The Doctor Is In

Posted on Sat 29th Mar, 2025 @ 6:50pm by Lieutenant Victor Delling MD & Captain Gordon Francis & Lieutenant Commander Lanis Dhuro MD

905 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: Ops- Captain's Ready Room
Timeline: current

ON

It was nine o'clock on a Saturday. The usual crowd shuffled into Ops for the morning shift, including Captain Francis, who wondered whatever happened to having the weekend off. Today's itinerary was fairly mundane, save for his lunch meeting over comms with his daughter and, if awake, his one-year-old grandson. Francis had seen only a few holos as the munchkin grew during his first year, but hadn't actually seen him. Provided things went routine--which had thankfully become the case after the frantic events surrounding the ordeal of the Thunderchild and arrival of the IBEX--the Captain would be there on time with a whole hour for the call.

Settling into his ready room, he looked at the docket for the next eight hours and noted their new Chief Medical Officer had arrived and was scheduled to check in momentarily.

The overwhelming presence of the station's bulk was slightly less apparent here in the CNC. They probably called it something else, Victor thought wryly as a practiced eye slid over each person he passed. They noticed him, like the thing in the pop-up book that didn't belong. Medical blue stood out up here; that was interesting.

A yeoman directed the good doctor to the ready room and as the doors swished open, Captain Francis stood at his desk.

"Dr. Delling, I presume," said the Captain. "Please come in. I do like a punctual doctor!" His tone and appearance were cheery and animated, a surprise coming from an aged Captain. Francis gestured to a seat in front of the desk, and adjusted his glasses as he sat down himself.

"My foster father would lecture me about the logic of time management, should I be anything else but precisely on time." The Vulcan who had done most of the raising of him had been quite firm on that regard. "I find it's just as valid now, as I didn't think it was valid back then."

"Well it's good to have you here," Francis said. "Our very own Dr. Dhuro has been handling the job fine, but normally he's a specialist and handling all of Med isn't quite in his job description. I've been hoping to find someone to relieve the pressure. I hope you're up to it!"

"I'm up to it, but I might request the transfers of a couple of doctors that I work well with if it suits you, sir. The three of us are a good team, and I am not above nepotism to get the job done. Properly, that is.".

While Victor was sure that he could get the job done without the assistance of a team he knew well, having them there would just make everything easier. It might take a while to shake out the new team but he'd still prefer to have at least one of his people in place, someone he knew from moment one that he could count on.

"Give me their names and I'll see what I can do," Francis said with a nod. "I do think we've got a heckuva staff of people already."

"Of that I have no doubt.". He answered honestly "They did quite well in the incident I had coming in. I'd still like to have my logistics guru, just to make my job easier.". His grin was boyish and charming as he pulled up the bio for Vivienne Erebos and handed the PADD to the Captain.

"I heard about the incident," Francis said. "You were dropped in the deep end pretty fast there. Quite a welcome to the station, wouldn't you say?" He took the PADD and looked at the bio. "Now, who is this Vivienne Erebos, and what makes her a guru?"

"Logistics mostly. She has a talent for peering into the spaces between the names on the PADD and coming up with the best combonations of staff and she disaster plans better than a Vulcan." he answered with a smile "We went to the Academy together, and because of her penchant for preparation we lasted in our cadet classes Kobiyashi Maru for 17 hours. It was...intense."

Francis laughed. "I would think! My longest time as Commanding Officer in that one was forty-eight minutes and twelve seconds, and that was considered an A! What was the kill count? I was able to destroy a BOP and cripple two destroyers before they fried my keister!"

"The medical variant is different. It's not a kill count for us." he smiled softly remembering the exercise. "We're not expected to be on the bridge in command, but what they want to know from a 'command' medical officer is, where your preparation and skill run out, what is left behind. Is death your enemy to the exclusion of all sense, or do you know when to let go and move on to the people you can save."

"Command is somewhat similar," Francis said. "It's more how long we can hold out before abandoning ship, and how many escape pods make it. Ships destroyed is extra credit, and we CO's--especially the competitive ones--would rather brag about that. Even the Klingon cadets like to brag about their enemy's honorable deaths! You would think they'd be offended by the scenario at this point."

Francis handed the PADD back to Dr. Delling and said, "Well I'd be pleased as apple pie to meet Ms. Erebos. I'll see what I can do for a transfer."

"I'd appreciate it very much"

 

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