"Home Sweet Home, At Least That Is What They Say"
[Previous post: "Counselling", written by our benevolent leader Sabrina Jones]
=-=
Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Lea stepped back into Sickbay feeling quite satisfied from her
breakfast with Susan. It had been nice to get out for a little while, but it
had been just as sweet to get back. Each member of the crew felt a
certain kinship with a specific area of the ship they served on. The
reason for this had been a simple one; it was where they felt the most at
home. The Captain could usually be found on the bridge. Maya never very
far from any of the labs, and it was rare to see David out of Main
Engineering. Lea had not been an exception to this pattern.
The CMO felt a certain feeling of security while inside Sickbay. This
was where her expertise and experiences reigned. Lea looked at the bed
where David had been the day before and felt a mixture of feelings.
She had been happy to see him back on his feet, but Lea had also felt an
emptiness caused by his absence. At least she had arranged for David
to go along on their mission with the HATHOR.
That thought made Lea's knees weak. She would not be going on this
mission as merely the CMO, but also as the COO. That had to be one of the
cruellest jokes this universe could have played on her. Anyone, if not
everyone had been better qualified for that role. Even Susan had known
this and had not been shy to voice her disbelief. Maybe Lea could find
a way to be *unable* to be on the bridge and have Susan take her place.
*That* would be something fun to see.
Grinning at the thought of playing such a nasty prank on her best
friend, Lea returned to her office. There was still a lot of time before
they would need to head out and she had a lot of studying to do. Knowing
what was expected of the CMO was easy. Knowing what a COO needed to do
was an entirely different story, and Lea needed to know all of it.
=-=
Lea's head shut up from her reading when she heard the door to Sickbay
open. Her first thoughts had been that something had happened to
David. That the person who had walked in had been the ANUBIS' ExO had not
helped.
"How are your preparations Doctor?" Serenna asked, reassuring Lea about
the reason for her visit. The way the hybrid had used Lea's title had
bordered on mocking, but Serenna was not that type of person. Or was
she? It had been the ExO's fault that the CMO would double as COO
during the next mission.
"My preparations as the HATHOR's CMO were done 25 minutes ago," Lea
said. "That Sickbay is barely large enough for me, let alone one or more
patients. Than again given our mission, I will be lucky if I get to
treat a sprained finger or toe."
"That's the spirit Doctor," Serenna said taking one of the vacant seats
in front of the CMO's desk. "Have you become better acquainted with
the systems of the HATHOR?"
"Yes," Lea said, ruffling through a pile of PADDs that had been on the
corner of her desk. "But I do have a few questions. If life support
systems fail on the bridge, am I supposed to draw power from propulsion
or tactical?"
"Depends on the situation," the ExO replied. "If we are in the middle
of a battle, drawing power from the weapons would not be a good idea."
"But what if we wanted to escape after that," Lea continued. "Where
would the power I took from propulsion come from?"
"From the tactical systems," Serenna replied sounding a little annoyed.
"If the decision to escape is made, then weapons become secondary to
propulsion."
"I think I get it," Lea said in perfect seriousness while ruffling
through more PADDs. "Here is another, what should I do if we received a
distress signal? I know that this is only a test run for the HATHOR, but
are we still supposed to respond?"
"Depends on the ship and the reason for the distress signal," Serenna
said, rapidly growing annoyed with the CMO. If the ship belongs to the
NEW ALEXANDRIA fleet, we will have no other choice but to respond. Any
other ship will have to be researched and its situation evaluated by me
of Lt. Cmdr. Maya. We will intervene only if lives are in immediate
danger and no other ships are available to assist."
"One last question," Lea said fishing the bottom most PADD from the
pile. "What about the cloaking device?"
"What about the cloaking device?" Serenna asked.
"If life support fails, do I take the cloaking device off-line and
redirect its power to life support? In either a combat or escape scenario,
the cloaking device might prove to be essential to our survival. So
should I still draw power from it or let us turn blue from lack of
oxygen?" Lea asked again in perfect seriousness.
"Doctor," Serenna said letting her frustration with Lea surface only
for a brief moment. "You will do fine and I am sure that should we run
into an entire fleet of Borg ships, you will make the right decision."
"The Borg?!? You never said anything about us going anywhere near
their space," Lea said, her eyes as wide as saucers.
The ExO remained seated and unimpressed by the efforts of the CMO to
make herself appear incompetent. "Ensign Summers, I have made my
decision and so it will stand. You will be the HATHOR's COO and I will drag
on onto its bridge myself if I have to," Serenna sternly said. What
most troubled Lea was that the hybrid appeared to be perfectly serious in
her threat.
"Can't blame a girl for trying," Lea grinned making a mental note to
not push her luck anymore than she had with the HATHOR's CO. **At least
if I get in a jam I can always call on David for help. That or I could
ask Susan to declare me mentally unfit for the job.**
=-=
Ensign Lea Summers
And apparently
Chief Medical Officer / Operations Officer 2005 post #487
Stardate: 60328.1000
Setting: USS ANUBIS, CMO's Office
Stardate: 60328.1030
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
USS HATHOR
