Coping With Insecurities

Posted on Fri Jun 12th, 2026 @ 11:44pm by Lieutenant Williamina Pierce MD & Lieutenant JG Talissa Solwick

1,661 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Back Into Action
Location: USS Yamato, Sickbay

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Location: USS Yamato, Personal Quarters Deck 6

Talissa was still trying to process her meeting with the Captain. Kaede was her second commanding officer, and her first time meeting an El-Aurian. She was different. But in a good way, she had a way of breaking through your barriers.

As she walked into her room, with her duffel bag still draped over her shoulder, she took a good look around. It was cozy, and slightly larger than her previous quarters aboard the USS Portland.

She was already mentally trying to figure out, where the items in her room were going to go. It was not a lot. Two years in Starfleet plus a childhood on Betazed and all she had to show for it was a duffel bag full of small trinkets and clothing.

Talissa recalled what the Captain had told her, to settle in and put up some drapes. The message was clear, get comfortable and move in. Treat this place as your home. Deep down it meant the Captain had accepted her. And that felt very good to her.

For the moment though, she placed her duffel bag on her bed, then walked over to the mirror and adjusted her uniform, and walked out. Next stop sickbay, might as well get the physical over with.

Location: USS Yamato, Corridors

Maybe that was a good thing, Talissa thought as she strolled through the corridors of the Yamato, and made her way to sickbay.

She told her Captain, that she would head there next. Her cousin told her if she needed to talk to the Doctor since they did not have a therapist. Both her cousin and now her captain had suggested to her that life is going to real lonely if she did not find friends.

Her captain took it a step forward, saying she needed to find a romantic partner. She was not even thinking about a partner, till the captain brought it up.

Her cousin knew her best, but the captain was starting to figure her out. And they both knew. There was no fooling them. Treyla her cousin told her to seek out the good doctor learn techniques to be less guarded and more open to her feelings. Allow others in.

After a brief hesitation outside of the sickbay doors, Talissa took a deep breath and walked in. Noticing how quiet it was in sickbay.

Location: USS Yamato, Sickbay

"Hello." Talissa called out. Her voice cracked the silence of the room. The sound carried to the other end of the room. She wondered if anyone was home.

Billie was in her office going over medical records, beginning with the Senior Staff, when she heard an unfamiliar voice.

Heading out into the Sickbay proper, she saw a blonde-haired woman in Command red. "Welcome to Sickbay, Lieutenant, I'm Doctor Pierce, how can I help you?" She said.

"I am here for my physical." Simply said Talissa. She was back on the defensive again. Even though she had opened up to the Captain, the silence of the room put her back on the defensive. It was not the doctor's fault, it was her normal response to these type of situations.

"Okay. And you're Lieutenant Solwick, right?" Billie asked recalling her from her medical file. She also noticed Talissa's defensiveness. "Its alright." She said gently. "This is a safe place."

"I am Doctor. Where do you want me?" Talissa asked, looking around and assuming she would be asked to sit on the bio bed. She was not sure if she felt that sickbay was a safe place, but maybe it was. Treyla her cousin had suggested to her that she should talk to the good doctor about her trust issues. She knew deep down she should probably have friends. But she feared that she needed to establish herself first, and get out of the shadow of her family's legacy. A legacy that did not even mention her, not even as a footnote.

"Just sit on that biobed, please." Billie said as she grabbed a medical tri-corder and configured it to Betazoid female. "So, Chief Flight Controller, on only your second assignment, you must be one Hell of a pilot."

"I saw an opportunity for promotion, and I took it. But yeah I'd like to think I'm a decent pilot." Talissa said a little nervously, but trying to hide it through her confidence. But she'll also was not trying to get more information than she absolutely had to. Which is kind of kicking herself for mentally because she knew she wasn't following her cousin's advice or the captain's even though the captain didn't specifically tell her to reach out to the doctor.

Billie could tell that Talissa was apprehensive to share much about herself. "So, what do you do in your off-duty time." She asked.

Talissa grinned as she said, "mainly I just playing the holiday or I just stay in my room watching an old classic movie but not those rom-coms. They get a little too cheesy but since I'm single I can't really relate to them." She said knowing that this is a pretty straightforward answer and a little tragic at the same time but usually most people wouldn't push beyond that so this was her go to answer. And it worked for her on the USS Portland. She wasn't sure if it was going to work for her on the USS Yamato.

"Yeah, rom-coms are so predictable and often border on farce." Billie agreed. "I enjoy historical and fantasy movies."

"Okay I'll bite, what type of movies are you interested in?" Talissa said, trying to change the topic on her, to get the attention off of her. This was another classic bait and switch move that worked for her in the past.

"Movies like Dracula, Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Willow, The Princess Bride, etc." Billie said.

"I've seen The Princess Bride that one's not bad a little two dimensional in the heroism aspect but still a cute little comedy I suppose. I'm still not really into rom-coms but at least there was some actions and some cool sword scenes and let's not forget the I am Indigo Montoya and you killed my father , that was probably one of the best scenes in the whole movie." Talissa suggested trying to keep the conversation focused on the good doctor and not on her.

"Agreed." Billie said. "You know, I can tell you're limiting what you share about yourself, by turning questions back on me, don't you?" She looked at the younger woman a moment, before continuing. "That's fine, I'm not trying to pry, I just wonder, is this how you treat everyone, or is it because I'm a doctor?"

Talissa had a big grin on her face, she saw what the good doctor did there. Playing her own game against her. "Nicely played Doctor, you're right I do divert conversations away from me. My cousin suggested that I should talk to you, now I can see why."

"Your cousin sounds like a smart person." Billie said with a smile. "Any medical changes, since your last physical?" She asked.

"Not really, I am feeling a little tired. Been up most of the day. Was real excited to come aboard the Yamato." Talissa said, trying to sound like a good Starfleet officer. The truth was, she was tired of family and friends getting into her business. That had kept her up and had her tired. But saying she was excited. There was one advantage to this assignment. Her family really has no pull here.

"That's understandable, but it must be stressful being part of such an illustrious Starfleet family as yours?" Billie asked. "I'm a Starfleet brat myself, both my parents served in Starfleet, and that was stressful for me and my sister, but I can't imagine the stress you felt and still feel."

"Yes it was stressful, constant pressure having to live up to something that I never asked to live up to. But I guess pretty much any kid can say that right when it comes to trying to live up to a family Legacy?" Talissa feeling a little guilty about her earlier actions. Maybe she wasn't the only one that had family drama and constant pressure. Why did her cousin have to be right about people? How did Treyla Solwick know that's a good doctor could help her? How did she know that the captain could possibly help her too?

"I ended up following in my parents' footsteps, my father was a doctor and my mother a nurse." Billie said. "I enjoy being a doctor, and it also helps me to remember them. They died during the synthetics' attack on Utopia Planitia."

"I'm so sorry for your loss." Talissa feeling a little foolish for bringing up such a painful memory. Only thing she could really do is apologize and Hope this doesn't affect their friendship or at least working relationship. "I can't imagine what you're going through, I'm sorry for what you're going through."

"Thank you." Billie said. "I appreciate it, but I still have family, My sister Kelly, my niece Amanda, and my brother-in-law Jarl, Jarl is an Ursinoid, a bear-like humanoid, his hugs are real bear hugs." She added hoping to lighten the mood.

"A real bear hug, what's that even like?" Talissa asked. She tried to visualize in her mind what that was like, part of her wanted to probe the information out of the doctor but she knew she couldn't get away with that and it wasn't really customary to ask somebody hey can I prove your mind so I can know what it's like to hug a bear. So she just smiled and kept a thought to herself.

"Warm and makes me feel safe, I envy my sister." Billie said.
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Lieutenant Williamia Pierce
Chief Medical Officer
USS Yamato

Lieutenant JG Talissa Solwick
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Yamato

 

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