Grumpy Rayek Goes to Counseling

Posted on Wed Feb 8th, 2023 @ 4:22am by Lieutenant Commander R'elle & Lieutenant Commander Rayek trLhoell

5,886 words; about a 29 minute read

Mission: Into The Void
Location: Counselor's Office
Timeline: After briefing

R'elle had asked Rayek to come in for counseling. Well more of an order as he wasn't that interested in coming, but his short-temperedness and generally grouchiness bore looking into, in Her opinion. He was due in a few minutes. R'elle sat ready for him. She kinda liked the guy despite his grouchiness. Still, hopefully she could help Rayek.

As much as he'd hoped to avoid being ordered to counseling here in this timeline/universe, it seemed somethings were constant. In his own universe, he'd been mandated for counseling sessions with Dr. Beja on Katra station, and before that had done sessions with Dr. Eastman - all standard practice he was told. But Rayek suspected that this was more than that - that perhaps, the Captain or some other officer of the Lionheart senior staff had requested he be watched for any suspicious behavior.

Having arrived precisely two minutes prior to the scheduled meeting time, Rayek approached the door to the counselor's office and stepped through when it opened. Dark eyes surveyed the room alertly, noting the Caitian counselor who was seated at the office desk in the room. The Romulan, also noted a secondary seat facing the desk, presumably for him to sit at. He stood beside the chair waiting for his arrival to be acknowledged by the higher ranker officer.

"Rayek. Come in, Come in. Have a seat. We don't stand on formalities here. Make yourself comfortable. Thank you for coming." R'elle said.

To be comfortable, Rayek wouldn't be here at all, but he understood what she meant so sat in the seat provided. He nodded at her thanks yet inwardly griped that he didn't really have much of a choice. It was suffer through these sessions or be denied opportunity to be more than just a passenger on this voyage. "Jolan'tru, Counselor." He greeted then waited for the counselor to ask the overly personal questions.

"Jolan'tru to you as well Rayek!" She liked him. She felt they had become friends and she really wanted to help him.

The one good thing about this session over any other he'd been mandated to attend is that the Counselor had no previous information on him. He had no personnel file or past psychological assessment notes. He was a complete blank slate. The only reason the crew on the ship even remotely trusted him in this pre-Hobus era was that he'd been vetted verbally by Captain Hadenbeer before things got bad. Now it was just a matter of making sure they continued to trust him.

"So how are you feeling today?" A nice broad statement to open with. His answer would give her a starting point.

While Rayek knew he could answer vaguely with a ‘fine’ - that would only prolong this process. He’d read up a little on Psychology so understood the purpose behind such questions.

“A little apprehensive about how this session will go,” he stated honestly. “I’ve seen counselors before and it was rare for them to listen without judgement.”

"I appreciate your honesty Rayek! A counselor should not judge! I will endeavor to not judge as I listen! So what's bothering you? Anything in particular?" R'elle asked.

Rayek found her question to be rather ridiculous to ask. She was present when the details of his arrival in this dimension were mentioned to the senior staff. "Do you mean besides the obvious - that I've been quite literally torn away from my family, and woke to find myself in a different dimension where I have no certainty of return home?" Rayek questioned back in a snarky tone.

"I understand. It obviously hurts a lot. The question is what are you going to do about it? Are you going to wallow in anger and bitterness or perhaps make the best of the situation, keep looking for a way home but do your best to try and try to be part of the ship here and now? What do you think would be better for you?" R'elle asked.

He quirked an eyebrow at her question with it's implied statements. "Do I seem an angry and bitter individual to you Counselor?"

It was a rhetorical question. Of course she did. She wouldn't have commented on it if he did not give off that impression. "Trust me, Lieutenant," though only a Lieutenant himself presently, Rayek said the rank in a tone that implied he was far above that of his peer. "I will make the best of a less than ideal situation, and find a way to return to my family. If that means being a part of this ship's crew - then so be it. I can do that."

"Good to hear Rayek. Now why don't you tell me about your family? Tell me all the good things you love about them. Focus on how much you love them."

Rayek hesitated. This was like no other counseling session he'd ever been subjected to. He didn't understand her reasoning for making such a request. That he loved his family: his wife and son, his sister... and yes even his brother whom he attempted to kill, was not in question. In fact, there were those who likely felt he loved them too much. Protected them too much. But to speak about them and how he felt about them was not easy, especially with someone he barely knew.

"I met my wife, Tess, when I was First Officer on Katra Station. It wasn't love at first sight, like in so many holonovels. She was just a junior medical officer - I barely paid her any mind." It troubled him that he'd been so blind to her at first. He knew from their shared thoughts since then, that she'd had a crush on him almost from the very first day. All while he'd been fixated on another woman. The woman whom had first suggested he leave the tatters of the Empire.

"Tess has a gentleness that always seeks to help others, and an ability to understand and forgive even the likes of me."

"That's good. Focus on how much you love her. Let the love fill you up and push away the anger." R'elle said.

Rayek looked to the Caitian counselor skeptically as she pressed for him to focus on how much he loved his wife. Her request seemed very... odd and nontraditional when it came to psychology. It was certainly, unlike any other counseling session he'd participated in, and he resisted her direction - especially when her words seemed to imply that he was angry.

He wasn't angry. People got hurt when he was angry. He'd broken his best friend's nose when Latihk had upon their reunion called his son a half-breed in taunt; and Rayek had nearly killed his brother during a ritual challenge, after being targeted by him for assassination, when Telmuk insulted both his wife and son and called into question both Rayek's 'mnhei'sahe' (honor/loyalty) and 'lyrrveoth' (duty to family). He could admit to being angry then. The annoyance he felt now towards his situation - both with H'orri, and his arrival in the alternate dimension - was nothing in comparison.

"Counselor, I don't see where you are going with this" he balked.

"Rayek, I sense anger in you. Presumably over your situation. That is understandable. However, my goal is to get you to put aside all the negativity you are carrying. I feel it is holding you back. You have much to offer and i want to see you live up to your full potential." R'elle said.

The Romulan's expression twitched when the Caitian stated she could 'sense' his anger. Was she an empath or telepath? Her file hadn't indicate anything of the like so he reasoned to himself that it was likely just her reading his body language and normal situational empathy. "Counselor, you have your work cut out for you if that is your goal, and I doubt you will ever see it to fruition." Rayek intended to be long gone before the Caitian could change him or his outlook on his situation.

"Perhaps but being a counselor means I don't give up easily. We are trained to be stubborn and not give up. You have been through a lot. You have been separated from all you know. That is traumatic. It's my job to help you with that!"

Rayek remained skeptical. "Believe what you will, counselor," he remarked "I can deal with my own trauma. Do not expect me to 'change my stripes' as it were just because I'm not as open and as trusting as you. Your way is not necessarily better - just different."

"I understand Rayek. I understand you are the way you are. However I do worry about your mental and emotional state. I want to make sure you are ok."

Hearing the counselor say she 'worried about' him - even if it was only because it was part of her job - gave Rayek pause. Her words reminded him that she was there to help not to make him feel uncomfortable - even if that was what most of her attempts so far had done. He nodded after a moment. "I appreciate your concern. I will endeavour to cooperate more."

"Thank you Rayek. I really appreciate that! I know this is difficult for you but maybe if we work together, we can make it a little easier." R'elle said.

Rayek nodded in acceptance of this suggestion, as he shifted to a more comfortable position in his seat. "Might I suggest rather than trying to force me and my emotions towards your end goal," he was referring to her earlier efforts to have him focus on his love for his wife, "allow me to express myself as I wish - negative or positive."

"Ok, let's do that! So do you want to begin? I'm here to listen if you want to talk." R'elle said.

Rayek sat in silence a moment as he considered what details to were safe enough to discuss. Technically, his presence on the ship was breaking the Temporal Prime Directive. This was 2383 and he from 2399. If this were his dimension, anything he said could potentially change the future.

However, when Lionheart had been found in the Gamma Quadrant months before Rayek and other Fleet Intelligence officers stuck in the Gamma Quadrant had searched all available data to determine the truth of what had been told to them. Yet in his dimension, no ship of that name or registry had existed - that they could find record of. Certainly, there were several of her crew whose names had been found but their lives were far different than what was depicted in the personnel files he'd obtained.

"Forgive my hesitation, I am still uncertain whether the Temporal Prime Directive applies in this situation or not."

"Probably not. After all we have seen and been through, I'm thinking no." R'elle said.

The counselor's words were not as assuaging as he would have hoped. Still, he reasoned, her doctor-patient confidentiality requirement should cover the rest. He nodded his acceptance of her statement.

"As you have been told, I am from an alternate dimension.. but what you may not have picked up on is that I come from a future timeline. When I left, it was 2399, therefore anything I say to you must be kept in the strictest confidentiality, as it carries the potential of fore knowledge of events that may yet happen in your universe."

"I understand. I will keep it confidential. Please go on." She said. The future? wow! Rayek had traveled a long way to get to here! She was curious to hear what he had to say.

"Much of my 'anger' as you call it, stems from a constant feeling of persecution and paranoia that has been with me since I left the Romulan Star Navy after my 5 years mandatory time - when I joined the Tal'Shiar." He paused a moment to let what meant that sink into the counselor's awareness.

"This is because shortly after joining their ranks, it was discovered that I had latent telepathic abilities. Though feared and reviled for having such potential, I was trained in their use by Reman slaves, and ordered to make use of them for the benefit of the Praetor himself. I was watched constantly and those I cared for used as leverage to ensure my loyalty." Having told this story several times over the past year to his growing family - Tess' father, her three brother's and his own sister, Kemala - Rayek could speak the story without displaying too much distress and discomfort. It was almost as if it happened to someone else.

"I see! Yes, I understand. That is enough to make anyone paranoid and angry! That sounds like it was very bad for you and your family. I wish we could bring them here. Unfortunately, can't be done. You do understand that won't happen here. You are very welcome."

Rayek made note of the counselor's use of supportive listening. Though he was surprised at her first-person statement in regards to his family. He'd never had a counselor get that personally affected by his story to have 'wished' anything. For a moment he was confused by her last two responses until he realized that she'd switched topics and was now referring to how he'd been treated. Rayek nodded in acknowledgement of this last statement.

"Thank you. Yes, I have come to realize that the biases of my people are rarely found in the Federation." He said rarely, because there were individuals that were still fearful of him and what he had the potential of doing. He hoped none on the ship would feel that way.

"So, go on. " she wanted him to keep talking. It helped him and perhaps this way she could help him.

"Well, as every good tragic story goes, just when things were possibly settling with me in my role as the Praetor's personal spy, I did the unthinkable and failed miserably in a mission because my telepathic abilities were being blocked by a more powerful telepath. I wasn't able to provide the intel he needed. As a result, the Praetor lost face in front of Federation representatives. Because of my failure, both myself and my father were imprisoned without trial at Faicol llhui - an asteroid mining prison. Not unlike the more famously known Klingon prison Rura Penthe - but in Romulan territory."

"Wow! That was pretty rough! Somehow you managed to survive!" R'elle said.

"Yes. I survived." He commented back in an emotionless tone - making him seem more Vulcan than Romulan. His survival was actually one of his many issues according to his past counselors. 'Survivor's guilt' is what they had called it. Rayek didn't agree, of course - but what did he know of psychology, beyond what little read trying to counter the counselors diagnosis - since they often tried to make excuses to pull him off duty.

"Had I not been imprisoned far from the homeworld, it is likely I too would have perished along with the bulk of my people when Romulus was destroyed in 2387." Rayek looked towards the counselor and swallowed drily, wondering if he should request a pause to get a drink.

"This was often a topic of conversation for me with the other counselors" the Romulan admitted. "Might I pause to get a drink.. my throat is dry."

"Of course. Go ahead! Get whatever you want!" She said. She thought about what he had just told her. That must hurt, having your homeworld destroyed like that! Perhaps it was survivors guilt or perhaps it was just that almost everyone he knew was gone.

At her acknowledgement of his request for a slight break, Rayek rose from his seat and walked over to the replicator. He ordered a black chai tea and wrapped his hands about the warm mug when it appeared on the tray. He took a moment take in the smell of the spices. It helped to remind him of all that was still important to him - morning breakfast with his wife and son, enjoyed with a cup of chai. He would return to that. Soon. He was certain of that one thing.

After affirming this mentally to himself, Rayek returned to his seat and sipped at his tea. He belatedly realized he should have at least asked if the counselor wanted anything herself while he was at the replicator... but as typical... the Romulan tended to think of himself first and others only as an afterthought.

"Did you want anything before I continue?" he asked, half already out of his seat in assumption of a yes.

"Yes please. Hot chocolate, please!" R'elle responded.

He set his tea down on a nearby side-table and returned to the replicator, ordering the requested drink. The smell of the chocolate was rather pleasant almost inviting, but Rayek was quite aware as to what chocolate, with its high sugar content, could do to his Vulcanoid physiology. It was a toxin that produced inebriating effects. He'd tried it once, under the watchful care of his wife - fiancee at the time - who was the station CMO.

Rayek smiled in recollection of the fuzzily remembered events. It had been the evening of his wife's bachorette party and his concern over images sent to his PADD by her 'so-called friends' worried the Romulan to the point of enlisting the aid of her adoptive father to 'check in' on her. Tess had been so drunk that she'd been unable to walk without assistance. When he'd finally gotten her home, her pleas to have him 'loosen up a little' had finally worn him down, and he'd downed a hot chocolate spiked with some amaretto. The result had been an unforgettable night that he only remembered hazily. It was the night he'd broken into the Station Commander's Ready Room and made love to Tess on the Vulcan Captain's desk.

Yes, hot chocolate was best avoided.

Rayek carried the drink back to the counselor hoping his face wasn't flushed from his recollections. He sat back down, picked up his tea and attempted to refocus on what he'd been speaking on before. "I left off at the prison and Hobus..." He avoided mentioning who he'd lost, or thought he'd lost...only to rediscover them 10 years later. "So after the destruction of the homeworld, chaos descended on what remained of our people and the empire. Factions developed and one faction who claimed authority over the mining prison granted me release and returned me to duty - this time as a body guard for a relative of the former Emperor. This relative was the Romulan Ambassador to the Federation and as his guard I traveled the width and breadth of the Federation as he sought to gain aid for our people."

Rayek paused here to pick up his tea and take a sip. The pause also allowed the counselor a moment to comment or ask questions.

"Interesting. And how did that go?" she asked as she sipped her hot chocolate. Rayek had seen a lot, been through a lot both bad and good and now he was here, torn from his family and friends. His father, well he hadn't mentioned his fate. She would wait for him to tell his story at his own pace, in his own way

Rayek took another sip before answering the counselor. "It was eye-opening. The Federation was nothing like what I was taught it was... and I suppose that is what first started me on the path I walk presently."

Setting his tea aside for now, he continued. "For 4 years, the Ambassador and I traveled across the Alpha and Beta quadrants, until he fell ill with a deadly condition. When I sought permission to bring him back home so that he could die among his people and be remembered properly, I was told to stay in Federation lands and dispose of him here. It took months for him to finally succumb to his condition, and afterwards only myself and his Federation doctor were there to mourn his passing."

Rayek remembered how sad Saqa7 was, that despite her every attempt she couldn't save her patient because he wouldn't accept the only known treatment.

"After the funeral rites, I had intended to return to what was becoming known as the Romulan Free State, but before I could leave I was contacted by a former associate from the Tal'Shiar who forewarned me that I was to be executed on my arrival back to Romulan space. Why I am not certain... perhaps because they feared I picked up the secrets that the Ambassador had been privy to, or perhaps merely out of fear of my ability? It didn't really matter, why. What mattered was that because of my opened-eyes, I allowed myself to be convinced by the Ambassador's Federation doctor to break-ties with what remained of my people and stay in the Federation. In essence, I defected."

"I see. Sounds like you took the option that was best for you. You were alone and death was certain if you returned home. You had been abandoned by your own people essentially! I'm glad you found a home in the federation. What was it like after breaking with the empire?"

The counselor's summation of the situation he'd faced at the time wasn't the positive affirmation of his choice like she probably thought it was. Instead, it was reminder of how selfish he was. Up until that day, Rayek been a loyal and dutiful Romulan even through all the abuse. He knew why his superiors hated and feared him, and he thought he had accepted his place as a servant to the Empire. However, the moment he chose himself over what those in power thought best, he'd betrayed everything he believed before.

The Romulan was silent when she stated she was glad he'd found a home, and for a moment he tried to pinpoint when survival and Starfleet accommodations instead became living and a home. The answer was clear to him. When Tess accepted his proposal of marriage.

Realizing her question was still waiting an answer, Rayek thought back to those first few years. "It was difficult fitting in. I was very much excluded from a lot of things. I had only one... friend... the person who'd convinced me to remain rather than face my would-be executioners. And because of this, I mistook her friendship for more."

Saqa7 had been the first woman he thought he had loved and whom he thought might love him back in return. "My desire to prove my worth to her led me to joining Starfleet - though they would not accept me as a commissioned officer - not at first. They denied my application for the Academy multiple times despite my previous experience in both the Romulan Star Navy and the Tal Shiar."

Not that Rayek blamed Starfleet Command for being cautious. He wouldn't have trusted a defector with a commissioned rank either. "It was only when I put in my application for enlisted hire that they opted to give me a chance."

"I can understand the caution. So you enlisted in Starfleet but couldn't get a commission at first. Please go on!" This was fascinating. She was learning so much about Rayek and gaining valuable insight into his personality, his background and so much more.

The Romulan nodded at her statement. "I too understood, which is why I hold no resentment towards Starfleet for this. So yes, I began my Starfleet career as an enlisted recruit. I went through the Technical Services training."

What Rayek didn't tell the counselor, cause it was embarrassing, was that it took him two attempts to pass that most basic of training. All because of one class. Starfleet Protocols 101. Everything in that course ran counter to pretty much everything he'd been taught in the Romulan War College. "After completing the basic training I was assigned to the USS Challenger in 2395 as a security crewman."

"My acceptance on the ship was... mixed. The Captain was exceptional and provided me with opportunities to prove my loyalty and value to fleet and as a result, I rose quickly through the ranks attaining the rank of Chief Petty after only 9 months. This spurred some animosity from those who I was now to overseeing."

Rayek smirked a bit as he recalled how the entire enlisted security department claimed sick all at once - in a display of their disapproval of his field promotion to Chief of Security after the Lieutenant who previously held the position left on maternity. Rayek had addressed the disgruntled crewman with his best speech of teamwork, appealing to their loyalty to the ship to convince them to return to work, but ultimately it was their fear of the fierce, red-haired CMO who threatened to report each and everyone of them to the Captain and Starfleet Medical for abuse of Medical Services that resolved the situation.

"Eventually, most came to recognize my experience and ability to lead, and our department scored top of the performance lists thereafter until my one year review. At which point, Starfleet, in a complete turnabout of their previous caution, offered me the First Officer position on a newly built station in the Gamma Quadrant. At my acceptance, I was promoted straight to Lieutenant Commander, fast-tracked through an officer's training course and sent on my way to meet my new Commander and crew."

Rayek paused here to take another sip of his tea, and to consider what else might be of importance to talk about. He glanced at his PADD to check how much time remained in their counseling session. The PADD showed he had a good half hour left.

"Well sounds like Starfleet finally recognized that you would be a valuable asset as an officer. So what happened after that?" She asked.

Rayek nodded as if in agreement with her statement, though in truth he still had his suspicions that he and a majority of the Romulan crewmen and officers in the Federation Fleet got sent to the opposite side of the Bajoran wormhole to keep them contained and away from the civil war that was breaking. Rayek didn't share this because there was every likelihood that the same war was brewing here in this universe, and Rayek was uncertain of the ramifications of such a disclosure, as his foreknowledge of such events did impact the whole of the Federation.

"After that... I met my wife - then a medical crewman on Katra. Though unlike the fairy tales that insist on love at first sight... I was blind to her, as my sights were still set on the one that had saved me from my duty to the Empire. Saqa7." Rayek pronounced the name as 'Shaka' with a hard glottal stop at the end. "As XO of the new station, I had opportunity to recommend to the Admiral who was commander of Katra, many of the senior staff and I had put forward her name as Assistant Chief of Science. I was ecstatic that I was finally in a position to have my affections for her made plain. I envisioned the perfect courtship and perfect life together. My freedoms in the Federation gave me that much hope."

He gave a slight laugh and lifted his tea again to take another sip.

"But that was fantasy. Every time we had time alone together, just as I would work up the courage to make the confession of my feelings, Saqa7 would bring up her plans to search for her past partner whom she had lost 7 years prior. Each time she spoke, I could sense that then was not the right time to make my confession... so I waited... believing that sometime after her fruitless search she would have space in her heart for me. I'm not normally a patient man but for this I was willing to wait."

Rayek paused then wondering if he should continue by explaining about the Numati First Contact situation and the illusions and incident with Tess or just continue focusing his story on Saqa7. Deciding that the Numati incident was rather pivotal in his emotional breakdown he felt it best to be open regarding that.

"A few months into my assignment, right around this time of year... Earth's New Year... I was returning to the station from an ordered visit to DS9." Rayek's expression was a bit sour as he mentioned this, "and arrived to learn we were expecting a First Contact. What we didn't know was that the species were of a telepathic sort and during their greeting ritual they reach out to us.

This contact was unnoticed by us...but their mental contact triggered a number of subconscious illusions in each of the staff exposed to this ritual... myself included."

"Wow! That sounds really bad. How did you deal with it?"

"Well, at first we didn't realize what was going on but once we figured it out and did a few scans, we discovered the 'illusions' were more like a waking dream state. So it was just a matter of putting ourselves into a full out deep sleep to complete the cycle. Afterwards we could tell reality from fantasy. My own fantasy had unfortunate social implications that lingered for quite some time." Rayek fidgeted with the near empty cup in his hands.

"As I mentioned earlier, in my universe, my home planet is gone. I believed at that time, that my entire family was dead; and what had drawn me to join Starfleet was the hope of one day starting a family with Saqa7." He avoided looking at the counselor as he explained this, his attention instead remaining with the tea cup.

"While under the influence of this waking-dream-illusion, I believed each female officer I encountered, or even thought about, was my mate and carrying my child. Because of this 'harem fantasy' I was judged by the other officers and crew as being lecherous and lustful. While in truth, all I wanted was to feel like I was connected, that I did have family and could protect them." Unlike in reality.

"OH dear! Yes I can see how that would cause problems. Well did they eventually realize what the problem really was?" She didn't miss the part about protecting his family. That was really the thing that was bothering Rayek. He had mentioned how much he missed his family and not being there for them. That was understandable and quite normal. Unfortunately, getting him home wasn't going to be easy! In the meantime she would do what she could to help him adjust to life on the Lionheart as best he could.

Rayek glanced up from his cup to the counselor, unsure how to answer. "I suppose, some did." He said eventually, "Mainly, those that I worked closely with. But at the time, speaking openly about such things was not something I was willing to do - so most had no clue as to the motivations behind my illusion. From their perspective, I was sexist and unfit for command. Numerous staff requisitioned transfers off the station after that, and I had several complaints filed against me. It was one the reasons I was ordered mandatory counseling."

He thought about leaving it at that but knew that it wasn't the complete truth and that counseling only helped when he was honest with the counselor and himself.

"The other, more imminent reason I required counseling was that the sudden return to reality from my fantasy was devastating to me. I felt the loss of each of those illusionary families keenly - and for first time since the destruction of Romulus, I wept and fell into a sort of depression. It was during this that Tess made her feelings for me known and it... slowly changed my perspective and has started me on a better path."

R'relle smiled. "Nothing like the love of a good woman to help you through the tough times. She sounds like quite a woman."

Rayek nodded at the counselor's astute comment. "Yes, very true." In that moment, Rayek felt Tess' absence like weight on his soul. In the back of his mind, he worried that he might never see her again. Never hold her - or their son. He looked down at his near-empty cup to hide the sudden upwelling of despair, and drained the last of it into his mouth before standing up to go to the replicator to recycle it. He wished this session would be over but he wasn't that fortunate.

He stood facing the replicator a long moment pulling himself together. To explain away his long pause, Rayek placed an order for a glass of water. Maybe the counselor would be fooled into thinking he was just deciding what to order... or at the very least recognize by his attempts at deception that he wasn't ready yet to be open about this.

He returned to his seat with the glass of water in his hand. He tried to continue his story focusing now on the work rather than himself. "After that, the Admiral who had been barely present to assist with the running of the station was replaced by a new Commander. A former colleague from Challenger - whom I respected greatly. Things improved after that. Even after I was demoted the first time."

"Excellent. You have seen many ups and downs Rayek! You are tough and you are a survivor. You have a good woman and a child at home. I urge you to keep the faith that you will see them again! In the meantime you have friends here who will support you! You are here and you are doing good! Just don't let the negative stuff get you too down. You are strong and everything will be alright in the end."

Rayek had hoped that by dropping the mention of his demotion, that the counselor might have focused attention on that and let drop the topic of his family - but no. She continued to mention his wife and son - at home. In another universe. Of course, her words intended it as spur of motivation and reassurance but that's not what he felt at the moment. The Romulan nodded at her words, trying to feel the optimism she was trying to promote, but it just wasn't there. Rayek knew the only way he was getting home was if he made it happen; he couldn't rely on others to make it their priority - so it had to be his.

Knowing she expected a response, Rayek feigned a smile. "Thank counselor. I appreciate that."

Rayek then attempted to see if he could cut the appointment short. "If you don't mind, I think this is a good stopping point for our first session."

"Agreed. I'd like to schedule anther session soon, perhaps next week?"

"Assuming that I am still in this universe then, yes, I will be here. Same time?"

"Yes I think the same time will work fine!" R'elle said.

Once the date and time were added to his PADD, Rayek rose from his seat and offered the counselor a courteous bow. "Until then, Counselor R'elle." He then headed out.

 

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