"The Planning of a Surprise"
[Previous post: "Executive Assessment", written by the travelling Serena Switt]
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Setting: USS ANUBIS, Sickbay
Right after the senior staff meeting lea had returned to Sckbay. There
had not been any critical injuries for the CMO to take care of. There
also had not been any emergency which had required Lea to rush back as
she had. The only reason why Doctor Summers had hurried back into her
domain had been because of David. More to the point because of the
surprise she had been planning for him.
At first Lea had no idea what to do. She had use the *surprise* as a
ploy to make sure that the CEO would report for his physical at 1300
hours. Of course this had left the CMO with a dilemma. What could she
come up with to *surprise* David and reward him for his showing up?
Some of the ideas Lea had come up with at first had all been either too
corny or too risqué. The CMO had all been game to *surprise* the CEO
but there had been limits that she had not been ready to cross. At least
not yet and not in the ANUBIS' Sickbay.
It had been during the senior staff meeting that a new idea had come to
Lea. The definition of a *surprise* was to present someone with
something unexpected. Since David had experienced so much during his career
as an officer Lea doubted that she would be able to effectively
surprise him. That was until she thought about IRRAJ and the lack of
knowledge the crew had on that culture. Surely the CMO would be able to find
something fitting to *surprise* the CEO with.
Lea had called up all of the available information on the various
festivals and celebrations that were unique to IRRAJ. The greater majority
of them were far from fitting what the CMO had in mind. So Lea
continued her search and expended the parameters to more *ancient* customs.
In time Lea came across what the commoners referred to as the 'Festival
of Life'. Once a year the population of IRRAJ, or at least those less
fortunate, gave thanks for their health and fortune. The CMO
immediately thought of the parallel to EARTH's Thanksgiving but soon found that the two had next to nothing in common. To the people of IRRAJ the
'Festival of Life' had been a day of inner contemplation. A day meant for
people to see that their lives could have been worst that it had been.
This was usually done through shared meditation with someone close.
Another part of this festival involved each person to seek out someone
less fortunate than themselves and to help them in some way. Of course
this could hardly apply to anyone in the Federation. Even less on a
starship like the ANUBIS but the idea of the festival got Lea thinking.
Maybe she could use the IRRAJ festival as the foundation for David's
surprise. After all he had faced death and had lived to tell about it.
On another level he had been fortunate enough to be surrounded by
friends and people who truly cared for him. This could be the perfect
opportunity to have David realise just how fortunate he had been
With just over three hours before the CEO's arrival Lea had to act
quickly. For the surprise to be complete the CMO needed to research this
festival and adapt it to a Starfleet officer. This little surprise
could also be used to provide the CEO along with the CMO with a deeper
understanding of the culture they were about to visit.
As Lea read on about the festival the CMO began to formulate her plan
of action. Sickbay would obviously not be suitable for what had been
required so she would have to reserve one of the holodecks. In addition
the preparations would require more than one person to be involved. Of
course Lea immediately thought of her friend Susan and quickly made a
move to enlist her assistance in this project.
With both Susan and Lea working together there had been no way for
David to *not* be surprised by the final product.
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Lt. J.G. Lea Summers 2006 post #173
Stardate: 61013.0930
Tiffany Rose {lady_tiffany_rose@mail.com}
Chief Medical Officer
USS ANUBIS
