

"I'm not exactly sure when it started, the first I noticed I was just having issues of getting up several times in the middle of a deep sleep. Then that stopped. I didn't dream for quite a while but was waking up exhausted. Two days ago I had this dream and haven't slept since."

Dhindara nodded slowly. "Let me pull up station records", she said. "Where's your cabin located? I need to find out if there are any telepaths housed near you who might have accidentally caused this."

"I'm staying in the visiting crew quarters on deck 460 berth 121, the junior officers' quarters are being expanded and won't be completed till June."

Dhindara nodded. "Let me take a look, then. Computer, list members of telepathic species that have had their quarters within a fifty meter radius of deck 460, cabin 121, in the past two weeks."

Don took a deep breath and drank some of his tea... the computer came back with with a negative hit on telepathic carbon forms.

"Hmm, this is weird", Dhindara said. "It's coming up completely blank. I would have expected at least the random Vulcan or odd Betazoid in a list... computer, extend search to the entire starbase, including visiting personnel, and display their service records."

Apparently the list was still adding.. names and records started flashing on the screen it was loading in blocks of five hundred. It had pulled seven decks. There was an issue about movement versus work areas...

Dhindara keyed in parameters. Starfleet personnel files on telepaths had markers on them classifying the strength of the telepathic powers, so Dhindara excluded everyone under a certain threshold. She got left with a smaller number of possibilities, therefore. "I'll have to narrow these down some more, just got a few hundred results to the second inquiry", she explained so that her patient knew what was going on. "What you're describing takes a lot of mental strength, and either a lot of control to do it deliberately or a lack thereof to do it accidentally, so there shouldn't be too many people eventually..."

Don shifted in his chair. "I need to get to work Commander. Is it ok with you if I come back?"

Dhindara looked up, then shook her head. "No. No, you don't need to get to work. You need sleep, most importantly." She opened a drawer of her desk and got out a small device, handing it to him. "This is an alpha wave inducer. It's often used during surgery to put a patient to sleep without the need for drugs. It is harmless if not used too often. This will induce dreamless sleep, so you can rest without the fear of having another episode. It's programmed for a good eight hours, and I would want you to come back here after you wake up."

"Yes Ma'am," Don took the device and headed for the door. Thank you very much. I need the rest."

OFF

Ensign Don Gold
Air Traffic Officer
SB, Typhon

Lt.Cmdr. Dhindara Vrel
Chief Counselor
SB Typhon

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