Catching up.

Posted on Thu 13th Feb, 2025 @ 12:11am by Lieutenant Victor Delling MD

1,678 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: The Phoenix Gamble
Location: CMO's quarters

The Floribunda had been an old transport, but still functionally sound dispite its age. He'd chosen it due to the fact that it was a private transport and the assumption was that he was on vacation. They knew he was a doctor, and they knew he was PCS'ing to another station, but the crew here on this 40 man shuttle didn't care. Victor enjoyed the faint fragrance of roses in all the cabins, as large pots of the namesake flowers lived in each cabin. His were a cheerful bicolor pink and white and the faint scent made him more at ease than he thought he'd be moving to this place.

His new quarters aboard 109 were stark and blank- mostly because he hadn't had the wherewithall to move anything in yet from his transport container. It was a lovely and spacious set of quarters, bigger than he'd ever had so he was unsure of just how to decorate such a space. Victor could see himself being really happy here, if his last 30 hours had been any indication of how it would go. A blip of sound came from the Comms screen he had in his small desk in the corner. Swinging his long legs over the side of the bed, he rose to walk to the comm unit. He might move it out of his bedroom, as he wanted his sleep space undisturbed by personal communications. He found he missed the scent of rose, and made a mental note to find some plant life for his quarters that would fit the bill.

"Accept transmission" He said, interest and who could possibly be wanting to speak to him making his voice a little sharper than normal. When the silver white hair of Vivienne Erebos showed up on his screen he grinned. "What a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure if I hear from you or Wyndon ever again after the Myogi disaster. ".

"We don't fault you for any of that."

"I fault me for it " he muttered self deparcatingly.

Vivienne glared at him balefully and he winced dispute her distance from him. "You frighten me when you get like that." Truly, that face reminded him of his mother. It scared him a little and made him sad all at once, for he hadn't seen her since he'd left his home. She wouldn't make the effort to reach out to him, and he hadn't done the reverse. Mostly, because he didn't care to explain his choices for the millionth time. He was happy with where his life had gone, even if the loneliness of his career sometimes surmounted his content with his earned position.

"Good. I read the account of your court martial. I was appalled on your behalf, at that farce of a set of charges. I'm shocked that they allowed it to get that far. You would think they would research the situation before they called you before a council."

"Oh they wanted to make an example of me I'm quite sure. Why care what the truth is when the dishonored Captain sends her Chief Medical Officer to a formal hearing for Gross insubordination. ". He gave a wry laugh "I was absolutely sick with nerves the first few days before everything settled down. I didn't realize that Commander Kelley was going to be so strongly on my side. I'm grateful, not going to lie."

"I was allowed to send a statement for you, regarding the Captains.... unconventional behavior. " The woman's tone was pinched and bitter. It was clear that Vivienne didn't care for the person they were speaking about.

"Unconventional behavior? Honestly just call it what it is, and don't beat around the bush. Pregnancy induced psychosis is a major thing for some women, you know as well as I do Vivienne.". He had not been aware that she'd sent a statement on his behalf, though it stood to reason that she would have been called on to verify any information that he had offered.

"Yes, yes I was trying to be kind."

"Don't. She doesn't deserve it. She will get what's coming to her, for sure. They can't ignore my formal complaint. Nor the ones that I sent when the issues were actually occurring.". He remembered her trying to haul someone away for criminal questioning without having their injuries tended to. Her actions had bordered on criminal right there, and her animosity towards her chief had sparked into a wildfire. He'd had to instruct his people to disregard her unlawful orders. "No moreso than they could ignore her official complaint about myself, which led to that farce."

"I was wondering why you were so diligent in recording everything." Vivienne's tone made it seem like she thought he was going to an extreme that she herself would not have exhibited.

"At first it was just rage. She called me stupid to my face in my own sickbay. I was absolutely not going to stand for that." His brow crinkled in reaction to the memory and the seething anger he still felt having sat in that chair and having his character called in to question.

A giggle answered him and he sighed very deeply, taking his fingers through his wavy hair. She didn't really understand what he'd been through and he decided to explain, to a point. "It was a useful thing, all those formal complaints and official reports. When she tried to paint me as a wildcard, she got a plethora of rebuttals through official channels. She couldn't tar and feather me because every pregnancy induced temper tantrum, every unnecessary drill because she was too uncomfortable to sleep, every nasty thing she said or did was documented on."

"You were playing the long game even then?"

"Hell Vivi, you know what I went through to get into Starfleet. I would die before I betrayed that... I would die. " Heaving a deep breath, coming to terms with the words he'd spoken into the universe. He would die before he would betray his oath. He continued "Everyone has their history and not every person should be in a command post. She's absolutely an unfit captain, and I'm sure the counter charges I filed will catch up with her. Honestly, I'm even a little scared for her baby. The psychosis she has now could seriously damage that child if it continues into the postpartum period. I also commented on that officially. " In truth, he hadn't known it was the long game, he'd just been quite sure that he needed to cover his posterior and protect his medical license. He'd done both of those things, more than adequately.

"I stayed long enough to see the swath she cut in the medical crew. We quit en masse, except of course for Counselor Scott."

His eyes misted at the thought of a staff so loyal to him that when he was sacked they all left. It was heavy, and made his chest tight with emotion he dared not unpack. Not there and then. He was not at all surprised the counselor had stayed...She was so interested in delivering the captains baby that she'd failed to notate or intervene in the same captains very real psychiatric issues.

"I was thinking that this was a punishment assignment, but honestly I'm not so sure now that I'm here. It's absolutely enormous. The scope of this sickbay and it's functionality is such that I haven't caught my breath yet. And on top of all that scope I've inherited a few medical students including a Romulan girl ".

"How fascinating, I'm glad it's you there first and not Wyndon."

"Me too, though I think I'd like to have you two here with me. I think you'd both like it here. It's like nothing you've ever seen before. You won't believe me if I tried to explain. I'll request you if you're up for it, but I can't guarantee that the Captain here will be amenable."

"I'd be up for a change of scenery. I'm getting bored here on Earth. I took some leave and saw my sister and the boys. Wyndon went to pick up girls, and I'm sure he's fending off broken hearts galore. "

The laughter the two shared was warm, a longstanding joke between the trio of friends. His smile remained on his lips as he continued speaking. "I'll warn him that there is a significant Romulan population here and make sure he's not going to have PTSD related issues. ".

"He was making good progress with that in therapy, but it's hard when it's entirely virtual, you know?".

"I don't actually, but I believe you." He did believe her, it was just that he didn't take a lot of stock in the virtual. While he enjoyed the holodeck, he would rather take in the things in the universe that were real. Things that he could actually touch were always of a higher priority to him than those things he knew were 'fake'.

Another giggle came from the silver haired doctor on the screen. "You've really never used the virtual counselor?"

"No. Haven't ever felt the need."

"You might consider it."

"I might consider talking to a person, in person. It's not in me to just talk to the nothing that it feels like is behind a virtual counseling session." he pinched his nose and chuckled "I'll take it under advisement, just don't glare at me like that again. I've got a meeting with the Captain in 20 minutes and I should get dressed enough that I can make a good impression."

"I'll talk to you later Victor, you can count on it."

"Ta Vivi."

Rolling her eyes at the juvenile nickname that he still used from their academy days, Vivienne flicked her fingers at him in a rude gesture from her culture and ended the communication link. The swirl of stars that was the symbol of the Federation came back to the screen before it dimmed. It was time for him to officially get to work. He found himself surprisingly excited to do just that. What a novel thing.

 

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