Meeting the new doctor.

Posted on Wed Sep 11th, 2019 @ 3:58am by Lieutenant Commander John Pearce & Captain Xalanth

1,141 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: [ USS Shanghai] S1E8 Light of the past.
Location: Captain's Quarters
Timeline: MD 002 - 1130

ON:

Xalanth let out a which of pain as he moved slightly. His injured arm was still killing even with the pain killers. The scowl on his face didn't improve at the orders that had been sent to him by starfleet command. They wanted to do what?

Once he had finished going over the personnel files of his medical staff, the next thing on John's list was to meet the commanding officer of the Shanghai. So, after determxxining that the captain was in his quarters and determining exactly where those quarters were, he headed straight there.

It didn't take him long to get there and he rang the chime, then waited to be admitted.

Hearing the noise of the alarm the dragonain breathed in and out a few times until he was calmer. " Come in." He said calmly as he waited to see who it was.

When he heard the call to enter, John stepped through the doorway and came to attention. "Commander John Pearce reporting in, sir..." he said, then waited for the captain to respond.

The lizard stood up holding out his undamaged arm. " At ease commander. Glad to finally have you with us though it looks like Starfleet is chucking you right in the deep end."

"That's about normal for Starfleet, isn't it?" John said as he shook the captain's outstretched appendage. Then, noticing the captain's damaged arm he added "It appears you've been in a bit of a dustup, captain. What happened?"

" Well better start at the beginning.I take it you don't know what's happened to the planet?" The captain asked.

"Not really," John answered. "I've just come aboard as you know, and I honestly haven't had a chance to review much of the medical logs or anything. What can you tell me about the current situation?"

" Well as you know we're in orbit around the federation colony of Cinepra. It had gone quiet and we'd be asked to investigate it. Well, we've found out what's happened to the colonists. They've been mutated by an orb belonging to a precursor race know as the collective of light. How it became activated we don't know, but right now the whole colony has been reduced to seemingly mindless monsters. " The lizard said calamly.

" Are acting CMO was effected on the first away mission. She's down with the CMO of the USS Ottawa Doctor Farkas Vanth trying to work out how to activate the orb and to see if it can be reversed."

"I see..." John said after a moment of thought. "So what casualties did this event cause? And should I be expecting an influx of patients in sickbay?"

" The whole colony other than a single Orion were mutated into chimera monsters. Other than the one we have down in the sickbay their all still down on the surface. " The lizard explained.

"I was told by a member of my staff that one of the colonists was in isolation," Pearce said slowly. "An Orion dabo girl I believe they said. I'll want to talk to her but when I do I want you to be present as well, Captain."

The lizard nodded. She hadn't woken up yet, but he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"Now, would you care to tell me just exactly what happened to you? You've obviously been injured so why don't you tell me just what happened."

" Subject zero didn't like me stealing her orb. She stabbed me right through the shoulder. Docs say i was lucky and with my species natural regeneration it should be better in a week or two." The captain explained.

"Is there anything I can do to help you in that regard? the doctor asked. "Perhaps something for pain?" Pearce could not say that he was overly familiar with the captain's species physiology as he had never treated one before, but with the help of his medical computer perhaps he could at least do something to ease the captain's obvious discomfort.

" I have some pain killers, but due to me being cold-blooded they take a while to take effect.I'll be fine I've had far worse." The captain responded.

"Well, if you're sure..." Pearce said, his voice still betraying a hint of uncertainty. "If you decide you need anything, you know where to find me. Now, do you have any questions for me?"

" Yes, I do Pearce. I like to get to know the officers I'm working with so if you don't mind would you mind telling me why you joined Starfleet." Xalanth asked politely.

"My maternal grandfather was a Starfleet captain," John began. "I grew up hearing his stories of exploration and adventure and for a young boy from a ranch in south Texas, that sounded just like the life I wanted. So I applied to Starfleet with visions in my head of being a starship commander as my grandfather had been. But, after I was admitted to the Academy, my aptitude tests showed that my daydreams of command didn't necessarily match my talents. So I took the advice of my counselor, along with encouragement from someone who was very special to me at the time, and changed my major from command to medical."

" I take it you enjoy your life in Starfleet medical. I know my mate enjoys her work." The lizard enquired.

"I do indeed," Pearce agreed. "It has proven to be extremely satisfying. I tried private practice for four years and didn't find it nearly as rewarding so I came back to Starfleet. Is your mate in Starfleet Medical as well?"

The captain nodded. " She has a specialty of general surgery along wlatioith her nursing degree as well as her away team medic training. She also wrote the basic guide to dragonian biology. Don't know what I did to deserve her"

"I'm glad to hear that you and your mate have a good relationship," John said. "It doesn't always turn out that way, you know." He added this as an afterthought as he thought about his and Peri's broken marriage.

The lizard was about to ask a few more questions when his combadge went off. " Captain the Orion is awake." Came the voice of one of the ship's nurses.

John briefly wondered why he had not been notified of this development but decided not to press the issue at this time. He'd take it up with his head nurse Lieutenant Walker later. "Now maybe we will get some answers as to what's going on," he said to the captain.

" Lead the way doctor. " The captain said as he whiched slightly as he stood up.

John nodded, then stood up and led the way out of the captain's quarters as they headed toward sickbay.

OFF:


LtCommander John Pearce MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Shanghai

&

Captain Xalanth
Commanding Officer U.S.S. Shanghai
USS Shanghai

 

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