From: Christine Fontaine
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 18:42:12 -0500
Subject: USS CHESAPEAKE: Medical Department Status Report
SD 90324.1838
MD 03.1615
Scene: USS CHESAPEAKE: Sickbay
When Lieutenant Commander Catherine Ledoux stepped out of her office,
whatever she had expected to find, it had *not* been the sight of two of her
officers almost come to blows.
Appraising the situation with a quick glance at both parties, Doctor Ledoux
began to have a glimmer of what might have traspired between her two staff
members.
Doctor DawnFire to-Ennien, golden fur fluffed up, ears laid flat against
her skull, was glaring at her opponent, her beautiful feline eyes alight
with cerulean fire. Her burnished golden tail, lashing violently back and
forth, had cleared a wide circle around the Sivaoan.
Ensign Juliette LaCroix, her emerald eyes flashing, was spouting invective
at the felinoid physician. Cursing fluidly in French, the imprecations
uttered by the medical technician had Catherine's ears turning red.
Sighing, Doctor Ledoux closed her eyes. She did not feel like handling this
right now; she was not in the mood to be settling differences among the
members of her medical staff. However, she was the Chief Medical Officer,
and it was her duty to ensure that things in sickbay ran smoothly. While
the members of her staff did not have to like one another, they had to be
able to work together. Arguments were not conducive to a pleasant and
productive working environment.
After expelling a heavy sigh Doctor Ledoux took in a deep breath, preparing
herself to enter the fray. Gathering her courage together, Catherine
decided *not* to interpose herself between the two opposing parties.
Instead, the vet took a few cautious paces forwards, coming to rest
alongside Ensign Juliette LaCroix.
Turning herself so that she looked first at Doctor DawnFire to-Ennien and
then at Ensign LaCroix, Catherine endeavoured to capture their attention.
They both paused, turning to look at the Chief Medical Officer, who stood
there with a PADD grasped in her right hand.
In a soft voice that forced both DawnFire and Julie to listen attentively,
although the Sivaoan had an easier time picking up the vet's words,
Catherine asked, "could some one please tell me what is going on here?"
As both Julie and DawnFire began speaking at once, one firing off in French
the other uttering Sivaoan phrases that the universal translator could not
handle, Doctor Ledoux raised a hand, suppressing a sigh. "One at a time
please?" Catherine could feel her cheeks turning pink as she endeavoured to
exercise her authority.
"La chatte m'a frappee!" (The cat hit me!) Julie exclaimed.
"She insulted me!" DawnFire retorted.
Closing her eyes once again, Catherine clearly understood what had happened
here. Turning to face the Sivaoan, she quietly asked, "Doctor DawnFire
to-Ennien, did you cuff Ensign Juliette LaCroix?"
"She insulted me!" was all that DawnFire had to say.
Taking that to be an affirmative, Catherine turned back to Julie, her voice
soft. "Ensign LaCroix, I'm afraid you are unfamiliar with Sivaoan customs
regarding their names and how they should be addressed. Doctor DawnFire
to-Ennien should be addressed at all times as 'Doctor DawnFire to-Ennien'."
Julie, arms crossed, simply nodded.
Then Catherine redirected her gaze towards the petite Sivaoan. "Doctor
DawnFire to-Ennien," she began quietly, "although I understand the reason
why you are upset, you must realize that not everyone is familiar with
Sivaoan customs. When someone inadvertently shortens your name, they do not
intend any offense. They are not insulting you, they are merely shortening
your name out of ingnorance of Sivaoan custom."
DawnFire's golden fur bristled, "but it's *my* name, I earned it! I deserve
to be addressed by my full name!"
Wishing that she did not have to deal with a Sivaoan that was so *adamant*
regarding names, Catherine attempted to find an explanation that DawnFire
could understand. "Doctor DawnFire to-Ennien, I understand that your name
is very important to you, I understand that you earned it and that you
deserve the respect that your name endows. However, you are also a
Starfleet officer, and in Starfleet we do not follow Sivaoan traditions.
While we will endeavour to respect your customs and your wishes you cannot
hold it against us if we are unfamiliar with those traditions."
Sighing, Catherine added, "now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way.
Please try to get along." It was all Catherine could do to keep from
running straight out of sickbay.
Once she had gained the relative quiet of the halls, Catherine expelled a
heavy sigh. Pausing to lean against a bulkhead, the vet let all of her
muscles relax. Coping with personnel problems was *not* easy, especially
when she had to act out a role in order to maintain a sense of discipline.
Shy, quiet and reticent by nature, Doctor Ledoux wished that she had not
needed to intervene in the disagreement between her two staff members.
Unfortunately, she was the Chief Medical Officer, and handling such disputes
was her responsibility. So, she had assummed a role and played out a part
and hopefully the matter had been resolved.
With another sigh, Catherine tucked a loose curl behind one ear, then began
walking through the corridors, headed for the Executive Officer's Office.
As she walked, the vet replayed the scene in sickbay in her mind, wondering
if she could have handled the situation any better. Catherine was well
aware of the fact that her 'people skills' were decidely lacking, a definite
liability for anyone in a position of authority. Not for the first time
Catherine wondered how on earth she had ever attained the rank of Lieutenant
Commander.
Ruminating over personnel problems had at least one advantage: it kept
Catherine's thoughts from straying to more distressing topics.
Consequently, although when the vet arrived at the Exec's office her
thoughts were not calm, at the very least they were not depressed.
Pausing outside the office, Catherine brushed a loose curl off her forehead.
Then, after checking the data on her PADD one last time, she rang the door
chime.
[ Come ] issued from inside the office.
As the doors irised open and Catherine stepped through, Commander Brennan
looked up from the PADDwork on his desk. "Bonjour Docteur Ledoux," (Hello
Doctor Ledoux,) he said with a smile.
"Bonjour," Catherine shyly replied. "I have my departmental status report
ready for your perusal, sir." The vet stepped forward, gently placing the
PADD on the Commander's desk.
"Thank you, Doctor. I trust that all is in order?"
"Yes, sir." Catherine's voice was still soft. "We are still awaiting the
arrival of one nurse and two medical technicians, although they should be
aboard before we leave DELTA."
Brennan nodded.
"I am lucky to have an experienced crew," Catherine added, "all of the
officers have had previous ship-board assignments with the exception of
Doctor DawnFire to-Ennien, who has just completed her residency at Starfleet
Medical."
Pausing, Catherine tucked a golden curl behind on ear. "All of the medical
supplies have now been catalogued and stored and all of the medical
equipment is in working order."
Positive that she was forgetting something, yet not quite sure what it was,
Doctor Ledoux lamely concluded, "I think that's all, sir." Catherine's
cheeks were painted a rosy pink.
"What about the medical labs and the research labs?" Brennan queried.
"Oh!" Catherine raised a hand to her mouth and her blush deepened. "Ummm,
we don't have any research projects yet, sir," she began, her voice barely
above a whisper. "And tomorrow we will be starting to run the bioreactors
that will produce the pharmaceuticals that cannot be replicated."
Hoping that she had not forgotten anything else, Catherine squeaked out,
"anything else, sir?" and then nervously began playing with a loose strand
of hair.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Fontaine
LCDR Catherine Ledoux, DVM
Chief Medical Officer
USS CHESAPEAKE
<< NRPG >>
Takako: One medical department status report. As Catherine asked: "anything
else?" She's being rather formal right now as she's still a little
off-balance after having to deal with the 'problem' in sickbay.
Masako: I'll be 'borrowing' one of your students for my next post...
Michael, Fabian: Welcome aboard! :) Remember me from when I (or more
correctly FireSong ) assigned you for your holodeck training? Glad to
have you aboard. :)
All: Yeah!!! :) We have a full ship! :) Now the fun can begin! :) Oh, you
mean we've been having fun already? ;)
Chris - winding down after a micro lab...
***********************************************************************
* Chris Fontaine * "If I waited for perfection... *
* cfontain@uoguelph.ca * I would never write a word." *
* http://www.uoguelph.ca/~cfontain/ * - Margaret Atwood - *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* LCDR Catherine Marie Ledoux, DVM, CMO, USS CHESAPEAKE, NCC-31813 *
* LCDR StarSong to-Ennien, MD, PhD, COUNS, USS LEVIATHAN, NCC-25002 *
* RADM FireSong to-Vensre, MD, ALB Adjutant, Armstrong Lunar Base *
***********************************************************************
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