Medicine and Counselling go hand in hand

Posted on Sun Jul 27th, 2025 @ 3:33am by Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca

855 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: EPISODE 1: SHAKEDOWN
Location: Deck 7 - CMO's Office

ON:

Gia took a quick look at her schedule for the day and realised it was pretty clear, which was a good thing. She was still tired and the three cups of coffee she'd had so far was still yet to do anything, not that it did much anymore for her these days, but that was beside the point.

Interestingly enough, one of the people Gia was yet to meet was the CMO himself, Dr. Jeremiah McEntyre. She'd already read a bit about him, his family, achievements and whatnot, but thought it would be best if they actually met so they could work out a plan of how to co-ordinate their departments and give the best service they could to the crew.

Standing up, she brewed yet another cup and added a second one, not for herself but for the Doctor and walked down the corridor to his office, putting it down briefly to press the chime and announce her arrival.

James looked up from his terminal, still logging reports from the last engagement with the Klingons and general medical upkeep. "Come In" He hollered at the door, still typing away, his tail swishing behind him.

Walking in, Gia raised up the second cup of coffee with a smile. "Dr McEntyre, I'm Lieutenant Gianna De Luca, the new Chief Counselor on board. Have I caught you at a good time?" It would've been ideal if she'd have checked first to make sure he wasn't busy, but she didn't. Oh well.

"Yes, please, come in." James stood with a cordial smile, walking around his desk to greet the new counselor and accept the offered cup of coffee. "Won't you sit?" James offered one of the chairs in front of his desk.

"Thank you," Gia took the offered see and sipped from her own cup, savouring the taste. Yep, the caffeine in it was doing nothing. "I've been on the ship for the last few days and thought I'd come and introduce myself and have a wee bit of a chat on how we can get our departments running smoothly, maybe even get a bit of cross department training organised."

"That would go a long way. Counselors on ships are still a bit...new, but a welcome concept none the less. How can I assist." The doctor asked, leaning back in his chair.

"Well, I intend to make this position and department a success to the point the higher ups will take notice and allow the program to continue on with this being a shining example of why." Gia cleared her throat and smoothed out her uniform.

"So. First off: a bit of background about me. I have tailored my career path to becoming a counsellor, gaining my Master's degree in Counselling and also a Bachelor of Arts majoring in psychology, and have been civilian qualified to provide these services for the last ten years. Within the next five years, I'll be completing my Doctorate to become a psychologist, which I hope will be even more beneficial to this crew and the wider organization that is Starfleet."

She steepled her fingers and pointed them towards McEntyre, offering a smile. "Where you come into all this is that we're going to be working together for the next five years and aside from the fact that we will be equals, we also need to be across the same page in terms of treatments and knowledge."

"Of Course. Counseling is your purview and I will defer to you on those matters, though for those matters that don't fall into the Counseling and Psychiatry departments you'll bring to me. Will that be an issue?" James elaborated.

Gia nodded, "Absolutely. In saying that though, I wouldn't mind learning a bit more about the Medical side of things from time to time when there is nothing else going on, if you'd be able to accommodate that?"

"I'll be glad to impart whatever wisdom and knowledge I can" The Caitian smiled, leaning back in his chair once more.

"Is there anything else you will need? Supplies before we get too far from HQ?" He asked picking up his PADD.

Thinking for a moment on the mental check list she had prepared, Gia shook her head slightly in response, "I do believe my department is fully stocked with everything we'll be needing until we're next in Federation space. As long as there's plenty of coffee available, I'll have no complaints."

There was a long stretch of silence between them before either spoke, and Gia got the feeling that there was something off about this meeting. Feeling slightly out of place as well, Gia stood up with her coffee to go, "Well, thank you for this meeting, it's been truly inciteful and I'm sure we'll be catching up sooner rather than later. I'll take my leave now and will see you around, Doctor."

With a nod goodbye, she left the Doctors office and turned left to back to her own office, leaving McEntyre by himself.

OFF

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Lieutenant JG Gianna De Luca
Chief Counsellor
USS Hecate

Lieutenant Commander Dr. Jeremiah McEntyre
(Former) Chief Medical Officer
USS Hecate

 

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