Learning Things
Posted on Sat Mar 14th, 2026 @ 7:15pm by Captain Shran dh'Klar & Commander Samantha Howard & Lieutenant Commander Callie Raven-Grayson & Lieutenant JG James Phoenix & Ensign Janelle Barett
1,370 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Not All Orders Are Easy
Location: USS Washington
The away team materialized on the transporter pad, along with 4 members of the anthropology team. Deanna took no time to get things moving, understanding the situation as it stood. "Sam, we'll need you to do a complete work up on Dr. Paquin here. I fully trust that you'll find that she got pregnant by that good natured farm boy, but I need you to confirm that. Phoenix, escort everyone to sickbay, and once Sam and her team has treated these folks, escort them to the brig." She let out a very grumpy sigh as she placed her hand to her head in classic facepalm fashion, "I have to inform the captain of our discovery."
Looking to Janelle she quickly added, "Ensign, get your wounds treated, and then prepare to return to the surface. We still have Dr. Darkwa to apprehend."
The bridge was quiet. The captain was in his Ready Room, most stations were being worked by junior officers, and Callie was currently in command of the bridge as the ship orbited the planet, conducting scans.
Janelle turned toward the corridor leading to Sickbay, one hand briefly touching the side of her neck where McKellan’s strike had landed. The ache was present, but manageable. Nothing that would interfere with the next phase of the operation.
Janelle stepped into the turbolift. “Sickbay.” A brief medical check would be enough. Once cleared, she would review the surface scans again before redeployment. If Darkwa was still planetside, then the next encounter would not be as chaotic as the tavern.
Viviana was on duty in sickbay as Sam arrived with Phoenix, Janelle, and the 4 anthropologists. She was doing standard sickbay checks as they walked in, most of them looking a bit haggard. "Looks like things got a bit sporty down there, boss" she said as she approached, tricorder in hand.
On the bridge Callie was sitting in the center seat when the update came through that the away team were back onboard ship. “Bridge to Captain, just thought you’d like to know that the away team are back onboard Sir.”
"Very good. Is it the complete away team or only one part?" the Andorian questioned.
“The away team plus four Sir” Callie responded.
Deanna exited the turbolift and noted Callie was running the bridge. "I assume the captain is in his Ready Room?" she questioned.
“Yes he is, he’ll be expecting you” Callie smiled warmly.
~ Sickbay ~
Sam motioned for Janelle and Phoenix to sit on biobeds for their post missions' checks, and to have any injuries treated.
"Sickbay to security, can we have a detail here as a precaution?" She requested, seeing the anthropological team huddled in deep discussion. They could wait a few moments. "Viviana, can you please treat Janelle and Phoenix, I'll organize this lot" she motioned to the rogue team.
"On it boss" Viviana replied on her typical chipper tone. She approached Phoenix and Janelle and began scanning. Looking at Janelle, she couldn't help but stare for a moment. "You were at the Academy until recently, weren't you? Yes, Lt. T'Rel's Engineering extension course. Chief O'Brien used to guest lecture often, complaining that he wanted to make sure future officers knew the difference between a hyperspanner and a self-sealing stembolt."
"Academy?" Janelle inclined her head slightly. “That sounds like him,” she said. Her gaze drifted briefly to the tricorder readings before returning to Viviana. “He maintained the difference between those two items was the only thing standing between Starfleet and complete mechanical collapse.”
Viviana offered soft chuckle. "You managed to get a Strategic Operations posting. Surprised you weren't part of Red Squad. Most of the Command track cadets we had in Red Squad seem to have gone that route." She ran the scanner over Janelle one last time and reviewed the scan results on the tricorder. "Nothing much wrong with you ensign. Few bumps and bruises, nothing a mild analgesic can't cure. I'll have you fit for duty in a jiffy, to use a bit of Chief O'Brien's parlance.
She took a step over and began to scan Phoenix. "You always seem to find yourself in sickbay lieutenant. I wasn't aware that security work was this hazardous."
The anthropologists were in a cluster in the corner of sickbay as a security contingent arrived. Jackman and McKellan looked agitated, ready to start another fight. Stewart remained calm and looked to be whispering to McKellan, possibly attempting to defuse the situation. Paquin simply kept her sight on Sam while she kept her hands on her belly in a protective manner.
"This is just another day at the office. It beats all of the security paperwork I have to do" James quipped.
Sam approached them, tricorder in hand and hypo in her pocket. "I need to run a few tests on all of you to make sure you're fit and well to join the ship's general population" she stated, mostly the truth, but she also needed to 100% confirm their identities, as well as confirm the status of Paquin's pregnancy. "It won't hurt, just a few scans."
She stepped forward, motioning towards the vacant biobeds to see how compliant they were feeling. "Up you hop."
Viviana offered a chuckle. "I know all too well about paperwork. Boss has me filing reports for StarFleet Medical on the regular." She looked at the tricorder readings, "You could use a light analgesic as well." She walked over to the medical table and prepped two hyposprays and grabbed a small light green container with a metallic gray top and a green cross on it.
She approached Phoenix first, injecting him with a hypo. "This will take care of things for you. You are free to return to duty. I'd just steer clear of Cmdr Celes unless you want to end up back in here" she said with a smile.
She stepped over to Janelle and injected her with the hypo. "That will handle any pain you have ensign. I'm going to apply a bit of this dermaline gel to clear up these abrasions."
James hopped off of the bed and nodded to Viviana and returned the smile. "Thanks doc. I'll take it under advisement" he joked. He turned on his heel and stepped next to Sam as he still had the task of escorting the anthropologists to the brig as Deanna had ordered. Him standing there with the additional security while Sam was giving them a checkup would also help prevent them from trying to make a run for it, not that they would get far anyway.
He turned to Sam and whispered quietly. "You feeling alright after that whole fight on the surface Doc?" Phoenix asked seeing as the fight in the pub had gotten rather sketchy, and it didn't seem like anyone had bothered to ask yet.
Sam looked up sharply, having been focused on getting these checkups done and dusted before they decided that 'bar fight 2.0' was worth a run. She smiled as Phoenix, caring that he cared. "I'll be fine, Viviana will do my medical when I'm done with this lot, there's a few bumps and bruises but nothing serious I think" she replied honestly, having processed the men of the away team. She approached the pregnant Paquin with caution and empathy.
** Bridge **
Shran and Deanna entered the bridge from the Ready Room. "Report" Shran ordered, wondering why he had been summoned.
"We've detected a Ferengi Marauder on a parallel orbit, almost on the other side of the planet which is why we didn't detect them until now" Ens Kuzma informed him from Ops.
"Ferengi. That certainly complicates matters. Are they aware of us?" Shran replied.
"Doubtful sir. We are only able to see them because we got a sensor relay from one of the probes we launched" Kuzma replied.
Shran looked to Deanna, "Get back down there and retrieve Darkwa. Locate Jon, inform him that I want his team to self-destruct the anthropology blind. And keep your eyes out for Ferengi. They aren't bound by the same rules."
"Understood" Deanna replied. She made her way up to the turbolift and hit her comm badge, =^=Celes to Barett. Meet me in the transporter room ensign. We are returning to the planet. =^=
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