Hey, Blue
Posted on Thu Dec 31st, 2020 @ 8:36pm by Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke
Edited on on Fri Jan 1st, 2021 @ 1:00am
1,793 words; about a 9 minute read
Mission:
Episode 11 - Family Matters
Location: Sickbay
Timeline: MD002 1130 hrs
Lunara left the Snake Pit, and not a moment too soon. Captain Tremble and the rest of the Marines were good enough people, but she couldn't help but feel out of place wearing blue instead of green there. At least she was going closer to her home turf - next stop was sickbay. She'd likely be working closely with the good doctors, so it would definitely help to be on good terms with them. Besides, she wanted to go on away missions, and having medical training - even basic training - would definitely help. After all, a physical wound posed much more immediate danger than a mental one.
A few minutes later, and she arrived right outside sickbay. She took a look inside to make sure it wasn't too busy and, seeing only a couple physicals, walked through the door. She looked around inside, trying to find the half-Betazoid doctor.
Hermia returned to her office, after checking on a patient, to find an unfamiliar you woman dressed in blue. "Can I help you, Lieutenant?" She asked as she made a visual analysis of the woman, it was a mixture of medical diagnosis and threat assessment. Just one way in which her Medical and Marine training worked together.
Black pupils, rust colored hair, Lieutenant Commander pips... yeah, this was probably her. "Doctor O'Rourke?" She smiled and extended a hand. "Lunara Hol, the new counselor. Do you have a minute?"
"Yes, welcome aboard Lieutenant." Hermia said. "Sure, we can use my office." She said leading her into her office. The CMO's office was a odd mixture of Marine and Medical. A 23rd Century medical tri-corder was displayed next to a Marine K-Bar knife that had 'O'Rourke' etched on the blade. A military sabre hang on one wall above a 19th century surgeon's kit and a small bookcase held a mixture of medical journals and books on military history.
Lunara followed towards her office. "Thank you, I figured since we'll probably be working closely we should get to know each oth- Oh wow, is that what I think it is?" She instantly perked up, looking directly at the tricorder. "I haven't seen one of those in ages!"
"It belonged to one of my ancestors, my grandma used to have it on display in her living room when I was growing up." Hermia explained. "I wasn't allowed to touch it then." She said. "I used to dream about being a doctor."
"It's something you've wanted all your life, huh?" Lunara nodded. "I can respect that. Not many young people know what they want to do with their lives." She paused, then chuckled. "I had those things pointed at me more times than I care to remember." She really wanted to touch it, but it was an antique at this point. She'd have to settle for something replicated or the holodeck. "Do you know what that ancestor did?
"I believe his name was Abon Daazar, he served as a ship's doctor and was one of the first Betazoids in Starfleet. I don't much more about him."
"Good for him! I wish I could tell you more, but I'm afraid I don't recognize that name. I don't think we had any Betazoids on my old ship, either." Lunara gestured to her kabar. "And what about everything else here? Is that you backup scalpel?" She grinned.
"My father's family has a long legacy in the Marine Corps, so naturally he taught all his children how to be Marines, it broke his heart when I joined the 'Fleet. I used to fight my upbringing, but I've learnt that the Corps is in my blood and I've come to accept it." Hermia explained. "And yes, I have had to use that K-bar as a scalpel more than once." She added smiling.
"If I didn't know about the code of ethics, I'd ask you the circumstances." Lunara smiled wryly. "Another Marine, huh? I just left the Snake Pit. They were... interesting down there. While I'm glad you've come to peace with it... I hope I won't have to have as thick of a skin with you as I did with them," she said with a chuckle.
"Being in the 'fleet and having a child, has smoothed my rough edges some." Hermia replied.
Lunara grinned. "That's good. I was worried I'd have to be on my toes around you like I am with the good Marine captain. Something tells me he lives to mess with counselors."
"Yeah, Marines aren't the most accommodating of counselors, but my mother is a psychiatrist, so I know the good that counselors can do." Hermia replied.
"So, does that mean I won't have any trouble getting you in for your periodic checkups?"
"Let's just say, I won't put up too much of a fight." Hermia replied with a smile.
"Well, there's one person." Lunara smirked. "Tell me, how has the ship been treating you? Is there anything to look out for here?"
"Very well, I've made a few friends and the Skipper trusts me enough to promote me to CMO." Hermia said. "Its also better now my daughter's aboard." She added with a smile. "I missed so much of her growing up, so I'm trying to make up for lost time."
Lunara smiled. "Your daughter's here? That's nice! ...Is she embarrassed by that?"
"She's just turned 12, so she hasn't reached that phase yet." Hermia said. "My ex, her father is a control freak, a sadist, and a lawyer, when we divorced, he partitioned for full parental rights and had quacks tell the court that I was a bad mother, and he won, if it wasn't for mother, he would have poisoned her against me."
Lunara paused. She had thought her daughter was someone older, someone fresh out of the Academy, maybe. Children on a starship? Right, that was something they did now. She couldn't say she was a fan of the idea. But she really couldn't say as much when she was just getting to know her, so she just nodded. "Well, it sounds like everything worked out in the end."
"Yes." Hermia said. "You disagree with children being aboard starships?" She asked.
"Hm?" Lunara looked up, surprised. She hadn't said any of that aloud, had she? "What makes you say that?"
"Your change of emotion when you realised my daughter was still a child." Hermia said. "I can't read minds, but I can still sense emotions and I extrapolated from there." She replied.
Lunara snorted. "Guess I can't keep anything from you, huh?" Of course she was half Betazoid. How could she forget? She exhaled, leaning back in her chair. So much for not telling her. "I don't know. I've been in Starfleet before, seen all the things that can happen to you out on the final frontier... I can't help but feel that starships are too dangerous for children." She wanted to be more direct than that, but she suppressed that urge. She'd learned to hide things from casual observers - it came with the territory, studying on Betazed.
"I understand." Hermia said, 'But, bad things can happen anywhere, my daughter, Helena was on Empok Nor when it was attacked months ago by Cardassian Renegades, I feel she's safer with me." She said.
"I hope you're right." Lunara nodded. "I heard a bit about what happened there. Was she injured at all?"
"Thankfully, not." Hermia said. "She was among the civilians that were evac'ed before the Cardassians took power."
"That's good to hear." Lunara tilted her head. "What happened there, anyway? I talked to the good captain earlier this morning, but he only told me the crew had been through the ringer and needed counseling. That you... lost one of your own." She hoped the question wasn't insensitive, but if she wanted to counsel effectively she'd need first hand accounts, not just the sterile after action reports.
"Empok Nor was our base of Operations in Cardassian Space, as such a lot of us had friends or family that lived there, myself included. One day the Station was attacked by a group of humans and Cardassians who wanted to return to the old days. They were led by a disgraced Starfleet officer and a rogue Cardassian Legate. Many crew and civilians were able to evacuate the Station, but others stayed behind to perform guerrilla attacks." Hermia began. "Then later the Pioneer was part of a task force that took back Empok Nor. So I think you can imagine the emotions these two actions brought up in this crew."
"Mm. Yes, that does sound like it would cause some issues." She paused, drumming her fingers on the table. "Ex-Starfleet and the Cardassians working together, though? And they wanted to go back to fighting each other?"
"I think that was their plan." Hermia said. "But, not a clever or original one, if you ask me." She added "Also a what huge waste of life, just so they can stroke their egos."
"There isn't much I can say that hasn't already been said." Lunara shook her head. "All these wannabe revolutionaries, people die in their names, and... nobody remembers them after a lifetime."
"Agreed." Hermia said.
"Anyway..." Lunara paused for a bit and tapped the desk, not quite sure what to say next. "Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "Before I forget, I was hoping to get some medical training. I figured someone with a field medic rating would be more likely to go on away missions than a regular counselor. Any way I could get that?" She genuinely had no idea. Back in the 23rd century, you just had to volunteer to be on an away mission. Now there were so many rules and regulations it made her head spin.
"I can organize that, Nurse Rossi would take you through your training and then you'd have to do some duty shifts in Sickbay to obtain the certification. Its like what the Marine Corpsmen do." Hermia said.
"Well, I'll be sure to talk to her." Lunara stood up, smiling. "Thanks for your time, Doctor. I'm looking forward to working with you." She extended a hand.
"No problem, Counselor." Hermia said accepting Lunara hand and shaking it. "I look forward to working with you too."
Lunara smiled and walked towards the door, waving on her way out. "See you soon~" She sauntered out of sickbay and towards her office. Well, that was three meet-and-greets done. Time to get some sessions in.
Smiling Hermia got back to her work.
A joint post by;
Lieutenant Commander Hermia O'Rourke
Chief Medical Officer, USS Pioneer
Lieutenant Junior Grade Lunara Hol
Chief Counselor, USS Pioneer
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