Heads Up
Posted on Fri Apr 4th, 2025 @ 11:19am by Lieutenant Vura & Lieutenant Junior Grade Jordan Spencer & Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble & Lieutenant Amelia Zano Psy.D. & Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhara Rynn
Edited on on Sat Apr 5th, 2025 @ 10:57am
2,130 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Sick Bay - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD006 1530 hrs
Neil had opted for common ground. This meeting was going to be redundant and he was fairly positive there would be some animosity, but it needed to be done. A ship’s XO had to be on top of things and, more importantly, be seen being on top of things. He’d acquiesced ground and set the short meeting in the receiving area of Med Bay. Dressed in what (for him) was becoming his customary uniform of the day (black and tans), he stepped through the bay’s cycling hatch and stepped to one side, silently taking in the medical staff as they went about their duties.
The place smelled as it should. The air handling system was shifting the area’s atmosphere and he could smell a slight amount of cleaning compound about the place. Neil knew that was on purpose. Slipping into a rest position, he brought up the daily medical assessment for Pioneer and began cycling through again, making sure he hadn’t missed anything.
As Zhara had no idea why the first officer wanted to meet with her and the others, she left Sophia in her quarters and headed for sickbay to find out what was going on. It was unusual for her to be called to a meeting at all. Normally it was Vura, so she was doubly curious.
She walked into sickbay and paused to take in the general atmosphere for a moment before finding the first officer. "Hello, sir," she said politely.
Spencer leaned back against the nearest console, arms crossed and let out a low whistle. “Well, this is new. The XO, gracing us mere mortals in Med Bay. Should I be flattered or concerned?” He tapped his chin, feigning deep thought. “Let’s see, either someone finally realized that preventative care is a thing, or...” he snapped his fingers as if he’d just solved a great mystery...“we’re all about to be voluntold for something unpleasant.”
His gaze flicked to Zhara with a smirk. “Counselor, any idea which circle of hell this meeting falls under? I’d say mild inconvenience, but I’ve been wrong before.” He shot a look at Neil, expression all mock seriousness. “If this is about my bedside manner, I assure you, it’s still impeccable.”
Zhara just smiled in response. She wasn't going to answer that question in front of the first officer.
Neil nodded to the two officers as they clustered and he kept his tone light. "I'm making my normal rounds, seeing and being seen, though there are a couple of leading concerns the Captain and I have, which I thought needed a conversation."
Spencer arched a brow. “Ah, the classic ‘seeing and being seen’ tour. Always a favorite.” He glanced at Zhara. “Sounds serious... Did you do it or...”
"Sophia and I have been on our second-best behavior," Zhara replied to Jordan with a chuckle.
Then she turned to Tremble. "What concerns, specifically?" She was pretty sure it was about the heightened stress and frequent nightmares some of the crew were experiencing.
Amelia had been doing a rotation in the medical bay so was already present when the XO had came into the room. She listened to the conversation in front of her, she rarely interjected unless she had too and found that she fell back on her counselling training more often than maybe was practicable. Sometime it helped to be more outspoken rather than wait for someone to open up or speak their mind. "Is this about The Silence?" she asked suddenly. There had been an itch in the back of her mind, almost like memories coming to the surface. She'd met them before, she was sure of it. That, and she'd been on the Pioneer when they are said to originally appeared.
Zhara had to keep herself from nodding. She thought so, too, but would wait for the colonel to confirm it.
Vura walked in the room, wondering why this meeting was called. Neil never explained anything to her, nor did he feel he should. However, she was a slightly perturbed that Zhara was here. Was he trying to undercut her authority? Certainly she never exerted it, but it did not seem appropriate.
Was he transferring her? She looked around and saw that all of the medical and counselor departments were here. So, what was his game? "Good day everyone," Vura said cheerfully. "I hope everyone is well."
Zhara just rubbed her temples. Her lack of sleep was making it harder to block emotions and Vura was practically vibrating. She always had been, but it was normally just background emotions that blended in with the crew around her. Now, they were like pricks of sharp emotions that stabbed at her head.
Vura looked concerned over at Zhara. "Are you certain that you are well enough to be here, Zhara? There's no shame, if you cannot. Anyone with non-touch telepathic abilities are being affected by this assignment. I can bear the load."
"A headache is a far cry from being incapable of working. I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine." She couldn't tell Vura that it was the strong emotions giving her a headache because then she'd be sent to her quarters and right now, she needed to be here.
"But it is not just a headache, Zhara. It is what is happening to everyone else with telepathic or empathic abilities. You're part Betazoid. It is only natural that you're being affected."
"Yes, and you're Deltan. You aren't immune to what's going on, either," Zhara replied. She didn't appreciate that Vura thought she was lying about her health. Like everyone, she wasn't sleeping well, but not enough to be incapable of doing her job.
"Actually, Zhara, I am. I'm a touch telepath. Neither Vulcans nor Deltans seem to be experiencing any adverse effects. "If you're suffering headaches and not sleeping well, then you are far from at your top game."
Zhara wasn't going to argue that she knew of at least one Vulcan on the ship who was experiencing nightmares. She was quickly learning that there were times you could not reason with Vura, and this was one f them.
Making a circling gesture with his index finger in front of him, Neil said "And that's why I thought touching base with you all was important. The stress from the Silence is starting to bleed through with the crew to greater or lessor degrees. Everyone is feeling it. To me, that means that Medical and most likely Counseling is going to see their case-loads jump in the short term and there will be long term repercussions as well. Hermia is, I believe, taking a step back for her own sake and I appreciate that. Mr. Spencer, your workload just went up. I know you're up to speed on it all. I just want you all to know that I'll help as much as possible with crew scheduling and getting you what you need. You just need to ask."
Neil let that sit for a minute, then said. "It's putting you on the spot, but where are we at from your eyes and what should I be focusing on, with the understanding that I have to keep the ship running and preparing for an unknown situation with a Xenophobic, and possibly untrustworthy species."
Vura shook her head and disagreed with Neil. "Just because a species is causing something in us does not correlate to a cause or a motive, Colonel." There was an unusually hard emphasis on the word, Colonel. "You have espoused this theory before and it simply does not match their call for help, which the Captain felt the need to steal his own ship to assist. I believe your hypothesis has no support for your conclusion. However, I do agree that my department's job and medical's have gotten more difficult, but we will cope, as will other departments when they suffer inevitable losses until the problem is solved."
Neil refused to be baited.
He was pretty sure Vura would disagree with him if he said water was wet.
"Species intentions non-withstanding," Neil commented. "I think preparing one of the cargo bays for a mass-casualty event and taking a good second and third look at our crew to make sure everyone is getting the help they may not realize they need is worth a conversation."
Glancing at Spencer, Neil said. "Lieutenant Vura believes they have a handle on everything with Counseling. How's your confidence with Medical?"
Spencer leaned back against the nearest console, arms crossed, expression set somewhere between amused and exasperated. “Oh, absolutely rock solid, sir. I mean, what’s a little widespread insomnia, creeping paranoia, and latent telepathic distress between friends? Nothing medical can’t handle.” He exhaled, shaking his head. “We’re holding things together, but if this keeps up, we’re going to have people hitting breaking points. Stress fractures don’t just happen to bones.”
He rubbed a hand over his face before adding, “Even I’ve noticed it. I don’t usually dream much, if at all, but lately, it’s like my brain’s decided to just cut that feature entirely. No dreams, no nightmares, just…nothing. I close my eyes, open them again, and somehow, eight hours have passed, but it doesn’t feel like it. And if I’m noticing it? That means things are way off.”
He shot a look at Vura, then back to Neil. “So yeah, prepping for worst-case scenarios? Probably a good call.”
"Right then," Neil said. His HUD automatically updated his schedule. "Thank you all for your hard work. Keep me in the loop and let me know if you need anything. Run preparations and keep monitoring everything. Hopefully we'll get through this and find a sense of some kind of normal soon." He waited for a few beats then asked, "Does anyone have anything for me?"
Spencer gave an exaggerated look around the room before deadpanning, “Yeah, actually... Could you maybe requisition a reality where ‘normal’ exists? I hear they’re in short supply.” He shrugged. “Barring that, I’ll settle for an industrial strength coffee IV and a week-long nap. Preferably in that order.”
Vura punched a few buttons on her PADD to look up Spencer's dossier. Ex marine. That figures. It explains his willingness to just assume the worst. Always ready for a fight. When will they learn that space is about exploration and discovery, not fighting? She shook her head silently. The doctor also should know that coffee would also have the opposite effect of giving him a nap. It must be some marine saying.
At the end of the day, she had little use for Neil or his narrow-mindedness. So, if he was not requesting anything further, she was not going to give it. She stayed seated, waiting for an official dismissal order.
Zhara was getting more than a little fed up with Vura's attitude about her and the crew in general. She was more than happy to spend her time on gamma shift where she could stay out of the Deltan's reach. But she would be available for anything command needed right now.
Sighing as the room spoke she found the contrasting personalities somewhat jarring. The jokey, sarcastic nature of some when she wished for more seriousness. The cynical when she wanted more optimism. Amelia had nothing to ask, nothing to add so shook her head as Tremble looked at her and she smiled lightly at him.
His mind already on the next thing, Neil wasn't displeased on how the meeting had went. He'd expected snarky from Spencer and gotten that. Competence and eagerness from Zano and Rynn and gotten that. And of course, from Vura, he'd gotten what his father would have termed vacherie. In spades. All of them were tired and dedicated. Medical seemed well in hand and he could shuffle the department into the mix with the rest. He needed to check on Hermia, but he had time.
For that at least.
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius Tremble
Executive Officer, USS Pioneer
Battalion Commander, The Cure
Lieutenant Vura
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Jordan Spencer
Assistant Chief Medical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Zhara Rynn
Counselor, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Amelia Zano
Medical Officer/Counselor, USS Pioneer
RSS Feed