Medical Reinforcements

Posted on Tue Sep 9th, 2025 @ 12:14pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Sakonna

1,171 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Holding Pattern Hijinks
Location: Sickbay

It was quiet in sickbay. With the ship in a holding position waiting for the supply ship Kobayashi, the crew was doing their best to unwind, still recovering from the latest encounter with the Mirrors. Sakonna made her way down the corridor as she exited the turbolift. She had no need to get settled in and was making her way to sickbay where she told her direct superior could be found.

Sakonna had taken the time on the trip to the Washington to learn about the medical staff. The Chief Medical Officer was a human, and she was everything you would expect from a human doctor in such a position. The other doctors were all established medical professionals as well, and it was a fully diverse medical staff. She had also read up on the reports and logs that were available for her to view regarding the ship, and it looked as if this ship was often placed into dangerous situations that meant the medical staff would be kept busy. It was the best challenge since the war in her eyes.

She entered sickbay and looked around. It was the immaculate and functional design that Sakonna had long ago gotten used to working in. No patients were present, so she looked over to the medical lab, saw it was empty as well, and then looked at the office and saw feet resting on the desk. She made her way over and saw a human female relaxing in the chair drinking from a large mug, the scent wafting in the air telling her the beverage was coffee. "Dr, Sakonna reporting for duty" she said in a flat emotionless Vulcan manner.

The feet hit the floor faster than they should have, the coffee very nearly missed the desk and the PADD Sam had been reading clattered noisily. All class. "Ah...Dr Sakonna" Sam jumped to her feet and extended a hand, furious at herself for being caught with her feet literally up, despite the fact she was working on reports. And to a Vulcan no less! "Sam Howard, you must be the new rotation of medical staff"

Sakonna arched her eyebrow in that all too familiar Vulcan way and then shook Sam's hand in that traditional human greeting. "I have been assigned here to your staff. I believe it is a fairly permanent posting, though I suppose it could have a finite time period attached to it." Sakonna yelled at herself internally, realizing that she was putting on those Vulcan airs that people seemed to dislike. "My apologies if I caught you off guard Commander. My shuttle only arrived a short time ago and I wanted to report to you as soon as possible, as is protocol."

"Protocol is there for a reason Lieutenant, however you will come to understand that I run a calm and open department. Any issues come to me in the first instance. Would you like a tour?" She asked, mentally kicking herself for not being prepared.

"Unnecessary doctor. I studied the schematics for this vessel during the journey here, as well as crew bios and declassified mission briefs for the last year. I am fully prepared to run things here as necessary" Sakonna replied flatly. "Based on that information, how is your recovery from your recently incurred injuries?"

Sam blushed, a little embarrassed that her current state of health was somewhat public knowledge.

"I... ah... I've been cleared for light duties, and the counselor has yet to make her final assessment " she blurted finally as the color refused to yield from her face.

Sakonna recognized the facial flushing in the human as an emotional response. She wasn't looking to invoke such an emotional response, but seemingly she had, and now she had to navigate the situation accordingly. "It seems that we have no patients to treat, so light duty seems easy enough to handle at this time. You appear a bit flush, are you feeling alright? I can treat you if you require assistance."

" No, no I'm fine, I just wasn't aware you would be looking with so much detail into my file" Howard replied, embarrassed. "It has been a hectic few months to say the least and we're all a little battered and bruised."

"I was just being thorough. I wanted to be prepared for my new duty assignment" Sakonna replied. "Perhaps you feel I was too zealous in my approach?"

"Not at all, I just wasn't expecting it that's all. Tell me, have you worked in a diverse starship environment before?" Sam asked, wondering if this new doctor was more used to working with Vulcans than with other species. She must have missed the personnel transfer whilst she was recovering.

"I have served in many different settings in my career in StarFleet. If you are seeking to determine if I work better with other Vulcans rather than with humans and the like, the answer is no. It may seem illogical, but I actually prefer being around humans and other emotional species. I may be a bit out of practice on my interpersonal skills as I spent the last two years working on projects at StarFleet Medical, but I can assure you, I have more than enough experience working aboard starships. I have even been a CMO in the past, but that was aboard the Roanoke during the war. If I might inquire, do you find working with Vulcans difficult?"

That stumped her for a moment with its blunt honesty. "I... don't find them difficult, your mannerisms can take a little getting used to though" she admitted in the spirit of honesty. "Tell me though, how do you find the smell? I'm told that Vulcans find the human scent repulsive, even offensive?"

"That was true in the past, but I think most Vulcans interact with humans so often that it is no longer something we notice. If any of us do take notice to it, it would be the fact that your species does tend to perspire in an odiferous way. Every species has unique quirks. As you have noted, Vulcans are in no way perfect, despite how many of people might believe otherwise. I think you will find I'm not entirely your prototypical Vulcan" Sakonna replied flatly.

"I do look forward to getting to know you better, we will be working closely for the next few weeks to ensure you are familiar with all of our ship specific protocols. We follow Medical's guidelines; however, we have developed some additional protocols that we have found work well." Sam explained reaching for the coffee cups on her desk and grimacing as the bitter liquid was stone cold.

Sakonna once again arched and eyebrow in that all too familiar Vulcan way. "Indeed. I look forward to learning the protocols and seeing them put into action. I have found that StarFleet Medical's protocols are excellent guidelines, but they are by no means perfect, especially aboard a starship or out on the frontier. This appears to be a most intriguing assignment."

 

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