Downtime

Posted on Tue Apr 21st, 2026 @ 6:00pm by Lieutenant JG Aurora Winters & Eliana Kellan

789 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: Shadows of Diplomacy
Location: Lunch room

Eliana sat, drinking a cup of coffee while she worked on her upcoming menus for the ship. She liked to plan ahead, though sometimes she would change things up a bit. It was between meals so there were only a handful of people there.

She noticed a woman getting something to drink and then looked around. One thing Eliana wanted to do was get to know the crew. She waved her over to where she was sitting. “Please join me.”

Aurora seeing a woman waiving her over picked up her drink, walked over and took a seat. "i'm Aurora, thank you for the invite. I'm still getting used to the ship."

“Eliana Kellan.” She replied with a smile. “I am the captain’s wife as well as the ships
Chef.”

"Aurora Winters, I'm the chief counselor. Glad to meet a friendly face,"

“I may not be a member of Starfleet.” Eliana said with a smile. “But I like to meet the crew, possibly make some friends and learn everyone’s likes and dislikes as far as meals are concerned.”

"I'm not a picky eater so I'm sure I'll love anything you cook. I too like to meet new people and make friends. I also hope that should anyone have to come see me that they feel welcomed and relaxed," Aurora said smiling.

“People tend to shy away from talking about their feelings.” Eliana nodded. “But it is really good for them.” She grinned. “We can be so stubborn.”

Aurora nodded, "Very true, while doctors can heal the body councilors heal the mind and most of the time no one wants to open up to one."

“They are afraid you will say they are unfit for duty.” Eliana said quietly. “No one wants to hear that.”

"I've only done that to one person. I'm actually not sure I have the authority to pull someone off duty. I think only the CMO has that authority," Aurora commented. "I do send any reports to the CMO when I feel I should."

“You can make a recommendation that they are not mentally stable to serve.” Eliana pointed out. “They have to be cleared by you and the medical officer to serve.”

"That is true, and if I have to that is just what I'm going to do," Aurora commented. "While my office is peaceful for patients I'm thinking about getting a couple of small birds, you know songbirds. What do you think"

“That might be nice.” Eliana nodded. “Give a calming atmosphere.”
She didn’t know a lot about counseling. She was a good listener however.

"That was my thinking as well," Aurora replied "I love Finches they're small and sing very well. I should run this by the captain as I'm not sure how he feels about pets. Some captains permit pets and some don't."

“I think you are on the right track”. Eliana said with a smile. “Make it look as little like a doctors office as possible”.

"That's my hope," Aurora replied "I want everyone who comes into my office to feel relaxed and comfortable.

“Looks like you already know what you need.” Eliana smiled at her. “Any food issues I need to know about or anything you would like to see served?”

"I have no food issues and I love to try new things. So anything you'd make is fine with me. I do have one thing I love and that is Hawaiian Pizza. I got introduced to it in the academy," Aurora said. "Not everyone likes it."

“They don’t.” Eliana smiled. “My daughter however eats many things we wouldn’t,” she paused. “I can make it however because I can offer different types of pizza. A variety is always good.”

"I can't wait to try your cooking. There is something about real food over replicated. While replicators have come a long way there is no comparison to real home cooked food," Aurora commented.

"It may not be too soon." Eliana said quietly. "With the ship's current mission it just might be lock down on the kitchens."

"There are somethings that are more important. This mission is one of them," Aurora replied. "Once this mission is over I'm sure things will return to normal."

Eliana smiled, thinking that she wasn't certain there was any normal when it came to serving on a ship. "You may be right."

"I hope so," Aurora replied "Perhaps what we all will need once this is over is a little party where everyone can relax a bit."

"I can help with the food end of things." Eliana offered. She smiled then. "It sounds like things are coming together."

Aurora nodded "It does at that. I think I'm going to like it here."

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