"Eye To Eye"

Posted on 19 Feb 2016 @ 10:21am by Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D. & Commander Jillian O'Connell

1,447 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Brig, USS Black Hawk
Timeline: Backpost

In her short time aboard the Black Hawk, Avery had seen her fair share of internal Starfleet conflicts. Not long ago, the ship had been taken over by a fellow Starfleet officer whom they thought they could trust, in fact. As a therapist with training in forensic psych, the idea one of their own could betray them wasn't so shocking to Avery. Forensic psych often involved explaining the unfathomable to others, including the darkest of impulses. Nevertheless, if someone had told her she would soon be visiting a visibly pregnant woman in the brig, another Starfleet officer, Stuart just might have said that crossed the line into absurd.

Yet, here she was. It wasn't that she believed women were incapable of despicable acts. She'd studied enough to be disabused of that bias. But a mother to be? Such risky behavior by a heavily pregnant woman was hard to fathom. Either she was telling the truth, or Jillian O'Connell had one of the coldest attitudes toward motherhood she would ever see. It was sure she was generally curious, but it was also true, deep down, Avery was fighting her own maternal feelings toward the woman. Apparently she's been given the all clear by medical, but that didn't change the fact psychological stress wasn't good for pregnant women, and there was no denying being confined to the brig represented some degree of psychological stress. Stuart reminded herself she couldn't afford to let her feelings of concern cloud her judgment. She was simply here out of professional courtesy, to check on the woman, and to get her own read on O'Connell.

It wasn't long before Avery was standing in front of O'Connell's cell, offering simply, "Captain O'Connell? My name is Doctor Avery Stuart, I'm the Chief Counselor aboard the Black Hawk. I wanted to speak with you and see how you're doing. Would you be willing to speak with me?"

Jillian had been lying on her back for the last few minutes. Somehow she'd managed to actually fall asleep. It was the unfamiliar voice that had woke both her and the child in her womb. Jill looked around to see an unfamiliar lieutenant in blue standing on the other side of the forcefield. Smiling at the woman, Jill remarked, "I don't suppose you can wrangle a recliner?"

Sitting up on the cot, Jill smiled. "What can I do for you, Counselor?"

Seeing she had disturbed Jillian's sleep, Avery felt a twinge of guilt. She wondered if O'Connell had picked up on it as she dropped her request for a recliner easily enough and had moved on. "I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep," Avery began. "I can come back later if you'd like to rest," she offered. Stuart had to remind herself this woman and her husband were accused of heinous crimes, Jillian herself having fired on a convoy bringing medical supplies. "I know stress isn't good for pregnant women and their babies, so I thought I'd come by and see how you were doing. I'm sure you can imagine, however, my motives aren't entirely altruistic. It's probably not a surprise to you no one is sure what to believe given what you've told them and what they've seen with their own eyes."

Jillian did her best to hide a frown behind a false smile. "Now's as good of a time as any," Jillian said, feeling the suddenly active child in her womb. Sleep would now be impossible. "And it's not a surprise at all. Do you want to continue this here," Jillian gestured towards her surroundings to indicate her fellow crewmembers also behind forcefields, "or somewhere a little more private?"

"I'm afraid I haven't cleared even a temporary release with anyone yet, so here will have to do," Avery replied, "though I'll erect a privacy forcefield here so we can have a more discreet talk." Stuart ordered the aforementioned screen in place, designed to muffle sound and be tinted just enough so she could still be monitored for aggressive movement but not so any one guard could hang on every word. "Maybe if you'd like to talk more later, I can arrange an escort to my office."

"Perhaps," Jillian said, eyeing one of the nearby guards that had been observing the two woman before looking back towards the other cells.

"Is there something you'd like me to know?" Avery asked out of curiosity. She wondered if Jillian's question about going somewhere more private meant she wished to confide something in the counselor.

Jillian shrugged, not really sure how to answer that question. "You'll forgive my hesitation, Counselor, if you see any. In today's universe, a girl doesn't really know who all she can trust anymore. Perhaps that's the Consortium's ultimate goal in this. To take our close Federation and Starfleet and force us to divide ourselves internally. Use our own strengths against us, if you know what I mean."

It was not the answer she was expecting. Avery would've thought Jillian would take the opportunity to profess her innocence. That she didn't do so didn't exactly take away Avery's suspicions. "I do know what you mean. When we watched you attack the convoy and our people, we were fairly certain we knew exactly what strengths the Consortium was using against us."

"You weren't watching close enough," Jillian countered. "The convoy fired first. The T'Pring actually. And seeing twenty Valkyries at their aid was certainly unexpected. We had no choice but to defend ourselves."

"Is that what you call it?" Avery countered. "Surely you can see why you don't appear to have hands as clean in this as you claim? Right now, all we have are allegations from you."

"True," Jillian replied quickly. "And until you see for yourselves what is on the convoy, that's all I have. Allegations. I've already spoken with your Captain and several members of your crew. Trust me, my story isn't going to change. All I want right now is to get this over with and to see my husband again." Before it's too late, she thought, rubbing her womb.

That much was true, thought Avery. They only way they were going to know the truth was if they examined the evidence for themselves. Stuart decided to change the subject to see if she could get a better read on the woman. Noticing Jillian wrap her rather distended abdomen, the counselor suddenly became concerned. "Are you feeling all right?" She asked, her eyes directed to O'Connell's abdomen. Thinking of what she said about her husband, Avery felt concern and empathy flow through her once more. Whatever was going on with Jillian, she knew she didn't deserve to be away from the man she loved and trusted this close to giving birth.

Jillian chuckled. "I'm as alright as I'm going to be at this stage. I still have a few weeks, and he's certainly making himself at home in there. I just hope he doesn't try to prolong his stay." Looking at the counselor, she gently smiled. "If none of this works out, I do fear what will happen to him. No child should be separated from his parents, especially his mother."

"I don't disagree with you," Avery replied. "Still, a child has no control over the choices his or her parents make, and sometimes those choices indicate a parent's severe lapses in judgment. I'm not saying that is or isn't you. I'm just saying I can understand how people can get caught up in doing wrong things for what they believe are the right reasons." Stuart was also speaking from some degree of personal experience. Her father abused her mother every way possible and wound up killing her. His choices resulted in him being taken from her and from a happy life, but she did not believe he was born to be evil. "I don't know if you're a member of the Consortium or not, but if you were, I know you must have your reasons for it and are perhaps not the evil monsters you might think we believe you to be."

The Commander immediately met the Counselor's gaze. "I'm no part of the Consortium menace," Jillian replied, almost sternly. "I've seen first hand what they are capable of, and I would implore anyone who wishes to deal with them to tread with caution." Sighing, Jillian looked towards the forcefield where multiple guards, who didn't know the truth either, kept their watch over perfectly innocent Starfleet personnel. "I just hope this crew figures out who is who before it's too late and someone gets hurt."

Avery followed Jillian's gaze, sighing inwardly herself. "I do too, Captain. I do too."

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