"What About The Children?"
[Previous post: "Executive Interrogation", written by our All too human Serena Switt]
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Cargo Bay 7
Stardate: 60325.2200
Lea looked at her tricoder one last time before closing it. The injuries displayed by the members of the MERCURY's crew were extensive and diverse. Under normal circumstances these would have required Lea days to take care of them all. But everything had already been done making the CMO feel useless.
"That's what I get for having been sent to the planet and captured," Lea sighed. "Now all that is left for me to do is make sure all of the medical equipment is back where they should."
Susan grinned and placed an arm over her friend's shoulders. "You should be proud. This shows that you have made your department into a highly reliable team."
"A team that apparently doesn't need me," Lea said. Susan shook her head and escorted her friend out of the room. As a Cns Susan knew that depression was a normal part of the healing process following a personal traumatic experience. The Cns had hoped that the CMO would have been spared this but it was clear that Lea needed help.
"Come on Lea," Susan said taking her friend by the arm. "I think its time for us to have something to eat."
Although not really feeling like eating Lea found herself with no other choice but to follow. As tiny as the Cns might have been, her grip had been quite powerful. Either that or Lea had just been too tired or unwilling to fight against her friend's efforts.
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, "Black Hole" Lounge
Stardate: 60325.2115
Before Lea could figure out what had happened she and Susan had been sitting at a table each with a large bowl of ice cream in front of them.
"Isn't a little late for Andorian Chocolate?" Lea asked, omitting the cup of mint hot chocolate that was next to the bowl of ice cream.
"It is *never* too late, or too early, for Andorian Chocolate," Susan grinned sending her spoon into the bowl's content.
"I can imagine Enaii not wanting you to go near Talia with an attitude like that," Lea said half jokingly, twirling her spoon in her bowl. As inviting as the dark coloured ice cream was the ANUBIS' CMO did not seem overly interested in it. Expecting to see Susan diving into her bowl with undue vigour, Lea instead found her friend frozen in time. "What's wrong?"
Susan just sat there looking at her ice cream. For a brief moment the Cns had forgotten about the ILO's daughter and that she had lost her mother. That alone was bad enough but now Susan was faced with another dilemma. Informing Lea of what had happened to Enaii while she had been on the planet's surface.
Lea glanced over her shoulder to see if maybe something behind her had been the cause of this sudden freeze. The CMO had expected to maybe find something slightly out of the ordinary. After all strangeness was an almost regular occurrence on the ANUBIS. What Lea saw proved to be more than she had expected, the Hirogen Uxtar.
"Don't worry about him," Lea said thinking that the Hirogen had been the cause of Susan's state. "He's harmless. For someone of his size and appearance that is. At least I think he is. Harmless that is. At least he's on our side. I think. I hope."
"What?" Susan replied absentmindedly, not having heard a single word of what Lea had said. Thinking about how she would broach the subject of Enaii's passing had taking everything the Cns had. "I'm sorry I was…" Susan said before looking up and seeing the Hirogen whom she had noticed earlier in Sickbay.
"He looks lost," Lea said. Gesturing for him to come closer the CMO invited the Hirogen to join them. "Ubxar, right?"
"Uxtar," the Hirogen said. "The name is Uxtar, Flight Control Officer of the USS MERCURY. At least that was my post before we were captured."
"Were you able to find out what they wanted?" Susan asked. The Cns had not been all that thrilled with Uxtar joined them. Then again it had been the lesser of two evils, the other being telling Lea about Enaii's death. Maybe at a later time a better opportunity would present itself.
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Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Ensign Lea Summers 2005 post #382
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
