Drawing Out Crenshaw

"Mr. Crenshaw, I need to speak with you."

"Commander, I really don't have much time," responded the engineer.

"I'll walk with you to engineering."

"Yes sir." The two men walked in silence along the corridor and as they rode the turboelevator to the engineering level. As the engineer was about to enter the main engine room, Morgan touched his elbow. "Nelson, let's talk in your office." Away from the bridge, from the briefing room, he used a more casual address. The engineer nodded and silently led the first officer to his office.

"What can I do for you, Commander?" the engineer asked once the two were seated alone in the privacy of his office.

It was the engineer's use of the formal address that gave Morgan confirmation to his suspicion that something was bothering him. "Nelson," he began. "We've served together for quite a number of years on the Dawn, haven't we?"

Nelson nodded but didn't say anything.

"You, me, Arjay, Kellog, we've made quite a team." Morgan paused. "You really get to know someone well after a while, don't you think?"

"I guess you could say that," Nelson replied noncommittally.

"After a while, it gets that you can tell when something is bothering someone. When someone's not being himself."

Nelson didn't say anything but kept his eyes on his desk.

"Nelson, are you okay?"

Nelson let out a deep breath. "Morgan," he started, not knowing what he would say, but his voice came out raspy. He cleared his throat and tested his voice again. "I'm fine. There's nothing... just a little silly..." He stopped and looked at Morgan, a questioning look in his eyes.

"Nelson, you're among friends."

"I know," he sad quietly. "It's just, it's just some personal stuff, I mean we're on duty, on mission, and I probably have no business, I mean it's not professional bringing in what's personal."

"Things not going well on Earth?"

Nelson shook his head.

"Nelson, you are a great engineer and superb officer. No one who has served with you or knows your record would question your sense of professionalism. So you're having some problems at home - you're human."

"I swore I wouldn't let it interfere with my duties."

"You've performed your duties admirably. But if this problem is swimming around in your mind, it's going to distract you. You need to deal with what's going on in your life, not keep it all to yourself."

"Yeah... ?"

"Well think about it. Doesn't it make sense?"

"Is this part of that 'confession is good for the soul' philosophy?"

Morgan grinned.

"I never was too good with confession," Nelson admitted.

"Maybe I can help you with that," Morgan replied in a compassionate tone. "It's about your family life, isn't it?"

Nelson let out a sigh, and Morgan could sense the pain the engineer was carrying. "Yeah, Helen, she uh, always used to see me off at spacedock before leaving on mission, and uh, this time she didn't," Nelson admitted.

"That sounds bad," replied Morgan sympathetically.

"That sounds bad, but there's worse."

"Go on," encouraged Morgan.

"I, uh, one of my students when I was teaching back on Earth, she uh, expressed an interest in uh, in me." Nelson paused again, anticipating another word of encouragement from Morgan.

Morgan was completely attentive but remained silent. Now that Nelson was starting to open up he wanted to let him tell his story at his own pace and was being careful not to let his own judgments fill in the gaps that Nelson had not yet revealed.

"I didn't go looking for this," Nelson continued. "She approached me, after one of my classes. We got to talking, we went out for coffee a few times. That's as far as we went. It was, uhm, flattering, you know, to have a young lady show interest, you know. So that's it, in a nutshell. Helen didn't come see me at spacedock, but the one I keep thinking about all the time is this young lady, Nicole." Nelson stopped.

Sensing that Nelson had told him what he needed to, Morgan leaned forward to offer him some words of assurance. Before he could say anything the intercom interrupted.

"First officer, report to bridge."

"Nelson, we help each other out on this ship. I promise you, we'll help you deal with this." Morgan then turned to the intercom and activated it. "Bridge, acknowledged. I'm on my way." He nodded at Nelson and left.

Nelson sat for a moment in his now empty office with a vacant stare. Despite being assured by Morgan, there was one part he had left out. One part he still wasn't ready to tell anyone. Fixing up the mess of his life back home was going to require taking a good hard look at what his priorities really were, and making some tough choices upon his return to Earth.

This mission may be his last one with Starfleet.