I Sent My Therapist to Therapy

Posted on Mon Mar 2nd, 2026 @ 8:45am by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Star & Lieutenant Alice Penrose

1,385 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Ghost Starship
Location: Chief Counselor's Office

As the alarm clock screamed like a spoiled child in the toy section in Walmart, Andrew opened his eyes, remembered his schedule, and grumbled because he had his mandatory psych was up. Sitting in a room for an hour, talking to a Doctor to figure out if he had Cabin Fever was the only thing interesting because the remainder of the day involved him locked in his new office, sorting his new department.

Just like Dolly sang, Andrew tumbled out of bed and into the kitchen, making himself a strong, very black coffee and adding a redbull into the cup. He used the fridge he installed; the old-fashioned engineer acknowledged replicators but preferred making it himself. Continuing the song, took a sip, hoping it gave him ambition, and continued to tumble into the shower. After spending probably 40 minutes on breakfast, a fry up he dressed into the gold uniform, and Andrew headed for the Medical area of the mighty MO.

Andrew, cup balancing on his knee, sat in the waiting room after signing in with the enlistee at the reception desk, waiting to be summoned into the Concoslor's Office.

The door to the office opened and Alice stood in the doorway, watching him with a small, gentle smile. She wore her uniform, her dark hair neatly coiled and pinned into place. She had not started the day with a cup of ambition, but rather freshly brewed tea, which she still held cupped in her hands. "Andrew...I don't have a deck of cards, but will you come in anyway?" she asked with a small but fond smile.

The remark about cards sparked a smile to appear on Andrew's face, bringing him and his cup into Alice's office. He was pleased he was being seen, but at least by someone he knew.

"Come and take a seat with me," she motioned to the sofa, taking the chair close by as she set her cup carefully down. "And you can tell me how things have been going recently."

Andrew followed the doctor's order; he came in and parked his backside. "I'm super!" He exclaimed. "I'm super excited to go back to engineering, maybe a little nervous." He took a pause, trying to remember the last time he was nervous, but nothing jumped out. "How's your morning?" He asked enagetically.

"Not bad at all, thank you," Alice assured with a small smile, a touch of fondness to it at seeing his optimism. And for his asking how she was. Not everyone thought to in the therapy room. "What's making you nervous about it?" she asked, able to make an educated guess, but she preferred not to make assumptions unless she had to.

The little man, high on coffee and energy drinks, was extremely jumpy as he said. "Oh, I haven't worked in engineering for 20 years! Though I've tried to keep up to date, I've never worked with all these new techs. I can't wait to try them out! I haven't been this nervous and excited since I was an apprentice, and that was..." He began counting the years on his fingers. "115 years ago!"

"115 years since you apprenticed?" she asked softly with awe, sitting back as she actively tried to imagine a career like it. "Your nervousness is natural, but your experience is second to none."

'Your experience is second to none,' rang in his ears. Grumps thought that because of his seemingly infinite lifespan, he had an exceptional memory. Truthfully, he didn't. "I'm still Human," He quipped. "Human memory wasn't designed to remember 400 years... I know, I apprenticed, but I have to check my library of diaries from time to time. Ooooo, I remember they called me "Shooting Star" because I was so excited to work on a spaceship, I ran to every engineering callout."

Alice couldn't help a soft chuckle at the words, able to picture it clearly. He seemed to have enough energy to power a ship without the engine. "And what are your plans to celebrate this time?"

"I don't like to celebrate," Andrew said low-spiritedly, his finger fiddling with the rim of his cup. Deciding to open up "Everything ends, and it's always sad... This'll be over in a flash, for me, but you, Alice, it'll be a lifetime..." There was a brief pause between them, but Andrew filled the void. "My world became extremely self-imposed isolationist when the Federation left, not many Onlie leave home... I haven't been home since I left, but I'm thinking of going home a lot. There's too much sadness... Too much pain."

Alice nodded gently as he spoke, her eyes sincere at hearing his experience of life outside of his own culture. She could never fully know what it was like for him, not without walking in his shoes, but she could understand the effects that different aspects of his experience had on him, and empathise. It was like a kaleidoscope, with the patterns and colours tumbling into place. "May I ask who you're sad for, Andrew?" she asked softly. "Are you sad for us, for passing so quickly? Or sad for yourself, that you have to witness it?"

Andrew's sadness was quickly hidden under his usual happy self, a trait he learnt but only trained people could unmask him. "I'm upset that my friends wouldn't be able to see the beauty in the galaxy, the ture beauty. But, I'm sad I have to watch them wither away, so I guess you could say both."

Alice nodded at the response. It felt sincere. "I can understand that," she agreed, seeing both sides of it as an equal burden. "Does it make you value those connections all the more? Or...does it feel easier to pull away from them at times?"

"Yeah! When I make new friends, I try to spend all the time I can." Liam explained. Though he couldn't remember it forever, it'd always be in his diarys

Alice nodded, relieved to hear that he didn't lean towards isolating himself. He had a lot of warmth to give. "And your work? What is it like working with the other officers?"

That was the issue with Grumps. They always assumed Andrew was never up to the task at hand. "Grumps take one look at me, and think transporter issue equals incompetence... I've dealt with that fooooorever like 110 years, when they reliase i'm the best fit for a Jefeery Tubes, they shush, it's quite funny. Once we get underway, the engineers below will see my brilliance."

"I can imagine that being incredibly frustrating," she replied, her features sincere, clearly meaning it. It might even feel disrespectful too, and he wouldn't be wrong.

One thing Andrew didn't need was a grumps pity. He'd had plenty of that over the years to last a lifetime. As he sat, he began to adjust himself in the seat. He was starting to get a bit restless, eager to get on with the rest of the day.

Alice watched him with gentle eyes, seeing the change and the restlessness. "Okay," she nodded lightly, in respect to what she was seeing. She didn't want to push him too far in their first session together. "I have no doubt you'll show your quality, Andrew. And I'm here if you ever need to talk it through. Or just play a card game."

"I got a funny feeling I'll be spending all my free time in engineering," Andrew replied, he wasn't a certified Starfleet engingeer so dealing with state of the art millitary grade equipment seemed like Christmas to Andrew.

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