[Observation Lounge:] Meeting with Tasha Yar [CLOSED]

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

When all is said and done, it takes somewhat longer for Captain Picard to arrange a meeting with his former Chief of Security than he would have otherwise liked. After his meeting with his Chiefs of Staff (and his subsequent conversation with Counselor Troi), something rather unexpected happened.


"Crusher to Picard ... Do you have a minute, Jean-Luc?"


The disappearance of his chief medical officer right on the heels of the announcement that Starfleet were sending representatives to his ship had, to put it quite lightly, thrown him for a loop. Now Beverly is from some point in the future fresh from some experience she won't divulge (and he understands that, honestly — it is the proper course to take, even if it is maddening for him on a personal level), and Command will be here any day now.

His mind was someplace else for some days. As was his person, once Deanna started pressing him to talk about his feelings on the matter. So far he has done a decent job of avoiding it, but he knows he can't avoid it forever. Once he has spoken with Tasha and, hopefully, once his ship has been returned to his command alone, there will be no convenient distractions to ward her off.

At least for today he only has to worry about one potentially difficult conversation.

He makes the request that Tasha meet him in the observation lounge. The seats around the table are all empty save for the one he occupies at the head; he wants this to be a private conversation, at least to start with. Once he has her answer, there will be plenty of opportunities for the rest of the crew to join them.


[ooc: plot-locked for tasha_yar, but don't worry; he'll have an OTA post soon!]

Comments

[tasha_yar]

Everything up until the door was routine - without thought, just relief.

It's when the door to the Lounge slides open and she steps in that -

"Captain, I -" The sound catches in her throat. The seats here were always more democratic and freely offered than on other ships. No one, except the Captain, had "their" chair. It felt like being one of Arthur's knights.

But there's one missing. It's a moment, but her Captain needs her, so only a moment.

"You needed to see me, sir?" she says, feeling out of uniform in her tunic top and pants.

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

He stands when she enters the room. Her hesitation is palpable, and he can guess at what she may be thinking, but all he offers her is a warm smile and an open-handed gesture.

"Tasha, please sit," he says, giving her the choice of where and remaining on his feet until she does.

It is odd not referring to her as Lieutenant, an adjustment he never expected he would have to make, but such thoughts do not have their place in the room at present. "I was hoping you might be available to offer me some counsel."

[tasha_yar]

She takes the back of the chair to his right so she can see both him and the doors. Old habits don't just die hard. They don't die. "Anything I can do, of course!"

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

Her eagerness does pull a smile out of him. It is the reaction he had been expecting, and certainly what he had been hoping for.

"I am curious about our displaced guests," he begins, elbows braced on the table and hands clasped. "You have been sharing close quarters with them for some months now, and perhaps have had greater opportunity to come to know their habits and personalities than I myself have.

"How do you believe we are faring in managing the security of all our guests?"

[tasha_yar]

"The good news is, sir, with very few exceptions, most of them are friendly and want to help. They feel - if not at home here - at least protective of the Enterprise and those aboard and are willing to sacrifice their safety to do so. We're just -" She looks for the word. "Swamped. Our missions from Starfleet, according to what I've been able to glean from reports and interviews, have been - I wouldn't say 'compromised' but the completion rate doesn't sound like what it once was. Believe it or not, this is making them just as restless as a thwarted crew would likely be."

"My main fears is that, eventually, with Q's love of games, I believe that it may only be a matter of time before we get rivals to the people we already have on-board, or a Lore-like situation where a more dangerous version or duplicate of the displaced person comes on board without our even knowing."

"Frankly, sir - We were made to seek out new life, but now that it's coming to us instead, it requires more management, and it's management we don't currently have."

[tea_earlgrey_hot]

He admires how her senses and skills haven't dulled in the slightest over the last two years, though he supposes it hasn't been anywhere near that length of time for her. He always trusted her in these matters, and knew that whatever came for her she would be able to meet it head-on. It's so familiar it borders on bittersweet, and yet he finds he has missed opportunities to talk with her in this way.

She is, as always, right on the money.

"Agreed," he nods. "I am sure you are familiar with what transpired a month ago now, which is not unlike the kind of situation you have just mentioned. Many passengers were acting not like themselves, including some members of this crew. I've been told that in controlling the situation, several of our guests acted with the unaffected members of our security team in managing what was happening. Can you confirm this?"

[tasha_yar]

"Yes, sir, they were." She smirks. "They were acting on instinct and training from their former lives, so there were some rough patches, but they were effective. It was a bit -" She shakes her head with just the slightest of affectionate eyerolls. "I don't know how it is now, but I remember Wesley always finding his way into the center of events on this ship. He'd stumble through them, problem-solving along with us, but in a more raw kind of way." Tasha shrugs. "It's like that with the Displaced, sir. All skills and instinct, but without focus or Starfleet training." Her grin grows conspiratorial. "And, if you asked me, equally interesting to deal with as a result, especially given their number."