Ready for Work

Posted on Sat Jan 5th, 2019 @ 5:17pm by Ensign Mark Cross & Lieutenant Galatea Polaris

Mission: Negotiations and Apothecaries
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: 15th Feb 2395

ON:

Galatea had finished her reports and now looked down her schedule. She'd set aside time to review more new crew. She'd made a good dent in her work but there were a few that still weren't able to start their duties fully until the exam was done. She picked the next name on her list and hit her coms button on her desk. "Doctor Polaris to Ensign Cross. Would you please join me in sickbay for your med and psyc eval."

Mark hesitated for second or two. Psyc eval? Unfortunately the days of ignoring a call and pretending you hadn't heard it were long gone. He'd already developed that irrational fear of Sickbay that tended to plague Starfleet officers. Those that didn't wear blue, anyway.

"On my way Doctor" he replied, hopping up from his bunk and starting the short walk. Having to do this every time was enough to put anyone off a transfer of assignment.

Shortly after, the Ensign appeared in Sickbay, taking a moment to take in his surroundings, scanning the room for the face he'd seen in the crew manifest.

Chief Payton had just finished with a patient when he noted the new face. He looked down at the schedule in his hand. "Ensign Cross?"

"That's me!" He replied to the voice. "I'm due to be evaluated."


Hunter laughed, "Well don't say it like that. For goodness sake man we don't bite here in medical." He pointed to the empty bio-bed to the right. "Please grab a seat and I'll get your file up."

"I come from a family of Starfleet officers, a completely irrational fear of Sickbay is running through my bloodstream, unfortunately" he laughed and headed for the bed, launching himself up and perching, legs dangling over the edge.

"Can I let you in on a trade secret," Hunter said as he moved a mobile tray with all the equipment he would need to get the exam started for the doctor.

Mark watched the equipment move out of the corner of his eye. It was like his toolkit, but for humans.

"We in sickbay.....fear sickbay." He said with a deadpan tone.

"Well that's not an irrational fear any more, that's well-informed fear..." Mark shook his head. "Doesn't fill me with confidence in the slightest!"

Hunter laughed. "I promise this will be quick and painful...I mean painless." He gave cross a wink. "Sorry medical humour." He opened the tricorder and took some base readings. "Your blood pressure is off but I think that that is due to your ... dislike of doctors. Other than that all seems okay. If you'll give me a moment I'll bring up your file and get it ready for the doctor to review and she'll be with you shortly."

"More likely the stress of keeping the propulsion system from rattling itself apart, combined with excessive levels of caffeine..." Mark thought aloud. "I don't think my fear of Sickbay runs quite that deep, but maybe on a subconscious level, who knows?"

Mark idly tapped his heel against the biobed, not really noticing him doing it. "No problem, take your time!"

Hunter brought up the file and then clicked through it. Just as he finished updating the current readings Doctor Polaris walked in, her blue lab coat swinging around her. "Hello Ensign Cross. Welcome to sickbay. How are you doing today?"

"Very well thank you Doctor" Mark replied. He didn't mention about how Hunter was doing his bit to prove his theories about Sickbay. "How about you?"

"Very well indeed." She pulled up his records and looked them over quickly and then stepped up and held her hand out. "Lovely to meet you I'm Doctor Polaris and you have high blood pressure. What has you worried?"

"Holding the ship together at high warp for an extended period, along with a beyond-healthy level of caffeine consumption, I'd guess anyway!" he reeled off matter-of-factly. When Mark set himself up for a fall, he often knew the exact reasons for it.

She smiled, "From one Coffee lover to another you don't have to quit just add a few decafs in the bundle." She held out a swab. "I need to have a DNA sample of everyone on the ship. I will ask you to take a sample and lock it in the wall there. Only the CO will have access to it and only in an emergency." She handed him the swab.

"This seems a little..." Mark eyed the swab warily. "Primitive..." he wiped it on the side of his mouth and headed to lock it in. With all the advances in technology, and still they hadn't found a better way than some fibres on the end of a stick. Oh well, he couldn't argue with simplicity.

She smiled as he returned. "Primitive it is but I find that the old way is sometimes the better way." She finished looking over the start Hunter had gotten and did a few more scans. "Well medically you seem fit as a fiddle without the few things we mentioned but diet and a good exercise regime and we can get that all worked out. " She placed the PADD she'd used on the tray table. "Now do you want to the bad news or the good news first?"

Mark's face dropped. He already had the healthy eating and exercise regime in place, but that comment almost passed him completely by. "...there's bad news?"

"Oh yes, let's start with the good news. Your medical is done and I will certify you medically for duty. Bad news you still have to see the counselor, that would be me."

"You're right, that was bad news!" Mark smirked. "But it gets me away from fixing the engine for a while, so I'll let it slide!"

Galatea laughed taking an instant liking to the young Ensign. "Alright follow me to the counseling office."

The two walked a ways down to one of the end offices. The door hissed open for her and she made her way to the desk pulling out a pen and notebook. She would take notes on paper and then transfer them into a file which was the way she preferred to do things. "Alright Ensign. Before we start why don't you have a seat on the sofa, would you like anything to drink?" She headed to the replicator wanting to get her hot chocolate.

Mark dropped himself down into the sofa. It was comfortable, but not too comfortable. Considering he was in another area of Sickbay, that didn't come as a surprise. There go those pre-conceptions all over again!

"Peppermint tea please," he said after a short pause. Maybe it was time to lay off the coffee, at least until he was back on shift, anyway.

She smiled, "Excellent choice." She brought both drinks to the coffee table and set one for him and one for her. She picked up her notebook and pen. "Tell me a bit about yourself and your hobbies. What brought you to Starfleet?"

"My parents are both in Starfleet. My Dad has his own command, he was an Engineer before that, and my Mom's a CMO" he gave her the short version. "It was inevitable that I'd join the Academy after that. Since I was always taking things apart to learn how they worked, even from a young age, going into engineering as well was almost inevitable really. That's still one of my big hobbies, along with playing guitar."

"Interesting." She said making notes. "What is it about engineering that you love?" She was always fascinated about why people chose the path they did.

"Curiosity?" he thought aloud. "At least to begin with. I started off being curious about how things worked, what made them tick. Then it started escalating to whether I could improve something or make it better. Before long I was building things from the ground up. It all snowballed from there really"

She smiled, "Well that sounds like a lot of engineers I know." She scribbled a few notes. "Alright now tell me a bit about your work in engineering so far. What was not your favourite posting and why?"

"Favourite posting? I don't think I've found it yet, honestly..." he shrugged. "It changes with every mission, but the work is the work at the end of the day. I think maybe the thing that's missing is having the right people around to share it with. Not saying I won't find them here, it's just very early days"

She smiled. "Well. I have some good news and I have some bad news. Which, Ensign, would you like first?"

"Hit me with the bad news! I can take it!" Mark responded jovially, sitting forward in preparation.

"Well we'll be doing these chats every once in a while as a check in so you'll be stuck in my company." She smiled.

"If I happen to walk out of here and submit a transfer request right away, just know that it's not you, it's me..." Mark smirked. "...but you said there was good news?"

She laughed, "Yes the good news is you are clear for duty both medically and counseling wise."

"Excellent!" Mark fist-pumped the air. Thank you good health!

She sighed, "It's always the same, everyone just can't wait to get away from their counselor." She laughed again. "Seriously though my door is always open if you need to talk or if you need a sounding board."

"Thanks!" Mark appreciated the offer. "The only struggles I seem to have are where I end up running myself into the ground over-working. Think it's the perfectionist in me. Maybe I'd be better paying you a visit before that happens"

She smiled, "A wise decision." She picked up a PADD added her mark to his duty clearance and handed it to him. "Give this to your department head and you are ready to work!"

"You mean I could have avoided work if I failed? Opportunity missed..." he chuckled to himself as he took the PADD. "Thanks again for your time!"