A Most Unusual Encounter

Posted on Thu Jan 2nd, 2025 @ 8:32am by Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell & Lieutenant Astrid Nyx

1,609 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: To Boldly Go
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: Current

As the lift made its stop on deck 7, a lone cloaked figure moved through the remaining passengers, keeping the cowl tight around her head while exiting into the corridor. Pausing momentarily to access the small PADD she carried, the cloaked figure quickly made its way to its destination. As she entered the ship's medical facility, she moved to the closest crew member that she could see, all the while holding the cowl tightly in place.

Rosaleen knew that the cloak was something that she could not utilize when on duty, as it would interfere with her work...but she was not on duty at the moment, and it gave her some sense of security. She stopped in front of the nurse she had approached before speaking, not wanting to call any unnecessary attention to herself. "Excuse me, ma'am. I was told to report here for my medical on-boarding exam." Rosaleen was using all of her coping skills to keep herself in check. So far it was working. But she braced herself for the inevitable barrage of questions. There were quite literally only a handful of Ka'Bu in Starfleet, so any interaction with medical personnel always seemed to feel like she was the focal point of an inquisition. It had grown old, but...it was unfortunately a necessary evil. After all, these people could end up responsible for saving her life at some point, so it was in Rosaleen's best interest that they had an understanding of what they were dealing with.

The nurse, Mila Floan, turned, eyes widening slightly at the odd appearance of the woman in front of her. It wasn't every day you saw someone wearing a floor-length sheet--or was it some sort of cape? She sighed. Mila's day had already been less than stellar, given the amount of work the new CMO was foisting on the team. But then again, there was a sort of funny expectant vibe throughout the ship. Mila's boyfriend, who worked in engineering, was sure that they were going on some sort of dangerous mission into the heart of Borg space. Or maybe Dominion Space (he changed his mind frequently). Mila didn't think that was likely, but she did think things were busier than she'd expected for an ordinary shakedown cruise.

And now there was a strange person wrapped in a blanket standing in the medical bay. She blinked and looked around, catching sight of the CMO. "Lieutenant?" she said, "Um, can I get your help here?"

Astrid had been busy exploring the profiles of different crew members and making sure they had stocks of continuing medications on board. She looked up, mildly annoyed at the blonde nurse, but her rebuke fell flat at the sight of the stranger. Was that a... a cloak? The woman, for it surely seemed like a woman's frame beneath the fabric, tucked the cowl so close that Astrid could barely see her eyes peering out like glittering gems from within. She came over, waving Floan away. "I'll take care of it, Mila. Will you make sure we have at least 30 vials of Pliazine in the freezer stores? That's tough to replicate and Ensign Norro's gills dry out without it."

Mila didn't need to be told twice. With her gone, Astrid smiled at the cloaked woman. "Can I help you? Is there anything the matter?"

The eyes that met his were like an icy storm, and it felt like the temperature had dropped a bit as well. "I was reporting in for my on-boarding physical, Lieutenant." The words were almost musical. Almost...

"I believe that is still protocol, is it not?" Rosaleen pulled back the cowl, her red hair cascading down to her waist. The contrast between Rosaleen's hair and eyes was quite literally like fire and ice. "If you would prefer that I schedule for a later time, that would be acceptable." The air seemed to turn even colder for a moment before moderating. Rosaleen was trying to control herself, but of all the things she disliked about Starfleet life, this was one of the worst. Professionalism always turned to curiosity...and eventually into an invasion of privacy.

Completely blind to the internal life of the woman before her, Astrid blinked at the speech. "And you are...?"

Rosaleen shifted nervously. "Yes, I'm sorry sir. Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell. I just reported in yesterday for duty." She hated to admit it, but she knew she sounded like a cadet on first patrol.

"Ah, okay.. yes. Our Engineer," Astrid said. An awkward silence fell between them for a moment. Astrid had already had a fair few odd appointments with staff since coming aboard, but she suddenly felt that this one might take the cake. She glanced at the ridiculous cloak and then back at the ship's new chief engineer. "Well, this is an initial visit, and I have your bioscan on file, so we can keep things simple. Unless you have any declared changes we need to talk about."

She lifted her padd and pulled up the engineer's file as she spoke, though her mind had already jumped ahead to the data she'd read the day before. At some blessed point, she thought, these initial interviews would be done with, and she could put something in her free time other than personnel reports and health risk portfolios.

"So... I see a clean bill of health from your last ship CMO. Does that hold? No infectious disease contacts that you know of, unclassified exposures, or new injuries that might cause you to be unable to fulfill your duties?"

This elicited a slight chuckle from Rosaleen. "I can promise you that there is nothing that would keep me from performing to the best of my abilities. And I have spent the last few years working for a private company. My status was held as reserve, meaning that they could call me back into active service whenever they chose to do so. I just never thought..." Rosaleen realized that she was rambling, and took a moment to compose her thoughts before continuing. "But no, sir. Nothing new unclassified or otherwise."

Private company? Astrid mulled that over. Companies, let alone private ones, weren't exactly the norm in the Federation. But that was also outside the scope of her medical duties. A mystery for another time, then. She nodded politely and smiled. "Well, that's fine. We don't have to go into anything extensive, then. You can always come back here and set up an appointment if you have any concerns.

"Otherwise, the only thing we need to go over is the usual speech you'll need to give your staff. Just making sure everyone is following the proper hygiene and safety practices. One of my staff can come assist you with that, if you'd like. Basically, I just want to make sure everyone has a good relationship with medical from the start. We're all on a small ship together for a long chunk of time after all."

She looked at Rosaleen expectantly, wondering if the woman would have any questions. Most of the senior staff hadn't so-far, but you never knew.

Rosaleen was genuinely taken aback. All of the responses and questions that she had become used had not materialized. She started to comment on that, but...why push her luck? 'If she was choosing not to dig into that well, then why push it?' Rosaleen thought as she quietly assessed the situation. "Well...ahhh, ok then doctor. If there's nothing further that you wish to know...I mean, I assume that there is not?" Rosaleen still wasn't quite sure exactly how to respond.

Muninn shook her head. The woman was looking at her as if she'd grown a zit on the end of her nose. Still, whatever oddities their new chief engineer had weren't her problem, really. One of the things she had learned during her time in Starfleet was that you needed to take the reactions of alien peoples with a distanced perspective. You couldn't treat someone if you started second-guessing every single one of their facial queues, especially when a queue that looked like annoyance or pain might actually be the opposite. Was Rosaleen an oddity? Sure. Did it seem strange that this one little ship now had two crew-members with lifespans hundreds of years in excess of a human's? Most definitely. But Starfleet's medical database had all of this woman's necessary information installed, at least as far as Muninn could see, and she was willing to just leave it at that. At least for now.

"I think we're fine on the administrative side. There will be a normal round of check-ups you'll need to schedule, just like any member of the crew... but you can do that on your own time. Just ask the computer to find you an appointment with my staff that works for you. And don't worry, if you forget, it'll prompt you in about a week. Otherwise, consider us at your disposal if you have anything arise." She left off with a cheerful smile and gently gestured away with the PADD she still held, signalling an end to the interview.

Rosaleen stood and gathered her things, happy to be leaving so quickly, but still holding a bit of puzzlement towards the physician. but...never look a gift horse in the mouth. "Thank you, doctor. I appreciate your candor. And kindness." Rosaleen then exited the unit before there was a possibility of a change of heart. It was time to get to work now.

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Lieutenant Rosaleen O'Donnell
Chief Engineering Officer
USS Fenrir

Lieutenant Astrid Nyx
Chief Medical Officer
USS Fenrir

 

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