The Captain's Counsel

Posted on Tue Apr 7th, 2026 @ 1:17pm by Captain Rovak & Lieutenant Commander Yy

1,219 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: UnderMind [4]
Location: Yy's Office - DS13
Timeline: Afternoon - MD01

"Thank you for finding the time Counsellor. I imagine your skills are in demand." Rovak said as he sat in the metamorphic seating, which adjusted to his profile, taken from the settings of the chair in his office.

"Captain, you know my door is always open for you. I do have to prioritize your mental health for everyone's sake." Yy responded with a kind but practical tone. "Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about?"

"I have been having dreams of a particularly vivid and intense nature. Usually in the form of interactions with my wife." Rovak explained.

"What sort of interactions?" She asked.

"Sometimes simply memories of unremarkable moments of our time together. Walks. Conversations. Visits. But sometimes it is as though she is trying to communicate something more complex than she is capable of expressing. Sometimes, it is simply her voice, just as I awaken." He explained.

"How long has this been going on?" Yy asked.

"The first dream was aboard the Qaraqorum, shortly before we arrived in the Dreizhen system."

"How shortly?" Yy asked.

"Less than an hour." Rovak estimated.

"Hm." Yy seemed to wrestle with what she wanted to say for a moment. "Your wife, sir. She was lost in interphase, correct? Aboard Starbase 51 in the Gamma Quadrant?"

"Correct." Rovak stated.

"And you were near her, when she left our phase?"

"At her bedside."

"Touching her?"

"Holding her hand."

"Your emotional responses immediately before and after the disappearance, were they stronger than you might have expected?"

"Yes." He admitted simply. He did not want to dwell on the moment he had pinned Dr Sutulhar against the wall.

"I don't want to get involved in speculation on a matter outside my discipline, but the effects of interphase passage are so wildly random in all of the literature. Emotional turmoil is a certainty in proximity of such events, leading to outright insanity for some. But I can't say for certain without more data. How often do you have these dreams?"

"Irregularly. Once every few weeks."

"Would you be open to a sleep study? We can install the necessary equipment in your quarters."

"Of course, if you think it prudent."

"Good. We'll get it organised." Yy said, making a note for her assistant on her padd. "How is T'Shan?" Yy asked.

Rovak was surprised by the question, in that it wasn't about him. "She is well. Excellent grades. She has become quite close with Ambassador Creon's daughter. It is good that she has a friend."

"Has she had issues making friends?" Yy asked.

"Vulcans often do, and her ways are more Vulcan than Andorian. I suppose that is because of my influence." Rovak opined.

"Have you made any friends since you came aboard?" Yy asked.

"Friends? No. There are those who I am cordial with, and whom I see often, but I do not have any time for additional friends." Rovak admitted.

"Who are your friends?" Yy asked.

"Ambassador Velt. Commander Flynn. Ayol."

"What about friends you don't have an immediate working relationship with?" Yy asked.

"I try to spend all the time I can with my daughter." Rovak said honestly. "It doesn't leave any time for other relationships. And I think that is okay. As you well know, working with Oriath Velt means no shortage of social occasions."

"Indeed," Yy said with a smile, "It is very convenient in that regard. I've made some good friends at his parties. Am I right in thinking you haven't made any new friends in a while?"

"There are dozens of promenade shopkeepers that have standing invitations for me to join them. When I do they seem determined to forge a relationship with me. But no, beyond connections forged by my position, no." Rovak admitted.

"Do you ever feel lonely?" Yy asked.

"I am rarely alone. At least six hours of my day are usually comprised of meetings or communications. I am adapted to the situation, but I could appreciate how one might prefer a greater amount of alone time." Rovak said.

"How long do you take for yourself each day?" Yy asked.

"I meditate and run in the mornings. A regular holodeck booking at the end of non-consecutive shifts with a different athletic adventure program. Two hours, on a slow day." Rovak explained.

"That is not what I asked, Captain," Yy said gently. "I asked how much time you take for yourself. Not how much time you spend on self-maintenance."

Rovak considered that. "I do not see the distinction."

"I know." She folded one leg over the other and set the padd aside. "Meditation, exercise, holodeck programs, meetings, parenting, command. It is all very structured. Very healthy. Very safe."

"Safe?" he repeated, sounding faintly offended by the implication.

"Emotionally, yes." Yy said. "You have arranged your life so that every hour is spoken for by duty, improvement or obligation. It leaves very little room for grief to surprise you." She tilted her head. "Or joy."

"Joy is not something Vulcans seek."

Yy smiled. "No, but that doesn't mean it can't find you."

Rovak let out the smallest breath through his nose. On another man it might have been a laugh.

"Counsellor, are you prescribing spontaneity?"

"I am prescribing something much more intense." Her smile widened. "Unstructured social contact."

"I command a station of nearly ten thousand beings. I am in constant social contact."

"Productive social contact, for your job or as a result of it." Yy corrected. "Transactional social contact. Diplomatic social contact. I mean a conversation with someone who does not need your authority, your signature or your approval."

He thought immediately of the merchants on the promenade and disliked that she was right. "You make it sound essential."

Yy asked. "Where you're still hearing someone lost in interphase while you were in arm's reach? Yes, Captain, I think your mental health may qualify as essential."

That landed where she intended it to. He gave a slow nod.

"Very well. I will participate as instructed." He intended to do it, but said it knowing there was every possibility some new crisis would eat up his every waking hour for the next few weeks at any moment.

"Good." She retrieved the padd again. "The sleep study, a dream log, and one social engagement before the month is out. Not with Ambassador Velt."

Rovak's brow tightened. "You significantly lower my chances of success with such a restriction."

"That would be too easy, sir." Yy looked up at him. "And Captain? If this is grief, we will treat grief. If it is some residual effect of interphase exposure, we will learn that too. But until we know which it is, I would prefer you not face either one alone."

For a moment, he said nothing. Then, with unusual softness, "That is... reasonable."

She stood, beaming satisfaction at the agreement, and he followed suit as the chair flowed back into a neutral shape behind him. "Until next time, sir."

He inclined his head and departed, a little less rigidly than he had entered. "Until then, Commander. Thank you."

When the door closed behind him, Yy looked at the note on her padd one last time: sleep study, interphase correlation, monitor dream content.

Then she added a second line beneath it.

Do not let him disappear into duty.

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