"Staying Focussed"
[Previous post: "The Calm Before The Storm", written by the thrill seeking Serena Switt]
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Setting: USS HATHOR, Bridge
Searching through what little they had found, Lea tried to find some
clues as to what might have happened. The CMO might have been a little
faster at reading what Carft had provided if she had not been
distracted. Being so close to David had made the simplest of tasks very
difficult for Lea. Not that she had been complaining about it.
"Lea?" Susan said, seeing her friend eyeing the ship's ExO. When the
CMO failed to reply, the Cns decided to use more drastic measures. "Did
you know that Talia is David's and Enaii's child?"
If Lea had turned her head any faster it would have likely snapped right off. "*What?*" The CMO's eyes seemed to have opened wider than humanly possible. Upon seeing this Susan laughed, unable to keep it all inside.
"You weren't listening to me and seemed to be thinking of something
other than our work," Susan said. The way the Cns had glanced at David
had said the rest. It had been obvious that Lea had been distracted by
the ExO/CEO. At least if he had been feeling the same thing, David had
kept it well hidden, unlike Lea.
"I am all for you getting my attention," Lea huffed in a whispered
voice. "But did you have to say that Talia was *his* daughter?" The image
of Enaii and David together sent a shiver down the CMO's spine. Lea
could not claim to know the ILO all that well, but she knew enough.
"I was going to shock effect," Susan chuckled. "Apparently it worked.
I might just have to keep that one to use again at a special occasion."
"You are mean," Lea said to her friend, shaking her head in disbelief.
For a Cns Susan had displayed an uncanny mean streak that seemed to be
exclusively directed at the CMO.
"If you say so," the Cns replied knowing that although her methods
might have been strange, the cause had bee right. To allow her friend to
continue gawking at David while on the bridge would not have been wise.
Luckily it appeared as if no one had noticed Lea's distracted state or
its cause. "What do you make of this?" Susan asked, showing Lea a
message that the listening outposts had picked up.
"Looks like a request for medical supplies," Lea replied. The list had
been longer than expected and contained many things that did not make
sense. The more the CMO studied the list Susan had given her, the more
Lea became concerned. "There would have had to be some sort of
planetary cataclysm for anyone to make such a request. The problem is that
some of these medications are used to treat severe burns. Others are to
treat plasma or energy weapon discharges. These are for exposure to
extreme cold and the rest are for a wide variety of bacterial and viral
infections. There is not one cataclysm that could account needing all
of these," Lea explained. Susan had figured as much but she had wanted
a confirmation from her friend and ship's CMO.
"Maybe this has nothing to do with why the ships were pulled from their
border patrol," Susan said. True there had been nothing connecting the
two, but the Cns had not sounded convinced by her own words.
"Maybe," Lea agreed with a sigh. "Then again maybe not. For all we
know this could be a preview of what the Cardassians are in the middle
of. Something of such magnitude that it is forcing them to call upon all
available resources."
"It could be nothing more than a medical facility asking for their
annual re-supply shipment," Carft said. Although they had come across a
few weird communications, nothing had pointed to any sort of cataclysm.
Jumping to such a conclusion might prove to have a negative impact on
their mission. Because of that the Ops officer had decided on a more
cautious approach to their research.
"It is true," Susan agreed. "We need for information to either support
or refute that idea. If there was some sort of cataclysm, there should
be a lot more such medical requests. That or at least a reply from
someone. We need to keep looking for more," the Cns said seeing the
approval in her friend's eyes.
"Carft, continue monitoring the civilian channels. Susan and I will
focus on anything that may appear to be related to medical needs," the
Doctor suggested. As the CMO and Cns resumed their work, Lea allowed
herself a split second to glance in the direction of the ExO/CEO.
Lea quickly returned her thoughts to the task at hand. The CMO had
more than she needed to keep her from daydreaming. If the mission to
SURIAL III had not been enough, finding out what the Cardassians were up to
would be ample to keep her mind on her work.
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Lt. J.G. Lea Summers 2006 post #028
Stardate: 60340.1630
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS HATHOR
